Are SEO Classes Worth It?

There are many things to consider when deciding if a SEO class is worth it. Your time and money are valuable resources, so it’s a good idea to be sure you’re investing both wisely. SEO training courses and certificates can be expensive and time consuming, although these two factors will vary from class to class. Plus, there are so many ways to study SEO, from free tutorials to associate certificates and college degrees to bootcamps, and each will have varying benefits and challenges. 

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by making a decision, don’t worry, this article will help you weigh the pros and cons so you can decide if an SEO class is worth it for you. Regardless of which option you choose, learning SEO is absolutely worth the effort as it can open up new career paths, allowing you to earn more money and find professional fulfillment in a range of industries. 

Consider the Costs

Attending a live (either online or in-person) SEO training will most likely cost several hundred to a few thousand dollars, so there’s no denying that it’s a financial commitment. There are also on-demand virtual courses that tend to be more cost effective and allow you to learn at your own pace. And, of course, there are free online tutorials and YouTube videos to help you grasp the basics. Each of these options have their own benefits and drawbacks, so understanding the pros and cons of each learning option is the first step in deciding if it’s worth the cost. 

Advantages of a SEO Class

There are substantial advantages to a SEO class (as opposed to free online resources) that might make the price tag worth it for you. Outlined below are some of the top advantages of attending a SEO course with a live instructor-led curriculum. 

General Benefits

A live course, whether online or in-person, has obvious advantages like real-time interactions with an instructor and other students, allowing you to ask questions and receive feedback instantly. This can be especially helpful when you’re struggling with any specific lessons in the course and can have the added benefit of built-in accountability. If you don’t show up for your scheduled class times, your absence will be noticed. For some students, this level of accountability can keep them motivated and on task. Finally, these structured courses are built on top-notch curriculum, covering every aspect of SEO in-depth and often using real-world examples to help you apply skills and techniques. 

Access to Current and Relevant Information

It can be hard to decipher the most current best practices and strategies for a field like SEO, especially when you’re just sifting through free tutorials online. SEO is a constantly evolving field and its practices must adapt to keep up with current market trends and consumer habits. A quality SEO class will have the most up-to-date practices and theories to ensure what you’re learning is applicable in the current world. 

Learning Theory and Practices

SEO is a multifaceted field, so having a firm foundation in the theories and practices will be very important. At its base, SEO is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility in Google, Microsoft Bing, and other search engines. SEO practices include keyword optimization; writing unique titles, descriptions and content; optimizing title tags; improving the user experience on your site; and optimizing your site’s loading speed (among many others). An experienced instructor will be able to thoroughly explain all of these topics to you and help you learn how best to apply them. 

Personalized Feedback

A lot of learning SEO is trial and error. Most courses will provide real-world examples and projects so that you can learn to apply your skills and make valuable mistakes along the way. A live class allows an instructor to provide you with feedback on your work in the moment. Plus, a course led by an expert instructor also provides a chance for that expert to look over your projects outside of class and provide thoughtful, more in-depth advice later. Many courses even include 1:1 mentoring or virtual office hours, giving you ample opportunities to learn from your mistakes and build your skills. 

Collaboration and Communication

SEO professionals are typically members of a larger marketing team that includes copywriters, marketing managers, social media marketing gurus, and data analytics experts. You’ll also work closely with web developers and a team of creatives (think graphic designers). Collaboration and communication are important skills that can be practiced in an SEO course. You could work on projects with other students, present your data for the class, or learn tips and tricks for successfully communicating and collaborating with your experienced instructor. Online tutorials may be able to provide some insight into this, but won’t create opportunities for you to practice these things like a live class. 

Building a Portfolio

SEO is all about the proof. A quality SEO course will help you create a portfolio that can prove your competency as an SEO expert through the success of your work. You can develop content for a personal website, track your successes and failures, and use that data to improve your practices and techniques. A portfolio also gives you a chance to show off your personality, helping to set you apart from other SEO experts. The types of companies and content you prefer, as well as your unique voice and strategy, will all be things that potential employers focus on when considering you for a role. Think of it as developing your own personal brand; your portfolio is a way to show off that brand and let it shine. 

Considerations When Looking at SEO Classes

There are additional things to consider before enrolling in a course beyond your interest level or career dreams. While learning SEO is widely accessible, it may not be for everyone.

General Considerations

As previously mentioned, live online classes offer a structured learning environment and accountability with scheduled class times. While these can be valuable benefits, if you work full time or have other commitments that occupy your day, scheduled class times could be difficult to accommodate. A live class also requires you to learn at the same pace as the other students. If you master new subjects quickly or are already competent in some topics covered in an SEO course, you may wish to skip ahead to save yourself some time. This also applies in the opposite direction: if you require more time on a specific subject, a live online class may not accommodate.

