Do you still need proper SEO training courses when there are many such articles on the internet? Well, if you’re new to SEO or hoping to sharpen your skills, the answer is yes.
Read on and you’ll learn why spending on SEO training courses isn’t a waste of money and what you can expect when signing up for one.
Contents
SEO training courses are certified programmes that allows you to study and dive deeper into the various aspects of SEO. Due to the broad nature of SEO, you’ll find courses that cover topics like on-page, off-page, keyword research, and other strategies.
Good SEO training courses are tailored to enhance your skill in improving website ranking, driving more organic traffic or optimize content for specific keywords. You’ll be taught the latest SEO strategies that work in today’s search engine’s algorithm.
If you’re serious in pursuing a career as an SEO strategist or picking up optimization skills that are effective, you’ll need to invest in SEO training courses. Here are a few good reasons to do so.
Many SEO practices that used to work years ago are now obsolete. If you’re still banking on reciprocal linking, keyword-stuffing or buying exact-match domains, you’ll find that they have no effect on how your websites fare on the search engine.
Instead, SEO professionals are now focusing on keyword research, creating high-quality content, on-page optimization and building a healthy backlink profile. If you’ve stopped following the changes in the SEO landscape for a decade or so, going through proper training courses will keep you up to date.
As a search engine, Google is on a long-term mission of improvising its search results. For SEOs, it means dealing with the constant release of new algorithm updates. In 2019 alone, Google has released 3 broad core updates in March, June and September respectively.
Broad core updates are wide-ranging, with its impact felt across almost every industry. Each of these updates usually results in a major drop in traffic for some sites and gains in others. Besides these major updates, Google is testing releasing smaller updates on a daily basis.
As Google strives to improve its ability to return relevant, high-quality results, you’ll need to stay abreast with the latest developments on what are that ranking factors prioritized by Google. Certain techniques like article submissions for backlinks may instead be penalized with today’s Google’s algorithm.
Gone were the days where you can increase organic traffic by actively blogging on your website. Creating 5,000 words articles no longer guarantee a spot in the top rankings on Google’s search result.
Getting ranked on Google is tougher than ever, but with Google being the largest search engine, more companies are now turning to SEO. Your value as an SEO consultant depends on your ability to rank your client’s website and deal with the ever-changing landscape of Google search.
If you’re to compete in the industry, you’ll need to equip yourself with the latest SEO techniques by enrolling in courses.
When you’re just starting out in the SEO industry, picking up the vital skills can be an overwhelming affair. There’s just too much info to take in, particularly when you’re just searching for random SEO blogs on the internet.
A certified SEO training course enables you to learn SEO in a structured manner. Instead of taking in everything at once, you’re taught the basics of SEO before moving on to more advanced topics.
In a way, going through SEO courses is more efficient than combing through the internet for YouTube videos or blog articles on SEO. You don’t have to spend time filtering out obsolete techniques that don’t work anymore.
Sure, you can easily get into the various groups and forums to learn about SEOs. However, you don’t really know about the credibility of members offering SEO advice on such groups. Some advice can cause more harm than good when followed.
For example, you’re browsing a thread on PBN and you come across a suggestion as above. Any respectable SEO expert will tell you that PBN link building is considered blackhat and you shouldn’t use it to manipulate your site’s ranking.
Rather than risking picking up bad SEO practices, you’ll be better off learning from real SEO experts from certified SEO training courses.
If you think that SEO training courses are only meant for SEO professionals, you’re wrong. SEO are skillsets that can be picked up by almost anyone and executed to increase organic traffic to their websites.
Here are signs that you’re in need of proper SEO training.
You’re writing content but organic traffic remains static
You’re getting traffic, but aren’t converting business.
You used to generate a lot of traffic but it’s all disappeared.
You aren’t sure what content you should be writing next month — or next week.
You feel like your industry is an exception, and that SEO is impossible in your space
As long as you’re sharpening your SEO skills, and put in the effort, it is possible to rank in touch niches. Our success in helping businesses rank in highly-competitive spaces are solid proof that no industries are impossible for SEO.
Here’s an overview of what you should learn in good SEO courses.
