SEO Training – What Should Be The Key Areas Covered?

SEO Training solutions are gaining in popularity as more and more people look to get involved in offering SEO services and more websites owners are looking at the possibility of adopting a DIY approach to SEO. So what should you look for when evaluating SEO Training? How do you know you’re getting the best bang for your buck? Is there a significant advantage to doing training in person as opposed to doing an online SEO course?

SEO training online can be as effective as learning SEO in a class room situation. The usual pros and cons apply to SEO as with any other training scenario. Attending a classroom situation will allow you to interact with fellow students, gives you a sense of extra motivation and allows you to start networking with people in the industry.

Completing a similar course online had the benefits of letting you complete the course when you want, developing your skills at your own pace and it’s probably going to cost you a fraction of what you’d pay for the classroom equivalent.

So what should you look for when weighing up the pro’s and con’s of an SEO course. Accepting all other things being equal (i.e. online course and classroom pro’s and con’s accepted), what are the key areas that any SEO course should be covering?

1. An Overview of the Search Landscape

To understand SEO, really understand it, you need an appreciation of where and how it evolved from. From the heady days of Altavista and Yahoo to the ground breaking technology of Google’s PageRank. You should understand why Google’s technology changed the Search landscape forever  – how did it suddenly make it much more difficult to play the system

2. The Importance of Keywords

Keywords are the foundation of Search – you should understand why and be introduced to what tools are on the market to allow you to find the correct keywords for your clients. Linked to this you should be introduced to how a search engine actually works and and learn how search engines are evolving in their sophistication in handlings words. Terms such as semantic analysis may be introduced here.

3. Copywriting

This is an area that is so often mixed into meta tag writing and optimising content. Good copywriting is a skill is short supply these days and could be a course all to itself. Getting the balance right between great copy and optimised copy is something every budding Search professional should appreciate.

4. Links – Internal, External, Backlinks

Again, links and all their variations are critical to understand how search engines works and how a website’s traffic depends a lot on their linking profile.

5. Social Media and SEO

These two areas are getting so interconnected that’s it’s getting more difficult to sepaerate them. Ignoring one over the other should not be an option in any online marketing campaign.

6. Measuring & Reporting Techniques – When you’re think about building a business by offering Search Services, you better be in a position to commicate effectively with your clients. What are the best measuring tools out there? How do you report to clients? What do you report to clients?

(I would categorise Online PR as being a component of both Links and Social Media)

These would be the main areas for an SEO course  – some people may argue that you should add a module on Competitor Analysis – I would not disagree with this.

Will SEO training (classroom or online) make you an expert? No – you need practical experience with websites.

What’s your experience with SEO training? Is online better than classroom?

What topics are key to cover?

If you are interested you can find out more about Interleado’s Training Services

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