SEO (search engine optimization) courses will help you learn the ins and outs of ranking on the first page in Google and other search engines. The best SEO courses will teach you what you need to know to improve website rankings. When choosing a course, it’s important to find a course that provides up-to-date information as best practices for common search changes. Here are our expert-picked best SEO courses perfect for starting or enhancing your digital marketing career. SEO is like everything else. If you haven’t gone through practice, training, or some sort of education, it will be difficult to master. Luckily, the digital age has made it possible for you to learn SEO yourself with the help of online courses and guides. But which are the best? I narrowed it down for you.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is basically the practice of increasing both the quality and quantity of traffic that comes to your website through the organic results of search engines. SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization”. It is the practice of strategically planning the content and keywords on a webpage and website to help it rank on Google and thus drive organic traffic to a website or digital storefront. Modern SEO isn’t about tricking search engine algorithms — it’s about the opposite: delivering exactly the content a user is looking for and making the user happy.
Why is it important to you to learn SEO?
Whether you run a business or are a content creator, more traffic to your website usually means more money, whether it’s from business opportunities, sales dollars, or new customers. Without knowing the right SEO best practices, becoming a top ranking website on Google can be almost impossible, which in the digital age can be a huge mistake for budding businesses hoping to attract the attention of new clients or customers irritate. Learning the right SEO best practices can also be of great benefit to anyone working in the digital landscape, regardless of your previous experience or job title. The demand for SEO specialists has skyrocketed over the years, with some earning salaries well into the six figures, making it a highly sought-after skill to confidently add to your resume.
Who Should Take an SEO Course?
SEO courses are best for business owners, managers, and marketers who want to increase traffic to any website. Whether you’re an entrepreneur with a project of your own or a digital marketer looking to improve your professional skills, an SEO course could be a great choice.
How much does an SEO course training cost?
Many SEO training courses are completely free, while others can cost hundreds of thousands. The courses we reviewed ranged in price from free to $14,999. The free courses we reviewed tend to offer general SEO advice that applies to a variety of industries. For a higher fee, you can get additional resources, more specific instruction, and the opportunity to work with mentors or instructors in a group or one-to-one class.
What to keep in mind when selecting a course:
Duration of study: How long would you like to devote yourself to your studies? Would you rather learn from a bootcamp-style course or something that is slow and comprehensive?Courses range from a few hours total time to weeks, so choose your course length accordingly.Skills Covered: What are your motives for learning SEO? Want your local WordPress business site to rank? Are you hoping to learn general SEO skills to give your resume a modern look? Courses can range from a general introduction to more in-depth niche topics that may not appeal to all learners.Nature of the course: Are you looking for something to learn and study in every free minute you have, or do you want a lecturer and fellow students to share the course material?Certain courses encourage a sense of community by providing access to your teacher and peers, which can be of great help if you’re someone who prefers group classes.
Now that you know why SEO courses are a great skill anyone can learn and what to look for when choosing a course, here are some of the best online SEO courses available. From college-level courses to quick and easy introductory courses, enrolling in one of these expert-led courses may be the best way to boost your business or bring your resume into the digital age.
Coursera’s Search Engine Optimization Specialization
The Coursera Search Engine Optimization Specialization is a four-part course taught by an instructor from the University of California, Davis. The full experience requires courses titled Introduction to Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Optimization Basics, Optimizing a Website for Search, and Advanced Content and Social Tactics for Optimizing SEO. The course is self-paced, although Coursera suggests that you allocate seven hours a week for five months to complete it. The course does not require a background in SEO, but it is best if you have some business experience. You can review each individual course for free or subscribe to the entire specialization for $49 per month to receive your certificate of completion. It’s hard to beat a college education and you can get it online from the comfort of your home or office. If you’re willing to invest the time to complete the entire specialization, you should be ready for the next step in an SEO career.
