Of the many hurdles surrounding the effort of getting one’s website safely and promptly into search engines, the one skill that is least discussed, is also the most frustrating. This is the one that will make or break trust between an SEO company or consultant, and their clients. It’s the one that hits hardest on DIY (Do-it-yourself) website owners.

This little trouble-maker may creep on you, will keep you up long into the night, and will most likely lead you around and send you on wild goose chases. In simple terms, the one skill that may make you, the SEO, and you, the website owner, the most crazy, is that the rules change often. Without warning.

You may become a researchaholic.

Not everyone is as devoted to reading search engine company patents like, Bill Slawski, of SEObytheSea. It’s what he does, and because he does this, many more people are now kept current or even a few steps ahead of what the next new, cool, mysterious algorithm thingy will be.

Unfortunately, there are a zillion places to get really bad, misguided information. It takes some time to learn who the credible resources and people are. Good luck on that.

I love the challenges of working on corporate websites as the usability support for their designers and SEO’s. However, I’ve never strayed too far from my roots as a single mom teaching myself everything and sifting through the junk to find the tidbits of authentic information. There were no schools for SEO or web design when I was learning. I didn’t bother to tell people what I did for a living because nobody knew what a “webmaster” was (and I hated the weird looks I got. Like I was doing something naughty.)

Today, there are schools that teach and the search engines themselves provide gobs of informational sites that will define terms, present tutorials and showcase articles. There are schools too. The one I’m associated with, The Search Engine College, is experiencing fast growth and preparing for the changes that popularity brings with it.

Kalena Jordan, founder of The Search Engine College, (along with her husband), has put up a well written, easy and fast read that includes links to get you going on tasks right away. It’s called How to Make Search Engines Happy in 3 Easy Steps. It’s perfect for small and medium online businesses, or anyone who has a website that wishes to get it into search engines without fears of doing something incorrectly or wrong.

Look Out For

The search engine marketing industry is beginning to teach the next generation of SEO professionals, while continuing to offer solid resources for those who simply love the challenges of promoting their own websites.

My favorite must-have is the well received Search Engine Marketing Kit by Dan Thies (The link will take you to my review of this huge book.)

There is the newly launched Fresh Egg Search Engine Marketing Internship programs offered in the UK.

I’m aware of more, of course, and there are new educational or learning support opportunties on the way.

For a very affordable online course experience, the search engine marketing courses offered at The Search Engine College are worth checking into. Several offer Certificates of Course Completion. They also offer my one and only Web Site Usability self-study course, because Kalena is one of the first SEO’s who recognized the value of the relationship between search engine marketing design elements and user centered website design.

Which, of course, is the other part of the ongoing saga of learning all about SEO.

Sooner or later you remember that people will visit your website too.