Maya is an expert at cooking. She knows how to make a perfect cheddar cheese sauce, where to buy the freshest eggs, and why it is important to maintain the right temperature in the kitchen. Maya has created an online course about cooking and can’t wait to share her knowledge online.
The only problem is that Maya is an expert at cooking, not marketing. How can Maya promote her course on the Web? Where does she find the right audience? How can she double sales to get closer to her dream — to buy a little bakery in the city center?
In this article, we collected easy and effective ways to promote an online course, even with no prior digital marketing experience.
How to Promote an Online Course Through SEO
First, put yourself into your client’s shoes — where would you search for interesting and useful content? That’s right, on Google. That is why it is very important to inform Google what your course is about, what subjects it covers, and why it will be useful to people. It’s called SEO — search engine optimization. Here’s what you can do to attract more traffic from search engines.
- Perform keyword research
Keywords are words and phrases that your potential buyers will type into search engines to find a course they need. Ask yourself what terms they would use to find your course. For example, Maya’s clients will probably search for “online cooking course” or “learn to cook online.”
Make a list of all possible keywords. If you have courses on different topics, group-related keywords, for example, “handmade desserts” or “cooking a steak at home.” There are plenty of keyword research tools you can use, from Google’s Keyword Planner to specialized tools like SEMrush and Moz’s Keyword Explorer.
Once your list is ready, you can type the keywords into Google to see what kinds of sites appear in the results, whether sponsored ads appear, and if the term is highly competitive.
Tip: If you’re just getting started with SEO, it’s best to go for low-competition keywords. They may have lower search volumes, but they allow you to rank higher on Google and get traffic relatively quickly.
- Optimize course title, description, and meta tags
Now that you have collected and prioritized the keywords, make sure to include them in your course title and description to help search engines locate your content quickly.
If you sell courses on your own website, you can add keywords to the course page title, description, and even URL. Don’t forget about header tags (H1, H2, H3) that provide structure and context to your article.
If you sell your courses on a course-selling platform, your SEO opportunities may be limited, but they are usually easier to use for a non-professional. For example, on iSpring Market, you can specify meta titles and meta descriptions.
Promoting an Online Course Through Advertising
Online advertising is one more way to reach and attract potential clients to your courses. With online advertising, you can show your ad only to the people who are interested in your course, excluding those who are not your target audience. Plus, you can fully control your expenses and easily track the effectiveness of your campaign.
- Run your ad on Google Adwords
You can advertise your course on Google with Google Ads. Your offer will show up every time people search for keywords related to your topic. To start advertising, create a Google Adwords account, set your goals, location, and budget, and create your ad message.
With Google Ads, you can not only advertise on Google Search, but also on different sites that are part of the Google Display Network.
- Buy banners
If you know what websites and blogs your target audience reads, try putting your ad banner there. Contact the owners of these sites to find out how much it will cost to display a banner there and if there are any technical or design requirements. Once you know the requirements, you can create a banner yourself, using online tools like Bannershark.
If you’re planning to place your banner on different sites, create a unique link or coupon code for each placement so you can track ad effectiveness.
- Use Facebook ads
Facebook ads offer multiple targeting options. You can show your ad to people with certain interests, demographics, and behaviors. To target audiences more precisely, research your existing clients. If you already have a considerable client base, Facebook allows you to build a Lookalike Audience of similar users.
Promoting a Course on Your Website
A website is your own space on the Internet where you can tell your story, share your expertise, and promote your business without any rules and limitations on content and design.
- Create a website
Consider creating a website about your course business if you don’t have one yet. It doesn’t have to be a multi-page online store. Instead, create a simple landing page with a description of your business, experience, and available courses.
Add your contact information and links to your social networks. People will feel more comfortable buying your courses if they know more about you.
You can create a website yourself with an online website builder like Wix.
- Start a blog
Your blog is not only a place to share your thoughts and expertise, but also a great tool for attracting free traffic from search engines. Remember the keyword research you did in the beginning? Now you can use those and similar keywords to put together an effective content plan for your blog.
Make a list of questions that your potential buyers ask Google and create an article for each relevant query. Mention your course every now and then in the articles and add a banner or a brief course description at the end of each post.
Using Social Proof to Promote Courses
New online courses appear every day. How do people know yours is good? One of the key factors that determine our behavior is social proof, a psychological concept that people follow the actions of other people. That’s why you need to show your potential buyers that the course has already proven useful for many people.
- Post user reviews and testimonials
Ask learners who have completed your course to share their experiences and feedback. Prepare a list of questions as an outline for a client to express their opinion. Here are a few you can ask:
- What did you like most about this course?
- What did you learn?
- What skills did you have a chance to practice?
- Who would you recommend this course to?
Post these reviews on the course page or add them to the course description on your course-selling platform. Add links to reviewers’ profiles on social networks — this will add more value to each review.
- Ask to leave a review on a review platform
Usually, people perceive reviews on a third-party review system to be more truthful and unbiased because product and service providers are not able to hide or change the reviews. Register on one of the review platforms, like ShopperApproved, and ask your clients to review your course.
