Many trainers and coaches keep asking us: "How can I make my online courses more appealing so that my participants actually follow through to the end?" In this article, we answer this question and give you 4 tips for designing truly great online courses!

As a trainer, you probably know this: You have put together a new online course for your participants and are convinced of the content. But somehow only half of the participants are engaged, and you notice that they are only half-heartedly involved. But how can you change that?

Successful online courses start with you!

You are the foundation of your training offering. Ask yourself: Do I even enjoy working on my online courses? Am I motivated to complete the course? Have I learned something new? You need to be convinced of your own content and concept to inspire others!

"If you don't want to revisit your own courses, your participants won't either" – Claudia, online course expert at blink.it

It is also particularly important for your participants to understand the meaning and purpose of your course from the very beginning. If you keep your course promises and goals, the participants will be satisfied and happy to recommend you.

So what distinguishes successful online courses?

The answer is simple: It is the engaged participants who complete your courses. They should feel throughout the entire online course that your course has personally or professionally advanced them and that they have truly learned something. But how do you achieve that? With the following tricks, you will excite your participants about your learning content – beforehand, however, we will show you what your online course should better not look like.

Reading tip: In the blog, we have summarized a relevant study for you: With these factors, you motivate participants in the online course.

Example: How your course should NOT look

Your online course contains all the important content, but it looks quite unappealing. // Source: blink.it

This example course on the blink.it platform contains all the essential content. However, the online course is visually rather monotonous, and the preview reveals little about the content. In addition, there is no clear structure that informs participants about what comes next and where they currently stand in their learning progress. Many text contents also appear rather demotivating – there is a lack of variety to maintain attention or pique participants' curiosity.

We want to optimize this online course in the next step! With these 4 tips, your courses will be well-structured and visually appealing:

Step 1: Make the benefits clear to your participants
Step 2: Create a clear course structure for your content
Step 3: Offer participants varied content
Step 4: Enhance the visual appeal of your course

4 Tips for appealing and well-structured online courses

1. Make the benefits clear!

• Communicate the goal of your online course and the benefits for participants from the very beginning. What can you expect? How is the course structured? What is the specific goal?

• Ideally, repeat this goal at the start of each new "chapter" or learning section to remind participants of the overall goal.

• Bring personality into the course and send your participants this message in the form of a short video. Simple selfie videos can be produced quickly and build closeness. In an in-person course, you would also briefly greet your participants at the beginning and explain the content of the event.

• Address your participants in direct language, preferably in the informal form (unless otherwise explicitly requested by the participant or customer). Personal addresses are additionally motivating!

Reading tip: Do you want to encourage your course participants to get involved? My colleague Corinna has already worked out 7 simple tips for active participants in blended learning for you.

2. Develop a clear structure!

• Think of a sensible “flow plan” for your online course. Based on your plan, you will subsequently build your course.

• Participants must be picked up from the very beginning and they want to know where they currently stand in the course until the end.

• Ideally, divide your learning content into several “chapters” or learning units to clarify the structure for your participants.

• Give them the feeling of being well-guided through the course! A virtual roadmap helps highlight the respective stage.

Create a “roadmap” and show your participants where they currently are. // Source: blink.it

3. Offer varied content

Create varied content and play with formats that address different learning types – since everyone learns differently:

• Visual learners need images and numbers in the form of diagrams, sketches, mind maps, or graphics.

• Communicative learners enjoy direct interaction with others. A comment or chat function in the course for questions and ideas works particularly well.

• Auditory learners learn well with videos or podcasts. So also offer varied content with audio for listening.

• Kinesthetic learners directly apply learning content. Provide exercises, offer downloadable materials like checklists and reflection sheets to fill out.

• It is important for all learning types that they can follow you easily, which is especially suited for short learning units in microlearning style.

4. Enhance the visual appeal of your online course!

Now we come to the most beautiful and final tip, as the visual aspect also plays a role!

• Find your red thread and create a recognizable feature, whether it is your color concept or small graphics—your participants should immediately think of you!

• For example, film your videos against a striking background, perhaps in a nice color or with your logo on it. However, the background should not be too distracting to avoid diverting your participants from the content.

• Create beautiful thumbnails for the individual learning content that entice viewers for the underlying content.

• To create your own logos, designs, and graphics, our expert Claudia recommends the tool “Canva”!

• Focus on less text and make the learning units as short as possible. For example, use free stock photos from Pexels, emojis, or font icons to make your content even more varied.

Tip: Do you want to work with smileys and emojis on your blink.it platform? On the page smileybedeutung.com, you can easily copy the different emojis you know from WhatsApp and others and paste them into your course! This works in the course titles, in the individual blinks, and even in the chapter tiles (see example).

Example: How your online course might look at the end

Even in course design, the red thread should be recognizable. // Source: blink.it

Here’s what our online course looks like after the revision:

Step 1: Participants now learn the benefits of the course in a greeting video. In the video, they also get to know the trainer and are motivated to participate in the course.

Step 2: We created a “roadmap” and added chapters to structure the content. Participants can open and close the chapters individually – making the course clearer.

Step 3: We replaced the many texts with videos and images to offer participants more variety.

Step 4: Finally, we added thumbnails that match the respective content. Small emojis make the course more colorful and casual.

Tada – our online course is ready! As you can see, there are some very simple tricks to make your courses even more appealing to your participants. With a few small changes, you will quickly notice that your courses are received even better.