How to Create Online Courses and Best 19 Platforms to Sell Your Online Courses

Online education has created exciting opportunities for teachers, professionals, entrepreneurs, content creators, and anyone with valuable knowledge to share. Whether you want to teach web development, graphic design, digital marketing, cooking, photography, business management, or personal development, creating an online course can help you turn your skills into a digital product.

Unlike traditional classroom teaching, an online course allows you to reach students in different locations without requiring a physical classroom. Depending on your chosen business model, students can learn at their own pace, attend live lessons, participate in discussions, and access course materials whenever they need them.

However, creating a successful online course involves more than recording videos and uploading them to a website. You need to identify a profitable topic, understand your target audience, organize your lessons, select suitable teaching tools, set a competitive price, and promote your course to potential students.

This guide explains how to create an online course step by step and explores 19 platforms where you can publish, market, and sell your educational content.

What Is an Online Course?

An online course is a structured learning program delivered through the internet. It helps students acquire specific knowledge or develop practical skills without necessarily attending a traditional school or training center.

Online courses can include video lessons, written tutorials, downloadable documents, audio recordings, quizzes, assignments, live classes, and interactive projects.

For example, a web developer could create a beginner-friendly course explaining HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. A chef could teach students how to prepare different meals, while a business consultant could offer lessons on starting and managing a small business.

Online courses generally fall into several categories.

Pre-recorded courses: These contain lessons that students can watch whenever they want. They are suitable for creators who want to sell the same educational material repeatedly.

Live online courses: These involve scheduled lessons delivered through video conferencing tools. Students can ask questions and receive immediate feedback.

Cohort-based courses: These bring a group of students together to learn within a specific period. They may include group assignments, live sessions, and instructor feedback.

Membership-based courses: Students pay a recurring fee to access a collection of lessons, new materials, or an educational community.

Hybrid courses: These combine pre-recorded lessons with live instruction, projects, and other learning activities.

Choosing the right format depends on your subject, audience, teaching style, available time, and business goals.

Benefits of Creating and Selling Online Courses

Before investing time in course creation, it is useful to understand the potential benefits.

1. Multiple Income Opportunities

An online course can become a source of income when students purchase access to your content. You can sell individual courses, offer course bundles, create subscriptions, or provide premium coaching alongside your lessons.

Pre-recorded courses are particularly attractive because the same material can be sold to multiple students without requiring you to teach every lesson again.

However, income is not guaranteed. Your results will depend on the quality of your course, the demand for your topic, your pricing, and your ability to reach potential buyers.

2. Access to a Global Audience

Online learning removes many geographical barriers. A course creator in Nigeria, for example, can teach students in other African countries, Europe, Asia, and North America.

The platforms you choose may affect which countries you can reach, which payment methods are available, and how easily students can access your materials.

3. Low Startup Costs

You do not necessarily need a professional studio or expensive equipment to begin. A laptop, a reliable internet connection, a microphone, and suitable screen-recording software may be enough for many subjects.

For courses involving programming, office software, or digital marketing, screen recordings combined with clear explanations can be more useful than elaborate video production.

4. Establishing Professional Authority

Teaching online can help you demonstrate your expertise and build a professional reputation. A well-designed course may support your consulting business, freelance services, coaching practice, or personal brand.

5. Flexible Teaching and Business Models

You can create courses around your existing schedule, update lessons when necessary, and choose whether to teach independently or work through an established educational marketplace.

This flexibility makes online education an option for professionals who want to share their knowledge alongside other responsibilities.

How to Create an Online Course Step by Step

Creating an online course becomes easier when you divide the process into manageable stages. The following steps can help you move from an idea to a finished course that students are willing to purchase.

Step 1: Choose a Profitable Course Topic

The first step is deciding what you want to teach. Your topic should combine three things: your knowledge, a real audience need, and a result that students want to achieve.

You do not have to be the world’s leading expert. You need to understand your subject well enough to teach it accurately, guide students through the learning process, and help them avoid common mistakes.

