How to Teach Online? (The Ultimate Guide)

Do you want to teach online and have no idea where to start? If that’s so, this is the best place to be. I’ll help you understand the nuances of teaching online and how you can make the most out of your hard work the smart way.

Online teaching is a promising and lucrative sector that can help you grow your online presence. Many coaches choose to augment their one-on-one services by providing online courses, and several entrepreneurs have established profitable businesses exclusively using online courses.

The e-learning market hit $400 billion in 2025 and is projected to double by 2030. That’s not hype. Real people are building real careers teaching everything from calculus to cake decorating. And the barrier to entry has never been lower.

By teaching online, you can:

• Channel your inner solopreneur
• Choose your working hours as per your convenience
• Build authority in your field
• Create a brand true to your values
• Have a solid business foundation
• Showcase your talents and expertise to the world
• Turn leads into customers
• Work fully remotely

It doesn’t matter whether you’re an entrepreneur wanting to start a blooming online business or an experienced professional hoping to diversify your income; online teaching could be just the way to go.

Who Can Actually Teach Online?

Here’s something that holds a lot of people back: they don’t think they’re qualified. “I’m not a certified teacher.” “I don’t have a degree in this.” “There are people who know more than me.”

Stop. You don’t need credentials to teach online. You need two things:

1. Knowledge or skill that someone else wants. Not everything. Not expert-level mastery. Just enough to help someone who knows less than you.
2. The ability to explain it clearly. Some of the best teachers aren’t the most advanced practitioners. They’re people who recently learned something and remember what it was like to be confused.

Successful online teachers come from all backgrounds:

• A 23-year-old teaching Excel to beginners
• A retired accountant teaching personal finance to freelancers
• A home cook teaching meal prep to busy parents
• A software developer teaching programming basics
• A guitar hobbyist teaching absolute beginners their first three chords

The common thread? They all knew more than their target student. That’s the bar.

Let’s now see the actual process of doing just that.

How to Start Teaching Online?

Currently, there are three main ways to start online teaching:

1. Use a Learning Management System (LMS) plugin to offer courses through your own WordPress website.
2. Use an online teaching platform.
3. Use online course marketplaces.

If you require a solution that gives you complete control over every aspect of your business, then I advise you to offer courses on your own WordPress website. However, online teaching platforms and course marketplaces have their own advantages as well.

Let’s begin by discussing how to create courses on your own platform.

Using WordPress + LMS Plugin

Summary: Get a domain, hosting with WordPress installed, install an LMS plugin, and you are good to go. Complete guide is here →

WordPress is the free and flexible Content Management System (CMS) of choice for most entrepreneurs today. With the right Learning Management System (LMS) plugin, you can also use it as a teaching platform to deliver access-restricted learning resources and lessons to students.

An LMS plugin turns a standard WordPress site into a full-featured online school. You get student accounts, progress tracking, quizzes, certificates, and payment processing. Everything you need to run professional online classes.

See this detailed guide on how to start an online teaching website with WordPress.

I should mention that using WordPress to build and sell online courses on your own website is the only solution where you actually have absolute control over your teaching career.

Step 1: Pick a Hosting Provider

Your hosting matters more than most people realize. A slow site frustrates students. Videos buffer. Pages take forever to load. Go with a reputable host that can handle media-heavy content.

For teaching websites specifically, look for hosts with good CDN integration. Video delivery eats bandwidth, and you want your content loading fast for students regardless of their location.

Step 2: Choose a WordPress Theme

Don’t overthink this. A lightweight, fast theme matters more than fancy design. Most LMS plugins come with their own styling that works with any well-coded theme.

Avoid heavy multipurpose themes loaded with features you won’t use. They slow down your site and create compatibility headaches with LMS plugins.

