Exploring eLearning Course Hosting Options: Online Marketplaces Vs. Self-Hosting
Course creation has gained immense popularity in recent years, with millions of people seeking to enhance their skills through online learning. However, the question remains for course creators aiming to monetize their content: where should they publish their courses? The two most popular choices are established eLearning course marketplaces or independent self-hosting. Both options come with their own set of benefits and challenges, which is why creators have to consider numerous factors before making a decision. In this article, we will discuss the main pros and cons of online marketplaces versus self-hosting, as well as significant differences creators may experience with each approach.
What Are eLearning Course Marketplaces?
eLearning marketplaces are centralized platforms where professionals who create online educational content can design, host, and sell their courses. These platforms often focus on a specific industry or specialization, which makes them an ideal choice if you are trying to reach a niche audience. eLearning course marketplaces offer creators a user-friendly platform with all the design and distribution tools they might need. This allows them to focus on improving the quality of their courses to attract as many learners as possible.
Here are the main reasons why an eLearning course creator might choose to publish on a marketplace:
- Immediate access to an already-established audience.
- Built-in marketing and promotional opportunities.
- Minimal technical knowledge needed to maintain course listings.
- Payment processing handled entirely by the marketplace website.
However, there are some challenges to consider:
- Limited control over branding and course customization.
- Reduced revenue due to marketplace fees.
- Limited access to student data and learning analytics.
What Is Self-Hosting?
On the other end of the spectrum, we have self-hosting platforms where course creators can upload their content to their own websites or a dedicated Learning Management System (LMS). In this case, self-hosting platforms can be characterized as website builders that allow course creators to be both the designers and owners of their platforms. Naturally, this means they have total control over the design, customization, and branding of their courses.
These are the main benefits of hosting your online learning course on your own website:
- Complete autonomy over branding and course customization.
- Full access to learner data and analytics.
- Increased revenue since there is no need to share with a third party.
Don't overlook the following limitations of self-hosting:
- When hosting your own courses, you need to be more knowledgeable about setting up a website, maintaining it, and troubleshooting when necessary.
- You will have to create a marketing strategy from scratch to build your audience.
- You will need to integrate a payment gateway into your website to ensure safe transactions.
5 Key Differences Between eLearning Course Marketplaces And Self-Hosting
Now that you have a general understanding of what eLearning course marketplaces and self-hosting platforms entail, we'll delve deeper into the differences between these two experiences.
1. Audience Reach
eLearning course marketplaces already have their own audience, amounting to thousands, if not millions. When publishing your course on such a platform, you gain immediate exposure to a loyal visitor base that may have never discovered your products otherwise. However, their attention is divided, as you're not the only one advertising their products on the marketplace. Hundreds of other instructors may be offering courses, perhaps not that different from yours. Nevertheless, this might be a risk you're willing to take, since self-hosting platforms often start with zero visibility, unless you have already established a following on other social media platforms. Building an audience will take hard and consistent work if you're starting from scratch, and the results may be slower than you would prefer.
2. Revenue And Pricing
Another essential difference between online course marketplaces and self-hosting platforms is the potential revenue you can earn. Marketplaces typically allow lower profit margins, as they take a substantial percentage of your sales and control aspects such as pricing limits, discount and refund policies, and more. However, they also give you access to a much larger pool of potential customers and come with lower upfront costs since the infrastructure is already there. In contrast, self-hosting gives you much more freedom when it comes to pricing, and the majority of the earnings are yours to keep. But you still need to keep in mind that you will have to bear additional costs to cover marketing efforts, set up your platform, and maintain and update it as needed.
3. Brand Control
When it comes to branding your eLearning course, it's important to understand the differences between marketplaces and self-hosting. eLearning course marketplaces provide limited opportunities for expressing brand identity. Your content must adhere to the website's existing formatting and branding guidelines, even if there are some course design features available. In contrast, when you publish your courses on your own website, you make the rules. You can incorporate your brand in any way you want, customizing the look and feel of your courses, user learning paths, control buttons, etc. At the same time, learner data will be at your disposal to use either for marketing additional content and resources or for gaining insights into learner engagement, which can help you improve your course content.
4. Marketing Efforts
Marketing is what attracts potential learners to your profile, inviting them to explore your courses, and ultimately driving revenue for your business. A significant advantage of using online course marketplaces is that they handle marketing efforts for you. This is because they continuously leverage campaigns to drive traffic to their websites, simultaneously boosting the visibility of the courses listed. This removes the marketing burden from course creators, allowing them to focus on other tasks. If you decide to self-host your courses, though, you will need to invest time and money into developing an eLearning course marketing strategy from the ground up. While this approach may lead to the creation of a unique brand that resonates with learners, it also poses a great challenge, particularly for smaller businesses.
5. Setup Effort And Scalability
Creating a listing for your eLearning course on a marketplace platform can be accomplished in hours. Even if you are utilizing their course design tool, you can be up and running within a few days. Not to mention that you don't even need any specialized technical skills, as most of these websites walk you through the process of creating and publishing a course. In self-hosting, setting up your website and uploading your course may be more challenging and time-consuming. You will be responsible for managing your server, updating when necessary, ensuring user data security, and resolving any issues. But you will also be free to grow your platform over time by adding additional content or possibly expanding into coaching or webinars.
Which Choice Leads To Success?
There is no clear right or wrong answer regarding where you should publish your eLearning courses. It all comes down to your goals and the resources available to you at this stage in your career. For example, course creators who are looking for a low initial investment and a quick route to exposure, despite the lower revenue, should probably opt for course marketplaces. On the other hand, if you already have an established following, value having full control over your brand, and want to market multiple courses and perhaps build your own business, then self-hosting is the way to go.
It is worth mentioning that a growing number of instructors are going for the third option, which involves combining marketplaces and self-hosting. In this hybrid approach, course creators start out with an online course marketplace to launch their introductory courses, then redirect satisfied learners to their self-hosted platform, where more content, resources, and services await. This way, they combine both options to make the best of both worlds, simultaneously optimizing outreach and enhancing their revenue potential.
Making A Choice Between eLearning Marketplaces And Self-Hosting
Choosing where to publish your courses can be a challenging decision, as both marketplaces and self-hosting platforms have their pros and cons. It is important to recognize that each option serves a different purpose, and there certainly is value to be found in both. Explore the information we shared in this article to make the right choice for your content and your business. Remember, however, that what matters the most is building a strong foundation with high-quality, well-designed content. Once you have accomplished that, you will be able to attract learners whether you are publishing on an eLearning course marketplace or self-hosting.
