How to Start an Online School | Your 7-Step Guide & Essentials

In today’s day and age, education exceeds the walls of the classroom, filling digital space with useful and informative resources. Whether you are passionate about sharing your expertise or want to monetize your knowledge, creating an online school might just be the perfect solution for you. 

Throughout this guide, we will overview everything related to starting an online school. We interviewed seasoned creators who have already run successful online school businesses. We will cover everything from the steps you need to take to get started to tips on pre-launch promotion strategy based on the best practices of hundreds of creators. 

Validate the market 

Starting string with the first step you must do is - validate the market. 

Validating the market is crucial to ensure that your efforts resonate with the target audience. By understanding the market, you can identify potential challenges and gain clarity on what you can offer to stand out from the rest. 

Thus, with proper market validation, you can avoid wasting resources, identify competition, and predict the profitability of your niche before it's too late. The question now is, “How do we validate the market?” 

“My greatest suggestion is to start with your research. You should look at other people who create courses on your topic, see how they frame and position it, and analyze whether they are successful”. 

Jessica Terzakis, 

Business Growth Consultant and Course Creator 

Well, for that, you need to: 

• Conduct market research. You can use surveys and polls via tools such as SurveyMonkey or Google Forms. These will help you to gather insights from potential learners. Make sure to ask about their interests, demographics, and preferred learning methods. 
• Analyze search trends. Use tools such as SEMrush or Google Trends to analyze search trends in regard to topics you plan to teach. 
• Analyze the competition. Look at existing online schools or course platforms in your niche. Evaluate their course offerings, pricing, and user feedback to find gaps you can fill.

Market validation is not the easiest of tasks, yet it is absolutely crucial for success. You can watch our video on how you can stand out in a saturated market as a course creator. 

Decide on your online school business model 

The next step is deciding on the business model of your school. It is an important step in building a profitable business. The business model of your choice will determine how you deliver content, generate revenue, and engage with the learners. 

By identifying your business model, you will have a clear idea of the following: 

• Your revenue streams 
• Content delivery, pricing, and marketing strategies
• Expectations in regard to how to attract and retain learners
• Reduced risk as the right business model fitted to your niche will help you deliver content that is just on-point for your audience.    

Popular business models for online schools 

The most popular business models for online schools are: 

• Subscription-based model. 

Students pay a recurring fee (monthly or annually) for access to a library of courses. Ideal for evergreen courses and continuous learning.

• Freemium model

Offer basic content for free and charge for advanced or exclusive material. Useful for building an audience and trust.

• Membership model

Create a community where learners pay for access to courses, live sessions, and forums. This works well for niches requiring ongoing support.

• Pay-per-class model

Charge students for individual classes or lessons, offering flexibility for those with specific interests.

You can incorporate a few models. For instance, you can offer a subscription-based model paired with a pay-per-class one. This way, students will have the option to fit different types of needs based on their preferences. 

Choose the right model 

Well, as far as we are clear on the importance of business models and types, let's understand how to choose the right one. 

To choose the right mode,l you must consider the following:

• Your audience. You must know your audience’s preferences, income levels, and willingness to pay. 
• Type of content you offer. This determines whether your courses are better suited for one-time consumption, membership, or subscription models. 
• Evaluate competition. Look at successful businesses in your niche to understand which models are working and where gaps exist.
• Align with your goals. If you want recurring revenue, subscriptions might be ideal. If your goal is to grow a large community, consider a freemium or membership approach.

At the end of the day, to choose the right model, you must test. Offer one model and test. Offer another and test. In a few months, you should have enough data to understand which model works best for your case. 

Develop your online school team

A strong team will help with your online school’s access. Of course, you can start solo, but keep in mind the fact that as you scale, you might need to bring in additional experts. A well-rounded team will help to ensure the smooth delivery of courses, effective marketing, and excellent experiences for students. 

“Avoid doing it all by yourself. Have a team, you know, because anybody can afford a team at this point. There are lots of affordable options. Also, have people that collaborate with you. So, look at the networking groups that you're in. Look at the other people that you've made friendships with within the business space”.