Step 3: Install an LMS Plugin

This is where the magic happens. Once you are done with hosting and theme, all you need now is to install and setup an LMS plugin. Here are the LMS plugins that I recommend:

• LearnDash (Premium) – The most feature-complete option. Strong WooCommerce integration, excellent quiz builder, and reliable course progression tracking. Starting at $199/year.
• LearnPress – Best free option. Core plugin handles the basics well. You’ll likely need some paid add-ons ($29-$49 each) for certificates, WooCommerce integration, and advanced features.
• Tutor LMS – Great middle ground between free and premium. Clean interface, solid quiz builder. Free version is surprisingly capable, pro starts at $149/year.
• Sensei LMS – Made by the WooCommerce team. If you’re already in the Woo ecosystem, this integrates smoothly. Free core with pro add-ons.
• MemberPress Courses (Premium) – Best if you want membership + courses combined. Handles subscriptions, drip content, and access control elegantly. Starts at $179/year.
• LifterLMS – All-in-one approach with memberships, courses, and community features. Free core is limited; the Universe bundle ($360/year) unlocks most useful features.

The full guide to setting up hosting, theme and LMS can be read here.

Quick Decision Framework

Choosing an LMS can feel overwhelming. Here’s a simple framework:

• Tight budget + willing to learn: LearnPress with key add-ons
• Want the safest, most supported option:LearnDash
• Already using WooCommerce: Sensei LMS
• Need courses + memberships together:LifterLMS or MemberPress
• Value clean design and UX:Tutor LMS

The other two methods are hosted Software as a Service solutions and you might not be in complete control of everything.

What You Control with WordPress

With WordPress, you’ll get to control:

• Who your courses are marketed to!
• How your courses are marketed!
• Your courses’ prices
• Course evaluation methods
• Drip scheduling course material
• Reporting and analytics
• Teaching on an individual basis or in cohorts
• The contact information for your students
• When to run discounts and sales
• Your course material’s format (audio, video, text, etc.)
• Your course website’s visual design

That point about student contact information matters most. With WordPress, you own your student list. You can email them directly, market future courses, and build a real relationship. On third-party platforms, that list often belongs to them.

Use an online teaching platform

See: Best Online Teaching Platforms for Educators to Create & Sell Online Courses

Online teaching and tutoring platforms are growing larger by the day. They’ve given teachers of all experience levels an opportunity to make money online. Some of the most popular domains include secondary subject tutoring, language learning, and further education. These platforms also enable you to create an online teaching space, provide study materials, and offer regular feedback to improve your performance as a teacher.

If you’re seeking a straightforward way to become an online teacher without the trouble of setting up any tech, then joining a teaching platform could be the ideal option for you. To join, you must prove that you have strong teaching abilities and knowledge in your field. Also, you’ll likely have to do a live or recorded trial lesson to get approved.

Platforms like Teachable, Thinkific, and Podia handle all the technical complexity. Hosting, payments, student accounts, video delivery – they manage it so you can focus on content.

The upside: You can go from idea to published course in a weekend. No WordPress to configure, no plugins to troubleshoot, no server to maintain.

The downside: Monthly fees ($39-$199/month), potential transaction fees (0-10% depending on plan), and you don’t truly own the platform. If the platform changes their terms, you’re affected.

Below are some of the most reputable companies on the market:

When Platforms Make Sense

Teaching platforms aren’t wrong for everyone. They’re the right choice in specific situations:

• You’re testing an idea. Before investing in a WordPress setup, validate your course concept on a platform’s free plan. If nobody buys it, you haven’t wasted money on hosting and plugins.
• You’re not technical. If WordPress genuinely intimidates you and you don’t want to learn, platforms remove that barrier entirely.
• Speed matters more than control. Need to launch this week? A platform is faster than setting up WordPress properly.
• You want zero maintenance. Platforms handle updates, security, and uptime. With WordPress, that’s on you (or your host).

Although teaching platforms take care of the technical aspects of setting up a course, they have their disadvantages as well. For example, you will have limited control over the pricing and content of your services, potentially hindering your earnings and teaching style. Also, these platforms take a commission from your fees and significantly reduce your income.

Thus, I advise you to carefully consider these pros and cons before deciding to join a teaching platform.

Teaching on online course marketplaces

Let’s say you don’t want to work with an online teaching platform, either. In that case, you can choose to build and sell your courses through online course marketplaces such as Udemy, Udacity, and SkillShare.

These marketplaces are different from platforms like Teachable. With a marketplace, you’re listing your course alongside thousands of others – like selling products on Amazon instead of running your own shop.

Since these places offer a built-in audience, you needn’t build fancy marketing funnels to attract students. Udemy has over 70 million learners. Skillshare has 13 million. That’s a massive audience you don’t have to build yourself.

