Developing an online course can be a great way to share your talents and earn some extra money. But getting the course up and running is only half of the battle. An online course will not be successful if no one knows about it. Therefore, promoting the course is the second half of the battle, and there's no room for impatience. This can be a very time-consuming process that begins when you start to design the website.
Instructions
1. Optimize the course website. The website for your online course should be fully optimized to get good search engine rankings. Use descriptive copy on the site that's full of keywords that people are likely to search for. Make sure your title tags use specific terms and not general ones, such as "home page" or "Page 1." Exchanging links with related sites and getting blogs to link to your course will also help increase search engine rankings.
2. Use your email signature. Include a link to the course website and a line of descriptive text in your email signature. You'll want to write something that will entice people to click on the link. Asking a question such as "Would you like to discover make more money?" is a good email signature strategy. Focus the question on what people will learn from your course.
3. Inform your contacts. When promoting an online course, there is no room for modesty. Tell everyone that you know about this course you've developed. Send a brief email to your personal and professional contacts updating them on your latest venture.
4. Join online forums. Join some forums that target people who would most likely be interested in your course. Do not spam the forum. Your goal is to establish yourself as a reliable source of information. You want people to trust you and not see you as a salesperson. Be sure to read the terms of service and advertising policies to see if you are allowed to place a link to your course in your signature or profile.
5. Purchase pay-per-click advertising. Purchasing online advertising is a fast way to get traffic to your online course. Sign up for Google AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing and begin to purchase advertising. You'll want to set a daily budget. You also want to make sure you are tracking your conversion rate so that you'll know if this strategy is working for you.
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