Top 15 Online Content Writing Courses (Free & Paid) Certification

Confused between a myriad of online content writing courses? Just need a certification? Read this article and compare.

Online content writing courses and certifications make it easier to land a content writing job. Certifications add trust and credibility to the resume of dithe candidate, especially freshers. Because freshers have no work experience and therefore no way to show that they are qualified for the content writing job.

Content writing professionals who have experience in the industry can show their portfolios when they look for new jobs. Their work is their source of credibility. It speaks for itself.

Not with freshers. New professionals who want to begin a career in content writing will need to work at internships and get content writing certifications before they can go looking for a job. Even after completing the course, there is a lot to learn for them and the learning phase is far from over.

Why online content writing courses?

Online content writing courses offer many benefits over a classroom content writing course.

With online content writing courses, students have so many options. They can choose among hundreds of courses and see which ones meet their requirements. Some students may prefer a course with a focus on creative writing while others may prefer a course that teaches business writing.

The requirements of students may change according to their career goals. If they want ot keep working as a content writing freelancer or start a content writing agency down the road, a content writing course with a business approach may be a better option.

For writers, who secretly cherish the dream of writing fiction someday, a content writing course that teaches creative writing is a better choice.

Most popular online content writing courses have a curriculum that is standard and updated. Since all online courses are rated and reviewed publicly, they need to offer the best and the latest information. Disgruntled customers may write negative reviews, and even one may hurt their reputation.

The online courses sphere is much more competitive than local classroom courses. In order to survive as a product, the course must offer the highest quality and value to the user. Because users can easily compare with other courses and reputation matter more online because word gets around faster.

Online courses also have many other benefits. Students do not need to commute to their classes which might be far-off or in a different part of the city. Especially for students who live in small towns who have few options for a quality course, they can enroll in online content writing courses and get a certification.

Online courses also mean savings. Most online courses on content writing are much cheaper than classroom courses at local academic institutions. At platforms like Udemy and Coursera, students can get heavy discounts. LinkedIn offers a one-month subscription to LinkedIn Learning absolutely free.

With online content writing courses, students can learn at their own pace. Unlike classroom courses, where they get left behind if they miss a class, here students can revisit one lecture as many times as they want.

Online classes are also free of disturbance. There are many people who feel distracted by a group of people and cannot focus. Online content writing certification classes provide undivided attention. The student can feel relaxed as the instructor explains the concepts.

Online courses are a boon for working professionals.

This is because most classroom courses are either organized on weekdays or weekends. But all of them are conducted during the day or during evening hours. This makes it impossible for working professionals to attend these classes since they have very little free time.

But with online courses, working professionals can study as and when they prefer. They can put in more hours on a weekend and give only an hour on weekdays. They can catch up on a holiday if they missed some lessons.

The same goes for students. They can learn their lessons after class or on weekends when there are fewer responsibilities.

Online content writing certifications are, in general, more recognized than classroom courses. The courses mentioned in this article are some of the most widely recognized online content writing courses.

Many of them are provided by renowned authors and prestigious institutions like Harvard and the University of California.

With online courses, students also get continued access to course material. This can help them review the course even when it has ended. This is often a useful feature since professionals sometimes need to brush up their concepts even after a few months or years at work.

These are some of the courses of content writing available online. Every course provides content writing certification on successful completion.

Some courses are focused on business writing and learning the technicalities of SEO and content marketing. Others are inclined towards creative writing and using those principles to create engaging content that readers would love.

1. IIM SKILLS Content Writing Course

The IIM SKILLS course is one of the most renowned online content writing courses. They have trained more than 35000+ professionals in over 35 countries. Their online courses in content writing and digital marketing are recognized by the industry.

• 1-month course duration
• Practical oriented
• Real-world case studies

Case Studies

Internship and Placement Assistance

The faculty at IIM SKILLS has more than a decade of experience in digital marketing. The students also get internship opportunities and placement assistance after course completion.

Lifetime Access

Students get lifetime access to the course material. They also receive the updated material if the course gets revised later. Students can book a free demo class by contacting the institute.

Practical Course

This is a practical-oriented course where students learn the skills of content writing from live projects and real brand case studies. The course believes that students learn better in a practical environment rather than just memorizing theory.

Here’s a video that you can go through for better and detailed overview of the content writing course by IIM SKILLS

2. University of California – UC Davis / COURSERA

Content Marketing – Certification Course

This is a content marketing certification course offered by UC Davis in collaboration with Copyblogger. It is offered on the Coursera platform. The instructor of the course is Sonia Simone who is the Chief Content Officer at Rainmaker Digital.

• More than 41,000 students have enrolled in this course.
• Course duration: 5 weeks

The course explains in detail branding and developing a personal or business brand through content marketing. The student will learn about the various structure and frameworks of written content. They will also learn target audience identification and segmentation and implementing targeted promotional campaigns to generate quality leads.

The course can be taken at the pace of the learner. Periodic quizzes and assignments help grade the performance of the student and promote participation.

