Start here 👋
Everything you need to actually understand this course — not just watch it. Here's how to use this guide.
1 · Follow along while you watch
Go to ▶ Follow Along, pick a lesson, and play its YouTube video. Read the beats top-to-bottom as Sam talks. Each beat shows when it happens, what he says, a plain-English translation, and a quick check question. Click any timestamp to jump to that moment in the video.
2 · Lock it in
After a lesson, hit Flashcards and Quiz for that same lesson to test yourself. Use the Cheat Sheet and Glossary any time you forget a term.
3 · Apply it
The Worked Project tab walks through a real SEO project end-to-end so the concepts click. The AI Tutor tab gives you a ready-made prompt to spin up your own conversational SEO coach.
About the timestamps
A ✓ next to a timestamp means it's verified against the video. A ~ means it's approximate — close, but glance at the video to confirm. Either way you'll be in the right neighborhood.
Course playlist: 14 lessons, ~2 hours on YouTube ↗
Syllabus & outline
The whole course at a glance. Click any lesson to jump into Follow-Along mode.
What you'll be able to do
- Explain what SEO is, how search engines work, and why it matters.
- Do keyword research: seeds, intent, opportunity, and difficulty.
- Optimize a page on-page so it clearly targets one keyword and its intent.
- Build beginner-friendly backlinks and judge which links actually help.
- Run a basic technical audit and keep a site crawlable and indexable.
▶ Follow along
Pick a lesson, play its video, and read down the beats as Sam talks.
Flashcards
Pick a lesson, click the card to flip.
Quiz
Pick a lesson (or All) and test yourself. Instant feedback + explanations.
Cheat sheet
The whole course on one screen.
The 4 pillars (in order)
- Keyword Research — find what people search & what's winnable
- On-Page SEO — make the best answer for that intent
- Link Building — earn authority via quality backlinks
- Technical SEO — stay crawlable, indexable, fast
Choosing a keyword — 4 checks
- Volume — enough monthly demand?
- Traffic potential — judge the topic, not one phrase
- Business potential — 0–3 (3 = your product is the answer)
- Difficulty — backlinks of top pages vs your authority
Search intent
- 3 C's: Content type · Content format · Content angle
- 4 types: Informational · Navigational · Commercial · Transactional
- Read it off the current top-ranking pages; don't fight the SERP
On-page checklist
- Match intent (type/format/angle) — first
- Keyword in title (<60 chars) + URL slug
- Compelling meta description (~155 chars)
- One H1; logical H2/H3; cover subtopics fully
- Descriptive image alt text · smart internal links · readable
"Good backlink" signals
- Authority · Relevance · Anchor text · Placement (editorial > footer) · Follow > nofollow · Real traffic
Link-building tactics
- Linkable assets · guest posts · broken link building · Skyscraper · resource pages · unlinked mentions · outreach
Technical SEO essentials
- HTTPS · mobile-friendly · fast (Core Web Vitals)
- Crawlable + indexable · XML sitemap in GSC · canonicals for duplicates
- Run a Site Audit; fix errors first · shallow logical structure
Glossary
Worked project — findtestosterone.com
The 4 pillars applied end-to-end to a real directory venture, so the concepts click.
The goal
Rank directory category + location pages and a supporting blog to capture high-intent searches (people looking for testosterone/TRT providers) and convert provider sign-ups and featured-listing upgrades.
Step 1 · Keyword research
Seeds: testosterone clinic, TRT clinic, low T treatment, testosterone therapy near me. Map each keyword to a page type:
- "testosterone clinic near me" → location landing page · biz potential 3
- "best TRT clinics in [city]" → location/"best of" list · 3
- "what is testosterone replacement therapy" → blog guide · 2
- "low testosterone symptoms" → blog guide · 1
Use Content Gap vs competing directories to harvest city/keyword combos. Prioritize lower-KD long-tail city terms first.
Step 2 · On-page (a location page)
- Target: "testosterone clinics in Los Angeles"
- Title: "Testosterone Clinics in Los Angeles (TRT & Low T) | findtestosterone"
- URL: /testosterone-clinics/los-angeles · one H1 matching the keyword
- Body matches intent: intro + filterable provider list + FAQ (cost, what to expect, insurance)
- Internal links to nearby cities and the "what is TRT" guide · LocalBusiness/ItemList schema
Step 3 · Technical
- Make programmatic city pages crawlable & internally linked (no orphans)
- Clean XML sitemap of all category + location pages, submitted in GSC
- Canonicals for filter/sort URL variations · HTTPS · mobile · fast (cache query-heavy pages)
- Monthly Site Audit; fix errors (broken provider links, 404 cities) first
Step 4 · Link building
- Linkable asset: original data — "Average TRT cost by US city (2026)" — that health writers cite
- Outreach: pitch the cost study to men's-health and local-health publications
- Replicate competitors: Site Explorer + Link Intersect on rival directories
- Provider relationships: ask listed clinics' "as featured on"/partner pages for a link
Step 5 · Measure & iterate
- Track target keywords in Rank Tracker, grouped by city
- Watch GSC impressions/clicks on new city pages; expand the winners
- Tie ranking gains to provider sign-ups & featured-listing upgrades (the revenue metric)
90-day starter plan
- Weeks 1–2: keyword + competitor research; build the keyword→page map
- Weeks 3–6: optimize top 5 city pages + publish 3 guides
- Weeks 5–8: technical audit + fixes; submit sitemap; add schema
- Weeks 6–12: publish the TRT-cost study; run outreach; double down on winners
Spin up your own AI tutor
Paste this as the system prompt / instructions in a Custom GPT (ChatGPT), a Claude Project, or Gemini Gem. Upload the companion PDF too, so it answers strictly from the course.