How to create an online course: Guide with tips + tools to get started [2024]

Is creating and selling online courses profitable?

Creating and selling online courses can indeed be a profitable venture. That being said, it's difficult to state exactly how much money online course creators can earn, as there are are many different factors that can have impact on a course's profitability:

• Market demand: The topic of your course must address a demand in the market. Courses in high demand or niche areas with less competition tend to be more profitable. Plan to perform thorough market research using tools like Google Trends and others to get a complete idea of the interests and needs of your target audience.
• Course quality: High-quality content that's well structured and engaging can lead to better student outcomes, higher satisfaction, and more referrals. This can include good production quality of videos, clear audio, professional graphics, and interactive elements.
• Pricing strategy: Setting the right price for your course is vital. It must reflect the value provided, be competitive with similar offerings, and align with your target audience’s willingness to pay. Various pricing models like one-time fees, subscription-based, or tiered pricing can also impact profitability.
• Marketing and sales efforts: Effective marketing strategies can greatly enhance the visibility and attractiveness of your course. This is going to include using SEO, social media marketing, email campaigns, and partnerships or affiliates. Your ability to convert leads into customers through compelling purchase funnels is also critical.
• Platform choice: Where you choose to sell your course online can affect profitability. Factors include the platform's reach, built-in tools for marketing and sales, commission rates, and the level of support provided.
• Reputation and branding: Instructors or institutions with a strong brand or reputation can command higher course fees and attract more students. Building credibility through expert content, testimonials, and certifications can enhance this.
• Scalability: The ability to scale your course to a larger audience without significant increases in cost can greatly affect profitability. This might involve automating parts of the course delivery, using evergreen content, or leveraging larger online course marketplaces or platforms.
• Course updates and maintenance: Continuously updating the course curriculum to keep it relevant and engaging can incur costs but is necessary to maintain enrollments and reduce churn.
• Legal and operational costs: Compliance with regulations, copyright issues, platform fees, and other operational costs can eat into your profit margins.
• Feedback and improvements: Collecting and acting on feedback can lead to course improvements that enhance student satisfaction and encourage more enrollments.

Company or individual: Who can make an online course?

Whether you're a company or an individual, the answer is simple: anyone can create an e-learning course.

On the one hand, companies have the advantage of in-house resources and expertise to build and deploy training courses on the web. This means they can offer their employees flexible, personalized learning opportunities, as well as external audiences, while reinforcing their employer brand. Companies can also offer training on the internet to their customers or other businesses, producing a new source of revenue.

On the other hand, individuals can also create online training courses. Thanks to the rise of online course marketplaces, it has become easier than ever for experts in a particular field to share their knowledge with the world.

Creating an e-learning course requires a certain amount of preparation. You need to clearly define the learning objectives, create engaging and interactive content, and choose the right solution to host the class. But with a little time and effort, anyone can create an online course that offers learners additional knowledge!

How do you design your own online course?

Ready to begin creating your own online course? Here's some step-by-step guidance to ensure that you're on the right track!

1. Decide what you want to teach

When it comes to online courses, the best way to differentiate yourself from most teachers is to focus on very specific areas. Admittedly, there may be times when you feel you're missing out on certain aspects of your course topic. But that's okay: it's better to restrict the data covered in your course curriculum and increase the number of modules.

In fact, it's easier to remember precise information and certain short manipulations than very long explanations containing many, many details on different subjects.

Think back to your history and geography lessons: wasn't it hard to memorize centuries of history after just one or two 1-hour lessons? Didn't you prefer to dwell on a single specific period for several sessions in order to discover all its aspects, even if it meant not assimilating the following parts of the different centuries?

Regardless of your course idea or topic, the important thing to remember is that your potential customers must want to check out one, two, twenty videos from your modules. If you tire them out with the first piece of content, the only option open to them is going to be to find another teacher, search for other online courses, and turn away from your content.

For accurate learning management, you obviously need to know your target audience inside out. Age, demographics, initial training, level of education... As an initial step, take advantage of social networks and web forums to help you manage the creation of a course curriculum tailored to your studious future students!

2. Choose the type of content (video, PDF, podcast, etc.)

Online training adapts exactly to market and learner expectations. Through videos, PDFs, podcasts, or other formats, the choice of content type can make all the difference to the learning experience.

In ecommerce, you can't touch the product, feel it, or see it from all angles like in a physical store. So how can online retailers give you an experience similar to that of a physical store? The answer lies in the type of content they use to present their products.

