Is it possible for a newbie like me to quickly pick up the concepts of SEO and apply them to my site successfully

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Clare Xanthos: Hi, I recently started a freelance academic editing business, and am new to the concept of SEO for promoting my wordpress website.  ;I've just ordered an easy book that is supposed to explain SEO to inexperienced website owners, and I have joined some SEO communities on Google Plus.  ;My question is: is it possible for a newbie like me to quickly pick up the concepts and apply them to my site successfully (I would prefer this) or is it necessary to employ an SEO consultant (I would like to avoid this if possible, but am open to it).  ;Also, any tips for promoting my website (SEO/other) would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance for  ;advice/comments/opinions on any of the above!
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  Mike Stetzer: I think for a lot of people in this community, myself included, we learned SEO by necessity, just like you are doing with your new website. I think this forum is great and can help you out tremendously. You should know though that with SEO, you should not expect to see results overnight. ;
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  Brent Wildman: The answer is: possibly both. ;
  
  The trick is not to get discouraged. You're not going to see results right off the bat, in fact it might take several months to see any measurable growth (dependent on a lot of factors).
  
  You might find it's too labor intensive or time consuming, after all, you are running a business and writing title tags, posts and tweets will become less of a priority than dealing with customers and finances.
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  Amber Robinson: +Mike Stetzer ;and +Brent Wildman ;are right. Results don't come overnight and there are so many people in this community, and beyond it, that are willing to share their experiences to help you learn best practices.
  
  In the end, though, something will suffer and typically it's the website for business owners.  ;
  
  As often as things are changing in "SEO" (which is a term most are trying to pull away from) I can't imagine running a business and then expecting to learn, understand, and implement all the best practices for a website. Especially considering the constant change and updates. ;
  
  If I was you I would take a look at your competitors. Do they have a strong online presence?
  
  Are you a service area business or do you have a location? Have you set up your Google+ Local page and are you familiar with the guidelines and new dashboard?
  
  And honestly, I think there are plenty of blogs I could direct you to that can keep you up to date with anything going on in this "SEO" world better than any book can. Just let me know what you want to learn first :) ;
  
  All the Best!
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  Clare Xanthos: +Amber Robinson ;Thanks very much for your post, and thanks to +Mike Stetzer ;and +Brent Wildman.
  
  To address your questions:
  
  I guess I count as a service area business as I haven't provided a physical address...this is my website:
  http://clarexanthos(dot)com/ .
  
  I have set up a Google+ page but I am not sure whether it counts as a "local' page (I'm fairly new to wordpress and google+ and not familiar with a lot of the terminology).
  
  I would be very interested in the SEO blogs you mentioned...if you could name some, that would be great.
  
  Finally, some questions:
  
  I was wondering what you/anyone else thought of the "pay per click" strategy of attracting new clients while waiting for the SEO work to yield results. Is this something you would recommend?  ;Are there any pitfalls to watch out for? Is there a minimum amount one should pay a month for this service.  ;
  
  Going back to SEO, is there a way of obtaining affordable yet reliable ; ;SEO services? At the moment, I can't afford $500 per month, which is what a lot of SEO sites appear to be charging. One more question - is there any reason why people pay for SEO every month? As I'm new to all this, I was assuming that once you paid for SEO, it would be a one-off thing, like building a website.
  
  A lot of questions, I know! If you/others can answer any of the above, that would be great :). ;
  
  Thanks!
  
  Clare
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  Jim Munro: You are welcome here, +Clare Xanthos ;:)
  
  I'm not sure that I agree with +Amber Robinson ;'s contention that an individual blog can safely be relied on. Consider that a community like this is peer-reviewed. I would be reluctant to bet my shirt on the basis of one person's opinion, or even a group opinion from one source. We put our answers out there and provide a means for them to be challenged. You can evaluate their worth by the responses.
  
  You have also asked many questions in a comment here, this might not be the best way to get the result you are looking for.
  
  If you ask your questions one at a time, they will first be answered by our community here, and then reviewed by our panelists during our weekly Hangout On Air.
  
  SEO is an amalgam of opinions, you might benefit from our diversity. :) ;
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  Clare Xanthos: +Jim Munro ;Thanks for the advice on asking questions. The weekly Hangout On Air sounds like a great idea...I look forward to benefiting from it :).
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  Clare Xanthos: +Amber Robinson ;Thanks so much - very helpful! The only google plus page I have is this one. +Clare Xanthos ;
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  Jim Munro: I have removed Amber from this community on the basis that we do not permit touting for business here. I have nothing against seeking business, I think that's an honorable pursuit, but I also think touting is counter-productive to our aims here. I have also removed the comment that made this necessary.
  
  The ideal community would have a membership solely composed of those genuinely interested in helping others sort useful facts from misinformation.
  
  If a business relationship occurs as a result of contributions here, I am glad to hear of it, but please, let it be spontaneous, do not actively seek business here.
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  Masatake Wasa: Given the specialized nature of your discipline and your work, I would start with the bigger picture. Where does your online presence fit with your business (model)? What do you hope to achieve with your site? ;Is it for example going to be the primary vehicle of transaction, or the first point of contact for prospective customers? ;Whom are you trying to reach, and who would be interested in your services (not everyone on the street has a manuscript on social sciences that needs substantive editing: but organizations, authors, students may)?
  
