Free Course Launch Checklist

Dec 12, 2024

Reader Disclosure

You've decided to design and sell an online course I'm excited for you. The sharing of your expertise online can help you optimize your cash and has an extremely high potential for earning - much more than you would earn by teaching classes in person.

WHAT'S INSIDE          Toggle

There are loads of things to take care of You're likely feeling a little overwhelmed, but I've got you covered.

By the end of this blog, you'll have an outline of your next steps and feel prepped for a smooth launch and certain of the course's success.

This online course launch checklist contains the steps and resources you'll need to help make sure your course is off the ground and on track to generate revenue. $$$!

We'll get started.

and Planning and Planning

 Skip to Research and Planning Course Checklist

Before filming your tutorials or constructing courses, you must prepare the basis to plan your lesson. The research and planning phase will make everything that comes after easier and more efficient. How to accomplish it:

1. Conducting Evaluation of Competition

Before you start, look into your competition. You can do some research about similar courses within your field. What's available? What's selling well? And equally important - What's not working?

Seek out gaps in the market. As an example, if you notice most courses on marketing through social media include general strategies but skip over TikTok Growth hacks, it's an chance to be noticed.

In filling these needs, you'll draw students and position yourself as an expert in your field.

Pro TIP: Read reviews of competitors' classes. Negative feedback is important as it can reveal what people want but aren't receiving. Make use of that knowledge to guide your course.

2. Identify Your Target Audience

After you've mastered the marketplace, focus on whom the course you're designing for.

What are these people? What are they struggling with? What is driving them to follow your course?

For instance, if you're developing a course in affiliate marketing, your audience can range from complete novices who aren't sure what a referral hyperlink is and experienced marketers who are who are looking to grow.

Each group has different demands, which is why you'll need to determine who you'll be catering to.

 Do you know:

  • What is the problem my program will resolve, and who's the most likely to pay for that solution?
  • What level of knowledge do my ideal student possess?
  • Where can they be found online (forums or social media sites, etc. )?

The more specific you are, the easier you can create the content that will resonate with your audience.

3. Define Crystal-Clear Learning Objectives

The goal is to lead pupils to a specific outcome. What is success? Define it to your students. At the conclusion of your course, what should students know, have the ability to do or be confident about?

Bonus:
Clare objectives can help you stay focused when creating material. If the lesson isn't contributing to the goal, cut it. DO NOT GET RUSHED!

4. Plan Your Course Structure and delivery methods

After you've got your "what" in addition to"why" and "who," it's time to think about how to get there "how." A well-organized course makes the learning experience smoother and keeps students engaged.

Each course should concentrate on a specific idea or skill to avoid overwhelming your audience. Example:

  • Module 1: Intro to Affiliate Marketing
  • Module 2: Choosing Profitable Niches
  • Module 3: Setting Up Your First Campaign

When it comes to ways to deliver your message, mix it with a variety of delivery methods. People learn differently, so incorporate video lessons, printable guides, tests, and other interactive elements. More variety means more enjoyable your lesson.

5. Select Your Course Tools

Before jumping to content creation, take time to learn about the tools you'll employ to develop and present your class.

The platforms you select will determine how you organize your content, what features you include (like tests or multimedia) and the ease with which students can engage with the course.

Most creators find that WordPress combined with Courses is the perfect option.

WordPress provides unbeatable flexibility and control, while simplifying the creation of courses and subscriptions using powerful tools such as quizzes, certificates, and tracking progress.

Learn >>> Watch Feature OVERVIEW

By understanding what your tools will be able to do and then utilizing your tools later, you'll be able to save time by creating content that aligns exactly with the capabilities of your platform.

Furthermore, by using software like  the one above, you'll be able to provide an expert experience, without having to hire developers.

Checklist for Launching a Course Online Free to help you research and plan your course

Conduct Competitive Analysis

Research similar courses in your niche.
Identify what's already out there and also what's popular.
Find gaps in the market to fill.
Review reviews of competitors, particularly those that are negative, to determine gaps in the market.
Make use of these ideas to guide your course and differentiate yourself.

