Create Online Courses: Quick Start Guide

E-commerce Oct 24, 2024

The world is now moving toward a creator-based economy, where people are turning their knowledge and passion into profitable online businesses. These "edupreneurs" or knowledge entrepreneurs are creating digital courses to share their expertise and build authority with their audience.

If you have valuable knowledge that helps others solve a problem or meet a need, you already have the foundation to become a successful course creator. With many easy-to-use tools and builders like SpreadSimple, starting a profitable online course is easier than ever. In this article, we’ll guide you through the steps to create a digital course and unlock a new revenue stream for your business.

How to create an online course

An online course is a series of learning activities that students can access over the internet. These courses can be self-paced, led by an instructor, or a mix of both. Most online courses include things like webinar recordings, slideshows, tests, tutorial videos, and PDF materials. With just a laptop, students from around the world can join your course at a lower cost than traditional, on-person education.

Let’s walk through an 8-step process to turn your passion into a meaningful course that also helps you generate income.

Step 1: Choose the perfect topic for your online course

The first step to building a buzzing online course is choosing the ideal topic that helps identify your niche. Your subject should be a combination of something you are passionate about, have the skills for, possess some experience on the subject, and have a target audience. In other words, there are four crucial things needed for the perfect topic:

1. Passion – When we talk about passion, it does not mean you must be head over heels in love with the subject. It denotes that it should be a topic you like to talk about, do not mind thinking about, and enjoy reading about it for weeks months on end. This feeling will resonate well with the audiences in the long run, help to engage and inspire them, and also keep your customers coming back.

2. Skills – Passion means nothing if there is no skill involved. You will need to have specific knowledge of the subject. This means the topic you have chosen is something related to your profession or hobby. By choosing to teach this content you have taken the role of helping others solve a problem and also moving towards setting yourself up as a thought leader in the desired field.

3. Experience – This is mostly self-explanatory. People are a by-product of their sum of unique experiences which can help to create a winning and successful online course business. Your experiences can include:

Work experience
Educational experience
Hobbies and interests
Volunteering
Workshops
Personal experiences (relationships, family, spiritual, and cultural)

Sit and contemplate all the things that shaped you both professionally and personally, and chances are that this unique perspective will help you create an online course that stands out from the crowd.

4. Target Audience – The point of any business is to sell to a target audience. Answering the questions below can help you find your customer base:

Who will this course help?

What demographic groups are most likely to benefit from this information?

What are your student's values, interests, and attitudes?

Which problems, needs, and challenges is this course solving?

Where do people currently get their help from?

How will this content help solve the challenges that your audience is facing?

People enroll in e-learning because they need to gather some knowledge and move from where they are now to where they want to be. Once you have a target audience in mind, make sure to tailor the subject, course content, and sales strategy so that they resonate with the customers.

Step 2: Identifying your niche

The next part of the planning process requires getting a lay of the land. Conduct research into your topic and find the courses published on it. However thorough learning requires going beyond what attendees can easily find on search results. Try and go the extra mile and find different sources for your topic – use webinars, online literature, and competitor classes. Do keyword research on the subject to see what people are looking for. All these steps will help you to define your niche in the market and also help you know what your audiences are interested in.

Tips for starting online courses — 4 sure-fire ways to validate your course

Keep in mind, that there can be subcategories within your identified niche as well, so do also look for them. For instance, if the course you are making is about taking care of indoor plants, then after covering the basics like watering and natural sunlight, do provide additional value such as types of UV tubes to use in the home and different air purifiers to aid plant growth.

Step 3: Analyzing market demand

In any business startup, it is helpful to always validate your idea before launching. Creating an online course requires a lot of hard work and effort, which might get wasted if you do create a product and nobody wants to purchase it. So it is necessary to do enough research and find a demand for your topic in the market. One way to do this is by creating a minimum viable product (MVP) – it is a smaller version of the idea that is launched to the public with just enough features to validate your assumptions. It can also be referred to as a mini-course or a free webinar.

The next step is testing the MVP by making a landing web page for it. Make sure that the page has a concise description of the course and explains what people will learn. Include eye-catching imagery to further reflect the concept. Using social media platforms and other channels like newsletters, you can check if there are enough attendees for the course and does it also has positive feedback. With the help of this data and KPIs, a business can ensure the viability of the online course subject and see if it is profitable in the long run.

