Digital marketing today requires a diverse knowledge of several disciplines including social media, content marketing, and email marketing. A recent industry survey by eMarketer showed that 79% of respondents chose the generation of quality leads as the number one priority for their marketing efforts. One of the best ways to develop the skills required to find quality leads, create great content, and generate increased sales is by enrolling in training courses.
Today there is an incredible amount of free, quality material available online. We’ve compiled this list of the 50 best free digital marketing courses from trusted sources around the web. You’ll find beginner, intermediate, and advanced training options and several that also offer a formal certification certificate for course completion. We hope these resources help you identify new skills and knowledge that can significantly improve your digital marketing efforts.
The free digital marketing courses featured below are organized by the following categories but otherwise are not rated or ranked in any particular order:
- Free General Digital Marketing Courses
- Free Social Media Marketing Courses
- Free Search Engine Optimization Courses
- Free Email Marketing Courses
- Free Content Marketing Courses
- Free Marketing Analytics Courses
Free General Digital Marketing Courses
Google Digital Garage offers online courses, certifications, and live training for individuals and businesses that focus on digital tools and methodologies. Major topics include data management, digital marketing, and career development. Most of the courses that Google offers are free and available to anyone.
What You’ll Learn:
- Career training and interview preparation
- Self-guided for learning at your own pace
- Free webinars available for live training opportunities
2. Free Digital Marketing Basics Course
This free digital marketing course was created by Sorav Jain on the Udemy platform and features nearly 6 hours of on-demand video content. The course begins with an introduction to digital marketing followed by an overview of important techniques such as search engine optimization (SEO). Students will also learn more about inbound marketing, affiliate marketing, and social media marketing.
What You’ll Learn:
- Landing page construction
- Practical digital marketing tips
- Email marketing techniques
3. Digital Marketing Specialization
This free series of courses discuss the new digital marketing environment and the tactics that influence the online behavior of customers. The University of Illinois created this course as part of their MBA program, and it includes contributions from 4 instructors. The 7 courses offered in this package are 100% online and offer a flexible schedule, making it easy for students to work at their own pace.
What You’ll Learn:
- A complete introduction to digital marketing techniques
- How to use analytics to improve digital customer interactions
- A basic overview of major digital marketing industry trends
4. Become a Digital Marketing Specialist
LinkedIn Learning has a wide selection of course material for improving skills and developing greater competence on a number of subjects. This program, Becoming a Digital Marketing Specialist, includes a collection of 11 courses and 21 hours of material. Students begin with a Digital Marketing Foundations course and end with an Introduction to Graphic Design.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to create email newsletters
- Creating a social media marketing mix
- The foundations of content marketing
This beginner-level, free Digital Marketing 101 course is available on the SkillUp platform, from Simplilearn. Important topics covered in the syllabus are digital marketing, marketing analytics, and mobile marketing. The material is available on-demand and can be completed in about 3 hours.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to nurture a digital culture
- The major phases of customer lifecycle management
- The role of marketing analytics
ClayDesk E-Learning has created this Diploma in E-Commerce Web Development course for the Alison platform. Over 39,000 students have already enrolled in this free class that takes approximately 15 hours to complete. You’ll learn about essential website programming tools such as CSS, PHP, and HTML.
What You’ll Learn:
- Building a complete website
- Creating custom drop-down menus
- Integrating sites with payment processing gateways
7. Become an Online Marketing Manager
Become an Online Marketing Manager is offered through LinkedIn Learning as an 11 course series with over 20 hours of content. Users can explore the course content with a 1-month free trial and access all of the included lessons. Major topics include growth hacking and advanced branding techniques.
What You’ll Learn:
- Create a targeted online marketing strategy
- Search engine optimization (SEO) concepts
- How to develop user experience (UX) designs
The University of Edinburgh hosts this free Digital Marketing Strategy course on edX with a couple of different start dates available. Students can work at their own pace, though the course is designed to be completed in about 8 weeks. Instruction focuses on building a digital marketing foundation by covering several aspects of the developing industry landscape.
