If this has been covered already, my apologies. I didn't really conduct a search on the forums. I did on the main SEW site.

Has anyone ever heard of companies offering certifications for SEO? I came across a site today (seocertificationdotorg) and they are offering SEO certifications and claiming to be reputable. I was just wondering if anyone has known about this or not? The last I knew, there were not any developed certs for this industry. Maybe I was wrong or just out of touch.

I would just like to know if this site is legit and whether or not it would even be worth the small fee to pass an exam and get a certificate? Does anyone know if they are even creditable? I couldn't even discern from their site who was actually running it.

Just curious.

JEC

If this has been covered already, my apologies. I didn't really conduct a search on the forums. I did on the main SEW site.

Has anyone ever heard of companies offering certifications for SEO? I came across a site today (seocertificationdotorg) and they are offering SEO certifications and claiming to be reputable. I was just wondering if anyone has known about this or not? The last I knew, there were not any developed certs for this industry. Maybe I was wrong or just out of touch.

I would just like to know if this site is legit and whether or not it would even be worth the small fee to pass an exam and get a certificate? Does anyone know if they are even creditable? I couldn't even discern from their site who was actually running it.

Just curious.

JEC

http://www.sempo.org/learning_center/training/courses/aseo_obj/

There are plenty of organizations that provide "certifications" based on their own criteria, however there is no industry recognized certification program.

There are plenty of organizations that provide "certifications" based on their own criteria, however there is no industry recognized certification program.
Please elaborate on "industry recognized?

Many would argue that both the Bruce Clay cert as well as SEMPO's cert are recognized by the industry.

By industry recognized I simply mean that one would not be permitted to call themselves and SEO without having passes a "recognized" SEO course. Much like one cannot call themselves a lawyer without having passed the bar exam.

There are lots of "certification" courses out there and I'm sure many are very good, but to my knowledge none are recognized to the point that if you don't have it you cannot practice.

I've been to Bruce Clay's site many times and for some reason I have never noticed the certifications. I've met and talked with him personally and sat in on his presentations at SEW a few years back and I know he's a great authority in the SEO world. Thanks for the head's up.

I guess my next question would then be, who is regulating and setting standards for the SEO industry? Is there an authoritative body, similar to the w3c.org's authority for web standards, that is deciding what the standards should be and what should be on the exams? Does this body recognize any specific trainers as legit and able to offer certs?

Let me give you an example of what I would be interested in avoiding. And this may be a poor analogy but bear with me. Let's say I took a course from some company that offered Microsoft certification training and they were not recognized as a Microsoft Certified Partner. At the end of their course, I pass their exam and they give me a certificate that says I passed their exam. Microsoft would not agree that I have completed and passed one of their official exams at all since it wasn't offered by someone they recognize as having the authority to administer the exam. This cert would then be useless. It may have provided me with excellent knowledge, but because it wouldn't have the MS clout behind it, useless. If I put that on a resume, I don't think it would amount to much. I'd rather have the real deal, so that's what I'm trying to figure out.

The answer to all my questions may very well be that their is no such recognized authoritative body for the SEO industry yet and that I'll just have to take a best guess at which cert to opt for. I can and will accept that. And if that's the case, I do feel the Bruce Clay and sempo certs would be a good place to start.

Thanks,

JEC

their is no such recognized authoritative body for the SEO industry

Ditto! ;)