The topic you choose is entirely in your hands and can be pretty much anything – from dressing-up tutorials to professional cooking lessons. While there are hundreds of possibilities to choose from, the right topic is a major factor in the course’s success.

Setting Learning Outcomes for Success

Now that we have a course topic finalized, it is time to set the learning outcomes for your business. They are the big-picture goals that help you summarize what your students will gain from buying your course and will also play a vital role in marketing it to your potential customers.

Defining course objectives

Learning objectives, or course objectives, are the equivalent of value propositions as they help the consumers know the benefits they gain from the course. With the help of measurable verbs and with lots of details tell your learners what they will be able to achieve at the end of the course. They need to be well-written and highlighted at a prominent spot on your web page. Here is an example of what learning objectives should look like:

At the end of the course, you will be able to carry our everyday conversations with native Spanish speakers using all the correct grammar and tenses.

As you can see, the learning objectives, show the target audience that their investment into the course is worthy and beneficial. Keep in mind that the objectives should be included on the sales web page alongside the pricing and they should fill the gaps that your competitors are missing out on.

Aligning outcomes with student expectations

Identifying learning objectives is no doubt an important task, but making sure that these align with your student’s expectations is also vital. The goals are narrow and specific and are directly linked to the expected results. To make sure that the course outcomes are aligned with your customer's expectations:

Choose something you want to teach – The subject of your e-learning should be either something you have knowledge about or are willing to invest time in learning thoroughly. But the most important part of this is that there needs to be a passion for the topic. Because when the product is being marketed, the audience resonates with the teacher especially if they are invested in the subject. Try and think, about what content people take your advice on. Alternatively also ask the question, what study you would like to master and learn about?

Choose something others want to learn – With extensive market research, you can find the gaps in the topic that your competitors are not fulfilling and try to cover these subjects. Start by asking a group of friends and colleagues what they think of the subject. You can also test out the data by sharing polls and online forms with people on the internet and getting their feedback. As we have mentioned, create a short tutorial and market it on social media or via e-mail. Then collect information from the audiences if this type of material is something they are interested in learning. This way your final learning goals with align well with your students in the long run.

Structuring Your Course Content

Tips for structuring online course content — An example of a course structure

Structuring the course content and logically diving it into modules and lessons requires putting yourself in the shoes of the students. Start from the desired end stage of the learners and work your way backward to outline your course content.

Organizing modules and lessons

The first step to structuring the content requires organizing the amount of modules and lessons that will be included in your class. This is determined by the type, completion time, and cost of the course you create. Start by breaking down the topic into distinct modules first which are then divided into lessons and further separated into sections and sub-sections. For example, if you are taking a course in content marketing, here is how you can organize it:

Module 1 – Setting up a Content Marketing Strategy.
Module 2 – Adding valuable content that aids in conversion rate.
Module 3 – Search Engine Optimization(SEO) & Organic Traffic.
Module 4 – Managing a content calendar.
Module 5 – Content distribution.

Once you have created your modules, we move to break them down into a series of lesions that dive into details about a given subject matter. Here is how the format of the above modules will look like when divided into lessons:

Module 1 – Setting up a Content Marketing Strategy.

Lesson 1 – Determine editorial goals and objectives.
Lesson 2 – Define the target audience and their demographics.
Lesson 3 – Outline the consumer content journey.
Lesson 4 – Conduct competitor content research.
Lesson 5 – Find the ideal content formats.

Module 2 – Adding valuable content that aids in conversion rate.

Lesson 1 – Choose the right topics.
Lesson 2 – Researching and outlining.
Lesson 3 – Creating the perfect leads.
Lesson 4 – Drafting a compelling content plan.
Lesson 5 – Enable efficient editing.

Module 3 – Search Engine Optimization(SEO) & Organic Traffic.

Lesson 1 – Keyword research.
Lesson 2 – On-page SEO.
Lesson 3 – Technical SEO.
Lesson 4 – Off-page SEO and building backlinks.
Lesson 5 – SEO tools and monitoring.

Module 4 – Managing a content calendar.

