Subject Overview

A professionally oriented study of organic search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search engine marketing (SEM). The subject integrates search principles, keyword and audience research, technical and content optimization, paid campaign management, analytics, AI-enabled workflows, governance, and emerging search technologies.

Learning Goal

Enable students to plan, implement, measure, optimize, and govern integrated SEO and paid search strategies that improve visibility, traffic, conversions, and business value while meeting contemporary ethical and industry standards.

Syllabus

1. Search Marketing Foundations and Ecosystem

Learning Objective: Explain SEO, SEM, PPC, SERPs, search intent, the marketing funnel, major search platforms, business models, stakeholder roles, and the relationship between organic and paid search within integrated digital marketing.

Category: foundation

2. Search Engines, Ranking, and Auction Systems

Learning Objective: Describe crawling, rendering, indexing, retrieval, ranking signals, relevance, link analysis, machine-learning systems, paid-search auctions, Ad Rank, quality factors, and the limitations of publicly known ranking information.

Category: foundation

3. Market, Audience, Competitor, and Keyword Research

Learning Objective: Apply customer personas, journey mapping, search-intent classification, keyword discovery, topic clustering, competitor analysis, demand estimation, seasonality, and prioritization frameworks to identify valuable search opportunities.

Category: core

4. SEO Strategy, Planning, and Site Architecture

Learning Objective: Develop measurable SEO strategies aligned with organizational goals; establish KPIs, baselines, roadmaps, budgets, responsibilities, information architecture, URL structures, internal linking, and implementation priorities.

Category: strategic

5. On-Page SEO and Content Optimization

Learning Objective: Optimize titles, headings, metadata, copy, images, entities, semantic relevance, featured-snippet opportunities, and structured data while applying E-E-A-T principles, helpful-content standards, accessibility, and conversion-focused content design.

Category: core

6. Technical SEO and Website Performance

Learning Objective: Audit and improve crawlability, indexability, robots directives, XML sitemaps, canonicalization, redirects, duplicate content, JavaScript rendering, mobile usability, HTTPS, Core Web Vitals, page speed, internationalization, and website migrations.

Category: core

7. Off-Page SEO, Authority, and Digital PR

Learning Objective: Evaluate backlinks, authority, citations, brand signals, and link risk; design ethical link earning, outreach, partnership, and digital PR programs while avoiding manipulative practices and managing penalties or harmful links.

Category: application

8. Specialized and Platform SEO

Learning Objective: Apply SEO methods to local search, e-commerce, marketplaces, video, images, news, apps, multilingual and international websites, including product feeds, merchant listings, local profiles, reviews, hreflang, and platform-specific optimization.

Category: application

9. Paid Search Campaign Strategy and Setup

Learning Objective: Design paid-search campaigns using objectives, account structures, keyword and audience targeting, match types, exclusions, geographic and device settings, ad assets, landing pages, tracking, budgets, and integrated campaign planning.

Category: core

10. Bidding, Ad Auctions, and Campaign Optimization

Learning Objective: Manage manual and automated bidding, Quality Score, Ad Rank, impression share, budget allocation, pacing, search-term analysis, creative testing, remarketing, performance-focused campaign types, and optimization against profitability targets.

Category: application

11. Conversion Optimization and Search Experience

Learning Objective: Connect search intent to landing-page design; apply usability, accessibility, persuasion, trust, form optimization, A/B testing, and conversion-rate optimization while distinguishing correlation from valid experimental evidence.

Category: application

12. Search Analytics, Attribution, and Decision Making

Learning Objective: Configure and interpret search-platform data, web analytics, tag management, Search Console, dashboards, funnels, conversion tracking, attribution models, incrementality, CAC, ROAS, ROI, lifetime value, and statistical indicators for evidence-based decisions.

Category: core

13. SEO and SEM Operations, Governance, and Ethics

Learning Objective: Establish audit cycles, workflows, briefs, quality assurance, agency and vendor management, reporting, forecasting, risk controls, privacy and consent practices, brand safety, accessibility, regulatory compliance, and ethical policies for content, data, automation, and advertising.

Category: strategic

14. AI, Automation, and the Future of Search

Learning Objective: Use generative AI and automation responsibly for research, content support, forecasting, bidding, reporting, and testing; assess AI-generated search results, conversational and multimodal search, zero-click behavior, first-party data, answer-engine optimization, privacy change, and future capability requirements.

Category: contemporary