Free Digital Marketing Course
A free digital marketing course is a valuable opportunity to delve into the dynamic world of online marketing without any financial commitment. These courses typically cover a broad spectrum of digital marketing strategies, tools, and platforms, equipping learners with essential skills to thrive in the digital landscape.
Comprising modules on SEO, social media marketing, content creation, email marketing, and more, these courses offer comprehensive insights into each facet of digital marketing. Learners often engage with real-world case studies, practical exercises, and industry-relevant projects to gain hands-on experience and refine their skills.
The advantages of a free digital marketing course extend beyond cost-saving benefits. They provide a foundational understanding of marketing analytics, consumer behavior, and the latest trends in the digital sphere. Participants learn to navigate various digital marketing platforms, optimize campaigns, and strategize effectively to reach target audiences.
Moreover, these courses often grant certifications upon successful completion, bolstering resumes and validating acquired skills. They are ideal for beginners seeking a foothold in the digital marketing domain or professionals aiming to expand their expertise.
With the flexibility of online learning, individuals can pace their studies according to their schedules, making these courses accessible to anyone passionate about exploring the ever-evolving realm of digital marketing.
Free Digital Marketing Course List
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Content Marketing Certification – HubSpot Academy
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How to Write Web Copy That Sells – Skillshare
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Social Media Marketing Certification – HubSpot Academy
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Social Media Quickstarter – Constant Contact
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SEO Training Certification – HubSpot Academy
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SEO Specialization – Coursera
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Email Marketing Unlocked – Neil Patel
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Web Development Courses – CodeAcademy
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Digital Advertising Certification – HubSpot Academy
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PPC University – WordStream
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Graphic Design Basics – Canva
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Video Marketing Course- HubSpot Academy
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Event Marketing Strategist Certificate – Meeting Professionals International
Free Content Marketing Courses
Successful marketing efforts begin with excellent content. Whether you’re just starting your content marketing journey or need a quick refresher, the courses below will help you up your marketing game.
1. Content Marketing Certification – HubSpot Academy
Recommended For: Beginner and Intermediate Content Marketers and Strategists
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
This course includes almost eight hours of content.
Course Format
12 lessons that include 54 videos and 11 quizzes to grow your content marketing and strategy knowledge.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
After completing this course, you can get your Content Marketing Certification by passing a one-hour exam.
More About This Marketing Course
HubSpot Academy’s content marketing certification is an ideal start for anyone who wants to learn about content marketing.
- Skills Covered: With lessons on storytelling, content idea generation, and content promotion, this course will prepare you to tackle the biggest challenge of standing out in oversaturated content platforms.
- Instructor Experience: Instructors for this course include content experts like Matthew Howells-Barby, AJ Beltis, and Justin Champion.
- Course Effectiveness: HubSpot Academy has over 530 five-star reviews on G2. This and other marketing courses at HubSpot get compliments for relevance, usefulness, and timeliness.
- Connection and Networking: This course includes a 15,000+ member online content marketing study group.
- Exercises and Assignments: This certification course includes quizzes to test course material, as well as a content marketing workbook.
- Current and Specialized Topics: Search HubSpot Academy for more intermediate and advanced courses on specialized topics like contextual marketing and measuring brand engagement.
Why We Like This Course
This marketing course offers direct, clear, and easy-to-understand lessons that can help you create exceptional content marketing brought to you by an experienced and knowledgeable team of instructors.
2. The Killer and The Poet – Copyblogger
Recommended For: Beginner Content Strategists
Cost
Free ebook, or $449/year for an annual subscription.
Time to Complete
Less than an hour.
Course Format
Thought leadership ebook.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
None.
More About This Marketing Course
You can print out this sweet and short ebook and scan it once, or sign up for Copyblogger Academy for more learning.
- Skills Covered: An overview of content marketing in the general context of online marketing.
- Instructor Experience: Brian Clark was the founder and CEO of Copyblogger, and is currently CEO of Movement Ventures.
Why We Like This Course
This is a pleasantly asynchronous way to get started with content marketing. It’s an excellent piece of thought leadership that lays the groundwork for developing your own content strategy.
3. The Strategy of Content Marketing – Coursera
Recommended For: Intermediate Content Strategists
Cost
Free with a 7-day free trial or $59/month for a Coursera Plus subscription.
Time to Complete
Five weeks of study for two to three hours per week or three weeks at six hours per week.
Course Format
This course offers five modules with a combination of videos, assessments, and readings.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
A certificate of completion is available.
More About This Marketing Course
This course is a collaboration between UC Davis and Copyblogger. It will teach you how to use your content marketing efforts to generate leads.
