8 Simple Steps for Building an Online Training Course

Overwhelmed by course creation? Start here.

Creating an online course from scratch can feel a bit like heading out on a long journey to a place you’ve never been before without GPS to guide the way. Sure, you might know generally where you want to go—maybe it’s onboarding new employees, educating customers on new product features, or sharing expert insights with potential partners—but the path for getting there isn’t always clear. The good news is that you don’t have to be an instructional designer to make this happen.

In this blog post, we’ll break down the course creation process into eight simple, actionable steps that will help you understand how to build meaningful, engaging learning experiences that deliver real results.

Step 1: Define your learning goals

A successful course starts with a clear purpose, so before you start worrying about content or visuals, take a moment to define success. This will accomplish two crucial things: it will provide a roadmap for your course design and let learners know exactly what is expected of them and why it matters.

Here are two ways to define your learning goals:

Align course objectives with business needs

Ask yourself, “What do I want learners to walk away with, and how does that support the organization’s larger goals?” For example, you might need to reduce compliance violations, improve the sales team’s product knowledge, or get workers up to speed on a new project management system. Whatever the need, aligning the course objectives with business outcomes clarifies your purpose.

Use SMART goal framework

Remember to be as specific as possible. Let’s look at a quick example of how you can go from vague to specific using the SMART goal framework: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Vague: “Better understand safety protocols”

SMART: “By the end of this 20-minute module, warehouse employees will be able to list and explain how to avoid the five most common safety hazards in our facilities last year.”

SMART goals give you clarity and tell your learners what to aim for.

Step 2: Know your audience

You can spend all the time in the world creating a beautiful course with intuitive functionalities and gorgeous visuals, but if you don’t reach the right audience, it will likely still fall flat. Understanding who your learners are, what they care about, and how they prefer to learn is the key to creating content that connects and sticks. Here’s how you can do it:

Understand learner profiles

Training a new hire is very different from educating a long-time customer. Take the time to identify your audience’s role, experience level, everyday challenges, and individual goals. The better you understand them, the more relevant and impactful your training will be.

Adapt tone, language, and design

To effectively tailor course content to different audiences, you have to focus on the details. For staff members who work in the field, they might need course content that is straightforward and mobile-friendly. Executives, on the other hand, might respond better to more formal, polished content. Think of it as a conversation. What’s the best way to speak their language?

Step 3: Outline the course structure

Now that you’ve clarified your goals and identified your target audience, it’s time to organize your course with a clear, cohesive structure. A solid course outline not only helps learners stay focused, but it also makes it easier for you to build, revise, and scale content over time.

Here are some tips for outlining the course structure:

Create a module-based outline

Breaking content into smaller, more digestible chunks helps prevent information overload and improves retention. For example, instead of a single 30-minute lesson, try three 10-minute modules that build on each other step by step.

Choose instructional design models

Frameworks like ADDIE (Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation), SAM (Successive Approximation Model), and Bloom’s Taxonomy help you structure content intentionally. Bloom’s, for instance, ensures your learning modules are about doing, not just knowing, by moving learners through levels such as apply, analyze, and evaluate.

Step 4: Select the right authoring tool

If you want to bring your course to life, you need the right tool. Choosing the right authoring tool that meshes with your content, design needs, and audience preferences makes all the difference.

Different training scenarios call for different approaches. Rise, for instance, is great if you need to create responsive, easy-to-navigate courses with a clean, streamlined layout—think onboarding, policy overviews, or product explainers. Storyline, on the other hand, gives you the flexibility to create custom interactions through branching scenarios or interactive quizzes and simulations, making it perfect for training that requires more customization.

Many course creators will build the bones of the course from a pre-built template, then use other tools to layer in interactive components strategically. The key is choosing tools that are flexible and agile enough to be used in conjunction with one another. For example, you might need to create a compliance course with straightforward, informational modules that also include a simulated scenario that lets them practice a real-world incident.

Step 5: Develop engaging content

If you want to keep learners focused and motivated, it’s essential to create course content that goes beyond just delivering information. Strive to make it both interactive and visually dynamic.

