How many of you are considering buying a course to further your blogging or social media journey?

You read about all these wonderful bloggers who make tons of money through blogging or generate ad revenue in the thousands each month and think, “Hey, I want that!”

If you hang out in Facebook groups for bloggers (like I do), you’d have come across some bloggers mentioning how fabulous a particular course is or how a course helped them find what they were seeking on their growth path.

Now, bear in mind that the really meaty content which will help you grow as a blogger will be found in a paid blogging course.

Read this: 6 Things to Ask When you want to Buy a Blogging Course

But, if you don’t have the budget or the funds when you’re just starting out, here are some great free blogging courses that I recommend for you.

Depending on which stage of the blogging journey you’re on, this is what I suggest. Don’t dive into all these courses right away.

They can be overwhelming and you’d be frustrated before you got even halfway through the courses.

Instead, pick one of the topics below and focus only on that for the next 90 days.

Why 90 days?

Because it’s short enough to be manageable and long enough to give you a clear idea on how to proceed with your blog.

As you can see, I have sorted them into the following categories. Choose only those courses that align with your current 90-day goal.

Want tips on choosing your 90-day goal? Here you go:

*If you are an absolute beginner, go with the ‘Start a Blog’ courses followed by those on Pinterest and branding.

*If you’ve been blogging for a while and would like more traffic, focus on those courses that are about Pinterest, blog traffic and SEO strategies.

*If you’re already comfortable with all those things but would like to make serious money from the blog, aim for SEO, e-mail marketing and affiliate marketing courses.

You’d notice that I have ordered the free courses below in that sequence too.

This post contains Referral/Affiliate links. What that means is if you click on some of the links and make a purchase, I get a commission at no extra cost to you. Read my complete disclosure policy here.

Start a Blog (11 Courses)

How to start a Money making blog by Cate Rosales (Sweet and Simple Life)

I really love this course since it completely lays the groundwork for beginner bloggers.

It’s great when the course creator doesn’t assume that a blogger will automatically know something; instead, Cate breaks it down to make it easy to understand for complete non-tech bloggers.

From explaining what a domain is to how you should choose a niche, it is a fabulous step-by-step approach every beginner would love.

Sign up for it here: How to Start a Money-Making Blog: FREE 5-Day Challenge

How to start a Profitable Blog by Carly Campbell (Mommy on Purpose)

Been around the blogosphere even for a month? You’ve probably heard of Carly Campbell.

In her emails, her Facebook group and of course, her courses, Carly does one thing that very few bloggers do: Tell you what it REALLY means to build a profitable blog; how many hours it takes, how much work you should put in and when you can expect results.

Sign up for it here: Starting a Profitable Blog & How to work from home

Profitable Blogging Roadmap by Tracie Fobes (Tracie Fobes)

I came across Tracie in another blogging group on Facebook and was blown away by the depth of her knowledge.

It didn’t take me too long to sign up for her e-mail newsletter and join her own Facebook group. It’s done wonders for my networking too.

This course, by Tracie, is particularly great if you’re struggling with basics like how to pick a niche or are just confused on what you should blog about.

Plus, she mentions the nitty-gritty such as how to choose a domain, how to buy hosting and how to set up Google Analytics, all on your own! It’s fantastic.

Sign up for it here: Profitable Blogging Roadmap: Everything you need to know about starting a Blog

How to Start a Blog by Chelsea Clarke (Her Paper Route)

Chelsea Clarke is someone I came across in October of 2018, when I bought the Genius Bloggers Toolkit.

Her course on Social media marketing was included in that and I was amazed at the amount of information she packed into it!

This free course on how to start a blog also includes specific tips on how to set up your blog using 3 different hosting providers.

Sign up for it here: How to Start a Blog: The Right Way, so it can be monetized

How to start a Money-Making Blog by Nataly Llanes (Love & Paper Flowers)

If you’d rather do a start-your-blog course via e-mail, this one by Nataly Llanes is what you need.

