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How to Create an Online Learning Platform to Sell Courses

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The education industry has risen to many challenges over the past few years. Social distancing, continuous shutdowns, and the shift to remote work has become a new reality for many educational institutions and organizations worldwide. The need for new tools to facilitate the learning process in a post-pandemic environment is evident, and has boosted the e-Learning sector to heights it has never before experienced.

An elearning website, which serves as a digital platform for online learning, has become increasingly important for delivering education and training in today’s rapidly changing educational landscape.

In 2020, the e-Learning market reached the mark of $250 billion and is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 21% between 2021 and 2027. The self-paced e-learning sector — most commonly presented by Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platforms — takes a significant share here, so it’s no wonder that more and more startups are looking ahead at the new possibilities that the development of e-learning platforms brings to the table.

Read also our guide where we will detail how to launch an EdTech startup.

So, where do you begin when it comes to the question of how to build an e-learning platform for selling online courses? How do you pace the development process? Keep reading to find the answers to these questions.

Types of Online E-Learning Platforms

In broad terms, e-Learning can be identified as a learning experience delivered electronically to a user. This concept unites all the methodologies, tools, and other means used to create, organize, and communicate educational content in a digital environment. An elearning site is a type of platform specifically designed to deliver digital education, often utilizing various tools, plugins, and themes to create an effective online learning environment.

E-learning has many benefits over traditional education, it:

  • Enhances the quality of learning — online learning allows students to focus on subject matters which they may not feel confident in. Learners can also benefit from different types of educational content (images, illustrations, videos, infographics), which results in better retention of information.

  • Helps to meet learning needs — each learner has their own needs and learning preferences, which is rarely taken into account in standardized educational practices. With e-learning, on the contrary, learners can choose their own path and navigate it at a speed that is comfortable to them.

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  • Improves user-accessibility — e-learning removes geographical barriers, allowing individuals from around the world to participate in courses that spark their interests. Students with health issues can also benefit from e-learning, as they no longer need to physically attend in a facility to keep the education process going.

Now, let’s take a look at the most popular types of e-learning systems one can find on the market today.

MOOC

MOOC is a platform that hosts and organizes a large number of courses in different fields. The learning materials on the platform are normally created by educational institutions or individual course providers. In addition to online courses, MOOCs also offer tools for online testing, quizzes, and functionality for live interaction between students and teachers via dedicated discussion forums. These features help foster a strong sense of community among learners, encouraging engagement, collaboration, and network-building throughout the course experience.

These platforms are commonly used for higher education purposes or for career enhancement. Many MOOCs offer their courses for free; however, if learners are interested in taking courses that are narrowly focused on a specific competency, the price for these may vary — from hundreds to a few thousand dollars.

Learning Management Systems (LMSs)

These systems assist businesses in delivering online education to their employees. LMSs are widely used for online training programs in organizations, enabling the creation, management, and delivery of courses through online platforms. LMSs are used for storing, managing, and tracking educational content within an organization. With an LMS, training development supervisors can assign courses, set goals for employees, track progress, and generate corresponding reports.

LMSs help companies save on training costs and simplify the onboarding process. This type of software is especially helpful for companies that have to deal with lots of regulatory requirements and, thus, want to ensure their staff is aware of all the current industry legislations and compliance rules.

Learning experience platforms (LXP)

The Learning Experience Platform is considered to be a more advanced interpretation of traditional Learning Management Systems. While LMSs incorporate a Top-Down approach where particular courses are assigned to particular employees, LXPs take one step further offering a Bottom-Up approach where learner’s interests are put first.

LXPs focus on a personalized learning experience, thus better engaging employees in the learning process. Instead of browsing through a standard catalog of information — as is the common case with traditional LMSs — learners receive tailored knowledge and recommendations on content.

In addition to that, LXPs offer companies a comprehensive set of tools to ensure the learning curve of their employees goes along with the business goals and policies set. LXPs also include features aimed at fostering collaboration among learners.

Student management systems

Student Management Software (SMS) — also commonly referred to as Student Information Software (SIS) and Student Record Software (SRS) — eliminates paperwork from daily operations at educational facilities. Schools and universities use SMSs to manage student records, facility administration, and all other daily activities that take place.

Simply put, Student Management Software serves as a single database for all facility operations and admissions. It stores information about employees, contractors, suppliers, etc.

