SEO certification refers to the education, information, practice or training that leads to an individual’s certification, or skills assessment and knowledge, as it relates to search engine optimization and search engine marketing. Many SEO certifications are online courses or collection of webinars and online exams that you do at your own pace. Some courses are free while others range in price from $50 up to $7,500 to obtain the SEO certification.
SEO & SEM Certifications Versus Job Experience
There is an amount of debate about SEO certifications, with some in the SEO community and forums suggesting that free online SEO guides from reputable experts are just as good of a learning tool, and practicing SEO on your own site or obtaining an entry-level job where you can optimize a live site is also a good solution, compared to paying for online courses.
Vendor Certifications
In addition to the general SEO certification courses, some may choose to become certified in specific SEO and online advertising tools. For example, Google offers a professional accreditation and Google AdWords certification for individuals who complete the specified exams.
Online SEO Certifications
If you choose to try online SEO certification courses, there are a number of free training solutions you can try before purchasing more expensive courses. Here are three free SEO courses listed by Udemy:
- SEO for Beginners, Created by Daragh Walsh (52,773 students)
- SEO Training Course by Moz, Created by moz.com (103,086 students)
- SEO Training, Created by Eric Schwartzman (15,454 students )