Online courses are a popular choice for gaining knowledge, mastering new skills, and working on professional or personal development. This is especially the case after COVID-19 when people realized the power and convenience of remote learning. This is why more online courses are emerging every day. If you’re planning to write one as well, you need to make it stand out.

To attract as many course takers and have more success than your competitors offering similar courses, your content needs to be effective. This article breaks down the process of writing powerful content for online courses and teaches you how to do it like a professional.

Here are the steps you need to take.

⦁ Define the Course Topic
You’re skilled and knowledgeable in a certain area, but it’s probably a rather wide field that you’ll need to narrow down a bit. Your course should be focused on a specific subject and offer something valuable to the course-takers.

So, think about the things you would like to teach people and decide on the topic of your course. Make sure that it is:
⦁ not too wide and general
⦁ specific in terms of what it covers
⦁ something you’re extremely familiar with
⦁ something people will be interested in

Do your calculations and brainstorm ideas until you find the ideal topic for your course.

⦁ Specify Your Ideal Course-Takers
When you think of an idea for a course and decide to share your skills and knowledge with others, you should think about the course takers. Try answering these questions:
⦁ Who are they?
⦁ What is their age range?
⦁ What is their level of education?
⦁ What will they use the course for?

Understanding who you’re writing for is important. Define your target course takers to be able to aim the course specifically to their needs and interests.

⦁ Set Key Goals & Objectives
Now it’s time to decide on the key objectives and goals for your course. You need to do this from a learner’s point of view and remember:
⦁ they don’t know what you know
⦁ they want to learn specific and valuable facts
⦁ they have goals they want to accomplish after finishing the course

It’s your job to meet those expectations. So, when setting objectives, answer these questions:
⦁ What do they want to learn?
⦁ What are the most important facts, tips, and ideas I can share?
⦁ What will they know after they finish the course?
⦁ Where and how will they apply this knowledge?

The goals will ensure you write the course to be effective and the knowledge you share practical and applicable.

⦁ Write the Content
Get in your course takers’ shoes and start from scratch. Divide the course into sections to make it easy for them to follow. It’s best that you:
⦁ write an outline of the lessons you want to cover
⦁ write specific goals for each lesson
⦁ add several bullet points on what each lesson will cover
⦁ write the content for each lesson

While writing the materials, try using simple language that your target audience speaks. They don’t need you to complicate the course but want simplicity in their learning process.

Take it slowly and write the content the way you’d want someone to teach you. Always look at things from the audience’s perspective and don’t assume they know anything you know.

⦁ Add Extra Materials
An online course is always more effective when there’s more to it than plain text. Adding extra materials to the picture could truly set you apart from the competitors.

So, think about supporting your written content with:
⦁ images
⦁ videos
⦁ charts
⦁ infographics
⦁ useful links
⦁ worksheets
⦁ tests
⦁ bonus study materials

This will add extra quality to your course and give the course takers one more reason to enroll.

⦁ Come up With a Course Title
The title of your course should be designed to grab potential course takers’ attention and get them to read the description and enroll. But, why is this the last step in the process?

You want to make sure that the title matches the content of your course. You don’t want to start from the title and adjust the content to it, but the other way around.

Your title should state:
⦁ the topic of the course
⦁ the key takeaways
⦁ the level of education you’re offering
⦁ course extensiveness

Here are some great examples:
⦁ Beginners Course: Data Analysis in Healthcare
⦁ Advanced Leadership: Discipline in the Workplace
⦁ Media Training for Doctors/Healthcare Pros: Master the Media

Write the title to make sure the course speaks to potential course takers before they even read the description.

⦁ Edit
Before you publish your course, you need to double-check every word you’ve written. An educational course cannot have any grammar or spelling mistakes.

You could get professional writing help from EssayService, or use an online proofreader to eliminate mistakes. You should also “take” the course yourself to see what’s it like to be on that side of the story.

Final Thoughts
Putting together an online course requires you to select the right topic, define who the course is for, and write with that group of people in mind. It is a complex task, but you can do it with the right mindset and determination.

Hopefully, the steps we’ve shared above will help you write your online course with ease and offer something unique and educational to your target audience.

Author’s bio. Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger at Writeload. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun.