Search Engine Marketing Spot

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So you want to be a successful search engine marketer, show your clients or put on your resume of having a certification for SEM or SEO. There are websites out there that do offer certifications you can purchase and take courses online, which I will list at the end of this article for you to look more into. If you have the money to waste and time to invest then by all means go out and get a certification if you want one that bad. Currently there is not one certification that is required by any company to have and no accredited certification that the general public will know about and actually understand. The only one that might stand out is the Google Adwords Qualification because most people know the Google name.

If you want to prove yourself worthy to potential clients or to a company for a possible job position then try and build a nice portfolio showing the work you have done in the past. That portfolio will go a longer way then any certification will because it proves the work you have done gets results. By having just a certification that does not prove anything, that just shows you paid some money, took a few tests and that is about it. That certification does not prove to anyone that your work will produce results, it just shows you have knowledge in an every changing industry. Put that certification up against a decent portfolio and I bet the portfolio gets the client or job offer before any certification.

These certifications are currently a waste in my opinion if you are just starting out in this business, as often as this industry changes that certification and what you learned does not go very far. If you got that certification a year ago, chances are what you were taught is either of no use now or not as relevant as it was 12 months ago. Now if you have experience already in the industry, have a decent portfolio displaying your work then getting a certification is just an extra bonus to add the “wow” factor for any potential new client. If you going for that new job opening then the company might look at it in two ways. One being you wasted your time and money getting that certification, but since your portfolio is good and proves your work produces results, they will still hire you. Or two they will see that certification and portfolio and be in total amazement and hire you on for even more money now because of that certification (although I highly doubt it).

The only certification I would say is a great tool to have is the Google Adwords Qualification. As stated before most people know the Google name and by having that on your website and portfolio adds more credibility to your work. It is not that hard to obtain, it currently only takes 3 months of managing an account of $1,000 or more and passing the test. Google has a great help section setup that has videos and practice quizzes for each section. Taking the time and going through these you will probably learn new things about Google Adwords and PPC in general.

Currently there are no colleges that offer SEM or SEO on there course roster, if there are please let me know so I may list them. If you would like to get a certification in SEM or SEO then you can do some more reading on the following websites. Details, pricing and contact information should all be here for you as well. If you do decide that a certification is in your best interest then I wish you the best of luck, and no I am not being sarcastic.

 

SEOCertification.org

SEMPO.org

Expertrating.com

Alzains.com