OUTLINE:
1: Understanding SEO Fundamentals
- ✅ What is SEO? Why is it important?
- ✅ Key components: On-page, Off-page, and Technical SEO
- ✅ How search engines work (crawling, indexing, ranking)
- ✅ Overview of popular SEO tools (Google Search Console, SEMrush, Ahrefs)
2: SEO Goals and Keyword Research Basics
- ✅ Setting clear SEO goals (e.g., traffic, leads, rankings)
- ✅ Introduction to keyword research
- ✅ Understanding search intent (navigational, transactional, informational)
- ✅ Hands-on: Using free tools like Google Keyword Planner
3: Analyzing Competitors
- ✅ Why competitor analysis is crucial
- ✅ How to identify your SEO competitors
- ✅ Tools for competitor analysis (e.g., Semrush, Ahrefs, Ubbersuggest)
- ✅ Hands-on: Basic competitor research
On-Page SEO
4: Optimizing Content for SEO
- ✅ Importance of high-quality content
- ✅ Keyword placement in titles, headers, and body text
- ✅ Writing compelling meta titles and descriptions
- ✅ Hands-on: Optimizing a blog post
5: User Experience (UX) and SEO
- ✅ The role of UX in rankings
- ✅ Mobile-first indexing
- ✅ Optimizing for page speed (tools: PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix)
- ✅ Core Web Vitals: What they are and why they matter
6: Internal Linking and Content Structure
- ✅ Benefits of internal linking
- ✅ Creating a logical site structure
- ✅ Hands-on: Creating a pillar content and cluster strategy
Technical SEO
7: Introduction to Technical SEO
- ✅ Understanding website crawling and indexing
- ✅ Robots.txt, XML sitemaps, and canonical tags
- ✅ Identifying and fixing crawl errors
8: Website Speed Optimization
- ✅ How page speed affects rankings
- ✅ Reducing image sizes (tools like TinyPNG, ShortPixel)
- ✅ Minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
9: SEO Audits: Identifying and Fixing Issues
- ✅ What is an SEO audit, and why is it important?
- ✅ Key components of an SEO audit (technical, on-page, and off-page)
- ✅ Tools for conducting audits (Ahrefs, SEMrush)
- ✅ Common issues like broken links, duplicate content, and missing metadata
- ✅ Hands-on: Performing a mini-audit on a sample website
Off-Page SEO
10: Building Backlinks
- ✅ The importance of backlinks
- ✅ Types of backlinks (dofollow vs. nofollow)
- ✅ Link-building strategies (guest posts, broken link building)
11: Types of Backlinks and Their Impact on SEO
- ✅ Editorial Backlinks: Gained through high-quality, shareable content
- ✅ Guest Post Backlinks: Building authority through guest blogging
- ✅ Directory Backlinks: Submission to niche and local directories
- ✅ Social Bookmarking Links: Enhancing visibility through platforms
- ✅ Forum and Comment Backlinks: How to use them without spamming
- ✅ Profile Backlinks: Created through profile creations on relevant platforms
12: Social Media and SEO
- ✅ How social signals impact rankings
- ✅ Promoting content via social media channels
- ✅ Hands-on: Sharing and tracking content performance
Content Strategies
13: Creating Content That Ranks
- ✅ What makes content SEO-friendly
- ✅ Importance of long-form content and readability
- ✅ Using structured data and rich snippets
14: Blogging for SEO
- ✅ Creating a blog strategy that aligns with your niche
- ✅ Evergreen content vs. trending topics
- ✅ Hands-on: Crafting blog outlines
15: Advanced Keyword Research
- ✅ Long-tail keywords
- ✅ Keyword clustering and mapping
- ✅ Hands-on: Creating a keyword plan for a website
Analytics and Tracking
16: Measuring SEO Performance
- ✅ Introduction to Google Analytics (GA4)
- ✅ Tracking organic traffic, bounce rate, and conversions
- ✅ Overview of Google Search Console
17: Monitoring Rankings and Reporting
- ✅ Tools for rank tracking (SEMrush, Ahrefs)
- ✅ Creating professional SEO reports for clients or teams
- ✅ Interpreting data to refine strategies
18: Troubleshooting SEO Issues
- ✅ Common SEO problems and their fixes
- ✅ Recovering from Google penalties
- ✅ Hands-on: Auditing a website for SEO issues
Advanced SEO Strategies
19: E-commerce SEO
- ✅ Optimizing product pages for search
- ✅ Structured data for e-commerce (schema markup)
- ✅ Handling duplicate content (canonical tags for product variants)
20: Content Refresh Strategies for Long-Term SEO Success
- ✅ Why refreshing old content is crucial for sustained rankings
- ✅ Identifying outdated or underperforming pages
- ✅ Strategies for updating content (adding new keywords, optimizing for current trends)
- ✅ Tools to track content performance (Google Analytics, SEMrush Content Analyzer)
- ✅ Hands-on: Refreshing an existing blog post for better SEO results
Finalizing & Project
21: Building an SEO Strategy from Scratch
- ✅ Combining all aspects of SEO into a strategy
- ✅ Creating a 6-month SEO roadmap
- ✅ Assigning goals and KPIs
22: Real-World SEO Case Studies
- ✅ Analyzing successful SEO campaigns
- ✅ Lessons from failures and mistakes
- ✅ Open discussion and Q&A
23: Capstone Project
- ✅ Students present an SEO strategy for a sample website
- ✅ Feedback and improvements from peers and instructor
- ✅ Graduation and next steps in SEO career