What You’ll Learn:
- Conducting a competitor audit
- Managing customer personas
- Creating a complete digital marketing strategy
9. The Beginner’s Guide to Online Marketing
This extensive guide, The Beginner’s Guide to Online Marketing, is available on the Quicksprout website. It’s an excellent reference for first-time marketers who desire to learn about the techniques that make up a strong marketing strategy. There are 13 chapters provided, and it’s best to read each one in sequence.
What You’ll Learn:
- Developing a brand story
- Conversion optimization
- How to use paid channel advertising
Free Social Media Marketing Courses
Facebook Blueprint is a catalog of digital marketing tutorials that inform users about advertising techniques and building communities. A rating and difficulty level are provided with each tutorial, and most of the content can be reviewed in less than an hour. You’ll also find videos that explore advanced ad buying options.
What You’ll Learn:
- Audience targeting
- Building brand awareness
- How to increase sales online and in stores
11. The Complete Instagram Marketing Masterclass
The Complete Instagram Marketing Masterclass is a Skillshare course that was created by social media innovator Diego Davila. New users can join the platform for free and access thousands of available courses. This particular course contains 43 lessons with over 4 hours of video instruction.
What You’ll Learn:
- Creating an optimized Instagram account
- Competitive assessment
- How to use hashtags effectively
12. PPC University
PPC University is hosted by Wordstream as a completely free resource for marketers, advertisers, and the general public. The content is divided into 6 major sections covering topics that include advanced PPC and running social media ads. You’ll also find a few excellent guides that cover specific subjects such as choosing a PPC agency.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to advertise on all major social media platforms
- Tactics for lowering Facebook ad costs
- Targeting the right audience
This free collection of Instagram training courses, ebooks, and downloads is a great source of learning and inspiration for anyone using the platform. The team at Later has curated this list, and all material is self-guided and can be completed anytime. You’ll find a great selection of resources that cover all aspects of Instagram marketing.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to create an Instagram content plan
- Generating more sales through social media
- How to work with influencers
14. Learn How to Use Instagram for Marketing
The content library at HubSpot Academy includes this free course, Instagram Training Course: Learn How to Use Instagram for Marketing. Instructor Crystal King teaches the class over 21 videos and nearly 3 hours of content. This course also includes 6 quizzes to help improve your knowledge retention, and there are several additional courses on related topics.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to create an Instagram ad
- Analyzing Instagram ads
- Developing a comprehensive Instagram marketing strategy
15. How To Build Your Personal Brand On TikTok
Enrollment for this course, How To Build Your Personal Brand On TikTok, is free and available through the Influencer Marketing Hub website. Over 11 modules, the curriculum introduces important considerations for building, growing, and sustaining a lasting audience on TikTok. You will also find some insightful interviews with TikTok influencers.
What You’ll Learn:
- Setting up a TikTok account
- Defining target audience
- Monetizing a TikTok feed
This Writing for Social Media course is offered by UC Berkeley on the edX platform. The course is taught by lead content strategist Tim Peters and can be audited for free. This is an instructor-led course that has a defined start date and schedule for each class.
What You’ll Learn:
- Assessing an audience
- Selecting a content delivery method
- How to communicate effectively online
17. Introduction to Social Media Strategy | Learn with Buffer
Brian Peters, from Shopify, teaches this Introduction to Social Media Strategy course on the Skillshare platform. This is a beginner-level course that has already been taken by over 37,000 students. The course explains how to create a social media strategy across relevant platforms that can expand your brand vision.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to curate content
- Choosing the right social media platforms
- A 5-step Facebook ad strategy
This unique course, created by Eric Schwartzman, covers the topic of social media ethics. The free content includes 33 minutes of on-demand video and discusses how to communicate in a way that demonstrates a keen awareness of others. This course discusses various laws and considerations that should be understood when communicating on social media.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to communicate with good judgement
- Legal ramifications of ethical violations
- Demonstrating tolerance and consideration
Free Search Engine Optimization Courses
The HubSpot resource library has a lot of great courses that discuss SEO and other important digital marketing topics. You can learn about SEO as part of the digital marketing certification course or take the free course, SEO Training: Building Sustainable Traffic for Business Growth. These courses discuss overall strategy considerations and detailed methods for improving search result performance.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to create a digital marketing plan
- Which SEO tools are best
- Growing website traffic
20. Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
This Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course from Google Digital Garage is self-paced and contains over 40 hours of coursework. There are 26 modules included that were designed by Google employees as a fundamental overview of digital marketing principles and applications. This is a beginner-level introduction to digital marketing, and students will receive a certification upon completion.
