How to Price an Online Course -
It's all done. Promotions are in place, and the last item to be checked off your list prior to launch is how to price an online course so that people would sign up. Pricing is one of the most difficult aspects of launching the course on your own since it's a matter of finding the perfect balance in providing the right amount of value to your audience at a price they're willing to pay.
A well-planned online course and pricing could help a content creator make transition from a part-time job to full-time employment. Online courses that are well-designed can generate revenue and even sponsorships for your website or brand.
Are you ready to start? Here are some considerations for pricing to consider prior to the launch of a new online course.
Pricing Online Courses Starts with Course Types
Online course specialist Sarah Cordiner says that all content can be classified into one of five types of online courses. Of course, the course you plan to offer will depend on the value you intend to offer and your pricing methods. It's important for content creators to keep this in mind when they design online classes.
- Leap Magnet Mini-Course: It is generally an online, free course designed to get students attracted to more content. The mini-course may be the first lesson of an extensive paid course which serves as a marketing lead.
- The Kickstarter course: These courses are a gateway for content creators to develop courses. They can be similar to your other work for example, a guideline blog post series however, in a different form. They are usually inexpensive (less than $100) and aren't lengthy in length (can take anywhere from a couple of minutes or an hour) they are great for authors who have followers and credibility.
- Authority Flagship Course: When you think of online classes that you can take, the Authority Flagship Model is probably the first thing that comes to mind. These are courses with an instructor with a long-standing reputation and plenty of trustworthiness within their fields, and they are priced moderately ($100 up to $3,000), and include repeat logins or sessions (lasting around one hour throughout a number of weeks). These courses include information that you can't get from other sources, including a tutorial or in-depth explainer of an area.
- Supportive Coach-Lead Course: The material might be similar to that of an Authority Flagship Course, but the way of teaching is distinct. The courses are intended for study on your own and independently instead of mass learning with touchpoints with the instructor. These online courses are higher-priced ($500 or more) and include multiple classes or one-on one meetings. They also provide lots of resources that will help you achieve your goals individually.
- Membership or Online Academy Course: This group class includes different classes that are built upon each other. Students may take part in various tracks to earn credentials or certifications. The pricing strategy is less about the cost for a particular course but for the module as a whole using a subscription-based model ($10 to $100 monthly).
Whatever option you select for your online course You must conduct your research to ensure that you are developing courses that your audience would like to attend. The process begins with research, understanding of the audience, marketing, and creation of content.
4 Pricing Modules for Online Instruction
When you've developed your course, and you know the type of course you'll be offering then it's time to begin thinking about the pricing. There are 4 distinct levels of course prices online: free, baseline, and premium.
Courses for free
Baseline courses
Basic courses are able to reach a broad range of people with the right content. It appeals to many users at a low price point. These courses should be quick to design, do not need large time commitments from participants and include topics or information that goes in-depth, but isn't overly technical. They could lead to many sign-ups, but with little participation due to the low-risk price point.
"When you give coupons for free course, the rate of completion could be as low as single digits. When you price the same class, the percentage of completion could be as high as 30% or 40 percent. The more you charge for an instructional course, the higher percentage of people actually complete it," said Ankur Nagpal, the CEO and co-founder of Teachable.
Premium courses
The premium online course is the goal for most content creators when they are considering pricing strategies. The courses that are premium have the best cost points, yet they have to provide quality content at the same time. Course material must be unique, have a well-known instructor, or be something that isn't available elsewhere in order to justify the cost.
Consider a high-quality online course as being similar to an university learning experience, or taught by an instructor who is a "celebrity" in a masterclass format. They won't get as many signups as baseline courses but often have high participation and engagement rates.
Subscription model
Subscription model courses offer membership payment options for your customers. These can take the form of daily, monthly, weekly or even annual subscriptions. Once a member, your client has access to your restricted content.
Online Course Pricing Strategy
One of the best formulas for pricing online courses is from Online Course Igniter..
It starts with a little analysis of your audience so you know how many people could potentially be interested in the online course. This audience could change for every new course, depending on the content.
Then, you'll need to determine how much money you want or will earn from the course. Do you have costs that must be paid in order to be able to meet your goal? Have you set a goals for the income generated for each online course?
You will then go deep into your analytics for your target audience. You likely have an email list, social media following, landing page, or another method to collect and interact with people who might be keen on your material. What you need to determine is how interested they are so that you can determine the average conversion rate for that group of people.
You can then plug in all the details into the formula that will calculate revenue and pricing:
Revenue = Audience Size Conversion Rate x Price
Remember to subtract costs from revenue to determine actual profit on the online courses that you develop.
The third element of the pricing strategy is ensuring that course content aligns with the cost. It's absurd to ask people to shell out $1,000 for 10 minutes of information. The thought process of pricing models and perceived value will help you select a strategy for pricing that is appropriate for your customers base.
How Much Should You Charge for an online course?
So, it all comes to the main question: How much should you set for online courses?
Thinking about course type, pricing models, and then a full pricing strategy the answer may be more clear than you thought. (You must at a minimum narrow the range to an acceptable level quickly.)
Now you can launch your online course. will help you convert your course content into a fantastic user experience that users are likely to want to participate in. This online platform for courses was created by e-learning experts and includes all the resources that you require to design an online course that is highly sought-after.
gives you control over your entire process, which includes pricing structures and the option to sell the possibility of upselling. Sign Up for a Demo Today