The 11 Best Free Online Digital Marketing Courses with Certification

Staying up to date with trends and specializations in the digital world is a challenge for many entrepreneurs and marketing teams. Fortunately, digital is now deeply embedded in all types of businesses, and very few today are not seeking training in this field with the best digital marketing courses.

The big “problem” we might face today is the enormous amount of information and training available on digital marketing and its specializations.

As you can see, I put “problem” in quotation marks because it’s not really a problem—it’s a privilege.

There are countless courses, training programs, and certifications, both free and paid, that allow you to grow as a professional and specialize in many areas of digital marketing: SEO, content, social media, email marketing…

To shed some light on this training universe, I’ve written this article selecting a variety of free courses and certifications so that you can become a great professional and increase your income with your digital skills.

Courses With or Without Certification?

Before going into the list of free courses, I want to answer a question that many people ask.

Is it better to take a course with certification, or is it not that important?

The answer is: it depends. Let me explain.

A course is a learning program that provides content and training on a subject.

A certification is an official recognition that confirms a person has successfully completed a program and demonstrated competence in that area.

So, courses may be part of the path to earning a certification, but not all courses necessarily lead to one.

Depending on your goal for training, it might be worth aiming for an official certification. Ideally, yes—because it adds value to your resume, especially if you’re aiming to work for a marketing agency, where these things are often appreciated.

However, there are fantastic courses without certification that can teach you to become a skilled professional in any field.

Let’s take a look at some of them.

Free Certifications in Google Digital Marketing Courses

Google has been committed to training both businesses and professionals in digital skills for many years.

Through its platform Grow with Google, it offers many free courses categorized by various topics: Artificial Intelligence, programming and development, communication, analytics, design, sales, online security, and of course, digital marketing.

You can filter the training to show only those with certifications—or not. It’s up to you.

The great thing about learning through Google’s free course platform is that you can gain deep knowledge about Google’s own tools for your business. Or, if you’re a professional, you can get certified in specific tools and become an expert in them.

Some of the Google courses I recommend include:

• E-commerce
• Google Analytics 4
• Google Ads
• Video marketing for YouTube
• AI fundamentals

HubSpot Digital Marketing Courses

If your training is focused on Inbound Marketing, then you need to know the leaders in this field. HubSpot is the top company in inbound. Their course and certification catalog includes dozens of resources.

Inbound Certification by HubSpot

This course includes 15 videos and 2 hours of content and is aimed at marketing and sales professionals.

Its purpose is to help you understand the inbound methodology and apply it in a marketing plan.

Content Marketing Course with HubSpot Certification

HubSpot is also a specialist in content marketing. That’s why their content marketing certification is worth checking out.

With 54 videos and over 8 hours of training, you’ll become a more efficient content marketer capable of creating and repurposing content for your target audience and search engines.

Email Marketing Course by HubSpot

HubSpot also offers an email marketing course with 28 videos and over 4 hours of training.

The goal is to learn how to develop an email marketing strategy that boosts your company’s growth and strengthens your professional skills.

From segmentation and contact management to effective delivery and analytics, you’ll gain the key knowledge to set up an efficient and human-centered email marketing strategy.

Meta Blueprint (Facebook) Certification Courses

Now let’s move to another giant in the industry: Meta (formerly Facebook).

Meta Blueprint is their training platform where you can find:

• Courses
• Training programs
• Certifications

Within the certifications, there are different levels depending on the depth of knowledge and skills acquired.

These are usually aimed at professionals seeking certification in specific tools or practices within the Meta ecosystem—advertising strategies, campaign analytics, content planning, community management, etc.

I encourage you to explore these certifications if you want to become an expert in Meta’s platforms.

Meta Learning Programs

Their learning programs are also very interesting because they offer a guided learning path depending on your profile or goal.

There are programs designed for:

• Small businesses
• Brands and agencies
• Job seekers
• Educators
• NGOs
• Community managers
• Developers

A wide variety of profiles can benefit from the free training Meta offers.

SEO Courses by Semrush

Semrush is a tool that helps improve visibility on search engines like Google.

They also offer a range of free SEO-focused courses, which is their area of expertise.

I’d highlight their On-Page and Technical SEO course.

This training helps you improve your website’s technical health and identify both issues and opportunities to improve search engine rankings.

It’s targeted at both SEO professionals and content managers to make the most of the tool and be faster in proposing website improvements.

Social Media Courses by Hootsuite

Among the many types of digital marketing training available, social media courses are also essential.

Hootsuite, a leading platform for managing social media, offers a very complete social media marketing course.

It covers social media optimization, strategy development, follower growth, and content planning.

Everything you need to know about the social media landscape.

In this case, if you want to get a certification, you’ll need to pay $99. This certification is more targeted at agencies looking for Hootsuite-certified social media specialists.

Email Marketing Courses by Acumbamail

Before we wrap up this review of the best free digital marketing courses, we have to mention our own academy.

At Acumbamail, we provide free resources to help you learn about marketing and email marketing.

Our standout offering is our free email marketing course (in Spanish).

It’s an email-based course where you’ll receive a new lesson every week to help you master the key concepts for making your email strategy more profitable.

The course goals are:

• Learn how to create and design different types of email marketing campaigns from scratch
• Understand the keys to crafting persuasive emails
• Learn how to attract subscribers and optimize your email lists
• Modify responsive HTML templates using the email editor
• Review and interpret campaign reports to evaluate results and optimize future actions

Not bad, right?

And best of all, it’s free and will help you manage Acumbamail like a true pro and improve your email campaigns.

In Summary

Training in the digital space has become essential to stay current with the techniques, trends, and strategies that help you stand out as a professional or apply them in your business.

Give yourself the opportunity to explore all these courses and combine them to build a more comprehensive marketing strategy.

As we mentioned earlier, if your goal is to get a job or grow within your department, go for certifications—they strengthen your resume and give you a better chance of standing out in a competitive environment.

I hope the training I’ve shared here helps you in your professional development.