- Which Free SEO Course Should You Take?
- 1. Free SEO Course By Reliablesoft
- 2. Attract and Engage Customers By Google
- 3. Free SEO Course for Beginners By Ahrefs
- 4. Free SEO training By Yoast
- 5. Free SEO Training Course By Udemy
- 6. Make Sure Customers Find You Online By Google Skillshop
- 7. AEO Fundamentals By HubSpot
- 8. On-Page SEO and AI Search Essentials By Semrush
- 9. SEO Specialization By Coursera
- 10. Free SEO 6-Part Video Series By Moz
- Are Free SEO Courses Worth It?
- Our Course Review Process
- Related Courses And Certifications
Enrolling in an SEO course is one of the most effective ways to teach yourself SEO. The good news is that there are high-quality courses that cost nothing but can still help you learn the basics or even advanced concepts like keyword research, content creation, and link building.
Here are the ten most valuable courses to try.
Which Free SEO Course Should You Take?
Two things decide which of these is right for you: how much SEO you already know, and whether you learn better from video or from reading.
On level, eight of the ten are built for people starting from zero, and any of them will work as a first course. Only the HubSpot course assumes prior knowledge, so save it for after you have the basics.
On format, every course on this list is video-led. If you would rather read, the Google and Coursera courses pair their videos with written lessons, and the free LearningSEO.io roadmap is a community-maintained map of written guides organized from beginner to advanced. It is not a course, but it is the best reading-first alternative to one.
| Course | Level | Duration | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free SEO Course By Reliablesoft | Beginner | 2 hours | Your first SEO course |
| Attract and Engage Customers By Google | Beginner | 8 hours of SEO lessons | Learning how Google itself frames SEO |
| SEO Course for Beginners By Ahrefs | Beginner | 2 hours | Video learners who want no sign-up |
| Free SEO Training By Yoast | Beginner | 2 hours | Absolute beginners who want a certificate |
| SEO Training Course By Udemy | Beginner | 3 hours 25 minutes | SEO strategy, if you can live with 2017 material |
| Make Sure Customers Find You Online By Google Skillshop | Beginner | 3 hours | Small business owners and local search |
| AEO Fundamentals By HubSpot | Intermediate | 2 hours 20 minutes | Getting cited in AI Overviews |
| On-Page SEO and AI Search Essentials By Semrush | Beginner | Self-paced | Hands-on work on your own pages |
| SEO Specialization By Coursera | Beginner | About 2 months | A deep, structured path |
| Free SEO Video Series By Moz | Beginner | About 1 hour | The fastest overview of the whole field |
1. Free SEO Course By Reliablesoft
- Level: Beginner
- Duration: 2 hours
- Instructor(s): Alex Chris
The Free SEO Course by Reliablesoft is a beginner-friendly course that will teach you the basics of Search Engine Optimization.
It starts by explaining how the SEO process can influence the decision of search engine algorithms and then introduces the three major SEO types: 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 fundamentals of SEO and set the foundation so that you can dive into more advanced topics.
In addition to the course, with your registration, you can download several free resources, including the Complete SEO Checklist, which explains in detail all checks you need to perform to ensure your website is SEO Friendly.
2. Attract and Engage Customers By Google
- Level: Beginner
- Duration: 21 hours
- Instructor(s): Google Employees.
Attract and Engage Customers is one of the few Google courses on SEO. It 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 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
The SEO related topics are grouped into two lessons, lasting 8 hours. The course includes two more lessons covering an Introduction to Digital Marketing and Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
The total time to complete the whole course is 21 hours.
Why enroll in this course?
If you want to learn how Google approaches SEO, this is one of the best SEO courses to follow.
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 8 hours of SEO lessons. If you cancel your subscription before the 7-day trial, you won't be charged.
Read our extensive review of this course and the Google Digital Marketing Certificate for more details.
3. Free SEO Course for Beginners By Ahrefs
- Level: Beginner
- Duration: 2 hours
- Instructor(s): Sam Oh
The SEO Course for Beginners by Ahrefs Academy is a free SEO Course worth spending time on.
The course includes 14 lessons grouped into 5 modules covering SEO basics, keyword research, and link building.
- SEO Basics: What is SEO and why it is important
- 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 By Yoast
- Level: Beginner
- Duration: 2 hours
- Instructor(s): Team 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. Free SEO Training Course By Udemy
- Level: Beginner
- Duration: 3 hours 25 minutes
- Instructor(s): Rand Fishkin
The SEO Training Course is one of the most popular SEO courses on Udemy. More than 328,000 students have enrolled so far, and the course has an overall rating of 4.2 out of 5 from over 19,000 ratings.
