<h1>Coding as a Digital Marketer</h1>

Coding can be extremely intimidating at first glance, I mean heck, all those letters and symbols on a page look like a two year old decided to write a novel. Well don't knock it until you try it, because after taking a few Codecademy courses I'm feeling significantly more comfortable with coding. I'm certainly not ready to start a career in coding but I'm also no longer clueless which makes me feel much more confident as a digital marketer.

How does coding work?

First off we need to define coding; coding is the process of creating software, and software is the set of instructions for the computer to perform (Source: What is Programming/Coding?). Code allows for us to communicate via computers to internet users. All those "random" numbers and letters are actually translations of what we see on a daily basis online. If you have the chance I would highly recommend exploring Codecademy to learn more about how coding works and how to do it yourself.

Codecademy Explained

Codecademy is an educational website which allows for users to learn how to code through reading and interactive tasks. As shown in the image below, in the interactive tasks we would be given instructions based on the reading, a place to practice in the middle and the product to the right.

In the Introduction to HTML you learn the basic anatomy of an html, child and parent elements, headings, division containers, lists and more. The image shown above is code that I learned to write myself! There are vast opportunities for beginners to learn how to code for free, whether that be youtube videos or online courses. My hesitation with using any other resource would be missing the opportunity to have first hand experience coding and knowing how to troubleshoot. With this platform not only are there step by step instructions but there are many opportunities for users to seek help or even answers if desired. Although writing a page about brown bears might not be beneficial to my career, it allows me to be a more valuable marketer to potential employers.

Wordpress and SquareSpace are two great platforms that you can use to build your website, so let's see how they compare.

Wordpress

As described on their website, Wordpress gives you everything you need to create anything you want. Wordpress provides the tools for you to create a blog, a website, a domain, self host and more. They've created options for just about anyone, which allows you to pay a reasonable price for the service you need.

For many, coding can be a daunting task and Wordpress makes an online presence much easier. They do most of the hard work for you so all you are required to do is upload your content and select desired theme and design options.

SquareSpace

SquareSpace is very similar to Wordpress in that it requires little to no coding knowledge to use. SquareSpace provides options from business to personal and basic to business, varying price of course based on features provided. Something I found particularly interesting is that SquareSpace is also able to provide analytics, manage campaigns and use SEO. Squarespace definitely seems like a more of a beginners/small shop friendly platform but would require more of an investment than Wordpress.

Should Digital Marketers Waste Their Time Coding?

The answer is, ABSOLUTELY! As I've emphasized in previous articles it's crucial to become a t-shaped marketer in efforts of becoming attractive to employers. To reiterate, a "t-shaped marketer" is one who knows a little about a lot, but also a lot about a little. So doing your research about coding and the resources available can give you a serious advantage.

Thanks for reading!