Keywords are phrases that users use when they are searching on Google. They allow you to understand what topics your customers or audience are interested in. These are examples of keywords:
When a user searches for a keyword on Google, the most relevant results are returned. The job of an SEO marketer is to target keywords that are relevant to the business by creating optimized content.
You’ll learn how to learn various types of keywords that correspond to the purchase cycle. A keyword can be:
You’ll also be exposed to tools that help in performing keyword research.
SEO training, which helps in choosing the best keywords, also involves understanding metrics like:
Techniques like identifying granular searches from Google auto-complete are also taught during SEO courses.
Links are URLs placed in content that either points to a page within the domain or to another website. In SEO courses, you’ll learn about the importance of internal links and backlinks for SEO.
Internal links are links that connect between pages of the same website. It allows Google to crawl pages on the site easier and plays a role in getting better ranking.
Backlinks are links passed on from other websites and they are powerful off-page SEO signals when done right. Google uses backlinks to indicate if a page is important. If a website has more backlinks than other competitors, it will rank higher, with all things being equal.
Link acquisition is a tricky affair as Google is strict on prohibiting unnatural link-building. In training, you’ll learn how to:
SEO content refers to contents that are optimized to rank highly on Google. The goal is to engage users with relevant content when they’re searching for specific keywords.
Recent Google updates have made understanding search intent more important than ever when creating SEO-optimized content. Search intent describes the purposes of why such searches are made.
For example, a person for ‘bed bug’ is looking for general information on bed bugs. A search on ‘how to kill bed bugs’ means that the user is looking for specific ways of eliminating bed bugs. The content that needs to be created for both keywords must satisfy the different search intent.
An SEO content that aligns with the search intent is more likely to rank highly on Google. In an SEO course, you’ll learn various ways of creating SEO content. One approach is to look at the types of content that are ranking for the keyword and create a better one.
SEO training is also helpful in learning new ways to find popular topics for your niche. For example, you can turn to forums like Reddit and Quora to identify questions that users are asking and turn them into SEO-optimized content.
For example, if you search for ‘blogging’ on Quora, you’ll get a list of questions that people are asking and they’re ranked by the number of followers. You’ll have an idea which topics are likely to have more traffic when ranked on Google.
Technically, meta descriptions & headlines refer to specific sections in the HTML code of a webpage that tells Google about what the page is all about.
Traditionally, what you’re seeing in search results are the meta descriptions and headlines.
Although Google has got more intelligent in scraping text from content for the descriptions, it is still important to optimize the meta descriptions and headlines for your website.
In order to get a better ranking, you’ll need to optimize both fields with the targeted keyword. Usually, optimizing meta descriptions can be done through plugins like Yoast if you’re building the site on WordPress.
When it comes to SEO, user experience matters. User experience can be affected by various factors, such as:
If you’re not optimizing your website for user experience, your readers won’t be engaged. Google has ways to read into signs that a website is offering bad user experience and will push down the ranking on search.
In an SEO course, you’ll learn how to optimize your website so that real users find it easy to consume the information within. It could be ensuring that the site is mobile responsive, getting a fast-loading theme or rearranging the structure of the content.
Mobile SEO generally refers to the responsiveness of your website when viewed on a mobile. A website may look good on a desktop, but if it’s not optimized on mobile, will show up awkwardly and affect engagement.
In March 2020, Google announced mobile-first indexing for the whole web. This means that search results are presented based on how the website performs on mobile. The move is logical as more than half of searches are coming from mobile.
Mobile SEO is usually achieved via responsive designs for mobile or having a separate URL for pages served on mobile. For example, Facebook’s mobile version is accessible via ‘m.facebook.com’.
On-page optimization is a practice where certain techniques are applied on a website in order to achieve a better ranking on Google.
There are various areas covered by on-page SEO. For a start, it is recommended to have short and descriptive URLs for both search engines and humans.
On-page optimization also includes creating compelling meta titles and descriptions. While it’s important to include the keywords, creative copywriting is needed to attract the attention of the audience, which leads to a higher click-through rate.
You’ll also learn about other on-page SEO techniques, such as:
Some on-page optimisation techniques are only taught in advanced SEO courses. You’ll pick up skills like:
These techniques may be hard to understand when you’re new to SEO, which is why it’s recommended to master the basics first.
When applied, skills like rich snippets adds more details to your page on search results and may lead to a higher click-through rate.
