How To Build an Online Course-Based Website Like Coursera

How To Build an Online Course-Based Website Like Coursera
5 min read
30 September 2022

What is Coursera?

Coursera is a US-based online learning platform founded by two Stanford University computer science professors, Andrew Ng and Daphne Koller in 2012. Coursera partners with experts from 275+ leading universities and companies to provide affordable, flexible, and job-relevant online courses to learners worldwide.

The platform provides courses in various subjects such as business, engineering, computer technology, social science, medicine, and many more. Coursera offers certificate as well as bachelor’s and master’s degree programs on their website. The courses consist of video lectures which are free to watch, however, learners need to pay for certifications.

Universities and organizations partner with Coursera to build a stronger global reputation and increase student capacity without increasing infrastructure costs. Also, the enterprises partner with Coursera to upskill and train their employees for in-demand skills.

How Does Coursera Work: 

Coursera’s courses consist of pre-recorded video lectures by professors of reputed universities and companies, that learners can watch when it is convenient for them. Learners easily enrol in the courses by signing up on the platform.

Additionally, the platform has student discussion forums for doubt resolution and provides regular assignments to check the progress of the learners. Coursera conducts quizzes and exams before awarding certificates and degrees to its learners to maintain the authenticity of the courses.

What is Coursera’s Revenue Model?

Coursera operates on a freemium business model, allowing students to take courses for free while charging them if they seek accreditation such as certificates or degrees. The platform also partners with hundreds of organizations, institutions, and universities to deliver content to learners worldwide. Furthermore, this platform charges a subscription fee to businesses and organizations that want to access the site’s content. 

Learners who want to enrol in a specialized course also need to pay monthly or yearly subscription fees. 

Success Story Of Coursera: 

This startup when launched in 2012 and raised an initial $16 million funding round backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and New Enterprise Associates. Initially, Coursera offered free access to learners for all the courses. However, when the company hired former Yale president Rick Levin, it started charging for course completion certificates. In 2017, Jeff Maggioncalda become the CEO of the company and helped  Coursera reach heights of success. 

He put the company on a growth trajectory and expanded all around the world. Under his leadership, Coursera’s consumer business grew and generated the largest share of its revenue. This platform became so popular that it started delivering courses to help upskill employees at companies like Novartis and Adobe. Coursera is expanding tremendously overseas and it has 77 million learners from 190 countries. 

Total Funding: $457.9 Million
Revenue: In quarter one of 2022, Coursera’s revenue grew to $120.4M, compared to $88.4 million a year ago and $115 million in quarter four of 2021.

Features Required To Build a Similar Website Like Coursera:

The success of an online learning platform depends largely on its core features. To develop a platform like Coursera, the features can be divided into three segments- Admin Features, Tutor features, and Learner features. 

Admin Features:

  • Manage Courses
  • Manage Course Approvals
  • Manage Refund requests
  • Manage Course Certificate
  • Manage Course Languages
  • Manage Course Categories
  • Manage Users (teachers/learners) and User Profiles
  • Manage Issues Reported by Learners
  • Manage Offers/Promo Codes
  • Manage Videos/Tutorial Videos
  • Manage Settings
  • Manage Bulk Lesson Packages
  • Manage Content Pages like About, Term of use, Privacy policy, Guidelines, FAQ, etc. 

Tutor Features:

  • Easy sign-up process
  • Tutor Panel
  • Course Creation
  • Course Resources
  • Workspace to share files related to the course
  • Teaching Tutorials
  • Reports
  • Certificate Management

Learner Features:

  • Easy sign-up process
  • Course Search, and Category
  • Filters are based on various criteria such as language, topic, categories, price, and more
  • Course Enrollment
  • Course Recommendation
  • Course Progress Tracker
  • Avail Certification
  • Course Refund Policy
  • Course Notes
  •  Course Ratings
  • Retake Course

How To Build An Online Course-Based Website?

eLearning platforms are becoming extremely popular among learners because of their convenience and comfort. If you too wish to stand out among the existing players like Coursera, you need to build a platform that can deliver an outstanding experience to your users. Developing a unique and feature-rich online platform requires rigorous planning and effort.

Yo!Coach is one such ready-made solution that can help you build your course-based website without much hassle. The software allows tutors to add unlimited courses on the platform providing diverse categories of courses to learners.

In addition to this, the solution comes pre-integrated with popular communication APIs such as Lessonspace, Zoom, and AtomChat for seamless interaction. Yo!CoachPlus supports multiple payment options for seamless transactions on your platform. This solution provides clear and insightful reports to help you make better business decisions.

It is equipped with essential features to cater to the needs of your online course-based tutoring platform. In addition, this solution is 100% white-label and GDPR compliant. Yo!CoachPlus has helped several entrepreneurs in building their online businesses effortlessly and is eager to help budding entrepreneurs who are looking forward to entering this lucrative industry.

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Tushar 2
I am a Digital Marketing Enthusiast and E-commerce business consultant. I have expertise in branding and formulating marketing strategies for business. I ensure...
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