Discover tips and techniques to get smart with search engine optimisation (SEO)

Getting your search engine optimisation (SEO) right is the all-important way to increase the visibility of your website on popular search engine results pages (SERP).

This two-week course is your step-by-step guide to SEO and how to get the best from it.

Develop practical skills in search engine optimisation

You’ll learn about search engine crawlers or spiders, including how they work, algorithms and ranking factors, and how to focus on keyword research to find out what your target audience is searching for. You’ll be introduced to a range of free tools to help identify search behaviours and phrases, so you can create content that answers your users’ needs.

Explore how to maximise your web pages to achieve quality search results

You’ll learn about on-page SEO and how to optimise your web pages for search engines to crawl and index, including how to write meta titles, meta descriptions and link text. You’ll discover how to use link building and social signals to boost your results by getting others to ‘point’ back to your content from their websites and social media posts.

Put user behaviour at the centre of your SEO strategy

By understanding user behaviour and learning how to carry out an SEO audit, you’ll learn how to adapt content to improve the discoverability of your website. You’ll also explore the basics of technical SEO that you need to consider, such as load times and how to structure URLs.

Learn from digital marketing experts

You’ll learn with Lead Educator Daniel Rowles of Target Internet, who will share his expertise gained from more than 20 years as a digital marketing practitioner.

By the end of this course, you’ll have the skills and knowledge to look at your website critically and make practical improvements straight away.

What topics will you cover?

Search engine algorithms and ranking factors
Keyword research and user intent
SEO planning and tools
On-page optimisation
User behaviour
Social signals
Technical SEO factors

Prove you're job ready

Highlight the new, job-relevant skills you’ve gained and supplement existing qualifications with a hard-earned, industry-specific digital certificate – plus one for every course within your ExpertTrack.

Learn the latest in your chosen industry or subject.
Complete each course and pass assessments.
Receive certificates validated by the educating organisation.
Impress employers with learning outcomes you can add to your CV.
Make your career dreams a reality.

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Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

Explain how organic search works and the role of search engine spiders and algorithms
Explore keyword research tools and how they can be used to plan SEO activity
Apply learning to carry out an SEO audit
Identify the key stages of search engine optimisation

Who is the course for?

This course is designed for anyone who would like to increase their awareness and understanding of search marketing. You don’t need any prior knowledge, although any work experience will help contextualise and enhance your learning.

Who will you learn with?

Daniel Rowles

MD TargetInternet.com - helping upskill the world's leading organisations in Digital Marketing & Digital Transformation.

Host of the Digital Marketing Podcast, a global top 20 business podcast.

Who developed the course?

The Open University

As the UK’s largest university, The Open University (OU) supports thousands of students to achieve their goals and ambitions via supported distance learning, helping to fit learning around professional and personal life commitments.

Established
1969
Location
Milton Keynes, UK
World ranking
Top 510Source: Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2020

Target Internet

Target Internet delivers digital training to some of the world’s leading organisations, as well as building online learning that is used in over 100 countries worldwide. As publishers of the global Digital Marketing Skills Benchmark and the Digital Marketing Podcast, they have unrivalled access to market insights and expertise.

About this ExpertTrack

Unlock the skills to use Search Engine Optimisation and Pay Per Click effectively.

Find out more

Start learning today - free 7-day trial

After your free trial you can:

Pay $39 per month to keep learning online
Have complete control over your subscription; you can cancel any time
Work at your own pace and set your own deadlines at every stage
Only pay while you’re learning; the subscription will cancel automatically when you finish
Complete online assessments to test your knowledge and prove your skills
Earn digital course certificates and a final award that you can share online, with potential employers, and your professional network
Keep access to the content of courses you complete even after your subscription ends

Start your free 7-day trial

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

Want to know more about learning on FutureLearn? Using FutureLearn