SEO Training Observations and Comments

After every videocast there is a small non graded quiz that covers what was talked about in each section.  Each video varies in length, but they are all quite long.  Additionally the videocasts are at least 30 minutes in length, if not more.  I can not give an exact time due to the way the videos are broken up.  One possible option that would be great to have would be a way to add it to my ipod (podcast).  I would love to use my1 hour plus commute to listen and study these topics.  There is no official way to do this, but I suspect since it is a streaming video feed, that one can simply grab it if they really wanted to.  Also, I think the quizzes could be more in depth as well.  They are really short almost too short given the length of the videos.  Lastly, it would be great if the videos themselves were of a higher quality.  For the amount of money that we are paying I would think this could be accomplished.  I understand that these Master Certifications and classes are new on the scene so there probably was little to know seed money involved, but going forward, it would be nice.  Kind of like how the SEOmoz Training Videos are.  The second series is way more higher quality.

Even though I am not yet done with the first course, I am pleased with the pace.  Given that this is a Masters Search Engine Optimization Certification Course, the first section should be the most basic and if this is the most basic then the rest should be really great.  I am looking forward to more advanced topics and they even added some cutting edge sections.  One section that should be worthwhile will be SEO for Mobile Devices.  This is an area that is going to explode and I have yet a real world chance to focus any effort into expanding my knowledge on this subject.

Day 1: Orientation

Today was the first day and we all had to call into an orientation phone conference.  We went over the syllabus, where and what the assignments are, and what we are going to be graded on.  I am not going to chronicle as much as I can without giving everything away for free.  These courses cost $3500.00 a pop and we used the discount code and saved $1000.00.  The first day of orientation was actually cut a little short.  There was some phone trouble on the instructors and he was dropped from the call.  He did make arrangements to continue the call later in the day and to set aside time tomorrow to finish it up if anybody was unavailable.

My Expectations

I have a lot of expectations going into this training and certification course.  As with you, I was a little leary going into.  I mean is there really any true SEO Certification Course out there that is worth its salt.  As I was learning more and more about the course being offered by Market Motive and Search Engine Journal, the more it sounded like this was worth it.  What I really like about the course is that it is being taught by some of the best people in the field; Avinash Kaushik, Bryan Eisenberg, Andrew Goodman, Andrew Goodman, Matt Bailey, Jennifer Evans Laycock, and Todd Malicoat.  Additionally after watching the Faculty Panel Challenge from the last class, it highlighted that you have to really earn this Master Certification from top industry practitioners.  Michael Stebbins in that video indicated that not everyone made it to this point and not everyone who made it to this point is automatically going to pass.

Initial Overview

At this point, things look pretty good.  There is a nice balance between theory and hands on experience.  There is going to be a self guided e learning video course.  Each section looks like there is a nice range of assignments, mini (non graded) quiz’s, readings, and videocasts. At the end of that, about half way through, there is a final test on this material.  Then we have a hands on project where we get to demonstrate our knowledge of SEO/SEM.  There are also some essay questions that need to be completed and a peer review of  a classmate’s project.