10 Digital Skills you can Learn for free in 2021

Learning digital skills can be complicated at times, especially when one does not have a practical guide.

I can easily relate to this situation because I’ve also been in this shoe.

Plus the price of these online courses can be a little more expenses for someone without a constant flow of income.

To solve this problem, I have taken my time to research ten digital skills you can learn for free this year.

This article links you to several free eBooks and video materials that will help you in any digital and technical expertise you want to learn.

The 10 Digital Skills You Can Learn For Free in 2021

1. Video Editing

The importance of visualization and motion will forever remain relevant. Video Editing is one of the best-selling digital skills in the past several years. And it is still marketable till today.

And keeping up with the current trend of things in the digital world; it is safe to say this skill will never lose its value. Not even in the next 100 years!

Naturally, video editing comes in handy with the current trend of our digital world.

It cut across virtually all aspects of our life, including the entertainment industry, business world, education and skills training, corporate events, and many more.

Plus, it is quite fascinating and enjoyable. It affords you the privilege to bring out the beauty in raw videos and convert it into something great.

Where to get free courses for video editing?

Udemy is a fomous eLearning center that offers both free and paid courses for numerous subjects.

Udemy offers a variety of video editing courses, from beginners and master level.

You can ride on these free courses to master the art of video editing and become a professional video editor in less than four months.

2. Media Buying

   

Media Buying is a subset of digital marketing.

It gives you the required skills to help commercial companies to set up their ads at the focal point of their targeted audience. 

This can be in a movie, as you often see in several popular Korean Series. (Hi, K-drama fans). Live show (like Keeping Up with the Kardashians)newspapers, magazines, billboards, and all sorts.

While Media Buying is quite similar to social media marketing, media buying affords you to opportunity to specialize in other aspects of digital marketing. 

This includes the popular traditional marketing like newspaper ads, radio, corporate events, and others.

Online Free Courses for Media Buying and Planning

HubSpot Academy offers free video courses on media buying for both beginners and intermidiate. Another excellent recommendation is Mira Costa YouTube video on Media Buying.

He talked in details extensively on how to become a professional Media Planner and Buying Agency.

 

3. Virtual Assistant

Virtual Assistance, otherwise called VA, is an independent office contractor that offers administrative and technical support to clients.

V.A provides a broad range of office duties, ranging from data entry, bookkeeping, scheduling

appointment, managing company emails, picking phone calls, attending to company inquiries, and many more.

Learning the procedures of becoming professional VA is great.

Especially for those who love conventional office settings. And at the same time, enjoy the privilege to work flexibly and remotely at the comfort of their house.

You can read how to write a professional resume for job application.

Free Online Courses for Virtual Assistance

Alpha Academy offers a free comprehensive course on procedures to work as professional virtual assistance. The VA team also put in their best to equip learners with the necessary tools to make their learning process smooth and swift.

4. Programming

Programming is a major branch of information technology (IT). It is one of the fascinating skills this 21st century. 

It is an evergreen technical skill than anyone can possess. With the help of some free video files and manual document, especially during this lockdown period.

Programmers can specialize in different technical fields they deem fit. You can choose from various programming languages like python, JavaScript, C, C++, and others. 

You can choose to specialize in web and app development, data science, software development, AI, and others.

How to learn programming languages for free

Harvard online university offers a broad range of online open courses on virtually all the programming languages. This includes Python, Java, JavaScript, Ruby, C Language, C++, HTML, SQL, etc. 

The Harvard online courses for programming are the best free programming courses I have ever seen. 

It is so comprehensive and versatile that you would think you already a student of the ivy lead university. 

I have attended most of these free programming courses. And I can confidently recommend it to anyone interested in learning programming and artificial intelligence.

 

5. Writing

Writing is an essential aspect of communication that enables you to communicate your message to your audience with clarity and ease.

It is one of the best skills anyone can learn. You can learn the art of writing with free eBooks and video materials. 

Writing, generally, is exciting, as it gives you the power to pass your message with all clarity.

Plus, it affords you a sense of pride, making you stand out among your peers.

As a digital skill, writing can fall into different categories. 

It includes academic research writing, business writing, copywriting and editing, journalism, creative writing, articles writing, blog posts, and others.

Free online courses to improve your writing skills

Mastering the art of writing is simple and, at the same time, complicated. 

This is because your writing skill depends heavily on your proficiency in the use of the language. 

Consequently, it is challenging to recommend free eBook and courses to develop or enhance your writing skills. 

However, EDX.org has a broad range of writing courses and materials you can use to build your writing skills. And become a professional writer.

 

6. Graphic Design

   

Graphic is one of the most marketable digital skills you can learn within a few weeks. Plus you can easily use it to earn money. 