Lesson 1 – Finding your content calendar tool.
Lesson 2 – Categorizing content on the calendar.
Lesson 3 – Set up a regular content meeting.
Lesson 4 – Organize your content calendar.
Lesson 5 – Maintaining an idea bank and content queue.

Module 5 – Content distribution.

Lesson 1 – Promoting content on different channels.
Lesson 2 – Content refreshing and repurposing.
Lesson 3 – Pitching to publications and newsletters
Lesson 4 – Combining your content.
Lesson 5 – Paid advertising and sponsorships.

Now that you have understood how to organize your modules and lessons, it should help give you a clear direction in building your course content. Make sure that every lesson contains detailed steps, information, and exercises for students to work through.

Balancing theory and practice

The whole point of structuring the content is to bridge the gap between theory and practice. Depending on the type of subject you are offering, the medium of your course can take many different forms. For instance, a mini course that is like an introduction to the subject can be taught using an email format, while an intensive high-priced course will consist of multiple formats for student engagement. Here are a few popular formats you can use to balance the gap between theory and practice:

Video lectures – a good way to portray ideas effectively and simply.
Screengrabs and walkthroughs – this is a good style to show the students the exact steps involved in the process.
Textual content – the most efficient way to explain concepts in detail, giving step-by-step data, and linking content to other resources from the internet.
Downloadable content – this is an excellent way to provide glossary templates, cheat sheets, information, and other tools that set students up for success. It also helps learners work on the lesson themselves during their free time.
Workbooks – a workbook is valuable in helping students internalize and imbibe concepts.

Your job while creating content should be to provide actionable and focused information to customers that bridges the gap between theory and practice. While researching, look at the formats the competitors are using and consider asking the target audience what course medium they find most engaging. This will aid in developing a content package that will have maximum impact on your clientele.

Selecting Effective Delivery Methods

So to summarize, we have found the perfect topic, set up the learning objectives, and structured the course content. Now we move on to deciding how to deliver the content to engage the learners effectively. When creating an online course, you need to keep in mind the different learning needs of your students and the way you can deliver the information to make it interesting for your students. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

What type of visuals are you planning to use?
Will the course have interactive activities, videos, audio files, and reading content?
How will the course be fun and engaging to the audience?
Will there be scope for social cohort learning?
How can you help students with different learning styles?

Follow the three ways to design effective learning content:

1. Make a blend of different teaching techniques to engage the course.

Traditional textual learning or classroom experience does not always translate to engaging learning outcomes. So it is vital to find ways to make the online course fun and interesting. Creators can use storyboards, and hots live Q&A sessions, include interactive games in the lessons, add lots of quizzes to the content, and use microlearning techniques to break down large topics. Lastly, make sure you are using universal design principles so that the course is accessible to everyone.

2. Do not make the course very long.

There is no fixed size for any e-learning module. The smallest amount of time it takes to get learners from point A to point B is usually the ideal length of a course. A few factors that influence the length of your course are:

The complexity of the topic – Your subject greatly influences the length of the course. For example, a tutorial on how to change a tire will be smaller than a course on the aerodynamics of a drone.
Requirements for getting your course accredited – If you are planning to get your course certified in the long run, the learners will have to complete a certain number of hours studying. This will surely influence the length of your course and its complexity.
The pricing structure – If the plan is to create a range of online courses at different price points, then the content varies based on the cost structure. For instance, an introductory plan that covers the basics will be smaller and more concise, as compared to a deep-dive premium course with all the information.

Many new creators make the mistake of putting too much data into their lessons and trying to cover all the content. The trick lies in balancing the modules in a way so that they deliver the information precisely without being too long.

3. Include social elements like lesson communities and cohort-based learning.

One of the biggest challenges with online learning is finding ways to keep learners engaged and make the experience more socially interactive. This can be achieved by building a community to create meaningful connections. The lesson communities aid in opening up spaces for peer-to-peer support, learner-to-educator support, and social learning.

There is also an option to pair the students into cohorts where they participate in joint activities and hold each other accountable for achieving their learning goals.

Video lectures vs. interactive content

If a course is mostly textual in design, then the lesson can get very dry and boring in nature. Videos are today the most popular form of media and a great source of information. Students expect film-based lessons through their online course as it helps them understand the topic better and also makes it interesting to follow. However, making video content can sometimes feel like a daunting task.

