If you’re just starting off with digital marketing, the best way to educate yourself is by following the top digital marketing training courses. A good course will help you understand the fundamentals and acquire the skills required to become an efficient digital marketer. It will surely help you boost your career.
In this blog post, I’ll be listing down the top free digital marketing courses available on the Internet. Yes, they are absolutely free.
Who should follow these digital marketing courses?
As technology is growing rapidly, digital marketing is a must for every organization to market its products and services online. Digital marketing skills are considered one of the most essential skills today. It is not for digital marketing professionals but for anyone looking to build an online presence for their business.
Why you should get started with these free digital marketing courses?
There are hundreds of top paid digital marketing courses out there offered by thousands of training centres and agencies. Before moving on to the paid ones, you need to understand the basics. Once you understand the basics, you’ll have the ability to determine the right paid courses you should enroll in.
You don’t want to pay hundreds or thousands to learn the same thing that you could actually learn for free right?
There are so many bogus course providers popping up all over the Internet and claiming to be the top digital marketing training providers. Don’t waste your money on them.
You can use that money to build digital assets after obtaining the necessary digital marketing knowledge.
My aim is to educate people on starting off with free courses and slowly upgrading their skills and knowledge through consistent practice.
Experience is not the best teacher; evaluated experience is – Howard G. Hendricks
You need to turn the experience you get from digital marketing into valuable insights.
For me, only data-oriented digital marketing is here to stay in 2023.
📓 Top 6 Free Digital Marketing Courses
These are the best and most reliable free digital marketing courses you should check out. Some of them are offering certificates if you manage to pass the assessments.
- Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google Digital Garage
- Search Marketing Courses by SEMRush Academy
- Online Marketing Courses by HubSpot Academy
- CopyBlogger Online Marketing Course
- Growth Academy Powered by Wordstream
- Constant Contact’s Social Media Quickstarter
Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google Digital Garage
Google Digital Garage has tons of free courses. And the one that impressed me the most is the one that came with a certificate which was Fundamentals of Digital Marketing.
Don’t you want a certificate from Google that can improve your credibility?
If you’re just getting started with digital marketing, this course is for you. The course will help you master the basics of digital marketing. They have a total of 26 modules created by top Google trainers which include practical exercises and real-world examples.
You need to get hands-on experience to excel in digital marketing. Learning digital marketing theoretically without applying them is a waste of time.
What did I like about the course?
Personally, I’m not a fan of digital marketing courses. But, when I looked at this course, I have to admit that the course is well organized with informative videos. It clearly explains what a beginner should know to get started with digital marketing.
Each module takes around 40 minutes.
Although I have more than 8 years of experience in digital marketing, I still learned something from this course.
Here’s an example of their lessons:
What you will learn from this course?
- Develop a clear goal for your digital marketing efforts
- Identify your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
- Learn how to start small without spending a lot
- Start with the basics of getting listed locally.
- SEO – learn the basics to get higher rankings on search engine result pages.
- SEM – Learn how to find profitable keywords and target long-tail keywords with low competition.
- Content marketing – create content that answers user’s questions
- Social Media – engage with your customers and get feedback to improve your products and services.
- Use Google Analytics to analyze and track traffic to your website
I would recommend this course if you have a low marketing budget and have sufficient time to implement digital marketing strategies on your own. If you’re a small business owner, this course is a must for you to get started with digital marketing.
Digital Marketing Courses by SEMRush Academy
SEMRush is well-known for its digital marketing tool. Now the organization is offering free online courses and certifications with SEMRush Academy. Most of their courses take around 1-3 hours to complete.
Currently, the academy is offering 25 free courses with 6 different specializations. They have courses on using their marketing tool to its full potential as well. The following are the core digital marketing disciplines they cover:
- SEO
- Content Marketing
- PPC (Pay Per Click)
- Social Media Marketing
- Competitive Research
- SEMRush Toolkit
There are 27 free certifications you can take which require you to attempt exams that focus on different aspects of digital marketing.
