How Do I Choose the Best Internet Marketing Degree?

To get the best Internet marketing degree, consider what you want and need the education for, whether it is to start your own business or to be employed by others. If you want the flexibility of having the degree to be used either way, do research into the companies you want to work for as well as the exact educational background you'll need for your Internet marketing start-up. This type of research may help you decide whether an associate's or bachelor's Internet marketing degree would be best. You may also want to consider a degree in business management with a specialty in Internet marketing. Whatever you eventually decide, look for a quality school with a program that fits your goals and schedule.

Online marketing degree programs from reputable schools can allow you to hold a job while taking courses on weekends or in your spare time. Remember to consider the location and times of any required in-person examinations as well as group project requirements that may be difficult to organize over the Internet. Even some top universities have extension, or distance education, Internet marketing degree programs, although these are likely to be more expensive than those from community colleges. It can still be worthwhile to investigate what exactly you get for your money from each kind of school that offers online Internet marketing degrees.

Avoid "diploma mills" for your Internet marketing degree. These are typically Internet start-up businesses masquerading as schools that are of poor quality and issue worthless degrees. Be sure the school you choose is properly accredited. Check with well-known universities and colleges, as well as the Department of Education or equivalent in your country, to see if transfer credits are generally accepted from these schools. This can often be a good indicator of whether an Internet marketing school is actually just a "diploma mill."

Once you've narrowed down several good schools with Internet marketing degree programs, compare the details, such as material covered, grading and major projects. Choose a program that seems to be the best fit with your learning style as well as content requirements to meet your employment and/or entrepreneurial goals. Consider the learning materials as well, such as the textbooks, scholarly articles and case studies. With Internet marketing degrees, it's also important that the programs offer students a lot of hands-on work on a computer learning search engine optimization and web analytics.