Membership Areas Setup

Launch your first online course with structured lessons, automated enrollment, drip scheduling, and progress tracking. This guide walks through course creation, offer configuration, workflow-based access granting, and member portal customization.

Prerequisites

Before building your first course, ensure you have:

• Admin access to your GoHighLevel sub-account
• Your course content structured: modules, lessons, and materials
• Video content hosted or ready to upload (4 GB max per video)
• Downloadable resources prepared: PDFs, worksheets, templates
• Payment processing connected if selling paid courses (Stripe integration)
• Your course offer defined: free, one-time payment, or subscription

Create Your Course Product

Build the course structure that holds all your lessons and content.

Navigate to Memberships > Courses > Products in your sub-account.

Click Create Product and select Start from Scratch.

Click Start Building and choose the format that matches your content style:

• Sprint Course for quick, concise material (typically under 2 hours)
• Marathon Course for long-form, comprehensive programs (multi-week or multi-month)
• Membership for recurring, ongoing content delivery
• Build Your Own for a completely customized layout

Give your course a memorable, descriptive name. Use names like “SEO Fundamentals Bootcamp” or “Advanced Client Acquisition Masterclass.”

Click Create Product to generate the course shell. The course product now appears in your products list.

Click Edit to open the course builder.

Build Course Structure

Organize your content into categories (modules) and posts (lessons) for a logical learning path.

Add your first Category by clicking + Add Category. Categories function as modules or sections that group related lessons.

Name the category descriptively (for example, “Module 1: Foundations”, “Week 1: Getting Started”, or “Email Marketing Basics”).

Add a category description if desired. This text appears on the category page and helps learners understand what they will learn in this section.

Click Save to create the category.

Add your first Post (Lesson) inside the category by clicking + Add Post.

Name the lesson clearly (for example, “Introduction to SEO”, “Setting Up Your First Campaign”, or “Understanding Analytics”).

Write or paste your lesson content in the text editor. Use headings, bullet points, and formatting to make content easy to scan and digest.

Add a lesson description that summarizes key takeaways or learning objectives.

Click Save to create the lesson.

Repeat this process to build out all categories and lessons in your course. Aim for a logical progression that builds knowledge step by step.

Add Video Content

Upload or embed video lessons to deliver your training material.

Open a lesson in the course builder.

Click the Video section to add or upload your video.

Choose to Upload Video directly from your computer (max 4 GB per video), or paste an Embed URL from YouTube, Vimeo, or Wistia.

If uploading, select your video file and wait for the upload to complete. The platform processes the video for streaming delivery.

Add Closed Captions and Subtitles for accessibility by uploading an SRT file. This improves accessibility and allows learners to follow along in noisy environments or without sound.

Click Save to apply the video to the lesson.

Repeat for all video lessons in your course.

If your videos exceed 4 GB, compress them using video editing software or split long recordings into shorter segments that align with your lesson structure.

Add Downloadable Resources

Supplement lessons with worksheets, templates, checklists, and reference materials.

Open a lesson in the course builder.

Scroll to the Attachments or Resources section.

Click Add Attachment and upload files from your computer, or select from the Media Library.

Supported file types include PDFs, Word documents, spreadsheets, images, ZIP files, and more.

Add multiple resources per lesson if needed. Students see download links below the lesson content.

Click Save to apply the attachments.

Configure Drip Scheduling

Release content on a schedule to keep learners engaged over time and prevent overwhelm.

Open your course product in Memberships > Courses > Products.

Click on a Category to open its settings.

Find the Drip or Availability settings.

Set the number of days after enrollment that this category should unlock. For example:

• Module 1: 0 days (unlocks immediately)
• Module 2: 7 days (unlocks one week after enrollment)
• Module 3: 14 days (unlocks two weeks after enrollment)

The schedule is relative to each student’s individual enrollment date, not a fixed calendar date.

Click Save for the category.

Repeat for all categories you want to schedule.

Enable In-App Notifications for drip content in your membership settings. This notifies students when new content unlocks, driving them back to the course.

Leave categories set to 0 days if you want all content available immediately upon enrollment.

Create a Course Offer

Package your course product into an offer that defines pricing, access, and enrollment.

Navigate to Memberships > Courses > Offers.

Click Create Offer.

Fill in your Offer Name (for example, “SEO Bootcamp - Full Access” or “Free Lead Generation Course”).

Write a compelling Offer Description. This is your sales copy. Include benefits, what students will learn, and why it matters.

Assign one or more Course Products to the offer. Select the course product you just created.

Set your Pricing:

• Free: No payment required, student enters contact info and gets immediate access
• One-Time Payment: Charge a single price for lifetime access
• Recurring Subscription: Charge monthly or annually for ongoing access

If charging, enter the price and select your currency.

Choose whether to include Upsells or Cross-Sells for additional courses or premium content.

Click Create to save the offer.

