Online Course Creation on a Budget

By: Justin Ferriman • June 25, 2015
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wordpress-for-elearningWhen first starting out with creating an online course, you will quickly find out that there are a great many tools available.

Without having to look very hard, you will quickly be introduced to some of the big players in the industry. Platforms like Articulate Storyline, Articulate Studio, Adobe Captivate, Lectora Inspire, so on and so forth.

While these programs are industry leaders for a reason, they also come with a hefty price, often creeping into the thousands of dollars depending on the package you decide to purchase.

Needless to say, not all elearning projects have this kind of budget.

Due to these higher price tags people generally start to look at the alternatives. Again, there are many. Each option out there boasts a wide-range of features. So how do you know which one is best?

First, before you purchase anything, take a moment to define the objectives for your elearning course. As you start to generate your list you may realize that you don’t need a solution that has 100 different features, especially if only a couple of them really help you to meet those objectives.

Quick & Easy

Let’s say that your course is fairly straight-forward. You don’t need to implement badges, points, forums, profiles, chatting mechanisms, instructor roles, etc.

Maybe you have a couple of videos, some text, and a few downloads – that’s it.

You may be surprised to know that you can actually set this all up pretty easily for ~$5/mo.  Specifically, this $5 is just for a hosting account at a host like GoDaddy or HostGator (or perhaps these guys if you want something a little more robust).

Then, all you have to do is install WordPress. Once installed, create a simple homepage (and any others that you feel are necessary), then add your course content using the pages feature in WordPress. You can then insert various media and content into any page.

Last, install a free plugin like PaidMembershipsPro to protect the content and manage your users.

If you want a little more structure to your course, then you can make a small investment into a plugin like LearnDash (which also integrates with PaidMembershipsPro, but certainly isn’t a requirement).

That’s it, and you didn’t need to break the bank to get your course online!

Justin Ferriman

Justin started LearnDash, the WordPress LMS trusted by Fortune 500 companies, major universities, training organizations, and entrepreneurs worldwide. He is currently founder & CEO of GapScout. Justin’s Homepage | GapScout | Twitter