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You are a Certified Sucker

By Kris Roadruck | August 25, 2010

Oh internet… where to begin. We SEO professionals see bullshit every single day so admittedly the most surprising thing to me is that I’m capable of still being surprised at all with the sheer level of stupidity run rampant in our industry. I’ve bumped into this one a few times but it still gets me every time. Without further ado I present to you:

THE SEO CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL!

 

It all started out innocently enough. I posted a couple of job openings on the SEOmoz marketplace and indeed.com looking for a mid-level experienced SEO project manager to add to our team. All of the usual suspects responded. You know the ones. Ignored the “full time in-office opportunity only, no outsource operations or net-commuters” and sent me their broken English “Dear Sir/Madame I’m Habeeb and my team can get you to #1!” form (spam) letters. After I deleted those without reading passed the first sentence carefully filed those away for future reference, I stumbled upon a real gem.

Holding a MS from NYU and claiming vast experience in all areas of search, analytics and email marketing – he almost made it to the “to be interviewed” pile. That is of course until I got to the part of his resume that read:

SEO CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL

WTF? Since when did our industry elect a governing body sanctioned to pass out certifications?

I quickly fired off an email to him telling him that there was no industry recognized certification and that representing himself as holding one disqualified him from working for us (common sense is one of our prerequisites).

He replied in short order to tell me I was misinformed and that he did in-fact have such a certification obtained from seocertification.org. Oh goodie! Let’s take a look!

Before I’m even 10 seconds into the site I note that they didn’t even apply one of the most basic SEO fundamentals: Canonicalization

Observe:
http://seocertification.org
http://www.seocertification.org
http://www.seocertification.org/index.php
http://seocertification.org/index.php

Well hmm maybe in googles new search engine little details like this don’t matter anymore. I mean what do I know compared to these l33t SEO experts? I am, however, confused how they proclaim to be  “The pre-eminent source of information, education, and certification assessment for the constantly evolving Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry worldwide” on same page as they list Alta-vista and Lycos logos as if those were still remotely relevant.

Those names ring a bell? Oh yeah, that’s right, they died about the same time as the first Playstation and dial-up Internet. But hey maybe I’m making a snap judgment. Best to look at the testimonials before walking away from an opportunity to “Benefit from Industry recognition, Enhanced job opportunities & increased customer satisfaction”. Let’s see…

“I wanted to keep you posted on the current ranking that my new site has received from MSN’s Search Engine. I’ve copied and pasted the results as of today. I’m delighted to say the least for receiving a position in the top 5 for the keyword ‘seo optimized’.”

OH SNAP! I want to know how to rank for useless keywords in search engines that no longer exist too!!! But how long does it take to learn such amazing skills?

“I actually found myself glued in front of my computer once I had registered and downloaded the Study Guide. I didn’t want to stop reading and practicing the test questions. All in all, I spent 3 days doing this and then felt I was ready to take the exam.”

Crap. I must be doing something wrong. Here I was under the impression it took years to hone your skills in this industry but apparently the geniuses at seocertification.org managed to compress all that information down into a digestible 3 day study guide.

LET’S CUT THE BULLSHIT:

Q: Is there a real SEO certification?

A: To make it short and sweet – No.

SEO is a constantly changing field, moving with the winds of the geeks at Google and other search engine behemoths. With each “feature” change and exploit and counter-exploit in the improvement to the search algo, what is a proven tactic today may be obsolete in a month. In such a dynamic field, any such “certification” at present will be rendered pretty useless in just a year’s time.

In addition, there is a sharp difference between being “industry-certified” and obtaining a “certificate of completion.” To sum up the difference, certification means being truly tested and approved as an expert by the industry’s recognized certifying body, such as the MD certification for physicians. A certificate,meanwhile, is just a fancy piece of paper which, depending on the situation, can interchangeably be used for either wiping your ass or impressing a potential employer who knows nothing about the position he/she is interviewing you for. Take your pick.

In the end, you don’t need a PhD (or certification) to know the difference. It all boils down to common sense. Would you pay for “SEO certification” from a site that’s not optimized, and lists engines you haven’t searched since Netscape Navigator?

I think not. But then again, I’m not certified. What do I know, right?

Topics: Business Bullshit, Myths and Crap, Reality Check | 43 Comments »

Posted on 25 August 2010 by Kris Roadruck

Self-proclaimed SEO Ninja with an affinity for sushi and energy drinks. Director/Co-founder of click2rank and an unashamed (proud even) grayhat. Detests bullshit - prefers scotch.

has written 1 articles for SEO Bullshit

  • http://searchmarketingwisdom.com alanbleiweiss

    Kris,

    This is one of the classics. I had someone offer to send me that study guide a while back. But really – what’s there to know? 3 days of studying the sample questions? Yeah that’s clearly better than real world learning based on real world client challenges.

    What’s sad is that they spin the bullshit so well that unsuspecting people go that path, then actually think they can apply for work in the industry. :-) Then again. that’s actually pretty funny :-)

  • http://blog.webpro.in Bharati Ahuja

    Surely SEO certifications do not matter. It is only the experience of working on various sites which gives you the knowledge.

