How to Create an Online Course to Sell on Shopify

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Identifying Your Profitable Course Topic
3. Planning a Curriculum That Delivers Results
4. Producing High-Quality Course Content
5. Why Native Integration is the Key to Scaling
6. Setting Up Your Course on Shopify with Tevello
7. Pricing Strategies for Maximum Revenue
8. Marketing Your Course to Your Target Audience
9. Managing the Growth of Your Education Business
10. Case Study: The Power of Native Shopify Courses
11. Advanced Strategies for Course Creators
12. Building a Community for Retention
13. Conclusion
14. FAQ

Introduction

Did you know that the global e-learning market is projected to soar past $400 billion by 2026? We are currently witnessing a massive shift in the creator economy where knowledge is no longer just power—it is a high-margin, scalable product. For many Shopify merchants, the traditional model of shipping physical goods often comes with the headaches of inventory management, rising shipping costs, and supply chain disruptions. However, by learning how to create an online course to sell, you can transform your expertise into a digital asset that generates recurring revenue without ever needing a warehouse.

The purpose of this guide is to walk you through the entire journey of course creation—from validating your initial idea to launching a professional storefront on Shopify. We will cover how to structure your curriculum, produce high-quality content, and implement pricing strategies that maximize your profit margins. We believe that merchants should have full control over their brand and customer data, which is why we focus on building these education businesses directly within the ecosystem you already own.

The thesis of this post is simple: by integrating a robust learning management system natively into your Shopify store, you can bridge the gap between physical products and digital education, creating a seamless experience that increases customer lifetime value and builds lasting brand loyalty.

Identifying Your Profitable Course Topic

The first step in learning how to create an online course to sell is identifying what you are uniquely qualified to teach. You don't need a PhD to be a successful instructor; you simply need to be a few steps ahead of your audience and have a proven method for solving a specific problem.

Solve a Recurring Problem

Look at your current customer support tickets or social media comments. What questions do people ask you repeatedly? For a merchant selling coffee beans, creating a 'Barista Basics' video course is a high-margin upsell that requires no shipping boxes. This course solves the customer's problem of not knowing how to use their new equipment, while simultaneously positioning the merchant as an expert.

Validate Through Data

Before filming a single minute of video, you must validate that people are willing to pay for your knowledge. Use tools like Google Trends or keyword research to see what people are searching for in your niche. If you already have a Shopify store, run a simple "Coming Soon" landing page or an email survey to your existing list. Seeing interest beforehand prevents you from spending weeks on a product that doesn't have a market.

Analyze the Competition

Look at third-party marketplaces to see what is already selling. Don't be discouraged by competition; high competition usually signals high demand. Your goal is to find a unique angle. If everyone is teaching "General Yoga," perhaps you can teach "Yoga for Remote Workers with Back Pain." By narrowing your niche, you make your marketing more effective and your course more valuable to a specific group of people.

Planning a Curriculum That Delivers Results

A great course isn't just a collection of videos; it’s a transformation. Your students are paying to go from Point A (a problem) to Point B (a result).

Defining Learning Objectives

Start with the end in mind. What is the one thing your student will be able to do after finishing your course? Once you have that goal, work backward to identify the milestones they need to hit. These milestones will become your modules. For example, in a course about sustainable gardening, your modules might be:

1. Soil Preparation
2. Seed Selection
3. Pest Management
4. Harvesting Techniques

Structuring for Success

Keep your lessons bite-sized. Research shows that student engagement drops significantly after 10 to 15 minutes of video. Aim for 5-minute to 7-minute lessons that focus on one specific concept. This makes the content feel achievable and allows students to learn in the small gaps of their busy days.

Incorporating Interactive Elements

To ensure your students actually learn, include downloadable resources like worksheets, checklists, or templates. We find that all the key features for courses and communities allow merchants to add these resources directly into the lesson structure, making the learning experience much more tactile than just watching a screen.

Producing High-Quality Course Content

You don't need a Hollywood studio to create a professional-looking course, but you do need to get the basics right: audio, lighting, and stability.

Prioritize Audio Quality

People will forgive "okay" video, but they will not tolerate bad audio. If you are recording on a laptop or smartphone, the built-in microphone is usually insufficient. Invest in a simple USB condenser microphone or a lapel mic. Clear audio ensures your message is delivered without distraction, which is vital for maintaining professional authority.

Lighting and Background

Natural light is your best friend. Position yourself facing a window so the light hits your face evenly. If you’re recording at night, a simple ring light or two desk lamps with diffusers can work wonders. Keep your background clean and clutter-free to ensure the focus remains on you and your teaching material.

Screen Recording and Editing

If you are teaching a software or a digital skill, screen recording software is essential. Show your face in the corner of the screen while you demonstrate; this builds a human connection with your students. For editing, keep it simple. Cut out the long pauses and the "ums" and "ahs," but don't feel the need for flashy transitions. The value is in your content, not your special effects.

Why Native Integration is the Key to Scaling

One of the biggest mistakes new course creators make is sending their hard-earned traffic to a third-party marketplace or a separate sub-domain on a different platform. When you do this, you lose control of the customer journey.

