I’ve recently thrown myself into Lyrical Host’s Navigating SEO course. As someone who usually steers clear of blogging courses, I wondered if it would be worth the £80 price tag. Here’s what I thought..
Although SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a very important part of blogging (and running a website), it can also be a huge ballache – especially if you don’t know where to start. I’ve been using SEO most of my blogging life – but only to a certain extent. I know the basics and have learned more and more as the years have gone on, but I’ve known for a long time now that there’s a lot more I should be studying, like why SEO is important and what areas of SEO I should be concentrating on when it comes to blogging.
Therefore, I was delighted to discover Lyrical Host – my hosting company (although they feel much more like a community/blogging family than a company!) has launched their own SEO course: Navigating SEO.
These guys know their sh*t. They migrated Formidable Joy from blogger to WordPress and a brand new theme a few years ago (in one evening – over Christmas!), come to the rescue immediately whenever I have an issue (at all hours of the day/evening) and have a really great Facebook group where we share blogging tips, wisdom and more.
I signed up to their Navigating SEO course as soon as I could afford it. The course includes over 100 lessons (from the very basics to the super complicated – but it’s all effortless and easy to understand) and plenty of downloads to help you along the way. It’s very comprehensive: but worth it.
I started at the very beginning and have taken my time to slowly work through it all – there’s a lot to take in and much more things I wasn’t even aware of about the basics of SEO. But this course makes it so easy to understand – it includes step-by-step checklists of what to do to help improve the very basics of SEO on your website – and behind the scenes – but it also tells you why.
The course costs £80 (with plenty of discounts throughout the year). I managed to bag it for half price, but wanted to give a fair overview of whether or not I think it’s worth the £80 price tag.
Here’s what I really love about it:
- Throughout the course, each page includes a built-in note taker. I always write up so many unnecessary notes, so I love that I can copy and paste what I need into this little area and then re-visit the notes at the end of each section. I can print the notes out directly. Each lesson also includes overall key takeaways – which sums up everything you only really need for your notes.
- There are so many resources such as checklists, a SEO dictionary and an extremely useful infographic – Time Matrix for SEO. This basically breaks down what kind of SEO you should be concentrating on for what goals – such as getting backlinks being not useful at all for building your email list but essential for growing your website traffic. It’s basically a nifty chart to keep an eye on to stop feeling overwhelmed – there are so many areas of SEO out there so there’s no point wasting time on areas that aren’t relevant.
- It’s long and comprehensive – but not too long. Each section is broken down really clearly, with an intro outlining what’s included in each. You’ve got options to skip over what isn’t necessary, but what is necessary leaves no stone unturned.
- It’s all written in a really easy to understand language and it makes the tasks extremely approachable. Within half an hour of starting the course, I’d already completed a checklist of very basic changes to my website – ones I hadn’t even considered up until then.
- It’s suitable for people just dipping into SEO and SEO experts, as it really does cover everything. And it even comes with a printable certificate and virtual badge upon completion.
I’d also add that although it’s created for – and mostly centred around blogging, it’s suitable for any kind of website or role. The SEO advice can be applied anywhere.
But do I think it’s worth £80?
I’m going to surprise myself by saying yes. I am always very wary of parting with money for blogger handbook’s or guides or anything like that – after all, I come from a generation who taught themselves HTML thanks to Myspace! I’ve also not had much luck in the past with any e-courses I have purchased – most of them promise quick fixes and unique perks but really they’re all the same – everything you pay to read you can pretty much research yourself for free.
But this guide is so comprehensive and useful that even though I’m only around three or four sections in, I’m more than sure this information I couldn’t find elsewhere – nor the informal language or easy to follow instructions. The bumper course offers so much that I honestly think the price tag is worth it. It’s definitely more of a ‘course’ you might take in open university or somewhere similar as opposed to an ebook etc and these type of courses normally cost hundreds of pounds.
Additionally, Navigating SEO has so many great (and pretty!) resources too – plus it’s created by a really amazing team. If you’re with Lyrical Host already then you’ll know this. Reading the course, if there’s anything I don’t understand or I’m struggling with, I know I can just pop onto their Facebook community to chat to the team – or just raise a ticket via their website. Both ways get me an answer almost instantly.
In conclusion, Navigating SEO is one of the best and most bumper packed courses out there – it’s comprehensive, very easy to understand and is genuinely filled with calls to action. It is without a doubt worth the £80 price tag – but do keep an eye on their website as they often release discount codes.
Are you up to speed with the world of SEO? Would you consider taking part in a course to learn more? Let me know with a comment!
*Please note, this blog post contains affiliate links.
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