- Skills Covered: This course covers general content knowledge, content strategy, customer journey mapping, and content management.
- Instructor Experience: Instructor Sonia Simone is co-owner of The Offer Accelerator, founding partner of Copyblogger, and independent content marketing coach.
- Course Effectiveness: Learners rate this beginner course 4.5 with over 4,000 reviews. It’s praised for clear course design, but gets negative feedback for peer-reviewed assignment grading.
- Connection and Networking: This course features active discussion forums for engagement, troubleshooting, and networking.
- Exercises and Assignments: Besides the quizzes and readings built into the program, there are also discussion prompts and assignments. For example, submitting a website URL for peer feedback.
- Current and Specialized Topics: This is an evergreen course on content, so you may need to look elsewhere for more trending topics.
Why We Like This Course
This is just one of many excellent courses you can use to supercharge your marketing. Coursera offers a wealth of content marketing classes — so many that it might be dizzying to the first-time entrant. For example, once you’ve finished this course, you may want to try Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content next. If you’ve ever come across a piece of viral content and wondered how you can create something similar, this Wharton-taught course is for you.
4. How to Write Web Copy That Sells – Skillshare
Recommended For: Beginner Copywriters
Cost
Free with a 7-day trial or $32/month.
Time to Complete
Approximately one hour.
Course Format
17 video lessons.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
This course has no certificate options.
More About This Marketing Course
Copywriting is the lifeblood of any serious content marketing effort. In this course, you’ll learn the basics of copywriting as they relate specifically to online marketing.
- Skills Covered: The course focuses on standing out among millions of other publishers in your niche, attracting your audience’s attention, and positioning your product’s features as top-tier benefits.
- Instructor Experience: Jesse Forest is a professional copywriter, educator, and the founder of Copywriting Crew.
- Course Effectiveness: Exceeds expectations for over half of the learners who completed the course, with props for helpful examples, clarity, and engaging instruction.
- Exercises and Assignments: Includes a hands-on project and worksheet to practice class teachings.
Why We Like This Course
This course offers a quick introduction to the core principles of copywriting that sells products and services. If you’re new to writing for business, this is an excellent way to learn the fundamentals of digital copywriting.
5. Content Marketing for B2B Enterprises – Udemy
Recommended For: Beginner B2B Marketers
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
Approximately one hour.
Course Format
Six sections with a total of 19 video lectures.
Prerequisites
None, but completing an introductory marketing course before could be helpful.
Certificate Availability
The free course doesn’t include a certificate, but you can get a certificate of completion with the paid version of the course.
More About This Marketing Course
Like Coursera, Udemy offers a wide range of content marketing courses like this one. If you work for a B2B company, even if it’s small, this course is a must.
- Skills Covered: It covers how to write high-converting content and how to launch offers that entice downloads. It uses a real-life example for the course too — the process sales engagement platform Audienti uses to drive lead generation.
- Instructor Experience: Instructor William Flanagan is the Founder and CEO of Audienti.
- Course Effectiveness: Users offer this course a 4.5 tutorial rating. Positive reviews mention useful takeaways and analytics instruction. Critical reviews share some confusion about resources mentioned during the course, so this may be better for intermediate marketers.
- Connection and Networking: You have access to directly message the instructor through a free Slack group called Growmance. Otherwise, there isn’t a chance to engage with other learners.
- Current and Specialized Topics: Some of the links and resources in this course were no longer active and may be outdated.
Why We Like This Course
It can be tough to get B2B-specific instruction on content marketing. This is because the specifics are unique for each business, and some leaders are hesitant to share their best strategies. But this evergreen course offers an excellent set of tools for B2B marketers to refine their understanding of this approach to content.
If you liked this Udemy course, you might also want to check out Copywriting Quick Start: Top FREE Writing Tools & Hacks. This course will cover hacks to help you write winning pages, posts, and articles from headline to conclusion.
6. Content SEO Course – SE Ranking Academy
Recommended For: Intermediate Content and SEO Marketers
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
This course offers 2+ hours of content.
Course Format
Eight sections that include video lectures, practical assignments, and test assignments, as well as a final test.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
This course offers a certificate of completion.
More About This Free Digital Marketing Course
Content SEO is designed to teach anyone to write content that both people and search engines will love.
- Skills Covered: From doing keyword research and picking the topics suitable to users at different stages of the buying cycle to writing SEO-friendly content and measuring its performance, the course will walk you through every stage of content creation.
- Instructor Experience: Joe Williams is founder and content creator for Tribe SEO and a contributor to Search Engine Watch.