What You’ll Learn:
- Building a web presence
- Optimizing search results
- Social media advertising
21. SEO Training Course by Moz
This free course on Udemy is a complete online video series from the team of SEO experts at Moz. It’s an entry-level course that is perfect for beginners who wish to learn the basics of SEO techniques. The course has over 3 hours of video content and includes an instructor Q&A and certificate of completion.
What You’ll Learn:
- Creating an SEO strategy
- Performing site audits
- On-page and off-page SEO fundamentals
22. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization
The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Specialization from UC Davis on Coursera is a 5-course package for expert-level SEO instruction. This curriculum is recommended for beginning students who have at least 2 years of business experience. The courses are offered completely online and can be completed with a flexible schedule set by the student.
What You’ll Learn:
- Completing a competitive analysis
- Building client relationships
- Creating SEO reports
Yoast is a well-known SEO optimization tool, and the free version of their training course provides a basic level of instruction. The Yoast SEO academy includes courses and ready-to-use SEO templates that help students put the learning into practice. Over 350,000 students have completed their courses, and it remains a popular choice for learning SEO best practices.
What You’ll Learn:
- Beginning SEO techniques
- Using the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin
- Working with structured data
24. SEO Training
This Udemy course from instructor Eric Schwartzman is a crash course in Google SEO optimization. It includes 2 hours and 33 minutes of video content and is offered completely free. The course also includes a couple of in-depth case studies to help reinforce the core SEO concepts.
What You’ll Learn:
- Creating B2B SEO strategies
- Using Google Analytics
- Effective SEO strategies
25. Semrush SEO Toolkit Course
Semrush Academy offers courses and formal certification programs that cover several digital marketing and SEO topics. This SEO Toolkit Course includes 14 lessons and 3 hours of instruction from SEO experts. Course attendees will learn how to build and optimize an SEO campaign using proven best practices.
What You’ll Learn:
- Developing effective backlinks
- Checking on-page SEO
- How to complete a site audit
Free Email Marketing Courses
26. Email Marketing Course: Get Certified in Email Marketing
The course library at HubSpot Academy includes this free email marketing certification class. With over 3 hours of instruction and 9 lessons, this course provides a thorough overview of email marketing fundamentals. A quiz is presented at the end of each lesson to help students recall and remember the most important points.
What You’ll Learn:
- The basics of email marketing
- How to design an effective email message
- Email marketing analysis strategies
Sendinblue Academy has created this 8-part email marketing course as a free offering on their website. The course is taught by Jeff Cox, the head of product marketing at SendinBlue. Upon completion, students will receive a formal certification to acknowledge their work and accomplishment.
What You’ll Learn:
- Email marketing fundamentals
- How to manage data privacy
- Customer segmentation in email marketing
28. Email Marketing Made Easy For Beginners
This introductory course, Email Marketing Made Easy For Beginners, was created by Ron Stefanski on the Udemy platform. He offers the course for free, and it includes over an hour of on-demand video instruction. Key topics include lead magnets, email lists, and email content creation.
What You’ll Learn:
- Creating an effective lead magnet
- How to launch an email campaign
- Growing an email mailing list
29. Email Marketing Essentials: Designing Effective Emails
This intermediate-level course on Skillshare, called Email Marketing Essentials: Designing Effective Emails, was developed by the email marketing experts at Mailchimp. Instructor Fabio Carneiro leads students through 10 lessons about the craft of composing effective emails. Users can join Skillshare for free to fully audit this course before committing to a paid plan.
What You’ll Learn:
- Proven email design practices
- How to create transactional messages
- Structuring effective email content
30. Email and Newsletter Marketing Foundations
Social media strategist Megan Adams teaches this free course, Email and Newsletter Marketing Foundations on LinkedIn Learning. The course takes about an hour to complete, and an exam is available to test your understanding. This is a beginner-level class that provides a basic overview of email marketing concepts and strategies.
