Udemy Review – A Professional Review From An Actual Student

Udemy Review – A Professional Review From An Actual Student

Welcome to my Udemy review!

You've seen their ads on Facebook and Instagram. You've probably seen their YouTube ads as well. 

This online education platform is everywhere, and they are getting the word out. 

I am talking about Udemy.

First of all, I must Congratulate you for taking your time to do your own research before buying into any "seemingly good" product.

That's the way to avoid scams and find the legitimate way to make money online!

Let me be completely transparent with you, I'm not associated with Udemy in any form.

So, rest assured that I'm not here to pitch or sell anything to you.

Instead, I'm here to reveal what makes Udemy a very unique education and training platform, and this is coming from an actual student. 

So, check out what I have to say on my Udemy review. 

Udemy Review Summary

Product Name:  Udemy 

Founder: Not disclosed

Product Type:  Online Education And Training Platform

Price:  Free to Sign Up + Varied One-Time Payments For Courses

Best For:  Everyone looking to develop their skills further or who want to learn new things from different industries. 

Udemy Review Image Summary

Summary:  Udemy is one of the largest and most legitimate online education and training platforms in existence today. With thousands of courses coming from various industry experts, you're getting a different learning experience from Udemy. I would recommend this program to anyone who wants to learn new skills or who want to further develop their skills in their respective industries. The reason why I'm recommending this platform is that you're getting everything - from complete learning materials (videos, audios, books, etc.) to accreditation and certifications (depends on course).

Rating: 90/100

Recommended:  Yes

What is Udemy?

Udemy is one of the largest online education facilities that was founded in 2010.

Through its unique online education structure, students can take part in lessons that are made available for everyone.

And I mean everyone.

Udemy Homepage

The homepage

Whether you’re an aspiring Internet marketer, real estate broker, Forex trader, or even someone who just wants to expand their knowledge and skills, Udemy’s courses are individually designed by their corresponding instructors and checked for quality.

This ensures that all students acquire different learning experiences from different instructors.

You can check out their official introductory video that sums up what they’re all about:

Inside Udemy

Anyone wanting to study the different courses at Udemy will find themselves choosing between a lot of options.

Rather than being provided a singular instructor on a single course, Udemy provides you with a marketplace of instructors to help you meet your needs.

Because their system is more of a marketplace than an online school, their business model is purely consumer-driven.

Think of it this way: it’s like you’re buying a book from an online retailer like Amazon, except you’re shopping for courses and programs in Udemy.

They even have a rating system on both their courses and their instructors that are present in each course description, so you’ll know how the programs are in terms of quality and other things.

From Basic Information To Advanced Coursework

There are thousands of online courses covering any topic you can think of in Udemy. Each course will cover your most basic information to the more advanced or more specific coursework.

So, for example, I did a quick search on Internet Marketing on Udemy and I am presented with 695 or so choices for the courses.

Udemy Courses

If you noticed, the courses are arranged in terms of rating and duration, but you can tweak the search filter (which I’ll get to in the next sections) to streamline the results even further.

You’ll also find courses that cover the basics of Internet Marketing as well as the more advanced or more specific courses.

Content by Industry Experts

There are probably more than 35,000 courses that are currently in Udemy’s library at any given moment, and that’s plenty of education to go through in order to pick the right course for you.

Some of the courses come and go because this is all dependent on the course instructor, so there’s no guarantee that what you’re offered right now may be offered in the future.

Because it’s a marketplace of education, you’ll find different introductory courses to advanced courses handled by different industry experts.

There’s no anonymity here in Udemy, which is why all courses handled and created by these experts are required to put in their real name or their company.

Udemy Jerry Huang Udemy Profile

Jerry Huang Udemy Profile


This makes it easy for you to do research on their background before trying to commit to their course.

Speaking of content, Smart Affiliate Success’ founder Jerry Huang also has a course up on Udemy called “Hiring Writer Like a PRO Even If You've Never Hired Before”.

If you’re an Internet marketer or affiliate marketer looking to know more about outsourcing, that course is perfect for you.

Jerry Huang, Founder of Smart Affiliate Success

I'm Jerry!

I Created My Own 4-Figure Monthly Passive Income at just 21 Years Old!

4 figure monthly passive income

An Impressive Course Search Engine

Udemy uses a very robust search engine to help you find the course that you want to study.

Searching for a topic is easy, and it returns the most popular topics so you’ll find the courses that people are taking right away.

On their search results page, you’ll even find the section called Beginners Rated These Courses Highest, which points out the courses that were rated the highest by first time students.

Udemy Beginners Rated These Courses Highest

Here's what Udemy Beginners Rated These Courses Highest looks like

Udemy makes it easy for you to browse through the courses that you want, so there’s no need for you to go through hundreds of results just to find the right one.

If you want to be more specific, Udemy also has a filter for their search results, which allow you to sort results via:

Udemy Finding Courses

Their Search Filters

  1. Spoken language
  2. Age of course
  3. Student reviews
  4. Academic level
  5. Price
  6. Closed captioning
  7. Quizzes
  8. Course Exercises

You can also do searches based on ratings as well. Each course on the search results page can be previewed so when you click their link, this is what you’ll see:

Udemy What Youll Learn

Sample Course Description found on every course.

You’ll see the contents of the course as well as the requirements. Some instructors will also point out the different skills needed to take part in the course under requirements.