SMS may also include additional modules to manage such operations as billing, payments, reporting, and more. This system can offer enhanced functionality for parents, as well, such as attendance forms, grades, course information, schedules, etc.

Web conferencing software

These solutions allow users to hold online meetings, webinars, conferences, and training courses. Web conferencing tools support instant messaging, file, and screen sharing capabilities and help to streamline the communication process for all parties, regardless of their current locations.

Web conferencing software is used by a wide range of businesses, governments, non-profit organizations, and schools and universities. Aside from online classes, teachers normally use these tools for check-ins and Q&A sessions.

Proctoring software

When students take exams remotely, there’s a need for exam supervisors to somehow maintain the integrity of online assessments, and this is exactly what proctoring software helps them do. Such tools constantly monitor student behaviors during a test, check suspicious or background voice activity, and ensure that candidates stay focused on the test screen.

Advanced proctoring tools also support face recognition and multi-factor authentication technologies to confirm that the verified candidate is the actual person taking the test. Proctoring software can also block browser functions to prevent students from accessing help websites and other apps.

Read also about designing a SaaS app.

Authoring software

This is an e-learning solution that allows educators and trainers to create learning content in a dedicated editorial interface. It consists of pre-programmed components that help arrange and manipulate different types of content — video, text, tests, etc. Authoring software streamlines the process of creating courses by providing intuitive tools for building lessons, quizzes, and multimedia elements.

Some authoring tools don’t require trainers to have special skills and normally include pre-made templates that a course can be built on. Others offer more advanced features for those who want to launch highly customized courses, including customizing course layouts, content, and user experience with adaptive learning paths, gamification elements, and simulations.

Benefits of custom e-learning platform development

Whether you want to choose an e-learning software for your business or educational facility, building a custom e-learning platform is almost always a better option. Here’s why.

There are several advantages to developing a custom e-learning platform, such as improved data security, tailored functionalities, and long-term scalability, especially for larger organizations seeking a solution that fits their unique needs.

When it comes to off-the-shelf e-learning products, many do not target a narrow niche. Instead, they come built with a broad set of features in order to capture a large market share and, as a result, attract a broad user base.

For businesses and organizations that don’t need a ‘Jack-of-all-trades’ kind of product, or for those that are only looking for particular features — they are all forced to opt for functionality they don’t actually need with out-of-the-box solutions. For this exact reason, we have also witnessed an emerging number of new e-learning startups enter the market recently.

To put these ideas together, the benefits of building an e-learning platform can be outlined as follows:

  • Complete control over the product — a custom e-learning software can be anything you want it to be. You decide on the content types that the platform will support, security protocols, deployment strategy, licensing, monetization model, etc.
  • Focus is kept on the target audience — development of a custom elearning solution involves an in-depth analysis of the targeted niche and creation of a customer profile, helping you understand who you will develop an e-learning platform for (ideal customer), and why exactly you will do it (customer pain points).
  • Updates can be introduced on-demand — with custom-made software you don’t need to wait months to get bugs fixed or new features added. This can all be done by your development team in a matter of days!
  • Flexibility of a solution — custom e-learning platforms can be built with flexible architecture which would allow you to scale-up as your business grows, with minimum effort and cost.

How to Build an E-learning Platform: 5 Key Steps

Building an e-learning platform to sell online courses requires a structured approach to ensure success. Start by clearly defining your goals—identify the types of online courses you want to offer, your target audience, and the essential features your platform must include. This planning phase sets the foundation for a user-focused learning experience.

Next, move on to designing the platform’s architecture and user interface. A well-designed interface should be intuitive for both instructors and learners, making it extremely easy to navigate, access course content, and utilize all the features. Consider the needs of your users at every step, ensuring the platform supports engaging video content, interactive lessons, and seamless communication.

The development stage involves selecting the right programming languages and frameworks to build a robust, scalable platform. Integrate all the tools necessary for online learning, such as payment gateways, video hosting, and discussion forums, to provide a comprehensive learning environment. Make sure your platform supports different content types and offers customization options for both instructors and learners.

Thorough testing is crucial before launch. Test all features to ensure the platform is bug-free and delivers a smooth user experience. Gather feedback from early users to identify any issues and make improvements.

