6 Online Digital Marketing Courses You Should Check
Digital marketing skills are essential, not only for marketers but also for entrepreneurs. Even past the startup days, you’ll need working knowledge of all aspects of business and should be able to have an oversight of digital marketing campaigns. But spending hours and hours and money on a college degree isn’t the best solution for most business professionals; this is why we selected the six best online digital marketing courses so that you can keep your knowledge relevant in an ever-changing market.
Things To Keep In Mind
If you’re looking for knowledge about digital marketing, there are many different blogs, webinars, podcasts, and other options to choose. But, it is essential to keep in mind that sometimes, to deeply understand subjects, it is easier to follow an accredited course. Besides that, it is also a more substantial form of resume building.
There are so many different courses out there; it almost seems that everyone offers expert courses these days. Choosing the right digital marketing course for you can be challenging. When making a decision, think about your budget and the essential subjects that should be included in an in-depth digital marketing course.
A program should include content marketing, paid and unpaid search, SEO, social media marketing, and preferably more. The best courses are hands-on and base their information on industry experts’ knowledge. Another thing to check before buying an educational course is if they offer one-on-one time if they are interactive with question answering and live training.
The Six Best Online Courses in Digital Marketing
Below you’ll find the selected online courses on digital marketing that take you from A to Z on the subject. We also looked at the following aspects: who teaches the course, how many people have made it, how are the reviews, what level of experience is needed, are there any exercises that need to be completed, how relevant are they to marketing in 2020.
#1. Google Digital Garage
Google Digital Garage is the online learning platform from Google; it has three different focusses digital marketing, data and tech, and career development. For this review, we only looked at the digital marketing course.
The digital course has existed for over ten years. It has different modules that cover: an introduction to digital marketing, search engine marketing, search advertising, display advertising, mobile, social media marketing, analytics, content marketing, and video marketing. But it also has subjects like expanding your business, connecting with customers, and understanding the web, making it an excellent course for beginners and medium-leveled marketers.
The pros of Google’s digital marketing course
The first pro is that the majority of the directions given by Google are for free. Moreover, the classes are created by industry experts, top entrepreneurs, and some of their employees. The modules are regularly updated to ensure you’re learning up-to-date skills that will help you in the real world. Before you read any further, make sure you visit online academy for some of the best in-depth content about how you can make the most money online, either through affiliate marketing or just starting your own blog. We provide info for everything, you just need to apply what we teach.
Another big pro about this course is that Google offers worldwide meetings and workshops, where you can get more information and have the opportunity to ask questions. The course also included competitive incentives with real awards for winners and interactive tasks that you have to complete. Naturally, after completing the course, you receive a certificate.
Is there a downside to this course?
Yes, there is, this course is focusing on beginners and people that have a small amount of experience in the digital marketing field. While this, of course, isn’t bad, the course offers very little for experienced marketers looking to broaden and update their knowledge.
#2. WordStream PPC Academy
The Pay Per Click Academy started by WordStream is a course that focuses on helping you build your digital marketing skills. The most significant focus during this course is on PPC as the academy started to help make paid search marketing easier to understand and to help with all the conflicting information that is out there. However, the online academy also offers modules on social advertising called Social Ads 101, in which the focus is on social media advertising, optimizing Facebook, and LinkedIn for lead generation and ad campaigns. Furthermore, the course focuses on growth marketing.
What we like about the PPC Academy
The PPC academy offers three streams of lessons for beginning to advanced digital marketers and has additional in-depth modules about social advertising. They focus on small to medium-sized businesses and explain how to be cost-effective as well. The platform is mobile-friendly, which makes it easy to learn while commuting to work, for example. This course also offers additional resources in the form of webinars and case studies. Lastly, the academy is completely free.
The cons of the PPC Academy
A big downside of this course is that it has no focus on content marketing, strategy, or search engine marketing. Which means you would have to find that information elsewhere. Furthermore, there is no interactive content or live stream teaching or additional offline workshops available. Other than that, the course is an excellent start to learning more about digital marketing.
#3. Simplilearn’s Digital Marketing Specialist Program
Simplilearn’s Digital Marketing Specialist course is designed to get the student industry-ready by offering a complete, wide range of subjects. When you sign up, you get access to eight digital marketing modules: social media, pay-per-click, search engine optimization, conversion optimization, digital analytics, content, mobile, and email marketing. This course, unlike the other two, isn’t for free though, it costs 1499 dollars for unlimited 356 days a year access. After the session, you’ll receive a certified certificate.
The pros of using Simplilearn’s course
This course comes with access to live instructor-led online classes, which is one of the biggest reasons we selected this course. Furthermore, there are monthly mentoring sessions with industry experts available. The course also comes with a step-by-step, curated by experts, learning path that focuses on getting you ready as a capable digital marketer. There are also multiple projects and simulates that the course students need to complete to receive their certificate, as well as a downloadable workbook, and it has its app.