It’s a step-by-step course delivered directly to your inbox, over 7 days.

Sign up here: How to start a money-making blog (E-mail course)

How to start a Blog by Amy Lynn Andrews

Are you very tentative about e-mail courses or even access-based courses? This one by Amy Lynn Andrews is perfect for you.

It’s an in-depth blog post that covers everything you need to know about setting up a blog from scratch.

Read it here: How to start a blog (to make money or otherwise)

The First Month Blog Plan by Suzi Whitford (Start a Mom Blog)

Many bloggers get overwhelmed by the amount of information that they are exposed to on the internet. What should they focus on first, as a blogger?

In this concise and specific blog plan, Suzi lays out 31 tasks for your first month of blogging.

Follow it to the T and you’d be surprised how much better you feel about the whole blogging business.

Sign up here: Your Free First Month Blog Plan

Blogging for New Bloggers (Tiny Love Bug)

Known for their lifestyle blog at first, Tiny Love Bug has since morphed into one of the most profitable blogging advice blogs on the interwebs.

Take this free 5-day email course by Lucrezia of Tiny Love Bug and Blogging for New Bloggers and join their massively supportive Facebook group to know more.

Take the course here: Blogging for New Bloggers

Get your Blog On by Girl Bosses Rock

If you’re the kind who does better with video tutorials, then this is the course I would recommend.

Personally, I love it when complex ideas are broken down into easy videos and a lot of my YouTube followers have said the same thing about my videos too!

Sign up for it here: Get Your Blog On (A complete guide with video tutorials)

How to Start a Blog by Jon Morrow

A lot of you would be familiar with Jon Morrow or the brain behind Smart Blogger.

In this massive and in-depth blog post, he covers everything from choosing a domain to setting up your blog for SEO and includes email marketing as well.

The good news is that this is a free course packaged in a blog post format. No sign up required to access the course.

Check out the post here: How to Start a Blog: Easy, Step by Step Guide

Legally Blogs by Lucrezia

This is the ONLY free legal course available for bloggers.

From learning how to set up your Disclosure page to creating a privacy policy, get all the details right here!

Take the free course by Lucrezia of Tiny Love Bug and Blogging for New Bloggers today!

Sign up now: Legally Blogs : Free Legal Course for Bloggers

Pinterest (4 Courses)

All set with setting up your blog? Great! Then it’s time to move on to phase 2 of your blogging education: Pinterest.

Pinterest is a gold mine for traffic and honestly, I would seriously recommend investing in a paid course to truly make the most of it.

For example, these two:

Pinteresting Strategies: The Manual Pinning Strategy that will skyrocket your Pinterest traffic by Carly Campbell

Lena Gott’s ‘Master Pinterest Keywords Tracking Spreadsheet’

But, I did promise you some free courses, so here they are.

Perfectly Pinteresting Pins by Carly Campbell

If you’re wondering if that course I mentioned above is worth it (It IS, I promise! 😀 ) I suggest you start with this free course from Carly Campbell.

She explains how to give your pins the boost they need and get them more visible on the platform and send more clicks to your site.

Sign up for it here: Perfectly Pinteresting Pins

Free Pinterest Course by Moms Make Cents

This free 6-day e-mail course goes into the how, why and what of setting up your Pinterest profile for maximum success.

Sign up for it here: Free Pinterest Course

Boost your Blog Traffic with Pinterest

This course by Cate Rosales of Sweet and Simple Life is hosted on the Teachable platform and can be done in a single sitting or spread out over 5 days.

I like some nifty tips she shares about using a Freebie offer in your bio. I’d never thought of that!

Check out the course here: Boost your Blog Traffic with Pinterest

Pinterest for New Bloggers

Again, this course by Marina of Blogging for New Bloggers and Tiny Love Bug is a direct-to-inbox course.

Check it out for some interesting tips on Pinterest and if you really like it, they have a premium version available.