An SEO audit is a process that assesses how a website is performing on the search engine. It identifies the strengths and weaknesses of a site in terms of on-page and off-page SEO practices.
SEO audit is carried out prior to launching an SEO campaign to have a clear picture of how a website stands against its competitors. The result provides insights into problem areas and opportunities for improvement. Based on an SEO audit, you’re then able to prepare data-driven strategies for the website.
There are various factors that need to be covered in an SEO audit, such as:
Manually checking through the pages is time-consuming, which is why SEO experts rely on tools to gather the data. Learn how to perform your own SEO audit here.
An SEO-friendly website means it’s optimized for on-page and off-page signals. Meanwhile, a mobile-friendly website refers to one that looks responsive when viewed on a mobile phone.
More than half of internet searches are performed on mobile devices. This makes it extremely important for a website to be both SEO and mobile-friendly.
It’s important to highlight that an SEO-friendly site does not necessarily mean that it’s mobile-friendly. A site can be optimized for specific keywords and good backlinks coming to it but still perform poorly on mobile.
Therefore, it’s important to strike a balance between SEO and mobile responsiveness when developing a website.
Backlinks are links that point to your website from external sites. They are used by Google to determine the importance and authoritativeness of your site.
If authority websites are linking to yours, you’ll be getting powerful off-page signals that help your site’s ranking.
Building backlinks is an advanced SEO skill. If done wrongly, it can lead to getting penalized from Google.
High-quality backlinks are acquired through proper link-outreach strategies, and maintaining high standards of content on your site. There are several useful linkbuilding tools you can use to build backlinks, such as Ahrefs, Pitchbox and Ninja Outreach.
Advanced keyword research involves diving deeper into the various types of keywords. Here are the different types of keywords that you’ll pick up in the courses.
The types of keywords reflect the search intent for the users. Understanding what people are looking for when they search for the keywords helps to create the right content.
Keyword research involves:
Check out our article for see what keyword tools you can use for SEO keyword research.
When the best keywords are identified, they can be turned into a new webpage, or used to optimize existing pages. Keyword optimization is also important in meta tags and content.
The process of creating meta titles and descriptions combine both data and creativity. It’s important that you’re optimizing them for the selected keyword while allowing creative flair to shine.
Meta titles and descriptions are the first impressions on Google search result for users. When done correctly, it helps Google to interpret the relevance of the page and also entice users to click into the content.
Creating content that aligns with user's search intent is probably one of the most important syllabi of an SEO course. Google is getting better to match search queries with the most relevant article.
User's search intent can often be discovered from the type of keywords, i.e. informational, navigational or transactional.
For example, if you’re targeting ‘how to repair an electric guitar’, you should be creating an article with an instructional guide, instead of a page purely on promoting guitars.
If you’re doubtful of what type of content aligns to the search intent, check out the top results on Google for the respective keyword. Content that matches search intent leads to higher engagement and consequently, better conversion.
Subheaders are heading text used to organize content on a web page. They help to split paragraphs into subtopics, which improves readability.
Image optimization involves optimizing the:
It improves image loading speed and SEO.
Both subheaders and image optimization plays a part in increasing the visibility of a website on Google.
Page loading speed is linked to user experience. Google is placing more importance on user experience as an SEO signal.
Page speed can be affected by various factors, such as:
There are various ways to improve page loading speed. Some of them include:
Structured data, also known as schema markup, are HTML codes used to convey information to the search engine more effectively.
Google’s ability to interpret structured data means it could return additional information on the search result. It also provides more information to users, which may lead to a higher click-through rate.
For example, the star rating and price for the above result appear thanks to schema markup on the page.
Google provides a Structured Data Markup Helper tool that you can use to generate the schema markup code which can then be placed on the webpage.
A short and descriptive URL gives a general idea on the content of the page. For example, 'www.heroesofdigital.com/service/seo/' clearly indicate a content related to SEO service.
You’ll want to keep URL short and intelligible for both users and search engine. Here’s one that you should avoid.
It tells you nothing about the content of the page. A properly-created URL may have a slight positive effect on SEO.
In order to create a short and descriptive URL, consider the following practices
There are many SEO courses that are begging for your attention. The question is, how to pick one that is of high value and worth every dollar of investment.
