7 Best Free Marketing Classes (Actually) Worth Your Time
Written by Kate Starr
The world of online marketing evolves quickly. To stay ahead of the curve, you need to continuously update your skills and knowledge.
At Backlinko, we’ve been using innovative techniques and strategies to grow and maintain the site.
One perfect example is the Skyscraper Technique pioneered by Backlinko’s founder, Brian Dean. This strategy emphasizes exceptionally high-quality content that outshines existing resources, resulting in increased website traffic and people linking back to it.
Experts like Brian Dean have built their success on a deep understanding of what works. Their expertise holds incredible value.
What’s great about this is that they make their knowledge accessible through online courses. Taking these lessons can save you years of trial and error.
In this article, you’ll find the seven best free online marketing classes currently available. These courses help you understand different aspects of digital marketing so you can start creating impactful campaigns right away.
Online Marketing Classes Criteria
Here’s how we’ve evaluated the classes:
- Course structure: Is the course structure logical and covers the topic comprehensively? Does it flow naturally?
- Time to complete: How long does it take to complete the course? Is this time enough to understand the topic?
- Credibility: Are the tutors credible and qualified to teach the topic?
- Exercises: Do the classes provide worksheets, templates, and resources to do tasks to validate and apply your learnings?
What’s the Best Free Online Marketing Course?
Don’t have time to read the full article? Here’s a quick overview of our top picks:
- Marketing Courses by Semrush Academy: Best for learning search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM) and content marketing.
- Inbound Marketing by HubSpot Academy: Best for learning inbound marketing, content marketing, and social media strategy
- Digital Marketing Strategy by The University of Edinburgh: Best for learning how to create a digital marketing strategy for your business
- Facebook Marketing Course by Meta Blueprint: Teaches marketing strategies across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp, focusing on both organic and paid methods
- Online Marketing Strategy Courses by Alison: Features a range of free online business courses, including digital marketing, with a focus on practical skills and strategies
- Introduction to Social Media Strategy by Buffer: Beneficial for understanding how to create a social media marketing strategy
- Fundamentals of Digital Marketing: Best for learning the basics of digital marketing
1. Marketing Courses by Semrush Academy
Best for: Learning SEO and SEM
Who is it for: Beginner to intermediate marketers
Course duration: From 30 minutes to 2 hours
Semrush Academy is a great place to learn everything related to SEO, SEM, and content marketing.
The Semrush Academy partners with industry leaders and experts to produce insightful courses.
For example, Semrush Academy collaborated with Kevin Indig. He’s an expert in the SEO industry and has led SEO and Growth at Shopify, Atlassian, and G2. And Kevin’s SEO course teaches you how to craft a winning SEO strategy.
Other notable courses by Semrush Academy include:
- SEO Crash Course with Brian Dean
- Content-Led SEO with Brian Dean
- SEO Principles: An Essential Guide for Beginners with Kyle Byers
- Digital Advertising 101 with Tim Cameron-Kitchen
- Social Media Marketing Crash Course with Janet Machuka
Most courses on the Semrush Academy offer certification. Upon completion, you can take a quick assessment test and receive a personalized certificate. Like this:
Pros
- A variety of courses available, produced by industry experts with first-hand experience
- Semrush Academy certifications are globally recognized
Cons
- Even though the certification is globally recognized, it doesn’t prove that you can implement your knowledge in real-life scenarios
User Reviews
Students praise the Semrush Academy. They mention that it gives them valuable knowledge that they can implement in their marketing projects.
Further reading: The 7 Best SEO Courses & Certifications
2. Inbound Marketing by HubSpot Academy
Best for: Learning inbound marketing principles
Who is it for: Marketing managers and small business owners
Course duration: 5 hours
Inbound Marketing by HubSpot Academy is a great course for marketers and small business managers. It teaches you how to attract customers through content and personalized experiences.
The Inbound Marketing course includes seven lessons and takes about five hours to complete. Each lesson ends with a quiz so you can assess your learning progress.
Upon completing the course and taking a quick assessment test, you’ll get a free certification. It looks like this:
You can even choose one of six languages for your certification. The options include English, French, German, Japanese, Portuguese, or Spanish.
Pros
- You can show off your certification in six languages
Cons
- The course lacks real-life scenarios, making it challenging to understand for people who are new to marketing
User Reviews
Students mention that this course helped them gain inbound marketing skills and become comfortable with HubSpot.
