Every businessperson knows how important marketing is to the success of their company. Whether your startup is still a team of one or you’re a serial entrepreneur with a full scale marketing team on your staff, digital marketing is one of those skillsets where it really pays to stay current and informed. A good way to do that is through online research, or better yet, a free digital marketing course you can take online.
So you can spend more time learning and less time scouring the internet for value added courses that won’t leave you feeling like you’ve wasted valuable time, we’ve curated this list of 11 student approved digital marketing courses available online.
The best part? They won’t cost you a single penny.
11 Free Online Digital Marketing Courses
1. Creativity (Canva)
Length of course: Seven lessons
Certification Awarded: None
About the Course:
Canva is quickly becoming a staple tool in the digital marketer’s toolbox. The platform, which allows users with little to no design skills create awesome looking graphics, is also rolling out an online learning center to help people master the art of digital marketing. While the course offering is limited at the time of writing, they do currently offer a course called CREATIVITY. It’s an excellent resource that’s making us excited to sign up for the next online marketing class Canva releases.
Take this digital marketing course if …
You want to learn how to kickstart the creative process and sharpen your design skills. Helpful for crafting all those content marketing assets like blog post graphics, infographics, and ebooks. You’ll get actionable tips and real world examples to help you transform a creative blank slate into a brilliant end product by learning how creativity works and developing a no-fail workflow.
2. Internet Marketing For Smart People (Copyblogger)
Time Commitment Required: 20-installment email course with 16 ebooks
Certification Awarded: None
About the Course:
Anyone familiar with Copyblogger founder, Darren Rowse, most likely has heaps of respect for his digital marketing prowess. Rowse is a digital marketing master who undoubtedly has tons of insights to share. So when one of his websites offers such an in-depth educational offering, you can count on it being worthwhile. This particular course, Internet Marketing for Smart People promises to teach the “Copyblogger method of creating a profitable online business or marketing your offline business online.”
Take this digital marketing course if …
You are interested in “a systematic, simple way to understand and implement effective online marketing.” If you prefer a more organized approach to learning instead of random google searches and blog posts that may or may not go to together, this course puts it all together and delivers high quality content to you in an order that’s more conducive to learning and information retention.
3. Inbound Marketing (HubSpot)
Time Commitment Required: 6+ hours
Certification Awarded: Yes, Inbound Marketing Certification
About the Course:
Featuring 4.5 hours of on-demand video and supplemented with 24 additional resources, this course from industry trusted Hubspot will not only teach you how to attract more traffic to your site, but also convert those leads into paying clients and customers. The assignments and quizzes you’ll encounter throughout the course will make sure you’re actually learning the skills, setting you up for inbound marketing success.
Upon successful completion of the course, you’ll also receive a certification at no additional cost.
Take this digital marketing course if …
You want to know more about inbound marketing as a whole. This course covers all the bases and is one of the most thorough free classes around.
4. Diploma in E-Business (Alison)
Time Commitment Required: 6-10 hours
Certification Awarded: Yes, diploma in E-Business
About the Course:
After dedicating 6-10 hours of your time taking this online marketing course, students will have a solid understanding of digital marketing fundamentals. The course is geared towards small business owners who are considering taking on the digital marketing efforts themselves. You’ll cover a range of topics from landing page design to learning Google Analytics.
Take this digital marketing course if …
You’re a small business owner or rookie marketer looking to bolster what you already know about digital marketing.
5. Academy For Ads (Google)
Time Commitment Required: Courses range from around 30 minutes to 6+hours
Certification Awarded: Yes, AdWords certification is available for specific course paths. However, not all courses offer certification.
About the Course:
With Google playing such an integral role in the tasks of online marketers, it seems like a no-brainer to learn directly from the giant themself. With courses that appeal to beginners through advanced levels, you’ll most likely find at least one or two classes that spark your interest. While the focus of the courses are on the Google AdWords arsenal of tools, you’ll also find learning paths about Mobile website development, video and branding, creativity, Google Web Designer, mobile, and programmatic concepts.