What did I like about the courses?
The courses offered by SEMRush are not only for beginners but also for experienced digital marketers specialized in search marketing. The academy has provided flexibility in choosing the course that matters the most.
You don’t have to attempt all the courses. Choose the one that you want to master. Once you complete the course, make sure to attempt the certification exam and get yourself certified.
Even if you’re an experienced marketer, I’m sure you’ll learn something new at SEMRush academy.
What you will learn from SEMRush Academy?
- SEO – Learn how to perform an SEO audit, understand core technical SEO elements, learn more about competitor research and find out important factors that help with ranking and many more.
- Content marketing – understand how SEO and content marketing work together in improving your brand awareness and increasing search traffic.
- PPC – understand the fundamentals and automate the entire process while improving paid search results.
- Social Media Marketing – Learn the fundamentals of social media marketing and grow your social media following.
Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, courses by SEMRush academy will definitely add more value and improve your knowledge mainly about search marketing. Certification is an advantage if you want your resume to look good 🙂
Online Marketing Courses by HubSpot Academy
How can I miss out on HubSpot Academy?
HubSpot is known for its inbound marketing tool which helps businesses to connect with leads, nurture them, and finally convert them into paying customers.
Compare to any other digital marketing certifications, HubSpot certifications are the most essential due to the value the courses HubSpot has to offer.
Did you know that HubSpot certifications are recognized by universities?
Northeastern University acknowledges Hubspot Academy certifications as transfer credits for social media courses in their master’s programs. The university is considered to be one of the most prestigious colleges in the United States. This shows the credibility and value of HubSpot courses.
You can learn a lot of things from HubSpot Academy courses. All their courses are conducted by top digital marketers in the world.
There are 18 certifications offered by HubSpot Academy which focuses on different aspects of Inbound Marketing. (Most certifications are valid for 1 or 2 years)
What did I like about the courses?
I’m one of the pioneers with Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing certification when HubSpot started off with their free courses. The value and the resources offered by the courses are extremely valuable and I’m amazed that even some paid courses failed to provide such value.
That’s why I’ve always been stressing to people that they can search for valuable resources related to digital marketing for free and there is no need to pay for them.
It’s not that you won’t learn something new from premium training that costs a few thousand. Don’t pay to learn the basics. There are training providers charging hundreds to thousands just to teach you the basics.
So, courses from HubSpot Academy can improve your knowledge and have the fundamentals to start off with advanced digital marketing techniques.
What you will learn from HubSpot Academy?
- Content Marketing – learn content creation framework for producing high-quality content on a consistent basis.
- Inbound Marketing – learn the inbound methodology and the flywheel as a core part of any inbound business.
- Email Marketing – master the fundamentals of email marketing
- Youtube Marketing – build Youtube subscribers by optimizing your videos, keywords, file names, titles, descriptions, and other things that will help you be found easily in search.
- And many more…
HubSpot certification is a must for digital marketing beginners to add credibility to their resumes. I’m sure it will also increase your chances of getting hired by top digital agencies.
Copyblogger Online Marketing Course
Copyblogger is one of the best resources I’ve been following since 2008. I’ve read some of the best articles on Copywriting at Copyblogger. Even today the site is considered one of the best sites to improve your knowledge of digital marketing.
Unlike other courses, Copyblogger provides free internet marketing education in 16 eBooks and 20 emails. You can learn how to develop a buyer persona and implement a mix of digital marketing strategies to increase your business revenue with Copyblogger’s 20-part Internet marketing course.
What did I like about the course?
Although I agree that video-based courses are preferred by people today, reading something has always been my way of learning things. I love to read.
There are no certifications offered by Copyblogger. The course offered requires commitment and you need to apply the strategies to see results.
I believe in implementing various strategies and finding out the ones that work for specific businesses. Even some tweaks to strategies can provide outstanding results.
The course is easy to follow even if you’re just starting off with digital marketing. It’s about learning and implementation. You will definitely find great value in this course.
