So you want to learn more about SEO?
There are many reasons to learn about SEO and enroll in SEO courses online.
SEO is a burgeoning field and discipline with a tremendous demand-surplus as businesses worldwide look to increase their digital presence – they need SEOs to help them do that.
This is an industry with huge demand and massive potential. SEO, which was once a niche or fringe discipline in digital marketing, has become the buzzword on the lips of businesses worldwide.
That’s why you want to learn SEO.
You might be preparing for a career in SEO or any related field or discipline or you could be looking for the information you need to grow your own business or digital exploits.
No matter what your motivation is for learning SEO, courses are an excellent place to start.
A Short History of SEO: Why Does SEO Exist?
SEO was barely conceived until the mid to late 90s.
The internet was a humble place back then – even Google is a late-90s baby! (founded in 1998).
The original World Wide Web, conceived in 1989 by British scientist Tim Berners-Lee, was designed to share scientific data and research across modernizing network platforms.
The internet – and the WWW – quickly evolved into what it is today, but it was a long and winding road that had many pioneers, perhaps none so prolific as Google.
As the internet became larger, it needed a means to be indexed, and users needed a way to search its burgeoning content.
Thus, the search engine was born.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and the search engine met the needs of the user – the user that needed to find what they needed online without extraneous manual searching.
Once those first search engines were created, the internet went through a process of optimization.
Enter, SEO!
Why SEO Matters
SEO is the process and method of optimizing web content for search engines.
Search engines use complex algorithms to sort the web. They pick up on content, tags, features, and much more to sort and index web content.
A website without SEO is like a book without a title or an index – it simply cannot be located in a vast library.
Contrastingly, a book with a superbly well-designed, cover, chapters, index and content is much easier for the librarian to locate – and to recommend.
SEO seeks to optimize sites with the content and features they need to thrive in the largest, most competitive library on the face of the planet.
Stats That Show SEO Matters:
- According to BrightEdge, 68% of online experiences start in a search engine
- 53.3% of all web traffic comes from organic search
- SEO drives 1000%+ more traffic than social media
- According to HubSpot, 60% of marketers say SEO is their best source of quality leads
- SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate
SEO drives traffic to websites and pages, and remains the most cost-effective, highest ROI method of gaining leads and sales.
Even social media traffic doesn’t put a dent in SEO.
With proper optimization, even humble home-grown and grassroots businesses can become global influences, as you can see from some BrightEdge case studies.
Learning SEO
The SEO industry is always changing, but the current internet landscape is pretty sophisticated and has reached some sort of stability.
Modern SEO can be thought of as a culmination of UX, content, technical factors, and trust/authority signals.
It’s somewhat of an art as well as a strategy and involves a blend of creative, pragmatic, and technical skills and knowledge.
As with any subject you’re looking to gain a deep or committed understanding of, SEO can be learned from resources, courses, and lessons.
SEO courses provide the latest and greatest techniques in a well-organized, structured, and focussed format.
SEO courses also enable you to build excellent knowledge of SEO quite quickly, even if you’re a total beginner or novice. They also enable you to home in on advanced subjects within SEO, or areas you’re looking to improve.
Why Take an SEO Course?
You’d be forgiven for thinking that SEO and search engines have a mutually beneficial or symbiotic relationship.
In reality, SEO is partially about gaming the search engine system – you can’t hide it!
In the 90s and early 2000s, this was fairly simple and SEOs found tons of loopholes to ‘trick’ search engines into rocketing sites and pages to the top of the search.
But over the years, search engines and their algorithms have hit back with the goal to measure and analyze the factors that really matter to the users.
Ultimately, the internet is a user-centric universe and modern SEO revolves around this principle.
There is still a component of ‘gaming’ search engine algorithms, but for the most part, SEO is focussed on future-proof, transparent, and long-term gains.
SEO courses are an awesome way to introduce yourself to SEO or accelerate and broaden your knowledge of specific topics within SEO.
There’s a massive array of courses available suitable for everyone from SEO beginners to agency managers and even enterprise-level marketers.
