Good help is hard to come by. The popular phrase now applies to the SEO industry. This sad, but growing trend within the SEO industry is being called a talent crisis. This dilemma includes both the agencies and the in-house community. People are hungry for information. In an interview with Webpronews, Amanda Watlington of Searching for Profit, talked with us about this “crisis.”

The majority of the well-respected patriarchs in the industry are self-taught. Although this speaks highly of these individuals, it also raises a problem. The industry lacks an educational program. A curriculum for SEO has not been developed for universities to use. In her experience, Watlington has noticed that she spends a lot of her time training others. Many times, her trainees include well-educated people, and not merely new-comers. There is a severe lack of fundamental knowledge. The fundamentals are not mainstream anymore. Large businesses are making mistakes as a result of this lack of education.

According to Watlington, there are two types of spam. The first type is intention-based. As long as there are rewards such as AdWords around, the incentive for intention-based spam is still present. Watlington believes it will be around for some time. The second type of spam is unintentional. It is produced when people make silly mistakes that could have been prevented with more education. This type of spam can be remedied. Education will come a long way with sitemaps and Webmaster central helping it out.

The SEO industry is an area of constant learning. It’s a fast-paced developing industry. Search marketers need to pay close attention because as the industry evolves, technology evolves, and the consumer even evolves. The consumer’s behavior is crucial because its influence is so powerful. Watlington believes that although search engines taught consumers how to search, now consumers play a role in impacting how search engines operate. It’s an exciting industry, and with all the developments, it is a good time to be a search marketer.