Keeping the Brand Experience Consistent

At Tevello, our mission is to "turn any Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse." We believe that when a customer buys a course from you, they should stay on your website. Redirecting them to a third-party site creates friction and breaks the trust you’ve built. By keeping customers at home on the brand website, you ensure that the fonts, colors, and overall "vibe" remain consistent from the moment they land on your homepage to the moment they finish their final lesson.

Owning Your Data

When you use a marketplace, they often own the relationship with the student. They might even market your competitors' courses to your students. By selling natively on Shopify, you own the email addresses, the purchase history, and the customer data. This allows you to create highly targeted marketing campaigns. For instance, you could see how one brand sold $112K+ by bundling courses with physical products, a strategy that is only possible when your entire business lives in one place.

Simplifying the Tech Stack

Managing multiple logins is a nightmare for both you and your students. A native Shopify integration means your customers use the same account to buy a t-shirt as they do to access their premium video content. This reduces support tickets and increases user satisfaction. If unifying your stack is a priority, start by a simple, all-in-one price for unlimited courses.

Setting Up Your Course on Shopify with Tevello

Once your content is ready, it’s time to build the digital infrastructure. We designed Tevello to be a robust tool that amplifies a merchant's existing efforts without requiring a degree in computer science.

Step 1: Install and Connect

The process begins by installing Tevello from the Shopify App Store today. Because it is built specifically for Shopify, the installation is seamless. You won't have to worry about complex API integrations or broken links between your store and your course player.

Step 2: Build Your Curriculum

In the Tevello dashboard, you can start creating your modules and lessons. You can upload your videos directly or embed them from hosting services. We provide unlimited video hosting and bandwidth on our main plan, so you never have to worry about your site slowing down as your student base grows.

Step 3: Configure Drip Content and Quizzes

You might not want your students to binge-watch the entire course in one day. Drip scheduling allows you to release content over time (e.g., one module per week). This keeps students engaged for longer and prevents them from feeling overwhelmed. You can also add quizzes to test their knowledge, ensuring they are actually absorbing the material before moving on.

Step 4: Launch and Test

Before you go live, use the 14-day free trial to build out your entire curriculum. You can view the course from the student's perspective to ensure every link works and every video plays smoothly. We recommend inviting a few "beta testers" to go through the course for free in exchange for feedback and testimonials.

Pricing Strategies for Maximum Revenue

Pricing is often the hardest part of the process. Should you charge $20 or $2,000? The answer depends on the value of the transformation you are providing.

Tiered Pricing and Bundles

Instead of just one price, offer tiers. A basic tier might include just the videos, while a "Gold" tier could include a 30-minute coaching call or a physical starter kit. This is a powerful way of generating revenue from both physical and digital goods. By combining the two, you increase the perceived value and can justify a higher price point.

The Membership Model

If you plan on adding new content every month, a membership model might be better than a one-time fee. This provides recurring revenue stability, which is the holy grail of e-commerce. You can easily manage these recurring payments through Shopify’s existing billing systems while avoiding per-user fees as the community scales by using a flat-rate app structure.

High-Ticket Upsells

Your online course can serve as a "lead magnet" or a middle-of-the-funnel product for even higher-priced services. For a photography equipment store, a €50 course on "Lighting Mastery" is excellent, but it can also lead to generating over €243,000 by upselling existing customers into high-end workshops or professional gear packages.

Marketing Your Course to Your Target Audience

You've built it, but will they come? Marketing an online course requires a blend of education and persuasion.

Leverage Your Existing Traffic

If you already have a Shopify store, you have a massive advantage. You can use product pages to cross-sell your courses. If someone is buying a sourdough starter kit, show them a "Recommended" pop-up for your "Sourdough Bread Mastery" course. This strategy is highly effective at driving 50% of sales from repeat course purchasers.

Content Marketing and SEO

Write blog posts (like this one!) that answer the questions your potential students are asking. By providing free value upfront, you build authority. At the end of every post, include a call to action to join a free webinar or download a "Course Syllabus." This builds your email list, which is your most valuable asset for a launch.

Social Proof and Community

Nothing sells a course better than a happy student. Encourage your members to share their progress on social media and feature their testimonials prominently on your sales page. You can also build a community within your course using profiles and member directories. When students feel like they are part of a group, they are much more likely to complete the course and recommend it to others.

Managing the Growth of Your Education Business

As your course gains traction, your focus will shift from creation to management and optimization.

Monitoring Student Progress

Use the analytics provided by your platform to see where students are dropping off. If 80% of students stop watching at Module 3, it’s a sign that the content there might be too difficult or boring. Use this data to refine your lessons and improve the completion rate. Higher completion rates lead to better testimonials, which lead to more sales.

Transparent and Predictable Costs

As your student count goes from 10 to 1,000, you don't want your software costs to eat up your profits. Many platforms charge "success fees" or a percentage of your sales. We believe you should keep 100% of what you earn. That’s why we offer predictable pricing without hidden transaction fees. Whether you have 100 students or 10,000, your cost remains the same.

