That’s the most burning question that people who are new to search engine optimization often ask. “How can I get up to speed with SEO fast!” That’s really the nature of the game. People who don’t know anything about search engine optimization don’t want to waste their time reading multiple books and training packages to come up to speed. It takes time and is not the best way of using your time to read the same things over and over again. So I am going to use this post to talk about how I would go about learning Search Engine Optimization:

• Read Books: SEO books may not be as important as they used to be. The industry is too volatile now to get a snapshot of it in a book. Having said that, books are getting updated every 6 months or a year. You should at least get a new SEO book every quarter to read on the new topics. Of course, if you are a SEO pro, you can keep up with the latest developments with blogs, forums, and so on, but if you are VP of marketing and just want to know enough to be dangerous, books are the way to go (SEO Bible is currently the one SEO book that is updated with social media and other new developments in the industry).
• Read Blogs: there are not many SEO blogs out there for beginners, but you can use blogs such as “search engine watch” to keep up with the latest developments in the industry. You may not understand everything that is going on, but you wouldn’t look baffled when someone talks about, let’s say, “local” search.
• Advanced Training: a lot of SEO gurus used to have books, white-papers, and things of that nature for those who were interested in SEO training. Guys like Aaron Walls created digital SEO training packages that were much more comprehensive and cutting edge than ordinary books. But they also understood the nature of industry, so that’s why we see membership sites such as SEO Book and Immediate Edge. I would focus on these training packages after reading a book or two on SEO. These are not for everyone but those who want to stay on the edge of the search industry.
• Seminars/In-class Training: Bruce Clay and SEMPO both have in class training and certification program for SEO. Once again, these are not for everyone as they are expensive. Having said that, a lot of people prefer going to seminars such as SES to learn things than actually taking time to read up on stuff.
• Paid Subscriptions: I talked about subscription-based training courses (e.g. SEOBook) above. But sites such as SEOmoz offer subscription based information (similar to Economist’s service). You get the latest industry analysis and premium news using such services. If you can afford it, these sites are worth looking at.
• SEO In Practice: practice makes perfect, and one way to do that is by buying a software package such as Web Position or SEO-Elite. These packages have comprehensive manuals that show you how to do things with practice (given with their software). I personally learned a lot of what I know from playing with these software packages.

As you can see by now, there is no short-cut in this process. It does take time, and if you don’t know anything, it will take even more time. But reading a book usually is the fastest way to get your feet wet in the SEO industry.