Some students found the course challenging. They wish there were more real-life examples to make the course more digestible for beginners.
3. Digital Marketing Strategy by The University of Edinburgh
Best for: Learning how to create a digital marketing strategy for your business
Who is it for: Beginners
Course duration: 8 weeks, 4–6 hours per week
The Digital Marketing Strategy course by The University of Edinburgh is an eight-week program that you can take at your own pace.
Each week’s material is a mix of text and video content. It takes a total of four to six hours to complete weekly material.
While you can take the course for free, the certification costs $149.
Pros
- Extensive, university-level course that lasts eight weeks
Cons
- If you take a free course, your access to course materials will expire in two months
4. Facebook Marketing Course by Meta Blueprint
Best for: Learning how to promote your business using your Facebook Page
Who is it for: Beginner to intermediate marketers and small business owners
Course duration: 50 minutes
Meta Blueprint provides free online courses and certification programs around Facebook and Instagram marketing.
Promote Your Business From Your Facebook Page is a 50-minute course for beginners. It explains what Page promotions are and how they benefit your business. You’ll also learn how to create, edit, manage, and measure your Page promotion.
Completing this one course alone won’t get you a certification. You’ll only see an “Award for Completion” badge within the platform.
However, you can take relevant exams to get certified. For example, a Meta Certified Media Buying Professional exam to get a specialized certification.
Pros
- You learn Facebook Marketing right from the Meta team
Cons
- Completing individual courses doesn’t offer certificates
5. Online Marketing Strategy Courses by Alison
Best for: Learning different aspects of online marketing
Who is it for: Beginner to advanced marketers and business owners
Course duration: 2-3 hours
Alison is an online learning platform offering over 60 free Online Marketing Strategy Courses. More than 430,000 learners have taken the courses on the platform.
Most Online Marketing Strategy Courses take 2-3 hours to complete. And their formats vary from text to video.
Upon completing the course, you can take an assessment exam and get a certificate. Which looks like this:
Pros
- Set weekly study reminders. You can get reminders to continue learning two, three, or five days per week.
Cons
- The courses are listed under company names, not individual marketing experts. This makes it challenging to find a course by a specific tutor.
6. Introduction to Social Media Strategy by Buffer
Best for: Learning social media strategy
Who is it for: Beginners to social media marketing
Course duration: 43 minutes
Buffer is a social media scheduling tool that helps you manage your content across multiple platforms.
The Introduction to Social Media Strategy is a 43-minute video course. Nine lessons cover everything you need to know to create your own social media strategy.
The course is led by Brian Peters, who was the Director of Strategic Partnerships at Buffer. Brian’s insights have been featured in publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, and more.
Pros
- After completing the course, there’s a hands-on class project available. It means that you’ll get the worksheet with instructions so you can craft a real social media strategy. This helps you implement your knowledge in real life.
Cons
- To learn the course for free, you’ll need to complete it within seven days of joining Skillshare.
User Reviews
Students who took the Introduction to Social Media Strategy course state that it met their expectations and even exceeded them. They liked the clarity of instructions and actionable steps discussed in the course.
7. Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google
Best for: Learning basics of digital marketing
Who is it for: Beginners in digital marketing
Course duration: 40 hours
Google offers a 40-hour all-encompassing course that teaches you fundamentals to reach your customers online.
Whether you have a local or a global business, Fundamentals of Digital Marketing teaches you how to increase your revenue with online marketing.
This course has 24 modules created by Google trainers. They use practical exercises and examples to transform your knowledge into practical skills.
The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing course covers the following topics:
- Taking your business online by building your web presence and planning your online strategy
- Making it easy for people to find your business through organic search and paid ads
- Reaching more local business customers through search, social media, and content marketing
- Reaching customers with advertising
- Tracking and measuring your web traffic
- Building your online shop to sell products and services
- Expanding your reach to international audiences
Take the final assessment upon completing all course materials to earn your award and share it on LinkedIn.
Pros
- Material includes real-life examples and exercises that can help you develop your digital marketing skills
Cons
- The whole course takes 40 hours to complete, which can be challenging if you want to learn only certain topics and get an award
Ready to Start Learning Online Marketing Today?
When picking which course to take, consider your goal. Review the current marketing trends to focus on topics that’ll have the greatest impact.
Then, if, for example, you want to learn SEO from industry leaders, check out the Semrush Academy courses.
If your focus is on social media marketing, we recommend taking the Introduction to Social Media Strategy by Buffer.