The choice of content type can have a significant impact on the learning experience. For example, a video can offer a more interactive and engaging learning experience than a static PDF. It can allow learners to see and hear the instructor, visualize complex concepts through animation and graphics, and even participate in real-time demonstrations.

On the other hand, a PDF may be more appropriate for subjects that require both in-depth reading and easy reading. It can be downloaded, printed, and read at one's own pace, which may be preferable for some learners.

Podcasts enable learners to follow their training online, reviewing certain concepts while on the move, without space limitations or the need to pay attention to visual details. They can be listened to on the go, during commutes, or while doing household chores. They're perfect for learners who prefer audio learning and enjoy listening to stories while being able to do other things simultaneously.

The choice of content type depends on the learner's preferences, the topic to be taught, and the learning objectives. I'll say it again: understanding your target audience and choosing the type of content that best meets their needs and preferences will be the key to choosing the ideal e-learning tool.

3. Determine your course goals

What skills will learners be able to develop as a result of these courses? Formulating training objectives means clearly defining what participants will be able to do once the program has been completed. Will they be able to understand a new tool? Master a specific skill? Apply theories in real-life situations? To answer these questions, a precise methodology is required during this step.

Opt for the SMART method, an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals.

Let's use an example: the learner is going to be able to edit their product catalog for their ecommerce website and social networks within 7 days. Another example: the training objective could be to be able to draw landscapes in a month. These are clearly defined, realistic and measurable goals!

With this in mind, highlight the benefits for the learner. It's not enough just to say what the learner will be able to do: you also need to specify how the training is a means of improving their life.

Perhaps this skill will enable them to get a promotion or expand their professional network, or this new working method will make them more efficient in their day-to-day work... The learner needs to be able to see the added value of the course for their career, for their personal life, or simply to get ahead every day by getting rid of the inconvenience of repetitive tasks thanks to their technical understanding of an automation tool.

Let's move on to the fun aspect of online courses. We'll come back to this later, but it's important to emphasize it now: learning is not just a serious business, especially when it comes to online learning. The pleasure of learning, of discovering, of teaching must be present for both the learners and the teacher, who must also find fulfillment in their content and advice!

Set up games, quizzes, challenges—anything to make learning more engaging and stimulating. The content of your courses will be full of precise and essential information, but the format doesn't have to be linear and can even be transformed into a game. Learners need to feel involved, motivated to go beyond their limits and explore new horizons, with the assistance of your unique content!

4. Analyze your target audience

How can you determine the relevance of your content for your target audience? How do you know if your audience will be receptive to your courses? Precise analysis of your target audience is the answer!

Complete audience analysis requires not only insight but also a deep desire to understand the needs and expectations of your potential loyal learners. What content should your course idea exploit? Quality content, yes, but what about the format of your courses? Who are the course creators they follow? Will you have to offer free courses initially, or will you have to offer high-priced courses for an audience that expects excellent content?

A thorough understanding of your audience can help you create a program that's better adapted, more engaging, and ultimately more effective.

The demographic aspect is a strong first indicator in the process of developing your content. Age, geographical location, education, and socio-economic background are all criteria to examine when refining your course idea. For example, a course on the basics of computer programming might resonate particularly well with IT students and professionals looking to broaden their skills.

Another dimension to consider during this step is the personal and professional aspirations of your target audience. People looking to reorient themselves, to upgrade their skills, or simply to feed a personal passion, are looking for online training courses. In this case, turning to content that presents the basics of the profession to be learned is a key first step in supporting the learner's choice to change his or her life path.

A person wishing to improve their communication skills might be attracted by training in public speaking, for example, or an overall presentation of the various skills to be mastered before considering taking the plunge!

Understanding your audience's needs also means exploring the recurring questions around your chosen themes and the problems encountered. If your content offers solutions to these pain points, it will be of significant value to your audience, and thus aid in building loyalty.

5. Organize your content 

When it comes to the best-selling courses online, the people offering content aren't necessarily professional teachers who have been offering courses for years. Of course, real training and a real teaching diploma aren't the same as offering online courses... But just as some teachers are better than others at school, you too can be a “good online teacher!” Anyone can achieve this, just by ticking a few boxes to improve their content and offer great online courses.

• Clarity first

Just like when writing a blog post or an email newsletter, clarity for the reader is key! Make sure that your learning objectives are clearly defined from the outset. A detailed list of the skills learners will acquire throughout the course provides clear direction and facilitates the learning process.

• A logical flow

Organize your content into well-defined parts, from the most general to the most specific. Begin with basic concepts, then progress to more complex ideas. Such a progression gives learners the feeling of moving forward and understanding organically, promoting better retention.

