Are you looking for an online internet marketing training program? If so, then read on.
In this article, I will try to show you what should be included in a good internet marketing course and tell you what is the best training I have found.
What’s available?
When you look around for internet marketing training you will find lots of different opportunities. Some may be too expensive, some may promise riches, some may seem genuine and some might even offer a free trial.
There are:
- Certification courses that give you a set number of hours of training for a limited time. For me, these are too limited both in information and time, also too expensive.
- Courses at online learning centers such as Udemy or Lynda. You pay a monthly membership fee or you pay for the course you take. It’s also possible to find some free training courses on these sites.
These platforms might be great for learning about a specific part of internet marketing (e.g. Google AdWords, Facebook for business, or Google+ for business) However, for building your own internet business I wouldn’t recommend these courses.
- Then there are the training programs that teach you all about internet marketing. Sites where you are provided with all the information you need to be successful online. While these courses will provide you with good information, they are not all equal. They have different methods of training.
Personally, I appreciate step by step training. Training that presents the tasks you need to complete in chronological order. Very few courses do this, some might have the information, but it is not presented in any order.
How to choose?
So after you have seen what is available you need to make your choice. I would only consider programs that:
- are within your budget
- offer a free trial
- include all the tools you need to get started
- provide step by step training
- give 24/7 support
- are kept up to date
After this selection process, you will not have many courses left to choose from. In fact, I have only found one program that meets all these criteria. That is Wealthy Affiliate.
There are some other decent training systems out there – Affilorama, Chris Farrell Membership, or IMPho – however, they don’t provide everything you require to get your online business off the ground. One might not include hosting or a keyword tool, another might not incorporate live chat, a website builder, or 24/7 support. All these items are very important. Consequently, when you can obtain them all in one place, naturally this is the platform that wins in my vote as the best internet marketing course.
Most importantly, don’t be taken in by the get rich quick schemes. They may seem very tempting, but keep in mind there are no shortcuts to earning money on the internet.
The training content
This is the most important criteria. I was looking for a program that would take me from my starting point of knowing very little about internet marketing to a position where I could earn money online. Also, I required a course with step by step training that was easy to follow. Wealthy Affiliate provides such training and I have achieved my goal of earning money online.
One of the great things about this program is that you have a 7-day free trial, so you can take a look around to see if the training has everything you require and if the training methods are a good fit for you.
When you sign up for a free account at Wealthy Affiliate you are taken through the process of setting up a successful online business. By lesson 4 you will have your own niche website online and it won’t have cost you anything.
Below is the content of the first 10 lessons.
Does the training program provide support?
When you’re just starting, getting support when you need it is very important. Most courses have support, provided by either support forums or a support team.
However, the problem is that with some sites you will have to wait, perhaps a few days for an answer. Rapidly obtaining an answer to a question is something that is possible and normal at Wealthy Affiliate.
You can pose a question in live chat or on the site, there are thousands of members from all around the world who are ready to answer your questions any time day or night. Or if you prefer, you can search for your answer by typing your question in the search bar to be found at the top of each page. This is quite simply the best support I have seen anywhere!
The tools do you need
You will need web hosting, a website builder for WordPress, and a keyword tool. Although there are only three important tools you need to get underway, it’s surprising how many IM training courses don’t include all or even any of these tools. Wealthy Affiliate includes all these tools and you are also given two free websites when you sign up.
How much should you pay for a training course?
Training courses can be priced between a few thousand dollars (for a certification course) to free for a course on Udemy. It all depends on what you want to receive from your course.
As I said before I required training that would teach me the fundamentals of starting an online business and then take me on to a situation where I was making money online. For a good course that can teach you this information, the price ranges from $37 to $67 per month.
Wealthy Affiliate falls in the middle of this price range with the premium membership at $47. Nonetheless, the training is much more complete than either the $37 or $67 alternatives.
Be prepared to work
One of the big misconceptions about internet marketing is that it is easy, not much work, and customers will come to your site by magic. Unfortunately, this just isn’t true.