So let us help you with tips to create video lectures and other interactive content.

Filming – SInce you are a home-based business, videos can be created using relatively simple equipment including with just a good smartphone camera. There is no need for a complete movie production. Film yourself speaking on camera with a ring light using a microphone, while simultaneously screen recording. While your final cut does not need to be pixel-perfect, we advise reading up on tips for creating professional-looking content and incorporating them into your production.

After filming use any free editing software like iMovie or Lightworks, and invest some time in editing the raw footage to make it presentable. You can edit out some errors, add text, titles, and lesson names, as well as include background music if relevant.

Interactive Content – Just adding videos to your course is not enough. Students must be able to interact with each other whenever possible. Use elements such as quizzes, assignments, and active tests to make the content more engaging and effective. Webinars and workshops are a good way to increase conversions and also help your existing students interact with newer people and information.

Incorporating assessments

Besides the above-mentioned techniques, learners require regular assessments to evaluate their progress. Here are a few ways to achieve this:

Scaffolding – It is layering the teaching experience so that students revise the earlier concepts and apply them to the newer lessons. The process requires gradually adding simpler and basic concepts to more challenging ideas so that the students avoid cognitive overload, while also retaining old and new information.

Out-of-class assignments – Think about adding activities and tasks that learners can practice when not in class to cement the newly gained knowledge. They can be in the form of a PDF file, a group discussion with peers, or a follow-up discussion before the start of a new lesson.

Small wins – The concept refers to simple challenges in the course content that give the student a sense of accomplishment and confidence while boosting their knowledge. They help to keep the learner excited keep students excited about learning and refuel their motivation. Think of adding small medals, awards, or congratulatory pop-up messages every time they complete an activity. There are also softwares to design custom certificates that get automatically emailed to the participants once they complete the program.

Producing Engaging Course Materials

Now that your course is starting to take shape and look like a lively lesson, it is time to start creating the final engaging materials to be added to your modules. These include filming, recordings, images, editing, etc. Though this aspect differs based on every creator's topic, there will likely be a need for some video content, regardless of the chosen subject.

Creating compelling visuals

Start by taking all the ideas and learning materials you collected during the market research phase and selecting the ones that will stay and what will go. As the sorting begins, discard anything that does now seem to directly relate to the subject and align well with the learning objectives.

The best way to organize your content is to use an instructional design storyboard, which will help you visualize the flow of the course. It can also save time in the process of planning your content and is designed to keep your lesson focused on the important aspects of the learning objectives. Do not make the mistake of thinking that storyboards only pertain to planning videos. They are a great tool for creating compelling visuals, as well as high-level learning themes. For instance, by using a storyboard you can map and check a student's progress level and their mastery of the subject. If you decide not to use a storyboard then there is a possibility of making a mistake in the lesson plan and your content may end up being disorganized.

Best practices for video production

As we have already mentioned, every subject will require some videos or visual content. So some of the popular and effective recording styles that can be used for online courses are:

Talking heads – This features the creator's face and upper body in the frame of a camera which is played alongside the lesson. In the background, there can be a projector, presentation, whiteboards, or a green screen where helpful materials like slides, diagrams, animations, visuals, etc may be displayed. If you are new to video production, consider filming the content from different angles and find the most visually entertaining content. This is one of the top recording formats for online courses used today.

Screen recording – This seems self-explanatory. In this process, the computer’s screen is captured like a walkthrough tutorial to explain to students about a concert, or process, or create a how-to guide. Some creators also use their faces or an on-screen avatar to make the screen recording more visually engaging.

Voiceovers – A voiceover is the same as a screen recording but with the creator narrating what is happening in the lesson. This style is most effective for presentations and explaining diagrams in detail, and the speaker is not shown on the screen, just the lesson visuals.

Even with all the above steps, do not worry too much about making your course content visually perfect. If you are a first-time creator, consider learning about online content videos by using YouTube channels about recordings and editing. Remember the important thing is to get started and bring your lessons in front of your target audience. This will help you collect feedback, which can be used to go back later and refine the content as per your customers' demands. If this stage is difficult, consider taking professional help and hiring skilled freelancers for this job.

