There is no easier way to learn than through visual aids like images and clips. Learning complex topics like math, science, and foreign languages gets faster when teachers use videos, especially.
If you’re an educator who wants to delve into creating online clips to supplement your lessons, then this article will come in handy.
We’ve prepared 6 simple steps that you can follow to guarantee the best video content for your online courses.
How to Build an Effective Online Video Course
Step 1: Decide on Your Niche
The first step is to decide on what particular topic or subject you want to focus on. Much like subjects in school, online courses have a wide variety of niches.
It’d be best to work on a niche that you’re already knowledgeable about. That way, your content will flow naturally.
Some categories you can look into are:
Academic
Subjects like Math, History, and Science are good to teach via visual clips since many students are into visual learning.
Complicated topics like foreign languages, particularly French, Japanese, and Mandarin, are also perfect for the video format.
Creative
Lessons that lean more on the creative side of things are also perfect for video content. Some popular online course topics are pottery, candle-making, and knitting.
Meanwhile, courses on graphic design, watercolor painting, and charcoal sketching are also pretty interesting to work on.
Self-Improvement
Courses on self-development and improvement are common these days. Surely, it’s because watching something on will be far easier than reading a thick book.
Business
Finally, courses on setting up businesses are also popular these days. E-commerce and digital marketing classes are especially in demand.
Step 2: Choose an Online Course Platform
Once you’ve nailed down what niche you want to work on, then you should choose a course platform that will best suit your needs.
Below are our highly-rated and recommended choices:
Kajabi
This all-in-one course platform is our top choice for creating a video course. You can enrich your modules with interactive tutorials.
Plus, you can even host webinars for specific classes.
And not only is Kajabi good for creating online courses, but it also has online business tools. You can set up an affiliate program to promote your modules and have an email list for reaching out to other students.
The only catch to Kajabi would probably be the cost. Kajabi’s among the most expensive course platforms you can choose from.
LEARN MORE: Kajabi All-In-One Course Platform: Complete Review
Teachable
Much like Kajabi, Teachable is part of the top leading online course platforms you can sign up for today. Every course you create can be supplemented with a video tutorial.
Even beginners can figure out how to operate this easy-to-use course platform. All the information they need is presented on the landing page.
On the students’ part, learning is very simple to do because the dashboard has everything they need to get started and choose course content.
LEARN MORE: Teachable Online Course Platform: Ultimate Review
Thinkific
Another highly-rated online course platform recommendation is Thinkific. This option is video-compatible, so people and users can easily enrich it with visual content.
Students can access any course they’re taking right on their platform dashboard. The straightforward interface is what makes Thinkific a good platform for online education and learning.
Plus, what we love the most about this online course platform is that it has different cost packages. You can avail of the free plan forever and pay no cost.
LEARN MORE: Thinkific Online Course Builder: In-Depth Review
Podia
Finally, you can also choose the Podia platform for creating your content. As one of the leading online learning and education platforms, it has everything you need to enrich your students’ learning experiences.
You can create videos for every course that you create on the platform. More visual learning aids like images, graphics, and diagrams can also be added as part of the modules.
Your users can easily access a course right on their respective dashboards. The simplicity of Podia’s interface is what makes more people and users enjoy using it for learning and course creation.
LEARN MORE: Podia Course Content Creation: Full Review
Step 3: Plan Out Your Course Content
Once you’ve nailed down what course platform you prefer, then it’s time to formally plan out the content that your students will be learning.
Different topics will require different approaches, so it’ll be good to determine earlier on what video types you plan on using for your learners.
Live Webinars and Streams
The most straightforward way to do online teaching and learning is through live webinars. You’ll easily be able to accommodate large classes and teams of people.
The thing about webinars is that it isn’t one-sided despite being catered to large groups of students. You can give them the chance to ask you questions along the way.
A live webinar would be best suited for general topics like marketing, current events, and self-help.
Pre-Recorded Clips
If you’re planning to do asynchronous teaching, then pre-recorded clips are a good choice. Your students can watch the resources at their own learning pace.
Each student can easily rewind a clip and go back to a certain part that they’re having difficulty with. It also lessens the pressure of real-time classes.
This is a good option for simpler topics like history, general sciences, and film seminars.
Personal Video Calls
For more complex topics like mathematics, finance, and foreign languages, one-on-one video calls are highly recommended.
You can create a more specific learning plan for each student. Plus, students and users will be able to clarify any questions that they have in real-time.
Step 4: Determine Your Revenue Model
Once you’re done with planning out your learning and teaching plans, it’s time to choose a revenue model.
One-Time Payment
You can set a one-time fee that your students can pay right after they sign up. The good thing about this scheme is that it lessens the burden on the users later on.
Subscriptions
For a subscription-type payment scheme, your users can opt to pay monthly, quarterly, or yearly. Some creators also give the option of doing multiple years, like a 2-year or 3-year subscription.
Usually, online creators offer bigger discounts when you opt for long-term subscriptions. The discounts can entice your students to stay subscribed to your learning platform for longer.
Step 5: Publish and Promote
Once everything is more or less finalized, then what’s left to do is publish. Publishing your resources will make them readily accessible to our students and subscribers.
That doesn’t mean that you can already relax, though.
Mobile and Device Optimization
Be sure that your content, especially your video content, is optimized for all possible devices.
Be sure to double-check how your modules look on a laptop, tablet, desktop, and smartphone. This is since those are the most commonly used devices for online learning these days.
If anything looks weird, it could easily disrupt the learning experience of your students.
Affiliate Programs
Most course platforms give you the option to promote your digital products via affiliate marketing. You should definitely take advantage of that by creating an affiliate program.
Partner up with affiliates who can advertise your courses to their respective audiences. It’s the easiest way to gain new subscribers.
Do note that you will have to pay our partner affiliates a fixed commission for every new subscriber they give you, though.
Step 6: Gather Feedback
Finally, once everything is settled and published, all that’s left to do is maintain the quality of your content.
Be sure to ask for regular feedback from your users and subscribers. Take into account their overall experience with accessing your modules.
Ask for suggestions on how you can improve the quality of the classes. Perhaps you can add topics and subjects for them to explore.
You can also use feedback to determine whether or not a certain subject is working out. If you notice that it isn’t gaining a significant number of subscribers, then maybe it’d be best to drop it altogether.
Overall, any feedback will be good feedback because you’ll get to use it to enhance your digital products and teaching plan.
Conclusion
Now that you’ve reached the end of this article, we hope that you’ve gained relevant knowledge on how to set up video content for your classes.
Videos are definitely the way to go when doing online teaching because they help difficult topics become easier to comprehend. People who prefer learning with visual aids will greatly appreciate it if you choose to add videos to your modules.
Just be sure to follow the 6 easy steps that we’ve laid out for you to ensure a smooth process for creation and promotion.