What You’ll Learn:
- The role of email in marketing strategies
- How to maintain email lists
- Creating an effective email marketing campaign
31. Email Marketing Course and Certification
The eMarketing Institute offers this free email marketing course on their website that comes with a formal certification upon completion. Those who register for the course will receive a 163 page ebook that accompanies the course instruction. This is a beginner-level course that provides an excellent overview of email marketing techniques.
What You’ll Learn:
- The different types of email messages
- How to build an email list
- Using email marketing metrics
This free course, Advanced Email Marketing, can be found on the SkillUp website created by Simplilearn. It is a 5-hour self-paced course that includes a certificate after completion. Users can register and have 90 days to complete the material for free.
What You’ll Learn:
- Optimizing email content
- Designing landing pages
- Structuring an email campaign
Free Content Marketing Courses
33. Content Marketing for B2B Enterprises
This free Udemy course, called Content Marketing for B2B Enterprises, was created by William Flanagan. Over 36,000 students have taken this hour-long class to learn more about content marketing techniques. Users can access the online video content for free or sign up for the paid course to receive a formal certification and engage directly with the instructor.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to create interesting content
- Working with industry influencers
- How to measure progress and track metrics
Ahrefs hosts several resources in the Academy section of their website. This Blogging for Business course will teach you how to grow a website audience to over 100,000 monthly visitors. With nearly 5 hours of instruction, there’s a lot of material here, and the course is on-demand and can be accessed anytime.
What You’ll Learn:
- Blog growth strategies
- How to create content with high business value
- Performing keyword research
35. Content Marketing Course: Get Certified in Content Marketing
This content marketing course on HubSpot Academy also comes with a free professional certification. Over 6 hours of video instruction takes students through major content marketing concepts such as repurposing content and using video effectively. This course also features several instructors who each provide their own unique perspective.
What You’ll Learn:
- Building a long-term content strategy
- How to get more content shares
- Creating a guest blogging strategy
36. Copywriting Quick Start: Top FREE Writing Tools & Hacks
Copywriting Quick Start: Top FREE Writing Tools & Hacks is a free course offered by Typer Speegle on the Udemy platform. It provides students with an overview of free tools available online that can help improve writing quality. Also included are tips for generating new content ideas and developing engaging headlines.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to use headline writing tools
- Performing keyword research
- The best copywriting words to use for persuasion
37. Writing for Brands: Freelancing in the Age of Content Marketing
This Skillshare course, Writing for Brands: Freelancing in the Age of Content Marketing, is taught by Brian Maehl from Contently. As a beginner-level course, the curriculum is designed to teach students a very basic overview of writing techniques. It’s possible to complete the course content in under an hour and learn valuable insights without a major time investment.
What You’ll Learn:
- Writing the perfect pitch
- Proper journalism ethics
- How to write for brands
38. Internet Marketing for Smart People
Internet Marketing for Smart People is a free marketing training available on the Copyblogger website. Using principles developed by the team at Copyblogger, called the “Copyblogger method,” the email instruction explains how to properly market a business online. Visitors can also sign up for the free email series, “The Killer and the Poet,” to receive additional free training insights.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to develop customer relationships
- What direct response copywriting is used for
- How to optimize content marketing
39. Content, Advertising & Social IMC
Northwestern University shares this Content, Advertising & Social IMC course on the Coursera platform. Instructor Randy Hlavac takes students through an introduction of content strategies, advertising techniques, and social integrated marketing communications (IMC). The 8 hours of video content are divided among 4 weeks of coursework and can be audited for free.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to expand market share through advertising
- Where to deploy social integrated marketing communications
- Measuring the success of social programs
Free Marketing Analytics Courses
40. Digital Strategy and Action
This course, Digital Strategy and Action, is available on the edX platform and was developed by faculty at Babson College in Massachusetts. It’s free and self-paced, taking approximately 4 weeks to complete if working for 4 to 6 hours per week. Over 23,000 individuals have already enrolled in the course, which teaches students how business leaders create their strategies.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to infuence market share
- Strategies for sustaining future growth
- Ways to build a high performing team
Ruler Analytics has created the Attribution Academy as a premier source for finding ways to attribute your sales back to your leads. Many companies have a difficult time understanding how their lead generation efforts impact sales, which can make it difficult to manage ad spend and marketing budgets. Attribution is a key marketing skill and two free courses are available here for essential and advanced techniques.