Pricing Your Course for the Market

So your course is ready to be launched. The biggest question that remains is how would you price your lessons to make sure they are profitable. Here are some ways to determine the best course fees:

Niche and content subject – Study your market to see where your course lies in the industry. Does it possess price-sensitive audiences or not? For example, people taking a course about investing money in the share market are likely to have a higher willingness to pay than consumers purchasing a digital media course on social media marketing.

Creation time – Any business enterprise that wants to be profitable needs to strike the perfect balance between time invested and revenue generated. Take into account the time it took you to create the course and then plan the pricing based on it.

Marketing cost – When planning the pricing, do not forget to add the cost of marketing to your budget. Keep track of expenses used in spreading the word about your course and make sure they are reflected in the fees.

Value to your customer – An important factor to consider is the amount of value your subject or content has on its users. If your course will help the learners generate more income later based on the skills they acquired, then chances are they will be willing to pay a higher price as it would be financially justified.

Competitor prices – You may have done a quick audit during the market research phase to determine the average course price of your topic. While there can always be fluctuations in the fees, this number will help you add a fixed value to your course subject. Make sure your course fees are somewhere along the competitor’s pricing.

Authority of the creator – If you are a proven industry expert or leader of the content subject, then the buyers are inclined to pay more for the course. Do take your perceived authority into account when pricing your online business.

Competitive pricing strategies

When it comes to pricing, conduct thorough competitor research to see how other digital course creators in your niche are charging for their offerings. Whether it is online universities, academies, or other training organizations, knowing their fees can help you determine what the clients may be willing to pay. Having a competition on pricing is not a good idea, but knowing the market rates can help you greatly. Make sure that you are not selling your course short, and are realistically pricing it at the right fees.

Also take into consideration, what your competition is offering for free, such as online training, YouTube videos, physical workshops, courses in a marketplace, and email lessons. This lets you determine where your competitor’s pricing begins and how it differs from your content features. Your starting point is the market value of the subject, but from there the fees can be lower or higher depending on what you are offering.

A quick suggestion is to invest in branding and industry credibility as it helps to establish your business’s brand. Also, consider guest posting on authoritative websites and getting featured in podcasts, this will help you to increase your course fees in the long run.

Offering course bundles and discounts

When you are starting, a quick way to acquire new customers is to sometimes offer a discount on your product. Think of it this way, it is beneficial for you to give 5% off $500 rather than have 100 sales at a price of just $20. This way your content stays a premium product rather than a mass course with less value.

Also, consider offering course bundles before dropping new exclusive content which will be available to your existing students at a discount, but not for new students. This will urge people who are on the fence about your course to maybe buy the whole lesson plan.

Always make good use of holidays and festivals, to offer discounts. Study the target audience's response to these drops in prices, as it can help you get a better understanding of how much your students are willing to pay. Create surveys, feedback questions, and focus groups to directly ask customers what they think about your fee structure. If there are varied responses, then try giving different levels of course at different prices to see if that enabled more sales. Lastly, whenever you are doing a webinar or preparing a new topic, give an early bird special discount for a limited time as this sense of urgency makes people enroll for the course faster and be decisive.

Launching and Marketing Your Course

Creating a course is only one part of the answer. It is now time to launch the product to the world and market it to potential buyers. You have spent a lot of creative energy and valuable time in making this online course, but your work is not yet finished. Develop an ongoing marketing strategy to keep selling courses and converting target audiences into paying consumers. To get started with the course marketing plan, try answering the following questions:

What forms of content marketing do you plan to use?
How can you leverage social media platforms to advertise your e-learning course?
What free promotions and discounts can you offer the audiences?
Will you run paid ads to market your courses?
Do you have an existing email list you can start selling to?
Can you partner up with influencers and other learning forums?
Will you run an affiliate program?

Each of these questions can help with making your overall marketing strategy. By combining a few of these ideas you can make an effective marketing plan and promote your website on advertising platforms.

Building a pre-launch audience

For building a pre-launch audience list, the creation of a sales web page/funnel is needed. It is a form of landing page that differs from others on your website as it has only one goal – to enroll people in your course. Everything on your sales funnel is tailored to convert visitors into paying customers. A few key features to include on your web page are:

Start with a clear and compelling headline to catch the visitor's attention.
Include an opening story to introduce the problem.
Next showcase bullet points in a concise way to provide the solutions of the problem and why it would work.
Highlight feedback and student testimonials to build the credibility of your brand.
Include the creator's biography, experiences, and any other relevant information about the course subject.
Pricing and fee structure with a clear CTA.
Provide a satisfaction guarantee with risk reversal.
FAQs
Finally, make sure that your content is concise and clear with a CTA button that guides your visitors on what to do next.

