Why is Nigeria lagging behind, and why is there also lingering unproductiveness in the information and communications world?
Sure, one of the reasons is this; we do not have sufficient skills to bridge between the available resources and the technological needs. Acquiring signif-icant skills, et al Acquiring significant skills, then packaging them for sale would be a good decision any young and smart entrepreneur can take at this time. At the moment, training people on information technology and proficiency in e-commerce) is still a very profitable venture.

Only a few people have the core knowledge. The rest, which form the largest percentage, need someone to put them through the right track; someone, who will teach them how to do it.

In essence, you can acquire the skill and start selling it to others, in view of the fact that the market is there. At this point, in the event that you are disconcerted on which skill to acquire and start selling, you may have to try the SEO market.

It is one of the most lucrative but yet untapped markets on the internet. For instance, if you are an expert in the field, you could be hired and paid an average of $15 per hour on a project.

The SEO market
SEO is an acronym of Search Engine Optimisation. It is a continuous effort of increasing the position or ranking of a website in most search engines.

If you have been familiar with popular search engines such as Google.com, you will find out that, when you place a search, some results come before others. The ones that come first are the ones with high search engine ranking.

Why SEO? The major advantage of having high ranking in search engine is that web surfers will prefer to visit and check on websites at the top ranking, which might, in the long run, turn into sales, profit and referral for such websites.

Suffice to note that high ranking in search engine is not easily attained; there are steps to be taken to get there. However, these steps need to be learnt.

This is where you need to train yourself, and this is where others need you to train them for a pay consideration; if you will acquire the skill.

Launching into the market
Experience and practice have proven that there are two major ways to launch into the SEO market. Firstly, you can start as an agent or representative for large corporations that major in link building and search engine optimisation.

Most of these organisations are located outside Nigeria. The other way to start is to get relevant training in link building and search engine optimisation.

How can you go about getting the training? This is simple; you will have to learn by practice.

At present, there is nowhere in Nigeria where you can get a structured class on SEO. So, this is the mode. You will have to buy a three-month do-it-yourself SEO service.
One of the most recommended companies for that class of service is ‘seoauroin’; an India-based SEO service provider.

While you use their service, they teach you what to do, you then learn by practising day to day, based on task. By the time you are competent enough, you can start rendering the service to others or teaching others for a good pay.

Profitability/viability
If you desire to acquire the skill and start selling it–which is the most recommended-you will have to invest once and reap the reward for as long as you have the energy to serve.

To acquire the training, you may have to invest up to $400. But, once you become capable to deliver, there is no limit to what you can earn.

As it was stated earlier, you can be hired, even by ‘seoauroin’ and will be paid an average of $15 per hour on a project. Then, if you can work for six hours a day for different corporations, you will be earning roughly $90 every day.

In order words, if you have a project at hand, your average earnings per day would be around N12,500.

There is no limit to the benefits of acquiring knowledge in SEO. It will be useful for you if you want to stay and succeed online. You will also be able to impact into your immediate environment by equipping others with the skill.

Also, note that the information here may not be sufficient to get you started in the SEO business, it is just a pointer.

Ensure you do your due diligence before you embark on the venture. If you are a newbie, you don’t have to be discouraged, because you have to start selling something. Try to get the book, ‘Beginners Guide to e-commerce’.

Contributed by Olu Oludimu, 08051614052.