To learn how to create a course on Teachable, open your Teachable admin area, create a new course, add course details, build a curriculum with sections and lessons, add lesson content, create your course page, preview student view, then publish when ready.
Teachable supports AI outline creation, manual curriculum setup, bulk uploads, copied lesson content, public preview lessons, drip release, and certificates for course completion.
If you want a simple Teachable course creation tutorial, use a clear course promise first. Then build lessons around one student goal, not random topics.
The Rule
A clean launch beats a huge course. Start with a useful first version, then improve after student feedback.
A good Teachable course starts before you click any button. Your course needs one clear promise that tells students what they will be able to do after finishing.
Keep your promise short and direct. For example, "Create a basic email funnel in one weekend" works better than "Learn email marketing".
Your promise will guide every lesson. It also helps your course sales page feel clear, focused, and useful.
Before you open Teachable, write these three lines:
Student type: Who needs your course?
End result: What skill or outcome will they gain?
Course path: What steps will help them reach that result?
Use simple words. A student should know the course value in five seconds.
📸 A simple course outline doc — write your promise before opening Teachable.
Step 2 of 12
Create a Course in Teachable Admin
The Teachable admin area — "Create new product" lives on the Dashboard, sidebar and Courses page.
Log in to Teachable and open your admin area. You can create a course from:
Dashboard — click "Create new product"
Sidebar — use the "+" beside Products
Courses — click "New course"
Teachable opens a course creation wizard after you start a new course. Add your course title, author, optional description, and thumbnail.
A good title should include outcome and audience. Example: "Email Marketing Basics for Freelance Designers".
Teachable recommends a 16:9 thumbnail, with 1024 × 576 px as a suggested size. Use clean text, one visual focus, and brand colours that match your site.
Step
Teachable Area
Goal
Create new course
Dashboard, Products sidebar, or Courses area
Start course setup
Add details
Course creation wizard
Name course and author
Add thumbnail
Course setup screen
Show a clear course image
Choose curriculum method
Course outline step
Start lesson structure
Step 3 of 12
Build a Course Outline That Feels Easy
Your curriculum should move from basic to useful. Each section should cover one big idea, while each lesson should answer one small question.
Teachable courses use sections and lessons. Sections group lessons, while lessons can hold text, files, video, images, quizzes, and other content.
Think of sections as modules. Think of lessons as small steps inside each module.
A simple structure can look like this:
1
Welcome and setup
Orient the student — what to expect, what they need.
2
Core skill basics
The foundational concepts students must understand.
3
Guided practice
Walk-throughs and worked examples.
4
Project or action plan
Students apply what they learned to a real outcome.
5
Final review and next steps
Recap + a clear path forward.
Less is more: Do not add too many lessons at once. Short lessons help students stay focused and finish more often.
In Teachable, open Curriculum from the course sidebar to edit sections and lessons. Click New Section to add a section, add a section name, then save.
To add a lesson, click New lesson inside a section, enter lesson name, then save. New lessons are unpublished by default, so students will not see them until you publish each lesson.
Sections group lessons. Lessons answer one small question each.
Step 4 of 12
Use AI Outline Only as a Starter 🤖
📸 Tick "Help me generate a course outline" and add a short description.
Teachable lets you create curriculum by generating with AI, starting from scratch, bulk uploading files, or copying from another course. AI can create sections, lessons, and sample content from your course description.
Teachable's AI curriculum generator works after you name a course, check "Help me generate a course outline", and enter a short course description. The generated outline can be placed into a curriculum builder for editing.
Speed, not final quality: Use AI for speed, not final quality. Your own examples, student pain points, and lesson flow matter more than a generic draft.
A strong AI course outline prompt should include:
Audience
Skill level
Result
Format
Course length
Example prompt: "Create a beginner course outline for freelancers who want to set up email marketing basics in four weeks."
After AI creates an outline, review every lesson. Remove vague items and add action-focused lessons.
Step 5 of 12
Add Lessons With Clear Content Blocks
Open a lesson name from Curriculum to access the lesson editor. Teachable's lesson editor helps you add and arrange content within a lesson.
A good Teachable lesson editor flow usually starts with a short intro, then core teaching, then one task. Keep each lesson simple.
Use mixed content only when it helps. Video can explain, text can summarise, downloads can support action, and quizzes can check learning.
For each lesson, add:
1. Lesson Goal
One line that tells students exactly what they will learn or do.
2. Short Teaching
Core concept explained simply — text, video, or both.
3. Example or Demo
Show the concept in action so students see the pattern.
4. Download Asset
Worksheet, checklist or template — only if it supports action.
5. Student Action
One thing the student should DO before moving to the next lesson.
6. Optional Quiz
Quick knowledge check — keep it short, just enough to reinforce the lesson.
Don't overstuff: Avoid stuffing lessons with every idea you know. Students pay for a path, not a pile of information.
Teachable lessons can include text, files, video, images, quizzes, and other content types. Use those options to support student learning experience, not just to make lessons look busy.
Step 6 of 12
Keep Sections and Lessons Easy to Browse
Teachable lets you reorder sections and lessons by dragging the six-dot icons in Curriculum. You can move lessons inside a section or move them into another section.
Use action-based lesson names. "Set up your course outline" works better than "Lesson 2".
If course content already exists as files, Teachable can bulk upload lesson materials and create one lesson per uploaded file. File names should match lesson names because bulk uploaded files become individual lessons.
Keep lesson names clean. Avoid special characters in file names during bulk upload because Teachable warns they can cause issues.
You can also duplicate a lesson or section from "more options" beside that item. Use duplication for repeatable lesson formats, such as "Watch, read, act".