Semrush Academy
Semrush is a major software provider for the SEO industry. If you work in SEO, chances are you use Semrush or a competitor to track search positions for the keywords most important to your websites. Learn how Semrush works and more at the free Semrush Academy. If you click on the SEO section, you will see 20 different course options consisting of multiple video lessons. For example, Content Marketing and SEO Fundamentals with Eric Enge consists of eight lessons and lasts about an hour. Some courses are longer or shorter, covering different SEO skills with different instructors. While Semrush Academy is somewhat of an advertisement for the paid Semrush platform, you can take the courses for free after signing up for an account. You are never obligated to buy anything from Semrush.
Complete SEO Training – Udemy — The Best for WordPress Users
Udemy’s Complete SEO Training + SEO for WordPress Websites is another great option for WordPress users. It is comprehensive, suitable for a range of learning levels, and sold at an affordable price. In fact, over 75,000 students have learned the basics of SEO in this course. This course focuses on Search Engine Optimization on WordPress websites. So if you don’t use WordPress for your website, this course may not be for you. This is a straightforward SEO course perfect for webmasters, bloggers, business owners, online marketers, web designers or developers, and content creators using WordPress. The course includes 10 hours of on-demand video, 17 articles, and 14 downloadable resources, and you have lifetime access for a one-time fee. Udemy will also provide you with a certificate of completion to enhance your CV.
Beginner’s Guide to SEO from Moz
Moz is a household name in the SEO industry thanks to its SEO rank tracking platform and a wealth of search engine optimization resources including a blog, videos, and other educational content. The Beginner’s Guide to SEO is a free course from Moz that’s proving to be a great choice for those new to SEO. The course consists of text and images that will quickly introduce you to basic SEO strategies and terminology. You won’t be an expert when you graduate, but you’ll know enough to have an informed conversation about generating search traffic to your website. Moz’s course is easy to follow and you may be able to complete it in just a session or two. If you like what you’ve learned, there’s plenty of additional free SEO content to build your skills in the Resources section of the Moz website, all linked to the course.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Training Course – Simplilearn
Simplilearn is one of the biggest players in online training. It offers dozens of certified courses and is trusted by Fortune 500 companies to deliver the highest quality training for their employees. Simplilearn is regularly featured in our lists of the best courses for most subjects. And his SEO course is no different. Simplilearn’s Search Engine Optimization training course will have you trained as an industry-capable SEO specialist in no time. You will learn all the basics of SEO like keyword research, technical SEO, link building, analytics, and local SEO. There are no prerequisites for this course. It’s perfect for beginners who want an in-depth course to teach them absolutely everything there is to know about SEO. It’s also perfect for digital marketing professionals looking to expand their careers with SEO experience. Learning is self-paced so you can complete it as fast or as slow as you like. And with lifetime access, you can review course content at any time to brush up on your skills if needed.
The Blueprint Training
For those willing to make a larger financial investment, The Blueprint Training is an SEO course designed to give you the skills to do SEO for yourself and for others as a business. Whether you want to impress your employer, attract new clients, or start your own SEO agency, this course could be a great choice. The Blueprint training main course costs $6,999 and The Blueprint Platinum costs $19,999. Both include one-on-one coaching, video courses, templates, and other SEO resources that you can use in your work and business. The more expensive Platinum version comes with a lot of hands-on help with positioning, delivering consistent results, and building a pipeline of clients demanding your work. If the price puts you off, you can book a demo call or try one of the two free courses to get an idea of what you’re signing up for. Instructor Ryan Stewart has a good reputation and the course gets mostly positive reviews online. In the end, you are the SEO master of your community and ready to build traffic and take on any search-related challenge.
Free SEO Course (ClickMinded)
SEO veteran Tommy Griffith teaches this course. Before founding ClickMinded, Tommy was an SEO manager for companies like Paypal and Airbnb. In this course, Tommy explains the SEO framework used on Paypal and Airbnb and gives general advice on how to approach the whole SEO process. If you’re curious about how big companies approach SEO, sign up for this free course. Once you’ve signed up for the course, you’ll also get access to several SEO resources worth reading.