Jessica Koch

Course creator, consultant

With the right team, you will be able to delegate tasks and focus on strategic growth. Besides, the team members responsible for different areas, e.g., marketing or sales, bring in additional expertise. Their expertise helps to elevate the quality of your school. 

You can hire team members to fulfill the roles of technical support specialist, marketing, graphic designer, and video editor. Some creators also hire dedicated community and financial managers. 

Here are a few tips that will help you build a great team: 

• Start small. Do not go and hire a specialist for each task. Start by hiring an assistant. Maybe even navigate toward hiring a freelance assistant or experts before hiring full-time specialists. 
• Prioritize crucial roles. Tech support and marketing directly impact profitability and customer satisfaction. So, focus on getting your hands on good experts in these two areas first. 
• Use collaboration tools. Tools such as Slack and Asana help manage tasks and maintain clear communication with team members. 

The bottom line is that as you grow, you need more “hands.” So, when building your team, cultivate quality relationships with the team members. Great teams bring success to business, and no amount of money can. 

Choose your platform 

Another important step in the process of starting an online school is selecting the right platform. In fact, one of the experts we interviewed says: 

"And I think those three things, if you have a passion for doing something that you have some expertise that you can bring to the table and share with other folks, there's no better platform than Uteach for doing it online, and but you really got to do the research and really be an expert in your field is what I believe." 

Angel Rodriguez, founder of Alliance Training and Testing

The choice of a platform will immensely impact your school in terms of the following 

• Learning experience 
• Scalability 
• Management and growth 
• Costs. 

Some platforms offer limited features at high prices. Ideally, you want to navigate toward the best price-to-quality ratio. If you are looking for a feature-rich platform offering everything you need to start and scale an online school, then a good choice is Uteach. 

In order to choose the right platform,m make sure to: 

• Clearly define your goals. 
• Consider technical skills. Navigate toward platforms that are easy to use and do not require additional coding skills. 
• Evaluate pricing plans and choose platforms that best fit your budget. 
• Prioritize features such as customization options, website & course builders, analytics tools, and marketing features. 
• Check the tool for integrations. Ensure it integrates with payment gateways, sales tools, and other software solutions that you plan to use. 

Also, when choosing a platform, make sure it offers branding features. Try to avoid tools that limit customization capabilities or do not offer white-labeling features. 

Finally, always plan for the future. If you plan to scale and expand your business, opt for scalable platforms. These are usually cloud-based solutions that can handle increased traffic and a variety of course formats seamlessly. 

Start building your school with the chosen platform

After you are clear on the choice of platform, it is time to use it to build your school. 

Develop your brand identity 

Creating a strong brand identity will help you stand out. Give your school a personality and build credibility in the market to drive sales. 

Brand identity will help you build trust and create recognition. A memorable brand makes it easier for students to recommend your school to others. 

Key elements of your school’s brand identity are: 

• School Name and Logo 
• Color Scheme 
• Typography (fonts) 
• Tone of voice (professional, conversational, casual, academic, mix?)
• Mission statement (states the purpose of your school and what sets it apart). 

To develop a strong brand identity, you need the following: 

• Research and understand the preferences, values, and goals of your target audience. 
• Analyze competitors and the reasons behind their branding choices. 
• Branding tools such as Canva are used to design professional logos and templates. 
• Apply consistent branding elements across your website, emails, and social platforms. This will help to maintain a cohesive and professional image.
• Rebrand if needed. Always remain flexible, and if your initial choices do not seem fit or work, you can always rebrand. 

Build your homepage 

The homepage of your website is the face of your online school. In a sense, it works as a first impression. So, make sure it is a good one. 

Your home page should feature:

• Headline (explaining what your school and offerings are about) 
• Call to Action (to encourage visitors to explore courses, sign up, etc.)
• Course Previews (highlighting top courses you offer with good visuals and descriptions)
• Social Proof (a section with a review)
• The navigation bar (to make sure students have easy access to all the key pages, Which is usually displayed at the top of the page). 