• Digestible sessions!

In the world of e-learning, the ideal length of sessions is a widely debated topic. However, there seems to be a consensus that shorter sessions, or breaking down information into smaller chunks, are more effective. Divide your content into short or medium-sized chunks to avoid information overload.

• Interactivity is key

Engagement is an often overlooked element in e-learning. Incorporate interactive elements, such as quizzes, live online discussions, or group projects, to boost learner involvement and retention.

• Practical examples

Concrete examples help learners grasp abstract concepts quickly, enabling them to apply what they've learned to real-life situations.

The efficient organization of your content can improve the learning experience and your learners' understanding throughout the process. Rely on a well thought-out course structure and be a genuine guide for your students!

6. Create a course outline

Outlining your course material is crucial to ensure a successful online course, as it ensures a structured and coherent learning journey for students. This organization helps in logically sequencing the material, which is essential for effective learning. 

A course outline acts as a blueprint, guiding you in what to teach and when, thereby avoiding any potential gaps or redundancies in the content.

To break down your content into modules and lessons, refer back to the overall learning objectives of the course that you determined earlier—what key skills or knowledge should the students have by the end?

The next step of building a course outline is going to involve grouping related topics into modules, which serve as major sections or chapters of your course. Each module should aim to achieve a segment of the overall course goal.

Within each module, further break down the topics into individual lessons. These should be manageable learning units that focus on specific aspects of the module’s theme. Each lesson should include an introduction, the main content, and a summary or conclusion, ensuring students grasp and retain the material effectively.

This structured breakdown not only aids in the logical progression of learning but also keeps students engaged and motivated with your course material.

7. Set your course pricing

Setting the right price for your online course involves balancing your financial goals with market conditions and the value offered to students. Here are the top three factors to consider:

• Value delivered: Assess the depth and uniqueness of the content, the expertise level required to teach it, and the potential return on investment for students. High-value courses that offer specialized knowledge from a thought leader or career advancement opportunities can command a higher price.
• Target audience: Understand the financial capacity and willingness to pay of the people in the demographic you want to reach. This involves considering factors like their income levels, the economic value of the skills taught, and how critical the knowledge is for their personal or professional growth.
• Competitor pricing: Analyze what similar courses are charging. This gives you a benchmark and helps position your course competitively. If your course offers additional value compared to your competitors' offerings, such as more comprehensive content, hands-on projects, or expert instructors, you might price it higher.

Effectively pricing your course involves a strategic evaluation of these factors, ensuring it’s attractive to learners while also reflecting the value it provides. As you gain more experience with your online course business, don't be afraid to change directions if needed, charging more or less money depending on your situation. 

What are the best hosting software and platforms (free and paid) to sell online courses?

Here's a list of online course platforms, depending on your goals and target audience.

WiziShop

WiziShop is your partner of choice for successful online course selling! This ecommerce solution doesn't just provide you with a sales site. It offers you a veritable ecosystem of features to propel your online courses to the top. With over 400 ecommerce features specially adapted to sell digital products, WiziShop gives you the tools to customize your online store to your needs and preferences, also helping you boost your conversion rate. 

WiziShop understands the importance of SEO for your online success: the solution natively includes 50+ SEO optimizations to improve your website's visibility on search engines and attract more students to your courses!

And to help you create content for your store, WiziShop provides you with artificial intelligence for text generation. No need to spend hours writing descriptions of your modules, WiziShop's AI takes care of that for you.

This AI can also serve to assist you in writing blog posts, translating content, and creating other kinds of texts for your site.

From the moment you create your account with WiziShop, you can benefit from all these advantages for creating an online store, as well as the support of business coaches. These experts are here to assist you in navigating the world of ecommerce and get the most out of your WiziShop store. Maia, the unlimited AI chatbot available 24/7, is also at your side for all your questions.

WiziShop, the best platform to sell digital products, allows you to concentrate on what you do best: creating and offering quality courses to your customers!

My Mooc

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are interactive online training courses accessible to all by registration.

My Mooc is a no-cost online training solution offering a personalized, collaborative, and dynamic learning experience. The My Mooc website encourages individual expression, allowing users to share their experiences and opinions.

My Mooc stands out for its unique user experience. With its internal classification of the various online courses, My Mooc guides its users in their research with simplicity.

My Mooc's active community is a major asset. Users contribute to the life of the platform, collect badges and share their experiences by rating MOOCs. This constant interaction creates an enriching collaborative learning system.

