Online Courses for Small Business

Online Courses for Small Business

Learn how to adapt your small business to the online environment 

Covid-19 has forced some small businesses to change the way they operate and many are embracing online opportunities as a way to survive.  If you are new to the online business world then why not avail of these free courses that can help you learn some of the skills you will need to promote your business's presence online. 

Online Courses for Small Businesses

Social Media Marketing : An Introduction

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The importance for modern businesses to understand the need for a strategic social media presence cannot be understated. From creating an outlet to directly connect with consumers, to providing insight into buying behavior, to boosting SEO rankings, social media has evolved to serve as the glue that binds together and enhances a digital marketing strategy and the overall brand experience for consumers.

This social media marketing course will train you on various social media platforms and their tools & techniques, and aims to make you an accomplished social media marketer, using effective, proven methodologies. At the end of the course, you will be able to:

  • Formulate a social media marketing strategy suited to your needs
  • Implement effective social media marketing campaigns
  • Influence your brand awareness by leveraging multiple social media channels
  • Build relationships and foster engagement with your target audience.

This course is ideal for anyone that wishes to gain a greater understanding of social media, including business owners, executives, marketing professionals and students.

How to Start and Run an Online Business

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This course is organized into 16 different sections to help you understand how to create an online business, even if you don't have any online business experience.  From the basics of learning how to choose your market to designing a website and building an online marketing strategy, you will learn what you need to do in order to create an online business that's built to succeed.

You will begin with equipping your office for online success, and then move on to website building, payment processing, online marketing, writing great copy, spreading the word, utilizing online marketing tools, understanding search engine optimization, promoting an online brand, employing affiliates, planning beyond your website, and even handling legal issues before they become issues.

This an essential course for those who have a business idea, but want to move it online instead of into a traditional store.  Billions of people around the world now have access to the Internet, making online businesses primed for success.

Each section also includes review assignments and exams to ensure you have learned and mastered the most important concepts.  This approach allows you to instantly have the information you need at your fingertips, while also helping you learn learn what you need to understand as your online business grows.

Using the high quality information and resources provided in this course, at class completion you will know how to start a business online, how to grow your online business, and how to secure the future of your online business.

Internet Marketing Basics

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Today's business marketing efforts require an internet presence, an active campaign and a steady attention to the details of your company's internet marketing efforts. Don't let your company get left behind in the marketplace of ideas and sales. UniversalClass™ offers this terrific introductory course to internet marketing to help you get up to speed on this important and detailed topic.

This course will help you to easily understand the importance of such things as your company's email marketing list, search engine advertising and blogs. You will gain an understanding of how to make your B2B relationships help you to build an increased internet presence and how such relationships help to build your online marketing efforts.

You will walk away from this course with a working knowledge of how to plug your company into social networks, e-books and Adwords. You will know how to implement full SEO for your company's site; what to pay for and where to find good help with it. You will learn how to carve out an internet niche for your company and why that is important to your online success.

This course covers these basics along with link exchanges, expanding business relationships, using your personal network to expand your internet marketing, details – important details, and so much more. So, relax, learn and know that at the end of the course you will no longer be intimidated by the technicalities of the web and its marketing avenues; indeed, you will be ready to plunge your company forward into this important marketplace of 21st century capitalism.

Google+ for Business

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If you've been wondering about how to use Google+ for your business, this comprehensive course is the best way to get started. With simple instructions and ideas regarding social media marketing, businesses of every size soon understand why they need to join the Google+ conversation.

Our course "Google+ for Business" contains the following lessons:

What is Google+?  --  Benefits of Google+   ---   Google+ vs. Other Social Media Platforms    

Setting Up Google+ Accounts for Business   ---  Design and Your Google+ Business Page

What is Circling on Google+?   ---   Ways to Use Google+   

Hangouts on Google+   ---   Developing Networks

How to Market with Google+   ---   Google+ for Local Businesses  

The Future of Google+  

This course will help you through the process of setting up, designing, customizing, and then maintaining your Google+ account. Even though you may not have any clue about social media and how to use it, "Google+ for Business" will make sure you're more confident by the end. 

From privacy concerns to reaching more people to posting what will create authentic conversations, "Google+ for Business" is ready to help you reach out and see results for your efforts.

Google+ already has more than 400M members and brand pages, and now you can be a part of the conversation too. You just need to get started and you just need the right advice to help you speak up – and be heard.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) Copywriting

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SEO is a term you see a lot, especially if you are a freelance writer, or if you are contemplating becoming a freelance writer. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, and is, simply put, the way to get your content found on the Web. When advertisers, bloggers, or marketers of any kind want customers, or those simply surfing the Internet, to find their copy and read it, they need it optimized for search engines.

When your copy is SEO, it is visible in Web searches, no matter if your reader is searching via Bing, Google, or Epic Search, among others. Additionally, having your content correctly optimised gets you higher results on Google or any other search engine. (Did you know there are actually more than 100 search engines out there?) As everyone can probably confirm, when we do a Google search, we tend to choose results from the top of the page, and we rarely go beyond the first page. (Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.)

If your content is not correctly optimised, it can end up on at the bottom of the fifth page -- or worse. When you are trying to sell something, having your website buried that far in the search results can kill your business.

In this class, we will equip you with the skills to take on those SEO writing jobs, so you will not have to worry over a client's instructions, or wonder what language they are in. You will speak SEO! 

Creating WordPress Websites

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WordPress is a free open source blogging tool and content management system.   WordPress can be used to create a traditional blogging site; however, it can also be used to create a standard website for business or personal use.   This course focuses on creating websites using WordPress.  No previous experience is needed.  This course is structured in a way to help all students, regardless of their experience, learn WordPress. 

Students will learn how to:

·    Set up a domain and hosting account

·    Set up a MySQL database on their server

·    Install WordPress on the MySQL database

·    Plan their website by choosing color schemes, fonts, layouts, and more

·    Search for themes in WordPress

·    Select, install, and activate a theme

·    Add posts to their website

·    Create website pages

·    Add images, photo galleries, and more

·    Create tags for SEO and categories to organize their posts

·    Use WordPress as a content management system (CMS)

·    Use widgets and plugins

·    Create an ecommerce site

·    Integrate WordPress with social media

·    Customize a WordPress site using PHP, CSS, and HTML

·    And more.

Each lesson covers a different aspect of WordPress and contains sections to teach students what they need to know.   Step-by-step instructions, along with screenshots and HD video demonstrations, make learning to use WordPress a breeze.  By the end of the course, all students will be able to successfully create their own customized and effective website using the information they've learned.