First, welcome to BrendanHufford.com!
(Wow, that feels weird. I really prefer writing how I speak. I would never say “welcome to brendanhufford.com out loud. Ever. Let’s not do that again)
I’m Brendan Hufford (clearly) and I’m pretty stoked you’re here. If you’re looking for somebody to cut through the BS and finally explain SEO, I got you.
I’ve taught thousands of people how to use SEO in their business and creative passions. I know I can help you, too.
I run this website by the motto: Work hard, be nice to people, and try not to get too lost creating something that matters.
It turns out, that motto helps me live a great life. It’s also what makes me (and you, soon!) really damn good at SEO. It’s really the core of what you’ll find on my site.
The SEO Manifesto
SEO is a skill and a process.
It can be learned by anybody.
It is based on a few core principles that are always true, no matter the context.
Every single creative and marketer that has success with SEO follows these core principles.
What SEO Isn’t (WARNING: RANT)
If you’re struggling with SEO, you’ve probably been told a lot of different things.
You’re not alone. That’s where I was, too, when I was trying to *learn* SEO.
Who should I trust?
What’s worth my time?
I’ll answer both of those questions, but first I’ve gotta get something off my chest.
SEO is not free traffic from Google.
SEO is not tools that do the work for you.
SEO is not blogging once per week and stuffing keywords in each post.
Most importantly, SEO is not sorcery. Too many fake gurus out there make SEO seem so damn complicated because they want you to buy $500 courses for….
Actually here, let me show you. This is exactly the crap I’m talking about:
SEO is not that. It is not thousand dollar courses.
So what exactly the heck *is* SEO then, Brendan?
[rant]
When I was learning SEO, I realized that everybody teaching SEO had no idea what they were talking about. That’s because most SEO blogs focus on one type of content: marketing.
Hear me out: Being successful in getting traffic from Google is hard, but it’s WAY easier to get traffic to a blog about getting traffic than it is for whatever kind of project you’re working on.
It’s like the world’s dumbest echo chamber. They read other blogs about SEO and then write the same stuff on their own site.
They’ve never actually had any success outside the marketing niche.
And while I’m not calling them out by name, you know who they are. The SEO “gurus” who have never made money outside selling their courses on SEO.
So when one of those people tried to tell me what worked using yet another example of how well they were ranking for “backlinks,” I was done. Full stop.
[rant complete]
If you’re nodding your head along with anything above, keep reading.
Or, click here to check out the SEO for the Rest of Us Newsletter.
So when I realized that, suddenly, I started learning from other people. People who had achieved SEO success for something other than their website about SEO.
I started studying people in two areas:
- People who did SEO for clients in a wide variety of industries
- People who had SEO success with websites outside of the marketing niche
and that’s when I found people like Matt Giovanisci, Ryan Stewart and Glen Allsopp. Three folks who have proven their work by ranking sites outside the marketing niche.
Even before I ever did SEO work for clients, I cut my teeth on websites about:
- Reviewing BrazilianJiu Jitsu (BJJ) uniforms
- Training for BJJ competitions
- The business of photography
That’s why I’m pumped to be creating an SEO course for just people OUTSIDE the marketing niche.
- Are you a designer?
- Are you a writer?
- A developer?
- A freelancer?
- Are you a scruffy looking nerf herder?
(Okay, maybe not that last one, but +10 cool points if you get the joke)
If you’re any of those, I think this course is for you.
But Brendan, surely there are other SEO courses out there that are good, right?
Maybe.
Like I said, I have 30+ SEO clients at any given time and work with companies from small local businesses near my house to massive venture-backed startups. I know what works and I love that everything I see working day to day is in will be in my course.
You’re Still Reading?
I appreciate you reading and hope you’re making the most of everything on this site, my podcast, and my YouTube channel.
I’d love to hear more about you, your goals for your business / project and how SEO can help. The more I teach, the more I learn.
Click here to check out the SEO for the Rest of Us Newsletter.