Be prepared for a negative review to appear. In order to support your reputation, find a way to handle negative customer reviews. React quickly, apologize and express empathy, and offer some form of compensation. If there was a mistake, explain the situation to clients delicately and politely. Make sure you use the feedback to improve the learning experience for all future students.
- Create case studies and success stories
Use the power of stories to promote your course. Have a brief interview with the clients who absolutely loved your course or found it very useful. Look for inspiring stories and impressive results. As a result, you will be able to put together a great case study for your blog that will help attract more people who pursue the same results.
- Build your customer base
From day one, make sure you don’t lose a single contact. You can collect all the clients’ details and email addresses in an Excel spreadsheet, or use more advanced tools. For example, some course selling platforms automatically collect buyers’ contact information. Later, you can use these details to offer your clients more courses or fine-tune your ad campaigns.
Free Online Courses for Digital Marketing
- Fundamentals of Digital Marketing
Offered by Google
There’s no better way to learn digital marketing than through the company that started it all. Google’s free online digital marketing course ranks right at the top of our list with good reason; it covers all aspects of digital marketing for beginners as well as intermediate users and it comes with free certification. Industry-recognized certification through Google is an ideal way to get your profile noticed and add to your skill set.
This 40-hour free online course in digital marketing features 26 modules and can be completed at your own pace wherever and whenever you want. Each module consists of several lessons that include text, video, and quizzes to test your knowledge. If you don’t want to progress through the entire course you can pick and choose which lessons to add to your individualized learning plan. However, we highly recommend starting from the beginning and progressing step-by-step so you can receive certification.
While we won’t list each module, some of the subjects covered include:
- Building your web presence
- Planning your online business strategy
- Understanding search and how to improve your campaigns
- Getting noticed locally
- Building an online store
- Expanding internationally
- Social media marketing
- Mobile marketing
- Content marketing
- Email marketing
- Advertising and analytics
- Inbound Marketing Free Certification Course
Offered by Hubspot Academy
Hubspot Academy’s Inbound Marketing Free Certification Course is a four-hour industry-recognized program meant for digital marketers who want to focus on their inbound efforts. The comprehensive curriculum consists of 10 lessons, 34 videos, and 9 quizzes and is designed for beginners. During the free online digital marketing course, students will learn about:
- The fundamentals of inbound marketing
- Planning a long-term content strategy
- Creating blog posts
- Understanding social media promotion
- Developing a conversational growth strategy
- Understanding and creating a conversion optimization strategy
- Lead nurturing
- Aligning sales and marketing
- Applying a customer marketing approach
Upon successful completion, students will be awarded official certification from HubSpot to display on their LinkedIn profile, portfolio, resume, or CV.
- Free Diploma in E-Business
Offered by Alison
Alison was developed in 2007 by Mike Feerick and was the first massive online open course (MOOC) platform on the web. With more than six million students registered on the site, this is one of the best free online course providers you will find.
The Diploma in E-Business course helps students build marketing skills through learning Google Analytics and AdWords, search optimization, revenue metrics, analysis, campaign tracking, digital measurement, and more. Over 84,000 students have enrolled in the free online digital marketing course, which takes between six to ten hours to complete. You will need to pass the final assessment with an 80 percent or better grade. Upon completion, you will receive a Learner Achievement Verification Report, or you can opt to purchase a certificate from the site’s online shop for around $20.
- Become an Online Marketing Manager
Offered by LinkedIn Learning
This 24 hour course offered through LinkedIn Learning provides students who already understand digital marketing with the skills they need to move up the corporate ladder into management roles. In this free digital marketing online course, students will learn best practices for online marketing, using the latest tools to implement a digital marketing strategy, and how to advertise effectively on social media platforms.
The course features 11 modules covering advanced aspects of marketing including:
- Growth hacking
- Advanced branding
- SEO foundations
- Email and newsletter marketing
- Google Analytics
- Google AdWords
- Facebook and Twitter
- Sketch for UX design
You can take the course for free if you already have a LinkedIn premium membership (most marketers do) or sign up for a trial and access the classes at no charge for a month.
- Digital Marekting Strategy
Offered by The University of Edinburgh
This thorough digital marketing course is offered by one of the top universities in Scotland through Edx. By engaging in the training for four to six hours a week, the course can be completed in about 8 weeks. The syllabus is comprehensive. Students who are looking for the most inclusive free curriculum on digital marketing will find this to be one of the top choices.
Certificates for the course can be obtained at the paid level of edX, which is also part of a professional certification. However, the lessons of each module can be audited for free. Auditing the course allows you to read and view all of the content.
- Digital Strategy and Action
Offered by Babson College through edX
Digital Strategy and Action is a fascinating free online course that will introduce marketers to what big businesses like Amazon, Facebook, Netflix, and Google have in common when it comes to digital strategy. In it, students will learn how the CEOs of these giants pivoted from a simple idea to billions in revenue, and how they keep growing.
The course features inspiring in-depth case studies, including stories about Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings as well as tons of tips, tricks, and advice.
If you’re an entrepreneur or marketer who dares to dream bigger, the course will provide insight into how the world’s biggest leaders in marketing have stayed at the top.
Students can opt for the paid version, which gives them an instructor-signed shareable certificate with the Babson University logo, but this is not a requirement. It can also be taken in its entirety in the audit version for free.
