I run across a lot of paranoia in the SEO business. Most of the time it comes from clients that want to keep their marketing efforts a closely guarded secret. To me, this is especially funny in the SEO industry. I can't imagine somebody being stumped at how their competitor consistently shows up in the top rankings for their keyword phrases! It's almost like someone running a commercial on TV and hoping that their competitors can't quite figure out how it got there. It somehow remains a mystery that the commercial first had to be produced and the ad time purchased. Top rankings? Where did they come from?

But hey, who am I to deny someone their paranoia right? I recently had an exchange with someone on just this topic. Here is how I responded:

I look at it like this. People will always have competitors. Most of them don't know what they are doing and a few do. Some may even know more than you or me about our given industries. All of that, to me, is irrelevant because I cannot stop the idiots from trying and failing and I wouldn't be able to stop the smart ones from trying and succeeding. It's gonna happen no matter what.

Our industry is a clear example of this. People with absolutely no experience set up shop as "SEO" experts daily. Very few of them make it. Heck, I didn't know much when I started out either, but there were very few "experts" in the field back then. The difference between me and the next guy is that I gained knowledge and experience and built a successful business out of it. I have also built a business that offers something unique in the industry. This is something many in our industry don't know how to do.

What do I do about my competition? Not much. I may keep an eye on a certain number of them but other than that their success will not hinder my success, unless I stop trying to be the best. The SEO industry is full of experts who routinely speak and search engine strategy conferences. In effect, they give away their expertise, the very thing that people pay them for. I write and distribute articles all giving free advice not only on SEO but also on running a successful business. I don't care if other SEOs read it because as long as I continue to strive to be the very best at what I do I will always be successful. I may not ever be the very best or the most successful, but I shoot for that and let everything else fall where it does.

No matter what, people who need and want information bad enough will find it. Those that don't, they may stumble across the information but they won't be effective at implementing it. Why? Because they don't want it bad enough or they only have a fraction of the information, that which they stumbled upon. Those that seek knowledge will find it and will be successful. Everybody else is noise that can be tuned out.

I'm pretty sure I didn't change any minds here. I also want it to be noted that I completely respect the opinion of the paranoid. Its just funny to me, all much ado about nothing. But that's just me.