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It’s easy to get confused by the plethora of LMS solutions on the market today. In this post, you can learn what to look for, and why a WordPress integrated solution might just be your best option.
Choosing a Learning Management System (LMS) to create your training, onboarding, or education website can be tough. There are way too many options and nuances for anyone to be confident in making the right choice without some 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.
A Learning Management System is a software platform, usually web-based, used to deliver, track, and optimise education and training.
While it had its origins in the education sector, you can now find it in use across almost every industry. Anytime an HR department wants to implement a way to standardise its training program and make it more widely accessible, an LMS will likely be the answer.
Particularly 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 on every continent.
That rapid market growth is exactly why we’re here. The choice of Learning Management Systems is so broad that it can be overwhelming and prove tricky to quickly find one that matches your specific needs.
Fortunately, you can narrow it down pretty easily by focusing on these 7 key factors:
Some LMSs are specifically set up for specific industries, whilst others are broader in nature. Use this information to eliminate any options not optimised for your industry.
Can the LMS support your user numbers along with their habits, access, and level of digital confidence? For example, if your training efforts happen largely on smartphones and tablets, mobile optimisation is key.
The LMS you consider has to fit within your established training budget. In an industry where the price can range from free, to thousands of pounds, inform yourself early about pricing structures.
Modern learning is social by nature. Plus, the chances are you’re not setting up your LMS in isolation. Collaboration features can set good solutions apart from average or poor ones.
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.
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, and how it is presented to you.
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 this deserves further discussion.
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, or one that integrates directly into your existing website.
It might not shock you to see that we as WordPress development specialists 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 the more flexible option. 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 customisable, 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 having to start from scratch.
Deciding on an LMS that integrates with WordPress is the first decision point. The second is understanding which integrated LMS will work the best.
Here, you still have plenty of choices. We have and can work with many of them. But here are a few of the popular options on the market that are compatible with WordPress.
We’ve been particularly impressed with LearnDash.
LearnDash is one of the most popular and trusted WordPress LMSs you can find today. Its calling card is its ease of use, with a simple drag-and-drop system making it easy to build out training modules. The reporting features are extensive, as are its media integrations for more interactive and visual learning.
What we love most about LearnDash though is its seamless integration with WordPress. This plugin works with any WordPress theme including those that we custom build for each of our clients, and even with WordPress Multisite for multi-brand organisations.
The pricing tiers range from $199 to $799 per year depending on the number of sites you need it for are especially reasonable for that level of functionality.
The base plugin is free, but they do have a premium PRO Add-Ons bundle which is $710 (but currently on offer for $299).
Memeberpress is a membership management plugin with full LMS features included.
The pricing tiers range from $359 to $999 per year depending on the number of sites you need it for and which if any, additional features you require (although they currently have a 50% off offer).
The core version of the plugin is free, with the more feature-rich pricing tiers ranging from $149.50 to $749.50 per year, based on the number of sites.
The basic version is free, with the pro version pricing tiers ranging from $149 to $299 per year (although they currently have a 50% off offer). Again, the various tiers are based on the number of sites you need to use it on.
The starter version is free, with the pro version pricing tiers ranging from $155 to $480 per year depending on how many sites you need it on (although they currently have a discount offer).
The basic starter version is free, with the pro version pricing tiers ranging from $199 to $799 per year, depending on the number of sites you require it for
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.
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