Last updated on September 11th, 2023 at 10:22 am
Blogging in South Africa can seem overwhelming. There are so many steps involved in starting your own blog from learning to write and publish content, to finding an audience and monetizing your interests.
The good news is that starting a blog doesn’t have to be super challenging. In fact, if you follow the right steps, creating your own blog can actually be very simple.
Better part?
Blogging allows you to share your thoughts with the world and help others while also developing your writing skills at the same time.
If all of these sounds overwhelming to you, there are courses you can take and learn everything you need to know.
Let us take a look at some of the best websites where you can find online blogging courses in South Africa:
Table of Contents
1). Udemy
Udemy is one of the world’s largest providers of online educational courses.
There are currently over 2 million courses on this website.
Many of the courses on Udemy are available for free, while some cost a small fee.
If you sign up for Udemy you can browse courses by topic or make one of your own.
You can also search by instructor, level of difficulty, and language. If you are looking for a course to help you master a certain skill, or to learn more about a certain topic, Udemy is an excellent place to start.
Udemy also offers a number of other features that are helpful for bloggers. You can earn “ Udemy certificates ” for taking courses and completing assignments.
These certificates can come in handy when applying for jobs, especially if you are a freelancer in South Africa.
Here’s a good example of the blogging courses you can buy on Udemy in South Africa: Blogging For Beginners – How to Start a Blog & Make Money
The course is going for just R224.23 and you learn:
- Learn How to Build a Successful Blog From Scratch, or Elevate Your Existing Blog
- Turn Your Passion Into a Profitable Blogging Niche
- Never Run Out of Ideas to Write About, and Continually Grow Your Audience
- Discover the Secret Structure That Rules All Blog Post Types
- Let Google and the Search Engines Bring You Flood of Visitors for Free
- Build a Permission Marketing List That Enables You to Get Money on Demand From Your Subscribers
- Develop the mindset of a successful blogger
- Create a Magnificent Website Using WordPress
Among other things.
The course already has over 1500 students and 4.8 stars from 71 ratings. It is offered in English.
2). Skillshare
Skillshare is an online platform for sharing skills and courses.
The platform was created with the goal of connecting creators of online courses with a community of learners. This makes it an excellent place to find bloggers interested in creating online courses around blogging.
At the same time, Skillshare comes with a number of features that can help you learn fast.
To get started, you need to sign up for a user account.
Then you will be able to browse courses and search for the topics you’d wish to study.
There’s this free blogging course in South Africa, Blogging Basics.
It has attracted over 35K students and is perfect for beginners.
This Basics course will cover 5 topics:
- Platforms available to set up your blog
- Blog design
- The pages you should set up for your site
- Social media
- Creating amazing content
3). YouTube
YouTube is another great website to find free blogging courses in South Africa.
You can find a variety of video blogging courses on YouTube, where you can learn how to create your first blog post, schedule your blog posts, grow your email list, and more. You can easily search for video blogging courses in South Africa, or look for bloggers who offer video blogging courses.
Be sure to choose a course that interests you, and that you would be interested in doing.
After you find a course that you would like to learn from, be sure to subscribe to the channel of the course so that you can get any future updates.
For example, this course, How to Blog for Beginners | Step-by-Step Tutorial has been viewed 500K+ times and is 5 hours long.
It takes you step by step on how to start blogging as a beginner.
4). Coursera
The online education platform Coursera has partnered with several universities to offer a wide range of courses online.
Coursera is an excellent place to find free and paid online blogging courses here in South Africa.
The website offers a wide range of courses, from programming to marketing and many other popular topics.
Many courses are self-paced, allowing students to work at their own pace and schedule.
Some courses are offered in a hybrid format, combining online and classroom learning. These courses allow students to receive their degree online while still having the option to be in a classroom setting.
Many online courses are offered at a fraction of the cost of a traditional campus program.
While online courses do not provide the same social support system as a campus setting, many learners find online courses to be an excellent way to work while still maintaining their busy schedules.
As you can see here, there are over 60 blogging courses in South Africa available on Coursera.org.
For example, this Use WordPress to Create a Blog for your Business course has 39,649 students already enrolled!
And based on the 4.5 stars from over 300 reviews, looks like the course actually delivers what it promises.
In this Free Guided Project, you will:
- Learn to use features in WordPress.
- Create a blog post.
- Publish a website.
You can learn more about this blogging course here.
5). LinkedIn Learning
LinkedIn Learning is another one of the best places to learn about blogging online. It houses a ton of courses for free, and you can also buy courses for a small fee.