- Course Effectiveness: Reviews for courses on the SE Ranking platform range are highly rated, and emphasize quality SEO instruction.
- Connection and Networking: This course has limited options for networking or interaction with other learners.
- Exercises and Assignments: Practical assignments are useful and detailed. For example, optimizing a content page for search following specific instructions.
- Current and Specialized Topics: This is an evergreen course, but offers an easy way for learners to offer feedback to add new content to the course.
Why We Like This Course
This online marketing course combines content marketing with another highly-valued skill, SEO. This combination helps learners make the most of their learning time and combines a range of important skill sets.
Free Social Media Marketing Courses
If you’re not using social media for marketing purposes, you’re missing out. Each social platform requires specialized content so you’ll want to keep current on best practices and trends. For example, what may work on Facebook may not be as effective on a platform like TikTok.
The courses below will help you make awesome social media campaigns in addition to learning how to analyze campaign metrics.
7. Social Media Marketing Certification Course – HubSpot Academy
Recommended For: Beginner and Intermediate Social Media Managers and Marketers
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
This course includes over five hours of content.
Course Format
Eight lessons that include 38 videos and 29 quizzes to test your social media acumen.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
After completing this course, you can get your Social Media Certification by passing a one-hour exam.
More About This Free Digital Marketing Course
Discover how to use social media to amplify your brand, attract new customers, and build meaningful online relationships for your business with this free certification course.
- Skills Covered: Comprehensive course on the basics of social media strategies and tactics.
- Instructor Experience: Twenty professionals contribute their knowledge to this course, including Mari Smith, Christina Garnett, and Ai Addyson-Zhang.
- Course Effectiveness: A quick search on LinkedIn shows the widespread appreciation for this free social media marketing course that’s not only popular with professionals wanting to learn about social media, but also college marketing programs.
- Connection and Networking: This course has limited options for networking or interaction with other learners.
- Exercises and Assignments: This certification course includes both pre- and post-learning quizzes to test learner know-how.
- Current and Specialized Topics: Besides the certification course, there are 90+ lessons on HubSpot Academy that cover trending or related topics.
Why We Like This Course
This is one of several globally-recognized marketing certifications from HubSpot. It has a thorough introduction and up-to-date insights for social media marketing and management. You can jump into your social media certification, or start with platform-specific learning. For example, HubSpot’s free Instagram training course offers lessons on Instagram strategy, attracting followers, content, and more.
Whether you’re a beginner or just want to refresh your certification, this is an exceptional online marketing course.
8. How to Use TikTok for Business – Udemy
Recommended For: TikTok Beginners
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
This course includes almost two hours of content.
Course Format
36 video lessons, split into three sections. The paid version of the course also includes instructor Q&A and direct messaging.
Prerequisites
Access to a smartphone.
Certificate Availability
While the free course doesn’t include a certificate of completion, you can get a certificate with the paid version of the course.
More About This Free Digital Marketing Course
TikTok used to be a new, rising platform, but now it’s a preeminent social media channel — sitting among major players such as Instagram and Facebook.
- Skills Covered: With this course, you’ll learn everything from creating a Pro account campaign setup for marketing your business on the trendiest social platform.
- Instructor Experience: Scott D. Clary is host of the Success Story podcast and a sales and marketing executive.
- Course Effectiveness: This course is quite basic, and gets praise for its clear and direct presentation. Critical reviews mention a lack of practical examples and techniques for getting views on this video platform.
- Exercises and Assignments: This course offers four practical class projects that ask learners to think specifically about how to use the platform for their brand.
Why We Like This Course
Clear instruction is helpful when you’re first learning a social platform. This is a great course to start your TikTok education so that you have a solid foundation to build on.
9. Diploma in Social Media Strategy – Alison
Recommended For: Beginner Social Media Marketers
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
10-15 hours.
Course Format
14 learning modules that include videos, quizzes, and online chat support.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
This online marketing course offers a CPD-accredited diploma. While the course is free, there is a charge for the diploma.
More About This Free Digital Marketing Course
Alison’s diploma in social media strategy is an excellent foundation for those who’d like to expand upon platform-specific skills or jump into social media marketing.
- Skills Covered: This course will not only prepare you for a social media strategist role, but teach you cross-over skills such as community management and social media customer service.
- Instructor Experience: There is limited information about who is teaching this course.
- Course Effectiveness: Users offer feedback on this platform with a thumbs up or two thumbs up, and there are almost 200 positive reviews.
- Exercises and Assignments: There is a review quiz for each module.
