Six facts about the SEO industry that nobody told me

Cristian Level X³

December 10, 2017, 4:06 pm

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Six facts about the SEO industry that nobody told me

I got into Search Engine Optimisation very early on by today's standard. I'm almost 30 which is considered to be very old for an SEO. The majority of my peers are generally people under 25.

I've met some of them at special gatherings, and I also read a lot of them online on forums and blogs. Most of them are on the right track, but a huge portion of the young SEO specialists out there don't know enough about the problematic part of SEO.

So here are six facts about the SEO industry nobody told me about and I had to learn them myself through years of experience. I wish I had somebody explain this stuff to me when I first started working in the niche.

1. The "target" is continuously on the move

The "target" is your SEO goal for whatever project you are dealing with. The problem is that the goal is constantly on the move and you need to learn to anticipate where the target will be when you shoot. Its just like in those western movies scenes: Don't shoot where the target is, shoot where the target will be.

That's the same with SEO. Because it is constantly on the move, you need to learn to anticipate where things will be when you are done implementing your plan. Otherwise, the target will move along, and you will be left behind with a failed goal.

2. There are multiple solutions to one specific problem

I figured this out when I've asked three SEO experts about how they'd solve a specific SEO problem and goal. I got three different SEO strategies, all of them valid.

Highly confusing right? Well, it is. SEO is complicated, and you have lots of options. You just need to figure out which one will work best.

3. Most people won't understand what you do

Don't insist on explaining to people what it is that you do. Not even to your friends and family. If they aren't working in the digital industry, chances are they won't understand what you do, not really.
I gave up explaining stuff like this years ago. Now I just tell people I work in "web designing." Everyone gets that, and I rarely get additional questions, solves me a lot of headaches.

4. Tools can help but don't expect miracles

There is a lot of SEO tools out there. Some better than others. But none of them do any overnight miracles.
Don't chance every new tool like it was the cure for all of your problems. Test new tools every knows and then but overall stick to your guns and the favorite tools out there because they are famous for a reason!

5. Most clients are a pain, especially new ones

Expect a high level of skepticism when it comes to SEO from every client out there! Same as your family and friends, few understand what SEO is and how it works. They all want immediate results, and they all want to rank first on Google.

Be patient, explain and educate your clients. Show them the value SEO can bring their companies and work as hard as you can to create results, give them a reason to want SEO in the future.

6. You will constantly need to learn new stuff

SEO is probably the industry with the highest demand for constant learning out there! I find it highly difficult to keep track with everything that is happening in the SEO scene month and trust me, there are a lot of new things you need to keep an eye for if you want to be a successful SEO.

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Barida

You're right and the the third point was what I took to heart. Understanding that not all will see your freelancing vision at that point. The moment I discovered that trying to explain these things to them doesn't make sense, I had to quit doing so.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

@Barida The truth is that most people don't really know that there are several other good ways to exploit the internet and one's subscriptions than just simply surfing Facebook, Twitter and Instagram chatting, posting and replying friends.

They don't know some of the core secret and root for making a living while making use of a computer system, laptops or even phone devices. They are simply ignorant of these things, it's only the open minded ones that might try understanding what you are trying to explain.

7 years ago

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Barida

It's hilarious when I see those that spend so much time on the internet without finding something meaningful to do. It's all about being creative at the end.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

@Brida
The truth is that some don't even want to learn even when you try teaching them. I have experience with 2 friends of mine, I tried my very best to teach both of them how to exploit the internet and social media networks to make a living for themselves but all to no avail.

7 years ago

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kgord

Yes, I agree. You know what you want to accomplish but not necessarily every one will see that. I think that it is important to keep your vision in front of you though at all times.

7 years ago

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TimothyAlex

Oh, number 3 is dead on. No one, not even my wife understands what I do. When people ask her what I do, she says that I "play on the computer". Seriously!!?

