No matter how many ads, webinars, emails, or funnels you create\u2026 your sales page is the final step<\/em>.<\/p>\n Screw it up, and your potential customers are lost. You\u2019ve got to get it right.<\/p>\n In this post we dive deep into the specific structures of sales pages for online courses by some of the greatest marketers and entrepreneurs around. You\u2019ll learn from the best, with sales pages from:<\/p>\n We\u2019re going to pull their pages apart and reverse-engineer the perfect online course <\/strong>sales page blueprint<\/strong> that will get you customers.<\/p>\n Read on!<\/p>\n The sales pages that we are looking at today are not for entry-level products. The cheapest course here is sold for $499 and the most expensive sells for nearly $4000. Yes, you read that correctly.<\/p>\n These products are the backbone<\/em> of their businesses. If these Sales Pages were to stop converting overnight, their companies could quickly go under. <\/p>\n They can\u2019t afford to screw these pages up<\/em>.<\/p>\n So, these examples have to be absolutely perfect, eking out maximum conversion rates and driving people through the sales funnel.<\/p>\n Now, one of the things to keep in mind here is that great marketers are always adapting. These pages will go through multiple updates, and they might look quite different depending on when you look at them. However, what doesn’t change is the fundamental principles that make an amazing course landing page. <\/p>\n To help you better understand the key elements that make a course sales page convert, we’re going to look at how some of the absolute digital marketing pros do it:<\/p>\n If that list of names means nothing to you, then let me assure you of this: They are some of the best marketers and copywriters around<\/strong>. Their sales pages are no doubt the result of months and months of analysis, research and marketing experimentation.<\/p>\n We’re going to break down each page and look at how they appeal to potential students, the crucial elements that are used, and the value proposition they create. <\/p>\n Your online course may not be priced like these, but that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t learn valuable lessons from their high converting sales pages.<\/p>\n Our visual editor Thrive Architect<\/u><\/a> was made<\/em> for making high-converting sales pages that load fast, are eye-catching, and can be made without even touching a line of code.<\/p>\n No matter where or how you create your online course, you can use Thrive Architect to build sales pages<\/u><\/a> as beautiful and profitable as the examples you\u2019ll find in this post. Even if you\u2019re hosting on an external course platform like Teachable, you can link your Thrive Architect sales button to the checkout. Or if your course lives on your own site, that makes it even easier!<\/p>\n All you need is WordPress to structure your site and Thrive Architect to build your landing and sales pages. You can build from scratch or load from our growing library of conversion optimized templates<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n Check out Thrive Architect’s pricing.<\/a><\/p>\n Now let\u2019s start pulling apart some sales page examples.<\/p>\n Copyhackers is a brilliant website for learning about copywriting. Every blog post they publish is packed with value and there is no mistaking that Joanna Wiebe knows her stuff.<\/p>\n Copyhackers also have multiple online courses, three of which are bundled together in what they call \u2018CopySchool\u2019. Each course is worth roughly $997 on their own. Interestingly, on the CopySchool sales page, they offer just<\/em> the Email Copywriting course for $997, or<\/em> the bundle of all 3 for $1997.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a birds-eye view of their sales page:<\/p>\n CopySchool’s Sales Page<\/p>\n When looking at the CopySchool sales page structure, it\u2019s important to remember that conversions are the result of context<\/strong><\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Since CopySchool only opens at certain times of the year, the CopyHackers team works around the clock to acquire leads, nurture them and send them to this sales page when it\u2019s open.<\/p>\n The team has to do all this work because Online Course sales pages don\u2019t really convert cold traffic. Think about it: would you decide to throw a few hundred dollars at an online course if you knew nothing about the company?<\/p>\n The nature of this type<\/em> of product means that it is much more likely to convert warm<\/em> traffic, visitors who are already familiar with the brand, and people who might’ve known about the course already. That doesn\u2019t mean online course sales pages can\u2019t convert cold traffic, but rather that it\u2019s less likely<\/em>.<\/p>\n So keeping that in mind, let\u2019s zoom in to specific elements on this CopyHackers<\/em> sales page and see how it\u2019s designed to create and leverage brand reputation.<\/p>\n CopySchool\u2019s above-the-fold includes something we see quite often on these sales pages: a product video<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Right underneath the video is the first Call-To-Action button. It may seem odd to include a CTA above-the-fold since, at this point, the visitor doesn\u2019t know anything about the product yet. Would they really be ready to buy before they\u2019ve even scrolled down?<\/p>\n The first thing you see on the CopySchool sales page.