You’ve probably thought about it: many creators are filming courses and selling them on platforms like Selar. Unlike webinars or other forms of online media that require active effort, courses are great because you only have to make them once, and then you can earn from them forever. 

As a professional looking to share your skills with more people, or a creative entrepreneur trying to expand your streams of income, an online course is a great opportunity to explore. The global eLearning industry is projected to surpass 243 billion U.S. dollars, according to Statista, and you can have a share of this pie. But where and how do you start?

In this article, we will share ten steps on how to create an online course. This guide will cover everything from ideation to distribution. By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to creating a profitable online course that offers value to buyers. 

But first, what is a course? 

An online course is a structured learning experience designed to teach a specific skill, subject, or knowledge area to a group of students. Because it is online, it can only be accessed through digital platforms. 

The world is changing and the nature of education is changing along with it. Unlike traditional classroom learning, online courses are flexible and accessible from anywhere in the world, allowing students to learn at their own pace, while also providing tools and support to simulate that “classroom experience.” Courses typically include a combination of video lessons, written content, quizzes, and assignments, giving students a comprehensive learning journey. 

For students, online courses are also valued for their relatability. Many industries (especially creative) are young and their methods are not standardized in a lot of traditional institutions. This way, online courses give students access to the skills and certificates they need that may not be available in the University.

For creators, the beauty of an online course is its scalability. Once created, you can sell it to many students simultaneously without having to teach the same material repeatedly. Regardless of the purpose – personal development, career advancement, or mastering a new hobby – online courses have become a fantastic way for people to gain skills and knowledge on their own terms.

Now that you understand what a course is, let’s dive into the steps you need to take to create your own online course.

Step 1: Identify your target audience and niche

Before diving into course creation, you need to have a niche. Your niche is a focused area of expertise that appeals to a specific audience. For example, instead of creating a general course on digital marketing, you can create a specialized course on social media marketing for small businesses. Having a niche is important because it gives you focus, and direction, and does half the work of bringing the right audience to you. 

To select a niche, do these things: 

1. Assess your area of expertise: Choose a subject where you have a strong grasp and feel confident teaching others.
2. Evaluate the market demand: Be sure that an audience is actively looking for information in that niche. Sometimes, a topic might be fun but might have no real utility that would make people spend money on getting a course. You can use platforms like Answer The Public, Google Trends, YouTube, or course marketplaces like Udemy to gauge interest. You can also identify demand by figuring out what people are always asking you questions about. In our interview with Millicent Bundi, she shared that she became an online coach because “[her] friends kept asking [her] questions about it.” 
3. Understand your target audience: Get to know your potential students. What do they like? How do they speak? Are they Gen-Z or older? What are their pain points? What outcomes are they seeking? The better you understand them, the more targeted your course will be.

Millicent also spoke about how she’s helping Kenyan women make money online, which is super cool.

Read this article to learn: How Millicent Bundi Is Using Selar To Teach Kenyan Women How To Make Money Online

Step 2: Define what the outcome should be

Once you have identified your niche, the next step is to define the learning outcomes. These outcomes are important because they will be the goals that your students are going to run with once they are done with your course. For example, a good goal for a course on social media marketing for small businesses as shared earlier, would be that students who use the course will have a better understanding of social media, so they can better run their small businesses. 

To craft strong learning outcomes:

1. Be as specific as you can: Instead of saying “Students will learn how to cook,” say “Students will master the art of making bomb jollof rice.”
2. Focus on the results: What skills or knowledge will students have once the course is completed? Use action verbs like “analyze,” “create,” or “apply.”
3. Tailor the outcomes to your audience’s needs: Your audience should feel they are gaining valuable, applicable knowledge.

It helps to write down 5-6 strong outcomes you want students to gain from taking the course, and to share it on the course landing page. This way, they have a good idea of what they stand to gain, and it can also encourage them to take the jump by purchasing your course. 

Step 3: Find out what the competition is doing

Before creating content, you should research who your competition is. Look at existing courses in your niche and find out what they are offering to students. This will give you a better idea of how your own offerings measure up, and might even encourage you to add extra lessons or offerings that might give your course an edge. 

