How to Create an Online Course with WordPress: A Step-by-Step Guide

Mont,   Dec, 11, 2024

There are plenty of reasons to create an online course, and if you know how to use WordPress, you have a great chance to share your knowledge and skills with a global audience. Online courses have become more popular in this era of e-learning as more and more people are opting for online courses to pick up new skills and boost their careers. With the recent statistics, the global e-learning market is expected to reach over 119 billion dollars by 2021. With WordPress being such a flexible and nice to use platform, knowing how to create an online course with WordPress is a huge plus in this digital age.

Grab 1Byte’s simple step by step guide that explains how to create your online course using WordPress. You’ll also learn how to set your website up, and sell your course. When you’ve finished this guide, you’ll know how to make your own online course as well as sell it using WordPress.

Why Choose WordPress for Your Online Course?

Creating an online course using WordPress just makes sense. So first of all, WordPress is a versatile platform, most of the plugins and themes support it, so it’s easy to customize your course to what you need. For instance, WordPress plugins such as MasterStudy LMS and WP Courses LMS come packed with tons of tools for creating, managing, and selling courses online.

Additionally, WordPress has a reputation of being user friendly. There is zero technical barrier, even for those with no technical background, to running and managing your online course. Reports from WPBeginner also point this out — saying things are as simple as they can be.

WordPress is also very friendly with multimedia content. Your course can easily include videos, audio, images, and interactive quizzes. It makes it better for students to learn and stay involved.

Furthermore, WordPress is highly scalable. If you start with a small course, or have a plan to expand, WordPress can grow with you. It is so important for the educators and institutions that want to reach out to a bigger audience.

Also, WordPress has a very strong community and a lot of good documentation. This also means that whenever you need help, you will find help and resources to aid you through the creation of a course.

When you go with WordPress, you’re investing in more than just an online course: you’re investing in an engine that will work to grow your student base and keep them coming back, all while making it as simple and painless as possible for them.

Setting Up Your WordPress Website

Thanks to the booming elearning market, creating an online course using WordPress is a smart move. By 2029, the global e learning market is expected to surpass $119 billion. Because WordPress is flexible, has a friendly user interface, it is an ideal platform for this purpose. In this guide we’re going to show you how to set up your WordPress website so you can create and sell online courses.

Choosing a reliable hosting provider

To create an online course using WordPress, you need a web hosting provider you can rely on. At 1Byte, we offer top-notch cloud and hosting services in Cambodia, ensuring your website runs smoothly and efficiently. Here are some reasons why choosing 1Byte is the best decision for your online course:

• Unmatched Reliability: Your course will never be unavailable to students with our 99.99% uptime guarantee.
• High Performance: SSD powered our cloud hosting services offering lightning fast load times.
• Security: If you want your site to be safe, we offer SSL certificates, starting from $7.79/year, for that.
• Affordable Plans: Sign up to one of our WordPress hosting plans for as little as $6.99 per month and get started like a dream.
• Expert Support: We have our team available 24/7 for any things you need help with regarding your hosting.

While 1Byte stands out for reliability, performance, and support, it’s worth considering other hosting providers too:

• Bluehost: Coming with a great starting price and extensive WordPress support.
• SiteGround: Good customer service and performance.
• HostGator: Offers a multitude of hosting thankies and affordable plans.
• Kinsta: Managed WordPress hosting at it’s finest with top speed and security.
• WP Engine: Perfect for developers that need high performance as well as developer friendly features.

Selecting the perfect hosting provider will make sure that your online course platform is safe, sturdy, and works well. 1Byte and these other options will fit your needs.

