21 Best Blogging Courses (Free and Paid) in 2023

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Are you longing to start a blog, but suffering from information overload every time you look into it? You’re NOT alone! This article about the best blogging courses available in 2023 should cut through the overwhelm.

Blogging is one subject where the sheer amount of online information is more of a hindrance than a help. The online world moves fast, and lots of articles teach techniques that simply don’t work any more.

That’s where these 21 best blogging courses come in. You can choose one and go through the process step by step.

It’s well worth having a look at several different options before you choose a blogging course. There are many different ways to make money blogging, and choosing the right course allows you to follow along with a strategy that best suits you, your subject matter, and the way you like to work.

Some of the courses here are completely free – so don’t let a limited budget stop you from getting started!

Before we Begin!

• Be sure to read our articles on the pros of blogging and the cons of blogging.
• Check out our blogging tips for beginners.

If you intend to start a blog, you will need some web hosting. Dreamhost, the company we used to launch this site, currently offers hosting for as little as $1.99 per month. Use this link here to sign up.

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The 21 Best Blogging Courses

Launch Your Blog Biz

This course advertises itself as helping you start a blog business that makes $1,000 per month “without tech wizardy or prior sales skills.”

$1,000 per month is an attainable goal. Some courses advertise that you can make thousands a week right away, which is usually a huge red flag.

The site establishes the creators of the course, Lauren and Alex, as people who have been around the block and have learned from their own blogging mistakes.

The course itself has actionable tasks to learn from, such as working with WordPress, creating great content and driving traffic. It also covers making money through tactics like ads and sponsored posts, as a few examples.

PRICE: $297 (or $107/month for three months).

31 Days to Build a Better Blog

This course is offered via the blogging powerhouse Problogger, a hub for digital writers all across the internet.

The course materials are varied, and include video, audio, slides and fillable worksheets. There’s also a Facebook group that helps add accountability. If you’re the type of person who needs structure to learn, this is a great option.

A blog isn’t something you complete once and you’re done. It takes consistent effort. This particular course really helps you develop those good long-term habits that help a blog grow.

You can learn how to set goals for your blog, generate post ideas, understand your audience, develop an editorial calendar, explore areas for monetizing your blog and understand reader engagement, as just a few examples.

Editors’ Note: I shall always have a soft spot for all things Problogger, because it was the Problogger book that kicked off my own blogging journey. This course is particularly well structured, and it’s keenly priced too.

PRICE: $99

Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing

Let’s be honest, affiliate marketing has to be one of the biggest puzzles of professional blogging. (For the uninitiated, affiliate marketing is where you place links to other products on your site. Then you receive a small commission when those links are followed or products are purchased).

Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents isn’t one of the best blogging courses for absolute beginners. It’s more appropriate for intermediate bloggers looking to start making more money.

We’ve already reviewed this course in detail, and you can learn about it here. For an overview, the course is well-structured and you’ll definitely walk away with a solid game plan for making money online, IF you put in the work!

PRICE: $197 (or two payments of $105).

Content Strategy for Professionals Specialization (Northwestern University)

Coursera is a great way to access online courses delivered by prestigious universities. This course comes from Northwestern University. The specializations on Coursera each encompass a number of courses, in this case five.

The individual courses cover engaging audiences, managing content, expanding content reach and ensuring content impact. The fifth course is actually a capstone project, where you create a content strategy package for a fictional web startup.

This is a rather more academic course, but a good fit if you’d like to bolster your resumé at the same time as learning about blogging. 

PRICE: Coursera operates a complex pricing model, with various options for auditing and testing courses. When studying a specialisation like this, it’s usually best to subscribe for the duration of your learning. The price quoted at the time of writing was £37 (c. $49) per month. We have a full review of Coursera for you here. 

WordPress 5 Essential Training

If you want to build a blog, odds are you’re doing it through WordPress. So it makes sense to know WordPress inside out.

WordPress changed quite a lot in version 5, so this is a valuable blogging course for both beginners and old hands. It covers how the new editor uses “blocks,” and various other nuances.