Finally, launch your e-learning platform and make it available to your audience. Promote your platform through various channels to attract learners and instructors, and continue to refine your offering based on user feedback and analytics. By following these key steps, you can create a successful online learning platform that stands out in the competitive e-learning market.

1. Do audience research and niche analysis

This is the first and most important step in the process of building an e-learning platform. Here, you need to figure out what value your future product will bring to its users (i.e validate your startup idea). You’ll need to define:

  • What challenges users are faced with now.
  • What users’ learning purposes are and how you can address them.
  • What can be improved in the niche.
  • Who your competitors are and what features their products lack.

Your task is to also determine potential product demand, as this will help to lay a foundation for future growth. If you are not sure of the path to take, get assistance from business analysts or a team with relevant expertise that can help develop a custom e-learning platform.

2. Shape your product idea and define its key features

Now, gather your findings from the previous step, and shape them into a product concept. Define which key features your e-Learning platform needs to have in order to motivate users to start using your service. Each feature, such as course creation tools, feedback collection, and user management, should be carefully considered to enhance the overall user experience.

You can start with standard components, more-or-less (like Course pages, User Profiles, Rating System, Messaging, etc.) and get more advanced as your project grows (live video communication, multi-language support, dashboards, etc.). If your platform requires unique functionalities, having access to the source code allows for advanced customization and the addition of specialized features tailored to your needs.

Once the elearning platform features are outlined, you can proceed to creating a business model and developing architecture for your product.

3. Prepare a business model

At this stage, you need to determine how the platform will generate revenue. We advise that you dedicate a significant amount of time to this task, as the development of a viable business model is critical for startup success.

The most popular monetization model for e-learning platforms is to charge learners for specific courses. This is very simple to implement; however, maintaining your retention rate on a significant level may become a challenge here.

Another option is to opt for a paid certification model where courses are free but, if learners want to receive a course completion certificate, they are expected to pay a fee.

If neither of these two models suit you, you can consider a subscription-based model, where users are charged monthly/quarterly/yearly payments to get access to platform courses.

For more about different monetization models, read our article here.

4. Assemble a development team or choose a reliable outsourcing partner

To create an e-learning platform, you’ll need to onboard a dedicated team of developers. You can assemble an in-house team or work with an outsourcing partner. While gathering an in-house team might seem like the most reliable option at first glance, it is a time- and money-consuming option. In this case, business owners are taking on the burden of recruitment, onboarding activities, taxes, office expenses, etc.

On the contrary, opting for an outsourcing software development company allows you to access an already assembled team of programming experts who can start building a custom e-learning platform right away. On this path, you will also see significant cost reductions since you only pay for the end result when working with an outsourcing development team, and all other expenses are covered by the outsourced partner.

5. Create an MVP

After you have assembled a team of developers, validated your e-learning platform idea, and created a business plan, you’ll need to develop a prototype and test it on early adopters (first users of the platform).

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is an early version of your product with basic functionality, which is created to collect maximum feedback from users in early stages and help developers fine-tune a product to their e-learning niche. Your MVP should include the basics needed to validate the platform concept and ensure users can experience the core value of your offering. Startups with little initial funds can also acquire investors by demonstrating the results of their prototype performance.

From here, you will need to get into a feedback loop, where you roll out enhanced versions of a product, gather user feedback, and adjust accordingly.

Here are some tips for successfully launching and iterating on your MVP: focus on essential features, prioritize user feedback, and be prepared to make quick adjustments based on real-world usage. This approach will help you build a strong foundation for your e-learning platform.

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Online Course Creation

Online course creation is at the heart of any successful e-learning platform. To attract and retain learners, your platform should empower instructors to easily create engaging and effective online courses. This means supporting a wide range of content types—video, audio files, text, images, and interactive elements like quizzes and assignments—to cater to different learning styles and keep lessons dynamic.

A robust platform will offer intuitive tools for course creation, such as customizable templates, lesson planning features, and assessment tools. These features make it simple for instructors to design, organize, and manage their courses, while also tracking learner progress and performance. The ability to import content, update materials, and integrate multimedia ensures that courses remain fresh and relevant.

Interactive features like discussion boards, peer reviews, and real-time feedback foster collaboration and engagement, making the learning experience more valuable for students. By providing all the tools needed for online course creation, your platform can support instructors in delivering high-quality, engaging courses that drive learner success and repeat customers.