Installing WordPress

The first step to create an online course with WordPress is install WordPress. Here’s a simple guide to get you started:

• Choose a Hosting Provider: Choose a hosting provider which supports WordPress. 1Byte, Bluehost, SiteGround, and WP Engine are popular options, for example.
• Register a Domain Name: Choose a domain name appropriate for your course content. This will be your site address.
• Install WordPress: The majority of hosting providers provide a one click WordPress installation. All you have to do is log in to your hosting account and find the WordPress installation option.
• Select a Theme: Pick a WordPress theme for your course. Divi and Elementor are two very popular themes.
• Install Essential Plugins: You can add plugins to help your website. LearnPress is an essential plugin for creation of course management and Yoast SEO is a must if you want to have it optimized for search engines.
• Set Up Your Course Content: Upload your content and create your course pages. Add text, images and videos into the WordPress editor.
• Test Your Website: Test your website before it launches to make sure everything is working fine. Make sure there are no broken links or errors.

The second time you follow these steps, you’ll have your wordpress site ready to host your online course.

Selecting and customizing a suitable theme

To create an online course with WordPress you need to select and customize a suitable theme. The selection of just the right theme is critical to your course looking professional and working as it should.

• Choose a Theme: Start by thinking about the purpose of your course. If you’re teaching photography, then you might want something that’s a nice looking theme with mega image galleries. In a coding course a clean, minimalistic one could be more suitable. Themes like Divi and Elementor are hugely popular and they’ll offer a ton of customization.
• Customize Your Theme: You’ve now picked a theme, now it’s time to go in and customize it. Fortunately, WordPress has a handful of tools for doing this, including the Theme Customizer and Full Site Editor. You’ll be able to change colors, fonts, and layouts to match your brand. For instance, if your topic is graphic design, you would probably select happy colors and odd names of fonts to represent creativity.
• Add Essential Plugins: They increase your WordPress site’s functionality. If it is an online course, plugin for quizzes, forum and payment gateway can be added. There are popular plugins such as LearnDash for quizzes and bbPress for forums.
• Optimize for SEO: Getting students to your course is what SEO will do. Optimize your content for the search engines by using plugins such as Yoast SEO. Make sure your course’s titles, descriptions, and keywords are researched and relevant.
• Test Your Site: Test your site before taking the launch. Make sure there are no broken links, functional issues with loading, and that it’s mobile responsive. Keeping students is dependent on a smooth user experience.

If you follow these steps, you will create a professional engaging online course with WordPress. Of course, it’s important to select a theme that relates to your course content and then tailor it to suit your exact requirements.

Essential Plugins for Online Courses

With so many essential WordPress plugins to help with creating online courses, you can now create an online course with WordPress easier than ever. As per the latest stats, the global e-learning market is set to account for close to $400bn by 2026, with online courses creation being the key fueling factor. In order to help you get started, below is a list of some indispensable plugins that will turn your WordPress site into a powerful eLearning platform.

Learning Management System (LMS) plugins

If you want to take the next step, then creating an online course with WordPress just got easier since there are several Learning Management System (LMS) plugins. This is why such plugins turn your website into a complete eLearning website. In a report recently released by WPBeginner, the best three LMS WordPress plugins for WordPressare: MemberPress, Thrive Apprentice, and MemberMouse.

MemberPress is a complete solution with robust membership and course management. It’s an all in one solution for instructors. For course creators, Thrive Apprentice paid its dues with detailed reporting and personalized content. Enterprise membership sites requiring integrated course creation and upsell are what MemberMouse is designed for.

Some other notable mentions are LearnDash, LifterLMS, and LearnPress. Many universities, Fortune 500 companies use LearnDash for its advanced quizzing, multimedia lessons. LifterLMS offers a user-friendly interface and comprehensive data tracking. LearnPress is a free plugin that provides essential LMS features.

These plugins let you make an interactive course, manage student enrollment, keep track of their progress, and integrate payment gateways. It also allows for multimedia content, quizzes, assignments, and certificates. An LMS plugin allows you to do everything, be it managing courses, running quizzes or dealing with payments in one place.

Creating Course Content

There are lots of people that create an online course using WordPress. The growth is fueled by the need for online education and the flexibility offered by platforms such as WordPress.

