SEO is like anything else. Unless you’ve gone through practice, training, or some type of education, it’s going to be tough to master.
Fortunately, the digital era has made it possible for you to learn SEO on your own with the help of online courses and guides. But which ones are the best? We’ve narrowed it down for you.
The Best SEO Courses
Now that you understand the importance of proper SEO training, it’s time to see where you can get it from. We’ve identified the best SEO courses on the Internet today.
As we mentioned before, there’s a mix of some free and some paid options. Some courses are made for beginners, while others focus on more complex SEO components.
Regardless of what you’re looking for, we know there’s an option for you on this list.
SEMrush Academy
SEMrush is a big player in the world of SEO. This SaaS company sells software for online visibility and digital marketing. SEO is a huge component of this.
SEMrush has been around since 2008, before the surge and popularity of SEO as we know it today. The company started as an SEO tool and browser extension before diving into the SaaS model.
With such a strong history in SEO, it’s no surprise that the SEMrush Academy offers some of the best SEO courses out there.
Right now, they have 35 courses specifically focusing on SEO. These courses cover things like:
- SEO toolkits
- Site audits
- Keyword research
- Competitive analysis
- On-page and technical SEO
- Link building
- SEO fundamentals
The courses and exams range anywhere from 10 minutes to 7 hours. So there’s definitely plenty of variety here.
SEMrush Academy teaches SEO with a series of video tutorials and lessons.
In addition to the lessons, they also offer several different SEO certifications. You can take an exam, and get a certification if you pass. This is a great option for marketers, agencies, and aspiring SEOs. You can use these certifications to show prospective clients that you’re an expert in different areas of SEO.
SEMrush Academy also has courses and exams on social media marketing, content marketing, affiliate programs, and PPC. So check these out while you’re on the site as well.
The best part? All courses and exams offered by SEMrush are 100% free, including the certifications.
Udemy
With more than 210,000 online courses, Udemy is one of the most popular platforms for learning something new. Online training is their specialty.
One of the reasons why we like Udemy so much is the way that they present courses on their website. Each course has ratings and reviews, so you can see what others have to say about their experience. It also tells you exactly how many other people have enrolled to date.
Some of Udemy’s most popular SEO courses include:
- SEO for WordPress
- SEO for local businesses
- Keyword research
- Site audits
- Link building
The more advanced courses will tell you if you need to have any prior experience with certain components of SEO before you get started. So make sure you’re taking courses that align with your skill level.
Courses start at $14.99 and can be accessed on your mobile device as well.
When you buy a course from Udemy, you have full lifetime access to it, and you’ll also receive a certificate of completion.
Udemy also specializes in courses for teams. If you want training for five or more people, check out Udemy for Business. This is a great choice for those of you who run an agency. You can get your entire team certified at the same time.
Yoast Academy
Yoast is a name that many of you may already be familiar with. If you’ve read my guide on the best WordPress plugins, you know that the Yoast SEO plugin was ranked as the best overall SEO plugin for WordPress.
Yoast Academy offers SEO training courses for beginners, content SEO, technical SEO, and bundles as well.
Here are some of their most popular SEO courses:
- SEO copywriting
- Keyword research
- Site structure
- Content SEO
- Structured data
- Multilingual SEO
The vast majority of the courses are paid, but they do offer a free beginner training course as well.
If you’re interested in taking multiple courses from the Yoast Academy, your best bet is the Premium plan.
For $99 per year, you’ll have access to all of the SEO courses. If they come out with new SEO courses while you’re subscribed, you’ll have access to those as well. You’ll also receive the Yoast SEO Premium plugin as part of your subscription.
HubSpot Academy
HubSpot is another well-known name in the digital marketing industry. They offer marketing and sales CRM software to businesses.
In addition to their great products, services, reputation, and blogs, HubSpot also has an academy offering educational tools for various subjects.
While HubSpot doesn’t have a large variety of SEO courses like some of the other options on our list, they have one course that covers several components of SEO.
In total, the course contains 26 videos, six lessons, and five quizzes. The total completion time is less than four hours. The lessons are broken down into the following categories:
- SEO basics
- Scaling your backlink strategy
- On page and technical SEO
- SEO keyword research
- Website optimization
- SEO reporting
By completing the lessons, you’ll be able to evaluate and improve your website’s SEO with a new perspective from experts who know how to rank on Google.
Another reason why we love this HubSpot course is because they focus on how to build backlinks, which is something we’ve covered extensively here at QuickSprout.
Overall, it’s a free course from an industry leader that will take less than four hours of your time. We can’t find any reason why you wouldn’t want to take advantage of this.
The Blueprint Training
The Blueprint Training has a SEO Sprint Methodology Program Sprints designed for agencies.