Huge promos and low prices aren’t signs of good training courses. Instead, you’ll want trainers with proven track records.
Are the trainers or companies that organize the course involved with actual SEO works? Do they have a history of growing their clients’ traffic and conversion?
These are some questions that will reveal the success stories of the trainers who are offering the courses.
We’ve mentioned that some SEO practices are already outdated. If the SEO course still offers techniques like keyword stuffing, reciprocal linking or getting backlinks from article submissions sites, you’ll want to skip the offer.
SEO is a constantly-changing game and you’ll want to pick up knowledge that is applicable with current Google’s search algorithm. For example, the SEO industry is harping about E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) and search intent as the way forward.
Some courses promise SEO certification under the pretext that the cert will help to boost your credentials and attract potential clients.
However, SEO is more about results than a piece of paper. Unless you’re getting a cert from Google, Squared Online or Hubspot, it is unreasonable to fork out a huge amount for certs issued by the course organizers.
Instead, real knowledge and proven results will get you established in the SEO industry.
You’ll also want to avoid courses with ridiculous promises, such as “Rank on the first page of Google in 7 Days”. It’s basically impossible unless you’re ranking for keywords that don’t generate traffic, or you’re banking on BlackHat SEO that will get you penalized.
Avoid dubious courses. If you’re looking for credible ones, check out the following section.
These are paid SEO courses that are hosted online and carried out by credible SEO experts.
SEO 2020: Complete SEO Training + SEO for WordPress Websites
Price: $13.99 (93% Discount)
Description: This is a highly-rated SEO course attended by more than 50,000 students on Udemy. You’ll learn 40+ factors to rank your website from videos, articles and downloadable resources. It’s geared for beginners who are looking to pick up SEO from scratch.
Price: Unknown
Description: The SEO Playbook is a course created by Robbie Richards, a highly-successful search marketer who’s have repeated successes with hundreds of companies. You’ll be guided over 14 hours of video training and access to templates, tools and processes used by Robbie himself. This course is meant for experienced SEO marketers.
Price: $499 / year.
Description: You’ll get a taste of what SEO is like in real-life with Yoast SEO training. The course covers both content and technical SEO where members get hands-on experience in creating content based on the skills taught. You’ll also be tapping into the experience of popular SEO experts like Joost de Valk and Jono Alderson.
Price: From $49
Description: MOZ Academy offers lessons on how to audit sites, local SEO techniques and other modules on SEO. You’ll also get a printable MOZ-certified SEO Essential certificates after completing an exam. Ideal for SEO marketers who are working with local clients.
Price: $497 a month
Description: The man behind SEO That Works is Brian Dean, an SEO expert famed for his link-building strategies. You’ll pick up advanced link-building techniques and learn from case studies of others who have achieved first page rankings.
Price: From $99
Description: Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned marketer, you’ll get something by enrolling to Traffic Think Tank. The course connects you industry experts and access to libraries, tools, webinars and Q&A sessions.
Price: $999
Description: The Blueprint Training provides made-for-you templates and training modules for SEO professionals. The course is based on a proven process that can be applied for your works with SEO clients.
Price: $30/month.
Description: Distilled U is an online SEO university established by an online marketing agency with presence in New York, Seattle and London. You’ll get access to resources for basic, intermediate and advanced SEO training and over 133 hours of videos.
Not ready to pay for an SEO course? Here are some good ones that you can try for free.
Description: SEMrush is known for its SEO tools but it also offers training courses on keyword research and content SEO. The courses are conducted by Greg Gifford and Eric Enge, both recognizable names in the SEO industry.
Description: Yoast has a basic SEO training that you can sign up for free. It covers fundamental topics on keyword research and how Google works in terms of search.
Description: The only course you can enrol for free on Moz is one that teaches how to use Moz Pro. While it’s leaning towards its SEO tool, you’ll learn about topics like keywords, links and on-page optimizations.
Description: HubSpot offers a crash course comprising 22 videos that take you through the basics of SEO in 1.35 hours. You’ll pick up techniques that are used by HubSpot to achieve a high ranking on Google.
Description: This free SEO course comes in the form of a 156-page e-book. You’ll learn topics like keyword research, on-page optimizations and link-building, which are helpful for beginners in the industry.
