James Carson+ | December 22, 2011
18 comments

The Great SEO Coding Debate

So in my last post, I put my number one pet hate in SEO for 2011 as being told that I should learn to code. There’s a camp that says it’s wrong to point this out as bullshit (coders), and a camp to say it was right (non coders).

Just to clarify – (and this is rather difficult on Twitter) the position stated is not that coding sucks, or that no one needs to learn how to code – of course there are massive benefits to this. I think in SEO you must at least know HTML and some CSS and XPATH functions, otherwise how on earth could you do a site audit?

But to always say that learning to code is nigh on necessity, as Will Critchlow (@willcritchlow) did at Search Love and Dom Hodges (@thehodge) did at BrightonSEO (for the record, I thought they were both great presentations… but), just doesn’t really ring true. Unless I have a mentor with someone to bounce ideas back, it will be an expensive investment of time to start learning a server side language. And why should I when I work with a team of developers who would be far superior?

I also think it’s more advantageous to focus on things I genuinely have a passion for – such as social media and search integration. There are loads of specialisms in SEO and skillsets that don’t require coding, but can still make you indispensable to your business: good ideas are helpful. Often the best creative people might not have a coding brain, but they can come up with sensational ideas such as Devastating Explosions or Take this Lollipop, and get technicians to execute them.

Do advertising copywriters need to code? Is this SEO? I’d argue that big ideas now fit into an SEO team’s remit. Just ask Sam Crocker (@samcrocker) after the production of mahifx.com.

I find it a little annoying, and quite misleading to imply that SEO is a purely technical discipline and that coding is a necessity. I would like to learn, but I’m probably not going to unless it becomes a necessity.

Please stop telling us it is.

Category: Satire, SEO | Tags: ,
  • http://sharkseo.com/ SharkSEO

    I don’t remember The Hodge’s presentation saying (or even implying) that it was a necessity to learn to code, and I know that mine didn’t say that it was required – although I did stress the point that it was a very valuable skill.

    I also thought that @richardshove’s post on State of Search was a very good argument as to why learning to code isn’t a necessity.

    With that said, I do believe that being able to code is an extremely valuable and useful skill, whether it’s because you’d like to build tools & sites that attract links (like mahifx), or just have a better idea of what is and isn’t possible with the systems that you’re working with and advising clients’ technical teams on. Just recently I found it much easier to work with a client’s tech team advising them on how to build a faceted navigation on *their exact system* – and my knowledge of how it could be coded made the entire process much easier to explain, quicker and far more efficient.

    James – you’re a very good writer, and in much the same way I can imagine the ability to write excellent and useful content has helped you out, SEO-wise, in ways that you perhaps didn’t expect and in ways that are hard to explain. Being a great writer is not a necessity to be a great SEO, but I’m sure you’ve found it a very useful skill and one that you, most likely, would not list as “bullshit” simply because it can be outsourced, right?

    I’m not saying that being able to code is a requirement for a great SEO – but I do think that it’s a phenomenally useful skill, and as such seems a bit strange to list as #1 on a “things that are bullshit” post.

  • Anonymous

    Hey –

    I remember pretty clearly Dom saying ‘all SEOs should learn to code’ – so I can put that as implying necessity.

    Also – I haven’t said that learning to code is bullshit – and I’ve made that clear above. I’ve said that being told to learn code at conferences as a necessity is bullshit.

    I would like to learn more. However, I work inhouse, not always doing SEO, and it’s probably never going to be a strength of mine and it is not a necessity because I have a team of developers to work with that can build tools if I want them to.

    There’s quite a range of skills in SEO, and to try and learn everything is not going to make you as indispensable as being really good at one thing.

