How to Use Google to Validate Your Digital Course Idea in Five Minutes or Less

Imagine investing weeks (maybe even months) of your time writing, recording, and editing a digital course, and then… crickets. No a single sale. 

It would be devastating. It WAS devastating, when it happened to me. Then I found a way to fix it. 

My name is Cindy Bidar, and I’m the founder of CindyBidar.com and SixFigureSystems.com, and host of the Tiny Course Empire Podcast. Jessica invited me to take over her blog this week, and she asked me to talk to you about my favorite subject, digital courses. 

I’ve been creating and selling online courses since 2018, and to date I’ve created more than 80 courses all about starting and running an online business. You might think that first disastrous launch would stop me from ever trying my hand at course creation again, but I’m happy to say I’ve gone on to sell more than $1M in online courses since then. 

The biggest change? I learned how to validate a course idea before creating it, and I’m going to show you how you can do that, too, without any fancy tools, and even if you’re brand new. 

Validation Tool #1: Predictive Text

There are loads of costly keyword research tools out there, but by far the best I’ve found is Google itself. They do a great job of telling you exactly what people are looking for, and you don’t have to dig into their analytics dashboard to find it. That’s good news, because if you’re like I was in the beginning, you don’t even have an analytics dashboard. 

Here’s what you can do instead. Simply search for “how to” content in your niche. 

I’ll use one of my students as an example. She’s creating a course about meal planning. Typing “how to meal plan” into Google shows me there’s a lot of interest here. Each of these could potentially be its own course, giving her an entire product suite or even a membership site with just one quick search. 

You might be wondering (I was) where those predictive phrases come from. Can they be trusted? Are people really searching for those things? 

According to Google, yes they are: 

“Autocomplete predictions reflect real searches that have been done on Google. To determine what predictions to show, our systems look for common queries that match what someone starts to enter into the search box”

That means real people are searching for how to meal plan on a budget, how to meal plan for one person, how to meal plan for a family, and more. 

I’m feeling pretty positive about my student’s potential success with this idea so far, but let’s dig a little deeper and see if there’s any money to be made here. 

Validation Tool #2: Paid Ads

Even if real people are searching for meal planning ideas, does that mean they just want free content, or are they willing to pay? 

Google will tell us with another quick search. 

This time, I searched for “meal plan course,” and the paid ads tell the story. 

Udemy, a popular online course marketplace, has the second sponsored ad spot for this search term. In other words, they are paying Google to show this ad whenever someone types “meal plan course” into Google’s search box. 

It’s a pretty good bet that if Udemy is paying for this placement, this meal planning course is a good seller for them. Smart ads managers know exactly how much they have to spend to sell a single course, and they keep a close eye on their profit margins. That tells me this meal planning course is earning more than it’s costing them. That’s another good sign for my student. 

If you don’t see anything interesting when you search for [your subject] and “course,” try search terms such as online training, classes, or workshops. Each term will likely bring up different results. 

Validation Tool #3: Competition

Looking a little further down the page, you’ll spot another course on a different marketplace, Skillshare. This is not a paid ad. Skillshare did have a paid ad on this search, but it was for a nutrition course—similar, but not exactly what we’re looking for. 

What’s important here is that it’s not just one marketplace or one course. A single ad or a single offer can be an anomaly, but what we’re seeing here are multiple options available for those who want to learn meal planning. That’s more good news for my student, who’s feeling more and more positive about her course plans. 

A little further down the page you’ll see evidence that this is actually a pretty popular topic. There are several more meal plan courses, ranging in price from $25 to $300. Some focus on nutrition and macro planning, some are about saving time or money, and some are designed to work with specific health concerns. 

Clearly, there’s a lot of room to tweak this topic and create something that appeals to my student’s specific niche. 

You might notice that some of the courses are created by registered dietitians (and one is from the US government), but most are from real people like you and me, just sharing what they’ve learned and what they’re practicing in their own lives. 

But what about all that competition? You might be thinking, “This is terrible news. I shouldn’t create this course because someone else is already doing it. There’s too much competition.” 

That’s the wrong way of looking at it. 

Competition is a good thing, not something that should make you rethink your ideas. Seeing other courses in your niche means there is a buying audience for your idea. In fact, if you don’t see any competitors—if no one is creating courses in your niche or about your subject matter—that might be a sign that it’s too narrow of a topic, or that there’s just not enough interest. 

In fact, when my students tell me they don’t have any competitors, I send them back to the drawing board to try again. Unless you’re Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, it’s unlikely you’ll be successful creating something that’s never been done before. 

Stick with proven models, and instead work to differentiate yourself from what’s already available. That’s how you’ll find success in the online course business. 

Do you have a course topic in mind? 

Most people do, but they let fear of failure or worries about technology hold them back from starting. The truth is, it does take some effort to create your first digital course, but it’s probably a lot less daunting than you think—and the results are so worth it!

I’d love to share my formula with you, so I asked Jessica if I could create a special offer just for you, and she said yes! 

For a limited time, I’m bundling together my two best-selling courses, Tiny Course Empire and Quick & Easy Course Creation. Together they give you a proven business model, plus the tactical, step-by-step plan to go from the spark of an idea to a completed and ready to sell course… even if you don’t have a website or an email list yet. 

Get this exclusive training bundle here, and I’ll see you on the inside. 

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About Jessica @ The Selling Family

Jessica is an experienced content creator who has been sharing her knowledge about selling online since 2012. With a passion for Amazon FBA, creating and selling low-content books, and blogging, she has helped countless individuals and businesses succeed in their own online businesses. When she’s not working, Jessica enjoys spending time with her family, playing games, and watching her favorite shows.