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If you have specialized knowledge or skills, creating and selling an online course is a great way for you to share your expertise, build your brand, and generate income. Online courses can also help you gain recognition as an expert in your field and connect with people with similar interests, which can open doors to other professional opportunities.
Compared to offering a physical product, the initial cost of online courses is low, and you don’t have to worry about the logistics of storage, packaging, or shipping. After you develop and publish your course, it can continue to generate passive income.
If you’re already an instructor providing live, in-person classes, you can record them and offer an online class library for your customers to attend from the comfort of their own home. Not only will you create a new revenue stream, but you can also reach a much broader audience. This can give you different perspectives, questions, interactions and discussions, and the opportunity to refine your own knowledge and teaching methods.
With Squarespace Courses, you have all the tools to create a unique learning experience for your audience. All you’ll need is a computer and some basic recording equipment.
Example course topics
One of the first steps is to choose your course topic. Whether you’re an expert woodworker or a stress management guru, there are countless topics to choose from when deciding on a course idea. Focus on something you’re already passionate about or an expert in to make getting started easier.
Here are a few examples:
Health courses: Nutritional planning, yoga, strength training, building muscle, meal planning, vegan/vegetarian nutritional course
Career courses: Writing a CV, changing careers, presentation skills, salary negotiation, executive leadership, job interview skills
Arts and crafts courses: Knitting, painting, calligraphy, pottery, sewing, furniture restoration
Self-development courses: Public speaking, social skills, networking, productivity, happiness, spirituality
Music courses: Guitar, piano, violin, drums, ukulele
Language courses: English, Mandarin, Spanish, French
Tech courses: App development, web design, animation, JavaScript, Python
To learn more about turning your skills and expertise into a valuable online course, follow the steps below. From brainstorming ideas to promoting your new course, we’ll walk you through the process to becoming a successful online instructor.
1. Brainstorm, research, and choose
Before choosing a course idea, you’ll need to evaluate all of the potential topics you’ve brainstormed and carefully consider your target audience.
What’s working?
A quick way to generate ideas for your online course is to look at what’s currently popular. This isn’t to say you should copy others, but rather you may think of a different approach to teaching a certain topic, or identify a niche idea that no one has covered yet.
Keep your audience in mind
Evaluate your ideas from your audience's perspective and consider the common high-priority problems they’re experiencing that they’d likely be willing to pay for. Also, think of the keywords a person might use when searching for answers to these problems.
For example, if you plan to sell courses on crocheting, and your Squarespace analytics shows that many people are searching for “How to crochet the V stitch,” this may be a good topic for a course lesson.
These analytics also provide an insight into key terms to use when titling and marketing your course. This will also help your customer find your course in their search engines.
Survey your followers
Get your customers and social media followers involved in discovering topics for courses by sending them a survey or a poll. With Squarespace, you can choose from a range of polling templates to embed on your own website using form blocks. Alternatively, some social media channels enable polling in their posts.
Get specific
Once you’ve brainstormed some course ideas and conducted audience research, it’s time to choose a course idea. Ensure that your course covers a very specific issue, and teach everything you know about that topic. The goal is to provide compact, clear, and comprehensive knowledge in your specific market.
2. Create a curriculum
Online course creation is a matter of organizing your expertise into relatable, engaging topics. Those topics will then form the structure of your course.
Goal setting
To start, determine a beginning and end goal for the full online course. Consider your customers’ level of knowledge prior to taking your course, what they should be able to achieve after completing the course, and what steps are required for them to reach that end goal. Those steps will be the course lessons.
Course structure
Each lesson should have a specific focus, and should build upon each one. Create a list of subtopics and concepts that need to be covered in each lesson. For each lesson, define the learning objectives. These objectives should be specific, measurable, and achievable.
Chapters group lessons together. They help to organize the content of your course. Keep your course manageable by limiting the number of chapters to five or six at most. You can always make a follow-up course.