The offer saves in Draft status by default.

Switch the offer status from Draft to Published using the toggle.

Click Save to activate the offer.

Set Up Automated Enrollment

Use workflows to automatically grant course access when specific events occur.

Navigate to Automation > Workflows.

Click + Create Workflow and select Build From Scratch or use a template.

Add your Trigger. Common triggers for course enrollment:

• Form Submitted: A lead fills out a registration form
• Payment Completed: A customer completes a purchase
• Tag Added: Adding a specific tag to a contact triggers enrollment
• Pipeline Stage Change: Moving a deal to a certain stage grants the course
• Appointment Status Change: After a consultation call, the contact receives access

Configure your trigger with any necessary filters (for example, select a specific form or payment product).

Add the Course Grant Offer action.

Select the course offer you want to grant access to.

Optionally add additional actions:

• Send Email: Deliver a custom welcome email with login instructions and course overview
• Send SMS: Send a text message confirming enrollment
• Add Tag: Tag the contact for segmentation (for example, “Course Student” or “SEO Bootcamp Enrolled”)
• Assign to Pipeline: Move the contact to a pipeline stage for tracking

Test the workflow by triggering it manually with a test contact. Verify the contact receives course access and appears in the membership portal.

Toggle the workflow to Published and click Save.

Customize Member Portal

Brand the member portal where students log in and access courses.

Navigate to Memberships > Courses > Settings.

Upload your Logo to appear in the portal header.

Set Brand Colors to match your company’s color palette. Customize primary color, accent color, and background colors.

Customize the Portal Layout. Choose navigation style, welcome messaging, and course card display options.

Add a Welcome Message that appears when students first log in. Use this to set expectations, encourage engagement, and provide support contact information.

Configure Custom Domain for the member portal (optional but recommended). Navigate to Settings > Domains, add a subdomain like “learn.yourdomain.com” or “courses.yourdomain.com”, configure DNS at your registrar, and point the domain to the membership portal.

Click Save to apply all branding changes.

Preview the portal by clicking View Portal or logging in as a test student.

Configure Certificates of Completion

Reward students with branded certificates when they finish your course.

Open your course product settings in Memberships > Courses > Products.

Navigate to the Certificate section.

Enable certificate generation by toggling the switch.

Customize the certificate template with your branding. Add your company logo, adjust colors, and set fonts.

Add dynamic fields to the certificate:

• Student Name
• Course Title
• Completion Date
• Certificate ID (optional)

Preview the certificate to confirm it displays correctly.

Click Save to apply certificate settings.

When a student completes all lessons in the course, they can download or view their certificate directly from the membership portal.

Optionally, add a Workflow triggered by “Course Completed” that sends the certificate via email automatically.

Share Your Course Offer

Distribute the offer link across your marketing channels to drive enrollments.

Navigate to Memberships > Courses > Offers.

Locate your published offer in the list.

Click the Link Icon next to the offer name.

Click Copy to grab the shareable URL.

Distribute the link across your marketing channels:

• Email campaigns and broadcasts
• SMS messages
• Social media posts and bios
• Website pages and navigation menus
• Funnel pages and pop-ups
• Paid ads and landing pages

Embed the offer checkout page directly into funnels by adding the offer URL as a funnel step destination.

Add the offer link to your website navigation by creating a “Courses” or “Training” menu item that links to the offer page.

Test Your Setup

Verify all course components work correctly before launching publicly.

Enroll yourself or a test contact in the course using the offer URL. Complete the enrollment process as a student would.

Log in to the member portal using the credentials sent in the welcome email.

Navigate through the course. Confirm categories and lessons display in the correct order.

Watch a video lesson to verify video playback works correctly.

Download a resource attachment to confirm files are accessible.

Test drip scheduling by checking that locked content displays with unlock dates and inaccessible lessons show as locked.

Complete all lessons in a category to verify progress tracking updates correctly.

Complete the entire course to trigger certificate generation. Download the certificate and confirm it displays correctly with your branding and student information.

Test on mobile devices by accessing the member portal on your phone and tablet. Verify video playback, navigation, and resource downloads work on small screens.

Trigger the enrollment workflow manually with a second test contact. Verify the workflow grants access, sends welcome emails, and applies tags correctly.

Check the Courses Dashboard under Memberships > Courses to confirm enrollment counts, progress metrics, and revenue tracking display correctly.

Next Steps

Now that your course is live, explore advanced features and strategies to maximize student engagement and revenue:

• Workflow Builder to build complex enrollment and engagement automations
• Community Portal to add social learning environments alongside your courses
• Email Campaigns to nurture students and promote course completion
• Stripe Integration to accept payments for paid courses and subscriptions
• Pipeline Builder to track student progress through sales and onboarding pipelines

For a complete overview of Membership Areas features, advanced techniques, and best practices, read the Membership Areas Guide.