Online marketing courses for small businesses

Please be aware that this is a guide only and you should seek specific advice for your business*

Marketing can be one of the best ways to grow your small business and whether you're new to the world of marketing or looking to brush up on your skills, building your knowledge can be great to help grow your business.

Here at The Co-operative Bank we want to help you develop your understanding of marketing, so we've compiled a list of some of the best online marketing resources for learning. All of the below websites include free online marketing courses with additional paid-for options and certifications if required.

If you're a beginner to marketing, we'd also recommend our guide to online and offline marketing which is a good place to start learning the basics.

Google Digital Garage – Free with some paid options

Google Digital Garage is a great online resource to learn more about online marketing techniques to help grow your business. The courses range from exploring how websites work to building an online marketing strategy.

Some of the courses are flexible and can be completed at your own pace, whilst others are live sessions so you can develop your skills with the opportunity to ask the subject matter experts questions during the session.

The majority of the courses are free with some paid-for options and some of the courses also provide a certification for completing them.

Learn more about the Google Digital Garage and what courses are available over on the Google website.

Google Skillshop - Free

The Google Skillshop is a free online platform to learn some of the core Google programs such as Google Analytics, Google Ads and Google My Business. These are tools that you can use to see data about your website, run advertising on Google and fill in information about your business such as opening times so the correct information is displayed on Google.

Like the Google Digital Garage, these courses can be completed in your own time, at your own pace, with the opportunity for certification.

The courses are designed by Google product experts, so the Skillshop is a great way to either learn the basics of the Google products you may use as part of your marketing activity or to brush up on your skills if you've used the tools previously.

You can find out more about the Google Skillshop and which learning programs are available on the Skillshop website.

Wordstream PPC training

If you're looking to brush up on your PPC (pay-per-click advertising) skills which is running ads on search engines such as Google, then Wordstream has a number of articles to improve your knowledge.

Whether you want to learn the basics of PPC or develop more advanced skills, there's a range of learning articles for you to choose from along with the option to download them.

You can view the full range of PPC training resources from Wordstream here.

Alison – Paid with some free courses

Alison is another online training option offering a range of paid and free online learning courses including those in sales and marketing.

One of the courses is a free complete guide to Social Media which includes an overview of social media marketing and a free diploma in e-business which includes building an online business strategy and managing a website.

You can explore the full list of Alison training courses over on their website.

LinkedIn Learning / Lynda.com – Free month trial with paid membership options

Reaching your existing and new potential customers through social media can be a great way of communicating with them and LinkedIn is just one of the social media platforms that can help you do that.

LinkedIn Learning was previously Lynda.com and is an online learning website covering business, software, technology and creative skills. LinkedIn Learning gives its members access to 16,000+ courses taught by real world professionals along with full access to LinkedIn Premium.

LinkedIn Learning has a marketing course section covering everything from learning how to use different marketing channels along with how to use websites such as Facebook and YouTube to promote your business.

It's not a free platform but LinkedIn Learning has a free 1 month trial before moving to a monthly paid plan. You'll also need a LinkedIn account to access the learning platform.

You can find out more about LinkedIn Learning and whether it's the right platform for you by browsing their online courses.

Facebook Blueprint – Free

Facebook is a great social media channel to grow your customers and their awareness of your business. Facebook has some of the best customer targeting so you can reach higher volumes of people and also specific groups of people related to your business.

Facebook Blueprint is a learning platform for businesses to find training, certifications and free courses on how to use Facebook and get the most out of it. There's a specialist section on using Facebook as a small business which includes the basics of Facebook, understanding your Facebook audience and planning social media content.

The courses can be completed in your own time at your own pace and each section includes an approximate reading time, so you can plan the learning around your day.

Find out more about the Facebook Blueprint courses for your business on their website.

Hubspot Academy – Free

If you're looking to learn about different areas of marketing to see what's best suited for your business then Hubspot Academy includes a wide range of courses including email marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO) which is optimising your website to be shown by Google for relevant keyword searches.

The courses have the option to filter by level so whether you're a beginner or more advanced, you can find the courses most suited for you.

Hubspot Academy offers options for certification with approximate completion times so you can fit the learning around your day to day.

To view the range of courses, you can visit the Hubspot Academy website.

Develop your business marketing skills

The above websites are a great start for building your marketing knowledge to support your business.

You can also learn more about online marketing and the different online marketing channels here.

For more helpful support and resources, our Business Exchange hosts a wide range of content tailored to you and your business.

*While all reasonable care has been taken to ensure that the information provided is correct, no liability is accepted by The Co-operative Bank for any loss or damage caused to any person relying on any statement or omission. This is for information only and should not be relied upon as offering advice for any set of circumstances. This is merely a guide and each business is unique in its requirements. Specific advice should always be sought in each instance.