Complete SEO Guide to Ranking Local Business Websites (Udemy.com)
Watch over my shoulder as I redesign and rank a real live client local business website on the 1st page of Google
Created by: Christine Maisel
Last updated August 2023
What you will learn
- Rank a local business website on the first page of Google
- Understand the entire local SEO process from start to finish
- Identify the best, most profitable keywords for local businesses
- Properly optimize a local website for maximum SEO benefit
- Find and obtain high quality back links and specific local business back link opportunities
- Build quality citations for fast ranking in the Google local pack
How it compares
Against the other 112 rated Udemy courses in SEO on CourseDuck:
- Rating4.6 out of 5higher than 81% of them
- Reviews4,219#10 of 113 by number of reviews
- Length6.7 hourslonger than 66% of them
- Last updatedAugust 2023earlier than 58% of them
Course Description
This course is being COMPLETELY updated! The first few sections have already been posted and there will be weekly updates with all new training and resources just for you. Get started knowing you're getting the latest SEO training and follow along with the steps each week. Have SEO questions? Just ask as you go!
Top Local SEO course on Udemy
Instructor available for questions
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"Christine guides you very well thru this course. She breaks it down in sections for you so you never feel lost. The over the shoulder example from beginning to end helped me tremendously as I am mostly a visual person and like to see examples." - Luis Palacios
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If you've been wanting to rank local business websites so you can provide local SEO services to clients, you're in the right place.
In this course I take you along so you can watch me rank a real live local business website both organically on the first page of Google and in the Google local pack.
Here you will watch as I make changes to the client's website so you will know not only the exact steps you need to take but why you should take them. We'll start by covering:
The exact information you should be collecting from local clients
The exact spreadsheet I use to track my work
How to maintain current rankings through a redesign process
How to monitor your site after a re-design
Checking the site's SEO health to improve rankings
After getting organized and gaining a better understanding of the website's health we'll begin the SEO process by:
Researching the best keywords to target
How to find your top competitors and see what you need to do to outrank them
How to set-up a demo site during the re-design process
How to keep Google from indexing your demo site
Building local pages and where to put keywords for maximum benefit
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"Christine has put this course together logically, in a way that you can understand, and makes you feel like you're doing things the right way. I cannot say enough about the course. This is my 3rd SEO course, it's the first that I will finish." - P. Compton
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Next we'll get into even more crucial SEO steps. We'll start off with on-page optimization which includes:
Several step-by-step methods for using images to improve rankings
Why you should be using schema, what it is and exactly how to implement it
How to have a fast loading website
How to inform Google of a newly designed website or new pages
Finally we'll look at off-site optimization which will take our SEO efforts to the next level. In these sections we'll look at:
The step-by-step process for ranking websites in the Google local pack
Why, how and where to build local citations for maximum benefit
How to increase local business reviews
The exact companies you can use to outsource local pack rankings
Where to find the best back link opportunities for local business websites
There are several resources for you to download and use and lots of bonus tips and tricks you can use as well.
There has never been a better time to start providing local SEO services to increase your income. If you're new to ranking local business websites, you'll be fully prepared to provide local SEO services by the end of this course.
Increase your monthly recurring income by providing local SEO services. Enroll now and I'll help you through the process.
Instructor Details
- 4.6 Rating
4,219 Reviews
Christine Maisel
Christine is a Web Design & SEO Business Coach at Portable Entrepreneur where she directly helps web design and SEO startups through education, coaching and services.
Christine has been a web designer for nearly 15 years - 10 of which she has been self-employed. Her work has taken her from working for some start-up dot com companies in the early 2000's to working as a contractor for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense to her own home office.
In her time, she has built 100's of websites and blogs primarily on WordPress and Joomla. Christine has also provided training to individuals and businesses to help them manage their websites on their own with no knowledge of web coding.
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Reviews
By Sutrisno Utomo on 1/14/2026
As someone who learns best by example, this course was exactly what I needed. The real-world approach helped me understand the 'why' behind each SEO decision. Christine's teaching style is clear and methodical, making local SEO feel achievable rather than intimidating. Great value for the investment.
By Anthony Rose on 11/14/2020
I enjoyed the course but there are a few things that feel a little outdated, some things in Google search console such as determine preferred domain are not supported.
By Simon Chocron on 10/11/2020
VERY OLD INFORMATION THE COURSE IS CALLED 2020 Complete SEO Guide to Ranking Local Business and shows you tools from 2015. For example the chapter 2.08 and chapter 3.11
By Sena Koray on 10/6/2020
great course
By Mary Speakman on 10/6/2020
The content is not for 2020. There are screenshots showing Google ranking factors from 2015. There are references to Google Plus, which was discontinued at the start of 2019. There are screenshots of Google webmaster, despite being renamed years ago. I am only in the first section and already the information is up to 5 years old. This is concerning.
By Emma McEwen on 9/21/2020
Really great course with a huge amount of invaluable resources and links. Christine's teaching style is very easy to follow yet always informative, I was interested from start to finish. I will defiantly look into more of Christine's courses.
By Soumya Agarwaal on 9/10/2020
Wonderful experience! She explained everything with utmost clarity, I'm glad I chose this course!
By Candice DSouza on 9/8/2020
There are many terms that are being discussed initially (eg Trust flow, citation flow, back links etc). I'm a novice and was hoping it would introduce these gradually. Cheers!
By Tan Meng Hui on 8/24/2020
Good
By Cynthia Norman on 8/24/2020
The explanations are thoughtful and very thorough. I am enjoying the content very much.
By J T on 8/24/2020
Very basic information you can find through a Google search. Not very helpful.
By Devanshi Khattar on 8/21/2020
Needed more briefing and a proper introduction about the terms that are being used
Quality Score
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Overall Score : 92 / 100