Here are the main advantages of taking an SEO course:
- Quickly learn about basic SEO and SEO principles
- See concepts in action as demonstrated by professionals SEOs and marketers
- Learn how to apply concepts to your sites and pages
- Improve your knowledge of technical, on-page SEO or other specialized areas
- Find new SEO techniques to market to new and existing clients
- Learn best practice and uncover mistakes you might be making
- Understand complex SEO for larger businesses or enterprises
- Find the best SEO tools, hacks, tips and tricks
Here are some of the best SEO courses around right now:
1. Affiliate Lab by Matt Diggity
Focus: Affiliate websites, monetization
Price: $997
Audience: Anyone who wants to build a profitable site
This highly-rated digital marketing course is somewhat of a niche course oriented specifically around creating and ‘flipping’ affiliate websites. Affiliate Lab by Matt Diggity is backed up by many real-world users who have successfully used these techniques to generate large passive or active incomes.
Matt Diggity himself is trustworthy and well-known amongst SEO and digital marketing circles. His ‘rags to riches’ SEO story is certainly captivating and he pledges to teach everything you need to know about how you too can create profitable affiliate websites.
This course is primarily designed to teach methods of finding online niches, creating profitable sites, decking them out with SEO, and then either selling them on or keeping them for ongoing profits.
It’s incredibly action-oriented and tells you what you need to know, and what you need to do. There’s no fluff or filler here, just real-world examples and tutorials, practical lessons in SEO, and theoretical background.
There are 6 main modules:
- Introduction
- Niche Selection
- Onsite SEO
- Offsite SEO
- The Kitchen Sink
- Authority Sites
You’ll also gain access to an exclusive Facebook group and access to other related resources and tools you’ll need.
The initial investment here may seem steep, but this is an all-in-one functional, a tried-and-tested business plan that has worked for many already, including Matt Diggity himself, as is evident by his success.
I have taken this course myself and can say it is hands down the best course if you want to learn affiliate SEO. In addition to this, I would highly recommend anyone wanting to learn SEO for any reason to take it as there is so much value. It is one of the best investments I ever made and the main reason I now have successful affiliate sites in addition to my consultancy work.
2. The Authority Site System
Focus: Building profitable, authority websites
Cost: $997
Audience: Anyone who wants to build an authority site
This quite enormous SEO and marketing course will teach you how to build a profitable, authority site. Of course, such a thing is a complex task, but also one which can yield long-term dividends, and so Mark Webster and Gael Breton co-authored this intense and in-depth guide to help you create authority sites.
The Authority Site System is practical and grounded but still contains a vast amount of theory and in-depth SEO.
Overall, though, it’s built around real-world examples and making digital income streams through profitable sites and SEO.
In the Authority Site System, you’ll receive:
- 15 modules
- 180+ over the shoulder videos
- 100,000 words+ supportive content
The investment here may once again seem steep, but it’s a huge course packed with professional SEO and marketing information for those who are looking for passive income streams or careers in SEO and marketing.
3. Internet Marketing Gold
Focus: Marketing, SEO, business, social media management, and technical
Price: $89/mo
Audience: Anyone
Using a subscription model, Internet Marketing Gold, or IMG, allows access to many SEO, business, and marketing courses under one monthly membership fee of $89.
They claim to offer some $15,000 worth of courses, and you get unlimited access so you can either rush through the ones you find useful and relevant or take your time – it’s up to you.
The courses here are very mixed and eclectic, with some relating specifically to SEO, others to marketing, social, content, advertising or business management, or other topics.
The diversity on show is an advantage for many types of users; SEO beginners and novices will find plenty of material on marketing and SEO whereas experts and other forms of marketers can brush up on their social media skills or business management.
Some current courses include:
- Local SEO for business
- White-Hat SEO guide
- Content Audit Playbook
- Entity Stack Building
In many ways, IMG is like a Swiss-army-knife of courses for digital entrepreneurs, it goes much deeper than SEO alone.
4. SEO That Works
Focus: SEO and digital marketing
Cost: $5,964
Audience: Agency and business owners, enterprise-level marketers, marketing executives
In SEO and marketing circles, Brian Dean is one of the most well-known, highly-sought-after consultants around. He has worked with Backlinko, The Huffington Post and Forbes, and has cemented his legacy in the SEO hall of fame.