When doing research, focus on the following: 

1. Content structure: How are similar courses organized? What lessons do they cover and in what sequence? Sometimes, things are done a certain way because they work, and because it aids the learning of the students. For example, it makes sense when organizing a digital marketing course, to start with a social media module, before jumping to SEO or ads, as learning ads is more technical, and you wouldn’t want beginners to get frustrated and leave. 
2. Pricing: What price points are competitors offering? Are they charging per course or are they offering subscription models?
3. Location: Where are your competitors selling their courses? What is the payment structure like? Some host networks charge a lot to sell courses. Luckily, on Selar, for a monthly fee of 12,000 naira, you can upload up to 10 courses. 
4. Student feedback: Read reviews to identify what students liked and disliked about existing courses. This way, you are in a better position to avoid those mistakes and enhance the value of your course.

Step 4: Create an outline for your course

Now that we know what we’re dealing with, it’s time to get into the meat of the course. Creating an outline helps to structure your course content in a logical and engaging way.

1. Break it into modules: Put related topics into modules. Each module should cover a specific aspect of the overall subject matter you are trying to teach.
2. Start from the easiest: Start with foundational knowledge and build toward more complex ideas within the course. Just because it’s the best way for people to learn, by building on previous knowledge. 
3. Include diverse content types: Having a mix of video lessons, quizzes, assignments, and downloadable resources is a great way to keep your students engaged, and have them test out their learning as they undertake the course. 

Step 5: Choose the right platform

The best platform to use if you are an African creator is Selar (really), but just so it doesn’t look like we’re playing favourites, here’s what to look out for when choosing the right platform to host your course: 

1. Audience reach

How many people are familiar with the host site? If you’re hosting on your own website, you’ll need to attract students through your own marketing efforts. Some platforms already have a large audience that uses them, like Coursera and Udemy. However, they often take a percentage of revenue and may not be easily accessible to students in Africa due to payment issues. With Selar, you have access to a growing and engaged African community. With over 100,000 creators on the platform, 4 million users, and 13 supported currencies, the sky is your limit. 

2. Marketing and sales

Hosting a course on your own makes you entirely responsible for your own marketing, which can be both an opportunity and a challenge. While Selar won’t handle marketing for you, it provides essential sales tools to help you boost your efforts. The platform offers integrations with marketing tools like Zapier, MailChimp, Bunce, Convertkit, and more that can help you connect more with your students. It also has a lot of resources for learning that you can take advantage of. For example, this article you’re reading.

3. Pricing and revenue

Hosting on your own gives you full control of all the revenue you get, though you may have to handle transaction fees and setup costs. Hosting on other platforms means you might have to pay a fee, and they might heavily discount your course. How expensive these wind up being depends on the platform. Selar, on the other hand, offers you complete control over your pricing, allowing you to set a course price that suits your audience and financial goals with a small transaction fee which means you keep the most of your revenue. 

4. Support

Hosting yourself means the headache of maintenance and support issues would be yours to handle, which can be a hassle if you’re not very technically inclined. Hosting on other platforms means they handle these issues for you. On Selar, there is a 24/7 Support team ready to attend to your needs, and if you have a Pro plan, you get priority support, which is just a fancy way of saying that your needs are only one call away – literally. 

5. Customization and features

Of course, you need to have many features to make a course engaging. Depending on the platform you use, you get a select number of features, with some platforms like Teachable, Kajibi and Selar, offering more in-depth customization features for you.  Selar has everything. From custom landing pages and automated email notifications which allow you to create a fully branded and personalized learning experience. To digital product delivery tools that give your students downloadable content like eBooks or workbooks alongside your course, drip content, certificates, and protection against video recording. 

By using Selar, you gain access to a platform that prioritizes African creators, provides flexible pricing and branding options, and supports local payment methods—all while giving you control over your course and keeping costs low. It’s an excellent choice if you’re looking for a balance between ease of use, affordability, and the ability to scale your online course business effectively.

Step 6: Create engaging content!

We are all aware of the effects of the internet on our attention spans. As a creator trying to push out a course for the first time, you need to factor in how people are currently engaging with content when creating your course. To be successful, your content needs to be engaging, informative, and tailored to your audience. This varies depending on your personality, your audience, and your style. However, these few tips can help you create engaging content: 

1. Keep the videos short and focused: Ideally, each lesson should be 5 to 15 minutes long. This is to prevent students from feeling overwhelmed and losing focus on what you’re trying to teach. 
2. Use visuals: Incorporate slides, animations, and diagrams to illustrate key points. Keep them funny and relatable, and make use of a lot of examples. 
3. Interactive elements: Include quizzes, assignments, and discussion forums to reinforce their learning. 
4. Real-life examples: Apply case studies and real-world applications while teaching to make your course more relatable and share the value they are meant to receive. 