Finding the Right Balance of Skills

It’s important that you know what skills and subjects you’d like to focus on before you enroll in a course. Or, if you’re entirely new to SEO, it’s recommended that you look for a class that has the right balance of technical skills, theory, creative skills, and project-based work. Some students may want to focus on the data analytics pieces of SEO, while others choose subjects like picking strategic keywords and writing interesting web content. Moreover, there may be specific tools or programs you want to focus on, like SemRush, Google Analytics, or Screaming Frog. 

Is it Worth Enrolling in a SEO Class?

Who will find it worthwhile?

If you have a penchant for content, a creative eye, and a mind for strategy, then you will find learning SEO worthwhile. According to Statista, more than 70% of the companies it surveyed consider creative thinking and analytical thinking to be the skills most expected to rise in importance between 2023 and 2027. Creatives are needed in every industry, but finding the right role may seem difficult. Digital marketing, and specifically subjects like SEO, are ideal fits for creatives, especially if you also like strategy and a bit of analytics. 

Additionally, if you run your own business, are an influencer, or work in marketing, expanding your skill set to include SEO can be extremely valuable. You can help your website (or your company’s website) rank higher in search results, improve your reach, increase your audience, and generate more sales and engagement. Becoming an SEO expert will also help you have a greater perspective of your overall marketing strategy and work better with other members of your team. SEO rankings can increase the visibility of other people’s content, like the articles or landing pages written by your fellow copywriters or the graphics developed by your design team. Learning a new skill can also help you achieve career growth, proving to your superiors that you’re invested in continual learning and improvement. 

Who probably doesn’t need a SEO class?

For those who pursue website creation as a hobby, the time and financial commitment of a professional training course is probably not necessary. If you have your own site where you post original content, whether that’s articles, fanfiction, or any other kind of fan fiction, then you only need to know the basic skills that can be learned easily through free resources on YouTube or blogs. 

If you’re only looking to master a specific tool or update your knowledge within the field, a full-length course may not be for you, either. You could try taking a course on the specific program you wish to learn, attend a short one-day course to master current practices, or enroll in an on-demand course where you can jump to the sections that you need, ignoring the ones that you don’t. 

Learn SEO Skills with Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers a variety of classes, both live online and in-person in New York City. Their SEO Bootcamp covers the fundamentals of SEO with hands-on lessons in search engine optimization and competitive keyword analysis Led by an expert instructor, this class offers small class sizes, setup assistance, and a free retake should you wish to revisit any of the material. The course also includes a seven-day free trial of SemRush, the top keyword research tool.

If you’re looking for something more robust, Noble also offers a UX & UI Design Certificate that covers design concepts, industry tools like Figma, and research methodologies for creating successful user experiences. UX (User Experience) focuses on designing apps, websites, and other products that are easy and pleasant for people to use. UI (User Interface) focuses on the appearance of apps, websites, and other products so they are beautiful and visually effective. UX/UI and SEO are complementary fields; having a better understanding of the user’s experience can help guide your SEO strategy. 

Additionally, their Digital Marketing Certificate will provide you with a holistic understanding of all parts of marketing, including SEO. You’ll develop an actionable, multi-tiered campaign and optimize it through search engine optimization (SEO), social media, paid search, content marketing, and email marketing. You’ll also learn to increase your return on investment by using technology to determine key performance indicators, monitor web analytics, track conversions, and create reports with Google Analytics. Tracking your successes and failures will be hugely important as an SEO professional. 

Google Analytics Bootcamp will teach you how to use Google Analytics and its applications for marketing, including tracking data, interpreting reports, and optimizing performance. Google Analytics is often used by SEO experts to help identify content and pages on a website that is ranking well or getting shared a lot. This course will cover setting up an account and understanding what you should be tracking. You’ll also discover the exciting features of GA4, including its data model and advanced methods for tracking events that matter to you. (This course is part of the Digital Marketing Certificate, but can be taken as a standalone course.) 

While not specifically focused on SEO, Web Development with HTML & CSS is a valuable course for any SEO professional, as they’ll often have a hand in website development. This class offers hands-on experience coding websites from scratch, all the way through uploading to make the site live. You’ll learn best practices for structuring and tagging the content of your webpages with HTML, and styling the content with CSS. Using HTML, you’ll learn how to create webpages with text, images, and more. With CSS, you’ll style the content, create centered page layouts, add background images, style navigation, and make the page responsive. Optimizing HTML and CSS is paramount to ensuring not only an attractive design but also excellent SEO performance.