How To Name An Online Course 10+ Ideas To Stand Out

Rahul Mehta

on Feb 24, 2023

• 11 min read

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The success of your online course lies in the name. So check out how to name your online course that sells like hotcakes.

How many brands have failed to make a mark because their name game wasn’t strong enough? Fundamentally speaking, it is a good lot.

Well, that’s simply because of one reason. If the product name doesn’t strike the right chord in the customer’s mind, it’s not going to gain attention.

Yes, that’s true. Naming is a crucial aspect of branding. If you are to believe the stats, it is said that more than 77% of customers refer to certain products by brand name.

Burgers? McDonald's! Smartphones? iPhone! Cars? Honda…to put it in a nutshell, name plays an essential role in deciding the success of any product - even digital ones like an online course.

With the eLearning industry growing at a lightning-fast speed of 17.5% and new courses popping up like mushrooms, if you need to ace one thing to make sure your online course gets all the limelight - it’s the name.

So read this blog as we will discuss how to name your online course that stands out. As a bonus, we’ll also be suggesting 10 super fresh course name ideas for you. So, read on!

What Is An Online Course? Why Create One?

An online course, also known as an e-course, is just like any other course that you’d take to hone your skill or excel in some subject.

But owing to its flexibility and variety, it’s widely being reckoned with and loved by the millennials.

No wonder the online education business is one of the top businesses of 2022! For the creators, it’s extra lucrative as;

The market to target and sell is huge.
The demand for e-courses is high, given the fact that more than 30% of American students enroll in at least one online course.
It enhances your personal brand image and frames you as an expert.
It’s inexpensive but financially rewarding.
It’s slowly becoming the “new normal” for learning.

To create online courses - this hot trend is not going to cool down anytime sooner.

Why is It Essential To Name Your Online Course Mindfully?

Let’s get this straight - along with all those benefits, there also comes a challenge in selling online courses.

Due to being a roaring industry, the eLearning business is currently witnessing profuse competition.

So yes - coming up with a good name for your online course is the only thing that can help you set yourself apart from the crowd.

In fact, here are some more reasons why naming your e-course rightly is a need you don’t want to ignore;

It establishes your first impression as a business.
It ensures high traffic and increased click and open rates.
It helps you get in touch with a more diverse set of audiences, expanding your outreach.
It increases the opportunity for sales, directly affecting your revenue.
It makes your offering look genuinely more exciting and unique than others.

Now you know why we’ve been emphasizing naming correctly, all this while?

Here’s How You Can Name A Course That Sells (Step-by-step guide)

Finally, here’s how you can name your online course in just 3 steps;

Step: Find your target audience
Step: Identify all the keywords you want to include
Step: Be Clear
Step: Make sure your title accurately reflects the course content
Step: Create a catchy title for your online course
Step: Test if it works

Step #1: Find your target audience

For writing a name that clicks, you first need to ask yourself - who am I writing it for?

Identifying the exact buyer profile of your potential audience helps you understand their preferences.

In retrospect, it also steers your content in the right, most effective direction. But how do you go about it, considering the fact that the target market for e-courses is so big?

Well, always start off wide - describe some general demographics of your target audience. For instance, knowing answers to basic questions like is your targetted audience male or female, where are they located, how old are they, etc. works great for a headstart.

Now with all this basic demographic information in hand, it’s time to deep dive into the specifics. That implies, studying your wider audience and narrowing it down into subsegments.

For this, you need to observe what are the few characteristics they all collectively share.

Could they be interested in your courses because they all are aiming to upskill? Are most of them located in the US because of their work or education?

Zooming into their psychographics can help you with this. So try finding out more about their interests, hobbies, likes, and dislikes. great one

Step #2: Identify all the keywords you want to include

Now, it’s time to put those keyword research tools to use.

Taking into consideration all the details you fetched about your target market, conduct quick keyword research to land keywords and phrases that match your offering.

