How Long Does it Take to Create, Set Up and Launch Your Online Course?

Launch Your Online Business in Just 7 Days

Are you looking to create an online course? If so, you might wonder how much time you’ll need to do it.

The answer, however, depends on several factors.

To help you estimate how much time you’ll need to create your course, we’ll explore:

The factors that affect the time it takes to create a course
The creation phases and their respective anticipated times

Let’s get started!

How long it takes to create an online course — In a nutshell

Let’s get straight to the point.

How long does it take to create an online course?

It can take anywhere between 7-50 days to create an online course, assuming that you’ll be working on it full time.

The time it takes to create your course mainly depends on:

The topic
Your availability to work on it full time
The level of depth of the online course
Prior experience

(Keep in mind that the hours mentioned in this post are only rough estimates and can differ from case to case)

Main factors that influence the time it takes to create an online course

There are a few factors that can influence the duration of the online course creation process — Let’s take a look at some:

1. Previous experience

If you have any experience in creating content, filming, editing, or website design, the online course creation process will be quicker than it would be for a person who has no experience at all.

However, having no experience isn’t a problem when it comes to online course development, as you can either learn how to do these things by yourself or get other experienced people to help you.

2. Course type

Depending on the type of online course you want to create, the time spent on the creation thereof will differ:

A beginner’s/mini course: These courses generally consist of only a few (20 or less) lessons, cover a particular aspect of a larger topic, and are suitable for beginner-level students
An advanced course: These courses typically consist of 20-50 lessons, present course material and concepts beyond the introductory or elementary, and are usually suitable for more advanced students
An in-depth flagship course: A flagship course consists of 50-100 (or even more) lessons, with masterfully and thoughtfully put together course materials, and typically includes loads of additional resources and a community program

On the one hand, if you’re creating a beginner’s course, it’s easy to keep it simple and get it done relatively quickly.

On the other hand, if you’re creating an in-depth flagship course, it’s going to take much longer as it’s a much bigger project.

3. Additional course materials

If you want to create and add any additional resources, such as assignments, quizzes, or extra reading materials, you’ll need to prepare yourself to put in a little more time and effort.

These additional resources don’t necessarily need to take long to create — With systeme.io, for example, you can add a quiz to your modules in just a couple of clicks.

Adding a quiz with systeme.io

You simply click on the “quiz” icon and add the desired questions, with their correct/incorrect answer(s).

Adding quiz questions and answers with systeme.io

Thereafter, click on “Activate quiz”, and your quiz should be online and running.

4. Use of video/audio

Video and audio can be useful tools for creating an online course.

The type of tool you use will determine how much time you’ll spend on creating your courses.

Even though video content can be highly engaging and fun, it can be time-consuming to create high-quality videos and mostly requires specific equipment and video editing.

In contrast with recording video for your lessons, audio lectures don’t take up as much time and don’t require any special editing or background or lighting effects.

For example, physical training or gardening courses might take more time to film than a coding course, where you can simply record your screen and some audio.

5. Hiring of third-parties

If you’ll be doing the research, planning, course material, recording, editing, and setting up a course website all by yourself, it will take a lot longer than outsourcing some of the creation steps to third parties.

However, if you decide to hire a third-party developer, you can expect higher costs in most areas of online course development.

Instead, consider using a reliable online course platform, where you can create, set up, and launch your online courses even if you have no prior experience with the necessary skills.

Now that you know the factors that influence the time it takes to create an online course, let’s take a look at the different phases of course creation and the estimated time for how long each task takes.

Phases of online course creation

In this section, we briefly discuss each phase and provide an estimated time of completion.

Phase 1: Researching and planning

To create a great online course, you need to do thorough research and planning before actually starting the course creation process.

Your research will involve:

Finding your topic/niche
Determining your goals
Doing market research
Constructing an overall timeline
Finding the exact promise of your product
Figuring out who your competitors are

Once you’ve figured this out and have it written up, you need to validate your ideas and ensure it’s something you’re willing to commit to.

