One of the best ways to learn SEO is to enroll in an SEO course. We did our research and found the best free SEO courses available online.
In this post, you’ll learn the top courses to teach yourself SEO for free. The list includes courses from reputable organizations that will definitely help you build your SEO skills.
Top 10 Free Online SEO Courses
- Free SEO Course (Reliablesoft)
- Attract and Engage Customers (Google)
- SEO Training Course (Ahrefs)
- Free SEO training: SEO for Beginners (Yoast)
- Free SEO Training Course (Udemy)
- Free SEO Course (ClickMinded)
- SEO Training Course (Hubspot)
- On-Page and Technical SEO Course (Semrush)
- SEO Specialization (Coursera)
- Free SEO 6-Part Video Series (Moz)
1. Free SEO Course (Reliablesoft)
If you’re looking for an SEO course to learn the basics of SEO, then this is the course to enroll in first. The lessons are easy to follow, and the language is suitable for non-technical users.
It starts by explaining how the SEO process can influence the decision of search engine algorithms and then introduces the three major SEO sub-processes: Technical SEO, On-Page SEO, and Off-Page SEO.
Here is a breakdown of the course lessons:
- How Search Engines Work
- What is SEO?
- Why SEO?
- Technical SEO Basics
- On-Page SEO Basics
- Off-Page SEO Basics
- Next Steps
Why enroll in this course?
It’s an excellent course for beginners. It will teach you the basics of SEO and set the foundation so that you can learn more advanced topics.
In addition to the course, with your registration, you can also download the Complete SEO Checklist, which explains in detail all checks you need to perform to ensure your website is SEO Friendly.
To register for this course, click the button below and enter your email address. Once you confirm your email, you’ll get instant access to the course area.
2. Attract and Engage Customers (Google)
The Attract and Engage Customers is one of the few Google owned courses about SEO. The course is part of the Google Digital Marketing & eCommerce professional certificate offered by Grow with Google through Coursera.
The course material is prepared by Google employees and covers the following SEO topics:
- SEO Fundamentals
- How does Google rank websites?
- Search algorithms
- How to do keyword research for SEO
- Content and image optimization
- Google Search Console
- Mobile SEO
SEO topics are grouped into two lessons with a total duration of 9 hours. The course includes two more lessons covering an Introduction to Digital Marketing and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
Why enroll in this course?
If you want to learn how Google approaches SEO, this is one of the best SEO courses to follow. Read our extensive review of this course and the Google Digital Marketing Certificate for more details.
Each lesson has videos, reading resources, and quizzes to test your knowledge.
Although this course is offered through a Coursera paid plan, you can register and access the material for free for 7-days, which gives you plenty of time to cover the 9 hours required for the SEO lessons. If you cancel your subscription before the 7-day trial, you won’t be charged.
3. SEO Training Course (Ahrefs)
A free SEO Course worth spending time on is the SEO Course for Beginners by Ahrefs Academy.
The course includes 14 lessons grouped into 4 modules covering SEO basics, keyword research, and link building.
- Module 1: Keyword Research
- Module 2: On-page SEO
- Module 3: Link Building
- Module 4: The Basics of Technical SEO
Why enroll in this course?
The course suits people who know nothing about SEO, small business owners, and marketing team leaders.
The lessons are delivered by Sam Oh, VP of Marketing at Ahrefs. It’s a complete video course and one of the most pleasant to watch. The instructor, graphics, and animations included in the lessons keep students engaged and make learning enjoyable.
Registration for the course is free, and no sign-up is required.
4. Free SEO Training: SEO For Beginners (Yoast)
SEO for Beginners by Yoast Academy is an SEO crash course for beginners. It is more suitable for students who have no prior SEO knowledge. It starts by explaining the SEO fundamentals, including how search engines work.
The course is split into three main sections:
- Introduction to SEO
- Content SEO
- Technical SEO
Why enroll in this course?
You should enroll in the Yoast free SEO course if you know nothing about SEO and want to understand how all components work together.
It is nice that they try to explain the technical aspect of SEO by using easy-to-understand language and avoiding technical jargon as much as possible.
5. SEO Training Course (Udemy)
This is one of the most popular SEO courses on Udemy. So far, more than 309K students have enrolled, and the course has an overall rating of 4.6/5 stars.
The Moz Team created the course and presented it by Rand Fiskin (one of the MOZ founders).
The course format is video, and the duration is 3.5 hours.
It covers the following topics:
- SEO Strategy Development
- Site Audits and Structure
- Keyword Research Basics
- On-Page SEO Fundamentals
- Link Building and Off-Page SEO
- SERP Features
- Reporting on SEO
While this is a good course covering all aspects of SEO, it hasn’t been updated since its initial release, and this is a big issue. Most of the information is still valid, but some videos (like those about featured snippets) are not entirely accurate and outdated.
Why enroll in this course?
Rank Fishkin is a great presenter. He knows what he is talking about, and he does it in a way that is enjoyable and fun.
So, if you are just getting started with SEO, spend a couple of hours watching the videos to get a general idea of what is SEO and how it works.
6. Free SEO Course (ClickMinded)
SEO veteran Tommy Griffith is the instructor of this course. Before starting ClickMinded, Tommy managed SEO for companies like PayPal and Airbnb.
