SEO: Keeping In The Game

SEO is an ever changing landscape and different actions will always have different effects. The fundamentals may stay the same for long periods of time, however things will change that need to effect the way you work. Spending time searching the internet, reading blogs and getting involved with forum discussions will go a long way to helping you stay at the front. Networking with lot's of different experts will really help, and should also help you grow your business. This article aims to help you through the process on staying sharp.

Blogs

There are a huge amount of SEO blogs on the internet, many of which are updated on a very regular basis. As you'd expect, the quality varies but some are written by some very clever people who's advice and experience will certainly add weight to anything you do. My personal favourite is the SEOmoz blog. It's always well written and stuffed full of useful information. It's also written by some top industry experts so you know you can trust the information being shared.

Forums

Forums differ quite a lot from blogs, but they have their own specific benefits. Forums are full of discussions about what works and what doesn't work, and these threads can often get a little heated. Information taken from forums should be taken with a pinch of salt because you never really know who is commenting. However, if you're finding something confusing it's a great place to get lots of different opinions to help you form your own.

Events

Every industry holds it's own regular events and conferences and SEO is no different. If you are looking to get fresh information right from the horse's mouth, these are the places to be. Often, they boast speakers at the top of their game, all trying to help educated people in the latest SEO developments. Conferences and meet ups are also the best place to be if you are looking to meet and network with other people in the business. Both Europe and the USA have regular events throughout the year, have a quick search and see what you can find!

Testing

To try and prove what you think is correct, seeing the results happen is unbeatable. The best way to learn and test SEO could be to build a site exclusivly for the purpose of testing new ideas. If you want to see how a title change, a URL change or the effects a new link will make; you can gather results first hand. If someone is paying you good money, it's probably best not to test new ideas out on their site, always try and know what you are doing first. Having a website that you can test idea's on is worth it's weight in gold.