  There are many aspects to SEO: some are conceptual (the essentials of which wouldn't be too difficult with an analytical mind and skill), some are technical (this is getting certain things right, and something you need to learn, as it involves detailed knowledge based on conceptual understanding), some are assessment, evaluation, and diagnostic skills (which you tend to learn on the job as it were, thus based on a lot of experience and the ability to make the right call, by asking the right questions and looking at the right places), some are marketing (so the kinds of things I've mentioned above).
  
  Some elements of SEO are making sure that your site displays well, reads well, and is understood well by the search engines, but other elements of SEO are essentially instrumental, i.e. a means to an end. That end may be commissions in your case, and for that you will need to reach the relevant audience constituting potential customers: ranking for something for ranking's sake isn't going to achieve much.
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  Clare Xanthos: +Masatake Wasa ;Thanks for your very helpful comments; I really appreciate the time you took to consider my specific niche area.
  
  To answer your questions, yes, the website is going to be the first point of contact for prospective clients.  ;I’m trying to reach university academics (professors and researchers for academic paper/book editing) and students (primarily for dissertation editing).  ;
  
  I’ve recently had two ESL (English as a second language) academics/clients who needed editing help with their research manuscripts prior to their acceptance for publication.  ;I think there is quite a market out there among international/ESL academics for the editing of papers/books that are to be published in English.  ;I just need a steady traffic of potential clients as opposed to people just stumbling on my site by chance. So I think I need my site to rank high in terms of the keywords that potential clients may use (e.g. academic editing, dissertation editing).
  
  Thanks again!
  
  Clare
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  Steven Ciccantelli: PPC can be a short term solution until you are able to see the results from your efforts.
  The more I read in this community the more confused addicted and frustrated I get.But it will be worthwhile in the end as there are just so many smart people here...lol
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  SeoWix: Hi +Clare Xanthos ;You have two different questions in one.
  let me address them one by one.
  understanding the basic concepts on SEO is not too difficult.  ;basically SEO is spread over 3 major phases.
  1: Keyword Research
  2: Onpage Optimization
  3: Offpage Optimization.
  
  most of the people start learning things on SEO once they launch their own website. it is like implying these short term information they gain through different sources, on their own websites instead of becoming a full time SEO consultant.
  SEO is a game of discipline, quality and consistency. It is ok with most of times to do SEO for your own websites but again it depends on how much time you can spare out of your schedule including maintenance and updates on your website.  ;
  anyone with a small effort can tweaks on first 2 points but offpage optimizations ranges from backlinking to social media, advertisement, reputation management etc.
  they are time consuming though easy to understand except back linking and unless someone know what they are doing.
  
  Why someone should employ SEO agency?
  
  the simple answer is to outsource these time consuming tasks to people those can handle it with discipline, quality and consistency. ;
  no one owns web, even google. but each search engine providers have made some algorithms on how they throw results when someone search. these algorithms keeps changing on daily basis and then there are major updates on these search results once in a while like famous penguin updates.
  
  Outsourcing SEO tasks to people who do it as a full time job is not bad because they keep themselves updated with all the updates happenings on search engines and they maintain in-house staff to conduct hectic and time consuming tasks for their clients.
  
  How to Promote your Website?
  to keep getting organic traffic on your website, you would need to follow above mentioned 3 phases in sequence. The rest are.
  
  a: Participate in your niche related forums, communities and pages.
  b: write compelling and interesting content on your website which compel people to share it with others
  c: social sharing your website and content with your pals.
  d: submit your site to niche related web directories.
  e: if it is a local business or services, submit it to local classifieds, local directories and yellow pages etc.
  
  Remember there are three essentials in current SEO scenario.
  1: Effective communication
  2: Useful Information
  3: High quality backlinks
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  Masatake Wasa: I think it might be worth organizing your site so that information is presented more clearly. For example, think about the flow of information for your prospective clients: I am [an academic, a student, etc] looking for [proof, copy, or substantive editing] in [general health, epidemiology, health policy] and I would like to see examples of your previous work [portfolio, if you have one and you have permission to use from the previous clients].
  
  There are naturally some issues with offering substantive editorial help to ESL students in a professional capacity (when does a piece of work cease to be the student's after your professional help).
  
  My feeling is that while I would certainly make sure that your site is set up correctly, and the technical side is taken care of, as well as ensuring the site is easy and useful for your prospective clients, I would spend more effort in really understanding the market, and where you can find your prospective clients. Ads in general but high-quality science magazines, or in student / college / university / alumni newspapers or newsletters (print and online) might be more effective and cheaper than an online PPC campaign. LinkedIn is probably the best fit in terms of social media platforms.
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  Clare Xanthos: +SeoWix ;All of this information is extremely useful - thanks so much!
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  Clare Xanthos: +Steven Ciccantelli ;Thanks!
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  Clare Xanthos: +Masatake Wasa ;Great points! The substantive editing for ESL students is definitely something I will be careful about.  ;To date, I haven't had any issues with requests that amount to rewriting. The definition of substantive editing that I provide for prospective clients is: "spelling, grammar, punctuation, word choice, sentence construction, moving sentences, paragraph flow, moving paragraphs, suggestions for further improving the document." Thanks again!