I received an email this afternoon from a young man interested in a career in SEO, and he asked me how to get started. And I thought it was such a good question that I would include my response here on the blog to any others who might want to learn SEO and work with site owners to help them succeed in business online.
There are some respected sources about SEO online that are worth reading as a starting point. Here are some:
Google’s Starters guide to SEO
Google’s Webmaster Guidelines
The Moz Beginner’s Guide to SEO
SEO Tutorial For Beginners in 2016
The 2015 Local Search Ranking Factors
Those are places to start learning about SEO. In addition, some places are worth visiting to learn more about the kinds of questions that people often have involving SEO and where other people provide answers to those questions.
Google Webmaster Help Central Forum
There are blogs and News sources about SEO (including Google’s Blogs) that are worth reading regularly:
It’s also worth finding some good reference resources about marketing and gaining some hands-on experience, such as starting a blog about a topic that you are very interested in and learning to rank well for terms related to that topic, and becoming an editor at Wikipedia, and learning more about how that operates.
I am also learning about SEO, I think this post & all the mentioned place will help me a lot. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Furquah,
Welcome to the world of SEO. I hope you enjoy it.
It’s a great way to start! I welcome you into the world of the SEO. There are certain seo blog post that you should read and top seo pages that you should visit online. It might help you by reading it and capturing ideas and apply it as you start your journey in SEO. Things will get better. Good luck!
Hi Bill,
I’m actually only 19, and have been teaching myself SEO for quite some time. To start with I was pretty terrible and made a lot of mistakes… It’s great to see a place like this putting together such great content for new people, I also now do my best to help everyone that comes to me, as it reminds me of myself.
Brilliant post – Thanks!
Hi Riley,
There are pages and sites that have been built that are aimed at helping others learn; and we need to support each other to help one another, because by doing so, we help the industry grow and the Web become a more useful place for everybody. We are going through an information revolution where people can learn at computers in their homes, and can transact business and interact with the government in their living rooms. and attend classes broadcast to their TV screens in new and interactive formats. The future is bright, and many opportunities exist.
Thanks, Alex.
I usually tell people setting out to learn SEO to set a goal to try to learn a little more everyday, and in a matter of months, they will surprise themselves by how much they have learned. There are a lot of helpful resources online in addition to blogs and forums. I didn’t mention video in the post, but there are lots of tutorials to learn from as well. If we all share the effort to help each other learn, we all benefit in the end. You’re welcome.
I am a newbie to SEO and wish to learn new things in SEO. This post helped me a lot and hope the future posts will also help me to understand about the SEO.
Hi Bill,
I found your blog using Google Search. I am also newbie in SEO . This is realy helpful post for me.
Thanks for your share.
I think regardless of your age, up and coming SEO experts can take a lot from this post. That hard road to customer acquisition takes a lot of determination and sites to research like the ones you posted!
Thank you
Hi Kael,
I think there is a lot of anyone interested in SEO to learn, and it will require more than reading blog posts, but that is a good place to start.
Hi Rocky,
You’re welcome. Good luck in your career as an SEO.
Hi Richard,
I will work on those future posts, and keep them coming.
Such a great mail to wake up to. It is a shame that all teens are not ambitious. I love kids that actually want to be something!
Hi Clare,
It was nice to read an email like that. I was reminded of a linked in request I received from a 19 year-old, who told me that he had been reading my blog for 5 years. It’s nice being able to provide something for people to read and learn from that they might use to start off careers with.
Hi Bill,
You are doing a good job by helping people to learn SEO. Very good references as well.
i am also 15 and wanna learn Seo. Already learned some tricks and by surfing your blog i can learn more and acheive success.
P.S: I watch Search engine land an Moz to learn seo.
Hello,
As a SEO manager, i would like to welcome you to the SEO field.
I hope u can enjoy this field too.
Hello,
Welcome to the world of SEO. I hope you enjoy it.
I would definitely be interested in using something like this, i really found in this post what actually i want about learning seo.. thanx men
Bill, what would you recommend to a 28 year old man who has been “around” SEO for ages, understands how to get links, how content marketing works, but just doesn’t have the know-how to deal with SEO at a large scale (say, for a travel site with 100,000 pages)?
I know that learning SQL is a start, but unless you’re already working at a large website, how do you get the data to “practice” SEO at scale?