    SEOs who have gained this knowledge over a period of time since early 2000 know that but people who want to take it up as a career today want the knowlege in a capsule form, which is ok to get started by getting aquainted with the terms and terminology.

    But by just appearing for an MCQ online exam after that does not sertify that your are an expert SEO.

    Had posted an article related to this on my blog a few days ago.
    http://blog.webpro.in/2010/08/do-seo-certifications-matter.html

  • Anonymous

    Whoo! And here I thought you were going to take on adwords and analytics certification. Still took the test of course, but for 50 bucks a pop, I guess the rest of the industry are suckers too.

    As for this fantastic gem, if they can monitize that shit, play on. I regard it in the same way as hocum peddlers. Suckers are asking to be fleeced. It’s a shame I have ethics keeping me back.

  • http://twitter.com/onreact_com Tad Chef

    Wow. It seems to be a great business model. There are quite a few of the certified suckers out there. Just the first category:
    http://seocertification.org/searchresults.php?bcat=Content%20Creation%20/%20Search%20Engine%20Copywriting
    I even found an Indian company I kind of liked before there:
    They even display the certification on their homepage http://www.kneoteric.com/
    which makes me kind of sad.

  • http://www.topnotchseo.co.uk Ahmed

    Salford University in Manchester are actually starting a course in SEO!!

  • SorbetDigital

    And only $89 – what a bargain!

  • Amy Mc

    I’m going to take this exam and add it to my CV.. just for comedy value. It may even help me swap from being an Account Manager to a Project Manager. Plan Stan :)

  • http://www.martin-greenwood.co.uk Martin Greenwood

    Absolute classic post.. actually had me laughing.

  • http://www.goosh.co.uk/ Goosh

    Love this article Kris. There are so many of these out there now. The good thing is, it’s so easy to pick holes in their service offerings that they undo their claims themselves.

  • http://twitter.com/click2rank Kris Roadruck

    I have nothing against COURSES in SEO. Heck I’ve taken a few myself. Im embarassed to admit the first bit of SEO knowledge I ever got was from a stompernet video and while there was a lot of garbage in it that I level figured out for myself, it was still a helpful jump off point.

    But for a site to just up and decide they are the certifying body for the industry when no one in the industry that matters endorses them and dupe people into dumping a couple hundred bucks into a cert that is almost assuredly going to PREVENT them from getting hired… thats a whole other ball of wax wouldn’t you agree?

  • http://twitter.com/click2rank Kris Roadruck

    Glad you liked it. I’m actually thinking about emailing it to the guy who applied. Perhaps he will get a laugh at his own expense or at least learn something.

  • http://twitter.com/Doc2626 Sheldon Campbell

    Great post, Kris. You could make a Never Ending Story of that kind of crap! I’m sure that SEOs the world over (REAL SEOs, not the crap-hats that buy into and utilize that kind of garbage) would gleefully forward enough anecdotes to bury all the SEO Universities that exist in someone’s extra bedroom or on their kitchen table.

    Looking forward to seeing more from you here.

  • http://twitter.com/vinceblackham Vince Blackham

    Great! Time to throw away my certification I just got! What’s next…you’re gonna tell me that the 250,000 search engines I just submitted my site to has no value either??!!

  • http://yoyoseo.com DanaLookadoo

    Add to this crap SEO approach are design agencies who display Google certifications and say they “do SEO.” Yet, they have multiple canonicalization issues like this and multiple city-specific exact-keyword domains displaying content. BUT the average paying customer doesn’t know any difference.

  • http://robjones3030.wordpress.com/ Rob Jones

    This post has been awarded the coveted 6-Stars Award by the International Registry of Blogs that Don’t Suck Much. Feel free to display our prestigious logo on your site.

  • http://robjones3030.wordpress.com/ Rob Jones

    dup remvd

  • gmd

    They offer “gauranteed results” !

  • Raghavan

    Classic post. Do you think the industry needs a governing body ??

  • http://earnmybusiness.com Jeffrey Taylor

    Great post kris,
    Wow yo really scared me, I have been doing SEO for 15 years and have no certification!! You hit it right on the nose! Anyone who thinks he can spend 3 days taking a crash course on SEO is dangerous to the clients that he manages to attract using that Certification badge. Keep up the great work!

  • http://h2sampk.com/ gdnf

    Yes there is several interesting points there, who certifies the first certificator and so on. But yes box al right, a lot of dark shadow over the SEO bull, they suck just like a big black holes and takes the reputation out of SEO by the gravity of the big black bull.

  • http://www.undergroundleads.com ConnorBringas

    Wow this is hilarious. I like this site good job. Who would put that on their resume..seo certified expert thats ridiculous. The industry is constantly changing. Anyway good post

  • Anteela

    Great post! Perfect timing, actually. My company finally got a bigger, steady stream of revenue and we’re looking to expand. I don’t look forward to sifting through applications filled with B.S. like that, speshul snowflakes with their “qualified individual” buttons or “certifications” and nothing to show for it.