However, although these course marketplaces let you easily build and launch online courses, they could cause some significant problems for your online business as well.

The Marketplace Reality Check

For example, the marketplace gives you limited control over your course pricing. They can discount your courses as they want and always take a significant portion of your revenue for their help.

Pricing control is brutal on some platforms. Udemy runs sitewide sales almost constantly. Your $199 course might get listed at $9.99 during these sales. You often can’t opt out. This can devalue your content in students’ eyes.

Competition is fierce. In the marketplace, your courses must compete among hordes of competitors in your niche – all battling it out for customers with race-to-the-bottom pricing. Popular niches have dozens of courses competing for the same students.

You don’t own your students. Also, you won’t have access to your student email list, making it almost impossible to create a lasting and recurring revenue relationship with your course customers. You typically can only contact students through the platform’s messaging system for course-related communication.

Revenue models vary. On Skillshare, you’re paid based on minutes watched, not course sales. The per-minute rate fluctuates and can be unpredictable.

When Marketplaces Make Sense

Despite these drawbacks, marketplaces aren’t useless:

• Exposure and credibility. A course with 10,000 students and hundreds of reviews is social proof you can reference elsewhere.
• Lead generation. Use marketplace courses as top-of-funnel content. Teach the basics on Udemy, offer advanced training on your own platform.
• Testing topics. Before building a premium course, test the concept on a marketplace. Low commitment, quick feedback.
• Volume income. Some creators make decent money just from marketplace volume, even at lower prices.

Consider treating marketplaces as a marketing channel rather than your main business. Build your audience there, then migrate interested students to your own platform where you control everything.

Essential Equipment for Teaching Online

Before diving into teaching techniques, let’s talk gear. You don’t need a professional studio, but you do need some basics to look and sound competent.

Audio Equipment

Audio quality matters more than video quality. Students will tolerate a grainy image, but bad audio makes them click away fast.

Budget option ($50-100): A USB microphone like the Audio-Technica ATR2100x or Blue Yeti Nano. These plug directly into your computer and sound dramatically better than built-in laptop mics.

Mid-range option ($150-300): A condenser microphone with an audio interface. The Rode NT1 with a Focusrite Scarlett Solo is a popular combo.

Headphones: Any closed-back headphones for monitoring. Don’t use speakers while recording – you’ll get feedback.

Video Equipment

For screencasts and slides, you don’t even need a camera. For talking-head videos:

Budget option: A 1080p webcam like the Logitech C920 ($70-100). It’s been the standard recommendation for years because it just works.

Better option: Your phone. Modern smartphones shoot better video than most webcams. Use a phone mount and tripod.

Best option: A mirrorless camera with clean HDMI out. The Sony ZV-E10 or Canon M50 are popular choices. Expect to spend $700-1200.

Lighting

Lighting makes more difference than camera quality. Bad lighting makes expensive cameras look cheap. Good lighting makes webcams look professional.

Minimum: Face a window. Natural light from in front of you (never behind) is free and looks great.

Better: A ring light ($30-50) or two softbox lights ($60-100 for a pair). Position them at 45-degree angles in front of you.

Software for Recording

You need software for recording and editing:

• Screen recording:Camtasia ($300 one-time) is the industry standard. OBS Studio (free) works but has a steeper learning curve.
• Video editing: Camtasia handles basic editing. For more control, DaVinci Resolve (free) or Filmora ($50-80/year).
• Presentations: Google Slides, PowerPoint, or Keynote. Canva for visuals.
• Live teaching: Zoom ($15/month for pro), Google Meet (free), or dedicated webinar tools.

Tips on How to Teach Online

Now that you’re acquainted with the basics of online teaching, you can follow the guidelines below to prepare for success effectively.

1. Plan your classes well

In a virtual classroom, class time is usually short, and students hold out hopes to learn as much as they can in that given time period. Therefore, it is crucial to plan your lessons well in advance so you can make the most of that limited time.

Good planning shows. Well-planned lessons flow logically, anticipate student questions, and waste no time on tangents. Consider spending 2-3 hours planning for every hour of final content.

