5 Tips For Your Online Course Name That Sells Best

Are you done developing the teaching materials for your online course?

Did you calculate what a fair price for your course is?

Is the course landingpage ready to sell your course?

Now it’s time for the final step: coming up with a suitable name for your online course. Often it is not easy to come up with creative course names. For example, how do you prevent a name from being too similar to that of competitors? How are you so distinctive that the name of your online course immediately stands out among interested parties?

In this article, we give you several tips, which can help you come up with creative course names. We also provide examples of suitable names for online courses on different topics. It can help you create a name that covers the load of your course! 

Let the course name describe what you are offering

When coming up with a catchy name for your online course, there are several factors to consider. First of all, the name must describe the content of the course. An interested person gets certain expectations based on the name of a course. If the course ultimately fails to comply, this can lead to negative reviews. Besides, the name must correspond to what you mention in the description of a course. Contradictions make consumers doubt and will lead to them opting for a different course. 

Point the name to a specific topic

A name that describes what one can expect from the course does not just consist of the main subject. A course on online marketing will give a different name than “Course online marketing.” Online marketing is a very broad topic. It is, therefore, wiser to change the name of a course to the specific parts of the course. For example, an online marketing course focuses specifically on setting up a web store, a website, offering individual product pages, and so on. Adjust the name of the course accordingly! 

Describe an advantage or promise

Similar to the points already mentioned is processing an advantage or promise in the name of an online course. This is done in the following ways:

• More visitors – an SEO course for online retailers
• Younger in 10 days – tips to lose weight quickly
• Sell more – take advantage of Bol.com

These names describe the content of a course and describe the benefit for a student. For example, the first example gives a student handles to attract more visitors to his or her online store using SEO.

Keep the name of the course as short as possible

On the one hand, a course name should describe what students can expect as has already been described, preferably as specific as possible. However, it is crucial to keep the course name catchy! Be specific, but don’t mention everything in the name. By using powerful terms or statements (as in previous examples), you can often describe in a short but clear way what the course has to offer a student. Prepositions, articles, and similar elements may omit from the title of a course. It doesn’t have to be a complete sentence!

Tip: make sure the name of a course contains between five and ten words! It is enough to describe the subject of the course, and it is still catchy.

Make students curious

Curiosity can be a good reason for interested parties to take a course. On the one hand, this is an interest in the subject of your online course. However, this interest is not yet a reason to choose specifically for your online course.  In the name of your online course, you can further pique a student’s interest by making smart use of certain word combinations. Think of word combinations such as:

• Not previously described
• Not worked out before
• Not used before
• Secret recipe
• Secret success formula

As described earlier, you should be able to deliver on the promise in the name of your online course.  Therefore, use such word combinations only when you actually share something new with students. In the course, describe what is so unique about the information you share with students and emphasize this in different places in the teaching material. 

Use a tagline under your course name

It may be wise to combine the name of your online course with a so-called tagline. A tagline is a short, often very powerful second sentence under the name of the course. This is not only used in online courses.  You’ll also see it coming back to products in online stores! Did you know that they even use it in the logos of well-known brands? Take a look at the McDonalds logo, for example. Below we list some examples of these taglines for you.

• Fast and easy!
• More effective than competitors!
• Learn more in a short time!
• Feel fitter after this course!

Such a tagline can give the last nudge for interested parties to take a course from you. Sometimes the name of your online course doesn’t convince them enough! Use the tagline both on the course page and in the online course itself.

Keep the Four U’s from Masteron in mind

A final tip to come to a suitable course name is the use of the Four U’s by Michael Masteron. He has written a book on copywriting, in which he introduced these Four U’s. They stand for:

• You’re
• Unique
• Useful
• Ultra-specific.

Masteron recommends using these features to write titles in long pieces of text, topics in emails, and headlines in news stories.

Keep these features of a good name for online courses in mind when coming up with a name for your course. It helps you find a name that appeals to not only yourself but also interested students! Do you have a good name for your online course in mind after reading this article?