How Long Does it Take to Create an Online Course (Studies + Estimates)

Anyone can create an online course if you set your mind to it, but the biggest hurdle is – TIME , or rather the uncertainty of “how long it takes to develop a new online course“.

Typically, online course development can take from 3 days to 12 months for a course creator to make an online course assuming you are working on it 5 days a week doing at least 5 hours of work each day.

Not sure if you know about this, but the online course market have been growing 20% per year and is expected to worth $848.12 Billion in 2030.

Early bird catch the worm…so don’t let this chance slip away!

Let’s take a look at how long you can expect to take to create a course, by looking at each step of the course creation process.

How Much Time Take to Develop Each Course Creation Process

When embarking on creating an online course, it’s crucial to understand the steps involved and the corresponding time commitments.

The time taken can vary considerably from just a few hours to several weeks or months, depending on multiple factors including experience, course complexity, content type, and more.

Let’s break down these steps one by one.

1. Research and Planning For Your Online Course

Before you dive into creating your course, allocate time for meticulous research and planning.

Whether you aim to design a mini-course or a full-fledged program, expect to invest one to five days in this phase. 

Optimize your efforts to validate online course demand and ensure that the content resonates with your intended audience.

And if you are reusing your course material or any other forms of material, this will just cut your research and planning to 0 hours since it is already been done!

2. Preparing Your Course Outline

With research in hand, drafting an outline for your course content is your next leap.

Many course creator try to skip this step and go straight to course creation, it is a BIG mistake.

Skipping this step will not only make you spend more time to create your course, but make it harder to visualized how your course will look like when you’ve completed creating it.

• Course outline gives you an idea what should be in each module or sections of your course.
• Course outline gives you an idea what should be in each lessons of your course.
• Course outline let you arrange the order of your course and make your course flows logically.

With your outline you can create your course structure that gives you an idea of how the learning process is organized, including the schedule, communication modes, types of activities, and assessments.

• Building your courses towards increasing complexity, 
• Starting with component pieces and working towards synthesis and integration.

3. Creating Course Content

Time it takes you to make the course content depends largely on the type of course you are actually creating.

Creating course content can take from a few hours to months of consistent effort, it encompasses task such as,

• Developing slides
• Writing scripts
• Creating quiz and assignments
• Creating course resources
• Any other additional course materials. 

The complexity of your subject and the richness of the content you want to provide will directly impact the time spent here, thus the time it take to create a course can vary widely.

4. Filming Course Videos

Depending on what types of video course you are creating, filming can be done in various ways,

• Talking heads, where you film yourself talking to the camera.
• Screen recording, where you film you screen and show how you do each steps.
• Animation or whiteboarding, where you create visuals that help illustrate your points.

Each will influence how long to produce the video for your course. 

The actual filming process can range from simple directly to camera sessions to dynamic multi-angle shoots creating your A-roll and B-roll.

Not all time shot in a video is used, the shooting ratio varies greatly.

• A low-budget film may have a 1:4 shooting ratio
• A high-budget film may have a 1:50 to 1:100 shooting ratio

For an online course video, the shot ratio is closer to a low-budget film which can have a shooting ratio of 1:3 to 1:6.

For whiteboard or animation videos which you see on my YouTube channel, it takes me an average of 2 to 4 hours just to create a 10 minutes animation video, which the “shooting ratio” is calculated to be 1:12 to 1:24.

With that, just sub in your estimated length of time for your online course and calculate your estimated time it take to film your online course video.

Formula For Calculating How Much Time To Film Course Video

Time to Film Course Video = Estimated Length of Course Video x Shooting Ratio

• Talking heads or screen recording have an average shooting ratio of 1:3 to 1:6
• Whiteboard or animated videos have an average shooting ratio of 1:12 to 1:24

With that we can easily estimate how much time we need to film our video for the course.

5. Editing Course Videos

Editing is critical for professional, polished course videos.

While for professional movies it takes 30 minutes just to edit 1 minute of video, you don’t need to do such heavy editing for online course video.

Anticipate this step taking twice as long as the filming itself, allowing time to overlay graphics, correct errors, or even add animations and adjusting the audio.

Ratio of “length of video” to “time required to edit” is 1:2.