Planning process that works:

1. Define the outcome: What will students be able to do after this lesson?
2. List the prerequisite knowledge they need
3. Break the lesson into 5-10 minute chunks (attention spans online are shorter)
4. Build in practice moments – don’t just lecture continuously
5. Write a script or detailed outline

2. Prepare and master the relevant technology

Before you can confidently teach students online, you must prepare and master the technology involved in the process. Technical fumbling during a live session destroys your credibility. Technical glitches in recorded content make you look unprofessional.

Moreover, being tech-savvy in general will help you be more successful as an online teacher. Below are some things you should be able to do:

• Discover platform tricks. Know your LMS inside and out. Test every feature before students see it.
• Identify common technological issues. Know what breaks and how to fix it. Audio sync issues, video encoding problems, browser compatibility.
• Know how to get tech support. Have your hosting provider’s contact info handy. Know your LMS plugin’s support process.
• Understand if there’s mobile access or only desktop/laptop access. Test your course on mobile, tablet, and desktop. In multiple browsers.

3. Put together a reliable working station

Theoretically, you might be able to teach from anywhere. Nevertheless, you should always try to set up a working environment that feels comfortable and familiar to you and your students. It will make the entire online teaching experience much smoother. For that, you should:

• Have the required equipment. Mic, camera, lighting, backup power if you have unreliable electricity.
• Have a background that captivates students. Clean bookshelf, plain wall, or a virtual background. Messy rooms distract students.
• Ensure that your internet connection is strong enough. Aim for at least 10 Mbps upload for video calls. Have a mobile hotspot as backup.
• Try to soundproof your work environment as much as possible. Soft surfaces absorb echo. Close windows. Minimize background noise.
• Eliminate distractions. Close unnecessary apps. Put your phone in another room. Use website blockers if needed.

4. Initiate discussions

It’s challenging to learn how to teach an online course. Therefore, you must start discussions with your students promptly so they can get comfortable and acquainted with you. Many students tend to feel nervous when the class begins; by asking some light questions, you will make them feel more comfortable.

For asynchronous courses, create opportunities for discussion:

• Add a community forum or Facebook group
• Ask questions at the end of each lesson that prompt responses
• Hold periodic live Q&A sessions
• Respond to student comments and questions quickly – especially in the first few weeks

For live sessions, start with a warm-up question that’s easy and low-stakes. “What’s your biggest challenge with [topic] this week?” gets people engaging and breaks the ice.

5. Remember to communicate regularly

Regardless of the setting you’re teaching in, you need to communicate regularly with your students. Remember to always greet them at the beginning and end of each class. You should also communicate your expectations of the students throughout the lesson and remind them of the pending tasks and assignments.

For self-paced courses, build communication into the structure:

• Automated emails: Set up sequences that trigger as students progress. Congratulate them on completing modules. Nudge them if they’ve been inactive.
• Weekly updates: Send regular emails to active students with tips, answers to common questions, and encouragement.
• Office hours: Monthly or bi-weekly live sessions where students can ask anything.

6. Motivate your students

Naturally, some students will be eager to be in your classroom, while others will be distracted by something or the other. You can usually get them to be more interactive by finding ways to motivate them (and by keeping in mind their age and interests). You can do so using games, a points/reward system, or by promising time to talk about a topic of their choice after finishing the lesson.

Course completion rates for online courses average around 10-15%. That’s low, but it’s also an opportunity. Teachers who get students to actually finish see better reviews and more referrals.

Motivation tactics that work:

• Progress tracking: Visual progress bars, completion percentages, “you’re 70% done!” messaging
• Certificates: People love credentials. Offer a certificate on completion.
• Community: Students who engage with peers complete at higher rates
• Small wins early: Design your first lessons to be achievable quickly. Success breeds motivation.
• Real projects: Give them something tangible to build or accomplish.

7. Design your course content thoughtfully

When adapting a curriculum for online teaching, be as mindful as you can about designing the courses and organizing the content within them. Ensure that your content appeals to all learning styles and explain the material, expectations, and objectives as clearly as possible. This rule also applies to general things such as due dates on assignments.

Content design principles for online learning:

• Chunk everything. Break content into 5-15 minute segments. Nobody wants to watch a 60-minute video without breaks.
• Mix media types. Video + text summaries + downloadable resources. Different people learn differently.
• Show, don’t just tell. Screencasts beat slides. Demonstrations beat descriptions.
• Use clear structure. Every lesson should have: what you’ll learn, the content, a summary, and a call-to-action (what to do next).
• Preview the outcome. Show them what they’ll be able to do before teaching how. It creates motivation.

