Since the dawn of the Internet and the birth of search engines, entrepreneurs and would-be businessmen have sought ways to create their own online businesses and monetize them. Early on these online merchants discovered that it was not enough to simply build a website and slap some content on it; if they truly wanted to become profitable, they had to grab the attention of search engines and prove their worth by ranking at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs).
In the early days of the Internet, ranking high on the search engine pages required a solid working knowledge of search engine optimization – also known as SEO. SEO involved the art of figuring out what algorithms engines like Google used to rank their website listings and then optimizing your website to appease (or align) to these algorithms.
Since that time, SEO has grown by leaps and bounds and now has many offshoots, including digital marketing, Internet marketing, social media optimization, local SEO, technical SEO, international SEO, content strategy – the list goes on and on. Regardless of which niche you choose to pursue – or whether you choose a broad approach like digital marketing – the fact remains that, at some point, education needs to come into play. While you could rely on tutorials like the ones hosted here on HTMLGoodies, or online forums, taking an online SEO course can also help you learn everything you need to know to please Google, Bing, and other search engines.
Online Courses to Learn Digital Marketing and SEO
To help budding Internet marketers, content strategists, and others interested in online marketing get started, we have compiled a list of the top online courses to learn SEO. For the purposes of this tutorial, we will use phrases like SEO, digital marketing, and Internet marketing interchangeably. Note, however, that there are considerable differences between each of those search engine marketing types, which we highlight in these articles:
With that being said, here is our list.
SEO Training Masterclass: Beginner to Advanced SEO from Udemy
The first course on our list is a doozy. Offered by online classroom, Udemy, the SEO Training Masterclass: Beginner to Advanced SEO course features 16 hours of on-demand SEO training videos. Students will begin by learning how to conduct SEO keyword research, how to use the Google Keyword Tool, and how to build a keyword list for your website.
From there, the course steers towards On-page SEO and blogging topics, including more advanced keyword strategies. Learn the difference between long-tail and short-tail keywords and what “evergreen” content means. Google penalties and SEO for other platforms – such as WordPress, Wix, and Shopify are also discussed.
In the last two parts of this online course, Off-page SEO, link building, mobile SEO, voice SEO, and technical SEO are covered. Students will also get hands on experience using several popular SEO tools, including Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Yoast SEO plugin, and more.
To sign-up for this course, visit its listing on Udemy: SEO Training Masterclass: Beginner to Advanced SEO.
YouTube SEO Search Engine Optimization for Success from Udemy
Despite what many may think, Google is not actually the largest search engine in the world. Truth be told, more searches are conducted on the video platform YouTube daily than anywhere else. For that reason, we felt it was important to feature at least one online course that specialized in YouTube optimization. For that, we turned to Udemy’s YouTube SEO Search Engine Optimization for Success course.
This YouTube SEO course is relatively short, weighing in at four and a half hours. It begins by discussing keyword phrases and keyword research as it relates to videos. From there, students learn how to craft optimized YouTube titles and video descriptions. Then, two unique case studies are reviewed, before the course wraps up with a host of marketing tips and tricks specifically related to video content.
You can sign-up for this course by visiting its Udemy listing: YouTube SEO Search Engine Optimization for Success.
The Complete SEMRush Course from Udemy
Learning the proper SEO tools can make or break a digital marketers career. If you are a fan of HTMLGoodies and our SEO tutorials and tool reviews, then you will have no doubt seen our coverage of the popular SEO software known as SEMRush. Arguably one of the top tools for search engine optimization on the market, SEMRush has a ton of features that can take a bit to learn, simply because their are so many to choose from.
The Complete SEMRush Course targets students and marketers that want to learn the ins and out of SEMRush. In addition to learning the marketing software’s interface, pupils will also be taught how to set up projects and tracking for websites, identify (and copy) competitor’s SEO strategies through competitor analysis, find opportunities for backlinks, optimize content, and uncover website issues that could be affecting your ability to rank in the SERPs.
The online SEO course is nearly six hours long and comes with a certificate upon completion. You can learn more about the class and sign-up by visiting its Udemy page: Complete SEMRush Course.
SEO Audit: Find and Fix Common SEO Issues from Udemy
Once you have a basic understanding of search engine optimization best practices and techniques, you may want to dive a little deeper. One direction you can head is to learn how to perform an SEO audit of your site. SEO audits involve reviewing every element of your website and marketing strategy to uncover flaws and issues with your site. To help you learn how to conduct a site audit, Udemy has developed the SEO Audit: Find and Fix Common SEO Issues course.
Despite the course only lasting two hours, there are a slew of SEO audit techniques covered, including:
- Tools for SEO audits
- Technical SEO elements
- Auditing an XML sitemap
- How to test page speed
- Common On-page SEO mistakes
- How to find broken links, thin content, duplicate content, and 404 pages
- how to analyze internal link structures and backlink profiles
The course includes a certificate of completion and an SEO audit checklist, which is handy for making sure you covered all the bases during your SEO audits and SEO reviews. To sign-up for this essential Internet marketing course, visit its listing on Udemy: SEO Audit: Find and Fix Common SEO Issues.
Local SEO: Guide to Local Business Marketing
Another “specialty” area of search engine optimization and digital marketing involves local SEO, which is a process of optimizing your website for local business and local keywords. Udemy has a great online class covering the topic called Local SEO: Guide to Local Business Marketing.
This course is five hours long and teaches local SEO topics including:
- How to optimize and rank local business websites
- How to increase locational relevancy
- How to conduct keyword research for local keywords
- How to build citations and rank for the map pack
You can sign up for the local digital marketing course by visiting its Udemy page: Local SEO: Guide to Local Business Marketing.
Social Media Marketing Complete Certificate Course from Udemy
No list of SEO courses would be complete if it did not include at least one class for social media optimization. Udemy has a course called Social Media Marketing that serves this purpose. Featuring two and a half hours of on demand video content and 16 articles, this SMO course covers the following areas of social media optimization:
- Social media foundations
- Social media optimization basics for YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
- Social media for customer service and PR
- Social media auditing techniques
- The basics of content marketing and social media etiquette
Learn more about this social media marketing course by visiting its listing on Udemy: Social Media Marketing Complete Certificate Course.
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