Searching for the best digital marketing course has become a daunting task these days, there are thousands of training institutes online or offline where you have to choose between the best digital marketing courses on offer.
With the onset of this deadliest pandemics that our time has seen, it is not going to be easy to return to normal anytime sooner. That being said it has also caused the digitisation of almost all businesses and organisations during the uncertain lockdowns. The whole world going digital and are online on the internet. So this would be a good time to start to invest your time and sharpen your skills in digital marketing.
There are plenty of digital marketing institutes in every city in India these days that offer online courses or physical classes. The internet is filled with many videos and other data based on digital marketing that would give you knowledge about the topic. A bit of in-depth knowledge of the topic will help you better in selecting the course that you would want to go ahead with.
But sometimes, they could be a bit complex to understand without a piece of proper information. So learning on your own with no basic knowledge could be a bit complicated.
One of the best ways to teach yourself digital marketing is to follow online courses. A good course will help you build the skills that are needed to become a successful digital marketer.
Here, you’ll find the best digital marketing courses available online in various portals. The list includes both free and premium training courses from reputable organisations all over the world.
Who should follow a digital marketing course?
Digital marketing skills are critical nowadays, not only for digital marketing professionals but for the people who are working in a business with an online presence. This includes CEOs, Entrepreneurs, Marketing managers, marketing specialists, and small or medium business owners.
Why are these the best online courses in digital marketing?
If you Google for ‘Digital Marketing Courses’ you’ll find a variety of courses covering different digital marketing disciplines. For example, some courses focus only on search engine optimisation or social media marketing but they don’t give you a complete picture of all the digital marketing channels. The purpose of this guide is to showcase comprehensive digital marketing courses that cover a wide range of digital marketing ideas. The list includes different types and levels of courses suitable for beginners, intermediate and advanced users.
Our favourite online digital marketing courses:
- Google Digital Marketing Courses (Free with certification)
- SEMRUSH Academy (Free with certification)
- Copyblogger Online Marketing Course (Free)
- HubSpot Online Marketing Courses (Free with certification)
- Optinmonster Digital Marketing Training (Free)
- ClickMinded Digital Marketing Course (Free and Paid with Certification)
- Udemy Digital Marketing Course (Paid with certification)
- Simplilearn Digital Marketing Specialist (Paid with certification)
- Udacity Digital Marketing Course (Paid with certification)
1. Google Digital Marketing Courses (Free with Certification)
Google has an online course platform called Digital Garage offering completely free courses on several subjects related to career or business development.
In particular, Google Garage offers the following online marketing 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 in Digital Garage include both video and text materials and which can be completed in 3 hours while others can take up to 40 hours.
The course offered for digital marketing fundamentals certification is accredited by Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe and The Open University.
2. SEMRUSH Academy (Free with Certification)
SEMRUSH is the company that created the most successful digital marketing tools. To serve its users and audience better, they have created an academy with several free courses.
Their courses cover all digital marketing training including:
- SEO
- Content Marketing
- PPC
- Affiliate Marketing
- Social Media Marketing
Registration is free of charge and after the completion and the exams, you receive certification.
The course material includes both video and text tutorials and all courses are taught by renowned digital marketing professionals.
They cover both basic and advanced concepts and while some courses are specific on how to use SEMRUSH digital marketing tool, some courses cover general concepts like SEO fundamentals, PPC fundamentals, technical SEO, and social media marketing.
3. 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 brain 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.
4. 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 recognised certification upon completion of the course.
Besides the above courses, they also offer several courses (without a certification) that cover Search engine optimisation, blogging, Facebook ads, and other online marketing channels.
5. Optinmonster Digital Marketing Training
Optinmonster is one of the most successful tools for increasing website conversions. To educate their users, they created several free courses covering topics related to email marketing and conversion optimisation.
6. ClickMinded Digital Marketing Course (Free and Paid with Certification)
They offer several online marketing courses covering various marketing channels and a digital marketing course bundle that includes everything you need to know to become a professional digital marketer.
In particular, their digital marketing training covers 7 topics:
- Social Media Marketing
- Content Marketing
- Email Marketing
- Paid Advertising
- Sales Funnels
- Google Analytics
- Search Engine Optimisation
The nice thing about the ClickMinded bundle is that each course is taught by professionals who are actively working in the industry in big business organisations.
You can register for free to their Digital marketing framework masterclass but to gain full access to the bundle, you have to pay Rs 1,70,000 (once-off fee). All courses come with a certificate and a 14-day money-back guarantee.
7. Udemy Digital Marketing Course (Paid with Certification)
Udemy is one of the biggest online learning platforms. They offer courses on several 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 that 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 Rs. 8000. Sign up with Udemy, add the course to your wish list and wait for the discount period.
8. Simplilearn Digital Marketing Specialist (Paid with Certification)
This Digital marketing course is offered by SimpliLearn and covers several 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 Rs 1,13,000.
9. 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 Optimisation (SEO)
- Search Engine Marketing with Google Ads
- Display Advertising
- Email Marketing
- Measure and Optimise with Google Analytics
Conclusion
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 several 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 know at least the following:
- Search Engine Optimisation
- Paid Search Advertising (Google Ads and Facebook)
- Email Marketing
- Web Analytics
- Content Marketing
- Conversion Optimisation
Following 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 websites, 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 enrol in the ones that best fit your needs.