Description: This is more like an in-depth SEO blog, broken into multiple chapters. The content of the course suits people who are venturing into SEO. Topics like search engines, content SEO, keywords and link building are covered in the course.
Description: Clickminded offers a series of courses that target entry to mid-level SEO marketers. The course is based on real strategies that help Paypal and AirBnB grow organic traffic. While the complete course requires payment, it has a free minicourse that you can complete in 30 minutes.
While it feels good to complete an SEO course and get a cert, it means pretty little in an ever-changing industry. To stay competitive, you’ll need to keep yourself updated with the latest happenings in SEO.
Our best resources are authoritative blogs and Youtube channels that are followed by peers in the industry.
Besides SEO tools, Moz has an active blog that showcases the thoughts and tips by industry experts. The blog articles offer a deeper look into how other experts are dealing with the latest SEO issues.
Search Engine Journal is a highly popular blog that covers SEO and other areas of digital marketing. You’ll get the latest news, tips and thoughts from professionals who are plying their trade in the industry.
Search Engine Land is another authoritative source of SEO-related topics. It offers articles not only on Google SEO but also on other search engines like Bing and Yahoo.
Yoast is well-known for its SEO plug-in for WordPress. It also has a blog that focuses on SEO topics that are more technical. The articles are usually direct-to-the-point and easy to read.
Diggity Marketing is owned by Matt Diggity, a respectable SEO marketer in with proven track records in the industry. You’ll get in-depth SEO guides and other aspects of digital marketing in his blog.
Eric Enge, a veteran SEO consultant, shares valuable tips on his Youtube channel. You’ll get finer details of technical SEO and practical implementation tips from his videos.
Neil Patel is the celebrity of SEO if there’s such a title. His videos are mainly about SEO, which is narrowed into specific topics like getting backlinks or ranking small websites.
Known for its extensive SEO tools, Ahrefs Youtube channel is naturally populated with tutorial-like videos. Whether it’s keyword research or getting backlinks, you’ll find helpful videos on the channel.
Hack My Growth is the official channel of SMA Marketing. It has a nice collection of SEO tips and growth hacking strategies that are helpful for professionals and agencies. You’ll also get updates on major SEO news that involve Google.
As long as you've signed up for credible SEO courses, you’ll gain new sets of knowledge which are applicable in your businesses.
Applying strategies like keyword research, on-page and off-page optimizations will lead to sustainable SEO rankings and more organic traffic to your site.
When you target the right keywords and produce content that matches the search intent, you’ll have a better conversion rate. The same goes for improving loading speed and ensuring your site is responsive on both mobile and desktop.
The SEO strategies that you’ve learned enable you to create content that engages with your readers. Eventually, some of them will turn into loyal customers, subscribers or returning visitors to your site.
Having your website ranked favourably on Google also improves brand awareness for your business.
Many high-quality resources, such as those on our blog, are available for free or at an affordable price. Sometimes, it is not justifiable to fork out $500 - $3,000 for an offline SEO course in Singapore when most of the high-quality training is easily available online.
We’ve mentioned some of the best training courses offered by industry experts and you can also check out these proven SEO strategies from our blog.
There’s no shortcut in becoming an SEO expert. You’ll need to put in the number of hours in learning, executing and improvising from mistakes before you can launch successful SEO campaigns.
If it seems unbearably tedious, you’re better off turning to an SEO agency than going through the hundreds of hours of courses and learnings. You’ll save money and time while focusing on the core activities of your business.
Outsourcing your SEO campaign also means you'll have a team of experts to carry out the necessary works immediately. You’ll be connected to a pool of SEO experts, tools and resources that can be costly to acquire in-house.
An SEO agency also ensures that data are continuously monitored for improvisations. With a dedicated team, you also won’t be blindsided by the constant Google algorithm upgrades and ever-changing practices.
Contact our Heroes of Digital consultants to learn more about SEO, or entrust us in kickstarting your SEO campaign.
Google Ads trends for 2025 that you cannot ignore
7 SEO trends for 2025 you cannot ignore
How to Create a PPC Report That Goes Beyond Vanity Metrics
5 Unique Ways to Find Trending SEO Keywords (No Keyword Tool Needed!)
How to get more appointments for your B2B business with digital marketing
Get A Free Proposal
