Many of those becoming interested in the field of SEO with the purpose of turning it into a real career, have doubts and deliberations regarding the training and study method that is best for them.
Some people like to learn by themselves, through reading and trial-and-error (like me ????).
Others would rather have an organized framework with a defined timespan, where they would be able to benefit from the experience of others in the field while avoiding common errors, focusing on the main innovations within this dynamic and constantly changing field, where they can get genuine feedback in real time for their work.
If you have already made the decision to sign up for a SEO course, take a minute or two to read up on some things you should investigate in order to make sure that you are picking the course that will fit you best.
Syllabus
First and foremost, the most important criterion for choosing a SEO course is the course's syllabus.
Analyze the syllabus.
Try to figure out if it deals with the latest innovations in the field.
Try to Google some of the terms mentioned in the syllabus and understand whether the course will teach you new material you didn't know before, whether it will be comprehensive and in-depth, whether it will deal with every topic in a shallow or detailed way and so on.
Price
There is a wide variance in the prices of SEO courses.
The price, at the end of the day, is a substantial factor in the decision of whether to sign up for the course.
Try to understand how important the issue of price is to you, how much you are willing and can afford to invest in a field that, hopefully, will become your full-time career, what your alternatives are, and so on.
Location
As funny as it sounds, the location where the course will take place can be the deciding factor between a course that will be a success and a course that will be a failure.
Why? Because if the course takes place in a location that is inaccessible, without proper parking or convenient public transportation, your will to leave the house in all types of weather in order to get to the course will be drastically reduced.
Spotty attendance at the course will entail knowledge gaps and failure to fully keep up with the coursework, which in turn will entail a non-optimal experience from the course.
Therefore, make sure to pick a course that will take place in a location that is easy for you to get to.
Hands-on experience
There is no doubt that studying the theory of SEO can be a fascinating endeavor, but at the end of the day, if you don't actually gain hands-on experience of promoting a website during the course, you won't really be able to absorb the instructions and material that you will be studying.
When you are deliberating whether to sign up for a given course that you have been offered – try to understand whether you will be actively promoting a website throughout the course, while taking over responsibility for the site's rankings in the various search engines.
Personal instruction
Aside from the lectures delivered to the whole class, some of the courses also offer designated hours for personal instruction.
There is nothing more important than this in SEO.
During the personal instruction sessions, you can ask all of the questions that you need answered in order to fully understand the material, personally put all the tips and recommendations you get into practice, and get personal and unique attention from people who have great experience in the field.
Variety of lecturers
A course that is given by a wide variety of lecturers is better, by definition.
This way you can be exposed to the various ideas and opinions that exist within the field of SEO (and there is certainly no shortage of such opinions), learn from the different experience of different people, develop personal contacts with more people and generate a whole slew of opportunities that you wouldn't have otherwise.
Signing up for an SEO course? Make sure the lecturers are many and varied.
Schedule
As small technical matter, but one that certainly has the potential to sabotage the fit of the course that you're offered: Will the course take place during times that are personally convenient for you? Are the hours good? Some people will want to do their studying in the course while working during the day, which means they will have to sign up for a night-course.
Check if the times you will be required to devote to the course fit in with your routine and lifestyle.
How many hours?
Compare the scope of the hours being offered you in all of the relevant courses you have found.
Remember: A large number of hours does not necessarily entail more in-depth and comprehensive studying.
However, remember this too: It isn't really possible to do a full study of the field of SEO in too small a number of hours.
Recommendations
Try to get recommendations for the course from graduates of the course.
Contact them directly.
Try to understand what the less impressive aspects of the course are.
Figure out whether these aspects create a serious problem for you.
Try to get more than one recommendation and assess the sincerity of the public recommendations.
Examples of graduates who have integrated into the industry
Some of the people who run the courses mention their graduates who have go on to successful careers in the industry.
In many cases, this is a reasonable metric for the quality of the course.
A course that consistently produces graduates who manage to seamlessly integrate into the industry, much more that alternative courses, is most likely a better course.
Help with integration into the field
Some of the courses offer help and support in integrating into the industry for those who are found fitting.
If you lack experience and contacts in the industry, this criterion may be very significant for you.
Try to understand from the course coordinators what kind of guarantees the course can provide you with for integration in the SEO industry.
Certificate
Find out from the course coordinators what certificate you will receive.
What will be written upon it?
Who will sign it?
How much value does it have in the market?
Link to the website you are promoting
Some of the courses have the practice of advertising and linking to the sites run by graduates on the course website.
Try to find out if you can get such a link from the course website.
If you can, you have thus earned the first link to the site that you are promoting ???? (this isn't really a consideration, but it does show a very personal touch and a genuine desire to see you succeed!).
Promoting your site
On of the important factors in choosing a course is understanding whether you are going to promote your own site, such that the responsibility for it is on your shoulders, or a dummy website, that is set up specially for the course and is then removed.
In Conclusion
So, you've decided to sign up for a SEO course? Congratulations. In order to know whether the course is the right fit for you, examine the various criteria that have been presented in this article. Good luck!
