SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and refers to a set of tactics you can use to ensure that search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.) can find your online course in this context.
The more you improve your SEO, the more often your online course shows up in search results on those engines, and the more traffic you will get for the courses on your site.
SEO can come in handy for your online course, and it is something that everyone should take advantage of. Your course doesn’t have to be in the number one spot on a search engine to be interesting, but it should show up somewhere on the first page.
In this article, you’ll learn how to improve SEO for your online course so that it’s searchable by students interested in taking it.
1. Create a Clear and Searchable Title
A clear and searchable title will provide your audience with a quick snapshot of your course, which will entice them to enroll. You need to create an online course title that not only describes what your course is but also uses search terms that people might use to find it.
If your audience is searching for “how to make an iPhone app,” but your course title is listed as “intermediate iOS development training,” you could miss out on potential students. Having a clear title will allow you to position yourself in a specific niche.
Also, when you’re creating the title of your online course, keep it short and clear. Don’t forget to include the topic you’re teaching and increase visibility by using the right keywords.
2. Use Short Sentences and Paragraphs
Use a reasonable length of sentences. Try not to ramble. The key to good SEO is the right amount of information, but not too much. This can be challenging for course instructors, who have a lot of knowledge and expertise that they want to share with their students.
But keep in mind that your students don’t want too-long introduction sections or paragraphs before getting to the point. Your students are paying you, so you need to respect their time by making it easy for them to access the information they want.
Focus on writing short paragraphs and sentences to improve readability, and avoid jargon as much as possible to promote better understanding.
3. Produce High-Quality Course Content and Materials
You need to realize that creating high-quality course content and materials is imperative if you want to get your online course on the first search results page. It’s simple if you want your online course to rank high in search engine results, your content needs to be worthy of holding that position.
So, what exactly does high-quality content mean? Your materials shouldn’t contain spelling and grammar errors (written at a sixth-grade level) – which is a sure way to put students off a course. And, high-quality content also means that it’s logically constructed (or structured in the case of videos or infographics).
SEO for an online course is important, especially if you’re a course creator with a message and passion for what you are teaching. If you want to increase the chances of people landing on your course website and learning more about your course, then you must write valuable content that will help them solve their problems.
4. Incorporate Keywords Into the Description of Your Online Course Based on your Research
When trying to improve the SEO for your online course, it is very important to know what keywords and phrases people are using to search for it.
The goal of search engine optimization is to help your online course be found more easily by your target audience. To do that, you need keywords that are prevalent throughout your online course.
Keywords are words or phrases that potential students enter into a search engine when looking for an online course.
Using keywords in your title tag and meta description is one of the easiest ways to improve SEO for your online course. It increases the chances of attracting quality traffic to your page, which can result in more students finding and enrolling in your online course.
Doing keyword research does not have to be hard. Sure, it may seem simplistic, but it bears repeating… Keywords help people find stuff online.
Make sure to think about the types of keywords that could nudge someone toward your course. Then use those words and phrases to help describe your course and make your SEO stronger.
5. Submit to Directories
While there are many things you can do to improve SEO for your online course, submitting your course (or a specific course session) to directories is one of the quickest and easiest ways.
Luckily, there are some great online directories out there that let you submit your online course and get in front of a wider audience.
A few you may recognize include Udemy, Thinkific, and Skillshare.
You might have been directed to courses through these directories yourself, or you may be familiar with them and come across them often when searching for learning solutions for your students. Online course directories are third-party listings for online courses.
They direct learners who may be looking for a specific subject for your course, especially if you provide more information and better descriptions than your competitors. That’s why online course directories are so valuable to you.
6. Make your Online Course Easy to Sign-Up and Register to Improve SEO
When you spend time creating an online course, it is important to think about how you can improve the SEO of our online course. Because now that you have a great online course, you want everyone to know about it.
One of the ways to improve the SEO for your online course is to make the process of signing up easy for potential students. If a student has several steps to go through to sign up, they will most likely not finish.
Each additional step involves another possible obstacle that will deter someone from signing up.
In a nutshell, when it’s time to launch your online course, make it easier for students to find and register by making it visible on your homepage. Include a link to signup in the top right and bottom right sidebars to make it easy for visitors to navigate.
7. Utilize Video, Images, and Multimedia Content
The use of multimedia content—like images, videos, and audio—continues to grow. This can present many opportunities for course creators and online instructors looking to improve the SEO of their online courses.
