Why It’s Important to Learn How to Code

When it comes to inbound marketing, one of the many things you’ll want to learn is how to code. You’ll need to be able to code a website, small applications for lead generation and understand basics for installing tracking pixels for Facebook and Google. You won’t need to know how to code at the extent that Amazon does, but you will need to have familiarity with the basics.

If you’re an entrepreneur just getting starting with inbound marketing, here are a handful of tips to pay attention when it comes to coding.

Focus On Popular Coding Languages

Coding has been around for years. However, it’s grown and adapted to new technologies. For this reason, you’ll want to focus on learning the most current coding languages including HTML, CSS and Javascript. These languages are what drive the web in 2021 and they are what you will need to understand to be successful as an inbound marketer.

Start By Building a Test Website

What better way to put your coding skills to work than creating a website? Your website is where you’ll be driving traffic from inbound sources and it’s where you need to establish your brand. You can easily get started on a website with GoDaddy’s website builder, Wix or Squarespace, but if you want it customized you’ll want to look to WordPress. WordPress is a free platform full of customizations and easy-to-understand code that will lend itself to your inbound marketing project. WordPress.org has a lot of resources online to help you get started.

Don’t Forget the Intent of Learning to Code

Since we’re talking about inbound marketing, it’s important to remember your coding skills will need to be honed in for SEO and email strategies. Consider how you want your traffic to interact with your website, what keywords you will need to target and how your pages will display in Google. Regarding SEO, pay extra attention to the following types of coding markup:

• meta tags for titles and descriptions
• image alt tags
• header tags like h1, h2, h3, etc.
• javascript loading / pagespeed

How to Start Learning Coding

Because coding skills have become such a popular thing as of late, there are endless resources available online to start working through. For instance, you can start a DIY coding program that will give you the tools necessary to begin understanding how certain coding languages work. These programs will provide the fundamentals of HTML 5.0, cascading style sheets and various forms of Javascript.

If you need a little more guidance, you’ll have no trouble finding paid programs or a free coding school near you. Many organizations put together hackathons and coding bootcamps you can attend. Take a look at the Meetup app to see if anything is happening near you.