Professional development is more than just a job perk—it’s a job requirement. In order to learn the newest technologies and best practices, you need to keep up with the latest developments in your field. Online professional development courses offer an opportunity to hone your existing skills and pick up new ones as you grow in your career.
One of the best ways to teach yourself digital marketing is to follow an online digital marketing training course. A good course will help you build the skills needed to become a successful digital marketer fast and boost your career.
Who should follow a digital marketing course?
Digital marketing skills are critical not only for digital marketing professionals but for anyone working in a business with an online presence. This includes entrepreneurs, marketing managers, marketing specialists, and small business owners.
Why are these the best online courses in digital marketing?
If you search Google for ‘Digital Marketing Courses’ you’ll find a lot of courses covering different digital marketing disciplines. For example, there are courses that focus only on SEO or social media marketing but they don’t give you a complete picture of all digital marketing channels.
The purpose of this guide is to showcase complete digital marketing courses that cover a wide range of digital marketing concepts and not just one area. The list includes different types and levels of courses suitable for beginners, intermediate and advanced users.
Most of them are free and you can get started right away and boost your digital marketing career.
Top 10 Digital Marketing Courses
These are the best digital marketing courses you can take online and get certified in digital marketing.
- Google Digital Marketing Courses (Free with Certification)
- Reliablesoft Academy (Paid with Certification)
- Semrush Academy (Free with Certification)
- ClickMinded Digital Marketing Course (Paid with Certification)
- HubSpot Online Marketing Courses (Free with Certification)
- Udemy Digital Marketing Course (Paid with Certification)
- Simplilearn Digital Marketing Specialist (Paid with Certification)
- Udacity Digital Marketing Course (Paid with Certification)
- Coursera Digital Marketing Courses (Paid with Certification)
- Google Digital Marketing and eCommerce Courses (Paid with Certification)
1. Google Digital Marketing Courses
Google has an online course platform (Digital Garage) offering free courses on a number of subjects related to career or business development.
One topic that is covered in detail is Digital Marketing training. In particular, Google offers the following online marketing training courses:
- Fundamentals of Digital Marketing (includes a digital marketing certification)
- How to start an online business
- How to make sure customers find you online
- How to promote a business with online advertising (Google Ads)
- How to expand a business to other countries
- Mobile Marketing
- Promote a business with content marketing
- Social Media Advertising
- YouTube Course (Includes certification)
All courses include both video and text materials and some can be completed in 3 hours while others can take up to 40 hours.
The digital marketing fundamentals certification is accredited by Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe and The Open University.
Why enroll in this course?
If you are new to digital marketing and want to get a good idea of what digital marketing is and how the different components work together, then this is a good course to follow.
The certification is also globally recognized which is a great way to boost your career.
2. Reliablesoft Academy (Paid with Certification)
The Digital Marketing Full Course is offered by Reliablesoft (that’s us). Reliablesoft is a full-service digital marketing agency providing SEO and digital marketing services since 2002.
The digital marketing course bundle has ten courses covering all major aspects of digital marketing. In particular, it includes the following courses:
- Digital marketing basics
- Facebook / Instagram Ads
- Google Ads
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Keyword research
- Content marketing
- Email marketing
- Google Analytics (including Google Analytics 4)
- Social media marketing
- eCommerce SEO
Upon completion of the course and required exams, you get a digital marketing certification to showcase on your CV and open up new career opportunities.
Why enroll in this course?
This digital marketing course based on our experience working with clients in various industries and on the feedback we received from our students. What differentiates this course from the rest is that it will not only teach you the theory, but it will show you step-by-step how to use digital marketing to boost your online presence.
As an active digital marketing agency, we continually optimize our processes by testing different theories and techniques, and our findings are transferred to our online courses. For you, this means that you can focus on digital marketing practices and procedures that are proven to work and are not only useful in theory.
Each course covers a digital marketing channel in detail with checklists and actionable tips you can apply to your digital marketing campaigns. It is suitable for beginners and anyone that wants to learn digital marketing in the fastest possible way.
The course content is updated regularly to take into account the latest digital marketing techniques and practices.
3. Semrush Academy (Free with Certification)
Semrush is the company behind one of the most successful digital marketing tools. To serve their users and audience better, they have created an academy with a number of free digital marketing courses.
Their courses cover all digital marketing disciplines including:
- SEO
- Content Marketing
- PPC
- Affiliate Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
The course’s main language is English but many of the courses are also available in Spanish.
Registration is free and upon completion of the course and the exams, you get a certification.
The course material includes both Video and text and all courses are taught by reputable digital marketing professionals.
They cover both basic and advanced concepts and while some courses are specific on how to use Semrush, there are courses that cover general concepts like SEO fundamentals, PPC fundamentals, technical SEO, and social media marketing.
Why enroll in this course?
The nice thing about these courses is that they are taught by industry experts and besides explaining the different concepts, they also teach you how these can be applied in practice.
In addition, you’ll get to learn how to use Semrush correctly and this can increase your chances of running successful digital marketing campaigns.
