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The Top Tools Every Course Creator Needs
Knowledge is power, and in today’s rapidly changing world, every individual has to continuously update his or her knowledge to stay relevant. Additionally, people are exploring new hobbies and interests to expand their horizons. As a result, the demand for courses has increased in the last few years.
At the same time, the number of courses available today has also increased to keep up with the demand. What this means is that your courses must not only be comprehensive but they must also be well-organized and visually appealing to your learners. It also helps to have features like tracking progress, paid content, and mobile optimization.
To create such top-notch courses, you need a suite of tools, ranging from a course creator to a video and image editor. In this article, let’s explore the different tool categories you need along with the best brand under each category.
Table of Contents
Course Platforms - Where to Host and Sell Your Course
The first major decision when creating a course is choosing the right platform to host and sell it. The platform you select should support everything from course content management to payment processing and marketing. Moreover, your selected platform must be intuitive to use and provide a good and comfortable learning experience for your students, regardless of their technical prowess.
Based on the above aspects, here are three platforms that we think are comprehensive.
Kartra
Kartra is an all-in-one platform perfect for course creators who want to simplify their creation and hosting process without compromising on user learning and experience. Along with course hosting, Kartra also offers a built-in sales funnel, email marketing, membership sites, and analytics. It’s optimized for mobile devices and comes with well-designed templates. Overall, Kartra is designed to help creators manage every aspect of their online business, from landing pages to customer support.
Key Features
The key features of Kartra are:
- Course hosting and membership portal
- Email marketing automation
- Integrated sales funnel builder
- Drag and drop builder.
- Mobile optimization
- Affiliate management tools
- Built-in helpdesk and customer support
In general, Kartra is ideal for creators who prefer an all-in-one solution without the need to integrate third-party tools. With its robust features, you can focus on course creation while Kartra handles the backend operations.
Kajabi
Kajabi is another powerhouse in the course creation world. It is a fully integrated platform known for its user-friendly design and ability to streamline the course creation process. Like Kartra, Kajabi also comes with extensive features that enable you to create and sell courses, membership sites, and coaching programs, all while providing marketing and email automation tools.
Key Features
Kajabi’s notable features are:
- Course hosting with customizable templates
- Email marketing and automation
- Analytics dashboard to track progress
- Easy-to-use website builder
- Affiliate program management
Overall, Kajabi is particularly known for its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to build beautiful course sites without needing technical expertise.
Thinkific
Thinkific is another popular option, particularly if you’re just starting out. It offers a range of features for course creation and marketing. With Thinkific, you can create and sell your courses using custom landing pages and membership sites, and the platform offers flexible pricing models.
Key Features
Below are Thinkific’s prominent features.
- Course builder with quizzes and assignments
- Drip content and email automation
- Integration with tools like MailChimp and Zoom
- Membership and subscription options
Additionally, Thinkific has a free plan, making it a great choice for those on a tight budget or testing the waters of course creation.
Video Creation and Editing Tools - Bring Your Course to Life
Videos can bring your ideas to life, and this is why they are a key differentiator in today’s crowded content market. Many course creators use videos to explain a difficult concept and to drive audience interest. Since online courses rely heavily on video content, having the right tools for recording and editing is essential.
The following tools are widely used by successful course creators.
Camtasia
Camtasia is an all-in-one screen recorder and video editor that is ideal for creating educational videos. Whether you’re doing tutorials, screen recordings, or video lectures, Camtasia provides an intuitive interface with professional-grade features.
Key Features
- Screen recording and webcam integration
- Drag-and-drop video editor
- Built-in library of music and visuals
- Annotations and callouts for interactive videos
- Integration of quizzes within your videos
Overall, Camtasia’s friendly user interface and its advanced features make it a good choice for creating explanations and interactive videos.
Adobe Premiere Pro
For more advanced editing, Adobe Premiere Pro is the industry standard. It’s a professional-level video editing software used by content creators worldwide. If your course involves high-quality production, this tool can handle any complexity, from multi-camera editing to audio enhancements.
