The 10 Best Online Courses on Digital Marketing (Free and Paid)
As experts in online marketing, we’re huge fans of online learning.
Pre-Internet (can you even remember what that was like?!), learning was either in-person or through distance-learning with workbooks or other printed materials.
Online learning offers much more flexibility and freedom, with anybody with an internet connection able to learn from a leading expert in any subject, anywhere in the world.
But with this incredible opportunity comes potential risk; after all, how can you gauge whether an online course is any good?
There are some exceptionally good online digital marketing courses (both paid and free), and there are also some exceptionally bad options!
Below, we’ve given 10 suggestions for digital marketing courses that we believe provide real value. As always, let us know what you think of our list and which digital marketing courses would be on your list.
1 – Google Digital Marketing & E-commerce Professional Certificate
Free to enrol in, Google estimates that this course will take around 6 months to complete. It includes 190+ hours of instruction and practice-based assessments, designed to simulate real-world digital marketing and e-commerce scenarios that are critical for success in the workplace.
The program uses a mix of videos, assessments, and hands-on activities, to help you learn how to use popular tools and platforms such as Canva, Constant Contact, Google Ads, Google Analytics, Hootsuite, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Shopify, and Twitter.
Link - https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-digital-marketing-ecommerce
2 – Fundamentals of digital marketing
40 hours of online training from Google to give you an excellent introduction to digital marketing. This training is accredited by both the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe and The Open University and comprises 26 modules with practical exercises and real-world examples.
3 - Content, Advertising & Social IMC
One of six courses that make up the Social Media Marketing Specialization training, this program will show you the different ways marketers are managing to navigate today's changeable media landscape successfully.
It will also give you an excellent overview of an integrated marketing communications strategy for social media marketing and show you how to use gamification to keep people coming back for more!
4 - Semrush SEO Toolkit Course
Ideal for you if you use (or are considering using) Semrush in your online marketing. This free course comprises 14 lessons, takes around 3 hours, and features video training from a team of Semrush professionals.
(After completing the training, you may like to take the Semrush Certification Exam for SEOs to show your progress.)
5 – IDM Professional Marketing Diploma (Dip MA)
For the serious digital marketing student, this paid training will help you move your digital marketing skills forward using an intelligent approach to data, customers relationships, digital marketing campaigns and media channels.
The bonus after all your hard work is that you’ll walk away with a diploma!
6 – London Business School Mastering Digital Marketing
Learn about SEM, SEO, social media and more in this 3-month online training course. 11 modules include expert training on paid search marketing, digital marketing in B2B environments, mobile app marketing and omnichannel marketing.
7 – Hubspot Digital Marketing Course
Get Certified in Digital Marketing with this 4-hour online training comprising 9 lessons, 37 videos and 11 quizzes.
You’ll learn how to optimize your website for search engines, how to build and grow an audience using both paid and non-paid strategies.
8 – The Complete Digital Marketing Course
Hosted on Udemy, this online training has 22+ hours of video training, 8 downloadable resources and 35 articles.
With over 500,000+ students having already completed this digital marketing course, you’ll enjoy the interactive nature of this training, with its projects, checklists, and action steps.
(As a nice bonus, upon completion of the course you can download a certificate to highlight your achievement!)
9 – Digital Marketing Specialization
Seven courses in one, this provides extensive training across a wide range of skills, including marketing in a digital world, digital marketing analytics (in theory and in practice), and the principles and strategies of digital media and marketing.
As you work your way through this training, you’ll earn a certificate each time you complete on of the hands-on projects (always good to show a prospective or current employer, to demonstrate your ongoing professional development).
10 – OptinMonster University
Provides access to several digital marketing courses, including ‘How to get started with email marketing’, ‘How to attract and convert targeted traffic with your blog’ and ‘The Ultimate OptinMonster Guide for local businesses’. (There’s definitely a monster theme going on here…)
What next?
Which of the digital marketing courses listed above do you think you’ll start with? Let us know!
And if you’d like expert help with your digital marketing campaigns, get in touch with us to see how we could help you. We’ve been making digital marketing work successfully for our clients since 2009 and would love to help you too!