Whatever course you decide to follow, you must be prepared to work hard. You should remember you are building a business that will provide you with a passive income, maybe for several years to come.
There are no shortcuts to success. You need the right knowledge and lots of hard work. That’s why a good training program is vital.
Join Wealthy Affiliate for free
Wealthy Affiliate has everything you need to get started building your online business. Step by step training, web hosting, website builder, keyword tool, live chat, 24/7 support, and much more.
You can access all this from a free starter account and upgrade to a premium account later, only if you wish.
Get started with Wealthy Affiliate today.
Simply click on the button below and create a free account. You will just need to enter your name, email address, create a password, and choose a username. You don’t need to fill out any credit card details.
Create your FREE starter account
If you have any questions or comments about what I think is the best internet marketing training program, please let me know in the comments section below.
Hi Peter,
Great articles you have here! I have a few questions about WA, to which the answers are unclear to me. According to one of the pages on their website, I read that a member woud have 24/7 access to website support if you were to encounter any problems your own website(I’m assuming this means really anything from not understanding a feature, to needing it recovered, but correct me if I’m off). However, from looking at the page with the membership choices, would a free member not have access to any help with their website, or would it just be limited somhow?
Also, do free members have access to some form of communication with other members and owners after the 7- day trial, like a forum? Is that what classrooms are?
And are you able to explain what the keyword research tool is and what 30 searches means for that? My last question is, what is the connection between your website theme or what it looks like and how it ranks in search engines? I thought I read something that stated or implied that. I don’t know anything about SEO other than what it stands for, but I’m really confused about how a website has to “get ready for it,” if you could shed some light on that without giving the lesson away.
I’m sorry for the lengthy comment and if this is a lot to ask. As a newb to the topic of internet marketing and all it entails, there are just a lot of terms and concepts that don’t make sense without further explanation.
Hi Justin,
No worries you’re right to ask. The Wealthy Affiliate site building platform, SiteRubix, technical assistance is for premium members only, but you can use live chat for the first 7 days. After that, you can ask your referrer by posting on your profile or your referrer’s profile, you can also post questions on the different pages of the starter lessons.
As a premium member then you have 24/7 support for any technical issues with your site. For any non-technical problems, you can ask the community via the different channels.
The keyword tool – there is the free keyword in WA and as a premium member, you have unlimited searches, not available to free members.The other keyword tool is Jaaxy and you have 30 free searches. To learn a little about keyword research read this article.
Your website theme determines the design of your site. For example, some themes may only offer the chance to have your content and a sidebar, others will allow you to have full-width content where you like and on other pages, you can have a sidebar. Or one theme may allow a large image header and another will not. There are lots of choices for different designs with different functionalities. One of the great things about Wordpress you can change theme when you like.
Your theme and ranking – a well-coded theme will load faster than a poorly coded theme and as speed is one of Googles ranking criteria it can make a difference.
Getting you website ready for SEO is not as complicated as it sounds. It is basically installing a plugin that will set up your site so the search engines can understand what your site is all about. For example, within the plugin, you add your home page title and description, something that will let the search engines and people searching know what your site is about. If you want to see more I would sign up and go through the free training, there is absolutely no commitment.
Hope that helps Justin, let me know if you have any other queries.
Peter
Thank you for answering my questions Peter! I have a little more insight on the concepts I inquired about now. I still need to read your articles on keyword research to better understand what that means, after which I may ask more questions if I have any.
Other than that, I just would like a little more clarity on the technical support. Are you saying we can still get technical help with our site from our referrer if we are a free member passed the first 7 days?
Oh, and I’m not sure if you answered my question regarding contact with the rest of the community as a free member. I know you can’t use the live chat after 7 days, but are there other ways to be involved in discussions besides posting on the starter lesson pages?
Hi Justin,
The support from your referrer will be advice for your site, it could be related to technical problems with plugins or your theme but if you do something to your site and it disappears then there is no support. Any help you may get will depend on your referrer’s knowledge. So be careful if you start editing any code!