SEO Today: Strategies to Earn Trust, Rank High, and Stand Out (SkillShare)
Skillshare is another online learning platform that offers courses on various topics. Some courses are available for free, while you have to sign up for a paid plan to access premium courses (the first month is free). One of the most popular SEO courses you can access for free is Rand Fishkin’s SEO Today. This is Rand’s third course, making him the most popular SEO teacher on our list. You do not need to sign up for this course to watch the videos. You can click the button below and start viewing. This course is not for beginners, but it is an intermediate level.
LinkedIn’s Search Engine Optimization Courses
Similar to Coursera, LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda) offers monthly access to a range of courses. There are 26 SEO courses on LinkedIn, including SEO Basics, Become an SEO Expert, and Technical SEO. The courses are divided into “learning paths” to make it easier for you to find out what you need to know. LinkedIn also offers a number of other digital marketing courses. If you’re looking to change (or grow) your career, your $39.99/month entry fee can give you access to a variety of learning opportunities.
SEO Training Course from HubSpot Academy
HubSpot Academy’s SEO training course is a great choice for digital marketers looking for a quick and concise course on SEO. This course consists of three main lessons lasting approximately one hour in total. You watch 15 videos and take two tests along the way. Digital marketers will find valuable learning tactics for link building and creating high-ranking blog posts and pages, both of which are important to any content marketing strategy. HubSpot’s course does a great job considering it only lasts an hour. That may not be enough for some professional marketers, but it’s a good foundation for those new to business SEO. If you already use HubSpot or have a HubSpot Academy account, you can easily sign up and take other free courses covering many related topics. Within the Search Engine Optimization category, HubSpot Academy offers more than a dozen courses, many of which last under an hour. This can help you pick specific SEO skills that you can learn without spending a lot of time. After completing this course, you will have a good understanding of creating an SEO strategy, building backlinks, and creating high-ranking content.
SEO Starter Guide from Google Developers
Most SEO courses focus on helping you get top rankings on Google. Who better to teach you about Google’s systems than Google itself? The Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide isn’t a traditional video course, but it does contain a lot of useful information and insight aimed at developers. You can read the entire guide for free and get a glimpse of how Google wants to structure websites and data to best show up in search. This is especially helpful when trying to trigger Google snippets and info boxes that contain rich details about your website or page. The course content is dense, but if you can make it through the entire guide, you’ll have a plethora of SEO knowledge that is easily translated into well-performing website code.
Yoast SEO Academy for blogs and other websites
If you use WordPress to run your blog or website, you likely know the Yoast SEO plugin, one of the platform’s most popular SEO plugins. That makes Yoast a good place to learn about SEO for blogs and other WordPress sites. Yoast SEO Academy is free to access most course materials. If you upgrade to the $99 per year Yoast Premium subscription, you get access to all courses and premium features of the Yoast SEO plugin. The course is appropriate for beginner to advanced students looking to improve their SEO skills, notably for blogging and WordPress. The course includes templates and references to the Yoast SEO plugin. You don’t have to use Yoast SEO to put the knowledge to good use, but it’s definitely optimized around its own SEO products, something common for providers of free courses. Once you’re signed up with an account, you’ll have access to everything you need to get search traffic to a blog.
Distilled University’s SEO 101
Distilled University’s SEO 101 course covers search engine basics, on-page optimization, technical SEO, keyword research, information architecture, and more. It’s a very robust course; not only are there over 133 hours of content in the video library, but it also includes interactive modules. It’s suitable for both beginners and those with intermediate knowledge. Because Distilled University has a monthly rather than flat fee, the entire course is self-paced. While there’s a lot of information there, you can go through it at your leisure — ideal for those who are trying to boost their SEO knowledge while still working or going to school full-time.
Conclusion
Ranking number one on Google is a goal that most of us in the online industry aim for. There is no exact formula to get there, but an SEO course can give you the knowledge and the tools to help you build traffic from organic search results and power your business forwards. There is no exact formula to rank number one on Google, but an SEO course can teach you the skills and strategies used to succeed in building traffic from online search results. There are plenty of free courses to round out your knowledge, but some pros may want to invest more in resources and templates. If you’re serious about learning SEO, we recommend Coursera’s Search Engine Optimization Specialization because it will take you from beginner to expert in a series of courses that can each be audited for free.
References
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