As a starting point, ask yourself the following questions:

1. What is the biggest problem that your ideal audience is facing?

2. What is the best way to solve this problem?

3. What are the consequences of this situation, and how does it make them feel?

4. What does success look like from your ideal audience’s perspective?

If you already know your niche, this phase shouldn’t take up too much of your time.

However, if you have no idea about which topic to focus on, more thorough research is required.

So, how long does this phase take?

Anywhere between 1-5 days.

After completing phase 1, it’s time to move on to phase 2 — structuring your online course.

Phase 2: Creating your course outline

The key to a great course is outlining all the topics you’d like to cover before starting the actual writing of the course content.

Outlining helps construct and organize your ideas in a sequential manner and with thoughtful flow.

We recommend not skipping this step (especially if you’re creating your first online course), as it can cost you a lot of time and money in the long run.

The main goal of outlining is to ensure clarity in your course content. Ask yourself:

What are the modules that your online course will consist of?
What are the different lessons that will go into each module?
What will the order of your modules and lessons look like?

And we have some good news!

Not only is this phase typically super short, but it’s also super easy, especially with a platform like systeme.io that helps you structure your course by:

Adding new modules and lessons
Tweaking the order of things by dragging and dropping elements
Getting a birds-eye view of your entire course

Birds-eye view of an online course with systeme.io

So, how long does this phase take?

We’d say about 4-12 hours.

Now that you have your course structure done, you can finally start creating your course content.

Phase 3: Creating your course content

The duration of this phase mainly depends on the type of course you choose to create:

Beginner’s course (20 lessons or less)
Advanced course (20-50 lessons)
In-depth flagship course (50-100 lessons)

On average, you’ll spend at least 2 hours creating content per lesson.

Again, this is just an estimation. But let’s say we use the 2 hours/lesson estimation and we’re looking to launch an online course with 20 lessons.

We’d spend at least 40 hours on creating course content.

Course content typically includes:

Writing scripts for your video and/or audio lessons
Writing content for written materials
Creating and designing presentations
Creating visual materials such as infographics
Preparing, tutorials, workbooks, quizzes, and other additional resources

As you can see, this phase can be extremely lengthy.

There is, however, some good news — you don’t have to complete your entire course’s content all at once.

Create and sell the first module, and if it sells, continue creating the rest of the content.

Systeme.io allows you to easily change your course’s access settings by choosing to either drip your content or provide your students with full access to your course.

systeme.io’s drip content feature

In the image above, the settings have been set so that students receive the first module immediately after purchase and receive the second module 7 days after they’ve received the first.

So, how long does this phase take?

If you’re creating an advanced course that contains 20 lessons, this phase can take up to 40 hours.

Once your content has been created, your next step is to record your videos and/or audio.

Phase 4: Course videos and audio creation

Now that you have all your content, scripts, and presentations ready, it’s time to record.

(This phase of the creation process tends to differ a lot.)

How long this’ll take, will mainly depend on the following:

1. Size of each lesson: How many minutes will each lesson be?

2. Method of presentation: Will you be recording videos or simply using screen recordings with audio?

3. Personal circumstances: Will creating courses be a full-time job or something on the side?

For instance, if you decide to create presentations with voice-overs of 7 minutes each, you could get it done rather quickly.

But, if your niche requires engaging, high-quality videos, you’ll most likely spend a lot more time on this phase of the creation process.

So, on average, how long does this phase take?

It can take anywhere from a few hours to a few months, but usually is the same as phase 3.

Phase 5: Editing and finalizing

The last phase before you publish a complete online course, is editing your recordings and finalizing your content pages.

Generally, the time it takes to edit your videos and/or audio depends on your editing experience, the length and quality of your course material, as well as the complexity of the edits you want.

So, how long does recorded editing take?

A good estimation for editing time is around 30-60 minutes for each finished minute of recorded content.

Note: You always have the option to outsource all editing and cut your overall creation time in half.

In addition to editing, you’ll need to start finalizing all written content.

