17 Best Online SEO Training Courses to Become an Expert During Lockdown
Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 pandemic, day-to-day activities have been brought to a screeching halt. You have been advised to stay at home for medical reasons and wait for normalcy to resume.
Having said that, every dark cloud has a silver lining.
With free time in your hands, you can utilize it by undertaking an SEO online training certification. As a marketer, it will improve your grasp of online marketing.
But what is SEO? How will learning SEO benefit you?
Let’s find out before we move on to the list of SEO online training and certifications.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving the quality and increasing the quantity of your website traffic through organic search results.
Through SEO, you can optimize your web content to appear on the first page of a search engine. This will eventually make your web page a preferred option for users to click and visit.
You achieve all this organically, without paying Google, unlike paid search ads.
Online SEO Training Courses and Certifications: Why are they important?
Any kind of training course and certification improves your knowledge and resume; SEO is no different.
The road to becoming a true SEO expert starts by applying relevant theoretical knowledge towards practical applications. Training courses and certifications help you acquire the requisite knowledge.
Moreover, you can improve your online business through SEO by driving relevant organic search traffic.
How do you do so? Let’s take a look at some of the most important factors of SEO that impact organic search traffic…
9 Critical SEO factors impacting organic search traffic
a. Optimizing for mobile search – According to Uberall, 82% of mobile shoppers conduct ‘near me’ searches on their phones.
Also, nearly 70% of them use their smartphone for shopping purposes. Hence, it is important to optimize your website for mobile searches.
b. Optimizing on-page metrics – On-page optimization refers to measures taken within your website, to improve its position in the search rankings. It includes optimizing your page speed, site design, titles & meta descriptions, images, and so on.
c. Improving technical SEO aspects – It is known that Google gives preferential treatment to websites that have covered all aspects of Technical SEO. It involves website optimizations that help search engine crawlers index your site more effectively.
Here’s a checklist that you must cover while implementing technical SEO on your website –
- Use SSL. It creates an encrypted link between a web server and a browser.
- Create a responsive design. It makes your website mobile-friendly.
- Increase the page speed of your website.
- Eliminate duplicate content.
- Integrate your site with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. They help you to monitor your indexing performance.
d. Optimizing website speed – According to Google, 53% of website visitors will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. This leads to an increased bounce rate for your website.
Optimized website speed will help to load your site faster. This will lead to a reduced bounce rate and improved chances of better ranking in search engines.
e. Matching user’s search intent – As per the Hummingbird update by Google, your website must satisfy the search intent for specific keywords.
Optimize your website content with relevant keywords that users are likely to use as their search query.
f. Optimizing user experience – Is it easy to navigate on your website? Is your website content engaging enough to compel your visitors to stay? Is your site secure, fast, and mobile-friendly?
A lively user experience makes website visitors happy. Together, SEO and UX make a successful combination.
g. Unleashing the power of content – Through content marketing, your business can focus on creating and distributing high-quality content for attracting and retaining your target audience.
Don’t forget to keep the ultimate goal in mind. Convince your audience to take a profitable action.
h. Engaging in quality link building – Link Building, also known as backlinks, is the practice of creating hyperlinks to a website with the goal of improving search engine visibility.
Through link building, your website can receive referral traffic from other websites, which will help you get indexed quicker. Also, high-quality incoming links mean your site will be recognized as a valuable resource. It will also boost your website’s authority.
i. Optimizing your GMB listing for local SEO – Enhancing local SEO through your GMB listing is an effective way to market your local business online. According to recent stats, 97% of search engine users searched online to find a local business.
It helps you to promote your product, your service, or your brand and reach local customers who are looking for them online.
So, given the obvious importance of SEO for your website’s organic growth, how do you utilize the lockdown to gain handy SEO certifications?
You can take up some online training and stay at home courses that will help you achieve proficiency in SEO.
17 Exceptional SEO Online Courses to Improve Your Skills in a Few Weeks
1. SEMrush Fundamentals Course
This course will help you brush up on the basics of SEO by learning from Greg Gifford, an experienced SEO consultant specializing in Local SEO..
- Topics covered – The course consists of 31 lessons, which is divided into 4 modules – Search Engine Basics, technical SEO, Link Signals, and On-Page Signals.
- Cost – The course is free of cost.
- Duration – The duration of this course is four hours.