Hi Jay,
I started working for a busy agency which gave me a lot of experience working with many sites, including some large ones – having that kind of opportunity to work with so many sites was a positive experience. As was working alongside people who had experience working on large sites like that as well.
Thanks for the information. I expect it to help immensely as I learn SEO. I am not 14 but 62, with a desire work in SEO. I will return often to your site.
Hi Greg,
I wish you much luck and success in pursuing a career in SEO.
Very good reference to learn SEO. Very great post.
Great references Bill! I was wondering, what topic is best for a beginner to start learning SEO with?
I have been working in SEO industry from the last couple of years. These are some excellent resources to start learning SEO and maximise your efforts for building authority websites.
If any newbie is reading this comment, I will advise you to read carefully each resource mentioned here in the article.
Good Job with this post.
I have been working in SEO industry .These are some excellent resources to start learning SEO and maximise your efforts for building authority websites.
I am also working in the SEO industry. SEO trends and algorithms are always changing. we need to update our knowledge according to that. These resources are very useful for all the SEO lovers. Thank you Bill Slawski for sharing these massive resources. Keep posting..
Thank you, mariya
SEO is one of those employment fields where it is important to continue learning as you do it. I often do that by reading patents and whitepapers and blog posts. There are no official continuing education requirements in the field, but it really helps to continue to learn as you go.
thank you so much for this ! I am also a teenager and wanting to learn how to do SEO really well so I don’t have to worry about jobs after school. It is so fascinating to me, kind of like a treasure hunt. thank you for posting resources, I am checking out all the blogs right now!
Hi Sam,
I’m very happy I came across SEO as a career choice. I have many friends who are also engaged in working with site owners to help them market their businesses, who are enjoying what they are doing very much. Being able to help others develop their dreams to bring their businesses to life can be very enriching and rewarding and fun.
Hello Bill
Thank you for sharing whole guide for SEO tutorial for SEO beginner. I am also beginner, I want to ask question from you. We can use Youtube for increase Backlink for our blog. please give me answers
by frequent updates of google, don’t you think SEO is gonna die sooner or later
On other site they are daily working to make ad tag invisible which is making PPC more clickable than ever, yes I know SEO is very lucrative business model with lot of fun but it can’t be long term business model.
What’s your take on it bill ?
Hi Jacob,
People are continuing to look for information, and use services offered by places such as Google, including navigation, social networking, communications including hangouts and videos at You Tube. I think one of the last things people should be worried about is the death of SEO – it’s likely not going to happen.
I suspect that the FTC will reign in Google and Bing and other advertising services before they might make sponsored listings too invisbible.
I’ve worked with many companies that have used SEO to build a long term business, and we see places such as Amazon and Overstock and Apple succeeding, as well as many small businesses that use the web to drive traffic to their bricks and mortar shops and offices. There is a future in SEO for anyone interested in learning about it and applying themselves.
Hello Bill
Thank you for the great collection, It is very useful for me. I want to know about YouTube SEO. How we can rank YouTube videos in Google search. In these days, Google Mobile searching is show videos also.
Hy Bill Slawski,
Thanks for sharing this article about 14-Year-Old Entrepreneur that Wanting to Learn SEO. I think nothing can inspire me more than it to start a new career in SEO.
I believe that its a fantastic place to learn SEO. I have learned all tricks of SEO from your website. It just an amazing website that provides all information about not only SEO but also other Online fields like SMO, SEM, Social Media Marketing and much more.
I recommend all people to visit your website and start their new career in the online field.
I am very Thankful to owner of this website (Bill Slawski) that built this amazing website.
I have been working in SEO Comapny .These are some excellent resources to start learning SEO and maximise your efforts for building authority websites.
What a fabulous post Bill Slawski!
Great job here. You know what?
I read a lot of blog posts and I never heard of a topic like this. I LOVE this topic you made about the blogger’s bucket list. Very ingenious.
This blog was all killer, no filler. I only wish I had this list years ago 🙂
Thanks for dropping some awesome knowledge Bill.
Cheers,
Trevor
Good Article. Love SEO, then SEO loves you.
Hi Bill,
I couldn’t thank you enough for all your work and help. It is thank to the help industry that we all learn and open our minds to give it forward and give continuity to the chain of Favours.
I hope to be able to give back to you all the value that you are giving to me.
Take care.
Kind regards,
Emma.
