More easily said than done!
You may have spent time creating content for an online course. It might contain one or many ideas, images, videos, quizzes, downloads... and it's time to take it out there and sell it. The best way to do this is on a website that can handle courses and/or subscriptions. It is really important that you know the difference between these options, as this will dictate what steps and options would work best for you.
These platforms are typically called an LMS - Learning Management Systems. A way to get learning delivered to your customers, via an online tool.
There are a number of questions that you need to ask yourself first:
The content of your course usually only becomes available when people sign up.
Integrations might be needed to connect to your existing website, to MailChimp, to a WooCommerce Store, to a page builder you like to use.
These all need to be thought about, making sure you get the right tool for the job.
This is the gold. The more you pay, the better the product. Mostly. but it all depends on what you define as NECESSARY.
Many of these options have free versions, but you will very quickly hit the wall if you have any sort of complexity to your requirements.
Make sure you look at all the restrictictions before you commit, as once you start to build your course, it will take time and effort to learn your system... choose wisely!
This can be an easy way to allow access to the next piece of content, to ensure understanding of the previous topic before moving to the next. With some LMS platforms, this comes included, others you have to buy an add-on.
There are a number of ways to build courses, using something that links into your existing website, or something where you can build yourself a website while you are building a course. See below for some options!
So you can use an all in one builder. These are 'platform' options, where the website options are more limited, but it all works together straight out of the box.
So you can plug something in. This can be a little more complicted to setup, but it gives you the most flexibility with the design. The most popular are:
BEST ALL-IN ONE
One of the most popular options for WordPress is MemberPress. It offers a fully featured complete membership and subscription solution, but it can be complicated to setup so make sure it is what you need.
It can be complicated to setup and learn how to use it. Although simple to manage once that is all done.
MemberPress has three different pricing plans, each with different features and usage limits - annual pricing in USD:
BEST for courses
LearnDash is one of the most popular for WordPress, especially if you are selling courses. It is a great options if you are just doing courses (although there is a new membership module now), and is drag and drop - so easier than many others to setup.
Used by many companies and even Universities.
It has to be integrated into WooCommerce to get all the payment options.
LearnDash costs $199 USD per year for a single site.
best for membership
Restrict Content Pro is one of the big players in this space, where Restrict Content Pro
Starts at $99 USD per year, but if you need to use the drip feature, you will need to get the 'Pro' licence at $249 USD.
best for 'easy'
Woo Commerce Membership is built on WooCommerce, so if you are already using WooCommerce, this is a great option, as you will already have this setup.
Starts at $199 USD
best for marketing
LifterLMS is a scalable solution with the ability to create MOOC's (Massive Open Online Course), this platform can do anything, but be prepared to pay.
KEY BENEFITS:
There is no setup wizard, so you will need to know your way around WordPress, there will be a bit of a learning curve for beginners.
The core plugin is free, but you can't do much with it. Then the prices hike very fast as you add the functionality you will most likely need.
best for Free
If you have a theme that can handle this - it is an option. But it doesn't have great support. Think carefully about going down this road...
KEY BENEFITS:
The core plugin is free, but you can't do much with it. Still, reasonable costs to get you up and running.
