If you didn’t know, Google currently offers a range of free and low-priced courses on Digital Marketing. These courses will teach you about all the core topics in the field. From taking your business online to content writing, SEO, and strategy building, you’ll learn almost everything you need to know to create the perfect marketing strategy. The course consists of 26 modules and a total of 40 learning hours. Like all online courses, you can complete it at your own pace. 

Even though the course is free, 40 hours is still 40 hours. And if you have a lot of things on your plate, it can take months before you can complete the course. So it’s natural to wonder whether it’s worth doing or just a total waste of time.

If you’re still on the fence about taking the course, no worries. In this post, we’ll explore the pros and cons of Digital Garage so you can gauge whether to enrol or not. Ready? Let’s dig in.

What is Google Digital Garage?

Google Digital Garage is an online learning forum that Google launched in 2015. It provides free or low-cost training, courses, and certifications that prepare you for a career, business, or entrepreneurship. You can choose a course you like and learn it on your schedule. 

Aside from the courses, Google Digital Garage also offers live training sessions and lessons on how you can learn to use tools that will help you communicate more effectively online.

Course prices range from being free to averaging under $10. Other courses range from $200-$3000 depending on the kind of certification you’re getting. The platform provides 39 qualifications, the most popular of which are Digital Marketing, Fundamentals of Digital Marketing, and the Fundamentals of Digital Marketing certificate.

No matter what your education or skill level is, you can put these courses to good use on your CV. Courses are endorsed by industry and experts, so you’ll be getting a certification that matters when it comes to the job market.

The Digital Garage offers courses to enhance your career, learn marketing, or get into data or tech.

What Can You Learn From It?

The course Fundamentals of Digital Marketing is a comprehensive plan of study that has been approved and endorsed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau Europe and The Open University. The curriculum consists of 26 modules with 106 lectures. The lectures are divided into 7 sections as listed below:

• Take a Business Online
• Make it easy for people to find a business on the web
• Reach more people locally, on social media, or on mobile
• Reach more customers with advertising
• Track and measure web traffic
• Sell products or services online
• Take a business globally

These sections deal with concepts like establishing your online presence, developing your online and social media marketing strategy, concepts about online advertising, working with content marketing, concepts like SEO and PPC, working with web analytics, and going international with your business.

Each section consists of 1-7 modules and short lectures that make the content easily palatable. The course lectures are structured with informative videos, interesting and engaging visuals (e.g. graphics), action items, knowledge checks, and short quizzes at the end of each section that make sure you’re paying attention and not getting bored. You can also read the video transcripts and make your notes from there.

Once you’re done with the course, you take an exam consisting of 40 questions and upon passing, you get a certificate with your name on it.

You also get a bunch of additional resources after completing the course to help you in your digital marketing journey. 

How Long Does It Take to Complete The Course?

Most of the modules in the Digital Marketing course can be completed in 30-40 minutes. The shortest module can take 15 minutes while the longest may take 70 minutes. In total, the course can take you around 40 hours to complete. You can approach the course at your own pace, spending about 15 minutes to half an hour every day or whenever it’s convenient for you.

Once you’ve completed the entire course, you have to take a 40-minute test after which you’ll get a certification. You can also skip lessons and just take the quizzes at the end of each module, and the final exam, if you feel that you know enough and just need the certificate.

Benefits of a Google Digital Marketing Certification

If you’re wondering whether spending your precious time on a Google Digital Market Certification is worth it, we want to tell you that it is. Here are some reasons why:

1. It’s Free!

You get to access a wealth of information for absolutely no price at all! Learn about topics like SEO, analytics, and online advertising in a short course and get a certificate at the end, free of cost.

2. Enhances your CV/Resume

We all want a resume that shows our experience with our preferred field. With these courses, you get to add a certificate to your CV which also automatically improves your achievement with LinkedIn. And you can apply to better jobs in the industry since these Google courses are endorsed by professionals and experts. 

3. It’s Different from the Traditional Topics

Pursuing a marketing degree at University might teach you traditional topics, but the world is quickly moving towards the online sphere today. You’ll end up learning more in this 40-hour course about contemporary practices in online marketing than with a 4-year marketing degree.

4. Anyone Can Benefit from the Course

Whether you’re just starting in the field of Marketing or have been here for some time, taking this course will teach you a bunch of relevant stuff for you to excel in the marketing field.

5. It’s a Refreshing Way to Learn

This course doesn’t involve your typical monotonous lectures that seem to go on forever. The modules incorporate visuals like animations, graphs, and quizzes to keep you focused and interested. 