Students learn skills like writing effective copy, develop a content strategy, building buyer persona, marketing for customer acquisition and retention, and build a strong brand.

3. Ninja Writing: Content Writing Mastery / UDEMY

This bundle of courses aims to transform the student into a master of writing by the end of the course. The student can learn how to create a spellbinding effect on their writing and increase user engagement.

• 4-hour course duration
• Rated 4.4/5

The course divides learning writing into 4 parts: the narrative, paragraphs, sentences, and words. It explains and elaborates on each one in a separate course inside this bundle.

Then it moves on to creating marketing messages and ad copy. Students learn how to write for a blog, and build a brand.

The bundle has 50 lectures and 11 downloadable resources. Students also get lifetime access to the course material once they finish the course.

Recommended Read: Digital Marketing Courses in Bareilly 

4. Wesleyan / COURSERA on Creative writing

This course specializes in the aspects of creative writing. These include writing a short story, memoir, and ebooks. Content writers can use this course to insert features of creative writing into their content to make it more meaningful and interesting.

The course teaches characterization, plot crafting, narration, and developing your own style of writing. The course has been designed as per the requirements of a new writer so that everyone can understand the basic concepts of writing.

• Rated 4.7 out of 5 by more than 6300 students

At the end of the course, the candidate is required to submit an essay that is peer-reviewed. After this course, the students will be able to incorporate aspects of storytelling into their writing and deliver more value to the brand through creative marketing communication.

Recommended For Online Marketers – Digital Marketing Courses In Delhi 

5. Writing Tools & Hacks / UDEMY

This course is especially great because it introduces students to many writing tools and how to use them. This way students keep improving even much after the course has finished.

The instructor is a professional content writer. The tools introduced help in improving writing as well as generating ideas for content, writing a persuasive piece of content, creating viral headlines, and content planning and strategy.

• 1.5 hrs course duration
• Rated 4.3 / 5
• Taken by more than 13,000 students

The course involves 32 lectures, 1 reading material, and 4 downloadable resources. All students get full lifetime access to all the course material.

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6. Northwestern University / COURSERA

Content Strategy for Professionals

This is a great course for anyone whose work involves generating lots of ideas. This course helps the candidate develop a process for developing great ideas consistently for whatever purpose or target market.

Students also learn how to captivate the interest of the user immediately with the help of various tips and techniques. They also learn to use tools that help in curating content.

The lessons learned in this course can be applied in any creative field for idea generation. The course also assists students in generating content that evokes an emotional response from the user. This will help in building a better connection with the audience.

• 4-month course duration
• Rated 4.6 / 5

The course teaches content marketing strategies to generate more impact and reach a broader audience. The students learn what makes content viral and learn how to recreate the effect using the principles of virality. The students also enhance user engagement through aspects of storytelling.

Go through our compilation of the best digital marketing courses in Gujarat to have a fair idea of what topics are covered in online marketing.

7. Content Marketing Masterclass / UDEMY

This content marketing masterclass is taught by entrepreneur Brad Merrill who is the CEO of Merrill Media. The course teaches every skill that comes under the craft of content marketing. Students will learn everything from writing great content to generating brand visibility, getting traffic to the website, and content promotion.

They will learn various techniques of content promotion like email marketing, social media marketing, SEO best practices, and content campaigns to develop a brand.

• 3.5 hours course duration
• Rated 4.5 / 5

The instructor has helped many companies develop a successful content marketing strategy and witness positive results.

The students learn by studying what kind of content works for what purposes. They also learn to repurpose existing content to suit a better strategy and increase conversions. They learn the concept of the sales funnel and better market identification.

Students also learn to use analytics tools to generate actionable insights and optimize strategy and campaigns.

Recommended: Top Digital Marketing Courses in Hyderabad

8. Copywriting secrets – How to write copy that sells / UDEMY

This course is focused on teaching students how to create effective copy. The course instructor is Len Smith, who has over 20 years of experience in copywriting. He has taught over 100,000 students in gaining expertise in the skill of copywriting.

Learning how to write a great copy is essential in content writing. It can be used to generate captivating headlines. It can be used in making social media posts that go viral. Its principles can also be used in writing compelling content.

• 3 hours course duration
• Rated 4.4 / 5

In this course, students will learn the role of emotions in creating content that gets much higher user engagement. They also learn some time-tested techniques that increase the conversion ratio. Students will also learn how to communicate while working for B2B brands.

Students can learn to identify their own voice and their own style of writing. This will help them stand out amidst the competition.

You may consider reading about Content Writing Courses in Chennai.

9. Hubspot content marketing certification

This is a popular content writing certification course that is widely recognized. It is completely free to learn and get certified. Anyone who is interested in content marketing or wants to update their content writing skills can easily learn from this course.

The course contains 52 videos and covers 12 concepts. It has a quiz after each section to judge the grasp of concepts by the student.

• 6 hours course duration
• Rated 4.4 / 5

This course helps students understand various stages of content writing workflow. They learn content planning, strategy, research, writing, optimizing, editing, and publishing the content. They also learn how to modify content as per the requirements and tastes of the target audience.