Registering with My Mooc opens the door to a host of features. Users have access to a personalized search engine and rankings of the top MOOCs, and they can also aspire to be included in the list of “serial moocers.”

Udemy

With over 62 million participants, more than 75 languages, 800 million registrations, and a presence in over 180 countries, Udemy offers unrivaled global reach.

The online course marketplace offers a variety of classes in many fields, from web development to finance and accounting, to personal development and design. It doesn't matter what field you'd like to start your training in: there are bound to be people who'll listen to you on Udemy!

Instructors can create and publish courses on the topic they're passionate about, while retaining total control over their content. They have the opportunity to inspire participants and help them explore their interests, acquire new skills, and advance their careers.

The website includes a financial reward for each paid registration, enabling instructors to monetize their courses on Udemy. Free or paid: you manage the value of your training and your content autonomously.

Podia

Podia is an all-in-one solution offering a host of features to help content creators sell web-based training, webinars, downloads and subscriptions. With Podia, you no longer have to worry about juggling different tools. It's all in one place to help you grow your business by selling your online training courses.

You can also create a sales page for ebooks, digital templates, audio and video files, spreadsheets, and more. In addition, Podia lets you sell your webinars and workshops on your site. With Podia, you can create paid communities, free communities, and subscription systems.

Thinkific

Another prominent e-learning platform, Thinkific is known for its user-friendly course builder that accommodates both experienced and novice creators, eliminating the need for coding skills.

It offers a versatile set of tools to create diverse course content and enhance user engagement, such as live lessons, randomized quizzes, assignments, completion certificates, community building, and sales promotions through coupons. Courses can be delivered all at once or in segments over time, adding flexibility in content distribution.

For many creators, one of the most appealing aspects of Thinkific is likely to be its pricing structure, which includes no transaction fees on any plans when using Thinkific Payments. In addition, the solution allows for no-cost course creation under its Free plan, although this limits the creator to a single course and offers restricted access to features.

Skillshare

Skillshare is a popular online learning community particularly focused on creative fields like graphic design, photography, music, and fine arts. It offers project-based classes that allow students to learn by doing, enhancing both engagement and skill retention, crucial for creative disciplines.

As an instructor on Skillshare, you benefit from the platform’s active promotion and a vibrant global community, increasing course visibility and interaction through project feedback. Skillshare stands out for its accessibility, with thousands of courses available under one membership that includes offline access, enabling students to learn at their convenience.

To teach on Skillshare, you need to create an account, submit an application, and, once approved, you can start creating classes and earning money. Compensation is primarily based on the minutes subscribers spend watching your classes, with about 20% of Skillshare’s total subscription revenue distributed among teachers based on viewership. Additional earnings can come from referral bonuses for new subscribers.

Teachable

Teachable allows you to create a variety of e-learning digital products, such as self-paced courses, cohort-based courses, and live coaching sessions. Utilizing its intuitive drag-and-drop builder, you can quickly set up courses and design customized sales and checkout pages to start selling in a flash!

The platform supports flexible pricing options and accepts payments in over 130 currencies through multiple providers including Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal. Additionally, Teachable offers options like free trials, subscriptions, and payment installments to attract a broader audience.

Teachable also integrates seamlessly with various business tools like ConvertKit, Google Analytics, MailChimp, and Zapier, enhancing your operational capabilities. To increase student engagement, the platform features options for adding comments, creating quizzes, and issuing course completion certificates.

YouTube

YouTube is the second most popular search engine in the world. Presenting your course on this platform means you can reach a diverse audience from all over the world.

Imagine the ease of access. YouTube is accessible anytime, anywhere. A potential student can browse a course during their lunch break, while traveling, or from the comfort of their living room. The platform's flexibility and virality are key assets for your training courses.

Let's talk about engagement. YouTube is an interactive platform. Comments, likes, shares... So many ways for your audience to engage and actively participate in your unique content. This interaction can increase your audience's loyalty and therefore your number of views.

Students can repeat, pause, rewind, or fast-forward through the content at their own pace. They can learn in their own way, which could increase their learning capacity.

However, on your side, it will be difficult to reap the benefits of this platform... If you want to finance your courses and go even further, why not set up a sales platform dedicated to your digital products to sell?

Integrating interactive elements into your e-learning program

Quizzes, exercises, discussions, competitions: Teach and entertain

Thanks to the democratization of online training and automation tools in many fields, we're seeing a wave of digital training courses seeking to implement interactive elements. So what are these interactive elements, and how can they enhance your e-learning offering?