The whole idea of the sales page is to make your potential customers’ purchase decisions as easy as possible, which requires providing them with social proof, detailed information, and learning outcomes.

After the sales page is up and running, it is time to attract target audiences to your platform. A few ways to achieve this are:

Webinars – Run a weekly webinar to sell your course to potential customers as they are generally low-cost and easy to set up. They are a proven marketing tool that helps generate leads. It also creates an environment where you can quickly earn your audience’s trust by showcasing your expertise before asking people to buy. Chances are if a person sits through a 30-40-minute lecture they are likely to purchase the course.
Appear on a podcast – Try to collaborate and appear on podcasts relating to your niche or topic. It is a great way to increase your authority and demonstrate your expertise through conversation. Show the producers of the podcast how your experiences fit in their show and are also valuable to their listeners. Near the end of the show, most hosts will allow you to pitch your course and even offer an early bird discount for their listeners.
Lead Magnets – As the word states, it is a way to attract customers and grow your email list through effective marketing techniques. You can offer free mini-courses, masterclasses, or email newsletters to give audiences a shortened version of the paid content. Provide downloadable resources like templates, guides, e-books, and workbooks, to engage the audiences and encourage them to visit your sales page.
Run paid ads – If you have the budget then run paid advertisements via Google Ads or Facebook ads, to your sales page as they target specific buyers who are likely to convert to consumers.
SEO tactics – Try optimizing your website so it ranks higher on SERP and brings organic traffic to your platform. For an in-depth understanding of SEO please refer to our other article – SEO Maintenance Checklist.

E-learning courses are best advertised via social media platforms and email marketing.

Social media – Identify the channels that your prospective learners use often and then hone in your marketing efforts on them. Most new creators make the mistake of using every social media platform. Chances are you will not need spaces like TikTok, Pinterest, or Snapchat if your content is financial management or stock market-related. Likewise, if the course you are selling is about business and management, then consider using channels like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

E-mail marketing – Collecting audience data and making an e-mail list is a powerful way to share information, discounts, updates, and news about your course. Even if visitors to your website do not buy anything the first time they arrive, make sure to ask for their e-mail so you can set up a marketing funnel to convince them to purchase your product later. Additionally, create a mini course which can be sent by e-mail that explains the benefits and gives a quick summary of your main course. This technique will help boost your business and drive more conversions to your website.

Building a Community Around Your Course

Online education is a solitary activity done from home. Hence there is a need for you to build a community around your course that fosters a feeling of success, experience, and growth. This might seem like an afterthought, but is a very important part of online business success. This process aids in converting one-time customers into loyal, repeat consumers. Who become brand advocates, mentors, and the focus group to market your business. Community building requires two main things – student interaction and cohort-based learning via discussion boards and forums.

Encouraging student interaction

By building a student community through your course, you enable users to share their learning process with a group of peers and together celebrate their successes. It enables them to solve problems on their own and establish connections with each other. This in a way also reduces your workload as learners become their teachers and can bounce ideas off one another and generate conversations, which enhances their interest in class. You can also collect feedback and testimonials from the group and use them to advertise your course to newer participants who are one-time attendants of the community. This place functions as an extension of your marketing strategy that no algorithm can take away from you. This access builds your brand’s authority in the niche and generates higher revenues.

Just remember that as a community manager, it is your responsibility to give more than you ask. If the space feels like a marketing tool only, it can hurt your potential customers, as well as existing consumers.

Leveraging forums and discussion boards

In the community, we encourage you to create discussion boards or forums to enable more student interactions. Start by sharing themed posts each day pertaining to the course content, and asking questions that spark conversations. This way you are enabling your community to discuss the topic in detail and also answer their peer's doubts. Some ways to leverage your community space are:

Members Area – Make a Members Only Area that can be accessed only by paid or registered users. It should also contain a variety of additional course information and premium ranging from blogs, downloadable newsletters, etc.
Online forum – Create an internet forum as part of your course website, that allows learners to support one another’s journey and aid in their overall growth.
Social media groups – Make special private social media groups where everything is under one roof, so that students can easily engage with each other on different platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and more.
Online communication platforms – Use communication platforms like Slack, Discord, Telegram, etc to grow the connectivity of your community. This also helps to reach out to newer audiences and aids in quickly sharing news and information with learners.