Students learn the concepts of SEO in detail. They also learn how to perform an SEO audit and repurposing the content. Students also learn how to have a system for consistent generation of content ideas.

10. Content Marketing Courses Online / LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn started out as a networking platform for professionals and businesses. But later it began to offer professional courses in various disciplines by determining market requirements. Today, it has a collection of about 5000 courses and provides course recommendations for all its users.

LinkedIn Learning has various courses in skills required for content marketing like social media, podcasting, email, newsletters, SEO, PPC, and more. It also provides a recognized certification which the student can list in their LinkedIn profile, along with their work experience.

• Self-paced course
• Rated 4.6 / 5

LinkedIn Learning membership is free for the first month. If the student keeps learning, there is a small monthly subscription fee.

11. Writing With Flair / UDEMY

Writing With Flair: How To Become An Exceptional Writer

This is a great course for general writing skills that can be applied across all forms of writing. The course instructor is Shani Raja, who is a top educator at Udemy courses. This course is designed to teach students the fundamentals as well as advanced techniques of content writing.

• Self-paced course
• Rated 4.4 / 5

The course has been taken by more than 60,000 people. It is one of the most popular and in-demand content writing courses online. Students have rated it highly.

The course teaches students how to convey the necessary information while keeping it simple. It focuses on writing high-quality content without making the reader confused. It provides tips to improve writing skills that can be worked upon even after the course ends.

It teaches students how to handle professional blogs and introduces them to the content writing workflow.

12. Creative Writing by Margaret Atwood / MASTERCLASS

Margaret Atwood is a renowned writer and poet and the famed author of ‘The handmaid’s tale’. In this masterclass course, she teaches her lessons on writing. The course is about fiction writing but the lessons can be used to create powerful content. This will help the writer captivate the attention of the reader.

The course teaches students how to use their imagination to produce better ideas. Then these ideas to deliver value and help the reader. The course involves assignments and study materials.

• Self-paced course
• Rated 4.8 / 5

Students can learn to use the principles of storytelling to make their content stand out. This will become an extremely necessary skill as more and more businesses sprout up online.

13. Business writing by UC Berkeley / edX

This is a course brought by the University of California Berkeley in collaboration with the learning platform edX. It teaches students the fundamentals of writing for businesses. Content writing is after all done for brands and content writers, even after exercising some creative freedom, have to maintain brand image and a tone of voice.

The course instructors are Margaret Steen ( M.J., UC Berkeley) and Tim Peters (B.S., M.A., Lead Content Strategist, Tata Consultancy Services).

• 3-month course duration ( 5 hours per week)
• Instructor-led course

In this course, there are multiple sections, each teaching one skill. The skills include the writing process, business writing, social media posting, and professional outlook for content writing.

Students will learn corporate communication, writing effective letters, memos, press releases, communication strategies, and information organization.

14. Rhetoric: The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking by HARVARD | edX

The course is conducted by the prestigious Harvard University in collaboration with edX. The course is free to take but certification in writing will cost. The course instructor is James Engell  who is Gurney Professor of English and Professor of Comparative Literature at the
Harvard University.

• 8-week course duration at 3 hours per week
• Free to learn, certification will cost

The course teaches how content writers can use various rhetoric tools to improve their impact on the reader. They will also learn persuasive writing which will eventually help in hooking the user for more time on the content.

This course is especially helpful for writers who write opinion blogs and have an argumentative style of writing. It helps weigh different sides of an issue and arrive at a reasonable conclusion.

15. Skillshare online creative writing bundle

Skillshare is a learning website containing courses from thousands of content creators and experts. It provides great value especially in course bundles like these.

Skillshare provides a creative writing course bundle that is absolutely free for the first month for anyone who wants to learn the fundamentals of writing. It is a great resource for aspiring writers but is also suitable for experienced writers willing to revisit the latest concepts of content writing.

• The course is rated 4.7/5
• Is free for the first month

Students learn the art of compelling writing by creating great headlines and ad copy.

FAQs

Q. Which online course is best for content writing?

Ans- There are several institutes offering content writing courses online, however, considering the reviews and ratings of the courses it appears that IIM SKILLS is the best content writing course online.

Q. How can I learn content writing at home?

Ans- There are several online content writing courses you can consider for learning content writing from home. You may also learn through the internet for free.

Q. How to start content writing?

Ans- You’ll have to start with small assignments and rather write on public platforms like Quora, medium, and more.

SUMMARY

As you can see, there a bunch of content writing courses online with certifications. All these courses are great but fulfill different requirements.

Students need to choose a course that not only fulfills their needs but also holds value for gaining content marketing jobs in the place they want to work.

All these courses provide online content writing certification. Some of them are free while some are paid. In most courses, students can avail themselves of discounts.

If the students wish to work on creative writing or as a copywriter, a creative content writing course is a better fit for them. On the other hand, if they wish to be a content writer writing blog content for businesses, press releases, email, etc. may feel that a business writing course is a better fit.

We hope this article, helped you in making a comparison between different online content writing courses. Now you can choose one that suits your needs.