Popular online course topics include:

• Web development and software programming

• Graphic design and video editing

• Digital marketing and social media management

• Data analytics and business intelligence

• Personal finance and entrepreneurship

• Cooking, baking, and catering

• Photography and content creation

• Language learning and communication

• Academic tutoring and examination preparation

• Personal development and productivity

For example, instead of creating a broad course titled “Learn Technology,” you could develop a more specific course called “Build Your First Website with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.”

The second topic identifies a clear audience and describes a practical outcome.

Before settling on a topic, research questions people ask online, examine competing courses, read reviews, and speak to potential students. Look for problems people are actively trying to solve and identify what existing courses may be missing.

Step 2: Identify Your Target Audience

After choosing a topic, determine who your course is for.

Your target audience could consist of complete beginners, university students, business owners, working professionals, freelancers, or people preparing for a particular examination.

Understanding your audience helps you determine the appropriate teaching language, course length, price, examples, and level of difficulty.

For instance, a course teaching programming to beginners should explain fundamental concepts before introducing advanced terminology. A course designed for experienced developers can focus on more complex projects and professional techniques.

Ask yourself these questions:

• What does my ideal student already know?

• What problem is the student trying to solve?

• What should the student be able to do after completing the course?

• How much time can the student realistically dedicate to learning?

• What challenges might prevent the student from completing the course?

The clearer your answers, the easier it becomes to design a useful learning experience.

Step 3: Define the Learning Objectives

Learning objectives describe what students should be able to accomplish after completing your course.

Avoid vague objectives such as “understand web development” or “learn business.” Instead, use measurable outcomes.

For a beginner web development course, your objectives might include the ability to create a basic HTML page, style a website with CSS, add simple JavaScript interactions, and publish a finished project online.

These objectives become the foundation of your curriculum.

A useful rule is to design your course around the transformation you promise. Students should be able to identify what they will learn and understand how that knowledge can help them.

Be realistic about your claims. A short introductory course should not promise that every student will become a senior software engineer or earn a guaranteed income.

Step 4: Create a Course Outline

A course outline organizes your material into modules and lessons. It prevents you from teaching randomly and helps students progress from basic concepts to more advanced applications.

Consider this example of a beginner web development course.

Each module should contain short lessons that focus on one main concept at a time.

Include exercises, assignments, downloadable resources, and practical demonstrations where appropriate. Students learn more effectively when they can apply what they have just been taught rather than passively watching hours of videos.

Step 5: Choose Your Course Format

The best format depends on your subject and the needs of your students.

Video lessons are suitable for demonstrations, visual explanations, and practical tutorials. Written lessons work well for reference materials, detailed instructions, and subjects that students may want to revisit quickly.

Screen recordings are especially useful for teaching software, programming, spreadsheets, design applications, and other computer-based skills.

Live classes are useful when students need direct interaction, personalized feedback, or real-time discussions. Downloadable PDFs, templates, workbooks, and checklists can complement other formats.

You can also combine several formats to accommodate different learning preferences.

Step 6: Prepare and Record Your Lessons

You do not need expensive equipment to create your first course. A laptop, microphone, recording software, and a quiet environment can provide a practical starting point.

Useful tools include OBS Studio for screen recording, Canva for presentations and graphics, and video editing applications for cleaning up recordings.

Before recording, prepare a lesson script or a list of talking points. Introduce the topic, explain the main concept, demonstrate how it works, and finish with a recap or exercise.

For video lessons, pay attention to the following:

Audio quality: Clear audio is essential. Reduce background noise and speak at a comfortable pace.

Lighting: If you appear on camera, use sufficient lighting so students can see you clearly.

Visual clarity: Make text readable, zoom in when demonstrating small details, and avoid cluttered slides.

Lesson length: Keep lessons focused. A five-minute explanation of one concept may be more useful than a 45-minute recording filled with unnecessary repetition.