Depending on the tool you are using, it’s possible that you might land a number of keywords that fit your topic and will rank in the search engine optimization.

For instance, let’s talk about Ahrefs. When you type your seed keyword in its keyword search bar, you will come across a range of keyword categories - Phrase Match, Having the Same Terms, Also Rank For, and Search Suggestions.

The keywords that appear under the Phrase Match section are the ones that contain the exact seed keyword inserted by you.

In the next category, you will find keywords that are somewhat close to your seed keyword.

The Also Rank For category suggests those keywords that are often used in the same purview as your seed keyword.

Finally, Search Suggestions lists the range of keywords that Google suggests through its auto-suggest feature.

But what’s the ultimate moral of the story? Pick the ones with low competition and high search results.

A healthy combination of long-tail and short-tail keywords is what you should aim to achieve.

Pro tip: You can also use tools like Google Trends, Semrush, and Ubersuggest for keyword research purposes.

Step #3: Be Clear

Clarity is crucial when writing a course title.

You don't want to leave any doubt as to what your course is about.

A clear title makes it easy for people to find your course and start learning. Here are a few examples:

A title that is too generic, such as “Introduction to Business,” will make your course seem like it is not worth taking.

On the other hand, a title that is specific, such as “How to Make a Million Dollars in Your Spare Time,” sounds good.

Picking a niche will also help you charge more for your work.

The best titles are those that are specific enough to be interesting, but not so specific that they limit the potential audience. It is a good thing to be creative.

Utilizing your creativity is fantastic.

However, sacrificing clarity to sound overly innovative is not the best way to create a course title.

When your mind is racing with brilliant ideas, it's normal to get off course and overdo it when writing the titles of your online lectures and modules.

But keep in mind that here, being concise and clear are the keys to success.

Step #4: Be Specific

When you're creating a title for your course, it's important to be as specific as possible.

A vague or general title can make it difficult for students to know what the course will be about, and it can also make it difficult for you to plan lessons and assignments.

Here’s an example of a unique title from our FreshLearn creator, Bola Eniola:

A course titled "How To Create Cake Tops?" is likely to attract students with a wide range of interests, including those interested in learning how to make cake toppings.

However, a course named "How to Make 3D and Character Cake?" on the other hand, is likely to appeal largely to students who are specifically interested in crafting 3D toppings.

Step #5: Be unique

A catchy and unique course title can be the difference between a student signing up for your class and opting for another one.

In a world where there are an endless variety of courses available, it's important to make yours stand out from the rest.

When coming up with a title for your course, think about what makes it special and use that to your advantage.

Use puns, wordplay, or jokes to add some levity to the title and make it more memorable.

With a little effort, you can create a course title that's both unique and eye-catching.

Example:

A course on world religions could be titled "Journey to Faith."

This title immediately sets a tone of exploration and adventure and raises questions about different belief systems that students may be curious to explore.

In addition, the use of the word "journey" implies that there is more to faith than simply acquiring knowledge; it is an ongoing process of discovery.

By contrast, a course entitled "Introduction to World Religions" would likely sound more dull and dry.

In choosing a great course title, consider what you want your students to get out of the class, and select a title that will reflect that goal.

Step #6: Make sure your title accurately reflects the course content

A good title is one of the most important things when it comes to creating an engaging and successful online course.

It can be tricky to come up with a good title for your course.

After all, you want it to accurately reflect the content while also being catchy and attention-grabbing.

However, resist the temptation to be too clever or cutesy with your title.

A cute or clever title might get people's attention, but if it doesn't accurately reflect the content of your course, you'll just end up frustrating your students.

So how can you make sure your title is accurate?

First, take a close look at the overall content of your course.

What are the main topics that you'll be covering? Make sure those topics are prominently featured in your title.

Avoid using vague or general terms that could apply to a wide range of courses.

Be specific about what your course will cover.

So put some thought into it, and craft a title that accurately reflects the great course you've created.

Step #7: Create a catchy title for your online course

Finally, it’s time to assemble everything.

