Taking online courses to further your skills is a great way to help grow your freelance business. Whether you're looking to learn the basics of freelancing, improve your graphic design skills, learn a new coding language, or understand how to market your freelance services on Instagram, there is a course available to work with.

Some of the top online course websites that I trust are Learn by Fiverr, Coursera, Codecademy, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning. Here are 12 freelancing courses for beginner freelancers.

Online Courses for Freelancers

Growing your freelance business often means expanding your freelancing skills. It's a good idea to start learning skills you aren't yet familiar to promote as related services to your expertise. Below are a variety of online courses for freelancers with different skills.

If you're looking for a skill that isn't listed here, chances are you can find a course for your desired skill by searching it on the respective course website listed for each of the 12 courses below.

1. Online Freelancing Essentials

New freelancers would be smart to take Fiverr's free “Online Freelancing Essentials” course because it teaches you the basics of building a freelance business.

If you're not already promoting your services on Fiverr, you need to be. It's a great additional stream of new clients that can turn into a large portion of your freelance business.

Regardless of the manner in which you get clients, the Online Freelancing Essentials course is a great place to start as a freelancer.

(Not to mention, they've been a great stock investment too, one I expect to keep growing for the long run).

2. Fundamentals of Graphic Design

Graphic Design may be one of the higher paying freelancing skills these days. Adding it to your list of services would do good for your freelancing business.

Whether you want to specialize in logo design, branding, or even becoming an Adobe design expert, this list of Fiverr courses will be a great starting point.

3. Social Media Marketing

Social Media these days is almost as important (if not more important in many cases) as search engine optimization. Having a proper social media presence can mean a world of difference in terms of getting your brand and services noticed by your target market.

This social media marketing course will teach you the basics of how to use Social Media to your advantage to grow your online freelancing skills and accelerate your freelance career.

4. Learn How to Program

Web development and web design are skills in high demand, and ones that companies are willing to pay a pretty penny for. As technology and the internet advance, the need for this skill is only going to grow.

Codecademy is provides you access to learn almost any coding language in easy to follow lessons. All you do is pay a small monthly subscription and complete any course and as many courses as you would like.

Whether you're an expert developer already looking to expand your knowledge base, or whether you're a beginning web developer who wants to learn the tools of the trade, hands down Codecademy is a top place to start.

5. Viral Marketing Secrets

Viral Marketing Secrets is one of the highest rated digital marketing courses on Learn by Fiverr. The course focuses on helping you learn how to promote any product or service in an effective and efficient manner.

You'll learn how to create engaging content and marketing campaigns and how to display those campaigns to your target audience.

6. Instagram Marketing

Instagram can be a major resource for freelancers who want to implement an “influencer” model to growing their business. Influencers have large audiences and are able to promote partnered products to their large following through websites, blogs and in this case, Instagram.

Furthermore, Instagram is becoming even more vital for businesses who wish to showcase their work. Adding Instagram marketing to your freelance services would be a wise move to grow your business.

7. Become A Content Marketing Specialist

The phrase “Content is King” has never been more relevant than before. Knowledge and data are assets that only seem to be growing in value as businesses continue to transform to a more online and digital presence.

Content is the way businesses can get their company known online. This skill is helpful for both you in growing your freelance presence online, and as a new service to add to your freelance services.

8. YouTube Marketing & YouTube SEO – Udemy

Some freelancers specialize in just YouTube videos and YouTube marketing for their clients. This area has major growth potential and current trends on how many businesses are starting to use YouTube suggest a similar opportunity.

This course on YouTube Marketing & YouTube SEO will show you the basics of how to promote companies on YouTube with massive success. You could even use this course to promote your own freelancing skills, as well as your freelancing clients.

9. Become an SEO Specialist

Search Engine Optimization (aka SEO) is the skill of optimizing content online so it is easy to find by major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The more optimized your content is, the more likely your content is to be listed on the first page for major search terms.

This is a task that nearly all businesses these days have a hard time with, and one they are willing to pay top dollar to a real SEO specialist. You can learn how to optimize websites, videos, landing pages, product pages, etc. with the skills learned in this course.

10. Entrepreneurship Foundations – LinkedIn Learning

Entrepreneurship is both a challenging and rewarding career path. It's safe to say there are a few fundamental tips I wish I would have known before starting my journey, and a course like Entrepreneurship Foundations from LinkedIn Learning would have been fantastic had I known about it when I started.

In this course, you'll learn the basics of being an entrepreneur, how to start and grow your business, and common tips and tricks to implement from the get-go.

11. Google Analytics – Fiverr

Google Analytics is an unbelievably valuable tool that lets you see where your website traffic is coming from and your overall audience demographics. You can then use this information to target marketing campaigns to areas that your audience are interested in to have a more engaging experience.

While this is a skill that fits in perfectly with SEO and creating content online, learning Google Analytics alone is a necessary element of many other related skills that if learned, you'll be miles ahead of the competition, and your clients will pay you well for it!

12. Finance Essentials for Small Business

Having a great idea with happy customers is only a portion of building a successful freelance business. Without the understanding of business finances and how to manage your freelance income, chances are you won't last long before closing shop.

Learning the basics of finance essentials for small businesses is a skill that you will use your entire career, regardless of what type of business you are managing.

Working as a freelancer has its benefits, but it also has potential downfalls if you aren't properly prepared for what's to come. Improving your skills regardless of your current level of expertise will help you avoid some of the most common pitfalls beginner freelancers and expert freelancers alike come across.