If you’re completely new to the world of SEO, then start by understanding what a strange business it really is. You’ll encounter conjures, pure ignorance, and misinformation. Some self-proclaimed SEO experts will even try to sell you snake oil. So if by any chance you’re still interested in hiring someone to do the job for you, make it known at the back of your mind that NOT every self-broadcasted SEO expert can be trusted.
Your first step to being an autodidact SEO expert is wrapping your head around the basics. Run a simple Google search and find out what SEO really is and how search engines operate. Learn about crawlers, indexing and some of the parameters search engines use to determine one’s ranking.
Things may appear overwhelming at first, pretty much because there’s a whole lot to wrap your head around. So you have to find a way to break everything you plan on learning into digestible chunks.
Plus you can’t just move from a newbie to a competent SEO expert with just a one sitting read. Everything takes time and lots of practical experience. So yes, patience is a virtue here.
A few Pointers to take Note Of
. – Learning SEO takes time. You have to be willing to dedicate a humble amount of your everyday time to learning something new about SEO.
. – You have an encyclopaedia of SEO materials to thoroughly go through and learn. So be prepared for the great task ahead.
. – Some of the information you come across will contradict. You’ll have a hard time knowing what to trust. But what’s important is that there’s some level of truth in every contradictory statement out there.
. – There’s the technical aspect of SEO. Some of the materials you come across may touch on some of them. Don’t let anything scare you into giving up.
. – You will be tempted to try out black hat SEO tricks. Don’t. Stick with white hat SEO and soon enough, your effort will start to pay off.
. – There’s no need for formal education. But if you wish to receive a certificate for the things learned, there are both paid and free resources to check out.
Courses to Enrol for SEO
People don’t learn SEO from schools or colleges, more so in Singapore. Meaning you only have the internet as your oyster.
The main problem is that beginners don’t usually know where to begin. Plus the internet is full of contradictory information, like we already mentioned.
But there are courses to consider. They’re the safest option you’ve got. Some of these courses will award you a certificate at the end of it all or in the specific areas you graduate.
Here’s a list of the best online SEO courses to undertake:
Moz Academy
Moz started out as a purely informative SEO website (formerly SEOMoz), but somewhere along the line they decided to add their own services and some tools that have significantly advanced to be really important in the world of SEO.
They’re the few resources you can completely lap up every piece of content offered as is without worrying about the veracity of what’s being said.
They also have their own SEO academy. Here, you can learn about link building, inbound marketing, social media marketing or SEO as a whole.
Google Webmaster Academy
This course is somewhat more advanced for a beginner. But it’s the course to enrol for if you’re prepared to handle the technical aspect of SEO.
Here, you’ll be taught about the best SEO practices and the Google’s do’s and don’ts to observe while designing a website.
A vivid picture on how crawlers and spiders work will be painted. And oh, you’ll be given a certificate at the end of it all, but after doing their test. So learn carefully and take notes where possible.
Google Analytics Academy
Google analytics is one tool you can’t afford to ignore in SEO. Good thing Google has a free course that walks you through every aspect of it.
In addition to providing an in-depth coverage on how the tool works and some of the benefits you’re likely to experience while using the tool, some of the units covered have certificate that you can use on your resume.
You may use the certificate to convince some of your clients into giving you jobs or use the knowledge garnered to drive traffic and ramp up sales in your site.
Instant eTraining Certification
Looking to learn SEO and be awarded a certificate for it?
Well, this is a good place to start. Even better, the platform offers certificates in other areas as well, including content marketing, Social media and analytics to name a few.
They also have a free resources page, filled with webinars and all kinds of materials on a wide range of topics.
They also have small video bites for those with limited amount of time to spend online.
DistilledU
DistilledU stands for Distilled University, which is basically a great place for beginners to learn about the basics of SEO.
They have SEO 101 courses and more advanced versions to make progressive steps in understanding the concepts. Keep in mind that their courses aren’t free.
But they’ll be worth every penny spend on it considering they’re very thorough and well-explained.
Each module has an interactive quiz at the end. This helps to walk you through what you’ve learned and even give you a reason to revisit some of the areas you covered for a better understanding.
How to Make Infographic with Coschedule
Coschedule isn’t a exactly a course on SEO. But a detailed guide with invaluable piece of content. Here, you’ll learn about infographics and how it’s important for attracting attention and driving traffic.
You’ll also be taught how to use infographics to produce value-added information. Nothing too complex about the guide, you’ll be progressively educated from the very basics of infographics to how best you can create engaging and shareable infographic content.
Do You Need SEO
Another one from Google, explaining the importance of SEO. In this piece of content, Google highlights on all kind of questions clients are likely to ask when looking to hire an SEO specialist.
The information covered in this small piece of article is priceless. You’ll learn about your responsibilities as an SEO proficient. You’ll also be guided on what clients expect from you, with frequent detours to lots of areas you’ve probably never even thought of before.
