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.
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 why I respect folks like Matt Giovanisci.
Don’t know Matt? He’s the guy on my resources page under “I think there’s only one SEO course on the market worth buying.”
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
Similar to me, Matt’s built his entire life on SEO with sites that teach folks about things other than SEO:
- How to take care of swimming pools and hot tubs
- How to home brew beer
- How to make the best coffee EVER
And combined, his sites get millions of views each month.
I’d say he knows his stuff WAY more than one of those fake gurus, eh?
That’s why I’m pumped he made 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 Matt’s course is for you.
But Brendan, surely there are other SEO courses out there that are good, right?
Maybe. But I’ve know Matt for years and have spent hours talking to Matt over Skype – just as friends, but also for my podcast and as a bonus interview in his course.
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 Matt’s course.
He and I were talking and I mentioned something was missing so you know what we did? We recorded an hour-plus bonus interview for the course on that topic.
Because that’s the kind of guy Matt is.
You can check out his course here.
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.