#DIGITAL | 25 Online Marketing Courses That Will Make You a Better Affiliate Marketer

Want to become better at affiliate marketing? Improve your skills by taking an online marketing course.

There is no shortage of useful, well presented and actionable information out there that can help you learn a new digital marketing skill set or help you dial in your game even better.

After all, the better your marketing skills, the better you will be at driving traffic to your website.

But never fear: we’ll show you how to sort through the jungle of online marketing programs to find the one that is perfect for you.

How to Choose the Right Marketing Courses for You

Online marketing courses require an investment of some sort. Even if they are free or low-cost, you’re still investing your most precious resource: time.

So, before you just dance with the first good-looking gal at the ball, take a step back and really think about what you need from your course.

Would you be willing to pay for a course or do you prefer a free option?
Are you primarily looking to gain knowledge about Internet marketing as a whole?
Are you looking to zero in on one method, like social, mobile, SEO, or paid traffic?
Do you want/need some sort of formal certification?
What level of expertise (beginner, intermediate, advanced) are you hoping to achieve from your course?
Would you prefer a regular classroom environment or are you more comfortable learning at your own pace?

Once you know the answers to questions like these, you can start to sort through your options.

Some of your biggest choices will be:

Free or Paid Courses?

There are plenty of great free or low-cost courses out there, but typically speaking, the best information comes from behind a pay wall.

Free courses often offer some great and very useful information but you may find that if you’re looking for advanced knowledge, you are better off paying for a quality course.

General Info or Highly Focused?

If you’re just getting started, a broad-based, general style digital marketing course is probably the way to go. This will give you an idea of various types of online marketing.

However, if you already have a solid base but really want to dive into the minutiae of something like PPC, then a more specific course is what you need.

Informal Course or Certificate Program/Degree?

Are you hoping to gain a certification, diploma, or degree from your course?

If you’re doing these courses with the goal of bettering your affiliate marketing efforts, a certification is not going to be of much importance. But if you’d really like one, make sure to pick a course that offers this.

Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced?

What level of knowledge are you seeking from your marketing course?

Are you interested in learning advanced SEO techniques? Then sign up for a course designed for people who already have some SEO knowledge.

However, if you are a complete newbie, your best bet is a course that will hold your hand and guide you through the basics of online marketing.

Live or Self-Paced?

Do you prefer a course with a real, classroom-like environment? You should opt for a live course in that case. While you will be studying from home, these courses will require you to log on for live sessions and finish your homework. In general, they are a bit more demanding.

If you would rather study on your own, pick a course that is self-paced. You can read and review the course materials when it suits you and can study at your own speed.

25 Online Marketing Course Options For You

Once you have analyzed your needs based on the above requirements, you will probably have a better idea of exactly what type of course you want to do.

Below is a list of courses, divided into free and paid categories, as this is often the most important criteria. Within each of these categories, the courses are further divided into the type of marketing skills you will acquire upon completion of the course.

Free Online Marketing Courses

There is no lack of quantity when it comes to free online marketing courses and programs. The real trick is finding the quality ones.

There’s nothing worse than investing the time and effort into a course only to finish it and think, “Well @$%*! I knew all of that already!” To keep you from throwing monitors through windows, here are a few free online marketing courses worth your time:

General Online Marketing

1. Google’s Online Marketing Challenge

Where better to learn about online marketing than from Google itself? This digital marketing course very comprehensively covers search engine marketing, search and display advertising, mobile, social, analytics and video.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

2. Hubspot Academy’s Inbound Certification

If you’re looking for a free course from a trusted online marketing source that covers all of the bases, then stop drilling; you’ve hit oil, friend! Hubspot will help you break into the world of online marketing with modules on everything from SEO to conversion optimization. Even better, once you get the basic course out of the way, there’s a paid option as well.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

3. Diploma in E-business

ALISON is a great resource for free training in online business. The E-business course helps newbies understand the basics of online marketing and how to make the most of Google Adwords, Analytics, AdSense and more.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

4. Affilorama Free Lessons (shameless plug)

If you didn’t know it already, here at Affilorama we offer a pretty awesome online marketing course — all designed with affiliate marketers in mind.