<\/p>\n A CTA at the top usually serves 3 purposes:<\/p>\n 1) Visitors may be returning<\/em> to the page after thinking about buying, and when they do, there’s no need for them to scroll down and get distracted.<\/p>\n 2) Traffic to the page may already be warm, meaning the visitors know about CopyHackers and their products. They might have received emails regarding CopySchool and trust Joanna\u2019s teaching before they\u2019ve even arrived at the page. For those visitors, make it easy for them to take action: keep a CTA above the fold.<\/p>\n 3) The product video may be all a visitor needs to see before they are ready to buy. If a visitor has just watched the video in its entirety and is now sold, don\u2019t force them to scroll down just to pay you.<\/p>\n A well-made online course should have its content broken up into modules focused on smaller goals that all fit together. A Module Box is the visual representation of those separate topics on your sales page.<\/p>\n Students want<\/em> to see a breakdown of the course content, and the marketer also wants<\/em> to show off what\u2019s in the course. Listing each major module that makes up the course and detailing what customers will learn in that specific module is one of the easier ways to communicate value.<\/p>\n But Module Boxes don\u2019t need to be fancy<\/strong>! Most of us would assume you need custom designs and images throughout your sales page, which means time and money. But look at how simple CopyHackers does it: just a green gradient box with the module text overlay.<\/p>\n A module box can be just a visual box with text beside it<\/p>\n What I really like about this sales page is that it’s got a checklist of course benefits <\/em>(note the simplicity of the bullet point list) before showing you a step-by-step walkthrough of what\u2019s in the modules. This makes the modules mean something more<\/em> once visitors become acquainted with the benefits.<\/p>\n Including an \u2018About The Instructor\u2019 section is very common too. This is when the sales page shifts into a 3rd person perspective and talks about the teacher of the course, boosting the credibility of the program.<\/p>\n This section in the CopySchool example refers directly to Joanna Wiebe and Ry Schwartz as \u2018she\u2019 and \u2018he\u2019. Have a look:<\/p>\n The ‘About The Instructors’ section on CopySchool’s sales page<\/p>\n The \u2018About the Instructor\u2019 section is there to show that the course is made by people who are reliable, knowledgeable, professional and have good credits to their name. It\u2019s the chance to boast, and CopySchool name drops a number of different clients right in this section.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a natural flow to the structure of a well made page like this one. The \u2018about the instructor\u2019 section has been placed at the exact moment when a visitor would naturally start to question the authority of the brand, usually just after the course material has been listed.<\/p>\n Curiously, this sales page includes its pricing table section<\/u><\/a> near the top of the page. <\/p>\n CopySchool’s pricing table is placed both near the top and bottom of their sales page.<\/p>\n It\u2019s common to see sales pages with absolutely no<\/em> mention of price until the end of the page. The theory is that to get to the price, visitors must scroll past content that influences their perception of value first.<\/p>\n But as with all marketing theories, once you know the rules, you get to have some fun by breaking them to see what happens.<\/p>\n Every market is different, so the only rule that ought to be set in stone is: always split test and track your results<\/em><\/u><\/a>. You can\u2019t even know what advice is right until you see the concrete numbers to back it up. <\/p>\n > Write For Your Traffic Source:<\/strong> Will the majority of your visitors be coming from your mailing list or are they new visitors to your website? Will you be driving paid traffic straight to your sales page? Make sure you\u2019ve considered the context<\/em> with which visitors are seeing your sales page and write to match that scenario.<\/p>\n > Include Module Boxes: <\/strong>Showing your visitors the benefits of each individual module will go a long way towards communicating the value of your course.<\/p>\n > Tell Them About The Teacher: <\/strong>Take a moment somewhere on your sales page to communicate who<\/em> is teaching the course and why<\/em> they are worth learning from.<\/p>\n Marie Forleo opens B-School only once a year, and charges $1997 for it. To convert at that price, her sales page must win by creating a great perception of value. Marie Forleo runs a personal branding business<\/u><\/a>, where her personality and knowledge is front and center. Case in point: her picture is all over the page.<\/p>\n What I love about whatever Marie Forleo creates is that her content always looks beautiful<\/em>. Great design, great images, great color, great fonts. Have a look for yourself:<\/p>\n B-School’s bright and colorful sales page.<\/p>\n People don\u2019t want online courses\u2026 they want positive change in their life<\/em>. A series of videos means nothing to a customer unless it helps them gain<\/em> something else that has substantial value to them.<\/p>\n So it\u2019s not the features of a course that sell it\u2026 it\u2019s the benefits<\/em>. And Marie Forleo knows this. Her sales page is emotionally charged, with regular talk of \u2018starting your dream business\u2019 and the feeling<\/em> of being satisfied in your work and life.