Scaling with the Unlimited Plan

When you are serious about scaling, you need a plan that doesn't limit your creativity. Our Unlimited Plan: $29.99 per month is designed for merchants who want to build a "digital learning powerhouse" without worrying about caps on courses, students, or bandwidth. This allows you to experiment with new course ideas frequently to see what resonates best with your audience.

Case Study: The Power of Native Shopify Courses

Let’s look at how these strategies play out in the real world. Imagine a merchant who specializes in high-end woodworking tools. Initially, they only sold saws, planes, and chisels. While their products were top-tier, they struggled with a high "one-and-done" purchase rate.

By reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from, they discovered they could easily add a "Master the Dovetail Join" video course.

1. The Bundle: They offered the course for free with the purchase of a specific $200 chisel set.
2. The Result: Conversion rates on the chisel set increased by 30% because the customer felt they were getting a "complete solution," not just a tool.
3. The Upsell: Once students finished the dovetail course, they were automatically sent an email sequence for an "Advanced Furniture Making" subscription.
4. The Long-term Impact: This merchant was strategies for selling over 4,000 digital courses natively within their first year, creating a new, high-margin revenue stream that required zero additional shipping or inventory costs.

This is the power of diversifying your revenue streams. It’s not just about the money from the course; it’s about the brand loyalty and the increased customer lifetime value (LTV) that comes from being a teacher, not just a seller.

Advanced Strategies for Course Creators

Once you have mastered the basics of how to create an online course to sell, you can begin exploring advanced features to further distinguish your brand.

Hybrid Learning Experiences

Consider offering "Live Q&A" sessions alongside your recorded content. This adds a level of personalization that justifies a higher price point. You can host these sessions via integrated tools and link them directly within your Shopify member area.

Strategic Use of Quizzes

Quizzes shouldn't just be at the end of a course. Use them at the beginning to help students identify their current skill level and "jump" to the module that is most relevant to them. This personalized learning path is a major selling point for busy professionals who don't want to sit through content they already know.

Global Reach with Localized Payments

By seeing how the app natively integrates with Shopify, you can leverage Shopify’s world-class payment gateways. This means your students can pay in their local currency using methods they already trust, like Shop Pay, Apple Pay, or local credit cards. This eliminates the "trust gap" that often occurs when a customer is redirected to a random checkout page they don't recognize.

Building a Community for Retention

The most successful online courses are those that foster a sense of belonging. When students can interact with each other, they stay in your ecosystem longer.

Member Directories and Social Feeds

Allowing students to create profiles and see who else is in the course turns a solitary learning experience into a social one. This is especially powerful for niche hobbies or professional development where networking is just as valuable as the lessons themselves.

Engagement Strategies

As the instructor, your presence in the community is vital. Set aside an hour a week to answer questions in the community feed or highlight a "Student of the Week." These small touches build massive brand loyalty and turn students into brand advocates who will do your marketing for you.

Conclusion

Learning how to create an online course to sell is one of the most effective ways to grow your Shopify business in today's economy. It allows you to move beyond the limitations of physical inventory, increase your profit margins, and build a deeper relationship with your customers. By following the steps outlined in this guide—validating your topic, planning a result-oriented curriculum, and choosing a native integration—you can turn your expertise into a sustainable and scalable income stream.

At Tevello, we are committed to providing you with a flat-rate plan that supports unlimited members, ensuring that as you grow, your software stays out of your way. We believe in transparency, which is why we charge 0% transaction fees. You keep 100% of your earnings, and your customers stay exactly where they belong: on your store.

To build your community without leaving Shopify, start by reviewing the Shopify App Store listing merchants install from.

You can start your 14-day free trial and build your first course now, giving you the freedom to perfect your curriculum before ever paying a cent. Don't let your knowledge sit idle—turn your Shopify store into a digital learning powerhouse today.

FAQ

1. Do I need to be a tech expert to sell courses on Shopify?

No. By using a native Shopify app like Tevello, the technical heavy lifting is done for you. If you can navigate the Shopify admin panel, you can build an online course. Our platform is designed to be intuitive, allowing you to focus on your content while we handle the video hosting, member access, and curriculum structure.

2. How much does it cost to start selling courses with Tevello?

We believe in simple, transparent pricing. Our Unlimited Plan is $29.99 per month. This includes unlimited courses, unlimited students, and unlimited video hosting. Most importantly, we charge 0% transaction fees, meaning you don't lose a piece of every sale to us. You can begin with a 14-day free trial to get everything set up.

3. Can I sell both physical products and digital courses together?

Yes! This is the primary advantage of using a native Shopify integration. You can bundle a digital course with a physical product (e.g., a "How to Knit" course with a yarn kit) or offer the course as a post-purchase upsell. Because everything is in one store, the checkout process is seamless for the customer.

4. Is my content secure if I host it on Shopify?

Absolutely. When you use Tevello, your content is protected behind a login wall that is integrated with your Shopify customer accounts. Only customers who have purchased the course or been granted access by you can view the videos and resources. This ensures your intellectual property remains secure while providing a professional experience for your students.