Market Motive Digital Marketing Course
Marketing Motive has a complete set of courses that can be covered one by one or as a package.
You also have the option of choosing a cheaper self-paced learning approach or a comprehensive online classroom where you’ll have a direct one-on-one contact with an SEO trainer.
The only limitation is that the courses are priced on the extreme end, but they’re totally worth it considered you’re guaranteed a bright career as a SEO expert by the end of it all.
Video Courses
A good number of web users prefer learning by seeing. That’s where video courses come in handy.
It’s however important that you try to steer clear of any webinar or video course you’re likely to find on YouTube. That’s NOT to discredit YouTube, but lots of what is offered on the board is too shallow to effectively teach anything substantial.
With that said, we had to handpick the best of the platforms we think have something of value to offer. And mind you, YouTube is NOT one of them.
Udemy Courses
Every course you can possibly think of can be found on Udemy. One reason the platform is widely considered the largest database of online courses.
And even though most of the courses charge a hefty amount of fee, there are plenty of courses on SEO you can still take and greatly benefit from.
Just visit the site and head straight to the marketing section of the site. There should be plenty of courses for you to pick one.
You can sift through all the courses, going through the details to find out what’s covered before you can finally go ahead and pick one.
KISSmetrics Webinars
KISSmetrics has some of the most thorough video courses on SEO techniques. Even better, their courses are taught by some of the household names in the industry.
Head to their website and browse through their huge list of topics to identify what piques your interest. You can even sign up on the site to be notified on new courses. This is important as they always have something new posted every week.
Most of their courses are super-advanced, so you might want to start learning from somewhere else before coming to this site and learn as you progress from an intermediate SEO expert to an advanced one.
Quick Sprout University
Founded by Neil Patel, Quick Sprout is highly endowed with all kinds of information on SEO. The site accommodates all levels of learning. Whether you’re beginner, an intermediate or advanced SEO learner, there will always be something for you to learn on site.
What’s still unknown to many though is that there’s an endless count of videos that delve deep into various SEO theories and practices. Here, you’ll be introduced to the complexities of SEO, but in a manner even a third-grader will have an easy time understanding.
For instances, you’ll be directed by Brian Dean on video on how to find the right keywords for SEO. Better, the videos are uploaded alongside a written transcript that makes it even easier to understand the concept being taught.
MediaOne Digital Marketing Training
One of the most respected course providers in digital marketing is MediaOne. Unlike many course providers who are pure academics or people who have had dabbled with digital marketing and are trying to earn extra bucks teaching digital marketing on the side – MediaOne is a true-blue practitioner which has ranked up many top brands on the search engines such as Changi Airport, Fuji Xerox, ST Electronics, Comat, SingTel Business, SingTel Media, Noel Gifts, Maybank, Ministry of Law, EDB Singapore, and many more. So you get real hands-on coaching from the real world what works and what doesn’t instead. See their digital marketing courses here.
Learning From Your Web Users
If you’re working on your own website and are specifically learning about SEO to improve its ranking and drive traffic, there’s a whole lot you can learn from some of the loyal users you have.
Here are a few ways to get this done:
Send them a Survey
You can create a short survey with Survey Monkey and send it to your users via email, asking them about their experience. You can even ask them about the part on your site that they like visiting or if there’s anything they wish to see added or removed. The answers they give should guide you on what to do next.
Via a Phone call
Send an email to some of your site’s subscribers and ask them if they’re comfortable about you calling them and asking a few questions concerning their interaction with your site.
You can ask them about how they came to find about your site. What search terms did they use and what part of your website do they like most. Make sure you have all the questions you intend to ask written on a piece of paper before the call.
You can make as many calls as you can and use some of the feedback you get to improve a few things on your site.
Duplicate Content
Duplicate can cripple all your SEO effort and even get you penalised by Google and other search engines. Worse is when you’re NOT even aware that you have duplicate content on your site.
Good thing is that Google has a tool that you can use to track down duplicate or repeated content on your site.
But first, before we get to the tool, here are number of reasons why duplicate content is blatantly bad in SEO:
Search engines identify it as a black hat technique and they as such have a severe penalty for it. That’s because web masters would back then post same blog post on several sites and interlink them all together.
At the time, search engines weren’t well developed to see through the trick, so they’d interpret them as backlinks and rank all the site high in SERPs. But now search engines are more advanced to see through the ploy.
Duplicate content confuse search engines. When web crawlers come across sites with similar content, they automatically encounter hardship figuring out which of the two sites deserves an SEO score for higher ranking.
It splits your backlinks and viewership.
It’s a Wrap
The blog section of MediaOne is another good place to teach yourself about SEO. With hundreds of quality content posted on a regular basis, their blog serves as an ongoing resource to those looking for something new to learn about SEO every day.
Goes without mentioning that you’re also allowed to contact them any time of the day for a free SEO consultation.
