Forum Moderators: open
Are there any approved courses out there? Diplomas?
Yes.
To become legitimate SEO consultant - No.
Academy of Web Specialists by Robin Nobles has been available for years - it provides the basics, but only gives you a learners permit.
The vast majority of legitimate SEO consultants are self-taught spending a great deal of time analysing and observing search engine trends.
The best recommendation - remain at WebmasterWorld at read alot, ask alot and remain open to a variety of opinions and suggestions.
I think this is a very grey area throught the entire web developent industry. Most people are entirly self taught and have probably got more knowledge that some university graduates. Because of the way the web is evolving, in order to be a "pro" you need to be a constant learner. After all if one year on the web is the equivilant of 10 years in the real world, by the time you have become qualified your knowledge is out of date.
I think formal qualifications will never really take off, but any form of course where the trainer is reputable (as in the case of the AWS), it will give a good grounding on the basics.
I think in order to be able to charge others for SEO it's not going to be enough to say look what I did to my site. Prospective clients will want/need to know the steps you will take, what they get and what it costs. In the early days you will find that price will often be the lever you have to get people to give you a try. Maybe even a few freebies, in exchange for a testimonial.
Charities are always crying out for help, so why not approach a few local to yourself and offer your services. Charge nothing other than any fees that you may incur for domains/PFI/directories.
It's about WOM and reputation. Both come with knowledge and time.
I'll definately second the "read lots of stuff" as a way of gaining education. I have about 6 ring binders stuffed full of articles and magazine clippings for everything. I would go for the paperless office, but I like the security of knowing that if a site went down tomorrow I had the knowledge of things to pass on.