Images and multimedia content, like video and audio clips, help to improve SEO for your online course. According to Hubspot, this is because images typically have less competition than keywords, meaning people searching for visuals are more likely to find your course in a Google search.
Multimedia content can be utilized in numerous places throughout your online courses. The more these elements can be incorporated into your page, the better.
8. Check your Backlinks
One of the biggest SEO challenges that online course creators face is getting their course in front of interested customers.
Search engines help people find you, but many factors come into play to determine when and where your site shows up in search results.
One of the most important aspects of having a strong SEO strategy for your online course is building high-quality backlinks.
These are essentially links from other sites (often from authoritative websites) that increase traffic to your website and improve the overall search rankings of your course landing pages.
Furthermore, you need to continuously test your content to see what works and what doesn’t. It’s important to constantly review your online course as a whole and also specific aspects of it.
9. Encourage Others to Write Reviews on your Course
Getting reviews on your course, from students as well as trusted colleagues, is a great way to improve SEO. Having good ratings can also lead to more sales.
If you’re looking to improve the SEO for your online course, encouraging reviews is a must. The more reviews it has, the better. But don’t just ask anyone to write one. Only ask students who have taken the course and genuinely feel compelled to share their thoughts on it.
Ask them what they thought of the course, and let them express themselves however they wish to. They’ll not only improve your SEO but also provide useful feedback on how you can make the course itself even better.
10. Invest in Helpful SEO Tools
If you’re looking to build an online course site, then you’re going to want to invest in helpful SEO tools. These are tools designed especially to help you boost your ranking on search engines such as Google.
By installing one of these tools on your website, you’ll get immediate benefits from improving Google’s search engine results (SERPs). You can also invest in several tools that will make your efforts easier, such as Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMRush.
11. Participate in Social Media Conversations So That Others Can Find You
Social media provides an easy way to interact with people and is an important part of maintaining and improving your SEO.
Participating in conversations on social media can be a great way to establish authority and attract new customers to your online course.
Share relevant content and engage with others to create a positive community around your brand.
By always providing value to others, you’ll gain visibility and interest in your online course. Engage with your community on social media and participate in conversations about your field.
Whether you are on Twitter, Facebook, or Reddit, participate in a conversation, or share resources that relate to your expertise. Sharing links with other people respectfully is also a great way to encourage more sharing.
12. Don’t Underestimate the Power of Local SEO
There are many tricks and tips you can follow to help improve SEO for your online course. But you should never underestimate the power of local SEO.
If you’re not sure what that is, don’t worry. It’s an effective, yet often-overlooked form of search engine optimization that deserves your attention.
Local search engine optimization is about optimizing your site for local searches. Local SEO works similarly to traditional SEO.
The first step is to create a local business listing on Google My Business and Bing Places for Business.
After those listings are published, you can provide regular updates to keep visitors coming back to your site.
By incorporating Local SEO for your online course website, all of your bases are covered so that users can find your business when searching for information about online courses and eLearning in general.
FAQs
What are some of the reasons that you need SEO for your online course?
Online courses are growing in popularity and the market is highly competitive. There are several reasons why you need SEO in your online course. Most importantly, SEO will help you get more traffic and make money.
Will SEO strategies for your online course be effective immediately?
SEO strategies for your online course are not effective immediately but don’t go away.
On average, the effectiveness of SEO strategies becomes meaningful after 1-3 months. SEO, or search engine optimization, for your online course, is not an exact science. However, following some will help it get found faster.
Final Thoughts
Course SEO is often neglected by instructors. It’s probably not due to a lack of know-how but rather the time it takes to set all this up and test that everything works, which leads to procrastination.
By incorporating some simple SEO tactics into your online course creation, you could see a marked increase in the number of students in your course.
If you write content for your online course and want to improve SEO, consider the tips provided.
By finding ways to incorporate SEO into your course and using it to generate traffic, you can make SEO work for you, not against you. Your online course may end up with more and better traffic as a result of these SEO methods.
Having learned about several ways to improve SEO for your online course, there is another strategy you can use.
SEO experts agree that captions and translation help increase SEO for your course because it helps to attract learners from across the world. You can learn more by reading the article that highlights the benefits of captions and translations for your online course.
Thanks for reading.