WordPress is flexible and easy to use, but the learning curve is pretty steep and it can all be a bit overwhelming in the early days. This course will bridge the gap.

PRICE: $19.99 when purchased as an individual course. Also available as part of a LinkedIn Learning subscription. (We have a review of the platform here).

The Authority Site System

The most expensive of our best blogging courses, you can’t get much more step-by-step than this. Gael and Mark, the founders of Authority Hacker, are true pros in the world of profitable blogs (and we often recommend their great free podcast on this site).

The Authority Site System course has you build a real website as you follow along with “over the shoulder” video lessons.

This course covers everything from market research and keyword research to content creation, link building and analytics. It also covers some aspects other courses don’t, like hiring and outsourcing. If you REALLY mean business, and are ready to invest in yourself, THIS is the course to go for. 

Also notable is how regularly this course is updated. As explained in the intro, you DO find people still teaching out of date tactics – that doesn’t happen here.

PRICE: $997

Blogging for a Living

If you’re on a tight budget, give the courses at Udemy a try. They are often on sale for around $12 to $15. This particular course gives you a “step-by-step blogging blueprint” and is currently rated at 4.6 out of 5 stars.

The course itself is delivered in 12.5 hours of on-demand video, 11 articles and 29 downloadable resources. The course covers a wide range of topics around starting a blog. These include creating blog posts, monetizing the blog and generating traffic. Once you buy a course via Udemy, you have lifetime access and can work at your own pace.

PRICE: $19.99 (at the time of writing).

Blogging Masterclass 

This is another step-by-step format course that starts with the basics and moves to the more advanced concepts. It’s been updated for 2022 and is advertised as Udemy’s best selling blogging course.

The course itself is delivered through 3.5 hours of on-demand video and one article. It currently has 4.6 out of 5 stars in reviews. It covers everything in a relatively short amount of time, from creating a WordPress site through generating revenue.

This is a good choice if you are pressured by time OR money, as it teaches everything in a short time for a low price.

PRICE: GB£13.99 (at the time of writing).

Pinterest Traffic Avalanche

If you like the idea of generating traffic from Pinterest, this is definitely the one for you. Pinterest is particularly effective for bloggers in areas like food, personal finance and crafts. 

The course covers how to use Pinterest itself, set up a strategy, make viral content and track analytics.

If you’d like to know more about Pinterest Traffic Avalanche, we’ve recently reviewed it in detail here. Note that if you’re starting from scratch with a blog, one of the other courses will probably be a better fit for you, as this is about traffic generation more than getting the site up and running.

PRICE: $197

Doing Content Right

In Doing Content Right, Steph Smith shares all the knowledge she’s gained over the past five-plus years of blogging and writing. Steph works full time for The Hustle’s premium newsletter, Trends and co-hosts a steadily-growing podcast, so she knows a thing or two about content creation and marketing.

Well-known for her unconventional style, Steph has created Doing Content Right as an e-book to make it accessible in various formats. So, purchasing the book gives you access to a PDF (for laptops) and files that you can send to a Kindle, Kobo or other e-book readers. 

But as well as the 270-page book, Doing Content Right contains 22 practical exercises, 12 video sessions, a bonus podcasting section, access to Ask Me Anything Q&As and a private community, as well as all course updates.

The book/course includes content on:

• How and why you haven’t missed the boat if you’re starting a blog in 2022
• Identifying a niche and standing out from the competition
• Content distribution across many channels
• The best way to do SEO right (including case studies)

And all the lessons Steph has learned from running six money making blogs. 

PRICE: $150.

Viral Blogging 101: Blogging and Content Writing Masterclass

When you’re very new to blogging, writing even one blog post can take days. Sometimes you wonder how you’ll ever get regular content onto your website. 

If that sounds all too familiar, it might help to take a beginners course that covers blog post basics. 

The Viral Blogging 101 course promises to show you how to save time and write content that “spreads like wildfire.” I can’t vouch for the viral part, but there are sections on brainstorming, drafting, revising and crafting headlines — all essential for blog posts and article writing. 