2. Udemy – SEO: Complete SEO Training + SEO for WordPress Websites
This course is your complete guide for SEO training. It will teach you in-depth about the importance of SEO factors and how it delivers results.
- Topics Covered – The course consists of 17 articles and 10 downloadable resources. They cover a range of topics such as website ranking, page speed, user experience, website indexing, and many other technical aspects.
- Cost – The cost of this INR 12,500. However, there is a 95% discount on the course, which makes the revised cost to INR 700.
- Duration – The duration of this course is eight and a half hours. Moreover, upon purchasing this course, you will gain lifetime access, i.e watch anytime, anywhere.
3. Yoast SEO Training
The popular SEO website Yoast offers SEO training courses that not only teach you vital SEO skills but also help you outrank your competition. It caters to bloggers, online marketers, content creators, or business owners; no matter big or small.
- Topics Covered – This course covers the following topics – Keyword research, SEO copywriting, Site structure, All-around SEO, and SEO news.
- Cost – Yoast has divided their training course into four types –
– Free of cost
– Premium – $499
– Technical – $299
– Content – $299 - Duration – You will get lifetime access.
4. SEO Training Course by Moz
Moz offers a detailed free training program for people wishing to learn SEO from scratch.
- Topics Covered – Signing up for this course will teach you how to audit sites, what are local SEO fundamentals, and much more. You will receive a certificate upon completion of this course.
- Cost – It is free of cost.
- Duration – You will get lifetime access upon signing up for this free course.
5. HubSpot Free SEO Crash Course
Hubspot’s Learn all things SEO course will help you understand the tactics behind ranking #1 on Google for blogging.
- Topics Covered – The course consists of 6 lessons and 22 videos. Upon completing this course, you will become proficient in improving your website’s SEO, learn to build backlinks to improve website visibility, and become familiar with Hubspot’s tactics to rank #1 on Google.
- Cost – It is free of cost.
- Duration – This course is 1:35 hours long.
6. Beginner Local SEO | The Foundations of What Google Wants
This course is designed for beginners with a willingness to learn local SEO. At the end of this course, participants owning local businesses will be well-equipped on ranking higher on Google in their niche and city.
- Topics Covered – The course consists of 5 modules – Google My Business” Page, Local Search Directories, Online reviews, On-Page SEO, and Off-Page SEO.
- Cost – It is free of cost.
- Duration – This course is 43 minutes long.
7. Optimizing a Website for Search: Local SEO
In this course, you will learn the ins and outs of optimizing a website. The course will be taught by Rebekah May, SEO Manager & Lead SEO Instructor.
- Topics Covered – You will learn about applying appropriate keywords throughout a website, incorporating keyword research in a content marketing strategy, and optimizing a site for local search.
- Cost – Create an account for unlimited course videos.
- Duration – This course is 53 minutes long.
8. Advanced SEO: Developing an SEO-Friendly Website
This advanced SEO course from Coursera focuses on technical, mobile, and social strategies for increasing site traffic. It also teaches techniques to optimize mobile-friendly websites, get mobile apps discovered, and leverage social media to drive organic SEO traffic.
- Topics Covered – Through this course, you will learn about improving site structure, increasing page speed, acquiring insightful data, developing engaging strategies, and conducting data analysis.
- Cost – It’s free of cost course, which begins on 18th May.
- Duration – This course is 25 hours long, and divided into 4 weeks. Participants get a certificate at the end of this course.
9. Introduction to Technical SEO
In this course, you will gain an understanding of search engine algorithms and how they affect organic search results. The course will be taught by Rebekah May, SEO Manager & Lead SEO Instructor.
- Topics Covered – You will learn key elements for creating an effective SEO strategy, which includes selecting keywords through research, consumer psychology and behavior, and conducting on-page SEO analysis.
- Cost – Create an account for unlimited course videos.
- Duration – This course is 40 minutes long.
10. Learning Conversion Rate Optimization
With this course, marketers, small business owners, and web designers can learn the best way to approach Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), one of the most profitable marketing strategies for businesses.
- Topics Covered – Through this course, you can identify business goals for CRO testing, and learn to predict which type of pages will have the largest impact on your business.
- Cost – It’s a premium course.
- Duration – The duration of this course is 1h 10m.