Key Features
- Advanced video editing and motion graphics
- Supports 4K and VR video
- Seamless integration with other Adobe Creative Cloud tools (like Photoshop and After Effects)
In all, Premiere Pro is ideal for those who are experienced with video editing or willing to invest time into learning.
Loom
For those looking to create quick, informal video content, Loom is a great solution. It allows you to record your screen and yourself at the same time, making it perfect for walkthroughs, tutorials, and quick explanations.
Key Features
- Simple one-click screen and webcam recording
- Instant cloud sharing
- Commenting and reactions to engage viewers
Loom’s simplicity and ease of use make it perfect for course creators who want to quickly record and share content without complex editing.
Image and Graphics Editing: Enhance Your Visuals
In addition to text and videos, high-quality visuals are another important medium to increase your course’s appeal. It makes your course look professional while helping learners to better understand what’s being taught. The following image editing tools help course creators design everything from logos to social media posts.
Canva
Canva is a user-friendly, web-based graphic design tool that makes creating visual content easy, even for beginners. With a wide range of templates, you can design course graphics, marketing materials, and social media posts in no time.
Key Features
- Drag-and-drop design tools
- Pre-made templates for presentations, social media, and more
- Free and premium stock images
- Collaboration features for teams
Canva is perfect for those who want to create visually stunning designs without needing a graphic design background.
Adobe Photoshop
For more advanced image editing, Adobe Photoshop remains the gold standard. This tool allows for more precise and detailed work on graphics, including photo editing, layer manipulation, and custom designs.
Key Features
- Professional-level photo editing
- Layer management for advanced composition
- Integration with other Adobe Creative Cloud tools
- Custom brushes and editing tools
With such advanced features, Photoshop is perfect for course creators who need high-quality visuals for their courses and marketing materials.
Email Marketing and Automation Tools to Keep Your Audience Engaged
Once your course is live, email marketing becomes one of the most effective ways to nurture leads and retain students. The following tools help automate and personalize your email campaigns.
ActiveCampaign
ActiveCampaign is an all-in-one marketing platform that combines email marketing, automation, CRM, and more. It helps course creators automate their email campaigns based on customer behavior, such as sending reminders or upselling additional courses.
Key Features
- Email automation and segmentation
- CRM integration for tracking customer interactions
- Sales funnel automation
- A/B testing and analytics
In all, ActiveCampaign’s robust automation makes it perfect for course creators looking to streamline their marketing efforts and scale their business.
ConvertKit
Designed specifically for creators, ConvertKit offers an easy-to-use email marketing solution. It allows you to build email sequences, segment your audience, and track conversions, making it great for engaging with your course students.
Key Features
- Email marketing automation
- Subscriber tagging for better segmentation
- Landing pages and sign-up forms
It also integrates well with course platforms like Kajabi and Thinkific. Plus, ConvertKit’s simple interface and robust features make it a great choice for content creators who need to nurture their audience effectively.
Payment Processors to Simplify Your Sales Process
To make selling your course as easy as possible, you’ll need a reliable payment processor that handles transactions securely.
Here are a few popular choices.
Stripe
Stripe is one of the most popular online payment processing tools, trusted by businesses worldwide. It integrates with most course platforms, allowing you to accept payments from anywhere.
Key Features
- Secure payment processing
- International payment support
- Easy integration with platforms like Kajabi and Kartra
- Fraud detection and prevention tools
PayPal
PayPal is another popular choice for course creators. Known for its simplicity and trustworthiness, PayPal is a great option for accepting payments worldwide, and it integrates well with most online course platforms.
Key Features
- Global payment acceptance
- Simple setup and integration
- Strong buyer protection policies
Using PayPal as an option for payments adds another layer of trust for potential customers who may already have an account.
Thus, these are some broad categories of tools you need to build best-selling courses.
Final Thoughts
With the right tools in your arsenal, creating and selling online courses becomes far easier and more efficient. Whether you’re just starting or looking to improve your current process, tools like Kartra and Kajabi offer all-in-one solutions, while specialized tools like Camtasia and ActiveCampaign ensure that your course content is polished and your marketing efforts are streamlined.
With these tools in your workflow, you’ll be able to focus on what truly matters: providing value to your students and growing your business.