The cons of Simplilearn’s digital marketing course
This e-learning digital marketing course is very advanced, and for all levels of marketers. And while the class is rather pricey in comparison with the two courses mentioned earlier, you do get some valuable knowledge in return. However, the biggest con for this digital marketing course is the number of hours that it takes to complete it, which is over 200; this might be an issue for people who are looking to spice up their skills in a shorter term.
#4. Seth Godin’s ALTMba program
If you’re familiar with the marketing field, you’ve probably heard of Seth Godin. He is the brain behind 19 best-selling books, has multiple businesses, a highly successful podcast, a marketing blog, and a digital marketing course or program as he calls it. Seth Godin is considered one of the best marketing minds of our time, alongside household names as Ogilvy and Tim Ferriss.
The ALTMba program is accessible for everyone, and prior knowledge isn’t necessary. While the program is noted time-intensive by its followers, it isn’t a full time program. The ALTMba works through teamwork, coaching, and projects. Which means you’ll have live sessions and meetings to attend. There is a coach per 10 students to make sure there is enough personal attention. Different from other courses is that this course is work based, with 75% of it being practical tasks.
The pros of following the ALTMba Program
This program is highly personal and well-designed. Based on 25 years of real-life experience from industry experts and Seth Godin himself. Furthermore, there are small live-session classes and team discussions that will lead you to practical, hands-on, digital marketer. This course is useful and covers all the leading digital marketing subjects and side subjects. Completion is rewarded with a certificate.
The cons of following the ALTMba Program
First and foremost, this course isn’t for you if you’re looking for a cheap offer. The course has a cost of almost $4000. Besides that, the course only starts a couple of times a year, and not everyone is accepted (to maintain the small classes and high-intensity level). Other than that, there aren’t many downsides to following this course.
#5. AMA’s Digital Marketing eLearning Certificate Modules
The American Marketing Association is an association built in 1953 by Neil Borden and strives to be the most relevant and voice shaping marketing community around the world. They offer an eLearning course focussed on digital marketing.
This course focuses on people who don’t have that much time to invest. The series of modules covers search engine marketing, content marketing, analytics, email marketing, and social media marketing. This course only takes two days and aims to give you the skills to accomplish your business goals, such as growing revenue, improving profit margins, and increasing return on marketing investment.
The pros of subscribing to AMA’s Digital Marketing course
The AMA offers a certificate for their digital marketing course, which is always a good thing. Secondly, the course has an interactive e-learning focus with case studies and worksheets designed to help you learn faster. Furthermore, this course is for anyone that has an interest in digital marketing. For professionals who are looking for a more in-depth course, the AMA also offers a Professional Certified Marketer Course.
The cons of AMA’s Digital Marketing course
While the course is not for free, it isn’t that expensive at around $1500 for an AMA member and $1800 for a non-member. However, this is a short course, so there might not be that much time for in-depth questions and long-term progress. Furthermore, this course is limited in its availability and only starts a couple of times a year. Which might not be for those who just want to get started right now.
#6. Neil Patel
Another household name in the digital marketing industry, Neil Patel is the founder of a highly successful and knowledgeable marketing blog. He is one of the most successful and influential digital marketers on the market today. What’s more, is that he provides individual training on SEO and other digital marketing subjects such as data, analytics, content, ranking, and social media.
While he provides a high amount of free content through his podcasts and blogs, which is excellent for anyone who wants to learn, he also has a free marketing school that you can sign up too (and an accompanying podcast).
The pros of using Neil Patel’s marketing school
First and foremost, like the Google Digital Garage and the Wordstream Marketing Platform, this course is free. Secondly, Neil Patel is a very reputable, honest, and capable trainer. The amount of content provided is huge, and one can find themselves learning for years on end.
The cons of enrolling in Neil Patel’s marketing school
Neil Patel does offer highly intensive one-on-one consultations and training. However, these aren’t for free, and pricing is determined per person. It is somewhat disappointing as well that the online marketing school doesn’t offer any classes, just videos. The personal training will most likely be too expensive for most, plus; you’ll need to be located at a drivable distance.
Practice Makes Perfect (Conclusion)
There are many different digital marketing courses out there, and it isn’t always easy to make a selection. However, no matter the seo course you go for, it is still crucial that the following topics are mentioned: content marketing, paid and unpaid search, SEO, social media marketing, and email marketing.
It is essential to find a course that fits with your schedule, the time you want to spend, your knowledge and experience level, and your budget. The six courses mentioned above offer different benefits, for a diverse audience, but are all valuable courses in their way. We recommend contacting the course owners if you have any more questions about getting started with your digital marketing course.