Accuracy: Test demonstrations and examples before recording. This is particularly important for technical, educational, financial, and professional training.

You can improve the production quality of your course gradually. Clear teaching and useful content matter more than expensive visual effects.

Step 7: Edit and Organize Your Content

Editing helps make your lessons easier to follow. Remove long pauses, unnecessary repetitions, distracting background noise, and mistakes that interfere with understanding.

Add captions where possible, especially if your audience includes students who prefer reading along or have hearing difficulties.

Organize your videos, PDFs, worksheets, and assignments into clearly named folders. Use consistent file names and lesson titles so that uploading your materials becomes easier.

Before publishing, check that every file opens correctly, videos play smoothly, and downloadable resources contain the right information.

Step 8: Select a Platform for Hosting and Selling

Your course platform determines how students access your content, how payments are collected, and how your business operates.

Some platforms have existing audiences searching for courses. Others allow you to build your own branded website and manage your pricing, student experience, and marketing.

For example, Udemy operates as a course marketplace, while Thinkific and Teachable focus on helping creators build and sell courses through their own course businesses. These models involve different trade-offs in terms of control, audience access, and fees.

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Before choosing a platform, compare its subscription costs, transaction fees, supported payment methods, course-building tools, student management features, and availability in your country.

If you are based in Nigeria, verify whether the platform can pay out to an account you can use, whether its payment gateway supports your intended customers, and whether currency conversion or withdrawal fees apply.

Step 9: Set the Right Price

Your pricing should reflect the value of your course, the depth of the material, your target audience, competing offers, and the support you provide.

A short introductory course may be priced differently from an advanced professional program that includes assessments, individual feedback, templates, and live mentoring.

You can consider several pricing models:

• One-time payment: Students pay once for access to the course.

• Subscription: Students pay monthly or annually for ongoing access to lessons or a learning library.

• Tiered pricing: Students choose between basic, standard, and premium packages.

• Course bundles: Several related courses are sold together.

• Cohort pricing: Students pay to participate in a course delivered over a defined period.

Research comparable courses before setting your price. Consider the purchasing power of your audience, especially if you intend to sell to students in different countries.

You can also test an introductory price or offer early-bird discounts. However, do not price your course so low that you cannot cover platform fees, marketing expenses, and the time required to support students.

Step 10: Create a Sales Page

A sales page explains why someone should purchase your course.

It should clearly describe the problem your course solves, the intended audience, what students will learn, and what is included in the purchase.

An effective sales page usually contains a clear headline, a concise course description, learning outcomes, the curriculum, information about the instructor, pricing, and a visible purchase option.

You can include a short preview lesson, a demonstration, or a sample downloadable resource to help potential buyers evaluate your teaching style.

If you have genuine testimonials from previous students, include them with permission. If this is your first course, use a sample lesson and a transparent explanation of what students will receive rather than inventing testimonials or results.

Step 11: Promote Your Course

Publishing a course does not automatically guarantee sales. You need a strategy for reaching people who may benefit from it.

Social media can help you share short educational videos, practical tips, and demonstrations. You can use YouTube to publish free tutorials related to your paid course, while Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or TikTok may help you reach relevant audiences depending on your subject.

Email marketing can also be effective. Offer a useful free resource, such as a checklist or introductory lesson, and invite interested people to receive updates about your course.

Other promotional methods include blogging, search engine optimization, webinars, affiliate partnerships, professional communities, and collaborations with creators who serve similar audiences.

Focus on demonstrating your expertise and helping potential students before asking them to purchase. Consistent, useful content can help establish trust.

Step 12: Collect Feedback and Improve the Course

Your first course version does not have to be perfect, but it should be accurate, useful, and well organized.

Ask students which lessons they found most helpful, where they became confused, and what additional resources they would like.

Monitor completion rates, quiz performance, student questions, refunds, and reviews where those metrics are available.

Use this information to improve unclear explanations, add missing examples, update outdated material, and reorganize lessons when necessary.

A successful course business treats course creation as an ongoing process rather than a one-time upload.

