Comments on: SEO University: Should Academia Be Our Standard?

By: http://24hseo.com

http://24hseo.com — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:51:33 +0000

Perhaps it will start as it did with most others, a single class on the subject and then a few more classes added on. Perhaps there will be a degree or perhaps not but I think it would be cool to have at least some basic training out there.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 13:49:53 +0000

Perhaps if we included an SEO course into Web Development curriculum, I could talk about more complex problems to web developers rather then have to explain to them why it’s probably not a good idea to create a site 100% in flash or AJAX.

As far as time and money go, I’m more than happy to teach that class if it means the entire SEO community will enable them to place their energy into other SEO practices.

Also, maybe SEO shouldn’t be centered around web developers, maybe it should centered around writers?

By: This Week In Search Marketing Staffing - 10/14/08

This Week In Search Marketing Staffing - 10/14/08 — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 19:22:00 +0000

[...] a posting on SEOchick, Jane Copeland weighed out the pros and cons of an SEO degree in, SEO University: Should Academia Be Our Standard? Looking at her breakdown, there are definitely more cons to SEO becoming an academic [...]

By: Judith 'deCabbit' Lewis

Judith 'deCabbit' Lewis — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 13:36:42 +0000

I always think of it as more of a “critical thinking” gig thana practical guide to how to do a job.

I mean, they don’t teach lawyers how to win cases or anything – they teach them how to understand and interpret the law and the like. It’s not an exact how-to guide but more of teaching the skills which will be brought to bear in a situation.

So really could not SEO be “taught” through simply understanding how and why and whatnot and leave the actual learning to the first appointment after graduation?

Or should I stop watching reruns of “Legally Blonde” on TV…?

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 11:16:42 +0000

Those who can do, those who can’t teach.

Especially in such a money-driven industry as SEO, which means the only teachers will be failed/crap SEOs.

By: seo blog

seo blog — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 06:35:51 +0000

The whole idea of SEO academia probably can’t be tought in a class room. It changes to much and would go out of date before the end of a single class

By: Dave G

Dave G — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 23:42:30 +0000

Learning SEO in college would be a waste of 4 years and tens of thousands of dollars because everything you learned would be antiquated shortly after you leave. At most, SEO should be an elective. To call yourself a university-trained-SEO would be ridiculous.

If you want university education to aid in SEO, study the skills that go into it, e.g., writing, marketing, programming, math, design, etc.

By: Terry Howard

Terry Howard — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 06:16:23 +0000

I’ve always thought there were two camps of people who could benefit from an “internet marketing degree”. The SEO coders of the world who can make anything rank, but lack the guidance of what they SHOULD rank in order to balance branding and ROI. Then you have your traditional marketing professionals who are really smart at the big picture concepts but lack the vocabulary or base of knowledge to instruct their IT and development teams on how to deploy their strategies.

As well, I’ve never found much value is perceiving SEO as a bag of ever changing tricks. SEO is best when done with a core methodology that achieves purposeful goals and the results of are measured in a meaningful manner. The flavor of the week strategy is directionless without that base. That’s what a structured learning environment can instill. Any superstar SEO could benefit from learning how to incorporate projections, budgeting, branding and various other marketing competencies into their skillset.

By: Chewie

Chewie — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 16:14:30 +0000

I think the whole idea of SEO academia is something that could probably be taught in university, but just like web development it is still MILES away from real life.

I know people who have done web development courses at Uni, i even know of agencies that go into uni’s a teach a module on SEO. Each time the people say that it wasn’t exactly what they expected and from what i can tell, they would have probably benefit more just going straight into a web dev/marketing/pr job like most of us did.

I didn’t go to Uni so maybe my view is bias, but i think that in terms of SEO then we should stay away from Academia.

By: Internet Marketing Joy

Internet Marketing Joy — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:25:15 +0000

In my opinion, I think it’s better for now that SEO will be taught only on conferences…probably we can start learning it in university later if we have a clearer idea or definition of what SEO is and what are the things that encompases it.