How to Create a Profitable Online Course Sales Page

Did you create your own online course, and now you’re wondering about how you can convince people to buy it with a high-converting online course sales page?

Your sales page is not just where your members will register and pay for your online course. You’ll also need to use it to convince your visitors that your content and expertise will positively impact their lives. Because your sales page is the gateway to your course, it’s important to optimize it as much as possible so you can help people and make the most money.

In this article, we’ll share a few fundamental principles that all high-converting course sales pages have in common. If you follow these practices, you’ll build a page that consistently converts visitors into customers.

1. Create a Dedicated Landing Page

Your online course sales page should have a dedicated landing page hosted on your domain. The primary purpose of the landing page should be centered around selling the course. You should remove anything that doesn’t relate to the course or help convince your visitors that it’s the solution to their problem.

Also, be sure you don’t link to any other page on your site and that the “Buy Now” button is the highlight of the page.

Remember, a dedicated landing page ensures high conversions because it completely eliminates unnecessary friction that would likely send your visitors away. The biggest culprits are elements like headers and footers, regardless of the WordPress theme you use.

Luckily, if you’re not sure how to get started with a landing page for your online course, you can create one effortlessly using WP Simple Pay. The best Stripe payments plugin for WordPress offers an advanced drag-and-drop payment form builder that lets you create on-site payment forms in minutes.

The best part? You can design a dedicated landing page that hosts your checkout forms directly from the form builder without coding. The plugin even lets you choose a color scheme and add your logo to your landing page. You also have two options: have your form open up in an overlay modal or have it embedded directly into the page.

To learn more, see our detailed guide on how to create a Stripe payments landing page in WordPress.

A few additional features of WP Simple Pay include:

• Multiple Payment Methods: Offer your customers a preferred way to pay to increase conversions, including credit and debit cards, digital wallets (Apple Pay / Google Pay / Microsoft Pay), ACH Direct Debit, Alipay, Cash App Pay, and more.
• Per-form Email Notifications: Send your members personalized payment confirmation emails with the required next steps for your online course.
• Subscriptions: Allow your members to opt-in to automatic recurring payments for your weekly, monthly, or yearly course offerings.
• And more…

2. Optimize Your Sales Page Content

The body copy of your course sales page is where you can show your potential members that you understand their problems and that you possess the right solution for them. It should spotlight how your customers will benefit from your course, whether it’s to improve their leadership skills, enhance a skill they need for their particular industry, or perhaps even just learn a new hobby.

Here is a simple but powerful copywriting framework to guide you:

• Problem: Start by acknowledging their problem. Show them you understand how painful it can be. Include your own story and emotional language.
• Agitate: Expand on their problem by letting them know how much worse it can get. What happens if their pains are left untreated? How much will it hurt in the future?
• Solve: Once the customer is fretting over their situation and anxious about the future, explain how your course will give them the skills they need to avoid or eliminate the problem.

Your copy should be direct and to the point. Even your headline should clearly lay out the benefits of your course without getting too witty. You can take it a step further and include a subtitle that expands on the title.

To help you get started, we’ve created a guide: Ultimate Landing Page Optimization Checklist: 7 Steps to Better Content.

3. Make Your Content Easy to Scan

You may have a lot of information that you’ll feel tempted to share on your course sales page, but it’s important to lay out your content in a way that’s easy to scan and consume quickly.

You’ll want to focus on the benefits of your course and understand that your potential members won’t spend a lot of time reading thousands of words in heavy paragraphs. They want an easy reading experience and the ability to find answers to their questions in seconds.

In fact, the average online user only stays on a specific web page for about 15 seconds and takes in about 20% of the page’s content. This doesn’t leave you with a lot of time to grab their attention and get them to click on your “Buy Now” button.

You can create easy-to-consume content by using lots of headings, subheadings, lists, and paragraph breaks. You should also implement icons to indicate important points and images wherever they add value to the content but don’t include pointless stock photos.

Additionally, your copy should include smart SEO to ensure that you’re catering to the search results of your potential members.

Do some keyword research and incorporate the top results into your title and meta description.

4. Show Testimonials, Case Studies, & Social Proof

Your customers won’t buy your course just because they like taking courses. They buy it because they expect the course to lead them to something better.

It’s important to help your customers see exactly what they will get by showing them the results other people have received from your course. This is far more impactful than simply telling them what to expect.

There are several easy ways you can add testimonials from your members to your page, but the key is to use their words rather than your own. They can come from many different sources, including Twitter, emails, and blog comments. You can use screenshots wherever possible to drive home authenticity. Prioritize testimonials that reference the benefits of the course. For example, “I love this course!” is fine; however, “This course helped me get a job in two weeks!” is far better.

