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How Long Should My Online Course Be?

When creating an eLearning course, one of the most common questions is how long should my online course be. There is no single answer, as it will depend on a lot of different factors. To decide how long to make your course, you want to consider three factors. 

#1. How Much Time You Have

The first thing to consider is how much time you have to create the course. A few factors are at play, including how busy your days are. But the key is to be realistic and remember that creating a course involves various steps, from planning to creating content to editing and distributing. 

It May Make Sense to Create a Shorter Course Quickly 

One of the big things to ask is whether it is better to deliver a shorter course more quickly or wait longer for a more inclusive, longer course. In many cases, starting with a shorter course will make more sense. Then you can supplement it with more courses in the future. 

For internal courses, this lets your employees start tackling their biggest challenge, letting you improve productivity or morale immediately. For an external course, it lets you see a return on investment sooner. 

#2. How Much You Will Sell the Course For 

The next decision is what type of product you want to create, meaning how much you will charge for your course. We divide this into low, medium, and high-ticket items. 

Low-ticket items will cost about $25 or so. Medium-ticket courses will cost about $250. High-ticket courses will cost about $2,500. 

As you increase the price of your course through these categories, you need to add content to provide more value. With a high-ticket course, you will likely need to add other benefits. 

As a general rule of thumb, low-ticket courses are about an hour, medium-ticket ones are about five to 10, and high-ticket courses are about 10 to 20 hours. 

#3. How Much Actionable Content You Have 

You can use the previous factors to estimate how long should my online course be, but the final answer comes down to your content. You need to provide high-value, actionable content. This means cutting out the fluff. 

Don’t Add Fluff for Length – Adjust Your Price If Necessary 

It’s very common to plan on creating a course of a certain length only to realize that you don’t have enough content for it. If this happens, DO NOT add fluff. Instead, adjust your planned price point. 

You may be hesitant to do this, but you should remember that as the price increases, your amount of sales decreases. If you have a high-ticket course, you’ll have a lower conversion rate than a low- or medium-ticket course. So, if you reduce the length and cost of your course, you’ll sell more courses. This should make up for the drop in what you charge. 

Conclusion

If you are asking yourself how long should my online course be, start by figuring out how long you have to create it and your ideal price point. Then create the course with the goal of reaching that length, but be willing to make it shorter if you don’t have enough content. Your course should be all useful content, no fluff. That will be the most important factor in determining how long it is. 

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