There's nothing more fun than a quiz to liven up your classes! It's a great way to test your learners' knowledge, highlight lessons learned, and identify areas for improvement. Not only does the quiz provide a summary of key concepts, it also offers instant, personalized feedback to learners, enabling them to adapt their learning path.

In addition to quizzes, which allow you to impart information in a light-hearted way, practical exercises enable your students to challenge themselves in in-depth ways. Learning by doing is a method that helps consolidate theories. Exercises allow people to immerse themselves in real-life situations and put acquired theories into practice.

As part of a project management training program, for example, a good practical exercise would be for learners to engage in project management simulations. They learn, but they also put it into practice, making learning much more concrete and tangible.

Debate and discussion are also interactive ways of reinforcing learning. Giving people the opportunity to share their ideas and points of view not only encourages interaction but also the development of critical thinking skills. Discussion forums, chat rooms, live webinars, meetings on social networks... All these tools can serve as places to foster constructive exchanges of ideas.

There's another lever that can be used in classes taking place on the internet: competitions. Beneath their simple appearance, they hide a formidable learning effectiveness. For example, a problem-solving competition could be an excellent way of stimulating learners' creativity and reflection, while offering them the chance to win all or part of your course or prizes in partnership with brands that work with you.

Use tools to create interactive elements

• For quizzes: Quizlet, Slido, Typeform, or Kahoot allow you to craft fluid quizzes and easily integrate them into your course material. These tools make learning fun and motivating, while allowing learners to measure their progress. 
• For the training experience: With tools like Articulate or Adobe Captivate, you can create exciting educational games that captivate your learners and stimulate their desire to learn more.
• For collaborative learning: Tools such as Slack, Discord, Notion, Google Workspace, or Microsoft Teams can be integrated into your online training to promote teamwork and the exchange of ideas. These tools offer live chat, document sharing, schedules, and video conferencing functionalities for enriched interaction.

How do you build a community of learners for free?

Use feedback to improve your training courses

You might be wondering: how can feedback contribute to improving training programs? How can it help build an engaged community?

Implementing a feedback system invites your users to share their experiences, opinions, and impressions about your courses. Every comment, every star rating, every suggested improvement or idea adds a building block to the community structure.

Learners feel heard, considered, and valued. They see themselves as active members of a group, not just spectators. A sense of belonging is created, fostering loyalty over the course of your training programs, which encourages engagement and participation!

Therefore, feedback should be seen as a unique lever for improving your online training. Let's consider a simple example: a learner is struggling with a lesson. They leave a comment explaining exactly where they are stuck. Thanks to this feedback, you can adjust the lesson to make it more accessible.

Then, other comments appear from new students explaining that they were also struggling with the same concepts but now, due to your update, they understand better and can proceed confidently in their learning. Thus, other learners benefit from the improvements made. The struggling learner feels valued, and their difficulty has helped everyone: a sense of solidarity and cooperation is established within the community solidified around your classes!

Engage your students on social media

Social media networks, often criticized for their potential to distract, can become valuable allies in your quest for engagement.

Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn... each app offers numerous possibilities for establishing and strengthening connections with your learners. How? It just takes a bit of ingenuity and creativity.

Start discussions in Facebook Groups, organize weekly challenges on Instagram, share relevant content on TikTok, offer live interactive courses, post informative videos, invite your learners to share their successes... As you can see, social media can be transformed into virtual classrooms, fostering exchange and cooperation.

Social networks have another major advantage: their interactive dimension. Your learners are not just receivers; they become active participants in their learning. They can ask questions, share tips, give their opinions, encourage their peers: all of which can enhance the impact of your courses on their learning.

Live events, physical conferences, meetings: Create unique meetings with your learners 

The strongest lever in terms of successful online courses is the magic of "live." And this can be done both in person and on the web.

Your LMS or your website for selling classes on the web can help you. This is where you can announce your events, invite your learners, and gather their questions beforehand. It's also where you can host your live sessions, record your conferences, and share your meeting photos. Your LMS or your website will be the central tool for your business on the internet.

To further enhance the experience, the creation of these events can be done both physically and on the web. Start by choosing a topic related to your training modules. Are you an expert in web programming and/or development? Why not plan a conference on the latest trends for people to attend? Do you teach marketing? Why not create a live session to share prospecting tips?

Once the topic is chosen, move on to the next step: promotion. Plan to use all the tools at your disposal. Newsletters sent to subscribers on your email list, posts on social media platforms and your blog, announcements on your LMS... the goal is to generate excitement, to build a desire to learn. Make your learners feel that they are part of an exclusive, unique, exciting event, specially created for their needs!