“What’s in a name?” Well, when it comes to online courses, the answer is quite a lot!
Just like with anything we promote online, the words matter.
People are busy, especially online and they have seconds to decide whether or not to click on something.
There are also plenty of other things vying for their attention at any given moment. So, everything related to your course needs to ease the cognitive load. Every heading, bit of text, every image, every CTA needs to help them make that decision. And that includes your course name.
There are 2 ways a course name can go very wrong.
It can confuse people or destroy their trust. And both will cost you course signups.
So, how can a course name confuse people?
Well, if the name of your course is vague or unclear – people may just move on thinking it’s not for them.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say you have a course teaching people how to sell their hand-made knitwear – and you call it “Busy Hands Business Academy”. Sure, it sounds clever, but it’s not at all clear who it’s for – “busy hands” could mean many different things to different people. It’s unclear. Whereas something like “The Knitwear Business Academy” tells you exactly who it’s for (people who make knitwear).
Remember, a confused mind never buys.
Now, let’s talk about destroying trust.
We’ve all clicked on a clickbait link before, right?
You see what seems to be an interesting article title – click on it only to find the article doesn’t vaguely resemble the title. What a letdown! You’re not going to hang around and read anything else on that site, are you? No, you’re going to bounce. You’ve got better things to spend your time on.
You don’t want to do that with your course name.
Your course name should match your course topic and content. Certain words lead to certain expectations, for example, the word ‘masterclass’ indicates that this isn’t a beginner’s course. And if someone visits your course sales page and finds out that your course is all about getting started in your course topic – that’s not a masterclass – and is going to result in a loss of trust.
So, what does a great course name look like?
Just like a great blog title, what you name your course needs to be Interesting and tell people exactly what your course (or blog) is about.
So be clear instead of clever. People should immediately know what your course is about.
And if you can – use the exact words your target audience uses in relation to your topic. Do a keyword search to see what words and phrases people are looking for on your course topic – and use those words.
Lastly, before you make a decision, check to see if the domain name for your course name is available – and buy it. You don’t want someone who’s heard of your course to Google the name and find something completely unrelated to you.
There’s no need to overcomplicate this Please don’t let choosing a course name keep you stuck in your course creation process. Pick a name and move on to actually creating your course.