Why We Like This Course
This course is helpful for learners who like to learn about a topic from many different angles. This course covers social media history, career expectations, community management, and more.
10. Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate – Meta BluePrint
Recommended For: Beginner Social Media Marketers
Cost
Free with a 7-day free trial or $59/month for a Coursera Plus subscription.
Time to Complete
Varies.
Course Format
This is a self-guided course.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
This course comes with a shareable certificate. It can also help you prepare for the Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate exam.
More About This Free Digital Marketing Course
This Meta Blueprint certification course is a strong primer on using the Meta Business Suite (formerly known as Facebook Business Manager) to jumpstart your social media strategy.
- Skills Covered: This course includes introductory coursework on social media marketing and management.
- Instructor Experience: The professor for this course is Anke Audenaert, an experienced educator, digital marketer, and CEO.
- Course Effectiveness: Learners rate this beginner course 4.9/5 with over 15,000 reviews.
Why We Like This Course
This online marketing course for social media is available in nine different languages. Plus, it’s a professional-level course from one of the top social media platforms.
11. Social Media Analytics – Quintly
Recommended For: Beginner Social Media Analysts
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
This is a self-guided course, but if you plan to take notes or test out ideas, it will probably take at least two hours to complete.
Course Format
This is an online social media analytics course that packs videos, text, useful assets, and quizzes into 23 lessons.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
No certificate options.
More About This Free Digital Marketing Course
The posts you create on social media platforms are only part of the story. What about the likes, shares, and comments you receive? How can you glean insights so that you can improve your strategy?
- Skills Covered: This course offers a strong platform-agnostic introduction on analytics, goal-setting, and reporting.
- Instructor Experience: Milan Vukas hosts the videos in this course. Based on the range and depth of course material, there could also be other collaborators who helped to create this useful course.
- Course Effectiveness: This course has many five-star reviews. It also offers unique and useful social analytics insights for beginner and intermediate marketers.
- Exercises and Assignments: Each section of learning includes a quiz to test learner understanding.
Why We Like This Course
This is a useful course for understanding the big picture of social media analytics and how to organize and understand social media data. Once you have this knowledge, it will be easier to use analytics to refine your social media strategy.
12. Social Media Quickstarter – Constant Contact
Recommended For: Beginner Social Media Marketers
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
Varies, self-paced learning.
Course Format
This course is a set of social media marketing blog posts from Constant Contact.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
No certificate options.
More About ThisFree Digital Marketing Course
If you don’t love video-based courses, this is the social media course for you. You can read the sections at your own pace and return as you wish. This resource is super helpful if you are looking for vocabulary or instruction on tactics for platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn.
- Skills Covered: Practical information about marketing your brand on four major platforms: Facebook, X (Twitter), LinkedIn, and Pinterest (with Google Business Profile as a bonus).
- Instructor Experience: Content strategy and business professionals Miranda Paquet and Ryan Pinkham wrote most of the posts in this series.
- Course Effectiveness: Blogs in this series are well-written and easy to understand for beginners. Otherwise, this learning is self-directed and there isn’t an option for learners to leave comments.
- Current and Specialized Topics: While the content in this series is recently updated, it is a beginner course that focuses on the basics of each social media platform.
Why We Like This Course
This course is an easy-to-navigate collection of comprehensive blog posts. This makes it a great resource for problem-solving and answering urgent questions for social media beginners.
13. Become a Social Media Marketer – LinkedIn Learning
Recommended For: Beginner Social Media Marketers
Cost
Free with a one-month trial or $19.99/month for an annual subscription.
Time to Complete
This course includes just over six hours of content.
Course Format
The “Become a Social Media Marketer” course is a compilation of videos from different online teachers, curated for this topic. You can view most videos on a tablet or phone as well as your desktop or laptop computer.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
This course offers a LinkedIn certificate of completion.
More About This Marketing Course
Looking for a LinkedIn credential to display while also learning the fundamentals of social media marketing? This course from LinkedIn Learning will position you for success as you seek social media marketing roles.
- Skills Covered: This online course focuses on three platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. You’ll also learn about measuring your social media marketing ROI.
- Instructor Experience: Five different instructors contribute videos to this online course. Their collective experience includes years of professional marketing, higher education, and social media management.
- Course Effectiveness: The average learner review rating for videos in this course is 4.7, and comments are generally positive. Lower ratings mention a lack of images to support the ideas in the videos.
- Connection and Networking: Individual videos have a Q&A tab where learners can ask questions, or share insights.
- Exercises and Assignments: Some videos include simple assignments, and most videos offer quizzes for testing what you’ve learned.