11. Free UX Design Curriculum
With Springboard, learn about UX design, it’s best techniques and methods such as user research, personas, prototyping, and wireframing.
- Topics Covered – By the end of this course, you will learn the what and why of UX design. You will also learn modules such as design research, user-friendly design techniques, creating user-defined personas, and quality of deliverables.
- Cost – It’s free of cost.
- Duration – The course consists of 38 resources and is 55 hours long.
12. Learn What Content Marketing is and How to Do It
This certification course by Hubspot will guide you on how to become an effective content marketer.
- Topics Covered – By completing this course, you will learn the framework of content creation, the importance of repurposed content, and how to become a strategic content marketer.
- Cost – It’s a free certification course.
- Duration – The duration of this course is 6h 15m.
13. SEO Link Building Basics
Udemy has prepared this course to teach you about basic link building to your websites and improve your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) ranking.
- Topics Covered – This course covers fundamentals: keyword research, anchor text diversity, how to analyze a link, and how to analyze a website’s entire backlink profile.
You will also learn how to find target sites for link prospecting, including analyzing a competitor’s backlinks, using the advanced search in Google, and how to analyze a website. - Cost – It’s a free course. You have to pay for the certification.
- Duration – The course is 1h 13m of on-demand video.
14. SEO: Link Building in Depth
The author of this course, Peter Kent, covers how to strengthen your site’s position in search engine results by building strong links.
- Topics Covered – The topics covered in this course are –
– Link popularity
– Page ranking
– Search-related link components
– Perfecting links
– Avoiding problematic links
– Analyzing incoming links to a website
– Using local pages and directories
– Working with bloggers
– Social networking links
– Getting more links
– Paying for links vs. buying links - Cost – It’s a premium course.
- Duration – The duration of this course is 1h 7m.
15. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization
This course by Coursera aims to make you an SEO expert by gaining mastery in search engine optimization tools and strategies. The course will be taught by Rebekah May, SEO Manager & Lead SEO Instructor.
- Topics Covered – The topics covered in this course are performing a competitive analysis on a webpage, creating content that gets shared the most, collaborating with SEO influencers, and more.
- Cost – It’s a free course.
- Duration – This course will take approximately 5 months to complete, i.e 7 hours a week.
16. SEMrush SEO Toolkit Course
The SEMrush SEO Toolkit Course will provide you with the best and need-to-know features of the toolkit to help you drive better results.
- Topics Covered – The course consists of 14 lessons that are built around 3 modules – Learn, Build, and Measure.
- Cost – It’s free of cost course.
- Duration – The course is 3 hours long.
17. Complete SEO Training With Top SEO Expert Peter Kent!
This course will give you a firm understanding of how SEO works and how you can use it to boost traffic to your site.
- Topics Covered – You will get a deeper understanding of how to rank your site high up on Google using SEO, and the knowledge you need to supervise an SEO optimization team.
- Cost – This course will cost you INR 740.
- Duration – This course is 8 hours long on-demand video.
Additionally, you can also gain an in-depth understanding of specific SEO factors by reading online guides. Here are some of them –
Link building by Backlinko is a definitive guide towards link building. It covers the fundamentals of link building, its effect on content marketing and email outreach, and advanced link building.
Beginner‘s Guide to Schema by SEMRUSH
Through this online guide, you can learn more about Schema, a structured data vocabulary that defines entities, actions, and relationships on the Internet.
It will help you understand the meaning behind various subject matters on the web, and in turn, help your website deliver a better user experience.
Conversion Rate Optimization by Moz
This definitive guide on Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) by Moz will help you understand a defined process for CRO.
It will also provide you with a checklist to print and check off as you go for your website.
Content Marketing by Search Engine Journal
Content marketing can help you attract leads, win more sales, and grow your business. Therefore, understand the ins and outs of content marketing by reading this all-you-need-to-know guide by Search Engine Journal.
Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide by Google
The most trustworthy SEO guide by the internet’s most trustworthy source.
The Final Note
Hope you find these courses and reading guides useful. Now that you know where to start, what are you waiting for?
Completing the mentioned online SEO courses will make you stand out from your competition in an ever-evolving digital age.
Utilise the free time you have now. Learn and enhance your SEO skills.
Remember, every successful journey starts with taking the first step. This will be yours on the path to a successful career as an SEO Expert.