In this course, Tommy explains the SEO framework used at Paypal and Airbnb and gives general advice on approaching the whole SEO process.
The most important topics of this course are:
- Introduction to SEO
- What Is Document Relevancy
- On-Page Ranking Factors
- Pages Vs Domains
- Title Tags & Meta Descriptions
- Image Alt & Filename
- Internal Links & Anchor Text
- Site Architecture & Silos
- Link Neighborhoods
- Freshness / Recency
- UX Signals
- Searcher Intent, Quality Content, And Competition
Why enroll in this course?
If you are curious about how big companies approach SEO, then this is a free course you should enroll in.
Once you enroll in the course, you will access several SEO resources worth reading.
The course is free to register and lasts around 2 hours.
7. SEO Training Course (Hubspot)
This is a free SEO course by HubSpot Academy that is worth considering. The course includes six lessons covering the following topics:
- SEO Basics
- On-Page and Technical SEO
- Keyword Research For SEO
- Link Building for SEO
- Optimizing Your Website For Rich Results
- SEO Reporting
The course includes 26 videos and quizzes; the total time investment is 3.5 hours.
Why enroll in this course?
Despite being a free course, it is regularly updated with new content and has an SEO certification. It’s one of the free courses worth considering if you’re getting started with SEO.
8. On-Page and Technical SEO Course (Semrush)
On-page SEO and Technical SEO are two SEO processes you can control 100%. Unlike off-page SEO, which has to do with website promotion methods, on-page, and technical SEO is something you can improve by following simple SEO rules.
This is what this SEO course by SEMrush Academy is all about. It includes 7 modules that cover the following topics:
- SEO Auditing your website
- Troubleshooting HTTPS Issues
- Identifying and Fixing Crawlability Issues
- Performing a Log File Analysis
- Tips on how to create SEO-friendly Content
- Tips on how to improve your on-page SEO
The total time to complete this course is 40 minutes.
Why enroll in this course?
We added this course to the list because it contains topics not covered by other SEO courses, such as Log File Analysis and finding and fixing crawling issues.
Registration for this course is free and easy. While working with the course, you also get a chance to get to know how to use Semrush, one of the best SEO tools in the market, and upon completing this course, you can take an exam and achieve a Semrush SEO Certification.
9. SEO Specialization (Coursera)
Coursera is a popular online training platform offering a range of courses covering a wide range of topics.
Their SEO specialization path includes five individual SEO courses:
- Introduction to Search Engine Optimization
- Google Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals
- Optimizing a Website for Google Search
- Advanced Content and Social Tactics to Optimize SEO
- Advanced Search Engine Optimization Strategies
The courses are offered by UC Davis and delivered by experienced SEO instructors. You can take all the courses in the SEO specialization or individual courses. The approximate time to complete all courses and lessons is three months (studying 10 hours per week).
Why enroll in this course?
It’s a comprehensive course covering all aspects of SEO. It starts with the very basics and covers advanced strategies and techniques.
You can enroll in this course and get a 7-day free trial. It’s a high-quality course you can take for free, provided that you cancel your subscription before the end of the trial period.
10. Free SEO 6-Part Video Series (Moz)
This is a free SEO course by Moz.
The course is made up of 6 videos (1 hour each) covering the following topics:
- SEO Strategy
- Keyword Research
- Searcher Satisfaction
- On-page Optimization
- Technical SEO
- Link Building
The course instructor is Rand Fishkin, who is very good at thoroughly explaining complicated topics.
Why enroll in this course?
Users don’t have to register for this course. Click the link below, and you will be redirected to the course page and start watching the videos.
If you don’t want to watch all the videos, I suggest you go through the third video, where Rand talks about ‘searcher satisfaction,’ a critical concept for modern SEO.
Do Free SEO Courses Worth It?
The above courses are all free, so there is no question if they are worth the money, but are they worth the time investment?
Free courses are a good starting point for beginners in SEO. They can teach you the basics, but they are not enough if you want to become an SEO expert.
Good SEO courses take a lot of time, money, and effort to create, and for this reason, they are not offered for free.
A good online course is updated regularly to account for new trends and continuously enriched with new content based on user feedback. This is not the case with a free course.
Take, for example, our SEO Full Course. Since its initial release, it has been revised several times to include new SEO trends, and the content is regularly updated to assist students in their learning process.
Related Courses and Certifications
While free courses are a good starting point, if you want to learn the ins and outs of SEO, you should consider making a small investment to enroll in a premium SEO course.
A well-designed course that will teach you everything you need to know about SEO without having to wander around and look for pieces of information in free resources.
Read the following guides for some great choices:
Methodology
All the courses presented in this list are 100% free. To access some of the courses, you have to create an account with the learning platform, but they are all free, either for a limited time or a lifetime.
The main criteria for adding a course to our list were content quality, instructor reputation, learning outcomes, and course format.
We reviewed many courses to find the ones that can actually help you learn some of the most important SEO concepts. We included courses covering various topics so you can get a complete picture of what SEO is and how it works.
If you know of a good SEO course that is free, available online, and missing from the list, let me know in the comments.
