5 Best Practices to Create High-Quality Free Online Courses

But setting up a course isn’t just about creating content. You need a well-structured website, reliable hosting, and an engaging experience that keeps students coming back. Let’s go over the best practices to help you build and manage your course successfully.

1. Define clear learning goals

Your students should know exactly what they’ll gain from your course. Keep lessons structured and easy to follow, and ensure your website is built for a smooth learning experience.

If you're unsure about the best way to set up your course website, start by choosing a hosting type that fits your needs. For example, you might be wondering whether WordPress or Plesk hosting is the better option - each comes with its own advantages for course creators.

2. Choose the right hosting for your course

If you’re just starting out, shared hosting for online courses is the most cost-effective hosting solution. It’s great for handling moderate traffic without overspending.

For those using WordPress, WordPress hosting for online course websites is a better fit, as it offers automated updates, security patches, and optimized performance. If you're hosting an educational website, it’s worth exploring why Plesk hosting is an ideal choice for managing content and students effectively.

Need an easy-to-use dashboard? A Plesk control panel for online courses lets you handle everything - domains, emails, security, and backups - in one place.

3. Optimise your course website for performance

Students won’t stick around if your website is slow. Here’s how to ensure fast performance:

• Pick the best hosting for online courses with strong uptime.

• Use caching and a content delivery network (CDN) to speed up loading times.

• Stick to lightweight themes and plugins to avoid unnecessary bloat.

If you expect high traffic on your course website, especially after promotions or enrollment spikes, you might want to learn how to manage high-traffic websites with Plesk hosting to keep everything running smoothly.

4. Make your content engaging and mobile-friendly

A mobile-friendly learning experience is crucial, as many students access courses from their phones. Here’s what helps:

• Optimise videos to reduce buffering.
• Use clear fonts and easy navigation.

• Include interactive elements like quizzes and discussions.

If you're still planning your course and wondering what makes a good website in 2025, keeping user experience in mind from the start will set you up for success.

5. Simplify maintenance with the right tools

Managing a course website shouldn’t feel overwhelming. A cheap hosting for online courses plan with automated backups, security updates, and monitoring ensures hassle-free management.

For those who don’t want to deal with the technical side, managed hosting for LMS websites takes care of updates and security automatically. If you’re looking for a simple yet powerful control panel, the Plesk control panel makes it easy to manage everything, even for beginners.

Final thoughts

Launching an online course doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. With affordable hosting for e-learning websites, you can create a professional and scalable course website without overspending. Whether you opt for shared hosting or managed hosting, the right setup ensures a smooth experience for both you and your students.

If you’re still in the early stages of setting up your course website, check out this step-by-step guide to building a website to make sure you start off right!