Why We Like This Course
This is a basic compilation of videos you can watch any time during your free trial. It’s best for social media beginners who are just beginning to understand social media marketing. It’s also a good introduction to developing social media skills and strategies.
Free SEO Marketing Courses
Your superb content is only effective if users can find it. That’s why search engine optimization (SEO) is so important. Learn SEO best practices with the courses below.
14. SEO Training Certification – HubSpot Academy
Recommended For: Beginner SEO Marketers
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
This course includes four hours of content.
Course Format
Six lessons, with 26 videos and five quizzes to confirm understanding.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
After completing this course, you can get your SEO Certification by passing a one-hour exam.
More About This Marketing Course
Whether you’re a general marketer looking to strengthen your SEO skills, or a professional applying for SEO marketing roles, you can create a strong foundation with HubSpot Academy’s SEO Training Certification. It covers all facets of the discipline — from on-page optimization to SEO reporting.
Why We Like This Course
Instead of focusing on a single aspect of SEO, this course covers a range of SEO skills. Instructors present every lesson in a friendly and transparent way. This encourages learners to keep exploring the topics that are most useful to them.
15. SEO Training Course by Moz – Udemy
Recommended For: Intermediate SEO Marketers
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
This course offers almost four hours of instructional content.
Course Format
18 video lectures offered in seven sections.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
Like other Udemy courses, you’re not able to get a certificate with the free course. That said, you can get a certificate of completion with the paid version of the course.
More About This Marketing Course
This SEO training course by Moz delves a little more deeply into technical SEO topics, such as site audits and structure. For that reason, we recommend it if you already have some SEO knowledge and are looking to skill up in your role.
Why We Like This Course
This course jumps from basic SEO skills to more advanced strategy and tasks. For example, instead of just covering keyword selection, this lecture covers building a keyword map.
16. SEO Specialization – Coursera
Recommended For: Advanced SEO Marketers
Cost
Free with a 7-day free trial or $59/month for a Coursera Plus subscription.
Time to Complete
Flexible schedule, but the recommended timeline is three months, 10 hours per week.
Course Format
Five-course series with lectures, readings, and assignments.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
Option to complete a career certificate.
More About This Marketing Course
Created by UC Davis, this SEO course is an excellent primer for true beginners in the field. You’ll learn how Google ranks websites, which factors it takes into account, and which other branches of marketing — such as content marketing — can help you rank better.
Why We Like This Course
This SEO course is a big time investment, but if you want to learn as much as you can about Google-specific SEO, this course is for you. Besides SEO concepts, it also covers skill sets like competitive web page analysis, developing influencer relationships, and local SEO.
17. SEO Toolkit Course – Semrush
Recommended For: Beginner and Intermediate SEO Marketers Using Semrush
Cost
Free.
Time to Complete
Approximately one hour.
Course Format
This course has 15 sections, with a video and quiz for each section. Each lesson includes a “Related materials” tab with resources you can use to test your new knowledge.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
Following course completion, you have three attempts to complete an exam for a Semrush Academy certificate.
More About This Marketing Course
This SEO toolkit course is specifically suited to current subscribers of Semrush, one of the leading SEO tools in the market. In this class, you’ll learn how to use each of Semrush’s reports and tabs — such as Keyword Analytics and Organic Traffic Insights — to boost your SEO strategy.
Why We Like This Course
SEO professionals rely heavily on tools to collect and analyze search engine data. This comprehensive course offers a clear and simple way for you to learn SEO principles by using this top industry tool.
We also recommend it if you’ve accepted a role where Semrush will be a primary tool, or if you’re applying to roles with Semrush as one of the required skills.
18. Online SEO Training – Yoast
Recommended For: Beginner SEO Marketers Using WordPress
Cost
Free, or $99/year for Yoast SEO Premium.
Time to Complete
Varies by course. For example, the “What is SEO?” course has about five hours of content.
Course Format
This online marketing course combines video lectures with readings and quizzes. It also includes lists of terms, which is a helpful add for beginners.
Prerequisites
None.
Certificate Availability
A certificate of completion is available upon completion of each course.
More About This Marketing Course
Yoast’s SEO training course is a fantastic choice for current WordPress developers looking to build their SEO skills. It’s also excellent for prospective SEO professionals who know they’ll be working primarily on a WordPress website. In this class, you’ll not only learn SEO basics, but how to use WordPress and the Yoast SEO plugin.
Why We Like This Course
Yoast SEO courses are both focused and specific. So, if you use WordPress and want to learn more about SEO on the platform, these courses are an exceptional place to start learning.