So you want to be a SEO?
By sorvoja on May 9, 2007 in Rants
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the improvement of documents and collection of documents to make them score better in an algorithmic search. In other words a SEO specialist both need to understand algorithms and document creation. SEO is best known when it comes to optimization of web-pages (HTML documents) to make them rank better in global search engines like Google or Yahoo!, however SEO could be applied to practically any document or document collection that are being search using any algorithm. This does not only apply to Internet searches, but to any search and no matter if the searches is a human or a computer agent.
So what does it take? I know people who are successful SEO’s with very various backgrounds, there are even people with little knowledge of algorithms that are able to make a living doing SEO-consulting. It is a little bit crazy, it is the same as getting medical advice from your hairdresser, most of the time you will be ok since your hairdresser is a smart guy. So what would I look for if I were to hire a SEO, it is not easy to list requirements but here is what i came up with:
- The person should have a masters degree in Computer Science or a similar field.
- Have some experience with data mining or data extraction.
- Have some experience solving problems analyzing unstructured and structured data sources.
- A good understanding of web technologies and XML based standards
- Networking knowledge
- Good programming skills
- Should be nice, creative and friendly.
There is a good chance that you disagrees with me and that is nice, use the comment box to tell me how wrong I am.
Hi, Sorvoja
I have 5 years of pedagogical education (English/German as foreign languages). Does that mean I can’t be a SEO? But I do research keywords and write articles, mostly :) In fact, it puts me way above local marketers, who can’t write anything or don’t want to practice writing.
In a SEO, I’d look for:
- intention to delive value to the end customers (not the SEO client, but his customers)
- explains everything he knows, not being afraid to lose a farm (one thing is knowing, another is implementing)
- proven results
The latter is easiest to estimate, ofc.
Cheers.
Yuri | May 21, 2007 | Reply
Hi Yuri,
A 5 year degree in pedagogics is very nice. My wife has a similar background except that
she focused on childhood psychology. However it is not the ideal background for a career
in information retrieval or SEO.
You say that you do keyword research and write articles and that is great, but it falls outside
the definition of SEO. You don’t need to understand SEO to write good copy, you just need
to write good copy. Delivering value to the end user is also outside the SEO domain, I do not
say that SEO’s should ignore the end user, but there are others that actually creates the value namely the editors, designers and copywriters and so on.
I agree that it is important to be a good tutor, but it is more important to communicate. I don’t want a car mechanic to teach me everything he knows, I just want my car to run. He might feel the need to remind me to check the oil and that kind of things. I trust the mechanic to communicate what’s needed, to give me instructions when needed, but not to turn me into a mechanic.
sorvoja | May 22, 2007 | Reply
You are a fucking idiot. In my opinion. :)
Rob Docherty | May 27, 2007 | Reply
Alright, I’m kidding. But seriously, you do not need a degree to perform SEO and do an outstanding job with it. It is not rocket science: It is ranking a website for keywords. [ notice optimization, not necessarily marketing as a whole. ]
I’ve got a background, but who cares? It’s about results you can deliver for affordable/reasonable/pricing people will pay.
If you want ranking examples, I’ve got plenty.
Rob Docherty | May 27, 2007 | Reply
Hi Rob,
SEO is not rocket science, but it is a science. The field of information retrieval is changing at a fast pace, and so is the field of SEO. To do a proper job you would have to keep up with the same research as you would do if you were working on the other side of the fence. SEO is more than just “ranking a web site for keywords”, it is understanding how, understanding the implications, being able to be proactive about SEO. Imagine that you woke up one morning with a terrible toothache, would you call the dentist for an emergency appointment or would you dig out a pair of pliers and remove the tooth yourself? Even though everybody can take care of their own teeth, most of us still go regularly to the dentist.
The SEO industry is no longer in it’s infancy, the time of bedroom SEO is in the past.
sorvoja | May 27, 2007 | Reply
define ‘bedroom seo’
your definition will reveal to us more about where you are coming from
I’m sure if you would train someone for 3 months 20 hours a week in a bedroom, that that person could perform seo close to if not as good as you?
Gregg | Dec 24, 2007 | Reply
I think there are different kinds of “SEO”.
A very general idea, maybe from least technical knowledge requirements to most technical requirements:
* Web publishing - blogging
* client SEO - small businesses
* Web publishing - affiliate micro sites
* Web publishing - large sites
* client SEO - enterprise sites
* black hat SEO
I think the creative side of SEO (including social media and traditional PR to build links) is much more important than the technical side… though the technical side is very useful.
Pocket SEO | Mar 23, 2008 | Reply