SEO is a promising field in 2020. The demand for SEO specialists won’t cease in the years to come. Therefore, if you are considering the possibility of developing in this field, taking a course and obtaining a certificate will come in handy.
Why Courses Are Necessary
SEO is an essential part of the success or failure of thousands of businesses around the world. A rank change in search results can amount to thousands of dollars of income, gained or lost. It is clear that being certified is crucial to many SEO professionals and business owners.
While SEO is essential, in practice, we can compare it with mystery rather than a specific set of rules and guidelines to follow. Google does not disclose how its algorithm works. A lot of smart people have spent time trying to figure out how this works, carrying out numerous studies and A/B tests. You can find some of this information and results online for free. However, if you plan to toil in the SEO industry professionally, taking an SEO course is a good starting point. Here are the main benefits:
- You will obtain knowledge from SEO professionals who have years of experience and practice. Many courses are created by experts who know how to work in the industry. It is better than asking and getting advice from less reliable sources.
- You will be able to use it for future reference. A quality Google SEO certification course will cover everything you need to know in your job. The teaching material will prove to be a valuable resource of information in the future.
- A professional course saves you time. A lot of information about SEO is indeed available on the Internet for free. However, it will take you a long time to review all this information. An SEO course will help you quickly access the information you need.
- You will be inspired. Many SEO courses will give you access to groups of former students. This network can help support your SEO goals and support your professional development.
- A course will pay off quickly. Certification can open the door to a new career or give you an extra benefit in your CV when you ask for a promotion. Education is never an expense. It is always an investment.
Finally, like anything in life, what you get from a course is a reflection of what you invest in it. Therefore, it’s up to you to decide if it is worth paying for a course. In any case, knowledge will never be redundant.
Google Courses: Are There Any?
No one will be surprised that the majority of SEO specialists are looking for ways to promote the resources they are working with on the Google search engine. And it is logical to search for a course from Google. Well, the matter is that there is no Google SEO course to take. Why? First of all, the principle of the search engine’s algorithms is kept in secret. The representatives reveal them partially. SEO experts and analysts determine on their own all the other rules and principles by carrying out research and tests.
As a result, to avoid conflicts of interest among SEO people, the search engine does not provide courses. However, it does not mean that it has left all the users alone. There is a Search Optimization Starter Guide that will come in handy for webmasters, developers, and SEO specialists:
- to make a website Google-friendly;
- to know how to index content and when to avoid this step;
- to correctly select a URL, structure information;
- to organize website navigation and improve user experience;
- to understand how to work with meta tags, images, and links, etc.
Which Courses to Attend
As there are no chances to obtain knowledge directly from Google, it is still possible to take courses on an online learning platform from Google. Skillshop provides courses for SEO-related fields for free. Here are the courses available on Skillshop:
- Google Ads Certification;
- Analytics Academy Certification;
- Google Marketing Platform Certification;
- Google My Business;
- Waze.
After you master all the knowledge, you need to pass a test and get a certificate that will confirm the successful completion of the chosen course. Bear in mind that the validity of every certificate is limited to one or two years. After, you will have to pass the test again to confirm that your knowledge is still sufficient.
