A Blog by Web Bright Consulting

There are many options when considering professional training in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Ron Jones, had two great posts on Search Engine Watch on SEO Training: The first was on “Online SEO Training” options, and the second on “SEO Training: Live and In-Person” options.

I have been a Google Analytics user and had some basic knowledge of SEO, but I wanted to further my skills and be certified in SEO. Since the online option better suited my schedule and budget at that time, I researched it further and contacted a couple of the sources offering SEO certification. One of them was Search Engine College, founded and directed by Kalena Jordan from Ask Kalena, the popular “Daily Search Engine Advice Column” .

Search Engine College (SEC) has a number of courses and Certification Pathways on the subjects of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Search Engine Advertising, Link Building Strategies, Web site Copywriting and Web site Usability. There are two “Course Styles” to choose from: Certification (”these courses are tutor-supervised with a tutor assigned to guide students through the lesson material and review their assignments. Students who want to receive industry-recognized SEC Certification for a particular subject must take the Certification version of the course under tutor-supervision and make a 70% overall pass”) and Self-Study (”Students who take a course via self-study do not receive tutor-supervision, do not submit assignments and do not qualify for SEC Certification). Currently, course fees range from USD 145 (for a single Self-Study course) to USD 1,195 (for Certification Pathway).

You can sign up and pay the fees online with a credit card. Then you receive an email with student access information to log in to the Student area where you can access the course material. Lessons can be downloaded as PDF. Once you finish a lesson you can test your comprehension by taking a 7-12 multiple choice Review Quiz. For Certification courses, students have to “Pass” a number of Assignments. The Final Exam is worth 30% of the grade, and it’s a timed multiple choice questions.

I signed up for SEO 201 (Advanced Search Engine Optimization)- Certification- on the beginning of April and was able to complete the 10 lesson course in 5 weeks. I was very pleased with the course and my interaction with Kalena. SEO 201 covered topics on Site Architecture, Text Content, Dynamic Content, Graphics, Flash, Frames and Tables, Link Popularity, Pay For Performance, Measuring SEO ROI and even had a bonus lesson on Starting Your Own SEO Business. I learned a lot of good skills that I’m already using to optimize my client web sites for Search Engines.

I highly recommend Search Engine College and SEO 201.