What You’ll Learn:
- Introduction to marketing attribution
- Integrating a CRM with marketing attribution
- Types of marketing attribution models
Google Analytics Academy has a series of 6 excellent courses that can be taken for free as a means for learning more about Google’s measurement tools and advanced data analysis techniques. The courses include an introduction to Google Analytics, advanced Google Analytics techniques, and an introduction to Data Studio. Users can also view several mini-courses on YouTube that discuss other Google Marketing Platform Analytics products.
What You’ll Learn:
- Basic and advanced features of Google Analytics
- How to track business performance
- How to use Google Tag Manager
43. Ten Excel Features Every Analyst Should Know
This course, Ten Excel Features Every Analyst Should Know, is hosted on the Udemy platform and is completely free. Over 69,000 students have already taken this course, which includes 30 minutes of on-demand video. Many essential features are covered, along with a few advanced topics such as conditional formatting.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to set up advanced filters
- Removing duplicate data
- How to use Auto Sum and 3D Sums
44. Digital Marketing Analytics in Practice
The Unversity of Ilinois offers this Digital Marketing Analytics in Practice course as part of its Digital Marketing Specialization program. Instructor Kevin Hartman takes students through advanced digital marketing strategies and how to apply data analytics to real-world situations. Coursera users can enroll for free and take the course completely online.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to choose the appropriate web analytics tools
- Data visualization techniques
- Creating a step-by-step digital marketing strategy
45. Free Social Media Analytics Course
This free Social Media Analytics course is the first course of the Quintly Academy. It’s designed for beginning social media marketers who desire an introduction to social media analytics. This course is suitable for marketers, agencies, and advanced social media users and covers important topics such as situation analysis, KPIs, and automated reporting.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to automate reports
- Setting data-based goals and KPIs
- Competitive analysis
This Marketing Analytics course is offered by the University of Virginia on the Coursera platform. Enrollment is free, and the primary goal of this course is to explain how marketing analytics enables the work of marketers. Students will learn how to gain insights into customer preferences and create optimized marketing campaigns.
What You’ll Learn:
- Calculating customer lifetime value
- How to design effective marketing experiments
- The basics of regression analysis
Google Digital Garage offers this free Marketing Analytics course that contains 10 hours of material. It’s a beginner-level course, and the syllabus is broken down into 5 modules covering topics such as customer lifetime value and brand benchmarking. Google has designed these courses to act like interactive textbooks with embedded media such as videos and quizzes to make the learning process more effective.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to make data-drive decisions
- Defining a brand strategy
- Measuring customer lifetime value
This Marketing Analytics course from Acadium is an introductory course that includes 12 separate lessons. The content focuses on Google Analytics and Data Studio with information for collecting and interpreting data. Completing this course can help improve the quality of your marketing campaigns and your ability to design effective strategies.
What You’ll Learn:
- How to keep track of marketing data
- An introduction to Google Analytics
- How Google Data Studio can be used to interpret data
49. Market Analytics Course Online
The Scandinavian Institute of Business Analytics (SCANBA) offers this Market Analytics Course as a free and online resource that anyone can access. Core topics include calculating marketing segments and developing pricing techniques. The course contains 22 video lectures and is self-paced so students can learn at a speed that is comfortable for them.
What You’ll Learn:
- 11 pricing techniques for increasing profitablity
- How to forecast sales trends
- Using NPV and IRR models for financial analysis
50. Segmentation and Demand Focusing in Marketing Analytics
Segmentation and Demand Focusing in Marketing Analytics is a 5-hour course available on the Alison platform. The course features an in-depth review of market segmentation, positioning, and targeting strategies. Students can access the course material using a web browser or the dedicated Alison app available for iOS and Android devices.
What You’ll Learn:
- What customer segmentation should look like
- How to develop customer targeting strategies
- Using sales predictors in demand forecasting
These 50 free digital marketing courses can help you learn all the ins and outs of every facet of digital marketing today. But while you’re busy learning, don’t neglect marketing your business. Install ShareThis’ social media share buttons for an effortless way to get your content in front of a larger audience. They’re free to use, and you can install them in just minutes. Plus, they allow your visitors to share your content with their social networks with a single click!
