FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Got a question about our online marketing courses or our College? You might find the nswer below:
1. How do I enroll in a course?
2. Can I pay for my course in my own currency?
3. I've created a student login account but when I login I don't see how to register for a course. It keeps asking me for an enrollment key.
4. I have some knowledge of search engine optimization already and I'm not sure if I need to enroll in your Starter or Advanced course. How do I decide?
5. I have just enrolled and paid for my course, so why haven't I been sent my key to access it?
6. How do I login to my course?
7. I started a Certification (tutor-supervised) course but I no longer want to receive industry certification. Can I switch to self-study and get a refund for the difference?
8. What's the difference between the Certification courses and the Self-Study courses?
9. We have five (or more) people from the same company wanting to take one of your courses. Are we entitled to a bulk discount?
10. Will you help me find a job in the search engine marketing industry after completing a course?
11. Is there a minimum grade to pass the courses and qualify for SEC Certification?
12. Am I able to contact other students in my course?
13. What sort of certification do you offer students who complete your courses?
14. I don't live in the United States. Can you tell me how much the courses are in my own currency?
15. How many hours per week will I need to allow when taking one of your courses?
16. What day/time of the week are lessons held for the tutor-supervised courses? How will this work for students in different time-zones?
17. Are the courses that you offer recognized by any industry body or academic institution?
18. How much are your courses?
19. How qualified are your tutors to teach these subjects?
20. Do you need to know HTML to complete an SEO course?
21. Can we use our web sites as case studies during the courses?
22. What is your refund policy? Can I get a refund if I cancel my registration? What if I've already started the course?
23. Do you need to know SEO to take one of the Pay Per Click courses?
24. I don't have a PayPal account because I live in a country that PayPal doesn't support. How can I pay for my course?
25. I've completed the course but I have questions about my site/campaign. Can I contact my tutor for advice?
26. What software do you use for your courses?
27. I've completed my course but I haven't received certification. What should I do?
28. Is there any way I can review the quality of your lesson material prior to purchasing a course?
29. Do you offer some kind of satisfaction guarantee?
30. Are my credit card details safe with you? Do you offer secure transaction ability?
31. Do you update the lesson material regularly? How can I access the updates?
32. Can I still receive certification if I live outside of the US?
33.
Is there a cost to purchase the Moodle Course Management Software?
34. Is it recommended to do only one course at a particular time
or can you two or more at once?
35. If you have prior
knowledge of SEO/PPC/SEM can you claim exemptions from some subjects?
36. What happens if you fail one of the subjects? Can it be
repeated? What if you fail the entire course?
37. Are
there any other costs associated with the program other than the course fees?
38. Do the course fees for the Certification Pathways need to be paid all at once?
41. How long do I have to complete my course? If I need longer than this, do I need to pay again?
1. How do I enroll in a course?
To enroll in any of our online courses, simply choose and pay for your course via our secure 2Checkout Shopping Cart. An alternative way is to simply click on the "Buy Now" credit card button at the bottom of the page describing the course you wish to take. Please make sure you choose your local currency if paying via 2Checkout. If preferred, you can pay via our PayPal Shopping Cart. Within 24 hours of your payment being processed you will receive your course enrollment key via email and instructions for accessing the course material. If you're still having problems enrolling, please contact us.
2. Can I pay for my course in my own currency?
Certainly. When you visit our secure 2Checkout Shopping Cart, your IP address should tell the system what country you are in and show our course fees in the most appropriate currency. If they are not in the currency you want to use, click on the appropriate country flag at the top of the shopping cart to change your currency. Alternatively, you can pay with PayPal via our PayPal Shopping Cart.
3. I've created a student login account but when I login I don't see how to register for a course. It keeps asking me for an enrollment key.
To officially enroll in our courses, you must first pay for your course via our secure 2Checkout Shopping Cart. You can create a student login and access the online Search Engine College campus before enrolling, but you won't have access to individual courses until you pay for and receive your enrollment key. Within 24 hours of your payment being processed, you will receive your course enrollment key and instructions for accessing the course material.
4. I have some knowledge of search engine optimization already and I'm not sure if I need to enroll in your Starter or Advanced course. How do I decide?