Best 19 Platforms to Sell Your Online Courses

There is no single platform that works best for every creator. Some are ideal for beginners who want access to an existing marketplace, while others are designed for people building independent education businesses.

The following platforms offer different ways to host, distribute, and sell educational content. They are presented by use case rather than as a universal ranking.

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1. Udemy

Best for beginners seeking marketplace exposure

Udemy allows instructors to publish courses in subjects such as programming, business, design, photography, and personal development. Students can discover courses through its marketplace, which can be helpful if you do not yet have a large audience.

Its main advantage is built-in discovery. However, instructors must follow its course requirements and revenue-sharing rules. Your earnings depend on how a purchase is attributed, including whether it comes through your promotional link or Udemy’s own marketplace.

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Website: udemy.com

2. Teachable

Best for branded course businesses

Teachable helps creators build course pages, organize lessons, accept payments, and sell educational products under their own brand. Depending on the plan, it also offers tools for subscriptions, coaching, and affiliate marketing.

It is a useful option for creators who want a more independent business than a marketplace listing provides. Review subscription costs, transaction fees, payment eligibility, and tax-handling features before committing.

Website: teachable.com

3. Thinkific

Best for structured online academies

Thinkific allows instructors and businesses to build course websites, create lessons, organize student learning, and sell educational programs. It is suitable for people who plan to offer several courses or establish a branded learning business.

Explore its assessment tools, integrations, marketing options, and pricing plans to determine whether they match your needs.

Website: thinkific.com

4. Skillshare

Best for creative and practical skills

Skillshare focuses on creative education, including illustration, graphic design, photography, animation, and related skills. Instructors publish classes for learners who access content through the platform’s membership model.

This may suit creators who teach creative projects and want to reach students already browsing for inspiration. Instructor earnings follow Skillshare’s eligibility requirements and payout arrangements, so check the current teacher terms before investing heavily in production.

Website: skillshare.com

5. Kajabi

Best for an all-in-one online business

Kajabi combines course hosting with tools for building websites, landing pages, email campaigns, sales funnels, and memberships.

It can reduce the number of separate applications you need to manage. However, its subscription can be relatively expensive for someone who has not yet validated a course idea. It is often more appropriate when you already have an audience or multiple products to sell.

Website: kajabi.com

6. Podia

Best for solo creators selling several digital products

Podia enables creators to sell online courses, digital downloads, memberships, and coaching. Its website and email marketing features can simplify the process of running a small creator business.

It is worth considering if you want to sell a course alongside ebooks, templates, or other educational resources. Compare the available plans and transaction fees before choosing it.

Website: podia.com

7. LearnWorlds

Best for interactive learning experiences

LearnWorlds provides course-building tools, assessments, learning activities, and interactive video features. It can suit educators and training businesses that want to develop more engaging digital learning programs.

Consider it if quizzes, structured assessments, and a branded learning environment are important to your students. Check which features are included in each plan.

Website: learnworlds.com

8. Mighty Networks

Best for community-based education

Mighty Networks combines courses with online communities, memberships, and group participation. It is useful when students benefit from networking, discussion, accountability, and shared projects.

For example, a business coach could sell a course alongside a private community where members discuss their progress and share experiences.

Website: mightynetworks.com

9. Gumroad

Best for simple digital product sales

Gumroad allows creators to sell digital products such as ebooks, instructional files, downloadable resources, and certain course-style products.

It can be a practical choice if you want to begin with a video bundle, workbook, or downloadable training package rather than build a sophisticated learning management system. Review its current transaction fees and product-delivery features before deciding.

Website: gumroad.com

10. LearnDash

Best for WordPress website owners

LearnDash is a learning management system built for WordPress. It allows website owners to organize courses, lessons, quizzes, assignments, and student progress.

It is especially attractive if you want to sell courses directly through your own website and maintain more control over the design and structure. You will need to manage WordPress hosting, maintenance, compatible plugins, and payment integrations.