Choosing SpreadSimple for Your Online Course

Now that everything is mapped out and you are ready to start your online course, you would want to think about which platform to use for presenting the content to your audience. Make sure that the software you are using suits your needs and provides a variety of templates, and built-in marketing tools, offers easy integrations, as well as possesses a user-friendly interface.

If this is the first time you are creating a website, check out SpreadSimple, a powerful no-code website builder that creates feature-rich platforms using just Google Sheets. The spreadsheet works as a content management system for the website, which means you can update your content information in just a few clicks by editing your sheet. Above that, this website builder is perfect for creating platforms to share digital content and intellectual property.

To make your work easier, SpreadSimple created an Online Courses template tailored for showcasing educational videos online. The tool also provides many valuable features needed for growing your e-learning business, such as easy integration with online tools for SEO, communication, analytics, etc; provides inbuilt templates with different design choices to match your brand identity, no maintenance costs as the backend team handles bug fixes, compatibility checks, etc; a user-friendly interface that anyone with no knowledge of coding can handle; and provides multiple payment portal options like PayPal, Google Pay, and Stripe.

Conclusion

The process of creating an online course can be a rewarding experience if you can make content that is valuable, helpful, and even life-changing for your target audience. If you are a person who has experience or expertise in a subject and wants to share it with the world, we advise you to get started right away. Remember the most difficult step is the first one, after that follow our above steps to make your successful e-learning course that helps generate revenue for you.

FAQ

How do I choose the right topic for my online course?

The first step to building a buzzing online course is choosing the ideal topic that helps identify your niche. Your subject should be a combination of something you are passionate about, have the skills for it, possess some experience on the subject, and have a target audience. In other words, there are four crucial things needed for the perfect topic:

2. Skills – Passion means nothing if there is no skill involved. You will need to have specific knowledge of the subject. This means the topic you have chosen is something related to your profession or hobby.

3. Experience – This is mostly self-explanatory. People are a by-product of their sum of unique experiences which can help to create a winning and successful online course business.

4. Target Audience – The point of any business is to sell to a target audience.

Can I create an online course without being an expert?

Yes, it is possible to do so as you do not need to be an expert in the subject, but you do need to have some work experience or skills pertaining to the content. If you are creating an online course but have no knowledge of the subject, then we advise taking some time to learn about it in depth as this will help you establish yourself later as a teacher.

What are the best platforms to host my online course?

The best online course builder depends on your specific needs but the most popular ones are:

SpreadSimple – an easy-to-use no-code website builder with multiple integrations.
Wix – offers creation tools within its website builder
Teachable – User-friendly platform with robust features.
Udemy – Large marketplace for instructors to reach a wide audience.

How much does it cost to develop an online course?

The cost of developing your course depends on what is your topic, and whether you plan to use videos or media content. The course creations can cost from zero (except the fees of the hosting platform) to a few hundred dollars. For instance, creators sometimes invest a lot of money in video content that can run your costs up significantly.

How can I effectively market my online course?

Some ways to effectively market your online course are:

Webinars
Appear on a podcasts
Use lead Magnets
SEO tactics
Social media platforms
E-mail marketing

How long should my online course be?

The complexity of the topic
Requirements for getting your course accredited
The pricing structure

Can I sell my course on multiple platforms?

Yes the more the better. After creating your online course, market and sell it on different social media platforms, internet forums, online communities, etc, to garner more traffic which helps to aid in conversions.

How do I protect my online course content?

Here are a few ways to safeguard and protect your online course content from piracy:

1. Use watermarks

2. Register your copyright

3. Use digital rights management tools

4. Branding is your best friend when it comes to enforcement

5. Using talking head videos

What are the best ways to engage students in my online course?

The best way to engage students in your online course is to create discussion forums and groups, hold webinars and real-time sessions, and add interactions through e-books and videos. This will result in better knowledge outcomes and higher engagement.