The Best Free and Paid Digital Marketing Courses

Learning new things is always exciting — especially concerning your career. When you gain the latest knowledge in marketing, you can advance your career and even build a new professional skill.

One of the best ways to invest in your career is by upskilling yourself with marketing courses. Plenty of digital marketing courses are available online so that you can take them from the comfort of your home or at work.

Digital marketing courses specifically focus on areas such as content marketing, SEO, advertising, email marketing and social media marketing. Online courses are designed to help you build expertise and fulfill your career goals.

Yet, with various courses to choose from, it can take time to know which one is right for you. Luckily, we’ve made the search easier by narrowing down the best digital marketing courses — free and paid.

Consider this list below!

1. Google Digital Garage

Google Digital Garage is a great place to kickstart your journey to learning about digital marketing. It has 32 courses available, including the fundamentals of digital marketing — a system that includes a certification upon completion.

The best part about Google Digital Garage is that all its courses are free. This makes sense since Google wants online marketers to produce SEO-friendly sites and relevant content.

If you take the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, keep in mind that it contains 26 modules and takes 40 hours to complete. Still, once you pass the test, you’ll receive your certification and be able to add it to your resume.

Google Digital Garage has other courses that take less time to complete but don’t offer certifications. However, these smaller courses are a great way to improve your skills.

• Cost: Free

• Duration: One to 40 hours

• Certification: Yes

2. Hubspot Academy

Like Google Digital Garage, Hubspot Academy offers free digital marketing courses with certifications. Hubspot is a leading digital marketing company that provides various tools for SEO, content marketing, sales and CRM.

Some of the most popular courses marketers take at Hubspot Academy include:

• Content Marketing

• Social Media Marketing

• Inbound Marketing

• Email Marketing

• Digital Marketing and more.

Hubspot did a great job of creating these online courses. They’re full of engaging videos with experts recognized in the digital marketing industry. The learning environment is simple, and you can learn at your own pace.

• Cost: Free

• Duration: 30 minutes to 4+ hours

• Certification: Yes

3. Udemy Digital Marketing Course

Udemy is one of the largest platforms for online learning. They provide courses that cover a wide variety of topics, including SEO, Google ads and sales.

Yet, one of the top courses you should consider is The Complete Digital Marketing Course Bundle. It has 12 courses in one and covers topics such as:

• SEO

• Youtube

• Email

• Google Adwords and Analytics

• Social Media

• Copywriting and more. 

Be careful when you take courses from Udemy, though. Some will promise more than what’s included in each one. Your best bet is to read the reviews to determine whether they’re right for you.

However, Udemy’s Digital Marketing Course offers more than what you pay, and you get a certificate upon completion. The only downside is that the course is slightly expensive. It’s $149.99, but it’s highly informative and recommended for all digital marketing professionals.

Still, you could wait until the course goes on sale. There are many valuable courses at this price that offer large discounts. It may be worth it to save it on your wishlist.

• Cost: $149.99

• Duration: 22+ hours

• Certification: Yes

4. Grow and Convert

Grow and Convert is a digital marketing agency founded by Benji Hyam alongside Devesh Khanal — an e-commerce and conversion optimization specialist.

Benji and Devesh started their course due to the challenges they experienced with finding a systematic way to grow traffic and convert leads.

Grow and Convert’s Content Marketing Course teaches you how to grow leads and convert more sales by using a four-step process. One of its greatest advantages is the personal connection you get with the agency’s team and course members.

Unlike other online courses, you gain direct feedback from Benji and Devesh through live Q&A sessions — so there is much support. Some topics include traffic growth, scale content production by hiring writers, and how to write SEO-optimized content.

The only downside is the price is hefty for covering one topic of digital marketing. However, it may be valuable since you gain lifetime access to the course and its community.

• Cost: $699 or $135 monthly installments for six months.

• Duration: Several hours of content.

• Certification: Yes

5. ClickMinded Digital Marketing Course

ClickMinded is a platform that focuses solely on teaching professionals in digital marketing. Its Digital Marketing Course is a bundle of seven courses in one — designed to teach you how to increase sales significantly.

Each course centers around an area of digital marketing — social media marketing, email marketing, content marketing, paid advertising, SEO and more.

Every course involves teaching from marketing experts of some of the most successful tech companies, like Lyft and Airbnb.

The courses cost $997 each. However, when you choose the bundle, you get an all-access pass to every class at a discounted price of $1,997. 

Unlike many online courses, this one practices what it preaches. The system offers informative content, while the platform is user-friendly. It’s a worthy investment if you’re serious about advancing your career in digital marketing.

• Cost: $1,997

• Duration: 42 hours

• Certification: Yes

6. Simplilearn Digital Marketing Specialist

Simplilearn’s Digital Marketing Course is an in-depth training program that turns you into a digital marketing specialist. However, this course is not beginner-friendly, and we would not recommend it for those starting their digital marketing career.

This course is best suited for those with experience in the field who want to step up their career by becoming an expert in digital marketing. Some of the topics it covers include SEO, PPC, digital analytics, content marketing, mobile marketing and Facebook Insights.

One advantage you get with Simplilearn’s digital marketing course is that it offers live classes on weekends. Therefore, it’s highly engaging and personalized. However, it might be challenging to fit it within your schedule. 

Additionally, students have the option to take electives in more advanced areas.

• Cost: $1,649

• Duration: One year

• Certification: Yes

7. Optinmonster Digital Marketing Training

Optinmonster is a top-notch tool for boosting website conversions. They educate users by creating several free courses covering various topics.

Although its online academy doesn’t include all digital marketing topics, it’s a worthwhile investment that helps increase conversions once you gain traffic.

The best part is it’s free, and the courses are simple to learn from — suitable for beginners and advanced users.

• Cost: Free with the purchase of any OptinMonster plan.

• Duration: Hours of content.

• Certification: No

Become a Master With Digital Marketing Courses

If you look hard enough, there are plenty of free courses, so keep exploring options that may pique your interest. If you’re on the fence about a paid option, read the reviews and check out as many as possible. They’ll likely give you an idea of what to expect from the course.

Overall, it’s important to take the time to find a digital marketing course that fits your needs as a student perfectly. That said, there is certainly some room for improvement with online education— hopefully, this list helps you achieve that.