Structuring your course outline

Creating a well structured course outline is really important to organize your content and have a smooth learning experience for your students. Here are some steps to help you create an effective course outline:

• Define Your Course Goals: First, determine the main objectives of your course. What will your students be able to learn by the time the course is over? Be clear on these goals when you create content.
• Break Down Your Content: Break your course content into chunks, lessons. Each section should be about one topic or skill. In other words, if you’re teaching a photography course, you might divide it into camera basics, lighting techniques, and editing sections.
• Create a Logical Flow: Give a logical order to your sections and lessons. Make sure that each of the lessons follows from the previous one, and leads in a natural way to the following lesson. This will allow students to follow along and better understand the material.
• Include Interactive Elements: Add quizzes, assignments, and discussion boards to get your students involved and reinforce the learning. Interactive elements can also help you see where your students are at in their progression and understanding.
• Use Visuals and Examples: Provide your content with visuals; images, videos and infographics. Also, examples and case studies can be used to explain important concepts and make the material more relatable.
• Review and Revise: Once you’ve created your course outline, go through it to make sure it accomplishes what you’d like to accomplish and sounds how you think it should. Revise as needed for clarity and coherence.

By doing the above, you will develop a more complete and engaging course outline which should aid your students to succeed. 

Creating engaging lessons and modules

Your online course won’t be able to succeed if you’re not able to create engaging lessons and modules. Here are some tips to help you create captivating content:

• Start with a Clear Objective: Establish the learning goals of each lesson. It allows students to see what they will have come to at the end of the module.
• Use Multimedia: Embed videos, images, and audio to bring more life to the content. In May, Whop reported that multimedia can considerably increase learning retention rates.
• Interactive Elements: Add quizzes, polls, and forums which encourage active participation. Apart from that, this makes the lessons more interactive, and can be used to check on how the students are understanding the topics.
• Real-Life Examples: Explain concepts through use case studies and real-life examples. It provides linkage among theoretical knowledge and practical applications.
• Break Down Content: Divide your content up into manageable chunks. It’s easy to digest and retain.
• Feedback Mechanisms: Feedback for students in a timely manner. Loops can be anything in the form of automated quizzes or personalised comments on assignments.
• Update Regularly: Update the content regularly with latest information and trends. It teaches students that the course is current and relevant.
• Encourage Collaboration: Give students opportunities to work together on projects or discussion. It makes people feel a part of a community and the learning happens through peer interaction.

These tips will help you curate effective lessons and modules for your online course for they are engaging and effective. Remember that engagement means the content is dynamic and interactive so that students remain interested and motivated.

Adding multimedia content (videos, quizzes, assignments)

There is more to creating an engaging online course than text. Including multimedia content can make a big difference in making the learning experience better. Here are some steps to help you incorporate videos, quizzes, and assignments effectively:

Videos

One of the best things about videos is that they are such a great means for explaining difficult concepts. The Learning Revolution reports that videos have been found to increase students’ learning retention rates by up to 60%. For instance you can make short tutorial videos showing how to use some WordPress features. Be sure your videos are short and to the point.

Quizzes

In addition, quizzes reinforce learning and give immediate feedback. They can be used to test the knowledge and to keep the student engaged. For example, after a video lesson, add a quiz to see how the student understood. Quizzes improve retention rates by up to 30%, according to research.

Assignments

Active learning along with practical applications of knowledge is encouraged by assignments. Students can also create their own WordPress site or write a blog post through WordPress. The hands-on angle allows kids to apply what they learned in some manner to the real world.

There is research to support incorporating multimedia content. Using multimedia to develop courses is positively related to student perceptions of their online learning experience, suggests a California Baptist University study. The Cambridge Handbook of Multimedia Learning also suggests that multimedia is useful in managing the user’s mental load and promoting engagement.

Configuring Course Settings

With all that being said, WordPress is the way to go because it is so easy to use. To get started, you’ll need a few essentials: An eLearning management system (LMS) plugin, a domain name, and WordPress hosting account. For instance, the course creators may choose a popular MemberPress LMS plugin. With these in hand, you can start to configure and set your course settings to offer a smooth learning experience to your students.

