Finding the Best Online SEO Courses in 2021
Thousands of companies invest money in search engine optimization (SEO) specialists to ensure people interact with their digital content. According to PayScale, SEO experts make an average of $46,646 per year.
SEO skills can help you get a career in tech and participate in large digital projects. If you are reading this article, you’re probably interested in the best online SEO courses in 2021. We’ve compiled a list to help you discover the top programs and their benefits.
What Is SEO?
SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, is a process that involves digital positioning techniques to improve online searches for a company or brand. SEO increases visibility on the Internet, which helps a business get more clients and users according to the services they offer.
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SEO aims to gain organic traffic for a company’s website, as opposed to paid traffic that comes from clickable advertisements. This process includes writing, link building, and marketing strategies to achieve specific company goals and improve user traffic.
The Best Online SEO Courses of 2021
One of the best ways to become an SEO expert is with an online course. Online courses teach you the necessary skills of this technique and help you become familiarized with positioning tools, create practical projects for any website, and get a job as an SEO expert.
Below, we have put together a list of the 10 best online SEO courses out there.
Price: $89,99
Length: 4.5 hours
Certificate: No
Udemy offers a special course to learn about Google tools and all the techniques to improve the positioning of your website. With this class created by Video School, Phil Ebiner, and Ryan Breikreutz, you will understand all the essential SEO concepts, such as positioning, backlinks, and Google search methods. In just a few hours, this course will help you monetize your content.
You do not need prior experience in the subject, but the organizers say you should have an existing website or plans to build a website for implementing what you learn. This and other Udemy courses typically have a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Price: $49 per month
Length: 5 months
Certificate: Yes
The Search Engine Optimization Specialization is a Coursera program that includes five courses. Over five months, you cover topics such as Introduction to Google SEO, Google SEO Fundamentals, Optimizing a Website for Google Search, Advanced Content and Social Tactics to Optimize SEO, and Google SEO Capstone Project.
For this specialization, you need previous business experience. You will learn SEO for social media, digital marketing, keyword research, semantics, algorithms, and more. One of the advantages of this course is that you can choose a flexible schedule according to your needs. You will be required to submit a final project.
Price: $9.99
Length: 10 hours
Certificate: Yes
This is one of Udemy’s best-selling SEO courses. This SEO training tackles an extensive array of SEO concepts and tools, including backlinks, traffic, and free options.
This program includes HD videos, slides, and 24-hour technical support. Udemy also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for anyone dissatisfied with the course. You need experience in Excel and a WordPress account to join.
Price: $497
Length: 14 hours
Certificate: Yes
This Robbie Richards course is designed for entry-level or more senior SEO specialists. It is one of the most complete programs available online and currently has a waitlist for interested students.
In addition to understanding optimization tools, this course helps you get your first clients for SEO-related jobs. You will find more than 100 videos and 50 step-by-step guides of each SEO team function in the program. You will also participate in Slack groups where you can learn and collaborate with your peers.
Price: $89 per year
Length: Depends on the course
Certificate: Yes
Yoast is an advanced SEO tool for websites. The developers of this platform created Yoast Academy, where you can access educational content to become an SEO expert. Sign up and you will unlock access to all Yoast Academy’s SEO courses, covering the fundamentals of positioning, the optimization of web articles, and much more.
One of the benefits of this training is that you can access the Yoast plugin to practice from home. In these courses, you will watch educational content in the form of videos, PDFs, and text documents. In addition, you will have access to the programs for an entire year.
Price: Free
Length: 1 hour
Certificate: No
The best way to learn SEO and Google Analytics is with a guide from Google. The SEO Starter Guide is a course that allows you to understand all the fundamentals of positioning and web optimization. The main advantage is that all course resources are free, available to everyone, and contains meaningful content for today’s industry.
If you master Google’s SEO tools, you will have an advantage over other competitors. It is recommended that you have some experience with SEO to understand the explanations in this guide.
Price: Free
Length: 3 weeks
Certificate: Yes
If you are a fan of books, pay attention to this eMarketing Institute course. This free program covers all SEO fundamentals, especially for beginners. The book has 156 pages, and each lesson is divided into chapters. You will learn about SEO for websites, Google searches, keywords, backlinks, and much more.
To get the certificate of completion, you need to answer 50 percent of the questions in the exam correctly. If you don’t score high enough, you can take the course again for free.
Price: $34,99
Length: 2 hours
Certificate: No
Local SEO is one of the many LinkedIn Learning courses with which you can improve your digital content. This course belongs to a cluster of lessons in the Become an SEO Expert learning path. In this 2.5-hour course, you will learn how to make Google Maps an ally to better position your site.