We offer a pre-course qualifying quiz to help you determine your skill level and which course(s) you need to take (if you haven't already done so, you'll need to create a student login to take the test). If you're still unsure after taking our quiz, please contact us with a brief summary of your situation and we will help guide your decision.
5. I have just enrolled and paid for my course, so why haven't I been sent my key to access it?
If you paid for your course with 2Checkout, your order needs to pass through their payment and fraud review system before we are allowed to fulfill it. Once it has been successfully processed, we receive an email from 2Checkout advising us the order has completed. Then we send you an email containing your enrollment key and instructions for accessing that course. The entire process usually takes less than 24 hours, but sometimes it can take longer, especially during busy periods. If you haven't heard from us within 24 hours of purchasing your course, please contact us so we can manually check on your order status with 2Checkout. If you paid for your course using e-check, please note that we cannot fulfill your order until the funds have cleared in our 2Checkout account (can take 4 to 5 business days).
6. How do I login to my course?
Within 24 hours of you
enrolling in and paying for a course, you will receive an email containing your enrollment key and instructions for accessing that course. By creating a student login, you can access the online Search Engine College campus before enrolling in a specific course, but you won't have access to individual courses until you pay for and receive your enrollment key.
We have created an instructional video that will
show you how to access your course for the first time.
7. I started a Certification
(tutor-supervised) course but I no longer want to receive industry
certification. Can I switch to self-study and get a refund for the
difference?
Yes, but only if none of your assignments have been graded by a tutor yet. Our Certification courses are more expensive because we must pay our tutors for their time in supervising students and grading assignments.
8. What's the difference between
Certification courses and Self-Study courses?
Our Certification courses are tutor-supervised with tutors assigned to each course to guide students through the material and review their assignments. Students who want to receive industry-recognized SEC Certification for a particular subject must take the Certification version of a course under tutor-supervision.
Students who take a course under tutor-supervision must receive at least a 70% pass on their quizzes and final exam AND complete set assignments to the satisfaction of their tutor in order to qualify for SEC Certification. Students who take the course via self-study do not receive tutor-supervision, do not submit assignments and do not qualify for SEC Certification. Self-study courses are between $50 and $100 cheaper than Certification versions, depending on the course.
Tutors must review assignments of students taking a Certification course before SEC Certification will be granted. There will be no set grade for assignments, except for Pass (competent) or Fail (incompetent). Students who fail an assignment initially will be given one additional opportunity to submit an assignment for re-grading by tutors.
All courses consist primarily of downloadable course materials and online resources together with weekly lesson review quizzes and a final exam for completion at your own pace, in a time-frame that suits you. The lesson materials used are the same for both course styles. The biggest difference between our online course styles is the industry certification, as well as the tutor-graded assignments and one-on-one guidance you get from tutor-led certification courses. The self-study courses are fully self-guided without feedback from tutors (apart from feedback provided within quizzes and final exam). We offer two course styles to give students the ability to choose the learning style that suits them best.
9. We have five (or more) people from
the same company wanting to take one of your courses. Are we entitled to a
bulk discount?
Absolutely. Companies that enroll five or more students in any of our courses are entitled to a 20% discount on the total price. Simply
contact us
when you're ready to enroll, indicating how many students and which course in the Comments Field of the
contact form and wait for our invoice to be emailed. Our invoice will reflect your discount
and provide a link to pay online via 2Checkout. To take advantage of this bulk discount, please ensure you
contact us and wait to receive our invoice BEFORE paying so we can provide you with the correct discounted total due. More information on our corporate training courses is here.
10. Will you help me find a job in the
search engine marketing industry after completing a course?
Yes.
Our Search Engine College
Jobs Forum contains employment opportunities in the SEM and SEO
industries which are frequently updated. Membership to the Forum is free. We
also keep our ear to the ground for any current vacancies within our network
of SEM colleagues and often make announcements to students about these
opportunities.
We have also introduced a new Projects forum within the
Jobs Forum where employers and agencies can post SEO/SEM projects that they
need help with. We expect this to become very popular and actively encourage
our students to apply to work on projects to gain experience in the
industry.