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Jeez!! You gotta be kidding me, that you are playing with computer. Haha, she is the most funny wife I have ever seen, but anyways there is a saying which goes like this, "What one doesn't know is older than such person", so as she doesn't know anything about being a webmaster, she would definitely see it as playing with a computer (LOL).

7 years ago

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Barida

Hahaha! In as much as she uses the word 'play' as long as it pays, I don't think there is nothing to worry about at the end.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Yeah @Barida That just sums it up. As long as whatever the individual is paying the bills, there is no cause for alarm. So actually doesn't matter if in her eyes the husband plays on the computer from morning till night, so long as he foot the bill, all is well.

7 years ago

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Tronia

Haha, damn. Well it depends if your partner has any knowledge about technology, the internet and so on.

I am pretty blessed because mine does and even understands the basic SEO since I took the effort to explain it in beginners language.

But either way, don't worry. It isn't easy to explain SEO to somebody.

7 years ago

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TimothyAlex

She is technologically challenged. So, she literally has no idea. She even has difficulty just shopping online.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Awwh, so bad in this our modern technology diversed world, she is finding it really difficult to adapt. Well @TimothyAlex I believe that you are equal to the task. Just make out time and take her under your wing and teach her well. I'm sure she will pick up just fine.

7 years ago

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anwebservices

Tip 3 and your comment really made me lough out loud, but as you said it is so much true. Most people won't understand what you do. I also find it sometime hard to explain that i am doing right thing, while i am looking so much as "time waster" to so many who know me and not know much about online work or specially about SEO or SMM... Well, i am used to these kind of judgements already, so i just keep going

7 years ago

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Baburra

This sounds awful but it really is the reality of it all. It's why I also get a lot of offers that are way too low because I think they don't understand the gravity of what I do and think that since you make it look easy then it really is easy. I suppose this is also true with a lot of other jobs though, so I don't mind that much because I know I've also been guilty of thinking a certain job is easier than it actually is.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

This reminds me of one of my conversation with some colleagues in the office. Take note that I am working in the IT department so I am assuming that everyone in our group are well-versed with the internet. When I mentioned SEO in a casual talk, I received silence that was an obvious indication that no one knew what I was talking about. But instead of explaining things to them, I changed the subject because I don’t want to spend time for SEO talk which is a long one.

6 years ago

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vhinz

I can develop website but honestly I'm a total beginner in SEO. I was not interested in this industry before. I thought having the knowledge to create a website would be enough. I just realized that SEO is so important when I started to create my blog. And even I have my own website, I don't totally know which part should I integrate SEO. Even I watched videos on youtube and read articles on SEO, I still couldn't grasp the big picture.

7 years ago

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Barida

It's nice to read you understood it's importance at this point. One thing you need to do is to take action and make things work at the end.

7 years ago

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vhinz

Yea I really need to earn SEO so I can apply it on my website. It really seems difficult to me but I will keep on reading and watching tutorials until I fully understand it.

7 years ago

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overcast

MOZ has some really good tutorial. And the guides on the basic SEO takes just half an hour to learn. So there is not much magic to it. Just few minutes to give. And most of that stuff can be automated. And it can be good enough in many ways. So apart from that I don't see much issue for not learning SEO. It's easy to be honest. Just that results take longer to work out.

7 years ago

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vhinz

I'm kind a slow learner in SEO it may be because I'm just too focused on web development and learning how to create content and I spent less time in learning SEO. Maybe if I place SEO in highest priority of skills that I should learn, I could understand it faster and easier.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Haha, the third point really got me laughing because I have had multiple experience with friends and even some of my family members. They mostly see it like I'm fooling around and not serious about what I want to do in life.

I even tried to explain myself to my immediate family members but none seems to understand what I'm trying to say, they just believe I'm trying to justify my being lazy, so I gave up making any explanation for anyone.

7 years ago

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Barida

Being lazy and making ends meet is what I pray for as well! It's wasting of time trying to explain things to them. Just do your thing and enjoy your stay on the internet.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Seriously, the understanding of some certain group of people baffles me. They always presume that they are in the righteous path and you are the useless one. But what gives me comforts in heart is the saying that "the end justifies the means" and that "after the race, follows counting of the miles".

