If you’ve ever wanted to start a business online, you already know the benefits of taking an internet marketing course, even though you’ve probably never thought about it. Getting started without any idea how to go about marketing your site is difficult, and nobody tells you up front what all comes with running on online business. Nobody tells you how important proper marketing can be. This is where internet marketing courses come in.
In these courses, you’ll learn all about the importance of marketing your business for the right audience, keeping up with the ever changing trends, and know the differences between different types of internet marketing.
The first thing you need to get started in one of these programs is a course that specializes in things, and won’t hurt your wallet. This is where I’ve come in. In this article I’ll be outlining the top five free internet marketing courses to take for learning how to successfully market your business.
Coursera
Coursera is a course that is partnered with some of the top universities to ensure that you get the best possible online marketing courses completely for free, and teaches a wide variety of lessons including Internet History, Technology and Security, which teaches how the internet was created and how it works, to programming courses, and all that’s in between.
Each course is designed to be an interactive textbook of sorts, and consists of videos, projects, and quizzes to test your knowledge. They also provide a forum for people taking the course to use to interact with others taking the course as well, and allows you to chat, share ideas, and help each other succeed where some of you might be struggling. The course is accredited, and also provide official recognition when you succeed.
EdX
EdX offers a wide range of courses on internet marketing, including Data Science and Analytics to teach you how to track your links and the demand for products based on customer sales and traffic; Fundamentals of Business to help you successfully learn and grow your business; and Digital Marketing, Social Media, and E-Commerce for Your Business, to help you learn how to identify your client base and market to them successfully. They even have an Introduction to Marketing course for those who are just starting out.
Like the previous course, they are also partnered with several of the top universities to help provide a free course for anyone to take, and have been in the business since 2012.
Udemy
Udemy, you will find, provides a number of different online courses, both free and paid. Some of the paid courses will be a little more in-depth, but for those who are here for free courses (I know I am), then they have more than enough for you, too. They offer free courses in Google AdWords, Zero Cost Marketing Strategies, Content Marketing, and Social Media Marketing, and even provide a course on SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, so you can learn how to utilize keywords in your marketing and reach a wider audience.
Not only do they provide a myriad of different online courses, they also have over 80 course languages to take them in, so people from all over the world can benefit from their services. All of the courses are available to download onto a smartphone or tablet so you can keep up with your studies no matter where you are, and give you the ability to learn and progress at your own pace.
Hubspot
Hubspot offers a free inbound marketing training program that includes certification, which will teach you everything you need to know about marketing online and getting to know your client base. The course consists of eleven classes:
- Optimizing Your Website
- Sending the Right E-Mail to the Right Lead
- Creating Content with a Purpose
- Essentials of an Effective Inbound Strategy
- The Fundamentals of Blogging
- Amplifying Your Content with Social Media
- The Anatomy of a Landing Page
- Taking Your Sales Process Inbound
- Perfecting the Conversion Process
- The Power of Smarketing, and
- Cultivating Happy Customers
These classes are all in video format, and you are free to view the videos at your own pace. Once you’ve completed the course, they give you a quiz to take, and give you a certificate from them when you pass.
Alison
Alison provides a free course in social media marketing, which can also help you with marketing outside of social media when you branch out. The course can be taken in about 20 hours, but can also be taken at your leisure, giving you the flexibility to learn on a schedule that works best for you. The course covers e-mail marketing, marketing on social media sites, affiliate marketing, and blogging, and is designed to completely prepare you for starting your marketing career successfully. During the course you’ll be given assessments to test your knowledge, and as long as you passed all assessments with a score of 80% or higher, they provide you with your certificate of completion.
Google Online Marketing Challenge
Google’s digital online marketing course is unique in that it’s set up as a competition, rather than a course. You’ll compete against marketers just like you in areas like Search Advertising, Social Analytics, Video, and Search Engine Marketing. I’m sure that, especially to a beginner, this sounds overwhelming, but don’t worry; they offer an actual Digital Marketing course to help you learn and understand the concepts of online marketing before attempting the challenge. At the end of the course you’re awarded a certificate of completion, and they even offer prizes to the winners of each region of the competition (for Europe, America, the Middle East, and Asia) in the form of donations to non-profit partners and even trips to their Headquarters for the Global and Regional winners.