They offer SEO training for things like:
- Agency sales
- Content audit
- On-page SEO
- Competitive analysis
- Link acquisition
- Keyword research
- Technical SEO
Since the course is made for agencies, it also includes helpful educational guides on agency staffing, client onboarding, and project management.
To get started, you can book a diagnostic call on their website with a consultant.
The Best SEO Guides
If you don’t want to take a course on SEO, there are plenty of outstanding free guides on the Internet as well. While the courses are definitely better for actionable training and certifications, the guides are a great way to get your feet wet with SEO.
Check these out if you want to learn the SEO basics from different experts in the industry.
MOZ – The Beginner’s Guide to SEO
MOZ is one of the most well-known and reputable names in the SEO industry. They specialize in SEO software and data tools for websites of all shapes and sizes.
So it’s no surprise that their Beginner’s Guide to SEO is one of the best on the web.
The guide is broken down into eight chapters, making it easy for you to skip and scan based on what you’re looking for. It covers the following SEO components:
- How search engines work
- Keyword research
- On-page SEO
- Technical SEO
- Link building
- Measuring and Tracking SEO
MOZ also includes a helpful SEO glossary, which is a great way to get familiar with terms you’ll come across as you’re studying, learning, and applying SEO.
Google – Search Optimization Starter Guide
I’m sure you’re familiar with the term, “straight from the horse’s mouth.” Well, in the world of SEO, Google is the horse.
Your entire SEO strategy needs to revolve around Google’s algorithm. So reading the Search Optimization Starter Guide published by Google should be a top priority for everyone.
The guide details things like:
- How to help Google find your content
- Tell Google which pages should NOT be crawled
- Help Google understand your content
- Manage your SERPs
- Website hierarchy
- Optimize content
- Mobile optimization
- Analytics
It’s extensive, to say the least. The format of each section takes you through SEO best practices and things to avoid. So if Google is telling you to avoid it, then you better listen to them.
Shopify – The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Ecommerce SEO
It’s tough to talk about ecommerce without mentioning Shopify. Their ecommerce platform is an industry leader. Shopify also does a great job of setting merchants up for success.
The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Ecommerce SEO is worth the read.
As the name implies, it’s niche-specific. So if you’re running a blog, small business site, or something other than ecommerce, then you don’t need to read it unless you want to further your personal education on the subject.
The post outlines and explains how ecommerce sites can approach SEO differently. It’s a great angle and includes a free SEO checklist as well.
Search Engine Land – Guide to SEO
Search Engine Land is a popular blog on, you guessed it—search engines. They’re constantly posting updates about search engine news, and have detailed guides on Google algorithm updates.
As experts in this space, it’s no surprise that their Guide to SEO is nothing short of spectacular. The guide includes SEO success factors for:
- Content
- Site architecture
- HTML code
- Trust and authority
- Link building
- Penalties and violations
- Social media
We like the guide because it falls somewhere between a beginner’s guide and an expert guide. It has some SEO basics but takes an easy approach to some more advanced SEO strategies as well.
Quick Sprout – Everything You Need to Know About SEO
We couldn’t write a post on the best SEO guides without including our own. We’re obviously biased, but Quick Sprout’s guide on Everything You Need to Know About SEO covers exactly what the title says.
The page is set up slightly different from the others we’ve seen so far. We have so much content published about SEO, that we use this guide to link to more specific and in-depth guides on certain subjects.
There are more than 70 different SEO guides on this page. It includes SEO topics like:
- Site audits
- SEO vs. PPC
- Keywords
- Content creation
- Augmented reality SEO
- Common SEO mistakes
- WordPress SEO
- Link building
- Guest posts
- Technical SEO
The list goes on and on, and we’re constantly updating it and adding more. So if you want a wide range of both beginner, intermediate, and advanced SEO strategies, this is a great place to look.
Who needs SEO certification?
SEO courses and guides are great for anyone, regardless of their experience with the subject.
It doesn’t matter if you’re an SEO beginner, have years of experience dabbling with SEO, or fall somewhere in-between; SEO certifications are for everyone.
SEO courses are well worth the investment. In some cases, the only investment will be your time. There are plenty of free SEO courses out there, and I’ll cover some of the best ones in this guide.
Some courses you’ll need to pay for. But again, it’s still worth the investment. The cost is marginal compared to the benefits of watching your SERPs skyrocket toward the top position.
Plus, SEO is a high-demand skill. Even if you don’t have your own website, any marketer, entrepreneur, or freelancer can make money by charging websites for SEO services.
The Top SEO Courses and Guides in Summary
The best SEO courses and guides make it easy for anyone to learn SEO for free. Even if you’re a complete beginner, you can learn the basics of search engine optimization and apply the principles to your website.
If you already have a strong SEO foundation, you can find advanced SEO courses and guides that focus on higher-level strategies.