For example, if you teach Spanish, make your first course about common words and phrases, then develop a secondary course on verb conjugation for people who want to deepen their skills. Squarespace Courses makes it easy to separate your content into chapters and lessons.
Instructional method
When you’re happy with the course structure, decide how you'll deliver the content and engage your audience. Consider a mix of instructional methods such as video lectures, written materials, quizzes, discussions, and assignments. Choose methods that align with the course objectives and effectively convey the information.
For each lesson, consider creating a detailed lesson plan that outlines any activities, resources, and assessments. Include the estimated time for each activity and ensure a logical flow between lessons.
Lesson plans can also help in determining your course materials. Think about potential course materials you have on hand already. Explore brand video stories, whitepapers, podcasts, and webinars you’ve previously made to see if they’d be of value to your learners. Then, fill in any content gaps by developing new teaching materials based around those assets.
Supporting materials
You can provide supporting materials at the end of each lesson or chapter. These might be anything from a meal planning template to example language for a CV. If you share articles, only source them from credible sources. Academic texts and journalistic articles from well-known publications are examples of good sources.
Read our full guide to creating a course curriculum
3. Record your course
An extremely important part of creating a high-quality online course is your audio and video equipment. The right tools will not only provide a better user experience but also make it easier to create the course materials.
Video
High resolution is important for the quality of your videos, so if you use a camera that's built into your device, ensure your camera offers a minimum of 720 (HD) resolution and ideally 1080 (full HD) resolution. Film a short test video and if you’re not happy with the video quality, look into getting an external webcam. To ensure your face is visible when filming, also consider investing in lighting equipment, like a ring light, if possible.
When filming, create a personal connection with your audience by talking directly at the camera. It’s a great way to show your authentic self, build rapport, and create a welcoming atmosphere.
If you prefer not to film yourself, you could create a slide presentation. To do this, record your computer screen with your slide deck and add a voice-over.
Audio
The small built-in microphones in most devices don’t offer the best audio quality. If possible, you’ll likely want to invest in a high-quality microphone and table-clamp microphone stand to ensure your audio is broadcast-quality.
Search online for the best podcasting microphones or vocal mics and try to find an XLR-to-USB cable, so that you can plug the mic straight into your computer without using an audio interface.
For better sound quality in your audio recordings, consider buying an interface, which usually comes with preamps to boost your vocal signal, making it louder and clearer against any background noise. They’re generally priced reasonably and will give you more flexibility to produce better quality audio.
Images
Images can greatly enhance the visual appeal and educational value of your content. Choose images that align with your course's overall style and tone. Consistency in color schemes, image quality, and visual style can create a cohesive learning experience. Ensure that the images complement your course content rather than distract from it.
Choose high-resolution, relevant images that are clear, sharp, and visually appealing. Low-quality or pixelated images can detract from the overall course quality and professionalism.
Select relevant images that support and enhance the learning material. Be mindful of cultural diversity and avoid using images that may unintentionally exclude or offend.
Ensure that you have the necessary rights and permissions to use the images you choose. Use royalty-free images, or create your own visuals. Websites like Unsplash, which is integrated with Squarespace, offer a wide range of free-to-use images that you can explore.
Keep accessibility in mind when choosing images. Ensure that visually impaired learners can still access the content by providing alternative text (alt text) descriptions for each image.
See more tools for building courses
4. Create a course on Squarespace Courses
With your course recorded, it’s now time to create your course. To add Course pages on Squarespace, you’ll need a website on Squarespace version 7.1.
To create a course on Squarespace:
Add a Course page to your website.
Choose the Course page layout that you like most.
Customize the page settings, like URL and featured image.
Start to upload your course content.
Create a separate chapter for each stage of your course.
Add lessons to each chapter.
Customize each lesson by adding the relevant videos and lesson materials.
Name each lesson and chapter.
