With hundreds of eLearning marketplaces like SkillShare and Udemy, why do successful industry leaders (instructors) insist on selling courses on your website? Why sell online courses on WordPress? The answer is simple: complete control.
In this article, we’ll dive deeper into why WordPress is an excellent platform for selling online courses. We’ll help you see the pros and cons, and we’ll help you understand the industry better with objective insights.
Why Selling Online Courses on WordPress (Your Own Website) Is Better Than Selling It on a Marketplace
Selling courses on your website can significantly increase your profits and reach. Hosting your courses on WordPress allows you to control the pricing, customize the look and feel of all the pages, and add unique features that marketplaces do not provide. Moreover, you do not need to share your earnings with the marketplace or pay a listing fee for your course.
You can also use your website to promote the courses and effectively reach potential customers through many options (SEO, paid ads, and more). In a nutshell, you’re the boss. It’s like owning an establishment rather than renting a small space for your business.
However, we’re not saying marketplaces should be completely thrown out the window. Selling courses on a marketplace can be a great way for people who want to try selling a course and not make it a full-time business. The downside is that you lose control over pricing and must ensure you follow their rules and pass their standards.
Benefits of Selling Courses on WordPress
WordPress is an incredibly versatile platform for hosting online courses. You can quickly upload courses and enjoy better freedom and customization. What’s more advantageous is that you get a better CRM through plugins than what marketplaces offer.
Selling courses on your website provides several benefits you won’t find in a marketplace. Here are some of the advantages of selling courses on your website:
- You have complete control over pricing and don’t need to pay the marketplace a cut of your earnings. Plus, you can adjust pricing based on location, offer discounts, and bundle courses.
- You have limitless branding options. One of the best things about having your website is the freedom to style it the way you want. The courses you upload will match your brand, which isn’t possible when uploading courses on marketplaces.
- You can monetize through subscription, pay-per-course, pay-per-certification, or just about any scheme you can think of. Marketplaces require you to only work with their established way of selling courses.
- You can promote and market the courses as you see fit. That means you can sell courses that may not be allowed on major marketplaces — think black hat or adult content.
Creating and Hosting Courses
Creating and hosting courses on WordPress is fairly straightforward. With plugins like LearnDash and many course builders or learning management systems, it will feel just like any content management system tool. The only difference is that you gain access to quizzes, certifications, CRM (but for students), and course content management.
To get a quick glimpse of how anyone can start their own eLearning website, please check this video.
Managing and Tracking Student Progress
WordPress makes it easy to track student progress. You can set up tracking features that allow you to monitor course completion rates and track student performance on quizzes and exams. Additionally, you can use the tracking features to send notifications to students when they complete a course or pass a quiz. This can help you stay connected with your students and ensure they get the most out of the course. In essence, it’s far easier for you to retain your students and upsell other courses they may be interested in.
WordPress Plugins for Selling Online Courses
Here are some of the popular plugins for creating and selling online courses on WordPress:
- LearnDash – LearnDash is the most powerful plugin for building eLearning Websites.
- LearnPress – A plugin designed to help you create and manage courses on WordPress.
- LifterLMS – A plugin designed to help you create and manage courses, track student progress, and manage memberships.
- MemberPress – A plugin designed to help you create memberships and manage access to your courses.
- WP Courseware – A plugin designed to help you create and manage courses on WordPress.
Monetizing and Promoting Courses
WordPress also makes it easy to monetize your courses. You can add payment options to the courses so that students can pay for the courses directly on the WordPress site. Additionally, you can use the WordPress Network to organically market your courses.
Other Ways to Make Money With Your eLearning Website
In addition to selling courses, there are a number of other ways to make money with your eLearning website. Here are some of the popular ways to monetize your website:
- Offer subscription plans to access your courses.
- Create affiliate partnerships with other websites and earn commissions on sales.
- Sell digital products such as ebooks, audio files, or video tutorials.
- Offer one-on-one coaching and consulting services.
- Offer ad space on your website for advertisers.
- Offer services such as content creation, web design, or writing services.
Marketing Your Online Course
Once you’ve created your online course, you’ll need to market it in order to reach potential students. Here are some of the popular ways to market your online course:
- Utilize social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to promote your course.
- Create content around your course to share on blogs and other websites.
- Reach out to influencers in your field and ask them to promote your course.
- Write guest posts for other websites in your field and include a link to your course.
- Run paid ads on platforms such as Google Ads and Facebook Ads.
- Reach out to bloggers and podcasters in your field and ask them to feature your course.
- Participate in forums and online communities related to your course.
If you want to learn more about selling your course, How to Sell Online Courses From Your Own Website – And Why You Should article.[1]
Wrapping It up
WordPress is an excellent platform for selling online courses. If you’re an educator, industry leader, or someone who wants to sell knowledge online, WordPress is definitely worth considering.
If you need help with this project, Upstack Media provides eLearning web design and development services. Partner with us and have your project online in no time! Have an idea? Please feel free to contact us at at info@upstackmedia.com.