A perfect example of a good homepage for the course is Marie Forleo’s homepage. You can check it out and see how all the elements mentioned above are integrated on her homepage. This helps her to communicate professional messages and convert leads into students. 

Create landing pages for your courses 

Landing pages act as sales pages. These are dedicated pages designed to promote individual courses. As you create your course landing page, you can boost conversions and help you address potential concerns of students with ease. 

To create a good landing page for each of your courses, make sure to: 

• Use persuasive copywriting techniques to emphasize benefits over features.
• Include visuals like course previews, instructor videos, or infographics.
• Test various headlines and CTA placements to maximize conversions.
• Leverage testimonials or case studies specific to the course.

Related: How To Build Your Online Course Sales Page With 10 Elements 

If you are looking for inspiration to create your course sales page, we created an easy sales page template for you so that you can customize and use. 

Upload your course content  

When the pages are set up, it is time to upload content. You might have courses, eBooks, guides, or articles to attach to your course as additional content. 

To ease the process of content upload, you can.

• Break down and organize materials based on type. 
• Select file formats that the platform supports to avoid unnecessary surprises. 
• Adhere to your platform’s recommendations for file size, resolution, and format to avoid technical issues. 

For example, with Uteach, this process becomes easier. You can create video, audio, files, text, and quizzes, as well as form episodes. Once you create or upload those files, they will be attached to your course. Uteach supports multimedia content so that you can make your course even more engaging for your students. 

Set up the automation 

Do not underestimate the power of automation. Tools that offer automation features will help you in online school management. For instance, by automating repetitive tasks, you can focus on creating quality content, engaging with students, and growing your school.

"For me, tools like Google Workspace have been game-changers. I use them to automate processes like communication and progress tracking so I can focus on delivering the training while the system takes care of repetitive tasks." 

Angel Rodriguez, founder of Alliance Training and Testing 

In a nutshell, automation will help you with: 

• Saving time by handling repetitive tasks. Thus, you can focus on more strategic business initiatives. 
• Reduce the risk of errors in critical areas. 
• Helps to enhance student experience. Automated emails, reminders, and progress tracking keep students engaged without manual effort. 

Areas you can automate range from student enrolment to email communication. The key is to know when, how, and what to automate. 

Also, using automation does not mean you can sit and do nothing. You need to be in touch with your students, give feedback, and answer their questions. Here is one more pro tip regarding automation before we move to the next section. When using information such as emails or notifications, add personalized touches here and there (e.g., names on emails). 

If you run your course on Uteach, you can easily automate emails and notifications as well. Uteach offers pre-made templates for different use cases that you can customize and activate. For example, let’s say you scheduled your course content to become available on a specific date. You can set up an email so the students get notified every time a new episode is available. 

Plan the student onboarding experience 

Another crucial step in starting an online school is to plan the student onboarding experience. 

Set up the student journey within your platform. 

Creating a structured and seamless journey for students ensures they can easily navigate your platform and make the most of your courses. To create a good student journey, you should: 

Create a website with clear navigation. Make sure everything from menu structures to courses is intuitive. 

• You can offer short explanatory video instructions where students can find what they are looking for on the homepage. 
• Set up course previews so that students can preview courses and learn about outcomes. 
• Offer downloadable resources like a course syllabus, learning tips, or FAQs to support their learning journey. 

Prepare email automation sequences. 

Email automation is a critical component of marketing. It will not only help with student onboarding but also with further marketing efforts. 

Good email automation helps you to keep students informed, engaged, and motivated throughout their journey. 

A typical email sequence can look like: 

• Welcome email upon enrollment. 
• Orientation email that provides a walkthrough of key features, tips for navigating courses, and so on. 
• Reminders and notifications to encourage students to continue leaning. 

To ensure your email sequence is successful, personalize it. Address students by name and reference their enrolled courses. Also, it should be consistent and provide valuable information without overloading. 