7 years ago

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Baburra

It really is kind of fascinating in a way to find out that people mostly just seem to think that the internet has evolved to the way it is merely by chance or just because of Google alone. It's funny when you know this side of the fence when you see how the average person views searches and results. Sometimes it can be disheartening when it is a potential employer because then you are having to prove yourself constantly to people who you are aiming to get revenue from, but I guess it is just part of the job and I know that it also happens in many different industries too.

7 years ago

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Martinsx1

Well, that basically what we see today in the society but those that actually knows what they are doing always find the best way to exploit the avenues at their disposal.

7 years ago

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TommyCarey

1. The "target" is continuously on the move
Very true, it's like fishing if you really think about it. You could have a great fishing spot one day and the next time you go out there, it's like there has never been a fish within 10 miles lol. This is why I'm always working on new ways to acquire new clients, even if they are just old methods that I need to revamp

2. There are multiple solutions to one specific problem
SEO is ridiculous like this. It's like asking "Where do you build a backlink to increase your rankings the most?" and you'll get 9,382 different answers because everyone thinks they know what they're doing, or you get people who actually know what they're talking about and still get 1,593 answers haha

One of my favorite questions is "How long will it take until I'm ranked #1 for my keyword?" haha

My response is always "How long is a piece of string?" and I can then see the light bulb go off in the customers mind. Usually it's a good thing, but every once in a while they get angry with me because I didn't answer their unanswerable question lmao.

3. Most people won't understand what you do
YESSSSS!!!!!!!!! On dozens of occasions I've attempted to tell people what I do and they always think I'm a blogger or I just spam links across the internet lol. One of my close friends still thinks I just spam links all over the internet because when I say "I help my clients increase their rankings by doing proper off page optimization and on page optimization. And yes, I build backlinks for my clients all the time" he thinks I'm the person on facebook spamming affiliate links lmao

4. Tools can help but don't expect miracles
I remember the day when SEO software was what everyone was using and claiming they were getting top rankings haha. They might have been #1 for a little while, maybe a day or two, but then they got banned from the search results because of the 1,000,000 profile links they built using xrumer

I'm not going to lie, I had a lot of SEO software that focused on backlink building, but I never really abused them like others did.

5. Most clients are a pain, especially new ones
Another point that is spot on. Most of my newer clients are more of a burden than a happy time. They pay me pennies on the dollar and expect to beat Google for the keyword "Google" lol. This is one of the main reasons I've stopped many of my websites that were selling backlink packages, it was more of a hassle managing the charge backs and disgruntled clients than it was profitable. Sure, I made some quick money, but it wasn't worth the worries of not knowing if all my orders are going to be getting free services and then I'm out of a lot of money

6. You will constantly need to learn new stuff
Always be learning

I tell people all the time that if they're gone for a few months they'll have a stack of books to read in order to catch up to all the new things that have been implemented by the search engines lol

I always tell people that I'm reading every single day, and they never believe me because it's all online and I'm not reading a hard cover book. But it doesn't matter to me because I'm obtaining knowledge, regardless if it's online or in a physical book

