Gain an understanding of search engine algorithms and how they affect organic search results and websites. Building on this knowledge, you’ll learn the key elements for creating an effective SEO strategy, including how to select keywords and perform keyword research; consumer psychology and search behavior; and how to conduct on-page SEO analysis to identify opportunities to improve a website’s search optimization.
About this Course
Learner Career Outcomes
48%
49%
20%
What you will learn
Complete a competitive analysis on a webpage
Interpret brand recognition through social media
Create sitemaps and robot.txt files, plan redirects, and manage site errors
Use a variety of SEO tools to conduct an audience analysis and develop personas of your ideal buyer
Skills you will gain
Learner Career Outcomes
48%
49%
20%
Offered by

University of California, Davis
UC Davis, one of the nation’s top-ranked research universities, is a global leader in agriculture, veterinary medicine, sustainability, environmental and biological sciences, and technology. With four colleges and six professional schools, UC Davis and its students and alumni are known for their academic excellence, meaningful public service and profound international impact.
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Getting Started and Introduction to On-page SEO
Welcome to Week 1. This module will introduce you to On-page SEO. The lessons will start with introducing you to key areas of SEO so you’ll have a strong understanding of the differences amongst the strategies. Then we’ll dive into using On-page SEO techniques so that you’ll know how to optimize keywords in meta data as well as perform competitive analysis on a web page. By the end of this module, you’ll know how to identify meta-tags and use these to make recommendations for On-page SEO.
Introduction to Off-page SEO
Welcome to Week 2. This module will introduce you to Off-page SEO. While these strategies are more indirect than On-page SEO, they’re still important to maximize page authority. This module will clarify what Off-page SEO is as well as help you understand building links to your site and understanding brand recognition through social media. Once you complete this module, you’ll be able to understand link analysis as well as how social media can help improve your page authority.
Introduction to Technical SEO
Welcome to week 3! In the lessons that follow, you will take a close look at the third leg of a solid SEO Strategy: Technical SEO. You’ll see how important structural components like sitemaps, redirects and other components lay a foundation for your content that will help your site get noticed. By the end of this module, you should be able to define Technical SEO and explain some of the basic aspects of this strategy. As you begin creating sitemaps and robot.txt files as well as planning redirects and managing site errors, you’ll learn how to employ best practices in your Technical SEO strategy.
Keyword Theory & Research
Welcome to week 4! In this module, we are going to discover a variety of strategies for developing keywords for your site. This critical step is what helps direct your ideal buyer to the content that meets his or her needs. In the lessons that follow, we’ll learn about keyword theory and how understanding the common behaviors of web searchers can help you hone your list of keywords. We’ll also see how you can use a variety of SEO tools to conduct an audience and use this data to develop personas of your ideal buyer. Once you’ve completed this module, you should be able to craft a list of optimal keywords that will help get your site recognized.
Reviews
TOP REVIEWS FROM SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION FUNDAMENTALS
This is not a trivial subject. Nevertheless, I feel completely confident in my newfound knowledge of it. Not only that, but I am very motivated to keep going with the rest of the specialization now.
this is amazing SEO course . i am first time learning about SEO . its really informative and help me to improve my skill. i really thanks to coursera to give this opportunity to learn this course.
Very interesting course. It took me through the basics of SEO for a website. I used the concepts thought in this course in my current job and it has helped me gain credibility from my supervisor.
Sometimes it's not important to be able to DO the subject, but just understand the language to ask the right questions. This was an informative and helpful insight into optimization fundamentals.
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