Setting up course pricing and payment gateways

Creating an online course with WordPress involves setting up pricing and payment gateways. This is to guarantee that your students can conveniently get and access your study. Here’s how to do it:

• Decide on a pricing strategy that is aligned with your target audience and the course content. Statistically, the average online course costs around $137 and most are under $350. But to drive most revenue, price your course at $199 or more.
• Selecting a reliable payment gateway for processing the transaction payment gateway is an integral part of any ecommerce website. Other options include PayPal and Stripe. Stripe offers competitive rates, and streams into WordPress seamlessly, while PayPal is user friendly and widely known.
• Integrate the chosen payment gateway into your WordPress site, configure Payment Settings. Check that the payment settings are set up appropriately for different currencies and payments types. It’s important to do this to give your learners a smooth checkout experience.
• Before launching your course, test your payment system. It also aids in identifying any problems that may occur and that everything will function smoothly. Payments can be checked that they are processed correctly with test transactions.
• Monitor your course sales and payment process on a regular basis. Use the data to find trends and areas for improvement. Tweak your pricing and payment settings to maximize revenue and learner happiness.

Following these steps will help you set up course pricing and payment gateways; they will help you ensure that you are set up for a smooth and successful online course launch.

Managing student enrollment and progress tracking

Managing enrollment and tracking the progress of your students becomes critical when you are creating an online course with WordPress. Here are some key steps to achieve this:

• Set Up Enrollment Forms: WordPress plugins like WPForms or Formidable Forms can be used to create custom enrollment forms. These forms will allow students to enter their name, email address and payment details.
• Automate Enrollment Process: Automating the enrollment process is made possible by plugins, such as MemberPress and Restrict Content Pro. The best thing is that these plugins can do payment processing, send emails to confirm the purchase and the ability to give access to the course material immediately after enrollment.
• Track Student Progress: Install and implement a Learning Management System (LMS) plugin like LearnDash or LifterLMS. These plugins have advanced progress tracking features that help you track how far your students have come in a course, how they are doing on quizzes and more.
• Use Analytics Tools: Use tools like Google Analytics to understand how students behave and perform on the course. By analyzing data we are able to figure out areas students might struggle in and be able to intervene in a timely manner.
• Provide Certificates: You can use plugins like WP Courseware or LearnDash and offer certificates of completion. The automatic generation and delivery of these certificates upon course completion adds value to the learning.
• Regular Updates and Communication: Automatically send students notifications and emails on their progress. These are handled through plugins such as AutomateWoo or MailChimp for WordPress.

If you follow these steps, you will help your students learn seamlessly and in an engaging way so that they stay motivated and stay on course with the course.

Configuring course certificates and badges

Sharing your knowledge in the form of an online course is a great way and WordPress is great for creating an online course. Adding certificates and badges will be another way to motivate learners and make your course more valuable. Here’s how to configure them:

• Choose a Plugin: First, pick a plugin that can create certificates and badges. Some popular options are MemberPress, Tutor LMS, and Sertifier.
• Install and Activate: Put the plugin you just chose and activate it in your WordPress site.
• Set Up Certificates: From the plugin settings, set up the certificate details. The design can be customized, inserting your logo and specific fields such as the learner’s name or date of course completion.
• Create Badges: Like certificates, configure badge settings. Badges can also be digital to be shared on social media and embedded in email signatures.
• Assign Certificates/Badges: Issue badges and certificates linked to specific courses or course milestones. That ensures learners get recognized when they complete the course.
• Test the Setup: Before launching, you test the certificate and badge generation process to make sure it works out.

Certificates and badges can really increase learner engagement. Recent reports also show that the courses with certificates have higher completion rates. 

Conclusion

There’s something very rewarding about creating an online course with WordPress, especially if you’re interested in sharing your knowledge or generating income. E-learning is on a surge, more and more people need online courses and WordPress is the favorite choice for being flexible, user friendly and simple. If you follow 1Byte’s step-by-step guide, you can create a professional course which would engage the course attendees.