I've loved SEO/Inbound marketing since the day I started studying it. The ability to get your website traffic/recognition for next to nothing is an awesome feeling. Obviously it gets tougher as Google get's smarter, but when you see your site climb up the rankings over your competition, all that hard work pays off and it's an extremely satisfying feeling.

What about the world of SEO do you love so much? What keeps you driven?

Whether you love or not, SEO is a must for every web owner if it intends to keep its site business-oriented. As for other fun-oriented web masters too, getting a good traffic drive will certainly add pleasure. So you cannot null the SEO strategy in today's web world.

For me, I love how everybody (for the most part) works together rather than competes. It's unlike any other industry. You'll never see restaurant owners tweeting great new tactics they've found. It's why the SEO industry develops so fast.

I love the strategy behind it all. Analyzing the competition, coming up with fresh content ideas, etc. Its a tough job but it wouldn't be fun if it was easy.

I'm with Hyrum, it's the people in the industry like Rand that make it fun

I love the people first and foremost. There's some bad eggs, but by and large, the people I've met through this field are remarkable individuals - warm, caring, kind, and empathetic, but also driven, and fascinating to spend time with.

I also love the mix of math, science, and art. If you are great at any of those aspects, you can be an outstanding search marketing by leveraging your strength. That mix is really cool.

Finally, I love this field because it's so hated and reviled by many on the web. While I'm constantly fighting to help change that perception, I also recognize that it means a lot of opportunity exists because others have avoided investing in it.

Well said Rand, I couldn't really lay my finger on what it was but it really is a "mix of math, science, and art" that makes SEO so darn fun. Interesting that you mention you love the field because it's so hated why many would say it's a frustration. Then again, it's a great feeling to work with a skeptical client who got screwed by a previous "SEO" agency and see their website/business succeed. 

So agree with you Rand. I used to be in religion. Believe me, the people in SEO on the whole are a lot more interesting, fun, and even ethical to work with than those folks. And yes, it's kind of fun to be the underdogs.

I like the simple notion that there is no "right" answer. Instead, the right answer lies in testing, testing, and more testing. And, of course, once you find positive results there is always room for more. Finally, as Rand alluded to, the people in this field are great. Everyone is willing to share the results of their tests, successes, and even more importantly, their failures.

It's an ever-changing fields, and although it takes a lot of time and effort to stay current, I think it keeps everyone on their toes.

Kudos for this great discussion topic and happy new year!

Good point. It really is true that there is no "right" answer. It's what makes SEO so fun as it forces you to be creative. Thanks for your thoughts, Harris!

For me SEO is the top thing on the web (everything on the web is a part of SEO) & this is the only field where people are more happy to help each other

I agree with Hyum. SEO allows for meaningful collaboration, which returns better results than competing directly.

You know why ? Because of "Friendly Competition" that's why ;)

To me SEO is an entire world of its own, some what of an exclusive club that allows people to join, who've invested into the self education of the 'art'. Granted it can be some what frustrating to find sites that rank ahead of your due to black hat tactics but in the end the white hat prevails

But my never ending need (possible OCD?) to dive deeper and understand more is always put to use in the SEO world, as the best way to put it in my eyes is SEO is an evolving organism which can eat up your sight if you don't stay on top of it.

What other industry can you make thousands per month from an initial investment of $5 a month? <3 SEO

I find SEO fascinating because of the way one simple update can have such a massive effect on things.

As a support worker at a special needs school, no two days are the same which is why when I get home I enjoy reading latest tactics from a great group of friendly people and see how I can apply them to my projects.

It's a great way to network and also helps keep the mind active!

It's a fast moving industry which makes every day different and always provides new opportunities to learn things. Working for an agency I also get client diversity which means tactics change, mindset changes and there are always new challenges. I have to mention the community as have others - never would you find a group of companies who compete sharing such valuable information. I also thoroughly enjoy the content side of things as well as the technical bits and pieces. You have to think outside of the box with content which I really like and the satisfaction of seeing things 'work' when you've put so much effort into them is absolutely brilliant.

For me... it's a puzzle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Could I lose anymore sleep. Just when I think I might have solved one issue Google comes along and moves the goal posts.  Yes all design to make search more useful but running a site single handily is not easy and seo does cause me a number of problems.  Just wish I could figure it all out.

Have to admit I certainly admire those willing to spend days, weeks and months pulling seo apart and then putting back together so that it works to their advantage.

Some awesome answers so far! Not a whole lot has been mentioned about money. SEO in general is a fairly well paying field, and often have minimal costs like Marcos mentioned. Yet because of the talent and difficulty involved, you can be well compensated for your work. Is the money factor a reason to love SEO for anyone?

SEO community is one of the reasons, I've never seen community like this one which shares every thing with each other. We are like a Giant family.

It really is great. I love the fact that we have a community where everybody is always open to new ideas and advice. It's what makes SEO so great.

I really enjoy doing inbound marketing for a couple of reasons:

1) the combination of left-brained and right-brained thinking it requires - you get to be both creative and analytical.

2) It's like a video game - but you can do whatever you want and the "points" you earn are money :)

It is, for me, the same as what Rand said - "mix of math, science and art."  I love the analysis, the strategizing, the testing and the winning.  I love that I can outrank established businesses in a matter of days for some clients and weeks for others.  I love every + on my rank checker and every "win" in the revenue column.  As Matt Gratt said "the points you earn are money"!  I like money.  

I also like that it feels like we determine the future of this all-powerful internet. Less spammy?  Sure, let's do that. More high quality content?  I'm for it.  That helps me in my own personal life.  I love seeing inside my clients' companies - seeing what others are doing, how they're pushing foward, what motivates them, etc.  Basically, I just love SEO & inbound marketing.  :) 

I love helping small businesses grow. By improving their SEO they really notice a difference to their business - and for small businesses this can be the difference between staying afloat or going bust.

I like the simplicity. You can get all technical and metrics-driven, but also somebody like me can rank naturally for their keyword by just pumping out great content :)

Great point. Sometimes I feel SEO's make the industry harder than it really should be. Create great content. Simple as that!

I love the strategy and the competition. All this make me a constant struggle (and I and competition). I like to be one step ahead of the competition and when the results appear, satisfaction is high!
Increase in work!

The best part is it is not taught in any institute or colleges, the whole web/community is the place to learn it. Everyone loves to share what they learn despite the fact that we all are competing.

With the increase in the number of multilingual websites all over the world, business owners have now realized the advantages of the localization of the websites and also the contents in them. For those individuals who are doing it for the first time, the process of getting the website translated both in terms of content and design greatly suited to the tastes and cultures of the local cultures has appealed to many people locally.

In order to ensure that the website has a good listing on the foreign search engines, it is very essential that you use the services of a specialist website translation service provider at the earliest. This will help in the localization of the content on the website and also help to suit the local SEO guidelines. When the designing of the website is done by the designers, it is very essential to ensure that it can be adapted easily by the translators and the web designers who will be working on the website translation job. Expert translation companies have now come to realize that the type of products and services that have been marketed and the type of website, determine the optimization technique for the specified language.

I like the challenge! We SEO'ers are trying to look for some strategies and ideas on how to improved our site visibility. 

I've always loved computers and the internet and I adore writing and text in general. Even writing in this little forum box gives me a real buzz. The buzz of trying and testing new techniques and trying to make a site as natural as possible is something that really appeals to me and I get great pleasure out of on-page optimization. Sad, but true!