SEO That Works is much deeper than its humble name suggests. It comes with a high price-tag, but this is a one-stop-shop for high-echelon SEOs and digital markets that work with clients already. It is also marketed for beginners, but the price means you’ve got to be in it to win it, that’s for sure!
SEO That Works contains modules such as:
- Fast Track SEO Success
- How To Publish Content That Attracts Links, Traffic, And Customers
- How To Promote Your Content And Get Backlinks From Authority Sites
- SEO Energizers
- 5 Bonus Sessions from various industry experts
You’ll also get access to an exclusive Facebook group where you can mix with some serious marketers and experts.
Whilst the cost seems steep, this course provides SEO knowledge straight from the brain and fingertips of one of digital marketing’s most successful and coveted professionals.
5. Traffic Think Tank
Focus: SEO, digital marketing, agencies
Price: $99/mo (for self-guided version)
Audience: Anyone
Traffic Think Tank is a reasonably priced, contemporary, and actionable suite of SEO and digital marketing programs and courses. It also grants access to a large Slack community of interlinked SEO and marketing pros, great for building a business network.
There are various courses here and many of them are collaborations between SEO pros and educators. There are over 20 to 30 courses and modules covering hundreds of hours.
Some course examples include:
- Money Site from Scratch (Course
- Career Growth
- Link Building
- Local SEO
- SEO for SaaS
- 7-Figure Agency (Course)
- Google Data Studio (Course)
- Keyword Research7-Figure Agency (Course)
- 7-Figure Agency (Course)
- Templates & Tools
- Subscribe to the Rich Snippets Newsletter
The whole system is modern and well-organized too, a real joy to browse and use. This is probably one of the fastest-growing SEO education suites right now.
6. The Blueprint
Focus: Building SEO and marketing agency success
Price: Between $4,999 and $14,999
Audience: Agency owners and managers, marketing executives
The Blueprint is slightly different from your usual SEO course and is instead angled towards SEO agencies that want to broaden their client base and secure more deals.
As SMEs and other small businesses of all types migrate online, there is a huge demand for SEO and marketing specialists, and this course is designed to help you position and market yourself or your agency to these new clients.
Since it’s aimed at established or semi-established SEO teams, agencies, or digital marketing businesses, it does come at a higher cost than most. However, The Blueprint Training includes some highly innovative, inventive and thoughtful methods that have already successfully driven business growth amongst its clients.
There are 3 broad subject areas in the Blueprint:
- Positioning
- Productization
- Marketing
The course obviously delves into SEO and the techniques you should be marketing to clients also. It also grants access to exclusive Facebook and Slack groups.
7. Market Motive – Advanced Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Certification Training
Focus: SEO and marketing
Price: $900
Audience: Medium/advanced-level SEOs
Market Motive is a ‘proper’ SEO course that offers modules on all types of SEO ranging from on-page to off-page to technical SEO, UX, outreach, and much more. If you want a course that provides straight, info-rich and direct SEO knowledge, this is an excellent all-rounder that cuts below the superficial level of basic SEO.
With over 25 hours of training, this course is suitably in-depth considering its specific focus on SEO. It does also cover many related topics within advertising, marketing, analytics, and social media, so it has quite a wide focus, suitable for marketing and SEO professionals as well as agency managers, etc.
Some example courses/modules include:
- Local SEO
- On-page and off-page SEO
- Influencer targeting
- Social outreach
- Data analytics
- Content marketing
- Business management and development
This course is tough to beat when it comes to SEO and all directly related topics and subject areas. It also grants a respected certification upon completion.
8. Moz Training
Focus: All SEO and digital marketing
Price: Varies
Audience: Anyone
Influential main-brand SEO authority Moz has created one of the most popular and flexible SEO training programs in the world in the form of the Moz Academy.
Moz Academy contains a mixture of 35 modules and courses, some of which include official certifications that you can cite on your LinkedIn or other social profiles. Some of these are individual modules whereas others are sets of modules designed to teach you everything about key SEO topics like technical, on-page and off-page SEO, etc.
Amongst the topics covered by training programs are:
- Agency
- Keywords
- Links
- Local
- Page Optimization
- Site Audit
The two certified programs are the SEO Essentials Certification series and the Technical SEO Certification Series.