While jotting down the course title, don’t just blindly arrange the keywords. Remember, your title sets the tone for your whole course, so you might as well want to consider talking about some of its aspects.

Let’s say, the benefits that your course offers. Or some curiosity-generating question about the course topic - like, how to make big money as a blogger?

All in all, you don’t want your course title to rest solely on the keywords - let the creativity flow and come up with a catchy, compelling online course title that has both - keywords and course information.

Make sure the title is short and sweet, not more than 70 characters, and very importantly, humanly in tone.

Step #8: Test it out

You've come up with the perfect title for your course. Great job!

But wait, there's one more important step you need to take before you can pat yourself on the backtesting of your title.

Why?

Because even the best titles can fall flat when they're put to the test.

The best way to test a title is by doing a little market research.

Just like you would test a headline before publishing an article, you need to test your course title to see if it's effective.

For this, you can create two versions of your title and promote both of them online.

Then, track the click-through rates and see which one performs better.

You can also ask your potential students what they think of your title.

Does it pique their interest?
Do they understand what the course is about?
Would they be likely to sign up for it?

Getting honest feedback from potential students can help you fine-tune your title and make sure it's as effective as possible.

You can also use Google Ads to create a few ad campaigns that target keywords related to your course.

Make sure to set a high enough budget so that your ads get plenty of impressions.

Once you've let the campaigns run for a few days, take a look at the click-through rate (CTR) for each ad.

The CTR will give you an idea of how many people who saw your ad ended up clicking on it.

If the CTR is low, that indicates that your title isn't very effective and you may want to consider changing it.

5 Quick Tips To Help You Name Your Course Like A Pro

Don’t forget to check out these 5 clever tips for assigning a contagiously catchy name to your online course;

👉Tip no. 1: Words are important - use powerful words that are easy to remember but at the same time, impactful and moving.

👉Tip no. 2: Don’t use the same old boring words - use a thesaurus to explore a wide range of exciting, “exhilarating” words.

👉Tip no. 3: Always emphasize more on making the title sound crystal clear than overly decked with extravagant words.

👉Tip no. 4: Don’t settle with the first-course name that you come up with - write down at least 3-5 alternative course titles and then pick the one that suits them best.👉Tip no. 5: If you don’t want to work so hard, use a free online course name generator to find a unique name for your online course.

Ideas To Name Your Online Online Course - 10 Unique Course Name Ideas For You

Weren’t you waiting for this one? Well, the wait is finally over. Here are our top 10 online course names recommendations to make your online course stand out. Let’s have a look;

How to make your first dollar as an XYZ?
Decoding the art of XYZ
Unlearn the basics - the hows and whys of XYZ
How to be a boss at XYZ
The 10 Secrets to Becoming an Awesome XYZ
The Science of XYZ - all you need to Know
The first step to XYZ
The psychology of XYZ - debuting the myths
How to ace the basics of XYZ in just 1 lesson
XYZ toolbox - your guide to the first XYZ

If you look closely, you’ll realize - all these templates' Ecourse names have certain elements in common.

For instance, they all talk about your core concept and what the learners are in for in very short, sweet, and clear words.

However, these are just some basic title templates. While picking one from this list, feel free to introduce your creativity for producing a one-of-a-kind course title for your Ecourse.

Create & Sell Your First Ever Online Course At FreshLearn

Naming? Done! Now, let’s get your online course selling, shall we?

At FreshLearn, we know - naming the course right is just half the battle won. The real victory lies in finding the right audience for your online course.

So well, we do just that for you. Not only this but with the help of FreshLearn, you can also;

Build your own online course platform with zero coding needs
Create content in every possible way - videos, drip course content, quizzes - anything!
Create memberships for your premium content
Market and sell courses
With many more exclusive features
At 0% extra commission!

Now, that’s what you call “creator-friendly”!

So, don’t wait - sign up for free and start creating your first-ever online course with FreshLearn today!

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