Identify Your Target Audience

Decide who you want to be intended for.
Identify their pain points as well as their motivations, obstacles, and challenges.
Determine their knowledge level to tailor your content.
 Ask:
What issue will my course address?
Who's likely to be willing to spend money on this option?
I'm wondering where my followers hang out on the internet?

Define Crystal-Clear Learning Objectives

Create measurable objectives for the students to be able to achieve.
Make sure that the goals are in line with the skills or knowledge they want to acquire.
Don't cut content that doesn't aid in achieving these goals directly.

Plan Your Course Structure and Delivery Methods

Then outline your course in a logical sections.
Make sure that each module builds upon previous ones to ensure an easy progression.
Plan to include a mix of delivery methods.

Select the Tools for Your Course

Find out what tools you need and select the best for constructing and delivering your course.
Assess platforms on the basis of:
- Compatibility with your content structure.
Support for features such as videos, quizzes and tracking.
- Ease of usage for you as well as your students.
Check that your software is aligned with your goal to cut time and deliver a polished training Experience.

Establishing an online presence

 Skip to Creating an Online Presence Checklist

With WordPress and under your belt you only need two steps to building an online home for your school!

6. Build a Brand that is Strong

Your identity is your brand's This means that it has been created in order to symbolize the trust of your customers and to establish a long-lasting relationship between you and your audience. It also has to be unique, allowing you to distinguish yourself from the rest of your competition.

You want to create the same look and feel across your website as well as other materials that are designed to appeal to customers. Your aim is to leave an impression that lasts on your audience that communicates what your brand is about and is a good fit with their needs.

What do you do? It's simple. Your brand's identity is defined by explaining what your company is What makes you distinctive as well as the emotional connection you'd like to establish with your audience.

All your target audience research can be useful here details on their issues and preferences will inform your design and messaging and the overall branding strategy.

The creation of a distinctive brand image is an rapid method to create a brand that is instantly identifiable. It involves selecting a logo and color scheme.

7. Build Your Website (In Minutes!)

ReadyLaunch(tm) is an integrated, flexible page maker in which you can personalize your site for courses using your company's logo and colors.

It ensures your course pages are mobile-responsive and optimized for sales, with an attractive and well-structured design.

Even more exciting - you can do all this without any coding!

The Free Course Launch Checklist: Establishing an online presence

Build a Brand that is Strong

Define the goal of your brand
- What does your brand mean?
- What is it that makes you different?
- What emotional connection do you want to build for your viewers?
Utilize research about your target audience to guide your tone of voice, message, and overall strategy.
 Choose a memorable logo.
Select a color scheme.

Create Your Website

Make use of ReadyLaunch(tm) by to build your branded course site. within minutes.
If you're not making use of ReadyLaunch(tm) then manually design the following pages & ensure they're mobile-responsive
- Account Page
 - Pricing Page
Register Page
 - Thank You Page
- Login Page
You can add your logo, branding colours, as well as fonts, to personalize the site.
Make sure your site for courses has been optimized to increase sales as well as easy navigation.

Learning Content Development for Courses

 Skip to the Course Content Development Checklist

With a new home for your course and an idea of the way you'd like it appear like and be able to achieve, it's time to go further and begin creating!

8. The Content Outline for Your Course

It's time to flesh out the course structure you've created in step 4. Break each of your modules into smaller, simple lesson plans.

If your classes are delivered via video The research indicates that you must aim to make your lessons no longer than 15 minutes, ideally under 10 minutes.

One study conducted by MIT(pdf) discovered that average student engagement in videoed lectures lasted about 6 minutes.

In the light of these numbers Think about ways you could break down your lesson into smaller videos.

9. Develop High-Quality Educational Materials (Videos, Slides and PDFs)

Once you've got the foundation of your syllabus Now it's time to start creating your material for your course!

Video is the most popular method of delivering your content due to one major reason - it's engaging. However, ultimately, it's up to you to determine what's the best way to communicate your course information.

Slides and PDFs can be great references and revision aids to students, and provide a second way for students to absorb information from the course, catering to the different styles of learning.