What you will learn from this course?
- Building audience relationships – learn how to create a quality experience for your audience by creating engaging content.
- Direct response copywriting – learn to write killer headlines and CTAs that work amazingly in enticing visitors to take action.
- Content Marketing – deliver content that offers benefits for the readers.
- And many more…
You want to see great results from online marketing initiatives. But you need to get the basics right. With Copyblogger’s Internet Marketing Course, you can stay assured to equip yourself with the most significant digital marketing knowledge to get started and dominate the online platform.
Growth Academy Powered by Wordstream
WordStream is one of the pioneers in the digital marketing industry. Their tools WordStrean Advisor helps businesses in maximizing their results from online advertising like Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and Bing Ads.
Growth Academy was launched by WordStream in 2020. Growth Academy focused on helping business owners to learn about online advertising, lead generation, e-commerce, and more. The learning platform will be updated frequently with new content without any additional charges.
What did I like about Growth Academy?
I like their course details. They only listed the digital marketing discipline that matters the most in driving visitors to the website and converting them into paying customers. That’s what we want right?
It’s perfect for beginners looking into learning more about online advertising. As the core service of Wordstream revolves around paid search and social advertising, their courses only focused on these digital marketing disciplines.
What you will learn from Growth Academy?
- Basics of online advertising – you’ll learn how search engines work, how to target the right keywords related to your industry, and how to target audiences on Facebook.
- Drive targeted leads – you’ll learn how to use keyword intents to generate leads with Google Ads, the basics of lead generation with Facebook, and how to effectively set demographic and geographic targeting.
- Sell products online – learn things like selling products using Google Shopping, set up a shopping feed in Marchant Center, choosing placement across Facebook and Instagram, and writing product copies that actually convert.
- Growing digital agency – learn things like how to price your services, how to add new digital services, how to reduce overhead while maximizing profit, and how to find new clients and revenue streams.
If paid advertising is something you’re looking to master, I highly suggest in enrolling at Growth Academy. Moreover, you will learn how to effectively drive quality leads and convert them into paying customers with the right online advertising strategies.
I’m not a fan of social media marketing. But, I agree that social media marketing is a great way to drive new customers and make repeat business.
I use social media to increase brand awareness as people tend to spend most of their time online on social media.
Constant Contact offers social media training for beginners to get to know the basics of social media. You can learn everything about social media marketing which includes:
- YouTube
- Snapchat
What did I like about Constant Contact’s Social Quickstarter?
The step-by-step guidelines for each social media channel are easy to understand and perfectly crafted for beginners. The resources for each social media channel provide an in-depth explanation of how individuals can dominate those platforms.
Each module provides detailed information on creating outstanding profiles and engaging with the right audience. It also provides a list of dos and don’ts for each social media channel.
What you will learn from Constant Contact’s Social Quickstarter?
- Facebook – learn how to set up a Facebook business page for Facebook advertising ideas.
- Twitter – learn how to set up a Twitter profile and understand all the basics of Twitter marketing.
- LinkedIn – learn how to get started with LinkedIn and ways to build authority.
- Pinterest – learn the basics of Pinterest and ways to promote Pinterest pages.
- And many more…
If you already have a basic knowledge of social media marketing, you might not learn much from these resources. However, there are a few modules that you will find interesting.
I discovered some of the best ways to use social media channels to drive targeted traffic.
You don’t have to pay and enroll in courses that can cost up to thousands. There are hundreds of free resources on the Internet. You just need to search for them.
Always remember that digital marketing is not about acquiring knowledge alone, you also need to apply what you’ve learned to identify the best strategy that works for you. Digital marketing strategies that work for me might not work for you.
Digital marketing requires consistent work to be successful. It’s about how you position your brand in the industry and the solutions you’re providing to your potential customer’s problems.
Are there any other valuable free digital marketing courses that I’ve missed out on?
Please share with us by commenting below.