Take this digital marketing course if …
You are any level of digital marketer (beginner through advanced) looking to master the arsenal of tools Google offers, specifically their AdWords suite.
6. Becoming An Entrepreneur (MITx)
Time Commitment Required: 1-3 hours per week for 6 weeks
Certification Awarded: The course is free to audit, but there is a Verified Certificate option available for $69
About the Course:
This may seem like somewhat of a wildcard on list of online marketing classes, but this free course from Massachusetts Institute of Technology still has a lot to offer the beginner online marketer. While you won’t be learning directly about advanced online marketing topics, you will gain a lot of insight and inspiration on entrepreneurship including how to conduct market research and pitching to clients.
Take this digital marketing course if …
You’re are considering getting into entrepreneurship or are new to owning a business.
7. Content Marketing That Works: Strategy & Tactics to Stand Out (CoSchedule)
Time Commitment Required: 30 minutes
Certification Awarded: None
About the Course:
A big part of successful online marketing is staying organized and developing a streamlined workflow. This course from CoSchedule helps you do just that. Plus, you’ll get plenty of actionable advice on optimizing content and how to prioritize high-potential ideas over incremental improvements.
Take this digital marketing course if …
If content marketing is your main objective, this class will teach some tried and trued methods to help optimize the content you produce.
8. SEO Today: Strategies to Earn Trust, Rank High, and Stand Out (MOZ)
Time Commitment Required: 30-45 minutes
Certification Awarded: None
About the Course:
Chances are you’ve found yourself over on the Moz blog a few times in your search for online marketing tips. Rand Fishkin, the founder of Moz teaches this class personally, which is hosted on the Skillshare platform. Even though plenty of people would be willing to pay for the expert tutelage of Rand Fishkin, the course is totally free. Score!
Take this digital marketing course if …
If you want to know more about the power of SEO and how you can use it for your own business, this course won’t disappoint. You’ll learn about link earning strategies, SEO best practices, SERPs, on page optimizations, and more.
9. Content Marketing for B2B Enterprises (Udemy)
Time Commitment Required: 37 minutes
Certification Awarded: None
About the Course:
If your business is B2B, you know how difficult it can be to find good education material that caters specifically to you. That’s one of the great things about this course–it’s B2B specific. It’s suggested those who take the course have at least some basic knowledge of marketing concepts, but that’s not to say the material is too advanced.
If you already have a firm grasp on content marketing for B2B, you might find some of the topics a bit boring. Luckily, it’s easy enough to skip through any sections you’ve already mastered.
Take this digital marketing course if …
If you’re a B2B looking to start a blog and want to learn the step-by-step process involved in doing so.
10. Online Digital Marketing Course (Shaw)
Time Commitment Required: 3 hours per week for 1 month
Certification Awarded: Diploma
About the Course:
At the time of writing this digital marketing course has over 18,000 reviews and is holding a solid 5-star rating from students. The creators of the course call it a “foundation course” that promises to teach you ” will include everything that one should know to understand the basics of digital marketing”.
Take this digital marketing course if …
This free digital marketing course is probably for you if you’re new (or newish) to digital marketing and feel like the blog posts you’ve been reading are leaving some gaps in your education.
11. DIY Viral Video: A Mini Class on Making iPhone How-To Videos (Nicole Farb/Darby Smart)
Time Commitment Required: Less than 30 minutes
Certification Awarded: None
About the Course:
With video prevailing as one of the fastest growing trends in digital marketing, you need to make sure your business is prepared. Sharpening up your skills on how to make engaging short videos for your business’ marketing needs just plain makes sense. Plus, this course is short and sweet–only about 15 minutes of video lessons.
Take this digital marketing course if …
You want a step-by-step method to make professional looking marketing videos for your business’s social media and website without having to invest in expensive video equipment.
Take A Digital Marketing Course? Share Your Experience
Have you taken one of the courses from above, or take a different course you think others would really benefit from? We’d love to hear about your experiences. Let us know in the comments below, we’re always looking to learn new things!
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