Sign up for the course here: Pinterest Course by Tiny Love Bug

Design and Branding (2 Courses)

If we spoke about Pinterest, can design be far behind?

These two lovely free courses on design and branding will really help you make graphics for your blog and social media channels.

The good news? You don’t need a design background at all to learn from them!

Canva 2.0 Quick Start by Simplifying Diy Design

Don’t you just love Canva? It’s perfect for beginners and advanced users like.

Although I personally prefer Stencil over Canva for other reasons, the number of free templates that you can use on Canva has only improved over the last year or so.

Did you know that Canva went through an upgrade and has Canva 2.0 now?

Sign up for the course here: Canva 2.0 Quick Start

Graphic Design for the Beginner by Kristin (AppleCart Lane)

Kristin is simply out of this world when it comes to designing eye-popping pins!

Her pins and her clients all go on to get loads of traffic thanks to the variety and depth of design.

And yes, she IS a graphic designer but she breaks it down into super-simple tips that anyone can follow.

Grab her free course here: Graphic Design for the Beginner

Blog Traffic Growth (5 Courses)

Free 5-Day Traffic Challenge by Lena Gott

Lena Gott is one of the foremost authorities on learning how to scale a blog and drive tons of traffic its way.

Personally, I LOVED her Traffic Transformation guide and saw my traffic jump by 5000 extra page views in a comparative time frame!

But her mini course is equally worth it and hey, it’s free!

Sign up here: Free 5-Day Traffic Challenge by Lena Gott

Free Blog Traffic Bonus Guide by Lena Gott

These are some pretty nifty tips she shares about how to optimise your existing content to ensure you get more leverage!

Trust me, these tips are phenomenal.

Get it here: Free Blog Traffic Bonus Guide

The 12-Month Blog Plan by Suzi Whitford

Remember the 31 days of starting a blog I mentioned earlier?

Well, this free course takes care of you for an entire year.

Sign up here: The 12-Month Blog Plan

Blog Traffic Challenge by Ell Duclos

Ell Duclos is pretty famous on Pinterest for her striking and visually appealing pins.

They are the secret to driving some of her amazing blog traffic.

She shares some of those secrets in this free course.

Don’t miss the tips on cleaning up your blog and using social media as a powerful tool to drive traffic.

Learn them here: Blog Traffic Challenge

Niche Authority Hacker by Chelsea Clarke

Ever wondered how you can leverage different niches for better traffic?

What if your niche has a chance to succeed on a particular platform but you don’t know how to make it happen?

Chelsea explains all of that in this free course.

Pick it up here: How to brand yourself as the authority in your niche

SEO or Search Engine Optimisation (3 Courses)

I know a lot of bloggers get overwhelmed by SEO and steer clear of it because it seems just too hard to understand.

But here’s the thing. It’s actually pretty simple if you just follow some standard, simple practices.

Since you may be on a budget, how about starting with the free blogging courses on SEO below?

Free SEO E-mail Course by Debbie Gartner

You know how people call themselves fan girls of celebrities? Well, that’s me, with Debbie Gartner.

She gets over 500,000 page views a month and the majority of that is Google traffic. (Not kidding! 😀 )

Her two SEO e-books are absolutely spectacular when it comes to understanding Easy On-Page SEO and learning how to build backlinks.

Seriously, they are priced so reasonably that you shouldn’t think twice before buying them.

But if you want a free course, sign up for her e-mail series on SEO.

You won’t be disappointed.

Sign up here: Free SEO E-Mail Course by Debbie Gartner

Stupid Simple SEO Bootcamp by Mike Pearson

Honestly, if I had the funds right now, I’d jump into Mike’s advanced SEO course. It’s on my radar for the next 6 months.

But, just signing up for Mike’s Free SEO course and his newsletter will give you a keen insight into SEO the way nobody else can.

True to its name, he breaks down SEO into stupidly simple terms that you have these light-bulb moments that flash in your brain when you read them.