  • http://twitter.com/Thehodge Dom Hodgson

    I did say that all SEO’s learn to code and I stand by it, thats not to say that your crap if you don’t but I just think it adds a lot more to your skill set and you can understand the technical problems a lot more, its a lot easier to get a dev team to implement your pretty urls if you give them the htaccess rules :)

  • http://twitter.com/Thehodge Dom Hodgson

    I also think SEO’s should be able to write and spell which is something I struggle with massively :)

  • http://twitter.com/Thehodge Dom Hodgson

    and one tiny thing… It’s Dom Hodgson not Hodges… ;)

  • http://www.willcritchlow.com Will Critchlow

    So I started by saying that there have always been two routes into SEO – the marketing and the technical – and that it was really the technical SEOs who I believe are well-served by “speaking computer”.

    I believe the future of our discipline is more integration of the two kinds of skill and ability. Certainly one of my big goals is to learn more about the traditional marketing / psychology side of things…

  • Anonymous

    Thanks for the comment Will.

    And thanks for pointing that out, I think that slipped my memory. But yeah, I feel rather heavily on the marketing side, and we spoke afterwards about the integration.

  • Anonymous

    Hey Dom –

    Thanks for the comment – Hodgson it is!

    If you guys can teach me, then I’d be willing…

  • http://twitter.com/danbarker dan barker

    Can we just make a 4-circle venn diagram of ‘Goal Focus’, ‘Technical’ ‘Marketing’ & ‘Change Management’ & agree that you can get by with a good amount of any 2, but the more knowledge you have of all 4 the more rounded you are?

    Then – we’ll throw all the money in the air, and whatever god wants he can keep.

  • http://www.willcritchlow.com Will Critchlow

    You’re right, though, that there was perhaps a little too much hyperbole in my presentation. Sometimes I think you need the rant to get through to the people you *do* want to reach.

    For the content crew / writers though – I would recommend having a dabble. I don’t think it’s *necessary* per se, but I do think it changes the way you think in good ways and opens up new perspectives on things.

  • http://twitter.com/danbarker dan barker

    I knew it. This was all just cynical mentorbait.

    Mentorbaition – #1 trend for 2012.

  • SharkSEO

    We may well be arguing the same point here:

    1. You don’t need to be able to code to be a great SEO
    2. But it helps a lot

    The reason I’ve been very defensive about it is because, despite you saying “I haven’t said that learning to code is bullshit” you have written a blog post that begins with the words “a roundup of the biggest bullshit that prevails the SEO industry” and has, in big letters in the #1 position, “learn to code”.

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Will

  • Anonymous

    Thanks Will –

    It’s good to have your view and I do agree with your last point.

    I guess that everyone needs to have a viewpoint when speaking, and it’s best to have one that says: do this, rather than saying: yeah, do this, but it doesn’t really matter.

    If you want to get any insight into the media side and how SEO works for us, then just let me know. Maybe you could show me server side stuff in exchange :-)

  • Anonymous

    Totally agree – in fact, I wrote a post about it: http://www.jamescarson.co.uk/socialsearch/2011/09/05/multi-tasking-seo/

  • Anonymous

    Sure. Thanks for your comments, good to have the balance.

    I guess if I was in an atmosphere that allowed me to learn this fast, then I would do it. I’ve just got to say, learning new skills in silo (particularly when you’re so busy doing what you do best) is very expensive time wise, and you can never be sure you’re doing it right.

    That said, I’ve built a few static websites from scratch and they actually work – scripting is another dimension but one I’d like to try.

    Yeah, it’s a little sensationalist to write that post and put that as number one, but it was just my opinion.

  • http://www.shaadhamid.com/ Shaad Hamid

    I am from a Business/Marketing background and feel rather handicapped with regards to the technical side of things. I’ve managed to teach myself basic HTML and CSS but I must confess I can’t hand code a decent looking website without help. However, like you said I do have my own set of skills that are valuable to my employer, but until I am able to code I wouldn’t say I am a good enough SEO.

  • James Carson

    Hi Shaad – thanks for the comment. That’s fair enough, but it depends on context. If you’re business doesn’t have many developers, then it’s good reason for an SEO to learn to code. On the other hand, most inhouse SEOs work with a development team, so there is little incentive to do their job for them.