Thank you for sharing whole guide for SEO tutorial for SEO beginner. I am also beginner
Those days i am learning seo from my friend.These links you are share here.these are so helpful . thanks for sharing such a knowledgeable blog with us.
Learning SEO is something anyone can do. And the best part is you can do it mostly on your own as long as you know where to begin.
With the right resources and tools, you can quickly learn the basics of search engine optimization. Then you can start applying what you’ve learned and be well on your way to becoming an expert.
I appreciate the time you have taken to collate all the study materials/ tools and sharing it here with us. Thank you for this wonderful post.
I think it’s great that somebody so young is showing an interest in SEO. If they take the time to understand how it all works they will be well ahead of the game when they are ready to enter the job market or start their own venture.
Ahhh, 14, if I only knew the way the world was changing 40 years ago I might have been more interested in some of the things I thought I would never use.
Hi Hugh,
I wish there was a web when I was 14 years old. I think I could have learned a lot from it. 🙂
Hi John,
I remember when I was that age. and wanting to become an Oceanographer or an author. We didn’t have search engines, so SEO wasn’t a consideration back then. But the idea of being a knowledge worker, and helping people be able to find things that they were looking for is an attractive one. It is a good age to start exploring options like that.
Hi Bill,
As many here I’m also new to the SEO world, in fact I arrived to this blog just today, while I was reading about link building in The Moz blog.
Thank you very much for you comprehensive reading list. I’m also bookmarking your blog, because although it is a bit technical I can certainly help me to understand how really Google works.
Hi Laura,
You are welcome. Good luck doing SEO; I hope you enjoy it.
Those days i am learning seo from my friend.These links you are share here.these are so helpful . thanks for sharing such a knowledgeable blog with us.
Hi Kelvish,
I hope you are enjoying learning about SEO. There’s a lot to learn, but being able to help people have their sites become effective is worth the effort.
You gave that young punk the right directions. But SEO at 14? LOL. I wouldn’t suggest anyone to take up SEO as a full time career, seriously. It’s too competitive and a highly volatile career.
Hi Luca,
When you are a teenager, exploring options that you might want to be involved in can be a good idea. Starting out having some idea what you might be faced with can make it easier to prepare for and grow into. I’ve met a few people who started reading my blog when they were around 14, and are now doing SEO, so I believe that it is a possibility that isn’t necessarily too competitive or volatile.
Excellent list of SEO sources and information Bill, useful for the more experienced too. It’s an ever changing landscape and a continuous learning curve for all of us.
Thank you for sharing whole guide for SEO tutorial for SEO beginner. I am also beginner
Hi Keshvanikk,
You are welcome. I hope you enjoy a career in SEO. There is a lot to learn.
Hello Bill, I’m a newbie in the SEO field. I heard about your blog in an SEO online course anchored by UC Davis Extension. This is my first visit to your site, and this post was on target. Thank you
To be honest fair play to this kid my two children 11 and 14 dont really have a clue what SEO is. Great list too Bill
Fantastic resources listed and big props to you for devoting so much time to answer his question. I also have a huge amount of respect for this young man, it shows a great deal about him that he is interested in building a future for himself this early on (I sure wish I had started when I was 14!).
Hi Abdulfatai,
Thanks for letting me know how you found my site. I hope your studies go well.
Hi Gary,
I wanted to be a test pilot when I was that age. Or an oceanographer. Or a novelist. SEO wasn’t an option when I was that young. I’m really glad it came along.
Hi Bill,
You’re right, when i was 14 i wanted to be a biker. Then lo and behold I switched careers from civil engineering to Digital Marketing.
It’s great to see this kind of traction for digital marketing among millennials, wanting to learn at such a young age.
Thanks,
Deepak
These are some really helpful resources. Also, it would be great if you could provide some helpful resources on the various SEO-related algorithms introduced by Google. They bring some updates time and again. And it’s difficult to keep a track of all the changes they introduce. A post on that would be really helpful. Thanks in advance.
Hi Darren,
I’ve been posting here regularly on things such as SEO-related algorithms introduced by Google. They introduce many more than just Panda and Penguin.
Wow!
What a fantastic post you have here. Thanks for putting all these important links together in one place. I have gone through 2 posts from that link. I really appreciate.
As an seo freelance writer, I am building my knowledge on the subject of seo so I can deliver great value to my client and charge more too.
I am sharing this post right away. Thank you sir.