Here’s how you can do it:

Use multimedia wisely

One of the biggest missteps is an overreliance on text-heavy content. That’s why it’s important to use audio, visual, and video components strategically to break things up and boost comprehension. For example, a short video of a team leader demonstrating effective feedback techniques is much more effective than a bullet list of best practices. You might also use graphics to reinforce key concepts or voiceover narration to give content a human touch.

Focus on interactivity

Courses that keep learners engaged are more likely to lead to the learning outcomes you desire. Add elements like knowledge checks to ensure learners understand concepts, click-to-open boxes that let them explore in further detail, and scenarios that let them put what they’ve learned into action, like handling a customer complaint or following safety protocols.

Step 6: Ensure accessibility and inclusivity

The best courses are accessible to everyone, regardless of ability, cultural background, learning preferences, or technology. Designing with these considerations in mind means a smoother and more thoughtful learning experience for all learners.

Here’s how to accomplish this:

Follow WCAG guidelines

To ensure your course’s accessibility, familiarize yourself with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). This is a set of recommendations designed to make content more accessible, whether that means verifying compatibility with screen readers, adding closed captions to videos, or enabling keyboard-only navigation. For example, a visually impaired learner should be able to complete your course using only the keyboard and a screen reader.

Use Articulate’s accessibility checker

If you’re working in Storyline 360, for example, the built-in accessibility checker helps you identify and correct common issues and will help check your content against WCAG guidelines. You’ll get step-by-step guidance on how to fix issues like missing alt-text or low-contrast colors. It’s an excellent way to improve usability for all learners.

Step 7: Test and review

Before you publish your course, put it up for scrutiny. This ultimately helps find errors you may have overlooked, simplifies content that might be confusing for learners, and makes sure everything is working properly.

Here’s how to do it:

Conduct internal reviews

Invite various stakeholders from around the organization to offer feedback. This includes SMEs, instructional designers, team leaders, and executives. Be specific about what you’re looking for. Ask them to comment on accuracy, clarity, flow, and functionality. For example, if you’re launching training for a new product feature, a product manager can flag any terminology that might be inaccurate or outdated and offer suggestions for how to explain benefits more clearly.

Gather learner feedback

Don’t just rely on stakeholders. Get feedback from the people who will take the course. One way to do this is by launching a pilot course for a small group of learners. Most importantly, get their honest reactions. Were the directions clear? How was the pacing? Did the scenarios feel relevant? Even a single individual can pinpoint a quiz that isn’t working or a video that won’t load on mobile. This could stave off a flurry of support tickets in the future.

Step 8: Publish and track results

Now that you’ve gathered feedback and made adjustments, it’s time to share your course with the world! But the process doesn’t end there. Publishing and tracking aren’t the final steps. They’re the beginning of a feedback loop that helps you keep improving.

Here are a few tips for this process:

Export for LMS use (SCORM/xAPI)

Many course authoring tools let you publish your course in formats like SCORM OF xAPI, which are compatible with most learning management systems (LMS) or online course platforms. SCORM is good for basics like assessment scores and completion rates, while xAPI can track more detailed learning activities. For example, if you’re rolling out compliance training, SCORM can help you track who’s completed the course and how well individuals scored on the knowledge checks.

If you’re looking for a user-friendly LMS that makes it easy to deliver training fast, Articulate’s Reach lets you create, manage, and track learning in one intuitive platform.

Monitor engagement and outcomes

Go beyond completion rates and quiz scores. Your LMS or xAPI analytics can offer insights into how your learners are interacting with your course, whether they’re getting stuck at certain spots or exiting unexpectedly. With knowledge assessments, dig deeper than just the outcomes. Are multiple learners consistently missing the same question? This might be an opportunity to adjust the content to be clearer or more accurate.

Bring your course to life, one step at a time

The power to create online courses is right at your fingertips, and it doesn’t have to be a stressful experience. With a clear process, the right tools, and a learner-focused approach, you can create training that leads to real results for both learners and the organization as a whole. Whether you’re onboarding new employees, upskilling current ones, or educating customers, this process will make all the difference. So start simple, stay focused, and keep improving as you go.

Ready to dig deeper into the foundations of effective training? Check out our blog post on workplace training to explore its benefits and get strategies to create impactful learning at any organization.