Create a landing page for your courses so visitors can see what you offer and read descriptions of your courses.
For example, someone teaching an online cooking course might have a course named Home Cooking Basics. They might have chapters titled Kitchen Equipment, Knife Skills, and Cooking Techniques. Then within the chapter on Kitchen Equipment, for example, there might be lessons on How to Choose the Right Pan and How to Care for Your Cookware.
You can customize the look of every Course page and lesson with the same drag-and-drop editor that you use on your website.
5. Choose pricing
There are many factors to consider when pricing your online course. It’s important to determine the value of your course and have a good understanding of your competitors.
What differentiates your online course from others? Assess the knowledge, skills, or outcomes participants will gain, and try to quantify the potential benefits within market rate for a course like yours.
Research
Research the market by looking at similar courses in your niche to understand average market prices. Consider the features, quality, and value provided by these courses, and use them as benchmarks for pricing your own. If you know your topic and are respected in your field, you can price your courses higher than course creators with a lower profile in your subject area.
Expenses
Consider the time, effort, and resources you invested in creating the course. Factor in expenses like content creation, software/tools, marketing, customer support, and platform fees. Ensure that your price will eventually cover these costs while allowing for a reasonable profit margin.
Pricing strategy
With Squarespace Courses, you can opt for a free, fixed-price, tiered pricing (offering different packages at different price points), or subscription-based model. Each pricing strategy has its advantages and considerations, so choose the one that makes sense for your course and target audience.
A one-time fee likely makes more sense for someone teaching a limited course of study, like a beginner music course. Someone who is regularly uploading new classes, like a fitness instructor, might want to try recurring monthly or annual fees, so that customers are paying for continued access to a library of content.
You can only sell access to your course through digital product blocks. You can add digital product blocks to most sections and pages of your site, but it makes sense to create a landing page just for your course. If you have multiple pricing plans, we suggest building a sign-up page with descriptions to help your customers choose the right plan.
Price testing
If you’re unsure of the right strategy or price, consider offering your course at a discounted price during a beta testing phase or conducting surveys to gather feedback. This will help you assess the perceived value of your course and make any necessary adjustments to the price.
Keep in mind that pricing isn't a one-time decision. Monitor the performance of your course, gather feedback, and make adjustments as needed. This iterative process will help you find the right pricing strategy over time.
Read the full guide to pricing your online course
6. Promote your course
One of the most important parts of teaching an online course is knowing how to market it effectively.
Free content
To attract customers and show that your expertise has value, consider offering free example content. This content could be a beginner class, blog post, downloadable guide, or whitepaper. Your free content should be as good as your paywalled content, so that it gives customers a reason to buy. Don’t, however, give everything away in your free content, so your paying customers get the full value of their purchase.
Use social media
Social media can play an integral role in audience development. If you haven’t already, establish a strong presence on social media platforms that align with your target audience. Share engaging content, such as educational posts, videos, and infographics, and provide valuable insights related to your course topic. Engage with your followers, answer questions, and encourage them to share your content.
Create an email list
Build an email list by offering a free resource or opt-in incentive on your website. Regularly communicate with your subscribers, sharing relevant updates, offering exclusive discounts, and promoting your course. Segment your email list based on interests and preferences to provide more personalized content.
A/B testing
It’s also important to try different marketing strategies at the same time. This is called A/B testing, and it’s a great way to measure how your email list responds to marketing for your courses. With a Squarespace email campaign, you can track performance to see how one performs over the other.
For example, you can test different subject lines to see which email gets a higher open rate. You can also A/B test the workshops themselves: Which version of your free sample course gets more people to sign up for the paid program?
Testimonials and reviews
After you have participants enrolled in your course, encourage them to provide testimonials. Positive feedback from satisfied students can help build credibility and attract new students.
Remember, promoting an online course is an ongoing process. Continuously evaluate and refine your marketing strategies based on your results and feedback from your target audience.