Learning SEO could be a challenge. There is a lot of information out there which could be overwhelming for beginners. In this guide, you will get to know all possible ways to learn SEO. You may choose among the following free or premium options. Select the resources that suits you best.
In-case you are just starting SEO as a career. I recommend you to check if SEO is for you or not. Read the article “SEO as a Career | what do you need to know before you join SEO?”
How much time do you need to learn SEO?
This is the most common question from newbies. Well it depends on many factors including your SEO goal, technical knowledge, current experience, the time you may dedicate and budget etc. I would recommend minimum one year. But if you are spending at least eight hours a day in learning and practicing, you may learn SEO in six months.
What could be the best process to learn SEO?
I have created following list based on priority. You should start from 1st option, once completed than move to the next option. Going through step by step process will help you to stay focused. In case you are familiar with some options, you may skip them.
- Search Engine Guidelines
- Free SEO Certifications
- Free SEO EBooks
- Premium SEO Books
- Premium SEO Certifications
- Follow SEO Blogs
- Join SEO Communities
- Learn SEO Tools
- SEO Training Programs
- Internship
- Practice, practice & practice
1. Search Engine Guidelines
There are a lot of search engines out there. Google has the lion’s share of internet search with almost 92% of search volume. Search Engines provide specific guidelines for webmasters. These search engine guidelines help SEO experts to be on safe side.
Keep this article “Important SEO Guidelines and Best Practices by Major Search Engines” handy and read these guidelines whenever necessary. As a beginner, read these guidelines every month once. It will help you to be familiar with the basic guidelines by search engines.
2. Free SEO Certifications
You will enjoy this. Here are some of the important and free SEO courses with certifications. All free SEO courses does not come with certifications but some offer certifications as well. Once you complete these courses you are going to have a professional certificate. This certificate will be rewarding. You will get a sense of accomplishment. This certificate will also help you to enhance your resume.
The best thing about these free certifications is that you will learn very good SEO concepts. These free SEO courses are designed by leading industry experts. You will learn SEO by different videos and helpful SEO resources, quizzes and followed by certification exams. Check these courses “Important and Free SEO courses Online for beginners”.
3. Free SEO EBooks
Now you have already gained basics of SEO with free SEO certifications. It’s time to enhance your knowledge and experience. There are a lot of ways to improve your knowledge. Let’s start with free SEO ebooks. I have compiled a series of important ebooks here “What are some of the best free SEO Ebooks?”
Ebooks are short books on specific topics written by influenced industry experts. These ebooks comes in PDF file format mostly which are helpful to use on your computers, tables or cell phones. As the ebooks are handy and you can get this knowledge with your pace.
4. Premium SEO Books
It’s time to get into real books. These premium SEO books are available on amazon, which also offer kindle version of the books. I prefer to read books with physical copies over kindle version, but the choice is yours. You may get a physical book or e-version of the book.
These premium SEO books are written by world class SEO industry experts. The premium books cover step by step all the necessary topics. Here are some of the best premium SEO books collection “Which are the best and premium SEO books?” for you. In-case you cannot buy all these books, I recommend at least read some of them.
5. Premium SEO Certifications
Keep in mind that SEO certifications are not compulsory. We have already taken free SEO certifications earlier. So why do we need these premium SEO certifications now. Well, premium SEO certifications are premium because of some reasons. The answer is authority. When you want to be a professional SEO expert, these premium SEO courses will add authority to your credibility.
The premium SEO courses with certification help you to get professional knowledge as well as professional certification.
Although all the premium SEO courses comes with professional SEO certifications. These certifications will help your future employer and customers to understand about your knowledge. Apart from the certifications, these courses are by some of the biggest SEO leaders. I have compiled a list of “Which are the best Premium SEO Courses with Certifications?”
6. Follow SEO Blogs
SEO blogs are filled with lots of information about SEO. The only issue with SEO blogs is that the information is overwhelming. As a beginner you may be confused with them. But we need these blogs to get latest information and updates in SEO industry.
Almost every influenced SEO expert or SEO company have an authentic SEO blog. In SEO industry it is very important for us to be updated with latest SEO updates. You do not need to follow all the blogs but follow few of them to stay updated. Here are some of the SEO blogs recommended for SEO beginners “Which are the best and important SEO blogs to follow?”
7. Join SEO Communities
Communities help us to stay connected with like-minded people. Being a SEO expert, you should be connected with SEO communities. These SEO communities are filled with many of your follow SEO experts. Be part of them.
You will learn about the new and hot topics being discussed in the SEO communities. The best part about these communities the ability to speak. During your SEO learning process, you will come up with different questions. These communities help you to answer your personal questions.
You can ask your questions about SEO in these communities. This makes these communities important.
A helpful tip is never to spam these communities, otherwise your account can be blocked. Read the rules of the communities and live by their rules.
8. Learn SEO Tools
Every profession have their own toolsets. All doctors, engineers, chefs, carpenters, etc. have their own tools. These tools help professionals to make their life easier. SEO professionals also have many tools. Being a professional SEO expert, you should master these tools.
There are hundreds of free and premium SEO tools out there. All the free or premium SEO courses and ebooks and premium books speak about some of the tools. You can find more about tools at “What are some of the best free and paid SEO tools?”
9. SEO Training Programs
All the previous points are based on self-learning, learn at your own pace. But I know some of the students are not capable to manage study their own. If that is you, then you may join a SEO training program in your area. Depending on your country and location, you can search for these SEO training programs.
Practical classes on campus make these SEO training programs special. Learn from professional SEO teachers who can teach you as per your capabilities.
In-case you have already covered the previous eight steps, you may ignore these SEO training programs.
10. Internship
Now that you have learned all about SEO. It’s time to put this knowledge into practice. The best option is to join an internship in your country. During the internship, you are going to learn about practical SEO project management. Get the real world knowledge with SEO internship.
How to find SEO internship?
Depending on your locality, find SEO internship in some professional SEO agency. You may find these SEO internships at Linkedin or Glassdoor. Make sure that you are going to get a certificate of internship from the SEO agency. This document will help you in your SEO career.
11. Practice, practice & practice
Swimming cannot be learned as long as you do not go in water. Whatever have you learned about search engine optimization, put that into practice. You may join internship for practice.
The other option is that you create your own website and put all your SEO knowledge into practice. You may start your blog from beginning and write about your SEO learning experience. Depending on your purpose of learning SEO, Job or be a freelance SEO expert. Create your blog as per your purpose and practice all knowledge there.
Conclusion
There are a lot of ways to learn SEO. Follow the steps in guide to stay to track. The best way to learn SEO is to practice and execute your knowledge. Let me know in comments below about your favorite method to learn SEO.