6. Publishing and Launching An Online Course

Congratulations! You’ve spend hours and weeks of hard work creating your first course. I know the journey wasn’t easy, but don’t be hasty and just choose any course platform and click the publish button yet.

You’ll need to know which type of platform you’ll use to host your course and deliver your online course to your audience.

• Standalone Course Platforms (or All-In-One Online Course Platform)
• Self-Hosted Course Solutions
• Online Course Marketplace

Of these options, I personally prefer standalone course platforms.

If you are not a techie and want full control of your online course business, choosing a Standalone Course Platforms makes the most sense.

• No technical skills required
• No need to think about platform maintenance
• Access to course creation tools
• Access to course marketing tools
• Focus on course creation and let the platform handle the rest

Once editing is complete, you’ll need to upload your videos to the course platform of your choice, test all functionalities, and prepare for launch.

Here is some handpicked suggestion that you may want to get started,

• Top all-in-one online course platforms for both new and experienced course creators
• Best online course App as an online course creator
• Course platforms with certification features for your students

And before I forget, remember to create a launch plan before you publish your online course!

Pre-sell your course, make your course known and promote your course to everyone you know!

7. Marketing An Online Course

Regardless how amazing your online course, you’ll need to promote your online course and spend some time to create an effective marketing campaign.

Get started by spending time learning about the best ways to market your course, shape your marketing strategy, and creating promotional materials.

How Long Does It Take To Create An Online Course According to Course Types?

Let’s take a look at how much time you’ll need to take for the different steps to creating an online course.

Mini Course

A mini course is a small and focused program that can be assembled relatively quickly—often just a 1 to 3 days.

Mini Course Timeline Breakdown

• Research & Planning: 0 to 4 hours (0 hours if we are reusing material)
• Course Outline: 1 to 2 hours
• Preparing Course Content: 0 to 5 hours (0 hours if we are reusing material)
• Filming and Recording: 3 hours
• Video Editing: 6 hours
• Publishing: 1 to 2 hours
• Marketing: Ongoing

Total Time: Approx. 3 days, something which you can create over a weekend

These course are often priced at around $20 to $50, or sometimes given free.

Ideal for a condensed topic, these courses serve as excellent lead magnets or introductory offerings to your broader content.

Niche Course

A niche course, it is more comprehensive course than mini course, it focus on talking in-depth about a certain sub-topic, introducing a set of skills or a group of concepts.

Niche Course Timeline Breakdown

• Research & Planning: 1 to 2 days
• Course Outline: 1 to 2 days
• Preparing Course Content: 1 to 2 weeks
• Filming and Recording: 3 days to 2 weeks
• Video Editing: 6 days to 4 weeks
• Publishing: 1 day
• Marketing: Ongoing

Total Time: Approx. 3 weeks if you are doing full-time

Typically, it can require a few weeks to a couple of months of dedication to cover all the necessary material thoroughly and provide substantive value to your students.

Often times, you can see these courses selling at around $50 to around the range of $500 per course.

Flagship Course

A flagship course, or sometimes called a Masterclass is the most intricate type and often encompasses a complete curriculum spanning multiple modules going in-depth about the whole topic.

Flagship Course Timeline Breakdown

• Research & Planning: Up to 5 days
• Course Outline: Up to 5 days
• Preparing Course Content: 2 to 4 weeks
• Filming and Recording: 2 to 8 weeks
• Video Editing: 4 to 16 weeks
• Publishing: 1 to 3 days
• Marketing: Ongoing

Total Time: Approx. 3 months to over a year if you are doing everything yourself without any other form of help.

These are comprehensive course that give you not only the basic concept of a certain topic, but the in-depth and advance knowledge on the topic as well. 

Such as “A Complete Guide of…”, “Masterclass on… That Brings You From a Beginner to Pro” etc.

Flagship courses are signature courses that can often be sold above $500 to over $3,000 for some flagship courses.

Time Take to Develop an Online Course: Mini Course, Niche Course & Flagship Course

Before you commit, balance your aspirations with realistic expectations of the time investment required for each type of course:

• Mini Course: 3 days
• Niche/Targeted Course: 3 weeks
• Flagship Course: 3 months

Your path may start with a simple mini course or you might leap straight toward developing a comprehensive program.

Whichever route you choose, align your course creation goals with the time you can commit to producing a quality, profitable online course.

Factors That Influence the Time it Takes to Create Your Online Course

As an online course creator, you’ll need to know that the time it takes to create your course depends on many factors such as,

• Types of course you want to create: Mini course, Niche course or Flagship course
• Size of your course: Short course of less than an hour, or long course that span over 20 hours
• Course topic: Course on a topic that is simple to understand even for layman, or a topic that requires in-depth research and understanding.
• Experience: New course creator will take longer to create a course and a seasoned creator will take less time due to the learning curve.
• Leveraging: Using old contents or other course materials to help create your online course.

All these factors influence how long it take to produce content for your course.

Effective Tips To Accelerate Online Course Creation

Creating an online course demands both time and dedication, but with strategic planning, following the best practices and using the right tools, you can significantly reduce the time it takes to bring your course to market. 

Let’s explore how you can create your course faster without sacrificing quality.

1. Understand Your Topic

Before you dive into creating your course, you need to have a thorough understanding of your topic.

Intensive research and a clear definition of your course’s objective will lay a strong foundation.

If you’re clear on what you teach, you can articulate it more efficiently and avoid rework.

2. Streamline Your Workflow

A clear, step-by-step workflow helps you avoid bottlenecks.

• Start with a detailed course outline to know exactly what you need to produce.
• Batch similar tasks to save time: write all your scripts at once, then move on to recording, and so on. 

The more organized your process, the quicker you’ll complete your course.

3. Invest in Quality Tools

Quality tools can make a significant difference.

Whether it’s reliable course creation software or a decent microphone, investing in the right tools from the get-go ensures a smoother creation process.

It’s worth every penny if it means saving you from the headache of troubleshooting later on.

4. Get Feedback Early

Don’t wait until your course is finished to seek feedback.

Early reviews can help you address issues before they compound, saving you time in the long run.

Use a small focus group to test your content—it’s a swift way to ensure your course resonates well with your audience.

5. Market While You Create

Lastly, start building buzz around your course as you develop it.

This approach not only aids in time management but also ensures a keen audience ready when you launch.

Sharing progress updates can hold you accountable and motivate you to take more action on your course creation.

So, “How Much Time It Takes to Create Your Course as an Course Creator” – Our Methodology

Using a bottom-up estimate approach that uses the phase-based work breakdown structure (WBS) of creating an online course, we are able to somewhat accurate estimate “how long does it take to create an online course”.

(Yup, I uses project management tools to help estimate the time required to create an online course).

For each of the different types of online course; mini course, niche course and flagship course, it is estimated it can take 3 days to 3 months to create your course.

• Mini Course: 3 days
• Niche/Targeted Course: 3 weeks
• Flagship Course: 3 months

Creating a course can take anywhere from 25 hours (approx. 3 days) to 500 hours (approx. 3 months) to get completed but it can vary widely depending on the complexity and topic of the course.

Time Take to Develop an Online Course: Survey Studies

According to a survey study, the findings align perfectly to our estimates on how long it takes to create an online course.

• < 1 Week: 3%
• 1 to 2 Weeks: 11%
• 2 to 4 Weeks: 24%
• 4 to 8 Weeks: 23%
• 8 to 12 Weeks: 16%
• 12 to 16 Weeks: 8%
• 16 to 24 Weeks: 5%
• >24 Weeks: 11%

58% course creators takes 2 to 12 weeks to create their online course, and of which 47% of course creator take 2 to 8 weeks to create their online course.

Let’s take a look at the graph below so that it can be made even more clear.

So, are you ready to create your next online course?

By gaining insights on time required to create east types of only course, it gives your the added advantage of making informed decision on your next step in building your online course business.

And since, you are on this topic, you maybe interested in these article as well:

• How much do online course creator actually earn?
• Pricing your online course according to science and psychology
• Best time and day to launch your online course according to studies

Let’s get started creating your online course now!

Quiz: What Course Creator are You?

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Antony C.

Founder & Financial Writer at Income Buddies | Website | Posts by Author

Antony C. is a dividend investor with over 15+ years of investing experience. He’s also the book author of “Start Small, Dream Big“, certified PMP® holder and founder of IncomeBuddies.com (IB). At IB, he share his personal journey and expertise on growing passive income through dividend investing and building online business. Antony has been featured in global news outlet including Yahoo Finance, Nasdaq and Non Fiction Author Association (NFAA).

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