You can learn about blogging, writing, marketing, and just about anything you want to learn about through these courses. It’s a great place to get advice about online writing and marketing, too.
Another great thing about LinkedIn is that you can connect with other bloggers through this platform. You can ask each other questions, get answers, and learn from others as well.
Take a look at this course, Writing a Compelling Blog Post, it is only 44 minutes long and has been rated 4.7 stars out of 5.
Better part?
After completion, you earn a sharable certificate you can even add to your Linkedin profile.
6) FutureLearn
FutureLearn is another one of the best online platforms that offer a wide range of free, online courses here in South Africa.
You can choose from a number of popular subjects, including language learning, creative subjects, and business topics.
Some of the benefits of using FutureLearn include the fact that all of the courses are available for free.
The courses are also highly rated by other users and offer a wide range of feedback, which makes choosing a course much easier.
When you sign up for an account, you will be given a list of available courses and choose which ones you would like to view.
Take a look at this course, How to Teach Online Courses
While this is not a blogging course in South Africa, by taking it, you learn a thing or two about crafting content that your readers will love.
7) Other Places To Find Courses
There are also many other websites that offer blogging courses. Some of the most popular include:
- Google SkillShop: Google Skillshop offers certifications on Google’s many webs, software and hardware tools which can help with careers like cybersecurity, marketing design or teaching. There are also free courses on digital skills as well as business-boosting tips for your brand!
- General Assembly: General Assembly is a coding Bootcamp providing both online and in-person classes as well as part-time and full-time options. It offers the 10 most popular courses, with access to all of them for $1 per month with no commitment required! You can also join their free workshops or take a basic course on their site called Dash which teaches you some computer programming basics.
- Udacity: Udacity offers numerous courses. The instructors teach all these courses on this site. There is a lot of information to learn from in the classrooms and also within the curriculum itself as well, which can help you prepare for interviews or any other type of career advancement that you may be hoping for. Udacity provides good quality content with lots of mentors available at your disposal to assist through their program.
- Edx: Edx offers free online courses in a wide range of subjects, including computer science, language, data science and more. These courses are delivered through weekly video sequences that include tutorials as well as discussion forums for students to post their questions to teaching assistants. The platform also provides an online discussion forum with regular discussions about the course content and certification completion opportunities like diplomas or certificates.
How to get the best out of online courses
If you decide to enrol in an online course, it’s important to keep these tips in mind to get the most out of it.
Research the course provider to make sure they have a good reputation and aren’t just a fly-by-night company.
Find out if they have an office or someone who you can contact easily should you have any questions or concerns. Find a course that suits your needs and your learning style.
If you are not sure what you want to learn, try out a few different courses to see what you like best.
Online courses in South Africa are a great way to learn something new, especially if you are not in a position to do it in person. If you’re already enrolled in a course and you’re not satisfied with it, it’s important to reach out to the teacher and tell them what you want to change.
How do I become a blogger in South Africa?
South Africa has a large online community, so becoming a blogger does not require a lot of effort. You can start a blog on WordPress in a couple of hours.
You can choose the topic of your blog and start writing. Most blogs are very simple and easy to start. If you have any technical knowledge and experience, you can also start a blog about SEO, topics related to your business, or anything that interests you.
At the same time, you will need the right tools to grow. These include SEO software, link building tools, etc.
Does blogging pay in South Africa?
Blogging is a great way to build your online visibility, connect with a large audience, and earn passive income.
However, many people are uncertain of the income potential of blogging.
While it is impossible to say for certain, it is likely that blogging will allow you to earn a comfortable living.
Where to start?
The first step is to choose a topic that interests you.
Once you have selected your topic, try to find an angle that has not been covered before.
You can use Google Trends to see what terms people are searching for. You can also explore topics on Reddit to see what topics are trending.
How do bloggers get paid in South Africa?
Most bloggers are paid through AdSense or other ad networks, but some choose to work with affiliate networks, such as Commission Junction or Rakuten.
Affiliate networks work differently from ad networks, in that the affiliate receives a percentage of the sales made by the advertiser every month.
Some bloggers choose this route to earn extra cash, while others like the control it gives them over their own income.
Affiliate networks exist for most countries in the world, so you can easily find one that works in your country.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that affiliate programs are operated by different people from ad networks, so be sure you choose an affiliate program that is reputable.
Affiliate networks don’t work in the same way as ad networks, so if you want to receive payment for your work, you should choose an affiliate network that works in your country.