SEO for Nigerian Businesses
A Practitioner's Playbook for Ranking on Google
Most SEO courses were built for Western markets. They reference US keyword tools, American search volumes, and examples from industries that barely exist in Nigeria. This course is different. Every session, every example, every exercise is built around ranking Nigerian businesses on Google — using real Nigerian search data, Nigerian audience behaviour, and the specific opportunities of the Nigerian digital market.
Eight live cohort sessions over eight weeks. Small groups (maximum 15). Direct access to Brela's SEO practitioners throughout.
Join the Waitlist
This course runs in cohorts. Join the waitlist and you’ll be the first to know when the next cohort opens — plus priority booking and early-bird pricing.
Who this course is for
This course is for you if…
- • You own or manage a Nigerian business and want higher Google rankings
- • You're a marketing professional responsible for your organisation's digital visibility
- • You're a freelancer or consultant offering digital marketing services in Nigeria
- • You have a website but don't fully understand why it's not ranking
- • You've read about SEO but don't know where to start practically
This course is NOT for you if…
- • You're looking for advanced technical SEO (JavaScript SEO, log file analysis, enterprise crawl management) — see our corporate SEO Masterclass
- • You don't have a website yet — do WordPress Fundamentals first
- • You want a purely theoretical overview with no practical exercises
What you'll be able to do
- Identify the exact keywords your Nigerian audience is searching for
- Fully optimise any web page for a target keyword
- Set up and optimise a Google Business Profile for local search dominance
- Build a local SEO strategy that ranks your business in your city or region
- Create a content plan designed to attract organic search traffic from Nigerian audiences
- Build links using legitimate Nigerian and African opportunities
- Track your SEO performance using Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4
- Conduct a basic technical SEO audit and fix common issues on a WordPress site
Course curriculum
- • What a search engine actually does: crawling, indexing, and ranking
- • How Google decides which pages to show for any query
- • Google's ranking signals — the ones that actually matter in 2025
- • Why Nigerian websites have specific advantages and challenges
- • Black-hat vs white-hat SEO — why shortcuts destroy sites
- • Setting realistic expectations: how long SEO takes for Nigerian businesses
Exercise: Audit your own site's current indexing status in Google Search Console
- • How Nigerians search differently from Western audiences
- • Keyword research tools: Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest, AnswerThePublic
- • Finding keywords with Nigerian search intent and realistic competition
- • Understanding search intent: informational, navigational, commercial, transactional
- • Keyword mapping: assigning the right keyword to every page on your site
- • Finding keywords your Nigerian competitors are ranking for (free methods)
- • Building a keyword research spreadsheet for your business
Exercise: Complete a full keyword map for your website
- • Title tags: writing them for Google and for humans
- • Meta descriptions: what they do and how to write them
- • Heading hierarchy: H1, H2, H3 — what belongs where
- • Body content: keyword density, LSI keywords, and natural writing
- • Internal linking — connecting your pages for SEO and usability
- • Image optimisation: file names, alt text, compression, lazy loading
- • URL structure: the SEO-friendly permalink format
- • Schema markup basics — helping Google understand your business type
Exercise: Fully optimise three existing pages using the Brela on-page checklist
- • Why local SEO is the biggest opportunity for most Nigerian businesses
- • Setting up and verifying a Google Business Profile
- • Completing your profile: categories, attributes, photos, services, hours
- • Writing a GBP description that helps you rank
- • Google Reviews: how to ethically get more and how to respond
- • Local citations: what they are and how to build them in Nigeria
- • Ranking in the Google Maps Local Pack — the three-result box
- • Multi-location businesses: managing multiple GBP listings
Exercise: Fully optimise your GBP and build five Nigerian local citations
- • Why content is the most scalable SEO asset for Nigerian businesses
- • Building a content calendar around your keyword map
- • Writing blog posts that rank: structure, length, internal links, and CTAs
- • Creating service pages that convert and rank simultaneously
- • Pillar pages and topic clusters — a content architecture strategy
- • Repurposing content without duplicate content penalties
- • Content for Nigerian audiences: language, examples, cultural relevance
Exercise: Write a fully optimised blog post targeting a keyword from your keyword map
- • Why backlinks remain one of Google's most important ranking signals
- • Ethical link building vs black-hat tactics that get sites penalised
- • Nigerian and African directories worth submitting to
- • Guest posting for Nigerian and African publications
- • Digital PR: getting your business mentioned and linked in Nigerian media
- • Competitor backlink analysis: where your competitors get their links
- • How to pitch for backlinks professionally
Exercise: Build five legitimate backlinks using methods covered in this session
- • What technical SEO is and why it matters for Nigerian websites
- • Site speed: why slow sites lose rankings and how to fix them
- • Core Web Vitals explained — and how to pass them on Nigerian hosting
- • Mobile-first indexing: ensuring Google approves your mobile site
- • SSL/HTTPS: critical for rankings and security
- • Sitemaps, robots.txt, canonical tags — all explained plainly
- • Fixing broken links and 404 errors
Exercise: Run a complete technical SEO audit using Google Search Console
- • Setting up and reading Google Search Console data
- • Clicks, impressions, CTR, and average position — what they mean
- • Key SEO metrics to track: organic traffic, keyword rankings, and conversions
- • Building a monthly SEO report in Google Sheets
- • When to expect results: realistic timelines for Nigerian businesses
- • Making data-driven decisions when rankings drop
- • Final Q&A on any outstanding questions from Sessions 1–7
- • Course close: certificate information and next steps
Requirements
- You should have a website or be building one
- No prior SEO experience needed
Course summary
- Cohort-based — 8 live sessions over 8 weeks (Zoom)
- 8 weeks · approximately 2.5 hours per live session
- Maximum 15 participants
- Yes — Brela Certificate of Completion
- Live Q&A in every session + WhatsApp group throughout
- Live on Zoom · recordings and materials via Selar
What's included
Course materials
- • 8 live Zoom sessions (2.5 hrs each)
- • Session recordings within 24 hrs
- • Nigerian keyword research template (Google Sheets)
- • On-page SEO checklist
- • Local citation list for Nigeria
- • Monthly SEO report template
- • Lifetime access
Support
- • Live Q&A in every session
- • WhatsApp group for the 8-week cohort + 30 days after
- • Between-session exercise feedback from the Brela SEO team
- • Peer discussion with cohort members
After completion
- • Brela Certificate of Completion
- • Suitable for LinkedIn, CVs, and proposals
- • Access to recording and material updates as Google's algorithm evolves
- • Alumni community access
Pricing
Need training for a team of 5 or more? See our corporate training programme.
Join the Waitlist
This course runs in cohorts. Join the waitlist and you’ll be the first to know when the next cohort opens — plus priority booking and early-bird pricing.
SEO for Nigerian Businesses — common questions
Ready to join the waitlist?
Join the waitlist and we'll notify you the moment the next cohort opens, plus priority booking and early-bird pricing.