Which online course platform is best?

There are so many options out there for creating online courses it’s often overwhelming and confusing to figure out which online course platform is best.

They range from low cost or a one off fee to hundreds of pounds a month so it would not only depend on the features you need but also your budget.

There is also the options of putting your online courses on your website or using another platform.

So is there one ‘best’ platform?

Unfortunately there is no ‘best’ platform as each platform varies in it’s features, price and ease of use. So there are different options to suit everyone.

Before you make any decision on what online course platform is best you need to know what you want from an online course. What features do you need (now and in the future), who is your target audience, what are yours (and your customers) level of expertise, customisation options, whether you already have a website or not, any recommendations you’ve had (but don’t take these as gospel as what works for one may not work for you) and of course your budget.

The first decision that you need to make, before even choosing a platform, is where you want the course to be held. If you don’t have a website yet you may choose to use a system that doesn’t require one (an all in one system) or if you already have a website you may want to drive traffic to that website and have everything all in one place (this also saves you learning a new platform or system). 

There are a number of all in one platforms such as Kajabi, Kartra, Teachable, Easy Peasy Funnels, FEA Create etc. that have everything in one place. If you don’t have a website they are ideal as they have everything in one place not just the ability to create online courses but also sales pages and funnels, opt ins, email marketing and analytics.

Although some of these options are quite pricey so may not be ideal for someone just starting out. They also offer different features and pricing levels so research each one thoughrouly to see if it will meet your needs and budget (some are upwards of $100 a month)!

There is also the option to host the online course platform on your website, depending what website platorm you use. The benefits of it being on your website is that once set up creating the lessons is usually in a similar way to how you create pages (so you don’t need to learn anything new) and it is in keeping with your brand (as it’s usually totally customisable).

The number one reason I have my online courses on my website is for SEO purposes. Everytime a student logs on to take part in a course it’s driving traffic to my website and if they are spending quite a while completing a lesson Google can see that visitors are spending a lot of time on my website, which means up in the search rankings for me!

So what online course platform is best?

There are many articles out there that delve into the pros and cons of all the options I’ve listed above and I’m happy to talk through the differnt options on a free call, to make sure you are using the ‘best’ platform for you and your business. There is so much choice out there it can be a minefield and the last thing you want to do is put all your time and money into a platform that’s not going to work for you in the future or doesn’t target the needs of your clients.