When you join our site, for free, you get a wealth of actionable knowledge that will help you build your online business including: the Affiliate Marketing Quick-Start Guide, a downloadable Roadmap to Success and 120 video lessons on topics such as content creation, SEO, PPC and more.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

Pay-Per-Click Advertising

5. AdWords Certification Exams

If you’d like to learn all the nitty-gritty of online advertising, Google’s Adwords certification courses are an excellent resource. The courses are each designed for you to be able to study and take the certification exams once you’re ready. I recommend having at least a basic familiarity with Adwords before attempting the exams. Each exam has extensive study guides so you will be well versed with Adwords fundamentals, search advertising, display advertising, mobile advertising, video advertising, and shopping advertising.

Level: Intermediate/ Advanced

Cost: Free

6. PPC University

Best known for its AdWords campaign grader, Wordstream is one of the most popular names in paid search content creation. This course is free and perfect for beginners in paid search. Even seasoned pros can pick up a few lesser-known tactics.

Level: Beginner/ Intermediate

Cost: Free

Search Engine Optimization

7. SEO Training Course

This Udemy course, instructed by Moz is the ideal starting point for SEO beginners. The course will take you through the basics of SEO strategies. It’s also useful for understanding how effective use of social media can also influence search rankings.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

8. Advanced SEO: Tactics & Strategy

This Udemy course, also instructed by Moz is ideal for those who want to gain a deeper understanding of some tactical SEO methods. While the course description says it’s suitable for all levels, I think this course will be more useful if you already have a basic understanding of SEO.

Level: Intermediate/Advanced

Cost: Free

Social Media Marketing

9. Social Media Quickstarter

This Constant Contact course is the ultimate overview of what you need to do establish a presence for your business on the top social networks. Networks covered include: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Google+, and YouTube. There is also additional advice for blogging and online reviews.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

10. Diploma in Social Media Marketing

Another ALISON course, this self-paced offering is perfect if you want to gain an understanding of the basics of social media strategy for your business. In addition to Facebook and Twitter marketing, the course also covers podcasting, blogging and email marketing basics.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

11. The Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing

Created by social media management platform Hootsuite, this six-part course will introduce you to social media marketing principles, strategy, content marketing, community management, social advertising, and more.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

Copywriting & Content Marketing

12. Internet Marketing for Smart People

When it comes to content creation and online marketing, you’ll be hard pressed to find people doing it better than Brain Clark and the team over at Copyblogger. The course is heavily focused on quality copywriting and content marketing, and how to bring it all together to improve your Internet marketing efforts.

Level: Beginner/ Intermediate

Cost: Free

13. Copywriting 101

Another Copyblogger course. This one is available as a free e-book download, and it’s the ideal starting point to understand what makes effective, compelling copy. If you’re not a writer but want to improve the quality of your content, start with this mini course.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

14. Writing for the Web

Ever wondered how writing for the web is different to other types of writing? This is the course for you. Created by a user experience consultant, this Open 2 Study course, will give you an understanding of online reader behavior, how to structure web pages, how to write SEO-friendly content, and how to create effective, user-friendly content.

Level: Beginner/ Intermediate

Cost: Free

Google Analytics

15. Digital Analytics Fundamentals

Understand the core principles of Google Analytics and how to use it to measure and improve your website’s performance with the help of this course from Google’s Analytics Academy. When you develop a better understanding, there are several more advanced courses available as well.

Level: Beginner

Cost: Free

Paid Online Marketing Courses

There are no lack of options when it comes to paid online marketing courses, either. You will find courses that can range from $20 to a few thousand dollars. Here are a few courses that you have to pay for, but promise a lot of bang for your buck.