Moz’s reputation needs no real introduction and this smart series of well-organized training modules sells itself. Everything is very neatly organized with well-designed course material that goes into plenty of detail. A must-have for anyone that already uses Moz tools.
9. Click Minded
Focus: SEO and digital marketing
Price: From $997
Audience: Anyone
Click Minded is a collection of 7 in-depth courses that come with numerous certifications that can be added to social profiles such as LinkedIn. The creator, Tommy Griffith, left his SEO job at Airbnb to pursue Click Minded full-time.
The programs were designed for agencies as well as individuals and pretty much cover the entire spectrum of SEO and digital marketing.
There are 7 main courses here:
- SEO Course & Mini-Courses
- Web Analytics Course
- Content Marketing Course
- Email Marketing
- Funnel Course
- Paid Advertising Course
- Social Media Course
The one-off fee grants lifetime access, which is obviously great as you can really pace your own learning. There are probably over 50 hours of content here, which is plenty for the money. The Teams learning package offers great value for established SEO agencies and businesses.
10. Coursera: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization
Focus: SEO
Cost: $50/mo
Audience: Beginners/Novices
Coursera is a digital education platform that has collaborated with top universities and institutions to provide in-depth, high-grade educational resources.
This course is offered in collaboration with the University of California and they say it will take 5 months to complete, assuming you do 7 hours of work each week. Anyone with some level of marketing or SEO experience will likely get through it much quicker, but still, it’s a lot of content to work through for a relatively low price.
The pricing structure here allows you to check through content for free, but you won’t get any sort of certificate without paying for the self-guided learning program.
The course covers SEO topics such as:
- Keyword research
- Technical SEO
- On-page SEO
- Content marketing
- Social media marketing
- Site audits
The Coursera learning system is very-regarded and this University of California-certified course is very trustworthy and will look great on social profiles and CVs!
The Best Free SEO Courses
11. Semrush Academy
Semrush is another SEO titan and the Semrush Academy is a 100% free resource jam-packed full of SEO and marketing topics.
You’d be forgiven for assuming that this free SEO resource is maybe a little thin on the ground, but it’s actually pretty solid all-round. In fact, you can find topics related to all SEO including:
- About Semrush Software
- SEO
- Content Marketing
- PPC
- SMM (social media management)
- Competitive Research
The only caveat is that you’ll pretty much need a paid membership to Semrush SEO tools to make the most of the course, but that’s kind of the point anyway. For Semrush users, this SEO resource is a real goldmine that will help teach you how to use Semrush’s spectacular set of tools.
But, even if you don’t use Semrush, there are some quality generic SEO topics here that are well worth a look for some free SEO learning.
12. HubSpot Academy SEO Training
This short 1-hour SEO training course provides a solid SEO foundation and is taught by prolific digital marketer Matthew Barby.
There are 3 mini lessons here:
- How to Find the SEO Strategy that Fits Your Business
- Link Building for SEO: Scaling Your Backlink Strategy
- How HubSpot Uses Blogging to Rank #1 on Google
Of course, this is no fully-featured SEO resource, but it’s something you can check out right now for some pro insight into these important SEO topics.
13. eMarketing Institute SEO Certification Course
This free SEO resource and certification comes with a 156-page eBook on all things SEO. Don’t look down on the eMarketing Institute just because its aesthetics are a little dated, this is one of the world’s most respected SEO learning resource centers.
Whilst this course is designed for beginners, the most important thing obviously is that it’s free. There’s a great amount of content there and you’re under no pressure or obligation to pay for anything.
This course contains topics such as:
- Basics of Keyword Research
- Link Building
- SEO Recommendations
The eMarketing Institute has many other free courses and resources that you can enroll in today. Each one comes with a certification you can apply to your CV or social profiles.
Summary
Lots of superb SEO courses here that offer a brilliant mix of all forms of SEO and adjacent/related topics within digital marketing.
Hopefully, one or two courses immediately caught your eye!
Of course, some of the more expensive courses are geared towards established SEO professionals, agencies, and other marketers/SME owners, but even the most expensive SEO courses have proven their value and worth over time.
There are courses here for most budgets, but even the free courses and resources are geared up for professional, contemporary SEO.
Happy learning!