4. ClickMinded Digital Marketing Course (Paid with Certification)
ClickMinded is a company co-founded by Tommy Griffith. Tommy is an experienced SEO expert and SEO trainer. He has done SEO work for companies like Paypal and Airbnb.
They offer a number of online marketing courses covering various marketing channels and a digital marketing course bundle that includes everything you need to know to become a digital marketing specialist.
In particular, their digital marketing training covers 7 topics:
- Social Media Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Paid Advertising
- Sales Funnels
- Google Analytics
- Search Engine Optimization
The nice thing about the Click Minded bundle is that each course is taught by professionals who are actively working in the industry in big organizations.
You can register for free for their Digital marketing framework masterclass but to gain full access to the bundle, you have to pay $1997 (a once-off fee). All courses come with a certificate and a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Here is a tip for you: While the courses are offered at a discount (the normal price is listed as $6,979), you can get a further discount by registering for their masterclass course. After you register for the free course, you will get emails with better discounts on the paid courses.
Why enroll in this course?
Obviously, this is not a course for all individuals. The price is high for a freelancer or a solo professional but not a problem if you work for a big company.
If you are willing to spend the amount, there is definitely value to be gained from this course. If you already know the basics and worked through Google Garage and Semrush courses, you can use this course to go deeper and explore all bits and pieces of digital marketing.
5. Udemy Digital Marketing Course (Paid with Certification)
Udemy is one of the biggest online learning platforms. They offer courses on a number of subjects covering all areas of marketing from SEO to Google Ads and Sales.
One of the courses that cover Digital Marketing in detail is the Complete Digital Marketing Course Bundle which includes 12 courses. Topics include:
- Market Research
- WordPress Setup
- SEO
- SEO Writing
- YouTube Marketing
- Google Ads
- LinkedIn Marketing
- App Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Google Analytics
- Social Media Marketing
- Facebook Ads
The course comes with a digital marketing certification but it’s not free. The price is $99 but you can get it at a lower price if you are patient enough. Sign up with Udemy, add the course to your wish list and wait for the discount period.
Why enroll in this course?
I’m not a big fan of Udemy courses, I have tried a number of courses in the past and they seem to me that the courses are made for the masses without giving attention to detail.
Also, sometimes the course description promises more than what is actually delivered in the course.
Nevertheless, if you can get this course for a reasonable price and not $99, it’s worth the money. If you are a beginner you can get a very good idea of how the different marketing components work since it covers everything from website marketing to social media promotion.
6. HubSpot Online Marketing Courses (Free with Certification)
Another option to learn digital marketing online and get certified by a renowned company is Hubspot Digital Academy.
Hubspot is one of the leading companies in the digital marketing industry with a range of tools including CRM, SEO tools, content marketing, and sales.
Hubspot’s Online Digital Marketing Courses cover the following topics:
- Inbound Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
- Contextual Marketing
Registration is Free and you get a recognized certification upon completion of the course.
Besides the above courses, they also offer a number of courses (without a certification) that cover Search engine optimization, blogging, Facebook ads, and other online marketing channels.
Why enroll in this course?
Even if you don’t plan to use HubSpot’s tools in your marketing campaigns, they did a very good job with their online courses. You can allocate some time and go through the ones that interest you.
All courses are taught by experts like Sujan Patel and Matthew Barby, who are recognized digital marketing professionals with years of experience in the industry. The learning environment is easy to use and the courses are free.
I suggest you also go through this course, which explains how HubSpot is using blogging to get thousands of visitors per day from Google organic search.
7. Simplilearn Digital Marketing Specialist (Paid with Certification)
This Digital marketing course is offered by SimpliLearn and covers a number of Digital Marketing disciplines and tools.
It’s a course for beginners and includes:
- SEO
- Social Media
- Pay-Per-Click (Facebook and Google Ads)
- Conversion Optimization
- Web Analytics
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing and Mobile Marketing
The Digital Marketing Specialist course is a premium course and comes with a premium price of $1,499.
Why enroll in this course?
The nice thing about this course is that it includes walkthroughs of more than 40 digital marketing tools so by the time you complete this course, you’ll have a very good idea of what tools to use in your digital marketing campaigns.
Also, besides getting certified for this course, it prepares you to pass and get certified for Google Ads, Facebook, Google Analytics, and YouTube.
If you are working for a company and want to convince your boss to invest in a Digital Marketing Course, then this is a very good option from a trusted company.
8. Udacity Digital Marketing Course (Paid with Certification)
Another premium digital marketing training course is Udacity’s Digital Marketing Nanodegree program.
It covers everything you need to know to become a digital marketer including:
- Online Marketing Fundamentals
- Content Strategy
- Social Media Marketing
- Social Media Advertising with Facebook Blueprint
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Search Engine Marketing with Google Ads
- Display Advertising
- Email Marketing
- Measure and Optimize with Google Analytics
Why enroll in this course?
What is different about this course compared to other online courses is that besides getting access to the course material, you also get access to a technical mentor and a personal career coach, and career services.