Strategies for Creating Engaging Videos
  • Keep Videos Short: Aim for video that are less than 6 minutes long for maximum engagement. Videos that are shorter require planning however they will keep the students' attention for longer.
  • Adopt an Informal Style: Casual, relatable settings make the videos feel more likable and personal, which makes them more interesting! When you're looking for video quality to be good do not use a sterile studio setting.
  • Speak Enthusiastically and Naturally: Speak with energy and confidence. A fast-paced, energetic delivery is more engaging.
  • Enhance Tutorials to Rewatch: For how-to videos make sure to include a visual guidepost or bookmarks for easy skimming and watching and rewatching.
  • Editing Effectively: Get rid of any filler words, phrases and any other distractions in editing to ensure that content is sharp and interesting.
  • Utilize a variety of Teaching Styles Utilize animations, visuals, and demonstrations to complement spoken explanations to cater to different learning styles.
  • Allow Accessibility to Videos: Add captions and transcripts to make videos accessible to people with hearing impairments, or parents who don't want to wake their child!

Since Courses uses WordPress Gutenberg blocks, it's simple to incorporate video, images, text and PDF files into each course.

10. Create Engaging Quizzes and Assignments

You might think quizzes or assignments are only about giving your students a test however, they're actually excellent tools for engagement that improve learning as well as give your students a sense of accomplishment.

When done right, they'll help to keep students engaged and will make your class fun and enjoyable. Learn how to make assessment that stands out

 Let It Be Fun as well as Interactive

Consider thinking beyond simple multiple-choice questions. Utilize a variety of methods like matching or fill-in-the-blank, to keep your students interested.

 Courses quiz questions
Courses quiz questions

The course includes nine different quiz question types to help mix things up.

Give immediate feedback

By using these questions for quizzes, it is possible to provide automated assessment and feedback that gives students instant results and explanations. It helps to reinforce the learning process and makes the learning experience more effortless.

Create a custom assessment for your content

Design quizzes and assignments to reflect your course's objectives. If, for instance, you're instructing a photography class you could create an assignment that requires students submit edited photos based on a technique they've learnt.

Through the Courses Assignments option, your students are able to upload any kind of assignments for you to grade from photos, portfolios, videos as well as long-form essays. You can get creative about what assignments you'd like to assign your students.

The nature of these assignments implies that you'll need the task of grading them by hand and this is possible by Courses Gradebook. Courses Gradebook feature.

Keep it bite-sized

Don't overwhelm students with lengthy tests. Short, frequent quizzes or tasks are much more fun and provide regular opportunities for students to assess their understanding.

Mix It Up Across Modules

Different types of tests and assignments through your program. For instance, use questions to check your knowledge early as well as more practical, application-based assignments later in the course.

Allow Retakes and Flexibility

Let students retake exams or resubmit assignments to encourage learning and improvement in the subject matter.

11. Reward with Certificates

The joy of celebrating your students' accomplishments is an excellent way to keep them motivated and interested. Giving certificates of completion not only adds value to your class but also offers a tangible reward that students are able to display in their work and private lives. Here's how to make certificates an integral part of your course:

The importance of certificates
  • Motivation They give learners an incentive to strive for, helping them stay active and focused throughout the course.
  • Recognition: They serve as an official acknowledgment of the student's effort and learning achievement.
  • Shareable Achievements Students may publish their awards via LinkedIn and resumes or personal websites that highlight their talents and expertise.
How do you offer certificates with the Courses

Courses allows you to automatically issue certificate to students at the time of successful completion of the course.

Choose from a variety of designs and customize certificates to reflect your branding and contain all pertinent information like:

  • Student name
  • Name of the course
  • Completion date
  • Your logo and signature

With the feature for certifying certificates built into Courses, there's no requirement to install additional plugins or manual processes. It's completely automated and seamless.

Set Expiry Dates to ongoing certifications

In case of courses that need regular recertification, such as certification for compliance or specific skills to industry it is possible to set deadlines for expiry of certificates.

It encourages learners to remain updated with their skills by retaking your course after an agreed-upon time, making sure that their knowledge is relevant.

Encourage Sharing to Expand Your reach

If students are able to share certificates, they could become effective marketing tools. Encourage your students to:

  • Print and share certificates with friends on social networks.
  • Include certificates in the professional portfolios of their employees.
  • Include your school's name in their LinkedIn profile.

With Courses, you can offer shareable links to your students to spread all over the world, highlighting their achievements and highlighting your course as a trusted source of expertise!

