September 21-27, 2007  | New Mexico Business Weekly

Google It: Search Engine Academy teaches how to stand out

By Kevin Robinson-Avila | NMBW Staff

Diane Velasco, who co-owns Price-Rite Auto Care with her husband in Rio Rancho, said she wasted a lot of time and money on the company web site until she attended a Search Engine Academy workshop in Albuquerque.

There she learned that her site lacked the basic coding needed for search engines like Google and Yahoo to find her home page and guide visitors to it.  That’s something that the Web designer and the site host she hired never bothered to tell her.

“If you don’t know what to ask for, you’re at the mercy of Web designers to know what there doing,” Velasco said.  “The workshop offers practical, hands-on knowledge that puts a business owner back in the driver’s seat.  Now I know what I need and I know what to tell my Web hosting company.”

Search Engine Academy of the Southwest — which launched in New Mexico last April —shows business owners, Web designers and others how to increase traffic flow to Web sites, said SEA trainer Emily Leach.  It also teaches concrete techniques to engage visitors once they’re there.

“Search engine optimization and internet marketing is just a huge black hole for many companies,” Leach said.  “They end up spending a lot of money and get nowhere.  We teach them how to make their Web sites much more productive while saving money on Web designers and search engine optimizers.”

Leach runs the local affiliate of SEA, a national organization started in 2005 by business partners John Alexander and Robin Nobles.  The two had paired since 2002 to teach workshops in the U.S. and Canada, but demand for their program grew to big to manage it alone, Alexander said.

“We had tremendous success, but we were just two people,” he said.  “We formed the Academy to build a network of hand-trained associates who could teach our material in workshops throughout the U.S. and Canada.”

The Academy now has 13 regional trainers, including Leach, who will soon expand her workshops to Las Vegas Nev. In October.  Asian affiliates also will launch the first SEA programs in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

It’s not a franchised organization, but we’d like to expand to include a local trainer in each U.S. State and each Canadian province.” Alexander said.  “All associates are certified to use and teach our materials.  They pay a commission back to the Academy for each workshop participant, so we earn royalties on every tuition sold.”

The SEA curriculum is constantly updated to keep pace with the rapidly evolving Internet, Alexander said.

The program is reviewed by the University of Southern Mississippi.  Workshop graduates can earn continuing education units, and they receive a certificate in advanced search engine marketing skills.

The workshops run from three to five days, depending on the skill level of participants.  Students learn techniques to increase their web site visibility on Internet search engines, improve Web page content to better engage visitors,  analyze the effectiveness of Web pages and compare strengths and weaknesses of sites.

They also receive six months of follow-up mentoring to provide individualized assistance, Leach said.

“It’s a lot of information to absorb in just three or five days, so we provide students with on-going support.” She said.

The next Albuquerque workshop is Oct. 23-25.  The cost is $1695 per participant, with a $200 discount for early registration by October 13.  Leach also offers free one-hour introductory workshops so prospective participants can learn more about the program before signing up.  The next introductory course is Sept. 28.

For more information, visit the local SEA Web site at www.searchengineacademysw.com, or call leach at (505) 332-0277.

krobinson-avila@bizjournals.com | 348-8302