There is definitely an option to sell online courses from your own website if you choose the right online course builder. In this article, I will explain how to create an online course with WordPress. 

If you are looking to sell online courses from your own website, all you need to do is to build your own online school on WordPress. It’s the most cost-effective way, but also the most time-consuming way. 

You have chosen to sell online courses from your own website, so I am assuming you also know how to manage a WordPress website. If you don’t know this, and you need to outsource building your online school on WordPress, or even managing it, it can get quite expensive over time. 

Building courses online and hosting them on your own website is not a “one-off” job. You will constantly need to update plug-ins and themes and manage many other things which can result quickly into conflicts between different tools. 

Creating your own course builder on WordPress and to be able to sell online courses from your own website will get you started at the bare minimum of $239 USD / year (excl. the one-time cost for the theme, see below). This is the very minimum. 

So here is a cots breakdown of what it would cost you to sell online courses from your own website:

• Domain name ($10)
• Website host ($70)
• WordPress theme ($249-lifetime access)
• Learning Management System ($159)

Keep in mind that the more courses and websites you would add to these plans, your costs may increase. 

As a comparison, (which isn’t really a comparison), hosting an online course on Thinkific, for example, will cost you between $39 – $399 per month, depending on your needs. I am saying that this isn’t really a comparison because with this option you don’t have any headache managing a website + much more freedom to automate your processes, which is the ultimate goal anyway to free up more time in your business, right? 

So, if you still decide to go through with creating your online course builder on WordPress, here is what you need to do: 

1. Buy a domain name 
2. Buy web hosting service
3. Point the DNS to your hosting provider
4. Install WordPress
5. Install the DIVI theme
6. Buy a Learn Management System
7. Upload your course content 

Let’s get started and let’s dive deep into each of those steps. 

Want access to a full-stack content library and watch all the training you need to create a profitable online course? Check it out here. 

1) Buy a Domain Name

Head over to Namecheap and look for a great domain name for your online course. Ideally, the name of your online course should be three words or less and it would be best if you could purchase a “.com” extension. 

If you want to learn more about how to create a name for your digital product that sells, you can read more about that here. 

Sometimes Namecheap runs promotions and you can get domain names as little as $0.99, check it out here. 

2) Buy a Web Hosting Service

When it comes to web hosting, Siteground is by far the best. Why? Because their support service is amazing and the value they provide for what you pay is outstanding. 

Whenever you have an issue, you can reach out to their support team (via email or live chat with minimal wait time) and you can be sure that someone will get back to you and will help you solve whatever problem you are facing. 

3) Point the DNS to your hosting provider

You now want to point your “DNS” to your hosting provider. To do that, head over to your Namecheap account > Domains > Nameservers > select “Custom DNS” and enter Sitegrounds Name Servers

To get the Name Server details from your Siteground account, simply log-in to your Siteground account >  Client Area > Websites > Go to the kebab menu > Server Details

A window will pop up and will show you the 2 name servers which you need to type into the field in your Namecheap account now. 

4) Install WordPress

Log back into your Siteground account and install WordPress.   

WordPress > Install & Manage > Install New WordPress. Select WordPress, fill in the Application Setup and Admin Info details, and click Install.

Related: How to create an online course for free

5) Install the DIVI theme

Head over to Elegantthemes and buy the Divi theme. You can currently benefit from their lifetime offer, pay $249 once and never again. I have been using DIVI ever since I started building websites in 2014 and don’t regret it a single second. Before I purchased Divi I wasted some money buying a few different themes and I couldn’t be happier I finally found DIVI. 

It’s the most flexible page builder you will find out there. It’s got an easy drag & drop builder which even your Grandma would understand how to use. With other themes you will find a lot of restrictions, DIVI lets you play exactly the way you want to.

They have also an amazing support team in place and they will always get back to you as soon as possible with a solution. Their developers are great and located all around the world, so no matter what time you submit your ticket, someone will be on it immediately. 

Divi also comes with a bunch of useful free plugins (which you would most likely need to purchase extra if you want something decent and if you go with another theme), hundreds of website packs and unlimited website usage. 

You can get your website up and running filled with suitable pictures and a perfect layout in just a few clicks. 

You can get your Divi lifetime pass right here. 

Related: How to run a successful beta round

6) Buy a Learning Management System

When it comes to learning management systems, LearnDash is the leader in the WordPress world. You can get started as little as $159 / year with a one site license and allows you to create unlimited courses. 

I’ve been using Learndash on one of my membership sites. This is how your online education business could look like from the backend for your students: 

You can learn all about how to use LearnDash’s online course builder and how to sell online courses from your own website on their Youtube channel here. 

7) Upload your course content

You do need a place where you can host your online course videos, and for this, I would highly recommend Vimeo over Youtube. Yes, Youtube is a free tool and you can set your videos to “unlisted”, however, if you want to come across more professional, then Vimeo is your best bet. 

Want to learn the basics of how to create an online course? Check out this 5-day training below and get your course idea kick-started!!

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