8. Make your class’ atmosphere fun and welcoming

If you are teaching synchronously, try your best to make the class atmosphere as inviting as you can by:

• Eliminating distractions
• Looking prepared and ready to teach
• Making students comfortable
• Providing relevant examples
• Using gestures and facial expressions when appropriate
• Using media and interactive tools
• Using visual aids and props

For recorded content, your personality still matters. Don’t be a robot. Add some humor where appropriate. Share relevant anecdotes. Let your enthusiasm show. Students notice when a teacher is genuinely interested in their subject.

9. Ensure that the lessons are age and level appropriate

Even if you have an advanced student, you must make sure that lessons are age appropriate. For example, if you teach English online and there’s a five-year-old in your class who already speaks English well, you shouldn’t be discussing 8^th-grade-level science topics with them, even if they might be comfortable with the vocabulary.

More broadly, know your audience’s skill level and design for it:

• Define prerequisites clearly in your course description
• Don’t skip foundational concepts that beginners need
• Don’t waste advanced students’ time on basics they already know
• When in doubt, err on the side of explaining more, but make it easy to skip sections

10. Prepare homework and reading materials in advance

Students must work to accompany and supplement what they learn in an online lesson, just as they would when attending a physical class. Therefore, you should prepare homework and extra reading materials before starting the class.

Effective supplementary materials:

• Checklists: Step-by-step reference for procedures you taught
• Cheat sheets: Quick reference guides for key concepts
• Workbooks: Structured exercises that reinforce learning
• Templates: Starting points for projects
• Reading lists: For students who want to go deeper
• Practice projects: Hands-on assignments that apply what they learned

Create all supplementary materials before recording main lessons. This forces you to think through what students will actually need to succeed.

11. Ask for help and feedback

Consistently asking for help and feedback is one of the best ways of preparing to teach online, as well as one of the basics of teaching in general. Find a friendly way to ask your students for their opinions regarding your classes and the scope for improvement. You can also get in touch with other online teachers, mentors, or the company for help when required.

Feedback collection methods:

• End-of-lesson surveys: Quick 1-2 question polls embedded after key lessons
• Course completion surveys: Detailed feedback from students who finished
• Exit surveys: Why did students not finish? What stopped them?
• One-on-one interviews: Periodically offer short calls to students willing to give detailed feedback.
• Community discussions: Watch what questions come up repeatedly. That’s content you need to improve.

Your first version will have problems. Accept that. Use feedback to iterate and improve over time.

Common Mistakes New Online Teachers Make

Learn from the mistakes others have made:

1. Perfectionism before launching. Your first course won’t be perfect. Launch it anyway and improve based on feedback.
2. Building before validating. Don’t spend months creating a course nobody wants. Test the concept first. Get interest before you record.
3. Underpricing. Low prices can signal low value. Don’t automatically race to the bottom.
4. Ignoring production quality. Bad audio kills courses. Invest in at least a decent microphone.
5. No marketing plan. Building the course is half the work. Marketing is the other half.
6. Trying to teach everyone. Narrow your audience. A course for “everyone who wants to learn X” will struggle. A course for a specific audience with specific problems has better odds.
7. No student support system. Students will have questions. Plan for how you’ll answer them.
8. Giving up too early. Most courses don’t explode on day one. It takes time to build momentum and refine your approach.

Conclusion

Teaching online can be a great way to make money online, whether as a full-time job or as a side source of income. I’ve discussed the different routes online teaching can take you down and explained the benefits and pitfalls you’ll face along the way for each of them.

Before a student attends your first lesson, you must decide which approach to teaching online suits you best. Ascertain whether you prefer the complete control of offering courses on your WordPress website, the convenience of a teaching platform, or the wide reach of an online course marketplace.

For maximum control and long-term business building, WordPress with an LMS plugin like LearnDash is worth considering. For easier setup, platforms like Teachable work well. Marketplaces like Udemy can generate students but come with tradeoffs on pricing and student relationships.

With that in mind, I hope you embark on a rewarding and successful journey of teaching online.

Frequently Asked Questions