When it comes to building trust in your personal brand and your course, social proof is one of the best ways to get people to feel comfortable about making an investment in your course and, therefore, their futures. You’ll want to use a social proof tool that lets you easily automate posts on your site as well as your social media platforms after a new member has purchased your course. People want to see that others trust you, too.

As consumers, we always use social proof to help us make smart buying decisions. We look at Google Reviews before trying a new restaurant and Amazon Reviews before making a purchase. We also solicit recommendations from our friends before hiring a contractor and choosing a new dentist.

You can address this need for your online course by adding social proof right on the course sales page.

WP Simple Pay not only lets you accept online course membership payments and set up convenient subscription plans for members but also allows you to create automation for recent sale notifications to boost your social proof.

Through the plugin’s powerful integration with Zapier + TrustPulse, you can ensure that every time a new member signs up for your course, it gets posted for your visitors to see.

Automation for Social Proof

Here are some guides to help you learn how to create automatic recent sale notification popups for your site and posts on your Facebook Business page.

• How to Create Recent Sale Notification Popups in WordPress
• How to Automate Social Proof Posts on Facebook Pages in WordPress

5. Lay Out Exactly What Buyers Will Learn

Once you’ve laid out the benefits of your course, it’s time to describe the features. For a digital product like an online course, you’ll want to show your potential customers what they’ll learn and how they can use that knowledge to advance in their field.

You can do this by showing off a list of your course’s individual modules or lessons. This shows them exactly what they’ll learn and when. It’s also helpful to show estimated times for each lesson so customers know exactly what they’re committing to.

If you have additional materials (like videos, worksheets, or quizzes), list those out too. You want the customer to be amazed at how much stuff they get.

6. Use Trust Badges to Show Off Your Credentials

Courses – and all information products – rely on your expertise. You’re selling your knowledge, insights, and experience. If you want your customers to buy what you’re selling, you must convince them you know what you’re talking about.

Spend some time talking about yourself. Make sure to include…

• Your professional credentials (schooling, employment, degrees, certifications).
• Where and how did you learn this information?
• What kind of results have you achieved with the information?
• Have you been honored with any awards?

For more information, check out our step-by-step guide on how to use trust badges and security seals to boost sales.

7. Address Your Customers’ Objections

Even if your customers understand your course’s value, trust your credentials, and feel compelled by your great testimonials, they may still have concerns or problems that keep them from buying your course. You’ll want to address these objections right on the page to bring them closer to clicking on the “Buy Now” button.

The easiest way to do this is by including a section of frequently asked questions. Simply write out the questions your customers may ask and supply answers. It doesn’t matter if anyone has actually asked any of these questions.

What are some questions your customers might ask?

• How long will I have access to this content?
• Will someone notify me if the content is updated?
• How do I get my money back if I don’t like it?
• How long will it take to get through the whole course?
• Will the creator be available to answer questions?

8. Offer a Money-Back Guarantee For Your Course

A money-back guarantee is essentially a refund policy. In most cases, course creators offer to refund a customer’s money if they aren’t happy for any reason. This is a powerful way to create trust.

If the idea of a refund makes you nervous, you aren’t alone. What stops someone from buying your digital product and returning it because they “didn’t like it.” Frankly, nothing and that will happen to a small degree.

Fortunately, most people don’t operate that way. Most membership courses have a reasonable return rate. If many people use the money-back guarantee, it’s usually due to a legitimate reason. Just make sure to state any conditions and your time frame.

It’s a good idea to have a clear return and refund policy clearly outlined somewhere on your sales page or your payment form.

Check out our guide to get started: How to Avoid Payment Disputes With a Return and Refund Policy.

9. Use a Simple and Pain-Free Payment Form

Once your customers decide to purchase your course, it’s important to clear their path of any obstacles to paying. This means using a simple and fast payment form that doesn’t introduce any additional friction.

With WP Simple Pay, you can easily create the right payment forms for online courses. The plugin offers several payment form templates you can use to customize your form fields, accept multiple payment method options, and keep your visitors on your site during the entire checkout process. You don’t need a complicated eCommerce solution or shopping cart because it’s a standalone plugin.

You can also offer coupon codes, and free trial offers for subscriptions, which are great for marketing your course. You can create as many course payment forms as you want and easily add them to your sales pages.

That’s it! We hope this article has helped you learn how to create unique and profitable online course sales pages for your WordPress site.

If you liked this article, you might also want to check out our guide on how to start your own customer loyalty program.

What are you waiting for? Get started with WP Simple Pay today!

To read more articles like this, follow us on Twitter.