Poser Vs. Professional

First off, this is my first post in this forum and I would like to say briefly how great of a resource this site has been thus far and all the valuable insight and tips have been very helpful, so thank you to everyone that contributes.

So now to the point of this thread….

As I mentioned earlier this is my first post in this forum, however I have been reading on this forum for a little bit now and have seen multiple cases where people discuss "bogus seo experts" or "poser seo specialists" and I became curious in understand exactly what classifies someone as a poser versus classifying someone as a professional. There are obvious answers here, but the more important question that I believe needs to be asked is, What is a "bogus expert" and How does an inspiring SEO practitioner keep his/her self from becoming a "bogus expert"?

I say this with regards to me trying to establish myself in the SEO/SEM industry the "right way". So with this desire and mindset of learning and growing to become an SEO expert, I have submitted myself to as many reliable medias to learning the science as possible, but given the youth of the industry, I have been very limited in those medias with regards to their credibility.

So to sum it all up.

What is a "bogus expert" and How does an inspiring SEO practitioner keep his/her self from becoming a "bogus expert"?

What resources did you use and how did you use those resources in developing your SEO/SEM skill set?

How would you recommend a future/inspiring SEO/SEM specialist to keep from going down the "wrong path"?

What is the one single resource that has aided you the most in developing your skill set?


I hope that all makes sense.

Thank you in advance for your responses and I look forward to hearing them.


Cheers,

Jake

bogus SEO tries to SELL their services before they have learned anything. A bogus SEO thinks they are amazing and refuses to ask questions because their afraid that they will be called out for asking something that belongs in 'SEO 101'.

A real SEO has a proven track record of sites in which they have worked on. A real SEO isn't afraid to ask questions and rarely proclaims themself an expert. A real SEO won't put their clients website at a risk for being banned and also won't waste their time listing the site in '1000' directories for $9.99

how to become a 'real' SEO? Start up a website in which you can practice SEO techniques and after you gain positive results do it all again! Make sure to ask as many questions as you can and be open to all opinions. While many may be 'bad' it is possible for many people to be successful in SEO with completely different SEO techniques.

I am going to answer just these parts.


Listen to people whom have been down the path, I mean really LISTEN, shut up when you need to and ask as many people that came before you as you can possibly find.

Also doing it for myself and answering my own questions, domains and hosting are so cheap these days that throwing $100.00 or one of those free subdomain + php hosting deals with or without them plastering ads on it, makes for great playgrounds to test, test, test,test, test.


Always keep in mind whom you are targeting, USERS.
Listen to your gut, if you know that it is wrong or just feels wrong don't do it.


Myself, Jumping in with both feet into the deep end of a very very competitive niche and doing well.

The lines for either or are not fixed in the sand.

The only clear definitive difference between them "might be" the poser won't except accountability for their promises they make and the professional will.

As funny as it may seem, for me it's self-denial. It's denying to yourself that you are a professional, will make you strive for more knowledge. This keeps your mind open to new methodologies and unbiased ideas. Which in-turn promotes flexibility and adaption.

This however should not be mistaken for being needy. The moment you've gained knowledge, you also have to deny yourself from keeping it for yourself. You have to share it.

I also recommend Himanshu's old post on this subject, well worth a read.

If you're wanting to learn more about SEO then I'd strongly suggest reading "The Art of SEO" it's been written by some very well known SEO 'experts' and covers most aspects in great detail.

As for knowing who to trust, it's just gut instinct. Once you grasp the basics the rest is just keeping in with places like SEO roundtable, SEO moz, here and keep an eye out on Matt Cutts blog (although he mainly talks rubbish with the odd gem).