Calendar
Network
Feeds
aaronpaul
Great points. However, I find the quality of results in Yahoo better in a lot of cases. Google's tendancy to favor older sites brings back a lot of out dated stuff when doing research oriented queries. That's my experience anyhow, and that is part of the UI as well. But, I certainly can't argue with your points.
Good read - I'm still not convinced of how much business that being famous in the SEO circle brings in though. It may help get you a job with an agency, as this post mentions. But, as an independant - you can focus too much time making a name for yourself among your competitors. To really have "celebrity" help you bring in business - you have to be "famous" in your target market - to your potential clients, the people you serve with your SEO expertise - not just other SEOs.
Good points, Wingnut. I should note that I have been doing SEO for 10 years and make a nice living doing so. However, I go to maybe one search conferennce a year and most SEOs would have no idea who I am. But, I do have a lot of well placed contacts in the particular industry that I specialize (for the most part) in, as well as have good relationships with several high profile web developers and business consultants. The people who hire me aren't in the SEO community, that's why they need me.
I'm not saying that there aren't benefits, as you mentioned. But my time over the last 10 years has been better spent making contacts in worlds outside of the SEO circle. I'm very fortunate in that I don't need a famous SEO to "help me out" - because I am already a well established SEO in my industry with a proven track record (100% of my business comes from referrals), just not one who is famous to other SEOs. I'll take that over SEO "fame" any day...
Obviously milage may vary, but i would encourage others starting out to find an industry or industries to specialize in and try to be well known there, I think it may be more beneficial than trying to be a famous SEO. And if you do become a famous SEO too... hey, what the heck!
« previous1 next »
Story: 3 Rank Reporting Softwares Reviewed