The You-Academy or the Udemy is one the top rated massive open online educational platforms (MOOC) that was started in 2007. And currently there are more that 40 million students, 50,000 instructors who are teaching about 1,30,000 courses across 60 different languages. Now, everyone out there is dreaming big and following their example to lead in the direction. In the present times e-learning portals are becoming the next big thing because of all the advantages they have over the traditional schooling system. a. Flexibility of time and place b. Less overheads expenditure c. Scalability d. Accessibility of the courses e. High returns for the investors f. Varieties of courses g. Affordability for the customers h. Personalized learning etc

In this article we will deal with how to create an e learning website like udemy. Here are a few steps that you need to follow in order to be the next udemy.

1. Decide your niche: Since you have decided to start an e-learning business, you will have to decide which course or courses you are going to offer. This industry is extremely vast and brimming with options for you to choose from. Starting from life skills coaching to AI, you can choose whichever you want to provide online classes on. This is one of the main factors that is going to attract your customers. Hence, while finalising on your courses you need to understand the current market demands and your area of expertise as well. This will narrow down your choices for a suitable niche of education.

2. Study your customers: Knowing who your customers are and understanding what they are looking for is the foundation of every business idea. There is no business without customers. Hence this step is very vital in forming a new business. You need to be aware of- a. Their goals b. Their qualification c. Their age d. Whether they have any special needs e. Their geographic location etc Once you are aware of the above you can draft your business model and procure a curriculum accordingly.

3. Know your competitors: There is no better teacher than experience. And since you are trying to create a udemy clone, you could as well study them.You get to learn a lot of backstage activities that happen in order to keep the operation very smooth and running without glitches. You will learn how they deal with complaints, what courses they offer, scheduling classes, making note of progress and many other processes. From the very beginning of what technologies they used to build their website to how they manage registration and revenues, you will have to research as much as possible and then get down to business.

4. Have a business plan and a revenue model: Once you know what you want to do, you need to chalk it all down in black and white. You are also required to register your business, get an SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) certificate to protect all the user’s as well as your website data, hosting and domain. There are different business models you can choose in order to implement your online course. However, Udemy works on the marketplace business model in which it just acts as a platform for teachers to get connected with students from around the world and share their knowledge. In doing so, they charge a percentage of the tuition fee from the teachers and students in the form of subscription and membership registration.

5. Draft a curriculum: This is one of the major parts of an elearning business. This is a key factor that can drive in or drive out traffic from your virtual platform. Based on all the previous decisions, starting from the niche you have selected to the customer base you want to focus on, you will have to design a curriculum that is in the good interest of all. There are techniques that will help you in designing your curriculum, teaching an online course doesn’t mean you have to feed all the information or study material in one sitting. You need to strategically plan and divide your course material in a SMART(Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) way. Once the curriculum is ready you then need to put them under timed schedules, track the attendance, keep tab on the progress and many other functionalities. And learning management software(LMS) is a one stop shop for all these woes. This will take care of all the administrative activities starting from timetable management to progress traction.

6. Develop your online platform: Creating an elearning website is not as simple as it might seem. Though the processes involved in it might seem straight forward, there are multiple, complex layers added to it. You need to think about each and every step before you start directly developing your website. And especially if you are aiming for an udemy clone then you need to first study how udemy functions, what are its features and how it is developed. Here are some of the most basic features that udemy have. Do look into it and build your website accordingly. a. Video streaming b. Audio streaming c. Subtitles options d. Downloading options e. Notes f. Search function g. Notification Alerts h. Class scheduler i. Payment gateways j. Dashboards for admin, tutors and students k. Review and Rating options and many more There are two ways in which you can develop your virtual learning website- a. From scratch (on your own or by hiring a tech team) b. Purchasing a turnkey solution

7. Promote your online presence: The last procedure in any business is promotion. You need to get this step right else all the hard work you have done till now will be of not much use. Here are the best and trusted marketing practises which most of the business personals rely on. a. Content marketing b. Social media marketing c. Digital marketing d. SEO technique e. Influencer marketing etc

This was a brief on the basics of how to create an elearning platform just like udemy. The steps are pretty straight forward, however they need a lot of planning and smooth execution inorder to make it as successful as udemy. If you need any help with any of the above, do drop a message or call us, we will be happy to assist you any way possible.