SEO for course landing pages

If you teach courses inside or alongside your membership, each course is something people might search for directly. Someone typing “beginner wheel throwing course online” isn't looking for a membership at all. They want a course, and if the only public trace of yours is one line in a list on your sales page, they won't find it.

A course landing page, one public page per course that describes it fully, gives each course its own chance to be found. It also does a job your general sales page can't: it answers the detailed questions a learner has about that specific course before they commit their time and money.

Give each course its own page and phrase

Search engines rank pages, not products. A course that exists only as a login-protected lesson list has no page to rank. Give every significant course a public landing page with its own permanent address, even if the course is included in the membership rather than sold separately.

Then choose the main phrase each page is for. Course searches usually combine three elements:

• The skill: wheel throwing, glazing, hand-building.
• The level or audience: beginner, intermediate, for teachers, for home studios.
• The format: course, class, online, video, workshop.

Each course page should target a different combination. If your beginner course and your introductory course chase the same words, they'll compete with each other, so either make the difference clear or merge them. Your general membership page, covered in optimizing your membership sales page for search, should aim at broader phrases and link down to each course.

What a course page needs to rank and convert

The pages that rank for course searches tend to answer a learner's questions thoroughly. Work through these, in text rather than images:

1. A clear title and main heading with the skill, level and format.
2. A short summary of who the course is for and what they'll be able to do by the end.
3. Learning outcomes: four to six specific things the learner will be able to do.
4. The full syllabus, with modules and lesson titles written out. This is often the most search-relevant text on the page, because lesson titles naturally contain the specific terms people search for.
5. Prerequisites and equipment, so learners can judge whether it suits them; see starting learners in the right place.
6. Format and time: number of lessons, total video length, any live teaching and how long most people take.
7. The instructor, with a short bio focused on relevant experience.
8. A sample: a free lesson, an excerpt or example worksheets.
9. Evidence: learner stories and photos of learners' work, used with permission.
10. Price and access: the standalone price, or a clear statement that it's included in the membership, and one button.

A worked example: a pottery course page

Rafael runs a ceramics membership with five courses. His wheel course appeared on the sales page as “Wheel Basics (12 lessons),” and that was its only public mention. He builds it a landing page:

• Address: /courses/beginner-wheel-throwing
• Title: Beginner Wheel Throwing Course Online – Clay Studio Club
• Description: Twelve video lessons that take you from centering clay to throwing your first set of mugs, with feedback on your work from an experienced potter.
• Main heading: Learn to throw on the wheel: an online course for complete beginners

The syllabus lists every lesson: wedging and preparing clay, centering without fighting the wheel, opening and pulling walls, trimming a foot ring, pulling and attaching handles, and so on. Each of those titles matches something beginners search for. Under “What you'll need,” he explains the difference between a full-size wheel and a tabletop wheel, which answers one of the questions he's asked most often. The first lesson, on centering, is free to watch on the page.

The page can now be found by someone searching for the course as a whole or for many of its specific topics, and it answers most of their questions before they have to ask.

Help search engines understand the page

• Link to it. Link each course page from your course catalog, your sales page and every public article on a related topic. Link related courses to each other as a natural next step.
• Use structured data with care. There is a course type of structured data, a labeled summary in the page's code, but search engines' support for course features in results has changed over time. Check current documentation, and only label details visitors can see.
• Describe any trailer in words. A video is great for visitors, but the page still needs its text.
• Keep the page public. The lessons can be members-only, but the landing page must load for logged-out visitors without sending them to a login screen.

Course pages that quietly weaken

• Cohort courses between intakes. Don't take the page down when enrollment closes. Keep it live with the next start date or a waitlist form, so it holds its place in search.
• Revised courses. When you update a course, update the syllabus on its page too. An outdated lesson list misrepresents the course.
• Retired courses. Redirect the old address to the course that replaces it, rather than leaving an error page.
• Copied templates. Five course pages sharing the same paragraphs with only the title changed look thin and near-duplicate. Write each one for its own learners.

Your course page checklist

1. List every course you offer and note which have a public landing page.
2. For each, choose a phrase combining skill, level and format, and make sure no two courses share one.
3. Write the title, description and main heading around that phrase.
4. Add outcomes, the full syllabus in text, prerequisites, format, instructor bio and price or access.
5. Offer a free sample lesson or excerpt on the page.
6. Link each course page from your catalog, sales page and related articles.
7. Update the page every time the course itself changes.