So You Wanna Learn SEO?

It's been a while since I have posted anything. Mainly because it's been a pretty crazy couple of months at the office. Traffic for SEO has gone up, now bringing in over 92% of the total lead volume (go us!) and when things get to going good it just makes me want to keep doing more. So the things that help me relax, like writing, tend to get pushed to the side lines.

What inspired me to write something tonight was an update I saw in my Facebook feed. I see the question come through often, and even get the question myself more often than you would think. You see, people want to learn SEO. Not necessarily so they can be SEOs themselves, but to understand what it is us SEOs are talking about when we say "SERP", "Meta Tags", or "Canonical Tags". So they can envision why we say you can't have two pages with the same word on them (duplicate content), or why we tell them they have to have links to important pages of their website from their homepage (but not too many links). So I put together a long list of resources recommended by some of the best experts int he industry, and even some sent over my newbies that are learning SEO that have read, completed, or tried the following and highly recommend them.

Get Started - SEO Resources for Beginners

• Google Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide (always read this one first - no matter what)

• Learning SEO from the Experts: Step by Step Guide by HubSpot 

• Moz - The Beginners Guide to SEO

• SEO Fast Start by Dan Thies

• The Advanced Guide to SEO

• SEO In Practice

• SEO Made Simple

• Top 10 SEO Tips

• Inline SEO

The Next Step - Buy The Book

• SEO Made Simple by Michael H. Fleischner

• SEO for Dummies by Bruce Clay (My personal friend and often mentor)

• SEO Bible 

Get Certified - Academies and Certification

• Bruce Clay Academy (worth every penny)

• Moz Academy

This should be enough to get your started - perhaps just enough to be slightly more than dangerous even. Of course if you ever have any questions for SEO, I am always available - just contact me. I will at times hold a workshop that has been streamlined to 4-5 hours and covers all the basics you will need for SEO. The workshops are small and I am available to answer questions as you have them so it's a great time to get a list of your questions together, and perhaps even have me take a look at your site for just a few hundred bucks.

I do occasionally take on consulting if you need more than just a quick question. A basic SEO Audit runs around $1,000 to $2,500 (depending on the size of the site, and how in-depth you need) and generally takes a week or two (remember I still have a full time job with ADP, and that takes up my daytime). I have been known to find some really interesting issues with sites even with the most basic audits and managed to get them back from the dead after Panda and Penguin updates. Ongoing support can come in the form of an hourly retainer - which I am happy to discuss. Do remember though, I only take on 1-2 clients at a time so that I can give all of my attention and focus on the work and making sure I am there whenever you need me (I demand quality customer service, and therefore ensure my clients get the utmost 100% best service possible as well).