About this course: Learn the ins and outs of optimizing a website, from conducting an initial audit to presenting your findings and recommendations. Hands-on activities include learning how to select and apply appropriate keywords throughout a website, incorporating keyword research in a content marketing strategy, and optimizing a site for local search. You will also learn strategies for setting goals and client/stakeholder expectations, building effective analytics and reports, and communicating SEO improvements.
Who is this class for: This course is the third within this Specialization and it is highly recommended that you have completed at least the fourth module within Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals prior to taking this course as it requires for you to have completed an initial keyword search activity before moving forward.
Created by: University of California, Davis
Taught by: Rebekah May, SEO Manager & Lead SEO Instructor
LeadQual & UC Davis Extension
| Basic Info | Course 3 of 6 in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization |
| Level | Intermediate |
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 2-3 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
Syllabus
WEEK 1
Introduction
Welcome to week 1! As you may remember from Module 4 within the last course, Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals, keywords are an extremely important tool for helping your customers find you in an often crowded field. Effective use of keywords on your optimized website can result in free targeted traffic to your site, helping you to reach your business goals. In this module, you will use the keyword research you conducted in the last course and you will learn a process for selecting the best keywords to optimize your website in search results. We will look at concepts like relevancy to the site, keyword intent, how competitive the keyword is in organic search, and how well that term might convert once it receives traffic. We’ll also discuss how to identify and evaluate competitors, how to map keywords to pages, and how to create a keyword map for your clients and your own site. There is a lot to discuss in our first module, so if you are taking this course without learning the materials of module 4 within the SEO Fundamentals course, I highly recommend you complete that module before diving into this one. So, let’s get started learning how to apply keyword research!
12 videos
- Video: Course Overview
- Video: Applying Keyword Research Introduction
- Video: Why do a Competitive Analysis?
- Video: How to Perform a Competitive Keyword Analysis
- Discussion Prompt: Keyword Research & Selection
- Video: Analyzing Your Competition
- Video: Develop a Plan to Compete
- Video: Competing With Page Level Information
- Video: Dealing with Larger Sites
- Video: Mapping Keywords to Pages
- Video: Questions to Ask
- Video: Keyword Mapping Processes
- Video: Creating a Keyword Map for Clients
- Discussion Prompt: Keyword Mapping
Graded: Optimizing A Website For Search
WEEK 2
Advanced On-Page SEO
Welcome to week 2! While keywords help users locate relevant web pages, it’s the content itself that determines whether a click converts to a sale or increased site traffic. In many corners of the SEO world, the expression “Content is King” is a generally accepted rule, and in this module we’ll examine content from many perspectives: how to analyze it, organize it, create it, make it great and build it into our strategies. You’ll also learn how to conduct effective competitive content analysis and internal content audits. And finally, you’ll learn how to create a site-wide content strategy building on the data we uncover in our study and analysis of content.
12 videos
- Video: Advanced On-Page SEO
- Video: Benefits of a Competitive Content Analysis
- Video: Dissecting the Competitive Content Analysis
- Video: What Kind of Content Will Resonate with Your Customers?
- Discussion Prompt: On-page Factors
- Video: Conducting an Internal Content Audit
- Video: How to Begin Your Content Analysis
- Video: Organizing and Evaluating Content
- Video: Creating a Strategy for Optimizing Content
- Video: Domain Level Content Strategy
- Video: What Makes Content Great?
- Video: Different Types of Content and How to Use Them
- Video: Creating Impactful Content
- Discussion Prompt: Content Recommendations
Graded: Advanced On-page SEO
WEEK 3
Local SEO
Welcome to week 3! In the lessons that follow, you will take a close look at local SEO strategy. You will see how to optimize your Google business pages, on-site content and external references such as citations, backlinks, and reviews to help your local business have higher visibility in the local search landscape. By the end of this module, you should be able to not only describe a bit of the history of how Google displays local searches but also utilize best practices to develop a high quality local SEO approach.
10 videos
- Video: Local SEO
- Video: Why's Local SEO Important?
- Video: Local SEO History
- Video: Current Local SEO Landscape
- Video: Organic Search Versus Paid Advertising
- Video: Google My Business!
- Video: Improving Your Local Visibility
- Video: Importance of Off-site Citations
- Video: Quality Off-site Link Building
- Video: Importance of Customer Reviews
Graded: Local SEO
Graded: Local SEO Site Audit
WEEK 4
Creating an SEO Campaign
Welcome to week 4! In this module, we are going to discuss the human factor of SEO - how to manage your relationship with clients. We’ll talk about what should be discussed in the critical first meetings, how to manage your client’s expectations, and how to track and report on progress toward your client’s goals. By the end of this module, you’ll have developed a solid approach for achieving a productive and successful relationship with your client.
10 videos
- Video: Creating an SEO Campaign
- Video: Scoping an SEO Project
- Video: Proving Your Value to Potential Clients
- Discussion Prompt: Estimating Your Time
- Video: Managing Client Expectations
- Discussion Prompt: Proving Your Worth
- Video: Asking the Right Questions
- Video: Importance of Achieving Quick Wins
- Discussion Prompt: Ask the Client
- Video: Developing SMART Project Goals
- Discussion Prompt: Creating Goals
- Video: Establishing Benchmarks and Tracking Metrics
- Video: Reporting Progress to Your Client
- Video: Course Summary
Graded: Creating an SEO Campaign
FAQs
How It Works
Coursework
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
Help from Your Peers
Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.
Certificates
Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.
Creators
University of California, Davis
UC Davis, one of the nation’s top-ranked research universities, is a global leader in agriculture, veterinary medicine, sustainability, environmental and biological sciences, and technology. With four colleges and six professional schools, UC Davis and its students and alumni are known for their academic excellence, meaningful public service and profound international impact.
Pricing
| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Not available | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Not available | Available |
Ratings and Reviews
The peer graded assignment for this course I think should be changed. I am an international marker (and as an expat I don't see that changing) so first it's not useful for a bunch of us. Second though the instructions on how to actually find a google business page are really bad (I noticed other students did exactly what I did) but one student still marked me as "not having a google page" which is crazy because I did exactly what was asked. I think other than the reviews (if that's all it is, it needs to be more clear) isn't useful. So again maybe having this as an optional task is ok, but a peer graded assignment is too confusing I think to most.
I so much enjoyed this course and its very detailed and practical guides on web site optimization. I learned so much. Thank you!
This course introduced me to the art of Optimizing a Website for Search through the exploration and critical analysis of a wide variety of genres.
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DA
This course is specialized in Websites and social media optimization. Again, great content and a lot of useful information. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone, especially for those who are looking to learn general SEO optimization that are not related to coding.