1.6 Certification Process

In this article:

  1. Introduction
  2. How to become certified
  3. What does the project consist of?
  4. What SEO knowledge is covered in the exam?
  5. What can I use during the exam?

Introduction

RankSense is able to make a variety of changes on a site, some of which could hurt the SEO of the site if used improperly! Robots.txt, noindex tags, and even canonical tags can prevent search engines from accessing or indexing pages. 301 redirects can impact users as well as search engines if used incorrectly.

For these reasons, we restrict access to the advanced features to users who have been certified.

You have already taken the first steps to become certified by reading this series. After you have familiarized yourself with all of our documentation, you will be able to complete the certification. The certification consists of a project and an exam.

We expect our certified partners to already have the SEO knowledge needed. The certification exam is not designed to be a comprehensive test of your SEO knowledge. It will focus on the information contained within this documentation.

How to become certified

  1. Read the series of articles for agency partners.
  2. Contact us to schedule the exam. There will be a fee charged to cover the cost of administering the certification.
  3. Complete the project. For the project, you will install RankSense on a site that you control and apply changes on staging to demonstrate that you are able to use the software. No changes will be applied to your live site.
  4. Take the exam online. Your exam will be proctored by a RankSense team member who can answer questions if you have them.

To take the certification, you will need:

  • A high-speed internet connection
  • A reliable computer with a webcam for the exam
  • A quiet location to take the exam
  • Valid ID
  • The certification fee
  • A website that you can install RankSense on yourself for the project

What does the project consist of?

For the project, you will install RankSense on a website via Cloudflare. You will then be asked to create rules that are discussed in this documentation, such as robots.txt changes, meta robots tags, and A/B tests.

The purpose of the project is to ensure you are able to use the software, the rules, and tagging. You will be able to leave the project and re-enter it, and you may use any resources you like.

It is not mandatory to complete the project before the exam, but we recommend it. Other partners who have completed the certification have found it helpful to use the software before taking the exam.

What SEO knowledge is covered in the exam?

The exam focuses on SEO changes that can be made within the app. RankSense is able to apply the following SEO changes:

  • Robots.txt
  • Canonical tags
  • Meta robots tags (index, follow, noindex, nofollow)
  • Meta titles
  • Meta descriptions
  • H1 tags
  • Hreflang tags
  • 301 redirects
  • 404 error fixes - These are also 301 redirects, but we distinguish the two
  • Media alternate tags
  • Image alt tags

Therefore, before taking the exam, you should be well-versed on the proper use of a robots.txt file, canonical tags, meta robots tags, meta titles, meta descriptions, hreflang tags, and 301 redirects. The exam does touch on media alternate tags, but these are not needed for many sites, so it is not a focus.

The exam does not focus on SEO knowledge outside of what can be implemented by the software.

What can I use during the exam?

You may refer to the RankSense documentation during the exam. We recommend that you be quite familiar with the documentation so that you can complete the questions within the allotted time.

You will not be permitted to use any outside resources for the exam (however, outside resources are okay for the project). You will be provided a blank rules sheet template to fill in during the exam.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

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