This is particularly useful if you are a beginner in digital marketing and want to have someone to talk to about technical issues and need advice on how to build your digital marketing career.
Of course, you don’t get the above services for Free. To maintain your access to the course material and services, you have to pay a premium price of $399 per month. It is estimated that you will need at least 3 months to go through the material.
This is definitely a good course for beginners but it’s not for everyone. Paying $399 per month for a course subscription is a lot for freelancers or self-employed so this is more suited to marketers working with big companies that can afford it.
9. Coursera Digital Marketing Courses (Paid with Certification)
Another digital marketing training academy worth considering is Coursera. They offer a number of digital marketing courses covering all digital marketing channels from SEO to social media marketing and paid advertising.
One popular option is the Digital Marketing Specialization offered by the University of Illinois.
The digital marketing specialization includes six courses with each course taking around 20 hours to complete and the total cost to finish all courses is $592. The courses cover the following areas:
- Differences between analog and digital marketing
- Introduction to Digital tools and digital media
- Digital marketing analytics theory
- Digital marketing analytics practice
- Online marketing strategies
- Video marketing
- Social and email marketing
When you finish all courses and pass all graded assignments, you can get the Coursera Digital Marketing Specialization certification and use the credits towards obtaining the MBA degree awarded by the University of Illinois.
Why enroll in this course?
This is a good course for people who have experience with analog marketing and want to make the transition to digital marketing. It’s not the best course if you’re looking for actionable digital marketing techniques to increase your traffic and sales. You can read our comprehensive review of this course here.
10. Google Digital Marketing and eCommerce Courses (Paid with Certification)Besides Digital Garage, Google is offering a number of digital marketing courses through Grow with Google and third-party providers. One such case is the Google Digital Marketing and eCommerce courses offered through Coursera
.
The courses are prepared by Google marketing professionals and they can be accessed through a subsidized Coursera plus subscription which costs $39 per month.
In total, Google offers seven online courses with each course taking on average 24 hours to complete. The courses cover the following topics:
- Introduction to Digital Marketing and e-commerce
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Social Media Marketing (including strategy, planning, and analytics)
- Email Marketing
- Marketing Analytics
- eCommerce (including building an online store)
- eCommerce Marketing
- Retargeting
When you finish all courses, you get the Google Digital Marketing and e-commerce certification which is accredited by the American Association of Advertising Agencies and the American Advertising Federation.
Why enroll in this course?
The courses are intended for people who want to build job-ready skills and enter the digital marketing industry as junior digital marketing professionals. The lessons are easy to follow and are suited for beginners with no prior experience in online marketing. Coursera offers a 7-day free trial to review the content before committing to a paid plan.
Additional Training Options
In addition to the above options, these free courses are worth considering.
Optinmonster Digital Marketing Training (Free)
Optinmonster is one of the most successful tools for increasing website conversions. To educate their users, they created a number of free courses covering topics related to email marketing and conversion optimization.
Why enroll in this course?
Although the optinmonster digital academy does not include courses on all digital marketing topics, it is worth taking a look because once you manage to get traffic to a website, you will need conversions and this is exactly what you’ll learn in these courses.
Registration is free and the courses are easy to follow, suitable for both beginners and advanced users.
Copyblogger Online Marketing Course (Free)
One of the most successful websites on Internet Marketing, especially when it comes to content writing is Copyblogger.
Brian Clark is the author behind copyblogger and the creator of the most successful WordPress framework, Genesis.
Although copyblogger, studiopress, and Genesis are now part of WPEngine, Brian’s free Internet Marketing course is still a great resource to learn how to write great content.
This course is delivered through email and downloaded ebooks and it’s free. All you have to do is register using your email address.
Why enroll in this course?
Writing great content is essential for the success of any digital marketing campaign. Whether it’s ad copy, articles, or landing page copy, you need to learn how to write engaging content and this course is a great place to start.
It is suitable for both beginners and advanced users.
Which Course to Follow?
If you are confused as to which digital marketing course to follow, our recommendation is the following:
- If you want a good free course to get started with digital marketing, follow the Google Digital Garage course.
- If you want to learn actionable advice on how digital marketing can help you get more traffic and make more sales register with the Digital Marketing Full Course.
- If you want to become Google Digital Marketing Certified, go with the Google Digital Marketing and eCommerce Course.
Key Learnings
You need to acquire a range of skills to become a successful digital marketing professional.
Digital marketing is not a single discipline but it includes a number of principles that cover all online marketing channels.
At the end of the day, when you apply for a digital marketing job, you need to prove that you have knowledge of at least the following:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Paid Search Advertising (Google Ads and Facebook)
- Email Marketing
- Web Analytics
- Content Marketing
- Conversion Optimization
Following a digital marketing course, is one of the best ways to acquire those skills fast. You can then concentrate on building your real-world experience by either working on your own websites, or getting a job in the field as a digital marketing freelancer, or in an established digital marketing agency.
Most of the courses listed in this guide are free and perfect for beginners. You can check out the courses in the order listed above and enroll in the ones that best fit your needs.
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