How to create an online course in 2026 (step-by-step guide)

What is an online course?

If you’re unsure about what exactly an online course is then I’ll take a few moments here to explain.

Basically, an online course is a digital product created for and distributed on the web to teach a certain skill or process that generally solves a problem.

Since the course lives online a student can kick back on a lazy Sunday, sip on their morning coffee and learn something new from the comfort of their home instead of traveling to a classroom.

Online courses often take shape in a few different ways.

Here are the most common ones:

1. An email delivered course

Either free or for a fee, a shorter online course may be put together within a sequence of emails.

One example of this style is this one from well-known marketer, Brian Gardner of StudioPress and CopyBlogger.

Pros

• They’re easy to create.
• They take less time to put together.
• You’re growing your email list.
• You can charge a fee and add new revenue to your business.

Cons

• Inbox fatigue is a real issue.
• What you’re trying to teach may need more than just a few emails for your student to fully grasp the material.
• You will need to learn how to create email automation sequences or pay someone to set it up for you.
• You can’t charge a lot for it.

2. A course taught through an ebook

​Ebooks are another digital product that can be used to teach. Depending on your topic, the level of complexity and your writing ability, an ebook course could work for you.

A site like Gumroad has quite a few examples of people teaching processes and new skills through an ebook.

Pros

• People still like to read, and (thanks to smartphones) they can take your ebook with them no matter where they go.
• You can charge for your content.
• With the right time-delegation, you can have a decent ebook created within a week.

Cons

• Ebooks are often consumed in a passive mindset meaning your reader is less likely to act on what they’ve read.
• It can be time-intensive and you’ll likely need to pay an editor to clean up any grammar blunders.
• It’s pretty hard to put together a comprehensive, actionable curriculum in a fully written format.
• You can’t charge a lot for it.

3. A video delivered course

​This tends to be the most loved and more popular option. People can usually consume visual content better than strictly text-based information. SkillShare is a great example of what a video-centric digital course can look and feel like.

Pros

• People love learning through video. By having a course in this format you offer them a style that’s sure to please.
• You can charge a higher premium than the others.

Cons

• You may need film equipment.
• You’re going to need an outline and know how to edit your videos.
• Can be pretty time consuming to create.
• Can feel lacking without workbooks and action plans.

4. The best of the best: A combination of all three (and then some)

​While a smaller course could do well in a single style, the best online courses out there often have a combination of these things:

• Video
• Slides with audio
• PDFs and workbooks
• Text versions of video content
• Homework assignments
• An online hub to meet other students, ask questions and gain a sense of community

For my own online courses (like Virtual Summit Mastery) and those of my students, this is the style of choice and is the one I have in mind while writing this guide.

Pros:

• You can charge the highest premium with this style and format. In my personal experience, I charged a premium rate of $997 and $3,000 depending on the tier someone opted in for. This has resulted in more than 600+ customers for my business since launching. I couldn’t have done that had I not created a course in this style with this amount of value.
• Students will feel they have received the most for what they’ve paid.
• You have the chance to grow a revenue-generating community in something like a Facebook group.
• You set yourself up for as a leader in the space you’re teaching about.

Cons

• Requires a lot of time to prepare and create.
• If you go about it the wrong way you could create a product nobody wants.

Don’t let that last bullet point deter you.

In just a little bit, I’m going to show you how you can avoid this pitfall so that instead of wasting time you will create something you know your future students will pay for.

I have a very specific process for this that almost no one online is teaching. It’s the same process that many of my students have used to launch six-figure courses that continue to generate money every year.