You can “try before you buy” by watching four sample videos before you decide if you like the presenter’s style and whether the course will suit you or not.  

PRICE: GB£13.99 (at the time of writing).

2022 Blogging Bootcamp: Build a Successful and Profitable Blog

The Blogging Bootcamp is a more comprehensive course taught by Sophie, a professional content creator and blogger. Although it does offer writing tips and techniques in one lesson, it also covers topics like:

• How to attract an audience
• Why it’s preferable to use a niche strategy
• Social media strategies
• Tech
• The Blogger’s Toolbox, 

and many more tips and techniques that you can start to use straight away.

Again, you can watch four sample videos to get to know Sophie’s teaching style before you decide to buy or not. 

PRICE: GB£13.99 (at the time of writing).

Food Blogger Pro Membership 

Food is one of the biggest blogging niches in the business, with many sub-niches and ways to make your unique style stand out from the crowd. 

Food Blogger Pro is a membership programme from the creators of the six-figure blog Pinch of Yum. 

Membership programmes work differently than standalone courses. 

Instead of a one-off payment, the membership costs $350 per year. You get access to 80 in-depth blogging courses, a community forum, support, monthly Q&A calls and more. 

Many bloggers consider payment for courses and education as investments. So, if food is your passion and you want to run a food blog, it could be helpful to learn from some of the best in the business. 

PRICE: $350 per year

List Builders Society

How many newsletters arrive in your inbox each week? And how many do you actually read?

Building a subscriber list of people who actively look forward to, open and enjoy your emails is an enormous piece of the puzzle when it comes to growing your blog. 

Many bloggers and marketers agree that building up a thriving email list is even more important than having thousands of social media followers. That’s because social media is subject to sudden algorithm and policy changes that can change who sees your posts at the drop of a hat. 

Amy Porterfield is famous in the content marketing world. She hosts the wildly popular podcast “Online Marketing with Amy Porterfield” and runs several practical and comprehensive courses.  

List Builders Society is Amy’s proven 5-week system for growing an email list. 

The course gives bloggers and other online business people a roadmap so that you’ll know what to write and when to write it, how to create incredible opt-ins and lead magnets and have the confidence to press SEND.

PRICE: $397 or six monthly payments of $74

Get Writing by Ali Luke

Ali Luke is a freelance writer, novelist and highly successful blogger. Her expert articles on writing and blogging are featured on websites like Problogger, Social Media Examiner and Smart Blogger.

Ali’s affordable “Get Writing” package includes four writing guides on blogging, short stories, novels and freelancing. Each guide has a four-week mini-course and is full of expert tips from one who knows the ups and downs of writing while coping with small children and a full-time job. 

The Get Writing guides are bundled with a few extra goodies, making them even more helpful. These include:

• Printable checklists 
• Outlines and templates
• Prompts
• Places to find freelance writing work 

And a pdf that goes into all the ins and outs of setting up a website. 

At only $20, Get Writing is a great buy for anyone wondering if they’ve got what it takes to start writing. 

PRICE: $20

Pocket Products

Even if you’ve simply started a blog for fun, you may eventually build up enough site visitors to make some income. As we mention in our recent blogging advantages article, there are many ways to make money from a blog and selling products can be one of the most lucrative.

The Pocket Products course takes you step by step through the process of creating, launching and selling an affordable digital product. The course is thoroughly reviewed in this YouTube video. The reviewer concludes that Pocket Products would be useful for more experienced and established businesses and websites but could be confusing and too advanced for new bloggers.

PRICE: Full price $197, but at the time of writing, it was on sale for $47

Digital Marketing Training

Neil Patel is a giant among online marketers and provides a raft of free content on his blog. If you’re looking for a free blogging course with advice on social media campaigns, blogging strategies, how to run a podcast and more, his website is a great place to start.

Neil’s training package includes videos, ebooks, guides and templates on SEO (search engine optimisation), e-commerce, Social Media platforms, email marketing and growth hacking.