The course was created by the Moz Team and is presented by Rand Fishkin (one of the MOZ founders).
The course format is video: 18 lectures across 7 sections, 3 hours and 25 minutes in total.
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
The catch is its age. Udemy lists it as last updated in March 2017, and it has not been touched since. Most of the information is still valid, but some videos, such as those about featured snippets, are no longer accurate.
Why enroll in this course?
Rand Fishkin is a great presenter. He is a renowned SEO expert who teaches 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. Make Sure Customers Find You Online By Google Skillshop
- Level: Beginner
- Duration: 3 hours
- Instructor(s): Google Employees
The Make Sure Customers Can Find You Online course by Google focuses on teaching small business owners how to enhance their visibility through search engines and online advertising.
It includes 4 SEO lessons covering:
- Get started with search
- Make search work for you
- Help people nearby find you online (local SEO)
- Get discovered with search
It’s designed for beginners and spans three hours.
Why enroll in this course?
This course is ideal for small business owners, digital marketers, or beginners looking to improve their online presence. It’s free, and offers actionable tips on how to reach more customers through search engines.
7. AEO Fundamentals By HubSpot
- Level: Intermediate
- Duration: 2 hours 20 minutes
- Instructor(s): Jorie Munroe, Jenn Sanchez
HubSpot Academy retired its old SEO Certification Course and replaced it with AEO Fundamentals, a free certification course about getting found in AI answer engines as well as in search results.
It covers the following:
- How answer engines changed search visibility
- The EEAT framework and how it informs SEO
- Keyword research that serves rankings and AI citations
- Optimizing a page to be cited by AI
- Structuring content for rich results, AI Overviews and featured snippets
- Measuring AI visibility in Google Search Console and GA4
The course includes 7 lessons and 19 videos, running 2 hours and 20 minutes in total.
Why enroll in this course?
This is the one course on the list that covers ground the others do not. Most free SEO courses were written before AI Overviews appeared in search results, and getting cited in one is a different job from ranking first.
It assumes you already know the basics, so take it after a beginner course rather than instead of one. It is free and it ends in a real certification.
8. On-Page SEO and AI Search Essentials By Semrush
- Level: Beginner
- Duration: Self-paced
- Instructor(s): Alex Lindley
The On-Page SEO and AI Search Essentials by Semrush is a free course dedicated to the SEO work you can fully control on your own pages.
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.
The course covers the following topics:
- Meta tags, content structure and internal linking
- Working with Site Audit and the On-Page SEO Checker
- Creating pillar pages
- Optimizing images
- Avoiding keyword cannibalization
- Structuring content so AI platforms can process and cite it
Why enroll in this course?
We added this course to the list because it is hands-on rather than theoretical. It assumes you have already done your keyword research and walks you through applying it to real pages.
Registration for this course is free and easy. Upon completing this course, you can take an exam and achieve a Semrush SEO Certification.
9. SEO Specialization By Coursera
- Level: Beginner
- Duration: About 2 months at 10 hours a week
- Instructor(s): Eric Enge, Rebekah May
The SEO specialization path includes five individual SEO courses: Coursera is a popular online training platform offering a range of courses covering a wide range of topics.
- 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. Coursera puts the approximate time to complete all five courses at two months, studying ten 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 audit the specialization for free, which gives you the video lessons and readings without the graded assignments or the certificate. Paying for a subscription adds those, and financial aid is available if you cannot afford it.
10. Free SEO 6-Part Video Series By Moz
- Level: Beginner
- Duration: About 1 hour
- Instructor(s): Rand Fishkin
The One-Hour Guide to SEO is a free SEO course by Moz.
As the name says, the whole thing runs about an hour. It is made up of 6 short videos 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.
Are Free SEO Courses Worth It?
Free courses are a good starting point for beginners in SEO. They can teach you the basics, like how search engines work, keyword research, on-page optimization, and building backlinks.
While these courses won’t make you an SEO expert overnight, they provide a strong foundation. In my experience, once you’ve mastered the basics, diving into more advanced techniques is easier.
Free Courses Vs. Paid Courses
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.
Premium 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 most free courses.
Take, for example, The Complete SEO 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.
Our Course Review Process
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.
Related Courses And Certifications
To continue learning about SEO, consider these free guides:
