Online businesses are booming. In this new age of technology, you don’t need an office or a transportation fleet to be successful. All you need is a computer, a smartphone, and an entrepreneurial spirit.
Once you have your online business basics, there is still a lot to learn. The internet is a wild and wonderful place, and it may be difficult for you to contextualise your business within the enormous framework of the world wide web.
Luckily for you, there are many courses online that can help build your online business knowledge: from digital marketing and advertising to understanding SEO and ecommerce development. If you are lacking in any area of your online business, then there is an online course that can fill that gap.
The Best Online Business Courses for South African SMEs
1. Udemy
Udemy is an online learning and teaching marketplace and, with over 185000 courses, it is a great place to start.
Our main feature is their comprehensive course: Start Your Online Business Masterclass | Work from Home.
The course is 50 hours, on-demand video masterclass and is currently available at a reduced, once-off fee of R 349.99*. This is an 82% discount off the usual price of R1,999.99*.
In the course, you’ll learn about:
- Finding business ideas
- Filtering good from bad ideas
- Business branding
- Business model innovation
- Website creation
- SEO
- Metrics tracking
- Copywriting
- Business planning
- Financial budgeting
- Sales psychology
Udemy has a host of other online business courses, here are our top picks:
- Create Your First Profitable Online Business Now - from R219.99*, once-off.
- Passive Income: 10 Online Business Models to Make 6 Figures - from R219.99*, once-off.
- Build Your Successful Online Business from Scratch - from R219.99*, once-off.
- 30 Day Challenge: Step by Step Online Business Success - from R219.99*, once-off.
2. University of Cape Town (UCT)
UCT is one of South Africa’s best tertiary education institutions, besting its national competitors to rank 177 in the World University Rankings. While most of their classes require in-person interactions, they do have an incredible online digital marketing course that could place you and your business a cut above the rest.
Digital marketing is a key component of running an online business. It entails the use of digital technologies and platforms (computers, phones, social media, Google ads, etc.) to promote your business. Without a sound digital marketing strategy, your business will not succeed in the online space.
Here is what you can look forward to learning in UCT’s Digital Marketing Online Short Course:
- An understanding of basic web analytics and the ability to measure the effectiveness of your online marketing strategies
- Practical skills you can apply instantly, including the ability to design a basic website and execute an email marketing campaign.
- Insight into future digital marketing trends and an understanding of SEO, paid marketing, digital tools, and platforms.
- The confidence to develop your own digital marketing strategy and a certificate of completion from Africa’s leading university.
The course is valued at R14,900* and UCT does offer various payment options, to help lighten the load.
3. Alison
Alison is a ground-breaking educational platform with the commendable, altruistic belief that all education should be free. They have partnered with multiple worldwide-leading universities and institutions to provide quality online education, for free. You are only required to pay a small fee for a digital copy of your certificate after completing the course.
Alison has an impressive array of course offerings and many of them will be extremely beneficial for any online business owner. These are our top suggestions for online business owners in South Africa:
- Sourcing and Customising Best-Selling Products for Ecommerce.
- How to Grow a T-Shirt Business With Online Marketing.
- Profitable Marketing for Small Businesses.
- Diploma in Ecommerce Web Development.
- Master Affiliate Marketing With This Step-By-Step Guide.
- Learn How to Master Facebook Ads for Beginners and Experts.
- Fundamentals in Strategic Marketing and the Marketing Environment.
Other ecommerce-related courses can be found here.
Honourable Mentions
There are hundreds of thousands of online courses for you to explore. To make life easier, we’ve taken days to compile our list so that you only need minutes to find what will work for you. Here are five honourable mentions to help you boost your knowledge and skills, in the effort to make your online business an undeniable success:
1. The Digital Marketing Institute
The Digital Marketing Institute has many online courses that are internationally recognised and can offer you career-defining qualifications. It’s worth checking them out to see which of their courses will help you to grow your online business.
2. The Gordon’s Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
GIBS is housed by the University of Pretoria and their business courses are aimed at building individuals and grooming them to be leaders. Some critical business skills can be developed in just 11 weeks at GIBS! As an online business owner, being able to lead (even if it’s just leading yourself) is a necessary skill to learn.
3. edX
A juggernaut in online education, edX has over 74 courses aimed at businesses and individuals who are seeking to dominate the online space. You’ll definitely find one that stands out to you.
4. Reliablesoft
Reliablesoft endeavours to be the middle-man between you and other educational institutions, but it also has its own academy that offers a sensational Ultimate Marketing Bundle. The bundle consists of multiple courses including The Complete SEO Course, Ecommerce SEO Course, Content Marketing, Social Media, Google Analytics, and so much more! The Ultimate Marketing Bundle is currently discounted at 80% for a cool R2,477.90*.
5. Coursera
We round off our list with the irreplaceable online learning hub, Coursera. For us, their stand-out course for online business owners is the Google Digital Marketing and Ecommerce Professional Certificate. However, they have so much more to offer, be sure to check them out.
There is no need to fear being an online business owner in South Africa. Whether you are looking to boost your knowledge or learn entirely new skills, there is bound to be an online course suited for you and your business. Simply click, learn, and grow your online business.
*Some prices may represent discounts that are only available for a particular time period. Any currency conversations are applicable only on the date this article was published and are subject to market fluctuations. All prices are those that are available at the time of this article being published and may be subject to change.