[b]1. The "target" is continuously on the move [/b]Very true, it's like fishing if you really think about it. You could have a great fishing spot one day and the next time you go out there, it's like there has never been a fish within 10 miles lol. This is why I'm always working on new ways to acquire new clients, even if they are just old methods that I need to revamp :D [b]2. There are multiple solutions to one specific problem[/b] SEO is ridiculous like this. It's like asking "Where do you build a backlink to increase your rankings the most?" and you'll get 9,382 different answers because everyone thinks they know what they're doing, or you get people who actually know what they're talking about and still get 1,593 answers haha :D One of my favorite questions is "How long will it take until I'm ranked #1 for my keyword?" haha :D My response is always "How long is a piece of string?" and I can then see the light bulb go off in the customers mind. Usually it's a good thing, but every once in a while they get angry with me because I didn't answer their unanswerable question lmao. [b]3. Most people won't understand what you do[/b] YESSSSS!!!!!!!!! On dozens of occasions I've attempted to tell people what I do and they always think I'm a blogger or I just spam links across the internet lol. One of my close friends still thinks I just spam links all over the internet because when I say "I help my clients increase their rankings by doing proper off page optimization and on page optimization. And yes, I build backlinks for my clients all the time" he thinks I'm the person on facebook spamming affiliate links lmao :D [b]4. Tools can help but don't expect miracles [/b] I remember the day when SEO software was what everyone was using and claiming they were getting top rankings haha. They might have been #1 for a little while, maybe a day or two, but then they got banned from the search results because of the 1,000,000 profile links they built using xrumer :D I'm not going to lie, I had a lot of SEO software that focused on backlink building, but I never really abused them like others did. [b]5. Most clients are a pain, especially new ones [/b]Another point that is spot on. Most of my newer clients are more of a burden than a happy time. They pay me pennies on the dollar and expect to beat Google for the keyword "Google" lol. This is one of the main reasons I've stopped many of my websites that were selling backlink packages, it was more of a hassle managing the charge backs and disgruntled clients than it was profitable. Sure, I made some quick money, but it wasn't worth the worries of not knowing if all my orders are going to be getting free services and then I'm out of a lot of money :( [b]6. You will constantly need to learn new stuff [/b]Always be learning :D I tell people all the time that if they're gone for a few months they'll have a stack of books to read in order to catch up to all the new things that have been implemented by the search engines lol :D I always tell people that I'm reading every single day, and they never believe me because it's all online and I'm not reading a hard cover book. But it doesn't matter to me because I'm obtaining knowledge, regardless if it's online or in a physical book :D[b] [/b]

7 years ago

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vinaya

All of these are important points. The technology, especially internet technology, is rapidly developing and the tools that were very valuable until recently are useless now. A few years ago, Page Rank was considered very important, however, these days you have to concentrate on metrics such as Domain Autortit, which was almost unknown a few years ago.

7 years ago

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Barida

The truth is that development is really going on the internet and it's those that are keen to catch up will be relevant in a few years time.

7 years ago

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vinaya

You should watch the trends. If you do not go with the trends, you will be swept away. You should also keep an eye on the new developments. If you can you will have to implement those new developments. By doing this you will already have a control when these new developments become popular.

7 years ago

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overcast

I think SEO is like making goal into goalpost that always changes. And also the amount of traffic that we expect from the SEO keeps on changing with new algorithm. I think that's another reason why I think SEO industry is harder to work with these days. i personally don't think SEO is something one should follow all the time. And one should always keep on moving. That's the thing about the SEO that one needs to understand as well. I have learned that with my experience.

7 years ago

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vinaya

Some of the SEO techniques will never change, for instance, when you were doing SEO in 2010, you had to use keywords in the title and body of the content. Now in 2017, or 2018 for that matter, you still have to use keywords in your title and body. In 2010, nobody was talking about Domain Authority, at least I did not hear, however, these days webmasters have to care about Domain Authority. SEO trends are changing, yet there are still some evergreen SEO techniques.

7 years ago

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overcast

I agree. But domain authority is something I don't believe in. I have seen that as a more of poor theory though. I mean low domain authority pages are ranking high these days. So that is something I find it harder to believe to be ranking. Apart from that I'd say that I believe in the SEO on page working for some of the people.

7 years ago

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augusta

You have said it all,people will never understand what a SEO experts does,maybe because it not really a design course in school,so it looks like a very unserious work for jobless people,so one doesn't need to waste energy trying to explain because people might not understand, yes,alot of tools out there but it need the function of a human to work or else it dormant and the issue of clients being sceptical is a norm especially first timer,theyre never at ease untill the job is delivered.

