What are the benefits of taking an Internet Marketing program or courses, vs learning on my own from the free info on the web?

[MarketingWizardGenius]

This post is deleted!

[chris.kent]

Alright so let me start this off with the fact that I have taken the PPC, CRO, and SEO courses offered by MarketMotive. I think that the people teaching are brilliant. However, there is one draw back specifically with the SEO course, the industry moves so fast that the actual course itself is largely outdated information. They have sections regarding how to figure out how much you should pay for links etc. etc. While those strategies may still work for some, in the long run they aren't effective.

So my vote would be learn by doing, and instead of focusing on ranking for specific keywords, focus on the benefits you hope to get from those rankings(i.e. increased traffic, increased conversions, links, social presence etc.). If you do things that will make those things happen, then the rankings will come more easily with a lot more benefits. Additionally if you are planning on consulting, selling a potential customer on more traffic, better reputation, and more conversions is a lot easier sell than trying to get them to buy into ranking #1 for the term "hiking boots". Just my 2 cents. Good luck no matter what you decide to do.

Chris

[EGOL]

I agree with Chris that a lot of information, both in courses and 'on the web' is out dated.  Especially in the past year as google has rolled out Penguin and Panda.

I have learned through a combination of reading lots of the beginners guides and practicing where the information within them is in agreement.  Then by watching Q & A forums such as this one and seeing what problems bring people in crying.   That will educate you about the deadly mistakes and guide you when search engines are changing.

Really, though, if you are producing high quality content  there is not a lot of SEO that you need to know.

The big mistakes are:  1) trying to trick google, and, 2) overanalysis (thinking that there are tiny tweaks that will make your site rank when instead the key to rankings is content that makes your site popular.  That content can be informative text, attractive images or even products presented well and great prices.)

[SEO5Team]

Totally agree with EGOL especially the over analysis bit. A lot of times we end up doing too much in order to rank for a particular keyword and that ends up working against us. We do all types of analysis (competitor, on site, link profile, the list goes on and one) and sometimes forget the fact that all it takes is good solid content and following SEO best practices when adding that content on the site and syndicating it.

[ReSEOlve]

what process is the syndicating  if i write a really good bit of content how many places can i place that before it becomes duplicate syndication?