Learning search engine optimization can be overwhelming at first. There is a lot to wrap your mind around. But becoming proficient in SEO is definitely an achievable undertaking.
Teaching you everything you need to know to go from SEO newbie to competent SEO in one article is next to impossible.
But the next best thing is a guide that provides you with the resources to achieve SEO mastery on your own.
This is that guide.
If you are new to the world of SEO, you probably have some concerns like:
- Time. Will it take years to learn SEO?
- Information overload. There is so much SEO related content on the internet, where do I even start?
- Contradictory information. Who do I trust when I find different opinions?
- Fear of anything technical. Do I need to be technical to succeed?
- Hat Color. Should I use black, grey, or white hat tactics…? Or maybe all of them?
- Education. Do I need any formal education to work in SEO?
- SEO Gurus. Do I need to buy online courses from SEO gurus for thousands of dollars to learn?
All of these concerns will be addressed in this guide, along with the resources you will need to nail down the fundamentals.
SEO changes quickly. Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller says that Google updates and evolves its algorithms almost every day, which forces the SEOindustry to evolve as well. Although the fundamentals stay the same, there are always new things to be tested and learned.
To make this guide more objective, we reached out to some SEO agency professionals who have experience teaching SEO in an agency environment. We wanted to thank the following contributors for their advice and insights that helped us create this guide.
Free vs. Paid Education.
As an industry still in its infancy, most colleges don’t formally teach SEO. Luckily, you can learn everything you need online and through application, making a degree or college education in SEO unnecessary. In fact, the majority of SEOs are self-taught, using mainly free online resources to learn (many of these will be discussed in this guide).
There is an incredibly helpful and active online community of SEOs. As you familiarize yourself with this community, you will inevitably stumble your way onto the websites of “SEO Gurus” selling courses that teach you SEO for thousands of dollars.
The truth about these courses is that the majority of information they provide can be found online for free. So why would anyone pay for these?
The answer is that a course can save you time. The information is bundled together allowing you to do your learning all in one place with a curriculum that is structured and keeps you focused. This prevents you from bouncing around from resource to resource and getting off track.
Is a course absolutely necessary to learn SEO? No, definitely not. Will a course save you time? Potentially, as long as you take a course from a reputable SEO. A good rule of thumb to follow is to only buy a course from an SEO practitioner who makes money doing actual SEO, not just selling courses on how to do SEO.
This guide is going to focus on taking the free learning approach, but if you are interested in a course, do your research before purchasing!
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