I don’t think there are any other ways to be involved in discussions apart from what you mention.
All the best,
Peter
Hi Peter,
Great post! It’s hard for many of online wannabe entrepreneurs to know how and where to start out let alone what is the best internet marketing training program.
I have investigated a good amount of internet marketing programs that are available and like you said, they either are over priced or not good programs.
I got my training on how to put up websites, apply internet marketing principles and SEO from Wealthy Affiliate and totally agree that this is the best program to use to get started in the online world.
Excellent post and very straight forward.
Cheers,
Todd
Thanks Todd,
Finding a good internet marketing program can be pretty difficult when you’re just getting started. A training program that takes you through all the steps, in order, well there just aren’t many.
If I can help anyone to find the wonderful training at Wealthy Affiliate I will be very pleased. They will have avoided the many scams that are out there, just waiting to trick people out of their money.
Thanks for sharing your opinion on WA.
Peter
Hey Peter,
I heard this question being asked a lot of time. The thing is, if people don’t seek to understand how internet marketing works to make money properly, they would fall for expensive courses or worse, scam sites out there.
The other concerning thing is, when people are being offered the best, they don’t have the right learning attitude to start with. They complain it’s too slow, it’s too complicated or the most common one, it’s not making money for them. Even the best program will not work if you don’t take action and put in some (or a lot of) effort.
Ask how much time you are willing to spend in building your internet business and you’ll find the right training program that will compliment your effort. And oh, stop complaining already! 🙂
Hi Cathy,
You’re right, most people expect to start making money quickly when they start internet marketing. They don’t realize the amount of work it takes to create a successful business. However the rewards can certainly make it worthwhile.
A legitimate IM training course won’t promise quick and easy results, they will tell you from the outset that you will have to put in the work and not expect any sales in the first few months. It may be hard to swallow, but it’s the truth and one last thing never give up. If you can except that, then nothing should stop you from succeeding.
Hi Peter, I have even tried some research just online programs that should have helped me to create a business.
But many times I have felt that I have sat back without any real training. I have had to pay dearly for the next steps. But to be allowed to try wealthy affiliate free sounds almost too good to be true.
There must be something which is not entirely votes in favor compared to other programs it almost sounds unrealistic good
Hi Steen,
Yes, most programs only give you certain information you never seem to get the whole picture. The great thing about Wealthy Affiliate is the training takes you from the first steps right through to where your site is earning money. The training is step by step, very easy to follow and I have found it to be enjoyable.
The free trial is certainly worth a try, you will learn the first stages of setting up your business. After the first few lessons you will already have your site online. Compared to other programs this is simply the best I have found.
Good post Peter! I think you’re giving a real advice and practical instructions on how to make the right decision when choosing a make money program/training. I like the way you explain things in a clear and simple way and it’s obvious that this info is based on your real life experience. You are right that some programs may be too expensive or promise riches and might even offer a free trial. I think ones that promise quick buck should be avoided at all costs and immediately. The best option would be the one that offers free trial because it means that the program owner is confident in the quality of his program and it means that he is transparent with you which means a lot. And the second factor to keep in mind when choosing a program is the support. If a program provides 24/7 support then it’s the first sign that it’s legit and you can try it. Because support is extremely important and Wealthy Affiliate provides that kind of support. I’m a premium member of this awesome community and recommend it to anyone looking for a genuine program.
Hi Rufat,
Choosing internet marketing training can be a little confusing when you search on Google. There are so many choices and there are a fair number of scams that will be in the search results. So first you will have to decide what is legit and what is a scam and then see what each program has to offer.
Hopefully, my experience will help people save time and choose what I think is the best internet marketing training. In any case, I would certainly select a program that offers a free trial and also includes all the tools you need. Add to that the 24/7 support and you will find there are very few courses that offer all this.
Wealthy Affiliate will teach you all you need to know to start making money online, if you are new to internet marketing the course will be perfect or if you already have some knowledge you will still learn at WA. You can even choose to stay as a free member and keep the two free websites you are given after joining.
All the best
Peter