6. Personalization

You can add a personal touch by selecting and registering for courses you’re interested in pursuing.

7. Flexibility

Since these courses are available online, you can watch them at your own pace. Whether you set aside half an hour every day or work at a stretch for several hours, you get to complete the courses keeping your schedule and priorities in mind.

The course will prepare you adequately for a job in any of the fields of Digital Marketing, Content Strategy, SEO, social media management, marketing and paid ads management, and partnership marketing.

Are There Any Disadvantages?

There are a few disadvantages that come with the online learning aspect of these courses. 

1. Not the same as Classroom Training

Classroom learning has a bit of an advantage over online learning. Classroom environments are more interactive since you’re in the same room with the lecturer and issues like connectivity problems don’t exist.

2. Requires self-discipline

The drawback of being able to pursue courses at your own pace is that you might never finish one. Without external deadlines, a lot more motivation is required to complete your work. You’d have to impose a schedule on yourself to make sure you do!

How to Sign Up For The Course?

To get started with Digital Garage you need to sign up/register first. Click on the Sign In button on the top right of the screen if you already have an account. If you don’t, click the Register button.

You could also click the Get Started button to go directly to the course list. Apply the filters you 

need e.g. the course category or duration to pinpoint the course you want:

When you select the course you need, you’ll be asked to sign up/sign in.

If you click the Register button, you can choose to sign up either with your Google account or with another email: 

After you select your course(s), you can track how much you’ve progressed based on the unlocked badges or the % of the course completed. You can also download your certificate after you’re done with the course. 

And that’s it! Now you can get started on your favourite courses.

Bottomline

Whether you’re looking to build on your digital marketing basics, improve your resume for the job market, or get a headstart in your new business–Google’s Digital Garage offers a learning experience perfect for you. With its stimulating visual lectures and self-paced flow, you get to cover courses at a speed comfortable for you. 

With the COVID situation these days, most learning and jobs have moved online. The same case is with the marketing industry. With this online certification, you can apply for digital marketing jobs online with different companies.

With these credentials, you could potentially end up with better job prospects and higher salaries, especially when guided by a digital marketing mentor who can provide tailored advice and insights. If you’re looking to develop a business of your own, you’ll get the necessary tips you need to know in order to formulate your own marketing strategy. We hope this overview of the Digital Garage platform gives you some insight into how its courses work.

If you have questions, don’t hesitate to leave them in the comments below. If this guide was helpful, do share it with your friends. Have fun learning!

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What is Animation?

Animation is said to be a robust tool through which the course providers can easily grab the attention of the learners and also help in increasing the retention level. It is said that our brain can remember a picture or video for about 3 months or more and can retain the text for not more than 3 days. With animation, the retention capacity of the brain can be improved so that things can be remembered for a lifetime.

Animation in online courses is gaining momentum as they can communicate, enlighten, amuse, provoke, and teach in an appealing manner. Thus, many business leaders, government organizations, and educators are pairing their online courses with animation so as to simplify the entire learning process. 

In this highly busy world, people are looking for shortcuts and opt for those online courses that are appealing and can be easily retained. Hence, it has become essentially important to disseminate your online courses through animation so that your learners enjoy learning and can retain the teaching for a longer period of time. Continue reading to explore the reasons why you should modernize your online courses with animation.

Adds Life into Your Content

Animation has that ‘X’ factor that can add life to your content when used aptly. The learners love to go through engaging content instead of those plain boring texts. The content when integrated with graphics, visuals, and images transforms the overall learning process into an effective one that would be preferred and absorbed more by the learners. When content is presented visually before the learners, they find themselves more engaged and grasp the information quickly. 

Sets Tone

Animation in online courses can prove to be a powerful tone-setter throughout the course. Animations when created with sonic medium and visuals can embody different emotions, thereby empowering and enticing the learners. With animation, you can connect well with the emotions of your learners and motivate them to learn. 

An engaging and fun-filled animation helps you in setting the tone for your online course. If your learners start losing focus while going through the online sessions, then a catchy animation can grab their attention back and generate again the zeal to learn in them.

Positive Attitude Created Towards Upcoming Training

When your targeted learners and employees find that the online training provided by you is appealing and informative, they will comprehend the information with more interest and will eagerly wait for your future training sessions. With animation, you can enhance the entire training experience.

Simplifies Complex Data

The animators create animation with several engaging visual elements that present complex data in an uncomplicated manner to the learners enabling them to interpret and grasp complex terms and functions with ease and rapidly. Animations are being integrated extensively into several production and manufacturing industries to train their workforce. For example, in a paper cup manufacturing industry, with animated online courses, the trainees can find out how to start and operate the paper cup manufacturing machines securely.

