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SEO Essentials with Semrush

If anyone knows search engine optimization, it's Semrush. Kickstart your journey with this free beginner SEO course, designed to teach you the basics of using Semrush for SEO and AI optimization. If you want to learn foundational techniques to grow your online visibility across search engines and AI platforms and apply them right away, this course is for you!

Who is this сourse for?

This course is for any SEO beginner and those looking to get started using Semrush's toolkits. Whether you're already familiar with the concepts and want tutorials, or you're starting from scratch and curious about AI optimization, you're in the right place.

What you’ll learn

In this crash course, you'll learn the basics of using Semrush for SEO and AI optimization, including keyword research, technical SEO, content optimization, backlink identification, and an intro to AI visibility. We'll dive into each concept and help you set up Semrush tools.

Earn Your Certificate from Semrush Academy

Semrush has been recognized by the search community across the globe, winning several accolades as the best SEO software suite. Learn more

Kyle Byers

Kyle Byers is the Director of Organic Search at Semrush. He leads Semrush’s global SEO, CRO, Organic Content, and International Blogs teams. Kyle has built and led SEO and digital marketing teams both agency-side and in-house for startups, Fortune 500 companies, and everything in between. His work has been featured and cited in major media and industry publications.

Rita Cidre

Rita Cidre is a marketing leader, instructor, and storyteller with 15 years of experience working at the intersection of marketing and content. Rita has held growth marketing leadership roles at Zillow Group, Time Inc., and National Public Radio (NPR). Currently, as the Head of Academy at Semrush, she builds innovative educational programs and courses designed to empower digital marketers around the globe.

Course Structure

Strategy: Welcome to SEO with Semrush

Welcome to SEO Essentials with Semrush! Meet our Head of Academy, Rita, who will be going over what you can expect to be covered in this course.

1 video

2 minutes

Housekeeping

Make sure to download our worksheet and have a Semrush account (and Project) ready to go to get the most out of this course!

1 video

1 minute

Walkthrough: Access Your Semrush Account and Complete Setup Tasks

This tutorial walks you through account creation and essential setup tasks to customize your experience. Complete your profile, set preferences, and connect analytics tools to unlock the full power of your Semrush account.

1 video

7 minutes

Strategy: What is SEO?

In this video, Kyle Byers, Head of Organic Search at Semrush, will explain exactly what search engine optimization means, the different forms it may appear in, and why it's so important, even if you don't work with it directly.

1 video

4 minutes

Strategy: The 3 Components of SEO

In this video, Kyle explains the 3 key components of SEO: On-page, Off-page, and Technical, as well as a brief intro to how keywords work.

1 video

3 minutes

Walkthrough: Measure Your Visibility

The first step in any SEO process is competitive research. This quick tutorial walks you through the essential Semrush tools for revealing your rivals' traffic sources, backlink profiles, and keyword performance. Perfect for anyone looking to gain a competitive advantage in organic search!

1 video

8 minutes

Strategy: Intro to Keyword Research

Learn how to identify the best keywords for your website using Semrush. This video covers search volume, keyword difficulty, relevance, and search intent—helping you choose keywords that drive traffic and conversions. Whether you're targeting head, medium-tail, or long-tail keywords, you'll get actionable insights to improve your SEO strategy.

1 video

10 minutes

Walkthrough: Identify Your Target Keywords

Discover how to unlock SEO success with the Semrush keyword research suite. This video guides you through some of our most popular tools like Keyword Overview, Keyword Magic Tool, and Keyword Gap, that can help you boost traffic and outsmart competitors.

1 video

16 minutes

Strategy: On-Page SEO

In this video, Kyle dives into on-page SEO, including SERPs, where it's appropriate to add your keywords, and what makes a great title tag and meta description.

1 video

10 minutes

Strategy: Technical SEO

In this video, Kyle discusses technical SEO, why it's arguably the most important of the 3 SEO components, and touches on how search engines work to understand crawlability.

1 video

4 minutes

Walkthrough: Identify Technical Errors with Your Website

Explore how Semrush's Site Audit tool can reveal hidden website issues impacting your search performance! This walkthrough shows what the tool can tell you about your site and which fixes deliver the biggest SEO impact.

1 video

6 minutes

Strategy: Off-Page SEO

In this video, Kyle explains off-page SEO, also known as off-site SEO. You'll learn about backlinks, how they work, and why they're fundamental to succeeding in SEO, as well as the Semrush tool that can help you find where to target them.

1 video

8 minutes

Strategy: How to Find Backlink Opportunities

In this video, you'll learn some practical ways to build backlinks, from guest blogging to finding unlinked brand mentions.

1 video

4 minutes

Walkthrough: Identify Backlink Opportunities

Learn how to use Semrush's backlink analysis tools to get a picture of your website's link profile and the competitive landscape. This walkthrough explains what these tools actually track, how to interpret link quality metrics, and ways to identify valuable link-building opportunities.

1 video

10 minutes

AI What’s Next? AI Visibility Essentials

The search landscape has expanded beyond Google. Understand how visibility now works across both traditional search engines and AI platforms like ChatGPT—so you know where your brand needs to show up when your audience is looking for answers.

1 video

1 minute

Walkthrough: AI Visibility Toolkit

Get hands-on with Semrush's AI visibility toolkit! Tour the essential features that will become your go-to tools for tracking prompts, measuring AI presence, and staying competitive in the LLM landscape. See exactly how to leverage each feature for maximum impact.

1 video

3 minutes

BONUS: Local SEO Strategy and Walkthrough

A quick mention of Local SEO, and why if you're a brick-and-mortar store who wants to get their name out there on Google Maps and other platforms, you should register a Google Business Profile!

1 video

1 minute

Inside the Transformation of Morningside Acupuncture

From struggling with local visibility to dominating NYC's competitive acupuncture market, watch how Teddy Levarda, licensed acupuncturist and owner of Morningside Acupuncture, used Semrush to quadruple his revenue and grow organic traffic by 2,900% without paid ads. Discover the smart local SEO tools that turned Morningside Acupuncture into a 5-star success story.

1 video

1 minute

Congratulations and Next Steps

Congratulations on completing your course! In this video, Rita walks you through the next steps after earning your certificate. Discover three exciting ways to continue your SEO journey: explore recommended Semrush Academy courses, visit the onboarding page, and sign up for the online workshops (available only for Semrush paid subscribers).

1 video

2 minutes

Would You Recommend this Course?

One last thing! If you enjoyed this course (or even if you didn't, we won't take it personally), please give us some feedback so we can keep making even better free content in the future!

1 video

1 minute

Enroll for free

Start your SEO and AI optimization journey today with this course, packed with strategies you can implement right now.