This course was created by Brad Batesole, Marketing and Commerce Expert. Lessons include Optimization, Google Places, Secure Backlinks, and Advanced Local SEO. It is recommended to have previous experience in this subject.
Price: Free
Length: 3 hours
Certificate: Yes
Hubspot offers different educational options regarding SEO and digital marketing. If you want to know the basics of these strategies, you can take the SEO Certification Course, a program that consists of six lessons, 23 videos, and multiple quizzes. This course is aimed at beginners.
You will learn the fundamentals of SEO and positioning, keyword research, SEO reporting, link building, and on-page and technical SEO. This free course can also help marketers and content creators achieve better results.
Price: $3,000
Length: 3 months
Certificate: Yes
The Blueprint Training is a platform created by influencers Ryan Stewart and David Krevitt. This SEO course helps hundreds of companies improve their positioning strategies with modern and practical methods. The program covers the most important elements for SEO professionals: positioning, productization, and marketing.
You will know the complete process of creating positioning campaigns, and you will participate in Slack groups and video training. In addition, you will learn how to form an SEO agency to offer professional services to real clients. You can pay tuition upfront ($2,999) or in three installments of $1,000.
What Do SEO Courses Cover?
A good SEO course teaches you the skills most in demand to create positioning campaigns for a company. The content of the programs may vary depending on the student target. If you join a program for beginners, you will only learn the basics and how the optimization tools work.
The intermediate or professional courses are aimed at people who already work as SEO specialists and want to improve their performance or learn new skills. These advanced programs involve live classes, video training, and access to SEO tools to practice and display results. It is a combination of theoretical and practical content.
How to Choose the Best SEO Course
You should consider the price, duration, and ratings of any SEO course before selecting one. However, the final decision will be determined by your experience and resources. We’ve outlined some considerations in more depth below.
Price
The Internet has many free options that offer well-rounded approaches to SEO content. Many SEO training companies publish these courses to prepare new specialists efficiently in a short time.
If you want to receive advanced content, you can pay anything from $9 to $3,000. The price of these courses depends on educational materials, length, teachers, and the reputation of the institution. Usually, certifications for paid courses have a wider scope and enjoy greater international recognition.
Duration
Some programs only take a few hours to complete, while some advanced courses can take months. If you have a busy schedule, you should choose a course with flexible hours or short lessons. How long a course lasts depends on the content and additional learning materials.
Feedback
Results are essential in an industry as demanding as web positioning. Before choosing a course, look at the comments section, access forum discussions on the school and its programs, and analyze the responses of former students and companies.
Some schools display references by newspapers and website executives to demonstrate the quality of their education.
SEO Certifications
SEO consists of marketing and positioning strategies, so if you have a bachelor’s degree in a relevant field, your chances of success increase.
However, if you want to add more experience to your resume, you may want to consider getting a certification.
The Moz platform offers the SEO Essentials Certification, an intensive six-part course and exam series for $595. The tools of this company allow you to optimize any website through SEO strategies. This program offers a practice session using Moz Pro in different scenarios.
During eight hours, you will learn the fundamentals of positioning and the SEO best practices with the highest demand today. You will learn everything about keyword research, link building, link evaluation, and much more.
The IPC is an Insights Association credential created for market analysis and related careers. This license consists of exams and practical tests to assess your knowledge. For this certification, you must have at least three years of experience in marketing research jobs. This credential expires after two years.
Next Steps After Finishing Your Course
After finishing an SEO course, your next step is to practice and apply the knowledge. Most employers require one to two years of professional experience, so you want to create personal projects to see the results of your positioning methods.
To get a job, you can start with remote work platforms. Upwork, one of the largest freelance websites in the world, currently has about 7,000 SEO-related jobs listed online. After investing in your education, consider paying for premium tools with better results, as these systems are in higher demand.
If you landed your first job as an SEO expert, keep improving your skills every day. Employers value the resume of professionals and their academic levels. If you completed a bachelor’s degree in marketing or advertising, also consider a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA).
The Bottomline
Starting a career in tech is easier now than ever. According to PRNewswire, the SEO services market will grow 8 percent between 2020 and 2021. This means that your chances of finding a job in the sector and getting a high salary will increase considerably.
Remote education gives you the ability to learn from anywhere in the world, as long as you have Internet access. If you want to improve your skills in search engine optimization or learn to work with these tools, then an online course will be your best option.