11. Is there a minimum grade to pass the courses and qualify for SEC Certification?
Yes. Students who take a Certification course under tutor-supervision must receive at least a 70% pass on their quizzes and final exam AND complete set assignments to the satisfaction of their tutor in order to qualify for Search Engine College certification. Students who take the course via self-study do not receive tutor-supervision, do not submit assignments and do not qualify for SEC Certification.
Tutors must review assignments of students taking a Certification course before SEC Certification will be granted. There will be no set grade for assignments, except for Pass (competent) or Fail (incompetent). Students who initially fail an assignment will be given one additional opportunity to submit an assignment for re-grading by tutors.
If you fail a Certification course initially and still wish to pursue Certification, you must re-register for the course at a later date and meet the passing requirements.
12. Am I able to contact other students in my course?
Sure. All course classrooms contain a course discussion forum so students can familiarize themselves with others in their course and share ideas and contact details. Student chat is also available, offering the opportunity for students to network and socialize. Occasionally, group chat sessions are organized by tutors for students in a particular course, with guest speakers in attendance.
13. What sort of certification do you offer students who complete your courses?
All students who successfully pass our Certification courses receive the Search Engine College Seal of Certification to display on their web sites. All passing Certification students also receive a hard copy Certificate of Training via post to display on their office wall or in their resume. The seal and certificate indicate a student's successful completion of one of our online college courses and proficiency in the latest search engine marketing methodologies taught in our curriculum.
Students who take a course via self-study do not receive tutor-supervision or have assignments graded and therefore do not qualify for SEC Certification.
14. I don't live in the United States. Can you tell me how much the courses are in my own currency?
To convert the cost of Search Engine College courses into your own currency, simply use this free currency converter. If you are paying via 2Checkout, simply click on the flag within the shopping cart that represents your local currency
and the pricing should automatically adjust in your cart. If you are paying via PayPal, they have a built-in currency converter you can use during the payment process.
15. How many hours per week will I need to allow when taking one of your courses?
There are no set course commencement and completion dates at Search Engine College. You have up to twelve months to complete a course after you receive your enrollment key. Both tutor-supervised (Certification) and self-study courses are based on the same lesson materials, which can be downloaded and studied at a pace that suits you.
We generally recommend that students try to get through one topic per week. Each lesson topic will require between 2-4 hours of study time, so a 10 lesson course should take you between 30-40 hours to complete, including quiz-taking and assignments. If you are taking a Certification course, allow extra time for the grading of your assignments by your tutor.
Content in the courses can be studied all at once, or paced out over a longer time-frame. It really depends how much time you have and how many hours you want to spend each week studying.
16. What day/time of the week are lessons held for the tutor-supervised courses? How will this work for students in different time-zones?
Our tutor-supervised courses have changed structure and we no longer have set classroom times or fixed course commencement and completion dates. Students now have access to the online classroom area 24 hours a day, 7 days per week and have up to 12 months to complete a course once they receive their enrollment key.
17. Are the courses that you offer recognized by any industry body or academic institution?
Our online college is relatively new and we have not yet established any relationships with academic institutions or industry bodies in any particular country. This may well come at a later stage, but in the meantime, we have already developed a good reputation in the search engine industry and recognition by SEO Pros because of the individual reputations of our tutors and the quality of our lesson materials. You can also see what others have been saying about us.
18. How much are your courses?
The prices for each course are listed here. Currently, our course pricing ranges from USD 145 to USD 1,195.
19. How qualified are your tutors to teach these subjects?
Search Engine College tutors include some of the search engine industry's most recognized names. The reputation and experience of these industry experts is your guarantee of course quality. Read more about our tutors and their areas of expertise here.
20. Do you need to know HTML to complete an SEO course?
While not compulsory, students will find the SEO courses easier if they have basic HTML knowledge to begin with. We will be showing students how to make changes to particular HTML tags during the course so if a student isn't already familiar with basic HTML it is recommended that they acquire a brief overview prior to course commencement
or during the first few lessons. An excellent free HTML tutorial is available here but our courses also contain HTML reference sites within the recommended reading for each lesson.
