Selling an online course can be a profitable endeavour. But how do you go about selling courses through your WordPress website? Let’s discuss.
One of the many ways the online world shapes our society is through offering everyone in the world the right to proper education. With the rise of platforms, such as eDX and Udemy, it’s now easier than ever to find quality courses on almost any subject.
The rise of online learning also presents experienced professionals with the option to achieve an additional income stream. All you have to do is know what you want to say, create a course and sell it. But, how do you do that?
The Overview of Creating a WordPress Website to Sell Courses
To start things off, you should already be familiar with the basics of the WordPress platform and hosting. The main topics we decided to cover are related to the choice of essential plugins, how to go about your marketing strategy and what a proper WordPress course website should be.
The Basics
There are three main issues you face when creating a WordPress course website. The website should have restricted content that is only available to those who have paid for the course. Second, you should have a system in place that helps you keep track of the orders and that processes the payments. And last, but not least, you should the right marketing tools to keep everything in order.
Suggested Plugins, Software and Tools
While there are other tools for each respective category, we decided to include the ones below due to the ease of installation and use, plus their relatively reasonable affordability.
Easy Digital Downloads
Price: Free Basic Version, Paid Add-Ons
Link: https://easydigitaldownloads.com/
Easy Digital Downloads is one of the most efficient eCommerce plugins at a marketers disposal. It is designed to help you sell software products, the plugin is entirely free to use, and while there are paid add-ons, the basic version will be enough when starting out. It’s extremely helpful if you are selling multiple courses. The plugin has a number of features including full marketing data reporting, download activity tracker, discount codes and more. On top of all this, the plugin has dominant Stripe and Paypal add-ons, this will help you make the payment process for your customers that touch smoother, giving you the edge on your competition.
Restrict Content Pro
Price: $99 per year for one site, $149 for 5 Sites, $249 Pro Add-ons for Unlimited Sites, $499 one-time Payment for Unlimited Sites
Link: https://restrictcontentpro.com/
Created by the same team behind Easy Digital Downloads, Restrict Content Pro is one of the most effective WordPress membership plugins. Once installed, the plugin allows users to provide Stripe, PayPal and Braintree as free add-on payment gateways. Restrict Content Pro also has built-in email manager, CSV export, MailChimp and MailPoet support and so much more. I warrant the price tag, the plugin is extremely powerful and is a definite recommendation for everyone that is new to WordPress. It’s easy to use and intuitive. The plugin may not offer a long list of third-party services and plugin support, but the extensive list of features will be enough to help you get off the ground.
Elite Video Player
Price: $36 One-Time Payment (Per Website)
Link: https://codecanyon.net/item/elite-video-player-wordpress-plugin/
If you provide video-based courses, then having a powerful playback plugin is a must. Elite Video Player is the cheap and cheerful video plugin. It can provide YouTube, Vimeo and other self-hosted support. What truly sets this plugin apart is its intuitive and responsive design that is optimised for mobile use. Elite Video Player also allows you to put ads on before your videos, but try to refrain doing so on a training course.
MailChimp
Price: Free, $10-50 per Month for 5000 Subscribers, $199+ per more for other plans
Link: https://mailchimp.com/
There are multiple options for creating [link to WP mailing list plugins article]a mailing list in WordPress.[end Link] But one of the most influential, easy to use and affordable tools is MailChimp. Smoothly integrating with the plugins above, MailChimp is an essential part of any WordPress marketing strategy. With a proper mailing list, you will be able to skyrocket your sales and conversions, arguably much faster than you would with a social media marketing strategy.
MailChimp User Sync
Price: Available with MailChimp
Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/mailchimp-sync/
MailChimp User Sync is a potent tool that you should install on your website to be able to keep better track of your users. It allows you to automatically sync the registered profiles in WordPress to your MailChimp account. What’s more, the plugin has additional features such as welcome email opt-in, synchronization of user roles and much more.
Making Everything Work Properly
Once you have everything setup correctly, you will be ready to sell your courses on your new WordPress website. But make sure to avoid waiting for your customers to come to you. Even if you have top tier SEO, you should aim to increase your conversion rates from the get-go. Social media marketing is another a powerful tool to promote your courses.
As a whole, even though you can earn a lot by selling your courses online. You should aim at making the most out of each sale and each visitor. After all, even though you can just leave your site be and watch the money flow, it’s still a business that needs management. So make sure that you make the right decisions, increase your ROI and conversion rates and achieve the best out of your courses.