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s look at how this plays out on her sales page.<\/p>\n B-School and Joanna Wiebe\u2019s CopySchool have a nearly identical<\/em> structure for their above-the-fold content: Headline followed by a video, with a tagline underneath and a Call-To-Action to Enroll in the course.<\/p>\n B-School’s above the fold<\/p>\n Both courses also have a countdown timer directly underneath their above-the-fold content too.<\/p>\n Many marketers have split tested the results of including scarcity countdown timers<\/u><\/a> on sales pages and repeatedly seen that it makes a difference.<\/p>\n But where do you put your timer? By including it in the above-the-fold content, any visitor that lands on that page immediately sees that this offer is limited so they should<\/em> read on instead of procrastinating and returning later.<\/p>\n In order to sell a visitor on the features of a course, the benefits <\/em>ought to be introduced first. Before Marie even talks about the modules of her course or what you\u2019ll learn, she has a section saying \u2018Here\u2019s what you\u2019ll get\u2019.<\/p>\n Note the benefits outlined on B-School’s sales page<\/p>\n Each of the items listed – Clarity, Guidance, Community and Training – are all intangible, but highly valuable things. In many ways, this entire sales page aims to elicit an emotional response. Intangible benefits<\/strong> fit that mold.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also important to realize that people don\u2019t buy an online course because they want a series of instructional videos: they buy an online course because they want something in their life to change. <\/em>Focus on that first.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve written about 6 Ways you can increase the perceived value of your online course<\/u><\/a>, and one strategy is to introduce any form of live teaching<\/strong>. Good marketers know that it\u2019s worthwhile to dispel the perception that an online course is just a series of videos. And Marie has found a great way to do this:<\/p>\n Marie introduces her live office hours with a calendar<\/p>\n B-School manages to introduce the benefits of both a live course and a recorded online course, with \u2018Live Office Hours\u2019. Since it is an 8 week course that runs at a specific time of the year, Marie makes herself available during the program.<\/p>\n But she shows off this feature with a calendar listed right there on her salespage.<\/p>\n Price Anchoring<\/u><\/a> is a copywriting trick. By giving your visitors a number to gauge price against, they will be able to better understand the value of your offer.<\/p>\n The theory is that you should include a dollar amount that is higher<\/em> than your product price anywhere above the actual price<\/em> on your page. Readers who skim will be drawn to those dollar signs and then that number becomes the anchor<\/strong> against which they judge your<\/em> actual price.<\/p>\n B-School helps visitors calculate the value of the course<\/p>\n One of my pet-peeves is when I see price anchoring done wrong. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen people declare that the value of their course is worth thousands\u2026 but they fail to adequately justify it.<\/p>\n Merely stating \u201cThis course should sell for $20,000+ but I\u2019m giving it to you for $97\u201d<\/em> reeks of lazy marketing.<\/p>\n Marie does Price Anchoring better than most. She has pulled apart her own course and given a price to individual sections, tallying up $20,683 in value.<\/p>\n Some of these make perfect sense. For example, the course includes Done-For-You swipe files, saying:<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019ve ever hired a copywriter or business consultant to create done-for-you materials, or spent hours looking for the right resources, then you know how valuable this is – <\/em>$399 value\u201d<\/em>.<\/p>\n And it\u2019s true: hiring an expert copywriter can easily cost more than $399 to make such resources for you.<\/p>\n But Marie also lists that her core training is worth $10,000 and the best reason why is because it\u2019s taken her many years and lots of money to create. No doubt it\u2019s valuable, but there is some logic missing as to why exactly it is worth that <\/em>much. Would this course sell better if we saw exactly how $10,000 was calculated?<\/p>\n If you\u2019re looking to use this technique, be realistic and provide ample reasons to explain the value. Don\u2019t expect customers to believe any value number they read.<\/p>\n It\u2019s believed that all customers are emotional buyers<\/em>. Our decision to buy anything is based on emotion, but we justify it with logic. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt talked about the Elephant and the Rider<\/u><\/a>, describing our emotional impulses as a powerful elephant and our rational mind as the rider trying to steer it.<\/p>\n A great sales page is going to provide all the reasons why<\/em> someone should buy, and then push them to do it with emotion.