A Free Online Course Launch Checklist: Course Content Development

The Content Outline for Your Course

Cut your courses into bite-sized easy to digest lessons.
It is recommended to keep the duration of video lessons shorter than 15 minutes (ideally at least 6 minutes) to maintain student engagement.
Utilize Courses to quickly set up your lessons and modules.

Create high-quality educational Materials

Create engaging videos to deliver your course content:
Employ a relaxed, casual manner.
Speak with enthusiasm and clarity.
Transcripts and captions can be added for accessibility.
Add additional materials such as PDFs and slides for further assistance with learning.
Use Courses to seamlessly add videos, texts as well as files to each class.

Create Engaging Quizzes and Assignments

Create interactive quizzes by mixing types of questions (e.g., multiple-choice, matching, fill-in-the-blank).
Use the Assignments feature for students to upload pictures, videos, and documents directly.
Be sure to keep assignments and tests quick and frequent in order to ensure the students' interest.
Retakes and resubmissions are allowed to help students master the material.

Recognized with Certificates

Encourage students to complete certificates in recognition of their work.
The expiry date for certificates should be set to ensure that they are renewed for continuing abilities.
 Provide shareable certificate links.

Pre-Launch Final Checks

 Skip to Final List of Checklist

So you've finalized your course and completed everything you need to be done now, and you think everything is in place and all set to go. Although this could be the case, you must double-check to ensure everything is in place for a smooth and safe launch.

12. Run Tests & Get Feedback

Be sure to conduct one quick test run to ensure your course has been designed to be well-optimized. Ensure that all elements such as quizzes, forms, videos, and more work with no glitches.

Beta testers are also a great idea. Get them to run through your course and give you comments on any issues or issues they've had to face.

Also, be sure your text is proofread and polished. Just to make sure you're in good hands, it's possible to hire the services of a proofreader to go through the content of your course and remove misspellings, grammatical errors, or other information that isn't relevant to the course you might have added.

Once you've done all these steps, you're able to confidently start your course using Courses, knowing that you've created the perfect masterpiece that's ready to be a huge success!

Free Course Launch Checklist Final Exams

Check Your Course's Features
Test your course to make sure the course you choose to take is optimally designed.
Verify that all elements work seamlessly, including:

  • Quizzes
  • Forms
  • Videos
  • Downloads and links

Find Feedback from Beta Testers
Find beta testers who will go through your course.
 Collect detailed feedback on:

  • User experience
  • Possible technical problems
  • Clarity and relevance of content

Check and Polish Your Content
Make sure your course material is free from errors:

  • Misspellings
  • Grammatical mistakes
  • Non-relevant information
     Hire a professional copyeditor for a final review.

Start with confidence
You can use Courses to start your course.
You can rejoice knowing you've made a well-tested, polished work that is ready for the big time!

Conclusion

Preparing for a course launch is a meticulous process to ensure that it will be a massive success and reach the objectives you have set.

Key steps include defining clear learning objectives and conducting research on competitors, developing solid course content as well as executing an effective marketing strategy.

If you take the time to carefully review the items listed above, you'll be well-positioned for a seamless and efficient launch.

An extensive preparation process is vital to making sure that the launch of your course is successful and that your students experience a seamless beginning to learn.

To simplify and improve this procedure, you should consider ReadyLaunch(tm) by . It is a powerful program that streamlines course creation by offering customizable templates, mobile-responsive design and an easy-to-use interface, without the requirement for any programming knowledge.

Victoria Lloyd       Victoria is a pro at making small-scale beginnings into huge achievements, and has taken her jewelry line out of the buzz of the London's market streets up to more prestigious locations such as the Royal Academy of Arts and the Topshop's Oxford Circus main store. Victoria's expertise extends beyond physical items. Victoria is a pro-active experience of increasing web-based engagement for a wide range of companies. From dynamic startups to household names like Nokia as well as Jack Daniels, Victoria has utilized her powerful blend of wordsmith skill as well as strategic insights and a digital savvy to ramp up brand engagement and SEO. With her company , Victoria leverages her diverse knowledge to deconstruct and simplify the complexities of online participation and growth for businesses. She's on hand to assist users with her exclusive insights, helping them to successfully and effectively build their online communities and membership sites.