Learning resources
Official documentation comes first, because it is the primary source. Industry guides and courses are listed separately, because they are useful but represent their authors' opinions and experience.
Official documentation
- SEO Starter Guide
Google Search Central. Documentation, 45 min read, English, beginner. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: Google's own overview of the basics, including which popular beliefs it says do not matter (meta keywords, word counts, heading order).
Why it is here: The most authoritative starting point, and it explicitly debunks common myths.
- In-depth guide to how Google Search works
Google Search Central. Documentation, 20 min read, English, beginner. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: Crawling, indexing and serving, explained by Google.
Why it is here: The foundation for diagnosing almost every indexing problem.
- Google Search Essentials
Google Search Central. Documentation, 15 min read, English, beginner. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: Google's technical requirements, spam policies and key best practices.
Why it is here: The rules your site has to meet to be eligible for Google Search.
- Spam policies for Google web search
Google Search Central. Documentation, 25 min read, English, beginner. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: Practices Google considers spam, including link spam, scaled content abuse, cloaking and site reputation abuse.
Why it is here: Knowing the limits protects you, and your clients, from tactics that can get a site demoted or removed.
- Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content
Google Search Central. Documentation, 15 min read, English, beginner. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: Self-assessment questions for content quality, E-E-A-T, and Google's position on AI-generated content.
Why it is here: Explains the "who, how and why" of content in Google's own words.
- AI features and your website
Google Search Central. Documentation, 10 min read, English, beginner. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: How AI Overviews and AI Mode use web content, how they are reported in Search Console, and how to control them.
Why it is here: The official counterweight to unverified "AI SEO" claims.
- Web Vitals
web.dev (Google Chrome team). Documentation, 15 min read, English, intermediate. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: What LCP, INP and CLS measure, their thresholds, and how they are assessed.
Why it is here: The primary definition of Core Web Vitals.
- Search Console Help
Google. Tool docs, Reference, English, beginner. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: How each Search Console report works and what its numbers mean.
Why it is here: Read this before interpreting any Search Console metric.
- Latest Google Search documentation updates
Google Search Central. Documentation, 5 min per check, English, intermediate. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: A dated changelog of Google's search documentation, such as features added or removed.
Why it is here: The fastest way to see when a tactic stops working, for example the 2026 removal of FAQ rich results.
- Google Search Central on YouTube
Google Search Central. Video, Short videos, 5 to 30 min each, English, beginner. Checked 2026-11-05.
You will learn: Video explanations of Search topics from Google's Search Relations team, plus recordings of Search Central events.
Why it is here: Visual explanations from the source. Use it alongside the written documentation, which is updated more often.