<\/p>\n That\u2019s exactly what Marie has done here. Her whole sales page justifies the purchase, but the last section at the bottom of the page before the \u2018Enroll Now\u2019 button is emotional<\/em>. Have a look:<\/p>\n The hard-hitting end of B-School’s sales page<\/p>\n The very last line that Marie’s page ends on is: \u201cYou have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Don\u2019t miss your chance to finally start living the life you\u2019ve been dreaming of\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n > Always Focus On Benefits <\/strong>First<\/strong><\/em>: <\/strong>To win over your visitors, be sure to focus on the benefits your course can make to their life rather than strictly the course content. This doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t talk about the content, but set visitors up to understand the value of that content first<\/em>.<\/p>\n > Price Anchoring:<\/strong> Help your customers grasp the financial value of your course. Rather than assuming that they\u2019ll believe the price is correctly set, include some logic to help them understand why it\u2019s a worthwhile investment. Best to do this before the pricing section.<\/p>\n > Emotional Send-Off:<\/strong> Once you\u2019ve communicated all of the important points on your sales page, how do you end it? Try an emotional send-off, something that speaks more directly to your visitors’s desires in life.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve written about Ramit Sethi\u2019s Zero To Launch course before showing how he uses Evergreen Scarcity marketing to sell on autopilot<\/u><\/a>. He uses a 2-week email sequence that primes and nurtures new subscribers so that when they click through to his sales page, they already know a lot about him and his brand.<\/p>\n The reason I bring this up is because, well\u2026 the Zero To Launch sales page… is long.<\/p>\n The epically long Zero To Launch sales page.<\/p>\n Often marketers are looking for hard rules about how<\/em> to market to their audience. But every seasoned marketer will always answer: it depends<\/strong>. Yes, there are widely applicable marketing strategies, but it always depends on your audience and niche as to what ends up working.<\/p>\n Ramit works tirelessly to produce volumes of content. From daily emails, to filling a blog with hundreds upon hundreds of posts, Ramit\u2019s goal is to saturate his market.<\/p>\n So knowing that all markets are different, let\u2019s look at what he\u2019s doing for the financial niche and why it seems to work.<\/p>\n The Zero to Launch sales page word count comes in at a whopping 17,000 words… and that doesn\u2019t include images, graphics or videos! For reference, a medium length blog post is about 1,500 words and even short novels start at 40,000 words.<\/p>\n When the average person reads 200 words per minute, it would take them 85 minutes to read everything on this page. Add the videos and this is literally hours<\/em> of content.<\/p>\n\n
Online Course Sales Page Examples You Need to Follow<\/h2>\n
\n
<\/h3>\n
\u201cBut, I don\u2019t even know how<\/em> to make a sales page yet\u2026\u201d<\/h4>\n
Joanna Wiebe – Copy School<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/online_course_chapter_image_02.png\" "\\"online_course_chapter_image_02\\"")
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/CopySchool-Overview.jpg\" "\\"CopySchool")
<\/span><\/p>\nWhat Makes This Page Work:<\/h3>\n
Above-The-Fold Call To Action:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Copy-School-Above-Fold.jpg\" "\\"Copy")
<\/span><\/p>\nBenefit-Driven Module Boxes<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Copy-School-Module-Box-New.png\" "\\"Copy")
<\/span><\/p>\nAbout The Instructor<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:1024\/h:483\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/CopySchool-About-Teacher-Section.jpg\" "\\"CopySchool")
<\/span><\/p>\nPricing Tables<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Copy-School-Pricing.png\" "\\"Copy")
<\/span><\/p>\nKey Takeaways From CopySchool<\/h4>\n
Marie Forleo – B-School<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/online_course_chapter_image_05.png\" "\\"online_course_chapter_image_05\\"")
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/B-School-Overview.jpg\" "\\"B-School")
<\/span><\/p>\nWhat Makes This Page Work:<\/h3>\n
Above The Fold + Countdown Timer<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/BSchool-Above-The-Fold.jpg\" "\\"BSchool")
<\/span><\/p>\nThe \u2018Here\u2019s What You\u2019ll Get\u2019 Section<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/BSchool-Heres-What-You-Get.jpg\" "\\"BSchool")
<\/span><\/p>\nIncreasing Perceived-Value with Live Teaching<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Bschool-Live-Office-Hours.jpg\" "\\"Bschool")
<\/span><\/p>\nPrice Anchoring<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Bschool-Value-Box.jpg\" "\\"Bschool")
<\/span><\/p>\nThe Inspirational Ending:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Bschool-Inspirational-Ending.jpg\" "\\"Bschool")
<\/span><\/p>\nKey Takeaways From B-School:<\/h4>\n
Ramit Sethi – Zero To Launch<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/online_course_chapter_image_03.png\" "\\"online_course_chapter_image_03\\"")
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/ZTL-Overview.jpg\" "\\"ZTL")
<\/span><\/p>\nWhy This Page Works:<\/h3>\n
Sales Page Length:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Zero-To-Launch-6-invisible-scripts.png\" "\\"Zero")
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Zero-To-Launch-Above-The-Fold.png\" "\\"Zero")
<\/span><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mlpxhq8ztvyc.i.optimole.com\/cb:p0Z2.44bbf\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/thrivethemes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Zero-To-Launch-About-Ramit.png\" "\\"Zero")
<\/span><\/p>\n