If you’re planning to start working on your online course, let’s talk about how much content to include in a course.
Creating an online course is an exciting journey, but one of the biggest mistakes many course creators make is stuffing their course with too much content.
There’s a fine balance between delivering value and overwhelming your students. Let’s break down how much information you should include in a course and how to structure it effectively.
Listen to this in a podcast episode instead:
More is NOT always better – in fact, it rarely is when it comes to digital products
A common belief among course creators is that packing a course with as much information as possible makes it more valuable. But here’s the truth: more information doesn’t necessarily lead to better results for your students. Too much content can make a course feel daunting, leading to unfinished lessons and frustrated learners.
There are two major pitfalls course creators often fall into:
- Adding excessive information while creating a course – trying to cover every single aspect of a topic.
- Piling on more content to boost sales – thinking that adding bonuses, extra modules, or lowering the price will convince people to buy.
Neither of these approaches actually work. Let’s explore why.
How much content to include in a course?
Understand what type of offer are you creating
Let’s start with one of the most overlooked parts of this question – there are TONS of different experiences you can create for your students.
From a few lesson self-paced mini course to several month group coaching experiences. Obviously, different experiences require different setup and level of information.
However, in this post, I want to focus on how much content to include in a course that is average, self-paced evergreen offer.
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Set a clear goal for your course
The key to an effective course is not the quantity of information but the clarity of its goal.
When people enroll in an online course, they usually have a specific outcome they want to achieve. Your job as a course creator is to guide them to that outcome in the simplest, most effective way possible.
If there is a way to reach it faster – give your audience the chance to do so.
Many course creators struggle with narrowing down their content because they have extensive knowledge and want to showcase their expertise. While it’s great to have deep expertise, your course should provide the shortest and most efficient path to success for your students.
Ask yourself:
- What is the core transformation or result my students need?
- What are the essential steps to get them there?
- What can I remove that doesn’t directly contribute to that transformation?
Your course should be designed to help students achieve their goals as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Define a clear audience
Another reason why courses become bloated is that creators aren’t clear on their audience. If you don’t know exactly who you’re creating your course for, you’ll feel the need to cover every possible angle, scenario, or experience level.
For example, let’s say you’re a nutrition coach creating a course on healthy habits:
- Are you targeting complete beginners who have never built a healthy habit before?
- Are you helping busy professionals streamline their nutrition?
- Are you guiding athletes to optimize their diet for performance?
Each of these audiences requires a different approach, and trying to cater to all of them in one course will only create confusion. The clearer you are on your audience, the easier it will be to determine exactly what content to include.
The trap of “adding more” to highlight the bonuses in your marketing
Often tIf your course isn’t selling as well as you’d like, your first instinct might be to add more content, more bonuses, or even lower the price. However, these tactics rarely work.
Instead of adding more, focus on refining your messaging and marketing.
- More content leads to more overwhelm. Too many lessons can make students feel like they’ll never get through the material.
- Lowering the price doesn’t add value. People buy solutions, not content. If your messaging isn’t clear, a lower price won’t necessarily make them purchase.
- Bonuses can distract from the main goal. Adding extras that don’t directly support the course outcome can make it feel cluttered and unfocused.
If your sales are struggling, revisit your messaging instead of adding content. Ask yourself:
- Is my audience clear on the transformation they’ll get from my course?
- Does my sales page highlight the benefits, not just the content?
- Am I effectively communicating why my course is the best solution?
Your marketing will determine your success far more than the number of modules in your course.
Samples of successful course setups
How does a best-selling online course look like?
Here’s what most people prefer and what some of the most successful course samples from my experience look like:
- Shorter but more lessons vs longer lessons. Aim for up to 10 mins/per lesson in a video content. Don’t stuff your course with 1hr materials, unless they make sense for your customer journey. It will be easier to find daily time for 10 min lesson vs 1 hr one – and they can watch several if they have more time on their hands.
- Divide your content in clear Categories: topics or steps to cover. This creates a more organized user experience and gives your audience a chance to easily circle back to anything they may need to revisit.
- An average course will usually have 5-7 bigger Modules (Categories). But this number will really depend on the type of experience you will provide.
- Add visuals and diversify the learning materials, especially if your content is longer. You want to support different types of learners and keep their attention.
The most successful online courses aren’t the longest or the most information-packed. They are the ones that provide a clear, specific transformation in a structured, easy-to-follow way.
Before you add another lesson, module, or bonus, ask yourself: Does this help my students reach their goal faster and more effectively? When in doubt, simplify. Your students will thank you for it.
I hope this helped you to clarify how much content to include in a course as you start working on your curriculum.
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