Almost daily, I stumble across someone online asking which course is best for learning SEO.
With Google regularly updating the core algorithm and accelerating the implementation of machine learning, the digital marketing landscape is changing rapidly.
That said, outdated tactics that worked 10-15 years ago are still promoted as best practices in a multitude of SEO groups and forums.
The days of tweaking one or two things to meaningfully improve organic search results for any length of time are over. Google’s John Mueller has said just that.
Today, in order to make it online, one needs to look at improving the whole website.
To many, that may seem daunting. Fortunately, when you break it down into manageable pieces, it really isn’t. The key is to focus on the parts of the algorithm that carry the most weight.
Moving forward, I think it’s reasonable to expect machine learning and AI will play a bigger role in the core algorithm. Introducing BERT, last fall, was just the latest move in that direction.
According to U.S. News and World Report, an Online Masters Degree in Digital Marketing costs between $14,000 and $32,000 in tuition.
The good news is that the same level of knowledge is available for free – if you just know where to look. Better still, in the field of SEO, you can still crush it without a degree – if you have the knowledge.
As mentioned earlier, the most productive way to tackle this is by studying those areas with the biggest impact on organic search traffic. That includes the following.
Mobile First
Mobile search is the foundation of local SEO. A study by uberall revealed that a whopping 82% of shoppers perform “near me” searches on mobile devices.
It’s the logical starting point for anyone promoting a brick and mortar or professional service business. Sharpen your skill set by investigating these courses and Guides
This free Udemy course is designed for local business owners and digital marketing beginners that have little if any knowledge of Local SEO. It is designed to be the starting point for learning the fundamentals.
Upon graduation, the student will have a strong foundational understanding of local search and the knowledge base to excel in the next course.
This UC Davis MOOC is available as a free trial through Coursera. The syllabus covers:
Technical SEO
The umbrella of technical SEO covers any action designed to improve search results taken at the upper levels of the website or the server.
It refers, in particular, to actions that affect crawling, indexing and the rendering of web pages. The bottom line is to get as many valuable pages indexed and ranking as possible.
With a 36% market share, no other CMS even comes close.
Sure WordPress is SEO-friendly right out of the box, but with so many people using it, that’s all the more reason to look for an edge.
This guide takes you from indexing thru translations and everything in between.
Website Speed
Page speed has a massive impact on both traffic and conversions. According to Google:
“The average time it takes to fully load a mobile landing page is 22 seconds… yet 53 percent of mobile site visitors leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load.”
In short, a fast page speed equals a good user experience, a happy user that will (hopefully) return to your site again and again.
Google now uses page speed as one of its ranking factors, so it’s essential to learn how to keep your page fast and furious.
Analyze and optimize your website. An interactive “guide” that provides suggestions for your specific website to make it faster.
On-Page Optimization
On-page optimization includes all activities performed directly on a website that have demonstrated the ability to improve organic search rankings.
Examples include optimizing content and meta tags. It also includes the use of microdata, like schema, which adds context to a page
A Google codelab guide details methods for adding different types of structured data to an HTML page.
User Intent
Since the introduction of the Hummingbird Update, Google has been working to better understand the context of search queries. The plan is to serve up results that more closely match searcher intent.
That means, if your web page doesn’t satisfy the search intent for a particular keyword, there is little (if any) hope of your website reaching the top of the SERPs for that phrase.
This shift makes it more important than ever before to convert the users that do land on your site.
From Moz, you will find a structured process for CRO which includes a series of helpful checklists.
User Experience
User experience (UX) design is the process a design team uses for developing things that create positive experiences for users.
This involves designing an entire process for integrating all aspects of design, usability, function, and branding.
Content Marketing
Content marketing focuses on creating and distributing useful, relevant, and high-quality content for the purpose of attracting and retaining a targeted audience.
Ultimately, the goal is to convince your audience to take profitable action.
Coursera provides another great course, a partnership between Copyblogger and UC Davis.
In this course, you will discover the key tactics that content marketers use for acquiring and retaining customers.
Specifically, you will learn how to develop a content marketing strategy, analyze the effectiveness of your campaign and learn how to write compelling copy.
A Search Engine Journal free ebook, this explains what content marketing is, why you need it, how it has evolved and what types of goals you should be focused on.
As a bonus, you will find tools to make your job easier as well as case studies that underscore the effectiveness of a properly executed campaign.
Link Building
As long as links remain an important factor in search rankings, link building should be a regular part of your digital marketing efforts.
Links that are legitimately earned and relevant still move the dial.
Despite the proliferation of paid guest posting and other link schemes, you must avoid the temptation to cheat now, unless you are prepared to pay for it later with a Google penalty.
This is a HUGE resource – 39 chapters to be precise. This guide from Search Engine Journal shows how to leverage proven link building tactics for yourself, the benefits of different types of link building, which tools make the job easier, and so much more.
From Ahrefs, this guide covers link building theory, skills, tactics, tools and resources.
The Takeaway
Expect to see an acceleration in the rollout of Google core algorithm updates over the next year and beyond.
Understand where Google is heading and optimize for tomorrow. Take advantage of these resources and you will be successful.
Disclaimer: Some of these courses are free, but contingent upon completion within a limited time (trial period). Others are free if you choose to audit a course and forgo a certificate. Select guides may require submitting an email prior to downloading.
This content was originally published here.