More people are taking online courses and participating in eLearning programs than ever before. Online education is a billion-dollar industry, with a growing number of schools, businesses, and individuals using online course creation as an efficient way to teach lessons to their students.
Are you wondering how much does it cost to develop an online course? Several contributing factors influence the cost of developing an online course. In a nutshell, the total average cost is between $500 and $10,000. It depends on how many dynamic and interactive features you incorporate into the course by hiring professionals to assist you.
Below is an overview of the primary factors influencing the cost of online course development.
1) Consultant Services
If it is your first time developing an online course, you may feel the need to hire a curriculum consultant to help you plan, research, and organize a comprehensive curriculum for your course. A consultant can identify your target audience and create a curriculum with lessons and topics that resonate with your audience.
The consultant will assist you in developing the following educational items:
- Course outline
- Quizzes
- Assessments
- Various course materials
The average curriculum consultant charges about $50 to $200 per hour. Depending on the size of your online course, you may need to spend between $500 to $2,000 for these consultancy services.
On the other hand, if you already have experience creating online courses or feel you understand your target audience, you can skip this step and save yourself the expense.
2) Creating the Content
Content creation may be your most significant expense in developing an online course. Even if you were to create an eBook only, you would still need to hire a ghostwriter to write all the educational content unless you did the writing yourself. Ghostwriters typically charge between $20 and $500 per hour.
However, most modern e-learners don’t like reading through digital pages of text. They would much prefer watching videos and multimedia lessons that capture their attention. That means you must hire a professional videographer or multimedia developer to create high-quality video lessons for your online course.
Every multimedia professional charges a different hourly rate. The good ones will charge $100 to $500 per hour, if not more. So, be prepared to spend anywhere from $1,000 to $4,000 to have a professional create multimedia content for your online course. Plan on setting most of your budget toward content creation.
3) Learning Management System
Have you ever heard of learning management systems? They are software applications designed to help you administer and manage educational courses and content to people online. Some of the most notable examples of learning management systems include
- Blackboard
- Teachable
- Docebo
- iSpring Learn
- TalentLMS
- Google Classroom
Using a learning management system is not required to distribute an online course, but it helps make it easier and more efficient. If you use a learning management system, the cost will be around $30 to $400 per month. The downside is that you will incur a monthly expense, but you will make it back quickly if you charge for the course.
4) Equipment
Do you personally want to create video or audio content for your online course? If so, you must purchase the equipment necessary to produce this content yourself. The equipment might include:
- High-definition camera
- Microphones
- Chairs
- Green screens
- Lighting
- Wardrobe
- Whiteboards
You don’t necessarily need to purchase the most expensive equipment to create high-quality content. If you were to buy all the equipment and accessories listed above, the total price would be between $500 and $2,000 for a basic setup. Since it is only a one-time purchase, you can use this equipment to create multiple online courses without recurring any more expenses.
5) Instructional Designers
So far, we have assumed that you are knowledgeable about the content that you want to create for your course. However, that might not always be the case.
You could find yourself in a situation where you want to create an online course on a topic you are unfamiliar with, such as graphic design, psychology, computer programming, political science, or whatever else you want to teach.
If that is the case, you will need to hire an instructional designer to oversee the development of the course content, including its curriculum, text content, and multimedia content. The instructional designer can work with the curriculum consultant, videographers, and the other professionals you hire to ensure your course content is accurate and educational for students.
A professional instructional designer may charge between $30 to $300 per hour, depending on their experience level. Therefore, you could end up paying about $1,000 to $3,000 for an instructional designer’s services to assist you in designing the content and curriculum for your online course.
6) Marketing
It would be wise to include marketing as part of your expense in developing an online course, especially if you don’t have students already. Marketing will allow you to reach your target audience by attracting people you believe will benefit from your online course.
The best marketing methods for promoting an online course include:
- Website design and development
- Pay-per-click ads (e.g., Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads)
- Website hosting services
- Email marketing tools (e.g., Mailchimp)
You can set your budget for the PPC ads. As for website design and development, hiring professionals to design and develop your website will cost you between $400 and $8,000+. The hosting services are only around $20 to $250 per month, depending on whether it is shared or dedicated hosting.
Conclusion
Remember that you won’t necessarily need to incur all the expenses outlined above. For instance, you may be an expert in the topic you want to teach and proficient in video production. That would mean you could save the expenses of hiring consultants, instructional designers, and videographers by designing your curriculum and recording the video content yourself.
Ultimately, the total cost of developing an online course will differ for everyone. Just review the contributing factors outlined above to come up with a fair estimate of how much your online course development will cost.