Here’s some positive news, systeme.io lets you create and edit your course’s content with its easy-to-use course builder — building an e-learning course has never been easier!

systeme.io online course builder

How long does this take?

Final touches ensure a high-quality course and should not be rushed!

Therefore, we suggest you take your time finalizing until you’re happy with the end product.

Phase 6: Publishing

We’ve made it to the final phase — Publishing!

This phase includes a few sub-phases. So, you’ll need to pay close attention.

Assuming this is your first online course, you’ll need to decide on the platform you’ll use to host your course: Self-hosting or a marketplace.

Luckily, there are many online course platforms to choose from.

You just need to make sure that the platform you end up choosing has everything you’ll need to successfully create, set up, and launch your online course.

Online course marketplaces can empty the pockets you’ve stuffed with your online course sales.

Take Udemy for example — the platform gobbles away 50-75% of your gross margin.

Even if you handle the marketing, Udemy still manages to take 50% of your course creation money.

With systeme.io’s website builder, on the other hand, you can easily build your course’s website in minutes and, additionally, keep all your well-deserved earnings!

Regardless of the platform you choose, phase 6 also includes:

Uploading your video and written content
Add additional resources and/or quizzes
Configuring your access and restriction settings
Creating your course’s sales page
Pricing your online course
Integrate with your email marketing

So, how long does this phase take?

Between 2 and 6 hours.

The verdict: How long does it take to create an online course?

Considering the above estimations, we’ve come to the following conclusions (assuming you’re starting from scratch and doing everything yourself):

Note: Keep in mind that these durations are only estimates and can vary!

As you can see, the course creation process isn’t a short one!

— Is there anything that might make the process easier and quicker?

Yes, an all-in-one platform, like systeme.io, is the best choice for getting the most out of your time!

Systeme.io: Your reliable online course platform

systeme.io’s logo

Systeme.io is an all-in-one online course platform and is the perfect solution to create, launch, and market your online course.

Systeme.io lets course creators:

Build a course site in minutes without technical knowledge
Create, launch, and sell online courses, digital products, membership sites, and webinars all from the same platform
Connect with students through email marketing
Build professional-looking landing pages for online courses, no plugins required
Give timed access to students via our drip feature
Create module quizzes to assess students

And if our online course features don’t get you excited to join our platform, wait till you see our prices!

Systeme.io’s pricing

systeme.io’s pricing

With systeme.io, you can choose between 4 pricing plans:

1. Free plan: $0/month for 1 course

2. Startup plan: $27/month for up to 5 courses

3. Webinar plan: $47/month for up to 20 courses

4. Unlimited plan: $97/month for unlimited courses

With our Free plan, you can get access to:

Space for up to 2,000 contacts
1 custom domain and A/B test
10 sales funnel steps
1 order bump, 1-click upsell, and coupon code
1 blog and online course
3 sales funnels

Our Unlimited plan can help you create unlimited landing pages for your courses with unlimited students and unlimited access to everything our tool offers to help you grow your online business.

Here’s how creator Jon Sidall explains systeme.io:

Source: trustpilot.com

FAQs about online courses

Source: freepik.com

Have any other burning questions about online courses?

Take a look at the 2 most frequently asked questions on the topic and their answers.

How much does it cost to create an online course?

According to research, the average cost per finished hour of developing an online course ranges from $5000 to $50,000.

If you want to see how you can work around this estimation and minimize your budget, read our post on How to Determine the Cost of Building an Online Course.

Can I make money selling online courses?

Yes, this is possible even when you offer a free course! If you want to make money selling your own course online, then you need to follow the proven methods mentioned in our guide on How to Make Money Selling Online Courses.

Conclusion

It’s obvious that the online course creation process isn’t a quick one.

The good news is, now that you have estimates at your disposal to determine an approximate time that you’ll be spending on creating your courses.

Additionally, you can save a lot of time and produce a higher-quality final product by using tools created to assist you in creating an online course.

Systeme.io is the ultimate all-in-one course creation tool — start creating and selling your online course right now!