Website: learndash.com

11. LifterLMS

Best for customizable WordPress learning sites

LifterLMS helps you turn a WordPress website into an online learning environment. It supports course structures, quizzes, memberships, and extensions for additional functionality.

It may be suitable for educators who are comfortable managing their own websites. Although the core plugin offers a way to get started, some selling, payment, and advanced features may require paid extensions or bundles.

Website: lifterlms.com

12. Ruzuku

Best for straightforward course delivery

Ruzuku provides tools for organizing online lessons, delivering learning materials, and managing student participation. It can work for instructors who want a dedicated course platform without building every feature from scratch.

Compare its current pricing, payment options, and student interaction tools with other course-hosting services.

Website: ruzuku.com

13. Maven

Best for live cohort-based programs

Maven focuses on cohort-based courses in which students learn together during a defined period. Courses can incorporate live sessions, collaborative assignments, and instructor interaction.

It may suit professionals teaching specialized subjects such as product management, entrepreneurship, leadership, and technical skills. Review instructor eligibility, platform fees, and application requirements before planning your launch.

Website: maven.com

14. Systeme.io

Best for budget-conscious beginners

Systeme.io combines tools for online courses, sales funnels, email marketing, websites, and affiliate programs. Its free plan makes it worth investigating if you want to test a digital education business before committing to a larger software budget.

Check the current plan limits, supported payment gateways, and availability of the features you need. A free starting plan does not necessarily mean every feature or transaction is free.

Website: systeme.io

15. Kartra

Best for marketing-heavy course businesses

Kartra provides business tools for sales pages, email campaigns, marketing automation, checkout, and digital product delivery. It may appeal to course creators who rely heavily on lead generation and automated marketing sequences.

Before selecting it, confirm the available learning features and whether you need to integrate a separate learning management system for more advanced assessments or student progress tracking.

Website: kartra.com

16. Circle

Best for courses with an active community

Circle helps businesses build branded communities, membership spaces, events, and learning experiences. It is particularly useful when your educational product depends on ongoing discussion, professional networking, or group coaching.

For instance, you could create a paid community for aspiring developers and include tutorials, project reviews, and live workshops. Compare its course features, transaction charges, and subscription tiers.

Website: circle.so

17. Skool

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Best for community-led learning programs

Skool combines online communities, courses, discussions, and engagement features. It can suit educators who want students to learn through lessons while interacting with other members.

It may be a good fit for coaching programs, business education, and skill-building groups. Compare its subscription and transaction fees with platforms that focus primarily on course hosting.

Website: skool.com

18. 360Learning

Best for business and employee training

360Learning focuses on collaborative learning and organizational training. It helps businesses create training programs, support employee learning, and monitor educational progress.

It is more suitable for corporate training, internal academies, and organizational education than for an individual selling a simple video course to consumers. Businesses should evaluate its administration, reporting, and integration capabilities.

Website: 360learning.com

19. Blackboard

Best for institutions and formal education

Blackboard provides learning management tools for schools, universities, and other educational organizations. Features can include course delivery, assessments, grade management, and communication between instructors and students.

It is worth considering for institutions and larger training programs, but it may be unnecessarily complex for an individual creating their first online course. Check its institutional pricing and product options directly.

Website: blackboard.com

How to Choose the Best Platform for Your Online Course

The most suitable platform depends on your budget, business model, audience, and technical experience.

The following table summarizes which options are worth investigating for different needs.

These are starting points, not guarantees that every feature will be available on every plan.

Important Factors to Compare Before Registering

1. Cost: Some services charge monthly or annual subscription fees, while others deduct a percentage or fixed fee from sales. Calculate the full cost rather than looking only at the advertised subscription price.

2. Payment availability: Verify that the platform can accept payments from your target students and pay out earnings to you. This is particularly important if you operate from Nigeria and intend to receive international payments.

3. Marketing features: Consider whether you need sales pages, email campaigns, affiliate marketing, discount codes, or integration with your existing website.