21. Can we use our web sites as case studies during the courses?
Yes. If students are working on a particular site, they can use that site as the basis for their assignment submissions for tutor feedback. If the student does not have a site to work on, a sample site will be provided for assignment purposes.
22. What is your refund policy? Can I get a refund if I cancel my registration? What if I've already started the course?
Yes. We offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee*. If you are not 100% impressed and satisfied with any of our courses, simply contact us within 7 days of purchase* and we will refund your money in full, no questions asked.
You have up to 12 months to complete your course, but if it has been more
than 7 days since you enrolled and you can't complete your course due to
unforeseen circumstances, please email your tutor so we can make alternative
arrangements.
*Please note that because our refund policy has been abused
in the past, refunds are only available to students who haven't accessed
more than two lessons of an entire course and have not submitted any
assignments.
23. Do you need to know SEO to take one of the Pay Per Click courses?
No. SEO knowledge is not necessary for any of the PPC courses.
24. I don't have a PayPal account because I live in a country that PayPal doesn't support. How can I pay for my course?
You can pay via all major credit cards
and e-checks using our 2CheckOut shopping cart.
You can also pay by USD personal check, USD bank cheque or direct deposit
into our account, but delivery of your enrollment key/s will be delayed
until funds are cleared. If not paying via 2Checkout or PayPal, please
contact us,
indicating your preference in the comments field. Payment instructions will be sent to you, together with an
email invoice.
25. I've completed the course but I have questions about my site/campaign. Can I contact my tutor for advice?
You may be able to contact the tutor for some feedback after the course, but individual consultation must be kept at a minimum to save the tutor's valuable time. If required, you may have the option of paying the tutor for hourly consultation after the course. Simply ask your tutor about this service.
26. What software do you use for your courses?
We use the excellent Moodle
course management software. It's Open Source software, so it is always being
upgraded with new features and fine-tuned by actual users. Moodle is an
academic platform used by over 170 universities and schools around the globe
including UCLA, MIT and The Open University.
27. I've completed my course but I haven't yet received certification. What should I do?
As soon as you complete any Certification course, you need to contact your tutor and let them know. They will review any outstanding assignments, check your online quiz and final exam results and pass your final grade on to the Director of Studies. Assuming you qualify with a passing grade, you will be notified that you have successfully achieved SEC Certification.
Students who sign up for a self-study course do not qualify for SEC Certification (unless enrolled prior to October 2006).
All students who successfully pass our Certification courses immediately receive the Search Engine College Seal of Certification to display on their web sites. All passing Certification students also receive a hard copy Certificate of Training via post to display on their office wall or in their resume.
You'll need to provide the Director of Studies with the postal address where
you'd like your certificate sent.
28. Is there any way I can review the quality of your lesson material prior to purchasing a course?
Yes there is. From this page, you can download a free sample PDF lesson taken directly from our SEO101 course.
29. Do you offer some kind of satisfaction guarantee?
Yes we offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. If you are not 100% impressed and satisfied with any of our courses, simply contact us within 7 days of purchase
and we will refund your money*.
*Please note that because our refund policy has been abused
in the past, refunds are only available to students who haven't accessed
more than two lessons of an entire course and have not submitted any
assignments.
30. Are my credit card details safe with you? Do you offer secure transactions for my online purchases?
2CheckOut.com Inc. (Ohio, USA) is our authorized payment processor for goods and services provided by Search Engine College. 2CheckOut provides safe, secure and fast online payments with an online transaction processing system that integrates the most up-to-date security features available to protect customer data.
2CheckOut also employs strict clearance procedures to detect and prevent credit card fraud. They may ask you to provide additional proof of identity before processing your payment. When paying for courses via credit card, depending on the site from which you purchase, your statement may show the payee as "Search Engine College" or
"2CO.COM *SECollege" or "Web Rank".
31. Do you update the lesson materials regularly? How can I
access the updates?
Yes, our lesson materials are updated
every couple of months to reflect changes to search engine algorithms, webmaster guidelines and industry events such as search engine mergers and takeovers.