7 years ago

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Barida

You're right on the fact that those who are not serious might find it hard adapting to what we want to teach them. I've got couple of friends like that and all I did was give up at the end.

7 years ago

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kgord

I think it is hard for those to understand what SEO is if they are not in the "business" so to speak. It is constantly evolving and changing so even if they understand it one day, they may not another so it is one of those things that you have to be in the loop to understand and be able to draw from. It is just one of the options that many people wish they could understand, and probably don't.

7 years ago

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Barida

One simply has to be in the game of SEO to be able to understand what it is all about and with changes on a daily basis, it gets harder for those starting new.

7 years ago

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potentialwriter

From those facts listed above, I truly saw that tools can help, but there are no miracles anywhere from tools. What you can get from tools are those suggestions needed to come out of the crowd. For instance, one of the SEO tools used by online entrepreneurs is the keyword search tool which gives you keyword suggestions and shows you how you can make perfect selection of low competitive keywords for the ranking of your website.

7 years ago

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Barida

It's all about working hard for it. I've come to realize that most things that payoff on the internet are those things we really have to work hard for at the end.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

"You will constantly need to learn new stuff"--Amen to that. If you do come into this business hoping for miracles without realizing that you truly need to continuously grow and learn as a professional then you will soon find that you are quickly left behind by those who are open-minded to new experiences and o learning from their mistakes. As kgord said above, this SEO environment is constantly mutating, shifting, and evolving, and so the person investing in this foray and moray must be willing to also constantly mutate and evolve in order to seize the constant opportunities or possible financial successes to be had.

7 years ago

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Barida

No miracles for anyone dreaming of becoming the best when SEO is being mentioned for it is something that requires serious work and understanding of how things work on this side in order to excel.

7 years ago

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Tronia

First of all, don't worry but you aren't old yet! Plus with age you only gain experience and learn new things.

I can actually completely relate to the 3rd point. You have no idea how many times I tried to explain to people what SEO even is... And it is extremely hard. The majority of people will not understand it.

And the 6th one is extremely important to know as well. SEO is one of those areas that constantly changes just purely due to the search engine algorithms changing too. You need to adapt fast.

7 years ago

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JoeMilford

I am still figuring out what SEO is, lol. Is there a quick reference guide or quick fix for this? Could you recommend sites or resources to go to to further explain the nature and function of SEO? I am learning about it as I go, but I could really use a crash course, if you are willing to steer me in a direction here. That being said, I also value the experience gathered with age, but I do sorely miss the energy I had when I was younger when it came to approaching and completing tasks!

7 years ago

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Baburra

The one about the target being always one the move resonated with me the most. I think a lot of people just think of this to be like any other service wherein they pay someone to finish the job and as soon as that is done then it's over, but since everything changes constantly and so rapidly it really is hardly the case. I think the sword is just double edged in this case because most people aren't educated in it and thus can't appreciate it as much but at the same time it's the same reason why they would need to hire a professional in the first place.

7 years ago

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overcast

Yes every alternate quarter some new SEO algorithm is going to be applied. And that is going to keep you busy making changes. So SEO and Social media are now brand specific agencies these days. You can see that it is going to affect in many ways. You can see that not all the people can get results either. So it's kind of hard to judge too.

7 years ago

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potentialwriter

Tools are really necessary for building SEO, but no one should ever expect miracles from anyone. There are still other facts unmentioned that help you out in achieving SEO marketing. SEO is the all-important resource for anyone wishing to have a successful online business.

7 years ago

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Corzhens

I you have a website especially if it is for business, I agree that it is a continuing learning process. You have to do research, apply for testing and do research again. It may be a trial an error but as long as you have the enthusiasm to learn and improve your skills with SEO, you will surely be advancing your goals little by little. And as they say, the SEO is not an exact thing that you cannot expect the result in a given time frame. You just have to be patient and continue with your chores of attracting the search engine algorithm.

7 years ago

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SEOClerks

Six facts about the SEO industry that nobody told me

Six facts about the SEO industry that nobody told me

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