Choosing the Right Learning Management System (LMS) For Your Business

Choosing a Learning Management System (LMS) to create your training, onboarding, or education website can be tough. There are way too many options, and way too many nuances, for anyone to be confident in making the right choice without guidance. 

How does it integrate with your existing website? What are the costs, and how can you use it? Most importantly, how can you make your education program as effective as possible?

Fortunately, this post can help you with the most important considerations, and popular options to make your learning program successful.

What, Exactly, is a Learning Management System?

At its most basic, a Learning Management System is a software platform, usually web-based, to deliver, track, and optimise your learning. While it had its origins in education, you can now find it in use across almost every industry, anytime an HR department wants to implement a standard way to standardise its training program.

Especially in the post-COVID virtual work environment, it’s the platform that holds your training and educational modules and efforts together. That’s why the global LMS market is expected to grow from $9 billion in 2018 to more than $22 billion in 2023, with rapid gains in every continent.

7 Things to Consider When Choosing an LMS

That rapid market growth is exactly why we’re here. The choices of LMS systems range so broadly that it’s almost impossible to quickly find one matching your specific needs. 

Fortunately, you can narrow it down pretty easily by focusing on these 7 points of consideration:

1. Industry relevance – Some LMS systems are specifically set up for the education industry, while others are broader in nature. Use this point to eliminate any options not optimised for your industry.
2. User relevance – Can the LMS support your user number, and your users’ habits? For example, if your training efforts happen largely on smartphones and tablets, mobile optimisation is key.
3. Pricing – The LMS you consider has to fit within your established training budget. In an industry where the price can range from free to thousands, inform yourself early about pricing requirements.
4. Collaboration capabilities – Modern learning is by nature social. Plus, chances are you’re not setting up your LMS in isolation. Collaboration features can set good solutions apart from bad ones.
5. Flexibility – Do you want your users to move through modules at their own pace, or do you have a more strict weekly or monthly schedule? Whatever your setup, the LMS needs to support it.
6. Tracking and reporting – A core benefit of online learning is all the data you generate in your backend. Great LMS solutions can tell you a lot about the success of your training efforts with that data.
7. Software integrations – We’ll get into this in more depth below, but the key here is making sure that your LMS works within your existing website and software capabilities to minimise the learning curve for employees.

This checklist can help you make sure that as you consider your options, you only spend time and resources considering solutions that actually make sense for your organisation. Especially the point about integrations, though, requires more discussion.

Why A WordPress Integrated LMS Makes Sense, And What Are Your Options?

When it comes to learning management systems, you generally have a choice between one of two basic setups: a standalone solution that essentially becomes its own website, and one that integrates directly into your existing website.

It might not shock you to see that we as WordPress development experts recommend the more integrated option. But there are real-world benefits connected with that preference that are worth discussing in more detail.

First off, it’s more flexible. An LMS built into your WordPress site can adjust to whatever setup you already have for that website. That minimises the learning curve for new and existing users, who don’t have to remember a different URL or get used to a different site altogether.

LMS platforms integrated into WordPress also tend to be more customizable, simply because they function as plugins rather than standalone, boxed solutions. Finally, switching to a new solution can be easier because you only need an updated integration, rather than starting from scratch.

The Promise And Benefits of LearnDash on WordPress

Deciding on an LMS within WordPress is the first decision point. The second: understanding which integrated LMS works the best.

Here, you still have plenty of choices. We have and can work with many of them, but have especially had success with LearnDash.

Simply put, LearnDash is the most popular and trusted WordPress LMS you can find today. Its calling card is its easy of use, with a simple drag-and-drop system making it easy to build training modules. The reporting features are extensive, as are its media integrations for more interactive, visual learning.

What we love most about LearnDash though, is its seamless integration with WordPress. This plugin works with any WordPress theme including those we custom build for each client, and even with WordPress multisite, for multi-brand organisations. The pricing tiers ranging from $159 to $329 per year, are especially reasonable for that level of functionality. 

Summary

The LMS market is complex, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Once you know what to look for, and with the right partner on your side, you can find a solution that helps you build, standardise, and optimise your online learning program. 

That’s where we come in. In our work with organisations across industries, we have built a wide range of training and education websites that integrate seamlessly with WordPress and WooCommerce. LearnDash might be our favourite, but we’ve worked with many other options depending on client needs and preferences. We’re ready to apply our years of experience to help your project, as well. 

Ready to learn more? Get in touch to start the conversation or learn more about your options to build the best education and training program possible.