Students are notified via broadcast email whenever a lesson is updated so they can download the latest version. Lesson updates are also posted in the SEC Lounge.
32. Can I still receive certification if I
live outside of the US?
Yes of course! We have students in 25 countries worldwide. Should you
qualify, we will post your hard-copy certificate anywhere in the world.
33. Is there a cost to purchase the
Moodle Course Management Software?
Moodle is Open Source software
and so provided at no cost. The software is installed on our server, which
you login to when accessing your course materials. There is no need to
install it on your computer.
34. Is it recommended to do only one
course at a particular time or can you two or more at once?
You
have up to 12 months to complete any course, so you can take as many courses
at once as you wish. If you want to take more than one course, you should
consider enrolling in one of our
Certification Pathways programs. These are a selection of courses
bundled together at a discounted price and they provide the successful
graduate with a higher level of Certification than taking each course
individually.
35. If you have prior knowledge of SEO/PPC/SEM
can you claim exemptions from some subjects?
If you decide to
take up one of our
Certification Pathways, you can claim exemption from SEO101 or PPC101 if
you believe you have enough knowledge to skip the course/s. To prove your
knowledge, you simply need to inform your tutor as soon as possible after
enrolment and then take the final exam for the course you wish to gain
exemption from. Provided you make 70% or higher, you can jump straight to
SEO201 or PPC201 and still receive full Pathways Certification. Your course
fee provides you with access to all lesson materials for the 101 course/s so
you can review the material at your leisure. If you fail the final exam for
exemption purposes, you will need to take the full 101 course/s, including
review quizzes and submit set assignments before being given access to the
final exam again.
36. What happens if you fail one of the
subjects? Can it be repeated? What if you fail the entire course?
To qualify for Certification, students must receive at least a 70% overall
average on their review quizzes and final exam AND complete set assignments
to the satisfaction of their tutor. If you perform poorly on one subject
review quiz, it just means you need to compensate by making enough marks on
your other quizzes to reach the overall 70% average. Tutors must review and
pass assignments of students taking a Certification course before
SEC Certification will be granted. There is no set grade for
assignments, except for Pass (competent) or Fail (incompetent). Students who
initially fail an assignment will be given one additional opportunity to
submit an assignment for re-grading by tutors. If you fail a Certification
course initially and still wish to pursue Certification, you must
re-register for the course at a later date and meet the passing
requirements.
37. Are there any other costs
associated with the program other than the course fees?
There
are no other fees required to complete our courses. Within the lessons, we
do recommend some 3rd party software and useful online tools for persons who
might be interested, but they are not compulsory purchases and not required
to complete set assignments.
38. Do the course fees for the
Certification Pathways need to be paid all at once?
Yes, fees
for all our courses are due at the time of enrolling. We can't offer
staggered fees for our Certification Pathways courses because they consist
of individual courses bundled together at an already heavily discounted
price.
39. What is the difference between the
Keyword Research course, and the keyword research element contained in the SEO Starter course?
About 6 lessons! The KWR101 course is a
course entirely devoted to keyword research from start-to-finish and
contains 7 lessons. The SEO starter course contains a single lesson on
keyword research because we consider it to be an important element of SEO.
But this lesson only covers the very basics.
40. My company requires a purchase
order or invoice before I enroll and they've told me a 2Checkout receipt is
not enough. Can you provide this?
Yes, certainly. Simply
Contact Us
and in the comments field, make note of the course/s you want to enroll in
and state that you need an invoice or purchase order in advance. We will
email it to you together with a link for paying online.
41. How long do I have to complete
my course? If I need longer than this, do I need to pay again?
We provide all students with 12 months access for each course from the date
you first enter your enrolment key for that course. You should receive a
system email 2 weeks before your anniversary date to remind you that your
access to the classroom is about to expire.
We can grant a short extension of time (up to 3 months) to students who require more time, based on individual circumstances. If you need longer than 12 months to complete your course, simply Contact Us and in the comments field explain that you wish to request an extension and your reasons.
Students who require longer than the allocated
timeframe to complete their course/s and don't qualify for an extension will
need to re-enroll at the full fee rate.
If you haven't found the answer to your question listed above, please contact us.