Get the course here: Stupid Simple SEO Bootcamp

SEO made simple by Chelsea Clarke

This free course by Chelsea goes into the idea of keyword research and a very interesting piece on writing SEO-friendly headlines.

Well worth your time to take this course.

Sign up here: SEO Made Simple

Email Marketing (2 Courses)

E-mail marketing is what I’d recommend after you’ve become a bit familiar with your blog, Pinterest and leveraging what your audience wants.

I know many other bloggers say that you should start building your e-mail list from Day 1, but honestly that’s a lot of pressure and a steep learning curve.

Instead, start with these two free courses to get a feel of how e-mail marketing can work to your advantage.

E-mail lists for Newbies by Meera Kothand

Meera is a veritable force in the field of e-mail marketing and I find her a very sane voice in the blogging space.

What particularly endeared me to her was her personal response to my e-mail when I tentatively sent out a query as I was launching my e-mail list.

That kind of attention? You learn that from her courses and books.

Start with her free course: E-mail Lists for Newbies

List Love by Jennifer Maker

I stumbled upon Jennifer Maker in Carly Campbell’s group and was intrigued by how many people recommended her e-mail list building course.

She grew her e-mail list to 80,000 subscribers in just over 2 years. That’s phenomenal!

I then quickly signed up for her free course and devoured it in a day.

It’s short but packed with valuable information.

See more right here: List Love: Introduction to List Building

Affiliate Marketing Course

Okay, you want to hear the truth?

If you want to make money from your blog, you have to spend some money to actually understand how affiliate marketing works.

Recommended reading: 6 Affiliate Marketing Tips for Beginners

But, assuming you want to start with a free course, you can try this one.

How to make your first Affiliate Sale by The She Approach

Ana Sauvica of the She Approach talks about how to grow your blog and monetize it because that’s precisely what she has done herself.

From a simple lifestyle blog she has published multiple e-books and launched affiliate courses successfully.

Enrol for the 5-day video course here: How to Make your first affiliate sale

Social Media (4 Courses)

If you’ve worked on all of the above courses and want to branch out into social media marketing, check out these courses below.

On the other hand if you’d rather focus on social media, because your audience is the most active on those platforms, start with these courses first.

How to get paid to Tweet by Saira Perl

Saira was again a blogger I found through the Genius Bloggers Toolkit and I couldn’t resist enrolling for her free Twitter course!

Considering I have my maximum number of followers on that platform, I am really keen to leverage it better in the future.

Sign up for the free course here: 7 Ways to Get Paid to Tweet

Free Instagram Crash Course by Aaron Ward

Want to grow your first 5000 followers organically?

Aaron Ward promises to make that happen.

Sign up here: Grow your Instagram

Improve your Instagram Engagement by Alex Tooby

Alex Tooby is someone who has grown her own following to over 400,000 engaged users on a platform that is notorious for unfollowing!

How does she keep people engaged?

Learn how she does that in this FREE Course.

Insta Strategy with Ell Duclos

Remember what I said about Ell and Pinterest?

Given that Instagram is an equally visual platform, you cannot afford to miss her tips in this course.

She demystifies everything from giveaways to feed aesthetics.

Enroll today in her free Insta Strategy Crash Course

If you enjoyed this list, you might like this list of blogging tools and courses that I use and recommend.

Overwhelmed by the number of blogging courses I’ve listed? Don’t be!

Just bookmark this article on your favourite bookmarking app or pin it on your Pinterest board on all things blogging.

That way, you can refer back to the list any time in the future.

Also, you want to hear a fun fact? I’ve subscribed to so many courses that I was finding it tough to keep track of them all, so this post is as much a reference list for me, as it is for you. 😉

So, which one of these have you tried and loved?

Drop me a line in the comments to let me know.

Shailaja V

Hi, I’m Shailaja, a blogger who’s been writing since 2007. My interests include books of all kinds, digital minimalism, veganism, health, nutrition, fitness and staying open to learning all the time. Welcome! Click here if you’d like an email when I publish new posts