Digital marketing is important for businesses that want to increase brand awareness and attract attention to their brand over the long term. When done effectively, digital marketing helps to “nudge” potential buyers towards a purchase. Training to become a digital marketer includes exploring tools used to analyze customer data, interpreting trending topics through SEO, and discovering strategies to increase sales.
Are you interested in a career in digital marketing? There are many different ways to get started in digital marketing as a career. For example, search engine optimization is a key part of digital marketing and can lead to a viable career path.
I chose the following digital marketing courses because of their positive reviews from the digital marketing community, their thoroughness, and their ease of engagement.
- Google Digital Marketing & Ecommerce Professional Certification via Coursera: Coursera
- HubSpot Academy Digital Marketing Courses: HubSpot Academy
- Moz Academy SEO Starter Pack: Moz Academy
- Semrush Academy Digital Advertising 101: Semrush Academy
- Digital Marketing Specialization on Coursera: Coursera
Best Digital Marketing Courses: Comparison Table
Google Digital Marketing & Ecommerce Professional Certification via Coursera
Coursera's Introduction to Google Digital Marketing course is suitable for beginners and will earn you a professional certification upon completion. The course is supported by Google and is 100% online. It covers a wide range of topics, including search engine marketing, converting social media likes into sales, marketing campaigns, setting up an e-commerce store, and more.
This certification involves multiple courses and takes approximately six months to complete, totaling 10 hours per week.
Fee
Coursera subscriptions cost $59 per month, so the cost will vary depending on how quickly you complete the course. A six-month study period will cost you $354.
HubSpot Academy Digital Marketing Courses
HubSpot sells marketing and sales software, and they also offer free courses to learn digital marketing. The courses cover email, SEO, social media, content creation and scheduling, and website advertising. They're especially suited to small business owners who have a business plan but are new to digital marketing practices. The instruction is primarily through video, and transcripts are available.
Fee
HubSpot Academy's digital marketing courses are free, and like most online course materials, you'll need an email address to log in.
Moz Academy SEO Starter Pack
When it comes to SEO, Moz Academy is a good place to start, as it walks you step-by-step through how to use the right tools. It covers how-to's for SERP listings and keyword rankings, plus context like how and why pages show up in search results and the history of search algorithms. The third module, “Local SEO Basics,” focuses on SEO strategies for local businesses.
Moz Academy is generally well-regarded in the digital marketing community as a starting point for beginners, but because search engines change so quickly, there's no guarantee that the “Latest Trends in SEO” section will be up-to-date by the time you get to it.
Fee
The complete SEO starter pack costs $149.
Semrush Academy Digital Advertising 101
Business owners and marketers who want to approach their work from a strategic perspective or focus on advertising may find value in this Semrush Academy course. In addition to the basics of how digital advertising works, the course also covers how to measure the success of your campaigns and develop a solid strategy for your most successful projects. You'll learn an overview of competitor research and how to create a holistic digital advertising strategy.
Fee
Semrush Academy's Digital Advertising 101 is free.
Digital Marketing Specialization on Coursera
The Digital Marketing Specialization available on Coursera is taught by faculty from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This course is fairly in-depth and covers digital marketing theory and practice, but there may be some overlap with other courses listed here, so choose the format that works best for you.
Coursera is generally considered trustworthy, but some of the same information in this course is available for free. On the other hand, this specialization is more suited to those who want a guided hands-on learning experience in using digital marketing tools. At the end, there is a hands-on project that involves running a digital marketing campaign.
Fee
A Coursera subscription costs $59 per month with a 7-day free trial, so the price depends on how long it takes you to complete the course. Four months of study will cost you $236.
Are digital marketing courses worth it?
Whether an online digital marketing class is worth your time, effort, and money depends on your learning style and career goals. Digital marketing courses often offer a “one size fits all” overview rather than focusing on a specific job role or audience. Before signing up for a paid class, it may be wise to look for free tutorials on YouTube.
Digital marketing is changing rapidly. Check out Google's overview of AI. Make sure the course you choose is up-to-date and can be supplemented with fresh content. Being able to show proven results may be more important to employers than whether you have a professional certification.
Is digital marketing high paying?
According to Indeed, the average salary for a digital marketer in the United States is $64,898 as of May 2024. The upper end of the salary range can reach $113,442.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual wage for market research analysts and marketing specialists was $83,190 in May 2023.