  • http://www.linkedin.com/in/internetmarketingnickstamoulis Nick Stamoulis

    Hilarious post! SEO Certified…really???? SEO is always changing, I don’t think anyone can call themselves SEO certified…it takes years of working in the industry to even consider yourself a guru!

  • http://seobullshit.com/lda-google-games/ Let the LDA Google Games Begin | SEO Bullshit

    [...] in detail? That like a 3 day SEO course? And a link to Bill’s work on named entities? Those are actually some relatively different [...]

  • http://www.caydenryan.com/ Cayden Ryan

    Wow, where to begin on this one… I am by far not an expert in SEO, getting closer, but not an expert. I have alot to learn, alot to study, but for someone to say they are SEO certified? Interesting….

    I just wanted to thank Kris for giving me yet another place to give someone my hard earned money for a badge of certification that doesn’t exist. I am getting quite a collection.

    Also, when Googling, and yes I believe that will be in the Websters dictionary soon, I came accross this http://www.seoconsultants.com/seo/certification/ you should send this in a message back to the guy applying for the job. He might need it…

  • http://www.caydenryan.com/ Cayden Ryan

    Holy shit!!!!! I found another one to spend money on!!!! WOOT!!!!

    http://www.expertrating.com/Search-Engine-Optimization-Certification.asp

  • Kar Kar

    shit post.
    Still many companies in the world may get impressed with the cerficate. better than cannot show anything.

  • http://joshuatitsworth.com joshuatitsworth

    Better to show real experience and success than a badge on a website.

  • Cecilia viesca

    I get your point, and maybe it doesn´t make sense if the interviewer is someone like you, Kris… But I can assure you if you try to get a job as a SEO assistant, or manager, or specialist or whatever in Spain, it would be much much easier to get the job if you have a shitty certificate. It´s called “Titulitis”. If you don´t have a certificate/title, you don´t know how to speak english, even though you´ve been living in England for three years… If you don´t have a certificate/title, you don´t know how to do SEO, even though you´ve been working on it for 10 years… And then I wonder why the economical crisis is so strong in Spain… we are just… behind :(

  • http://www.marketingweb.com.au Matthew Cummins

    Better to learn improved English grammar also!

  • http://www.marketingweb.com.au Matthew Cummins

    The other thing I noticed beyond how crazy it is in general, is the site looks like it was designed in about 2004. It is jammed way across to the left, and isn’t professional at all.

    If you are offering a certification in ANYTHING web related, legitimate certification or not, at least get your website looking professional and up to date!

  • http://www.refrigeratorfocus.com keepitreal

    Lol absolutely-sometimes when I see fairly popular or high PR sites and the whole thing is off to the left, my reaction is “how could they??” I mean learn how to center a webpage for goodness sakes. Watch a youtube video, something….

  • http://creative-web-designer.com Scott

    there’s no substitute for experience, great rant!

  • http://twitter.com/santuwebstr Santosh Prasad

    Lol.. ROFL content :D .. LMFAO :D

  • Wayne Strong

    Market Motive has a seo certification course (as well as other areas of internet marketing and analytics). The “master” certification is faculty reviewed by some top names in internet marketing. It costs as much as 3 conferences at 3500 bucks. Do a little clever searching on google and you can find most of the course available for viewing.

    But for the everyday customer a $89 certificate will seem like the seo agency knows their shit.

  • Anonymous

    I’m sure that SEOs the world over (REAL SEOs, not the crap-hats that buy in to & utilize that kind of garbage.

    Motorcycle Accessories

  • Drachen

    OK – whole post and comments were funny, but for some reason, this one had me start tearing up with laughter!

  • http://www.alprazolambuy.com/ Alprazolam

    I don’t look forward to sifting through applications filled with B.S. like that, speshul snowflakes with their “qualified individual” buttons or “certifications” and nothing to show for it.

  • BuyGiftsItems

    I just got! What’s next…you’re gonna tell me that the 250,000 search engines I just submitted my site to has no value either.

    a deal a day

  • BuyGiftsItems

    I just got! What’s next…you’re gonna tell me that the 250,000 search engines I just submitted my site to has no value either.

    a deal a day

  • http://www.celebseo.com/ Tamal

    Hello Kris, I just stumbled to your post from Google, I was searching on this topic. I am looking forward to the google analytics certification and some more learning material. What do you think about the SEO course offered by www.marketmotive.com led by some industry people including Rand Fishkin of SEOmoz.

    Again the best certification I think is when you can really put together some proof out there, that you really made it to #1 for your own site, would be beneficial.
    Thanks

  • http://www.autocarloansearch.com/ Auto Loan Companies

    I don’t look send to looking through programs chock-full with B.S. like that, speshul snowflakes with their “qualified individual” links or “certifications” and nothing to exhibit for it. 

  • AfroWiking

    Thanks for your article. end of my search about getting certified. And about a course? isn’t it better than with a mentor(s)? few of the sites and tools out there (i.e. seomoz.org) along with my own brain?
    Again thanks for this article ;)

    AfroWiking