Setting up Payment and E-commerce

To successfully sell online courses, your e-learning platform must have a reliable and flexible payment and e-commerce system. Integrate trusted payment gateways like PayPal or Stripe to securely process transactions and support a variety of payment methods, including one-time payments, subscriptions, and recurring billing. This flexibility allows you to cater to different types of learners and business models.

Your platform should also include essential e-commerce features such as shopping carts, order management, and inventory tracking for digital products. These tools make it easy to manage sales, monitor transactions, and provide a seamless purchasing experience for users.

Additionally, ensure your system can handle discounts, promo codes, and bundled course offerings to attract more learners. By offering a secure, user-friendly payment system and comprehensive e-commerce features, your platform will be well-equipped to support the growth of your online learning business and maximize revenue from your courses.

Launching and Marketing the Platform

A successful launch and effective marketing strategy are crucial for attracting learners and instructors to your e-learning platform. Start by promoting your platform to your target audience using a mix of marketing channels, including social media, email campaigns, and paid advertising. Optimize your website for search engines to increase visibility and drive organic traffic from users searching for online courses and learning opportunities.

Leverage built-in marketing tools and features such as customizable landing pages, sales funnels, and affiliate marketing programs to boost enrollment and sales. These tools help you reach a wider audience and convert visitors into paying customers.

Track key marketing metrics—like website traffic, engagement rates, and conversions—using analytics tools to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. Use these valuable insights to refine your marketing strategies and improve your platform’s performance over time. By focusing on both launch and ongoing marketing efforts, you can build a strong brand presence and ensure the long-term success of your online learning platform.

Security and Cybersecurity

Ensuring the security and cybersecurity of your e-learning platform is essential to protect both your business and your users. Implement secure protocols such as HTTPS to safeguard data transmission, and use encryption to protect sensitive information like passwords and payment details. A robust security framework should include firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and regular security audits to identify and address vulnerabilities.

Support your users with advanced security features, such as two-factor authentication and strong password management tools, to enhance account protection. Make sure your platform complies with industry standards and regulations, such as GDPR and PCI-DSS, to maintain the integrity and privacy of user data.

By prioritizing security and providing comprehensive tools and features, you build trust with your learners and instructors, ensuring a safe and reliable online learning environment for everyone.

Building an E-learning Platform with WTT Solutions

When talking about the phenomenon of e-learning, one can’t deny the major paradigm shift it brings to the education industry. Not only does e-learning replace the rudimentary practices of the past, but it also boosts the effectiveness of the education process, while drastically reducing all the associated costs.

Aside from the education sector, private organizations have also started using e-learning tools to improve their onboarding processes, increase knowledge sharing, and eliminate the need to constantly turn to third-party instructions.

If you need help with your custom e-learning project, be sure to turn to a software development team that has the relevant know-how to deliver a project that will fully match your business needs. At WTT Solutions, we are vastly experienced in building customized e-learning platforms of different scales and complexity. We can also help you develop a branded mobile app, allowing you to offer a fully customized, user-friendly mobile experience with features like push notifications and in-app purchases to engage your learners and expand your reach.

Contact us through our feedback form at the top of the page to get a free consultation with one of our experts on how to build an online e-learning platform. We also invite you to subscribe to our newsletter where we continuously share noteworthy industry highlights and updates!

To further support our clients, WTT Solutions provides additional resources throughout the development process, ensuring you have access to supplementary materials and guidance every step of the way.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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I want to create an e-Learning platform but my strategy is incomplete. Can you help me with that?

Yes, our team covers a full range of e-Learning development and market analysis services. We can help you better understand your target audience and niche, select a monetization model, and more. Contact us for more information.
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How do you guarantee the quality of an e-learning product?

When working with us, all our clients receive reports on a regular basis. We evaluate the results every few weeks, test our work, and present it in order to get your feedback and ensure you are 100% satisfied with the product.
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How much time will it take to develop an e-learning platform?

It's hard to gauge the development time right away, as this hugely depends on project scope, product requirements and budget. If you want a precise estimate for your project, contact us and we will calculate the development costs.
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What happens after the project is finished?

Upon project completion we would be happy to provide you with technical support and maintenance services. If you want to maintain the product yourself, the source code and all technical data will remain at your full disposal. In any case, we are always ready to help!
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