You can use built-in email automation features in LMS platforms or choose more advanced tools. If you choose third-party tools, you will need to integrate them into your LMS. Some of the best ones on the market are Mailchimp and HubSpot. 

You can download our guide “Email Templates to Successfully Launch Your Course” to start with your campaigns easily. It includes templates for a 20-day launch sequence you can easily adapt to your course. 

Build an audience of online students 

Well, let’s not forget about building an audience and everything that comes with it. Your online school won’t be a school without students, right? We think so, too. 

Let’s take a look at a few strategies for building an audience for your school. 

Build email lists 

You need to build email lists for further email marketing. How does one build an email list? Use lead magnets. For instance, offer free downloadable PDFs in exchange for emails. Keep in mind that these free resources must be relevant to your niche. If they are not relevant, then the leads you generate won’t be either. 

We have covered more strategies to build your email list and attract new students to your online course. You can watch the video for more advanced strategies. 

Also, you can leverage free webinars to generate emails for your list. The webinars will provide value to the audience while you will potentially get interstate leads to turn into customers down the road. 

Also, you can download our free guide, “7 Special Tips To Build Email List”, where you can find the key strategies to collecting email addresses in a wise way. 

Use social media 

Leverage the power of social media to reach your potential students.  By creating a strong presence and sharing valuable content, you can build a loyal community and attract more learners. 

To achieve this, you need to choose the right platforms for your niche. Research competitors to understand where your potential buyers “hang out” online. Then, open social media pages on those platforms. 

Opening pages is not enough. You need to post consistently to grow. Make sure to post relevant content to your niche and provide value to the audience. 

Also, social media platforms are excellent tools for engaging with your audience in real time. You can use these tools to build lasting relationships and foster trust, which contributes to a better brand reputation. Answer comments, host Q&As, and offer exclusive discounts to your followers. 

Besides organic ways to move forward via social media, you can also use paid ads. E.g., you launched a course. You can make a publication and turn on ads targeting relevant audiences. You can also partner up with influencers to promote your courses. 

Related: Use Social Media to Support Online Teaching

Start content marketing  

With a good content marketing strategy, your online school can reach new heights. How? Well, content marketing builds authority and helps you drive consistent traffic to your website. 

To leverage the power of content marketing, you can start by opening a blog. In that blog, publish articles related to your niche addressing common questions and challenges. For instance, if your online school is about business, publish articles about business, finances, and so on. 

Do not forget about producing video content. Share instructional videos, course previews, or behind-the-scenes insights on YouTube or your website. These always help you get views. 

Finally, do not forget about SEO optimizing your content to ensure that your school appears in relevant search results. 

Get ready to execute your pre-launch strategy

A pre-launch strategy is a series of planned activities. These are designed to promote your online school before it is actually launched. Why is it important? Well, it helps you build anticipation and create interest around your school. It also will help you grow your audience and gather leads prior to going live. 

To successfully execute your pre-launch strategy, make sure everything on your checklist is ready: 

• Landing pages for the courses 
• Homepage of the website 
• Social media accounts. 

If everything is ready, then it is time to build anticipation. First, establish clear goals regarding the pre-launch. Then, move on to setting up: 

• Email and marketing automation 
• Social media campaigns. 

“Look for people you've made friendships with within the business space who offer courses as well. And if they're getting ready to do their presale, offer a bonus to their community and have them do the same. You can also get on other people's podcasts or speak on other people's stages.”

Jessica Koch

Course creator, consultant

You can also host a live event before publishing your website to excite students even more. 

Related: How to Pre-Sell Your Online Course | Make Money Before Launch

Start your online school free with Uteach

If you are looking for the perfect tool to start your online school with, then you are in the right place. Uteach is an all-in-one platform that comes in handy with a variety of useful tools and features for a successful start of an online school.

Moreover, the features of Utecah and its scalability ensure optimal growth and expansion opportunities for course creators. The main features range from course & website builder to robust analytics and automation tools. 

To learn more about Uteach and how it can help you grow your online school, schedule a free demo with us.