Students can also test drive software programs before buying them. The Academy offers independent study versions of both their Essential Foundations and Advanced courses. Also, Advanced students can purchase continued access to the course material once the course is over, so they can keep up with the latest changes in the industry. If the company is focused on too many unrelated areas, you can bet that you won't get the quality or quantity of information that you'd get from a company whose entire focus is on the search engine industry. The Academy is operated by full-time professionals who are only interested in that one focus.
Some companies are in the business of providing courses, and that's it.
They aren't worried about making contacts in the industry or attending workshops to further their education. Keep in mind that information is power, and the more contacts a company makes, the more information it will glean from those contacts. That valuable information can then be passed on to the students. The Academy considers it very important to send representatives to related conferences, and it does so as often as possible. The company has formed liaisons with leaders in the industry such as GRSoftware Inc., Planet Ocean, IP Delivery Software, WordTracker, PositionPro, Search Engine Watch, Searchbutton, Inc., Position Solutions, and more.