These lessons don’t pretend to be as comprehensive as paid courses are, but they’re a great way to learn the basics. They’ll also give you a good understanding of your knowledge gaps and where you might be wise to invest more time and money. 

PRICE: Free

Blog by Number

Created by Suzi Whitford of Start a Mom Blog, the Blog by Number course is aimed at busy mothers who are beginner bloggers or intermediate bloggers who want to increase their reach.

The course includes templates, videos, training by guest experts and the original Blog by Number e-book. It also comes with free lifetime updates so that you can always come back to the course for a refresher to see what’s changed in the blogging world. 

Blog by Number also offers participants the chance to become a contributor to Suzi’s blog — which is a generous but rare offer — and teaches how to write blog posts that rank, how to do simple keyword research, and so much more. At only $149, this relatively affordable course seems to suit its target audience. 

PRICE: $149 (at the time of writing)

Superstar Blogging

Many nomads want to build a profitable blog around their travels. If that’s you, then Nomadic Matt and Superstar Blogging could be a great place to start. 

Matt believes that the best way to learn travel blogging is not through a course. He prefers a hands-on class that includes regular Q&A calls and webinars from experienced bloggers. 

These classes also offer real-world assignments and notes and edits on your work — a great way to improve your writing skills. 

Superstar Blogging offers two interesting course options,  How to Become a Travel Writer and The Business of Blogging. 

PRICE: Travel Writer: $79/month or $199/quarter, Business of Blogging $99.

Built to Blog

Ryan Robinson is a podcaster and blogging site hustler who’s built a profitable blog, primarily while working at a full-time day job.

Built to Blog is based on Ryan’s own blog strategies. It includes 54 video and written lessons covering everything from setting up a blog to monetising when it’s up and running.

The course also includes 5-hours’ worth of video interviews with ten of the world’s top bloggers, including Pat Flynn (Smart Passive Income), Jon Morrow (Smart Blogger), Brain Dean (Backlinko),  AND Mariah Coz (Fearless CEO) — a next level line-up by any blogging standards.   

This is one course that’s not open all year round and sometimes opens its doors to new students for as little as five days. But while it’s closed, potential students can sign up to a waiting list, so they’re the first to be notified when the course will open next.

PRICE: $297

Ahrefs Academy: Blogging for Business 

Ahrefs is a suite of SEO software tools designed to help bloggers and marketers make the best use of keywords and build links to and from other websites (backlinks). If you’ve been blogging for a while, you’ll definitely have heard of Ahrefs, and if you’re new to the game, it’s a name that’s bound to crop up as soon as you start learning about Search Engine Optimization. 

As well as its paid tools, Ahrefs offers a ton of free learning materials, including the Blogging for Business Course.

Created by Ahrefs Chief Marketing Officer, Tim Soulo, the course includes 40 lessons — about 5-hours worth of content.  The 11 modules include information on:

• Content marketing
• Strategies for growing a blog
• Analysing traffic in search engines and ranking keywords 
• Matching searcher intent and how to optimise for a given keyword
• Creating link-worthy content 
• Building backlinks… and more. 

This course is geared towards anyone who is blogging with the intent to make it an online business and is probably best done as a follow-up course after you’ve learned how to set up a blog and got your head around writing blog posts etc. 

PRICE: Free

Why Blog?

So many people want passive income these days. Blogs are a FANTASTIC way to achieve it. However, you need to deal with the learning curve and put lots of work in first.

All of these best blogging courses can help you do that work in a structured, methodical way.

We’ve chosen them to cover most of the things that beginner and intermediate bloggers should know if they want to run successful blogs. Experienced bloggers consider SEO and email marketing, blog post writing and link building every day – they’re all part of the landscape when you have a blogging career.

While You’re Here

A blog can become a great online business if you’re willing and able to put enough time and effort into building up the page views and visitors. 

So, while you decide which of these excellent courses will suit your needs now (and which to come back to later), why not check out our 17 Blogging Tips For Beginners blog post. We also go through some of the best tools for beginning bloggers, so you know which ones to invest in now.