📸 Drag the six-dot icons to reorder lessons inside Curriculum.
Step 7 of 12
Create Course Pages That Convert
Your course page should make offer value easy to grasp. It should answer who the course helps, what students get, and how course flow works.
Teachable's setup guide lets you choose a sales page, product details page, or external URL for student enrolment path. It also lets you choose a thank-you page, where students arrive after joining.
For a strong course sales page, add one promise at the top. Then show course outcomes, curriculum, instructor bio, student fit, and direct next step.
Keep page copy short. Use benefit-led headings and plain language.
A clean page structure can look like this:
Page Block
Purpose
Copy Focus
Hero area
Show main promise
Result and student type
Outcome section
Explain gains
Skills, tasks, project
Curriculum block
Show course path
Sections and lessons
Instructor area
Build trust
Experience and proof
FAQ area
Remove doubt
Access, content format, support
Teachable product detail pages can be customised with components available inside page setup. Use only sections that support course clarity.
Step 8 of 12
Add Brand Trust and Site Setup
Teachable Site area — control logo, colours, typography & custom domain.
Your course should feel like part of your brand. Add logo, colours, favicon, and clear navigation before sharing your course link.
The Teachable Site area lets you control branding, navigation, custom domain, logo, favicon, and school thumbnail. A custom domain or subdomain can connect your branded site address to your Teachable school.
If your main website already has traffic, a subdomain like courses.yoursite.com can keep course access close to your brand. Teachable also lets you set a primary domain after adding more than one domain.
Brand trust helps students feel safe. Use the same colours, voice, and profile photo across the course page and main website.
Teachable lets schools customise logo, background, typography, and colours. Keep design simple so lessons stay easy to read.
Step 9 of 12
Set Preview Lessons With Care
Public preview lessons can help students sample your teaching style. Pick one useful lesson that shows quality, but does not give away a full course path.
Teachable lets you mark a published lesson as a public preview from "more options" beside a lesson. Public preview content can be viewed by visitors and can appear in search engines, including lesson material and student comments.
Good preview lesson picks
A welcome video that introduces you
A quick-win tactic students can try in 5 minutes
A sample worksheet or template
A "myth vs reality" explainer
Do NOT preview
Your best final module
Anything inside a private community
Lessons that depend on earlier context
Bonus material reserved for paid students
A good preview lesson may include a welcome video, a quick win, or a sample worksheet. Add a clear next step at lesson end. If you set a full section as a public preview, Teachable supports doing that through quick actions — use that only for lead-magnet-style mini lessons.
Step 10 of 12
Add Drip Content and Certificates
Drip Schedules
A course can release all content at once or open content over time. Teachable supports drip schedules for releasing sections on specific dates or based on time after enrolment.
Use drip course content if students need pacing. For example, a writing course may work better with one module per week.
Completion Certificates
Teachable supports completion certificates for students after they finish a course. A certificate adds a sense of progress and reward.
Do not add a certificate just for decoration — make it match a real skill, project, or outcome.
Course compliance settings can require students to complete videos or quizzes before moving forward. Use that when each step depends on previous work.
Step 11 of 12
Preview Student View Before Launch
Never publish without checking the student view. Preview helps you spot broken flow, unclear lesson names, missing downloads, and awkward page copy.
Teachable lets you preview the curriculum or sales page from the course Information area. It also lets you preview as an enrolled student from the preview bar on the Curriculum page.
Review each lesson in order. Make sure videos play, files open, buttons work, and lesson order feels natural.
Check the mobile view too — many students will watch lessons from phones during breaks.
Use this short QA pass:
Course title matches promise
Thumbnail looks sharp
Sections follow a clear order
Lessons have one goal each
Downloads open correctly
Preview lesson is intentional
Thank-you page gives next step
Navigation feels simple
Step 12 of 12
Publish Course and Control Visibility 🚀
Publishing courses and publishing lessons are separate ideas in Teachable. Published lessons are visible to enrolled students, while unpublished lessons stay hidden.
Teachable product status controls if new students can purchase or enrol, while product visibility controls if a product appears in the public catalogue. Only published products can be made visible in catalogue.
Use hidden catalogue status when you want to share a private link with a beta group. Use visible catalogue status when the course is ready for public browsing.
When publishing, Teachable gives you three options:
Publish all pages and lessons
Publish course pages while keeping unpublished lessons hidden
Cancel
Pick the option that matches your launch stage.
Before sharing a link, copy your course page URL from the Pages area if you want to send visitors straight to the course page.
The Teachable publish dialog — choose what goes live and what stays hidden.
Bonus Walkthrough
Watch the Full Teachable Course-Build Tutorial
If you prefer to see it done end-to-end, this video walks through course setup, curriculum building, lesson editing and publish — exactly the flow above.
Use this online course launch checklist before your first student joins:
Course promise is clear in first screen
Title includes result or audience
Thumbnail uses 16:9 format
Sections move from basics to action
Each lesson solves one small problem
Lesson content includes a task
Downloads have clear file names
Public preview is checked
Student view has been tested
Sales page explains outcome
Thank-you page gives next step
Course status and catalogue setting are correct
Remember
A clean launch beats a huge course. Start with a useful first version, then improve after student feedback.
Final Draft Wrap
You're Ready to Build Your First Course
Now you know how to create a course on Teachable with a clear path. Start with a promise, shape sections, build focused lessons, polish course pages, preview student view, then publish with care.
A strong online course platform setup does not need complex tech. It needs clear teaching, clean structure, good page copy, and a student path that feels easy from first click to final lesson.
Ready to build your first Teachable course?
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