Developing an Engaging Online Course in 10 Steps: Includes Customizable Course Templates

In the rapidly expanding world of eLearning, creating engaging and effective online courses is more important than ever. Here, we present a 10-step strategy for crafting visually stunning courses that keep learners captivated and promote retention.

The 10-Step Strategy for Creating Engaging Online Courses

Decide on the Course Topic: Start by identifying a subject matter that resonates with your target audience. Understand their challenges and tailor your course to provide solutions.
Define Learning Goals and Objectives: Learning objectives provide a roadmap for both you and the learner. They outline what the learner will be able to achieve upon completion of the course.
Organize the Work with SMEs and Stakeholders: Collaborate with subject matter experts and stakeholders to ensure the course content is accurate, relevant, and valuable.
Create an Online Training Course Storyboard: After compiling all the information that will go into your course, the next step is to map it out in what is known as a "storyboard." This will help you visualize the structure of your course.
Write the Script: During the script writing step, it's important to consider not only how the words sound, but how they look on screen.
Make an Online Course in an Authoring Tool (+ Customizable Course Templates): Use an authoring tool like iSpring Suite, Articulate 360, or Adobe Captivate to build your course. Many tools offer customizable course templates to speed up content development. Webinar templates can also be customized and used for course creation in iSpring Suite.
Add Assessments: Assessments can be interactive and include options like fill-in-the-blank, moving objects on the screen (drag-and-drop), etc. Feedback based on learner's answers or overall performance can be incorporated into assessments.
Publish the Course: Publishing an online course is simple and outputs a file ready for upload to hosting services.
Share the Course: Distribute your course through various platforms such as academic LMSs, corporate LMSs, and course selling platforms.
Collect Feedback about the Course: After the course is taken, it's important to collect feedback from learners to continually improve and refine your course. Feedback can be collected using surveys, Google Forms, or tailored feedback forms.

Enhancing Engagement with Visual Online Courses

To create truly captivating visual online courses, consider the following strategies:

Use High-Quality Visuals: Incorporate high-resolution images, illustrations, infographics, and data visualizations to simplify complex ideas and support key points.
Integrate Multimedia Elements: Add video tutorials, animations, and interactive videos with quizzes or clickable elements.
Design Clear, Structured Courses: Break course content into small, manageable modules (5-10 minutes) focused on a single learning outcome.
Employ Interactive Features and Gamification: Use quizzes, polls, gamification elements such as badges and leaderboards, and embedded simulations to boost engagement and retention.
Use Learner-Centered Language: Frame content, objectives, and instructions from the learner’s perspective to increase relevance and autonomy.
Provide Immediate Feedback and Calls to Action: Include quizzes or assessments with instant feedback so learners can reinforce knowledge in real-time.
Foster Peer Interaction: Incorporate discussion forums or chat platforms to enable learners to collaborate and discuss content.
Optimize for Mobile Access: Ensure all visual and interactive content works well on mobile devices, as over half of learners use mobile platforms.

Together, these strategies create an engaging, visually rich learning experience that promotes retention, motivation, and deeper understanding.

Summary Table

| Strategy | Key Action | Effect on Engagement | |--------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------| | High-Quality Visuals | Use images, infographics, diagrams | Simplifies concepts, aids retention | | Multimedia Integration | Video, animations, interactive videos | Improves attention and course completion | | Clear Structured Design | Short modules, consistent UI | Enhances focus and motivation | | Interactive Features & Gamification | Quizzes, badges, simulations | Boosts active learning and motivation | | Learner-Centered Language | Frame objectives/expectations for learners | Increases relevance and autonomy | | Immediate Feedback & CTA | Quizzes with instant feedback, calls to action | Reinforces learning, guides progress| | Peer Interaction | Discussion forums, chats | Improves knowledge exchange | | Mobile Optimization | Responsive design for all devices | Increases accessibility |

These strategies are grounded in recent instructional design principles and research on e-learning engagement effective as of mid-2025.

Implementing high-quality visuals, such as images, infographics, diagrams, and data visualizations, aids in simplifying complex ideas and promoting learner retention.
The integration of multimedia elements like video tutorials, animations, and interactive videos can help improve learner attention and course completion rates.

Developing an Engaging Online Course in 10 Steps: Includes Customizable Course Templates