The craft has existed for ages – about 15 centuries ago. And it remains prominent today because of its importance in our daily activities. 

This includes entertainment, branding, business awareness, art, and many more.

Graphics, just like video editing, are quite exciting. In fact, you will barely remember the number of hours you have spent on the work.

Additionally, there are hundreds of tools you can leverage to create incredible graphic designs, even on your smartphones. 

Perhaps you think you suck at drawing and painting; I bet you will have another impression of yourself when you start learning graphics.

Free Online Courses for Graphic Design

Guess graphic design has the highest number of free courses, including eBooks and video material. 

Even YouTube has millions of free videos tutorial on different aspects of graphic design. 

These videos will introduce you to varieties of graphic tools, including Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw, Adobe Illustrator, and others.

And supposedly you don’t know where to start; you can check this blog for the best free graphic design tutorial channel on YouTube. 

Or use of the EDX and Udemy free graphic courses. 

All these courses are comprehensive enough to make you a pro in the niche.

 

7. Content Marketing

   

Content marketing is an online leading marketing mechanism that helps you to captivate, retain, and engage with your customers. 

It involves the use of different digital materials, like published articles, images, audio, videos, audios, and others.

Content Marketing is the starting point of all forms of digital marketing. 

It cuts across all kinds of online marketing, including social media marketing, copywriting, webinars, and all sorts. 

It is one of the best-selling digital skills in 2020. And of course, will dominate the digital world in the coming years. 

So, you can start equipping yourself with this fantastic skill now.

Where to learn content marketing for free

Just like graphic design, there are several free content marketing courses online. 

Coursera features an extensive list of top universities in the USA, offering free online content marketing courses for people from different countries. 

Edx also hosts about five free online content marketing courses from multiple universities. 

All these courses are worthy of your time. 

Moreover, they will give you all you need to become a professional content marketer.

 

8. Product Design

Product design is an aspect of product development that deals with visualization of raw ideas. 

Product Designers use different User Interface design (UI) and User Experience (UX) tools to bring your idea into visualization. 

It is one of the best-selling digital skills in 2020. It will definitely make more waves in the years to come.

Product design may share some little resemblance with graphic design. However, the two digital skills are very different. 

Moreover, they use different tools for their operation. 

The UI aspect deals with the interface of software and machines like home appliances, electronic devices, computers, and all sorts. 

Also, UX focused on users’ experience and engagement with the product before when it will be final production.

Best online free courses for Product design

Alison.com, Coursera.org, and EDX.org have numerous free product design courses you can explore to become a professional product designer and developer. 

Please, don’t forget the demand for product designer is forever. 

The world will always need people to convert our fresh ideas into visualization before we start working on the production. 

Therefore, do well to master this skill.

 

9. Social Media Marketing

Social media is now everyone’s home this 21st century. 

What do you feel about using this opportunity to earn some extra income from it? 

And still, catch fun just like everyone else on these platforms? 

While, Social media marketing is a fast-growing digital skill that surprised all of us about a decade ago. 

It is now the mastermind of millions of businesses worldwide.

SMM is one of the bestselling digital skills you can learn within a few weeks. 

It encompasses all kinds of marketing on different social media platforms. This includes Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Ticktok, Snap chat, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and others. 

Talking of social media management, all you have to do is help corporate organizations manage their online presence on these social media pages. 

Fun right?

How to learn social media marketing for free online

I am pretty sure you can’t explore all the free social media marketing training online. 

Hence I would save you the headache and recommend a few to you. Social Media Marketing Specialization by Northwestern, SMM Certification by eMarketing Institute (eBook). 

And Complete Social Media Marketing Course by Simplilearn on YouTube.

 

10. Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO, is one of the most sought-after digital skills in 2020. 

With a few video materials and eBooks, you can become a pro in this niche. 

SEO is essential in content marketing. And it automatically places you ahead of your peers in the digital world. 

You serve as the mastermind that decides the web pages, applications, and video webpages that will appear on search engines front pages. 

Sounds impressive, right? Yes, that is the power of SEO. 

With excellent SEO skills, you will be able to master Google and other search engine algorithms. 

This includes the implementation of this algorithm requirements in your clients’ website, and boost their websites to appear at the top pages of the search engine result page.

Best Online Free Courses for SEO

There are several comprehensive online free courses for SEO. Yet, the best SEO training course I would recommend to you is the Search Engine Optimization Fundamentals created by the University of California and powered by Coursera. 

Other worthy materials include Fundamentals of Digital Marketing by Google and SEO Training Course by Moz.

 

WRAPPING IT UP

There are other several free video materials and eBooks you can use to learn all these digital skills. I mentioned only a few that I believe will help you as a beginner.

Many of these courses have been scrutinized in the cause of researching for this article.

Therefore, be rest assured, you will be getting a great learning experience with these free materials.