I have been doing search engine optimization for a while, which includes SEO for setups starting from little family run companies to some of the Earth’s largest companies. 

I think I know a lot about SEO, internet sites, the way in which the web works and have some respected SEO chums who would confirm this.  But I’m pleased to admit that I need to keep learning if I am to continue to be good at what I do. 

SEO changes and we want to keep on learning about those changes.  The web is certainly not standing still.  It’s an amazing living thing that continues to grow, expand and develop. 

So how does an SEO specialist train? 

The dazzling thing about SEO is that there is a sufficiency of free information available online to help you find out about SEO and subsequently stay abreast of the latest changes. 

But Beware!  The web is also full of misinformation about the subject.  This wrong information regularly comes from folks blogging and commenting on subjects that they know little about.  They quote other folks without verifying the information or without testing these ideas on sites they control. 

you won’t know all things SEO by just reading what others say.  You want to test ideas to prove or disprove them.  With this in mind, here’s my top 5 ways of learning SEO and continuing your development. 

one - Practice what you preach

the first thing I’d counsel any person who wants to learn SEO is they must set up, build and manage their own website.  Having access to a number of sites is even better.  This will let you test ideas interacting with a variety of variables. 

two - Subscribe to newsletters and forums

The web is brim-full of great newsletters and forums.  You want to work out who are your trusted sources and who you enjoy reading.  Make sure you use more than one but not so many that messages are weakened.  Most importantly always determine information across sources and then test it yourself. 

Personally my 2 favorite reports sources are search engine Land & search website Watch, Mark Jackson being my favorite writer from the latter. 

three - Share knowledge

several years ago I worked at one of Australia’s biggest publishers employed to perform in house SEO on one of its major site properties.  Each business unit had a corresponding person. 

If each of these folk had to grasp SEO in isolation it would be a dead end job and a dodgy SEO exercise for the company.  But they had 2 things in place that made this work well. 

first off I had a budget to employ and have interaction with an external SEO agency or expert. 

second the SEO specialist from each business group attended a monthly SEO knowledge sharing group that enabled us to debate our projects, the challenges and solutions employed. 

This allowed us to pool our resources and to create the ultimate learning and testing environment for SEO. 

In-house SEO’s please take note, this is a superb strategy for your private development and it benefits your organization as well as you.  Ensure your company has a budget for external SEO advice.  As the tune goes’We all need somebody to lean on’. 

Whether you are an in-house SEO specialist, work for a leading agency or for yourself, you need an SEO support group.  These are other folks who do what you do and are willing to talk about it. 

Your support group could be co-workers ( past or present ), folks you meet at conferences and training events as well as online acquaintances. 

four - do an SEO coaching course

A number of agencies and affiliations provide SEO coaching courses, though in Australia, you have a limited number of quality options. 

you’ll also find a number of net self paced courses available.  Look around and select the course that fits the level you’re at and the support you need. 

Personally I feel these courses are excellent for newbies through to mid level, but I am yet to see a course that targets the more experienced SEO consultant.  I might consider meetings like SMX advanced more acceptable for those folks.