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Search Engine Specialist (SEO)

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About Course

Launch price: R1,150 until 30 November 2026. From 1 December 2026 the price is R1,350.

Search is how most South African customers find a plumber, a school, a skincare brand or a B2B supplier. It is also changing fast: Google now shows AI Overviews and AI Mode in South Africa, FAQ rich results disappeared in May 2026, and spam policies now cover mass-produced AI pages. This course teaches SEO as it works in 2026, using Google’s and Bing’s own documentation, and drops the myths.

Across 8 modules and 47 practical lessons you will learn how search engines crawl, index and rank pages, and how to:

  • research keywords South Africans actually use, including local and multilingual searches;
  • fix on-page and technical problems on WordPress, Shopify and Wix sites;
  • plan content that earns rankings and AI citations;
  • earn links without breaking Google’s rules;
  • get local businesses into Google Maps;
  • measure everything in Search Console, GA4, Bing Webmaster Tools and Data Studio.

Every lesson has a South African worked example in Rand and an exercise using free tools. Each module ends with a portfolio assignment, and the capstone is a full SEO audit and 6-month plan for a real South African website. Expect about 70–90 hours of work in total, or roughly 12 weeks at 6–8 hours a week.

What we will not do: promise rankings (nobody honestly can), sell you ‘AI SEO hacks’, or teach tactics that get sites penalised. You will finish able to do the work, explain it to clients and price it.

How this course works

8 modules and 47 written lessons. Every lesson has a worked South African example, common mistakes to avoid and a practical exercise. Each module ends with a quiz, a quiz review and a practical assignment that becomes part of your portfolio, and the course finishes with a capstone project.

Recognised certifications to take next

This course prepares you for these official certifications and courses from the platform providers. They are issued by those providers, not by Digital Marketing Guide. Check the current cost and requirements on each provider’s page.

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What Will You Learn?

  • Explain how Google and Bing crawl, index and rank pages, and diagnose why a page is not showing in search.
  • Research and map keywords by intent, location and language, and value them in Rand with stated assumptions.
  • Optimise titles, content structure, internal links, images and currently supported structured data.
  • Run a technical SEO audit covering indexing, canonicals, redirects, Core Web Vitals (LCP, INP, CLS) and platform settings on WordPress, Shopify and Wix.
  • Plan people-first content and use AI writing tools without breaching Google's scaled content abuse policy.
  • Explain how sites appear in AI Overviews, AI Mode and Copilot, using only official guidance, and measure AI visibility with Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and GA4.
  • Earn links and reviews ethically, and set up Google Business Profiles that comply with Google's guidelines.
  • Report SEO results with honest forecasts and price SEO services in Rand.

Course Content

Module 1: How Search Works and the SEO Job in 2026
What an SEO specialist actually does, how Google crawls, indexes and ranks pages, how core and spam updates work, which practices get sites demoted, and what today's results page looks like in South Africa, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. Learners finish with the mental model every later module builds on.

  • LESSON 1.1 – What an SEO Specialist Actually Does (and What SEO Cannot Promise)
  • LESSON 1.2 – How Google Crawls, Indexes and Ranks Pages
  • LESSON 1.3 – Ranking Systems, Core Updates and How to Read a Traffic Drop
  • LESSON 1.4 – Search Essentials and Spam Policies: What Gets Sites Demoted
  • LESSON 1.5 – The 2026 Results Page: SERP Features, AI Overviews, AI Mode and South African Features
  • LESSON 1.6 – People-First Content and E-E-A-T
  • Module 1 Quiz – How Search Works
  • Module 1 Quiz review – answers explained
  • Module 1 Assignment – Search Landscape and Risk Brief

Module 2: Keyword Research and Search Intent
How to find out what South Africans actually search for, judge the intent behind each search, size the opportunity in Rand, and turn hundreds of keywords into a clean keyword-to-page map without cannibalisation.

Module 3: On-Page SEO
Everything on the page that helps search engines and people understand it and choose it: titles, descriptions, headings, URLs, internal links, images and the structured data that still earns rich results in 2026.

Module 4: Technical SEO
Making sure search engines can crawl, render, index and serve the right pages quickly on mobile: robots and indexing controls, canonicals and redirects, Core Web Vitals, JavaScript and mobile-first indexing, the platforms most South African small businesses use, and a repeatable technical audit.

Module 5: Content Strategy and AI Search Visibility
Planning and producing content that deserves to rank and be cited: topic clusters, responsible use of AI writing tools, content audits, featured snippets, what Google and Bing officially say about AI Overviews, AI Mode and Copilot, and multilingual content for South African audiences.

Module 6: Off-Page SEO, Links and Digital PR
Why links still matter, exactly what Google's link spam policy prohibits, how to earn links and mentions ethically in South Africa, how to analyse a backlink profile, and when (rarely) to use the disavow tool.

Module 7: Local SEO for South African Businesses
Getting local businesses found in Google Maps and the local pack: how local ranking works, Business Profile set-up within Google's guidelines, ethical review growth, citations that are actually useful in South Africa, local landing pages and schema, and South Africa-specific search features.

Module 8: Measurement, Reporting and Working as an SEO Specialist
Measuring SEO properly with Search Console, GA4 and Bing Webmaster Tools, building dashboards in Data Studio (formerly Looker Studio), reporting monthly with honest forecasts, and running SEO as a freelance or in-house professional in South Africa, including pricing, proposals, ethics and POPIA.

Capstone Project
Bring the whole course together in one client-ready project.

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