Secures Attention

Every businessman would want his online course to grab the learner’s complete attention. The learning provided through traditional methods might not grab the attention of all the targeted learners. Animation integrated online courses can help them achieve the desired results. Animation can generate learners’ interest through its visually appealing graphics, pictures, and videos. This is the reason why the maximum number of online course providers makes use of interactive animations so that learners pay complete attention. Animation helps in securing the attention of the learners for longer time periods and in conveying the message vividly.

Explains Large Content Quickly

Complex subjects often take plenty of time and it becomes difficult to grasp them quickly. When combining audio narrations with powerful visuals and graphics, large and complex contents can be explained quickly. Through online courses modernized with animation, you can teach complex subjects with lucidity and rapidly.

Great learning mechanism

Unlike traditional online teaching methods, animated programs guarantee a great learning mechanism. The multi-sensory learning experience involves narratives, images, visuals, and a lot more. Animation enables the learners to understand the course with ease in an engaging and interesting manner. Other than this, even difficult subjects can be explained by you to your learners with ease.

Makes Learning Entertaining

Interpreting complicated lessons to the learners is a very challenging task. Animated characters can be used for making the learning silly and entertaining for the learners. With animated characters, you can simplify the entire learning process and can give comedic relief to the lengthy and boring training sessions. When the learners watch such types of unique animation, they can focus more and relate to the topic and there is a high probability that they will recall the learning even after the training has been completed.

Demonstrates the Course Visually

With animation, you can demonstrate your subject visually. If your online course demands practical demonstrations to explain a particular task or function, then animation is the best tool that you can use. Demonstrating the process throughout the session becomes much easier with animation. The animation can be paused in between and can be viewed again and aging to understand the procedure properly. Visually demonstrated online courses strengthen the entire learning process.

Easy to Understand

Animation breaks down the entire training session into smaller segments, permitting the modern and busy corporate learners to digest their course data from any place and any time. 

With animations, static graphics can be made more understandable and relatable. Customized animation provides an optimal learning environment for learners. The animation is quirky and entertaining only when it is designed particularly with the theme in mind.

Summing Up

Animation enhances as well as guides online courses in numerous ways. Educational animation has been considered the most powerful tool through which learning audiences can be communicated and engaged. In comparison to those traditional teaching via plain texts, animation in online courses create accessibility and interactivity in learning. Hence, modernize your online courses with animation to make the learning interesting and entertaining. You can go for online course registration and learn new and amazing things.

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Transitioning to remote work can be a difficult process for some of us. It takes quite a lot of dedication to learn how to effectively manage your time and stay on task. Additionally, certain types of remote positions will require refined skill sets. There are many valuable skills that remote employees can learn to help them perform on the job, find new clients, and maintain productivity. Many companies have created courses specific to developing personal skill sets such as these to allow remote employees to further their careers. Below, we’ve outlined some of the best online resources for remote work courses.

Search Remotely’s Online Learning Database

Search Remotely offers hundreds of online courses for remote work that allow learners to improve their skills and further their careers. The courses listed on their website come from many different online learning platforms. This makes it easy for learners to find a learning method that works for them. Additionally, it gives them access to courses that target specific fields of interest for positions with available remote work opportunities.

edX Learning

edX provides learners with a comprehensive platform that features thousands of online courses. The course material is designed and taught by professors and industry professionals from top universities and employers around the world. Many of these courses are high-level colleges and provide learners with foundational skills that they continue to build upon over a specified course curriculum.

This is a great tool for remote workers who wish to learn technical skills from the comfort of their homes. The courses on this website are well-respected by employers and help remote employees build a comprehensive professional resume to further their careers.

LinkedIn Learning Platform

LinkedIn is well-known for its dedication to connecting potential employees with a variety of workplace connections and resources. For remote workers, the skills offered through LinkedIn Learning can help you grow and develop the skills you need to start your remote career. With thousands of courses to choose from, you’ll be able to find a topic that you’ve always wanted to learn and work towards course completion at your own pace.

Hundreds of different courses included on this platform apply directly to remote working. Individuals can provide services such as coding, creative design, project management, product analysis, and customer service from the comfort of their homes. The skills needed to complete these jobs are accessible through the courses provided by LinkedIn.

Conclusion

While many individuals feel that they are incapable of taking on a career due to the skills that are required to succeed in remote fields, there are plenty of remote tools available to help learners make career changes and advance in their desired field. Learners now can take courses at their own pace and learn valuable skills.

