Your own site or a course platform? Where your online course should live

If you sell an online course, it has to live somewhere. Broadly, there are two options: a hosted course platform, or your own website with course features added.

Both work. They suit different stages and different businesses.

Option 1: a hosted course platform

You sign up, upload your lessons and start selling. Hosting, video, checkout and student logins are handled for you.

Good for:

• Launching your first course quickly
• Testing whether people will pay before you invest in a full site
• Running courses without anyone technical on the team

Watch out for:

• Monthly fees that rise as you add students, courses or features
• Plans that take a percentage of each sale
• Limited control over design and the student experience
• Student accounts that live on someone else's platform

Option 2: your own website

The course sits on your own site, usually WordPress with a learning plugin such as LearnDash, plus a shop or membership plugin to take payments.

Good for:

• Academies with several courses, memberships or bundles
• Certificates and records you need to keep for years
• A design that matches the rest of your brand
• Keeping your marketing, blog and courses in one place

Watch out for:

• More to set up at the start
• Plugins and updates that need regular care
• Video hosting, which is a separate decision

The questions that decide it

How many courses will you run? One course can live happily on a platform. A catalogue of courses, bundles and memberships often fits better on your own site.

Do you issue certificates? If students rely on their certificates, or you need records of who completed what, check exactly how each option stores them and how you would export them.

Who will handle student support? "I can't log in" is the email every course business gets most. A clear welcome email and one obvious login page cut most of it, whichever option you choose.

What will the fees add up to? Work out what you would pay with the number of students you expect in a year's time, not just today.

A sensible path

Plenty of course businesses start on a hosted platform, prove that people buy, then move to their own site once they have several courses and a steady flow of students.

If you take that route, keep your student list and course content backed up from day one. It makes the move much easier when the time comes.

Choose the setup you can run well this year, with room to move next year.