4. Student experience: Look for mobile compatibility, downloadable materials, clear navigation, assessments, and progress tracking.

5. Ownership and portability: Understand what happens to your course materials, customer records, and student relationships if you decide to move to another platform.

6. Scalability: A simple service may be sufficient for your first course, but you may eventually need memberships, multiple instructors, advanced assessments, or corporate training features.

Pricing and payment arrangements change regularly. Confirm current fees and terms on the platform’s official website before making a decision.

Tips for Making Your Online Course Successful

Creating a course is only the beginning. To build a sustainable online education business, you need to focus on student outcomes, visibility, and continuous improvement.

Start with a small course. Avoid spending months creating a huge training program before you know whether people want it. Begin with a focused course that solves one clear problem, then expand based on student feedback.

Validate demand before investing heavily. Speak with potential students, share sample lessons, conduct a survey, or offer a pilot class. Their responses can help you refine your topic and understand what people are willing to pay for.

Teach practical skills. Give students opportunities to apply what they learn through exercises, assignments, real-world examples, and projects. A course that helps learners produce a tangible result is easier to explain and market.

Make your lessons accessible. Use clear language, provide captions where possible, organize your materials logically, and ensure that students can access lessons on mobile devices.

Build an audience you can reach directly. An email list, professional network, or community can help you launch future courses without relying entirely on a third-party marketplace.

Protect your content. Use appropriate platform permissions, clear terms of use, and reasonable access controls. While no method can prevent every instance of copying, you can make unauthorized distribution more difficult.

Track your results. Review enrollment, completion, feedback, refunds, and sales conversion rates. These metrics can help you identify which parts of your course and marketing strategy need improvement.

Conclusion

Creating and selling online courses is an opportunity to turn knowledge into a useful educational product. The process begins with choosing a topic that solves a real problem, identifying the right audience, designing a clear curriculum, recording quality lessons, and selecting an appropriate platform.

The 19 platforms covered in this guide serve different purposes. Udemy and Skillshare offer marketplace-based learning opportunities, Teachable and Thinkific support branded course businesses, WordPress tools such as LearnDash and LifterLMS provide greater website control, and platforms such as Skool and Circle combine education with community engagement.

The best approach is to start with your audience and course idea, not with the most expensive platform. Validate your topic, create a useful first version, and choose a platform whose costs, payment options, and features fit your current needs. You can upgrade your tools as your course business grows.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How much money do I need to create an online course?

The cost depends on the type of course you intend to create. You can start with a laptop, a microphone or headset, free screen-recording software, and basic presentation tools. Some marketplaces allow eligible instructors to publish courses without paying a monthly hosting subscription, while independent platforms may charge subscription or transaction fees. As your business grows, you can invest in better equipment, editing software, advertising, and premium course-hosting features.

Which platform is best for selling online courses as a beginner?

Udemy is worth considering if you want to publish a course on an established marketplace and potentially reach students who are already searching for lessons. Systeme.io may appeal to beginners looking for an affordable way to build a course-selling business, while Teachable and Thinkific are options for creators who want a branded learning experience. The best choice depends on your budget, payment eligibility, marketing strategy, and desired level of control.

What types of online courses sell well?

Courses that solve specific problems can attract buyers when there is sufficient demand and the content delivers genuine value. Popular subject areas include programming, data analytics, digital marketing, graphic design, photography, business management, language learning, and professional development. However, no topic guarantees sales. Research your target audience, examine competing courses, and identify an outcome that prospective students genuinely want to achieve before creating your course.

Can I sell online courses from Nigeria and receive payments internationally?

Yes, it is possible to sell online courses from Nigeria, provided that your chosen platform and payment provider support your location and business model. Before registering, check instructor eligibility, supported payment methods, payout currencies, withdrawal options, identity verification requirements, and transaction fees. You should also understand your tax obligations and any applicable rules for receiving international payments. Test the complete payment and payout process before investing heavily in marketing your course.