Keep in mind, as well, that the majority of these courses are free or offer financial aid programs for certificates of completion. Learners can provide proof of completion to employers, further building their resumes and enhancing their professional skill sets.

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Besides, everyone knows that traditional, onsite education is still fighting back inevitable social changes online study has bright to surface. Moreover, just like quality online study, it remains commercial. Which option should you choose when money is involved? A realistic answer will mostly depend on the skills you are trying to acquire, as well as your lifestyle. Not to bury the lead: it’s more than possible to learn pretty much anything you need to learn with the help of online study tools. You have to understand the underlying logic of distance learning (as opposed to traditional education) and carefully use all the benefits online study can offer. Let us get started.

Online Study Pros and Cons

To make the most of an online study skills course, you should be aware of the benefits and pitfalls of remote education. Then you will be able to make the most of the first ones and avoid the second ones.

One of the primary advantages of online study skills class — virtually ANY type — is that it allows students to study in their own place. It is a perfect opportunity for adult learners who have to combine education, work, and family life — along with personal development. No wonder a working mom would sooner search for the best yoga DVD than commit to visiting a gym.

Besides, online study is usually more affordable than traditional classes. Even in a yoga course, it is cheaper to pay for DVD rather than commit to a full-time gym membership. Try to consider the associated costs of visiting a gym – gas and time to get there. You will see that online study saves not only your time but also money. There are many websites where you can teach as well as study online.

Similar logic applies to most online classes —from Photoshop tutorials to computer programming online courses. Also, even though many people claim that online study is not formal education, there are plenty of free online study courses with certificates after completion. And, many reputable online documents can be considered diplomas of sorts. More importantly, many companies will see this online diploma as proof of a candidate’s eligibility.

You can recall that most present-day professional niches (especially new professions in the IT-sphere) are not too interested in the applicant’s diplomas and rewards. What they are looking for is the actual ability to do the job. Therefore, once again — in terms of credentials, some of the best online courses are not inferior to formal education.

Still, even the best online study sites have their limitations. The absence of a regular teacher is one of them. Even though some platforms may assign you a regular tutor, most of them will redirect any questions you have to relevant professionals. Instead of having just one teacher (with just one professional perspective), students get a chance to consult multiple professionals. It is an excellent way of sharpening their skills to utter perfection.

However, the biggest challenge of study at your own pace online education is discipline and organization. While most traditional forms of learning will set rigid deadlines on their courses, online classes do not feature that ‘tough love’ kind of motivation. What can seem as a plus often turns into a minus (especially for people who lack self-discipline)?

Traditional Study Pros and Cons

Considering all we have mentioned above, it is evident that the biggest benefit of traditional education is control over the whole process. The most significant disadvantages of regular classes are the absence of flexibility and high learning costs. Still, it is never as simple as that.

On the other hand, formal education is a massive, cumbersome machine that takes time, initiative, and money whenever the slightest change is concerned. Simply put, legal institutions are slow to adjust to new techniques and — sadly — even knowledge. Formal onsite classes can be a good fit for some traditional jobs that have existed for a long time. However, they also barely cover the needs of developing professions (for example, innovative IT spheres).

So, we’re back to where we started. The choice between online and onsite education will depend on your goals and expectations from a class. If you acquire new skills for yourself, master a new hobby, or learn something for fun — an online course is a better idea. If however, you need the qualifications for a job, the answer will depend on the actual position and its requirements. Your age and personality also play a massive part in this decision. Overall, online education is better suited for independent adults who can manage their time and effort. Formal classes are more suitable for younger students who are still mastering necessary time-management skills.

Succeeding as an Online Learner: Main Tips

Suppose you do want to take an online course and — more importantly — succeed in it. How to study online so that your time and money would not be wasted? The following tips are just the tip of the iceberg, but they should help.

• Be consistent: consistency is the key to effective online study. For starters, you will need an adequate online study planner. It will make sure you do not fall behind your studies — for a start, choose at least a couple of study planners that would work for you. This little trick will give you a chance to implement some of the traditional classroom controls to your online courses.
  
• Set adequate milestones: most formal classes last a fixed period, so setting deadlines when studying online is always a good idea. The trick is to make them adequate and realistic, tailored to your lifestyle and learning pace.
  
• Do not stop at the top: the most reputable programs will offer you all the online study guides you need. Still, your education and career are in your own hands, so feel free to explore any other resources on our path to self-improvement. After all, that is what online study is really about.

Which do you think is the superior — formal or online study? Do you think online classes will one day replace traditional classrooms?

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