Richard V. Burckhardt, also known as The Web Optimist, is an SEO/SEM trainer based in Palm Springs, CA with over 10 years experience in search engine optimization, web development and marketing.

I started out to be a journalist, snagging my first reporting job at the Houston Chronicle around 1982, but a little something called a personal computer was introduced to the masses in the 1980s, sending me on a slightly different career path. Somehow writing about technology seemed more natural to me than writing about bank robberies or sports.

So, now I have experience in the publishing field, both online and offline, as an Internet marketer, search engine analyst, web site developer, blogger, writer and newspaper reporter. I have designed and written software user manuals, news/feature articles and web site/blog content. Training and teaching background, too, including one-on-one and classroom, as well as software beta testing, search engine optimization (SEO), e-marketing and tourism experience.

I was raised in Houston, Texas, have lived in Dallas and Austin, but the desert area of southern California near Palm Springs is home.

I love to write and am currently writing and editing two blogs (The Eye Zone and The Web Optimist) and doing SEO as a full-time virtual contractor.

I offer this blog as a resource for those wanting to learn search engine optimization or to just pick up some tips. I go into more detail in SEO workshops, which I currently offer to local web site owners and small businesses. Contact me to set up a workshop for your business group of five or more people in the Palm Springs area.

By the way, local Palm Springs web-based businesses are welcome to add their sites to my Resource Directory as are SEO related sites of all kinds.