The 10 Best Free Google Courses You Can Take Right Now
Introduction
Most folk use Google for minor day to day tasks, or to watch some cute cat videos, or to remind themselves of a word that is at the very tip of their tongue but not quite there. Google is also one of the biggest providers of free online courses with certificates that can enhance your skillset to an exemplary level, boost your resume and perhaps, if you play your cards right, boost your bank account too. It covers a wide variety of fields including but not limited to marketing, IT, data and even UX design. The best part is that these courses don’t cost a single cent.
Here are the 10 best courses that Google offers to its users.
1. Fundamentals of Digital Marketing (Google Digital Garage)
It is not far off to call this the “Google 101 for the internet”. This course covers knowledge on SEO, Social media marketing, email marketing, analytics basics and content strategy.
This course is extremely beginner friendly and totally free with a certificate at the end. This course is great for students, freelancers, small business etc. To top it off, it is also recognized worldwide.
2. Introduction to Digital Marketing (Skillshop)
This might sound the same as the Google Garage version, but they are slightly different. This course is more focused on how Google itself thinks about marketing. You’ll learn concepts on digital marketing, journeys of customers, how ads fit into user intent as well as measurement basics.
In other words, this course is shorter, sharper and relatively more strategy-focused while the previous one is a general overview which is tailor made for beginners.
3. Google Ads Search Certification (Skillshop)
This course is nothing short of liquid gold if you desire to learn how ads actually work inside Google. It teaches how search ads function, how keywords are used for targeting, bidding strategies, writing effective ad copy and measuring performance.
And of course, just like the rest, you will get a Google Ads Search Certificate once you pass.
This course matters a lot because business pay huge sums of money to people just to run ads properly. It has turned into a massive industry by its own right. Further on, it’ll also allow you to understand how money flows online. Building this skill will be extremely effective in the modern world and it’ll help you stop clicking random ads like a noob.
4. Google Ads Display Certification (Skillshop)
Search ads are text. Display ads, on the other hand, are banners, images and visuals that you see everywhere. This course covers a range of topics including display ad formats, audience targeting, remarketing (in other words, those ads that seem to follow you everywhere), and campaign optimization.
This course is extremely powerful, due to the same reasons mentioned above.
5. Google Ads Video Certification (Skillshop)
This is the world of YouTube Money. This course teaches you how to format video ads, YouTube advertising strategies, brand awareness campaigns as well as performance measurements.
Even if you don’t plan on running any ads of this sort, completing this course will help you understand why some videos go viral, how the attention industry operates online and how brands think when they implement their ad campaigns. This course will also be useful if you want to run a YouTube channel effectively and not cry later.
6. Google Analytics 4 (GA4) for Beginners (Analytics Academy)
Google Analytics is extremely important for websites. This course teaches how Google Analytics works, what users do on websites (in terms of analytics, of course), sources of traffic to websites, events, conversions as well as reports.
GA4 is the current version of this course, and it explains it slowly and intuitively. After the completion of this course, you will be able to understand those pie charts and bar graphs without panicking, comprehend “bounce rate” and “user behavior”.
7. Advanced Google Analytics (Analytics Academy)
This is pretty much the sequel to the GA4 course mentioned above. You will know how to perform advanced tracking, custom reports, segments and filters as well as deeper analysis techniques.
This course is for you if you already know the basics of Google Analytics. However, doing the GA4 course first is highly recommended even if you have a decent understanding of the subject matter. You will be able to make sound decisions using the data you plot.
8. Google Tag Manager Fundamentals (Analytics Academy)
Tag manager sounds like a rather sophisticated thing. It is to a certain extent.
Upon the completion of this course, you will have a complete understanding of what tags are, how tracking works without touching too many codes, as well as the sound management of analytics, ads and events in a fairly efficient manner.
This is useful because it saves time, reduces mistakes and gives you technical competence.
9. Google Cloud Digital Leader Training (Google Cloud Skills Boost)
This course is a non-technical introduction to cloud computing, which is a virtual entity in which many companies store their files and so on.
This course will teach you what cloud computing refers to, why so many companies as well as businesses use it for what can be considered hefty prices, basic services offered by Google Cloud to people and businesses alike and digital transformation concepts. No coding is required to understand the contents of this course.
10. Responsible AI: Applying AI Principles (Google)
This is possibly the most underrated, relevant and important course that is listed in this article.
This course covers what AI is (the real AI, not the AI in movies), bias in algorithms, how to design AI in an ethical way (so it doesn’t turn on us later) and how Google as well as similar companies approach responsibility and liability when it comes to AI.
This course is extremely important, especially in the modern world, since AI is everywhere, and a poorly managed AI (a bad AI) can cause real harm to real people, and understanding ethics makes you easier to navigate AI related instances in your future relatively comfortably.
Conclusion
In a global economy now increasingly digital, at a time when knowledge is the driver for progress, high-quality education is more than ever an essential channel for personal and professional development. Free courses offered directly by Google represent an important contribution in this respect: structured, relevant, and up-to-date learning opportunities can be accessed without financial barriers. These are structured programs not merely designed to introduce base foundational concepts but rather to reflect real-world practices with regard to current industry standards.