I have been looking at Search Engine College's certification courses.

Has anyone taken any of these or other courses or certifications, and were they pleased with it?

I've been doing all this for a number of years already but thought it might be helpful to move ahead at a faster pace with some "expert" training.

Hmmm.... Search Engine College Certification. Never heard of it, but then again, it doesn't surprise me in the least...

Honestly, I would be pretty skeptical when it comes to getting a Search Engine Collage Cert. The reason being is since SEO is such a dynamic thing, the material you learn in the college may not be applicable by the time you finish. Granted, all the fundamental aspects (i.e. fundamental onsite and offsite optimization) will apply, but I think you would be better off with something else. Also, are these colleges accredited?

Something you might want to look into is Stompernet. I'm pretty sure they are not taking any more students, but you might be able to find the package at a pretty discounted price on ebay or craigslist.

Again, this probably just has to do with my lack of information with SEO Certifications, but it just seems like your money could be better spent on other SEO educational programs.

A college certification? lol I guarantee we can teach you more in this forum then you will learn at any college.

SEO is all about:

1. Keyword research - which keyword phrases do you want to list for?
2. Finding out how your competition got the top spots for those keywords. Who links to them? How are their pages formatted & optimized?
3. Doing what it takes to get there. I always try to "1 up" my competition (more like 1,000 up - I like to dominate them) It takes persistence and patience. But, oh is it worth it when that money comes rolling in.

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I started by reading Adam Hall's seobook. Well worth the money imho.

LOL... you're probably referring to Aaron Wall.

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---cK

CK Chung is an independent SEO consultant who provides premium Holistic SEO services, including services specific to Real Estate SEO. You can find his alter-ego, Kid Disco, spouting off on his SEO blog at SEOdisco.

I've already been doing SEO since the 90s - but I still feel like I have a lot to learn since this has not been my only focus. My energy has been spread out over several disciplines. That's why I considered one of these SEO certifications.

Also, it might be useful to me in my freelance business - I wouldn't be doing SEO for real estate (competing with myself!) but definitely for other types of business. And I'd like to be able to charge them at the going rates.

hahaah yes, Adam Hall is a hockey player, doubt he knows much about SEO

Does the book go well beyond the basics, and is it current? A book about SEO could get out of date pretty quickly!

Wow kid Disco, been a bit since I have been in the threads, you have a whole ad for your sig, rules must have changed.