If you’re recording videos, invest in good lighting, audio equipment, and video editing software to ensure a professional feel.

Step 7: Set pricing and payment options

Pricing creative work can be tricky. There are a lot of factors to consider: how much we spend to develop or produce the content, the rarity of the knowledge we’re sharing, our audience size and quality, and so much more. So, when deliberating, set a price that reflects the value you provide while remaining competitive within your niche.

Doing the following can make it a lot easier:

1. Look at similar courses and their price points to avoid overpricing or underpricing.
2. Focus on the outcomes and transformation your students will achieve. If your course offers deep, valuable insights, up the price.
3. Offer multiple pricing options, such as a basic and premium option with additional resources, to cater to different budgets.

Also, ensure that the platform you are trying to use supports multiple payment methods (credit cards, PayPal, etc.) to make it easy for students to enroll. Selar supports fifteen currencies, Stripe and PayPal. 

Read this article to learn: the best strategies for pricing your online courses. 

Step 8: Market your course

Yes, the marketing starts even before you launch the course. Even the most well-constructed course won’t sell without proper marketing. Drake and Beyonce still make videos selling their products on the internet, despite how internationally recognizable they both are. Focus on building awareness, excitement, and credibility before you launch your course. 

So what does this look like? 

1. Email marketing: Build an email list and nurture potential students through valuable content that is related to your course, before offering your course for sale. This is a tried and tested tactic that a lot of creators use. Start a newsletter, run it for a couple of months, grow it, so that you have a ready audience wiling to buy your course once it’s ready. 
2. Social media: Share snippets, behind-the-scenes content, and other educational content on platforms like Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube before, during and after you launch the course.
3. Collaborations: Get buy-ins from other creators and entrepreneurs in your niche. Partner with influencers to promote your course.
4. Webinars and physical events: Hosting or speaking at a free webinar is a great avenue to pitch your course at the end. This allows potential students to sample your teaching style, and have something to look forward to when deciding to buy your course.

For more on how to properly market an online course, check out this piece: 10 Solid Ways To Promote Your Online Course In 2024.

Step 9: Launch your course

Once your course is ready and your audience is primed (by the marketing efforts in the previous step), it’s time to launch. For a first-timer, launching can be scary, but try not to let the nerves get the best of you. Hold on to the value you’re trying to share, and move with full confidence that it will benefit students who buy the course. 

During the launch, there are a few things you can do to maximize returns: 

1. Don’t sleep on social media: Continue sharing useful, educative content, and plugging in your course on relevant distribution channels. Take advantage of holidays like black friday in November, to give discounts and other promos. 
2. Run ads: Use platforms like Facebook, Instagram, or Google Ads to drive traffic to your course page. More on this in this article. 
3. Collect feedback: Engage with your first group of students to know what they think, encourage them to leave reviews, and make adjustments based on their feedback.

A well-executed launch can significantly boost your initial sales and help build momentum. Read this article to find out more on how to do this: How to launch an online course. 

Step 10: Iterate and improve

While it does get easier, the work doesn’t stop once your course is live. To ensure long-term success, you need to gather feedback, track performance, and make the necessary improvements. 

Ways to improve your course post-launch:

1. Regular updates: Update the course’s content to reflect new trends or insights in your niche.
2. Student feedback: Collect feedback from students on areas of improvement and make the necessary adjustments.
3. Community building: Create a community around your course (via a Facebook group, WhatsApp, Slack, etc.) where students can interact, ask questions, and share successes.
4. Keep learning: There will always be new developments, strategies and tools that you can learn and may inform a reupload of the course, or a new advanced course. Don’t take your learning for granted. Constantly iterating and improving is how you ensure that your course remains relevant and continues to attract new students.

Next steps?

There are no next steps, now is the time to put in everything you have learned. By following this 10-step guide, you can confidently move from idea to launch, knowing that you are providing real value to your audience through the knowledge that you are sharing. If you’d like to check out other pieces on the blog that are related to this one and can offer more insight, here is a list below:

1.  How To Sell Online Courses With Social Media Ads
2. 5 Best Video Editing App For Online Courses
3. How a Baker Made Over 500,000 Naira in 3 Days From an Online Course
4. Online Course vs Ebook Which Should I Launch?
5. Why Selar Is The Best Platform to Host Your Online Courses