The Course Quality

Every course in Udemy varies from instructor to instructor, so you should really read the reviews and recommendations before purchasing a course.

This will give you an idea on the quality of the coursework that you’re getting into.

Udemy Sample Reviews

Here's a look at what course reviews look like

And much like the instructors, students are not anonymous here as well since they’ll be required to put in their real name for registration.

You can’t leave anonymous comments on a course as well if you haven’t paid for it, so they are really particular on who’s able to leave a review.

Earn Money. Be An Instructor

If you think you have valuable knowledge to share to the industry that you are in, why not be an instructor for Udemy? 

You also get paid for being one too. 

Here's a short guideline on how to become an instructor: 

  1. You can teach a course on any topic
  2. There are no fees associated with being an instructor
  3. Courses must have at least 30 minutes of video and at least 5 learning modules
  4. You get paid via PayPal or Payoneer

You can check out their full FAQ on how to become a Udemy instructor by clicking this link here

Now, anyone can be an instructor, but it doesn't mean you're going to be approved 100%. 

Your courses will have to go through manual review via Udemy's very own course reviewers before you can start marketing it. 

You can also check out their quality guidelines for courses on this link right here

Now, on to the topic of how much are you getting paid. 

There are various rates that Udemy bases your pay on. 

  1. Organic Sales- When a course is sold via Udemy's platform. 50% of the course fee goes to you
  2. Instructor Link - When you sell your course directly to the student. 97% of the course fee goes to you
  3. Affiliate Link - When a course is sold via an affiliate link. 25% of the course fee goes to you
  4. Udemy Ad Program - When a course is sold very own ad program. 25% of the course fee goes to you

Allow me to illustrate. Supposing your course fee is $20. Here's what you would get per student:

  1. Organic Sales - $10 per student
  2. Instructor Link - $19.4 per student
  3. Affiliate Link - $5 per student
  4. Udemy Ad Program - $5 per student

So you see, there's adequate support from Udemy to help you market your courses. 

Accessibility and Support

Udemy is also in tune with the needs of disabled and impaired learners, that’s why some courses have transcripts and closed captioning for videos.

Support also varies across Udemy because lessons are not centralized. Your instructors will be the one to provide support for you when you have difficulties in your lessons.

For example, in one of the courses that I’ve enrolled in, there’s a Facebook group with the instructor and the admins on it so it’s kind of like a virtual classroom.

You’ll be able to directly message the instructors as well via the Messages Feature.

Udemy Messaging

Of course, site-related issues are found in their Support Page, so you’ll be able to read up on FAQ’s and other concerns like refunds and troubleshooting.

Udemy Support

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on their resource page, you can open a ticket and a Customer Service Rep will get back to you.

Pricing

Pricing is based on the courses you enrolled in. It’s free to sign up in Udemy, but the courses require individual payments.

Udemy Sample Courses

How Much Do Courses Cost?

Courses range from $12.99 to $199.99, depending on the discounts offered.

Udemy is known for having huge discounts every now and then, so you’re going to get courses at more than 75% off.

I got my life coaching courses for about $35 in total. The total undiscounted value was about $450.

Who's Udemy For?

Udemy is an online education platform intended for everyone of all ages from different backgrounds.

The freedom to choose between courses without that strict sense of having to be in that industry is one of Udemy’s most impressive features.

Whether you’re a Fireman who wants to know about Internet marketing, or an Internet marketer who wants to know about cooking, Udemy will be able to accommodate you.

What I Like About Udemy

#1 – Quality-Controlled Content

Almost everyone can be an instructor on Udemy, but they have to pass through Udemy’s course quality assurance team.

But note that quality will take a backseat for the business model.

Remember that Udemy is a marketplace than more of a school, so the more courses that Udemy accepts, the more money they make.

This means that if a course gets approved, the quality assurance team will not review it again for optimization.

But this is not a bad thing. Courses being offered on the platform means that they passed the standards that Udemy has in place, so you’re going to get at least what you paid for.

#2 – Some Courses Are Accredited And Have Certificates

If you’re looking for courses that can be transferred to job or college credits, then Udemy has them too.

Majority of these courses have Certificates of Completion coming from Udemy themselves and the instructors’ company too.

Udemy Sample Certificate

Udemy Sample Certificate

Again, you’ll find out which courses have certificates and accreditation on their course profile or even on their course name.

Udemy Course Content

A Sample Course Content Profile

But take note that certification and accreditation are different from licensing, so you’ll have to check that with your industry’s governing body or authority.

#3 – Complete Features From Books To Videos

Courses are equipped with videos, PDF’s, and books.  

Each video will also have a corresponding audio recording as well, so you’ll be able to take these lessons everywhere you go.

In terms of downloading and buffering, both videos and audios have reasonable file sizes and it doesn’t take them that long to load.

This is why I’m able to breeze through my Life Coaching courses. I download the audio file, listen to it while driving or while I’m at the gym, then just mark the lesson completed on my dashboard.

I’ll also do the corresponding activities associated with each lesson once I get back.

Udemy also has a mobile app, so you can listen or watch your lessons or read the books.

What I Don't Like About Udemy?

#1 – Not All Courses Are Accredited

A lot of the courses on Udemy are not accredited because they do not require a mastery test upon completion.

Though professors and instructors are developing the syllabi of each course you take, they do not actively engage their students that much (but you’ll find a handful will do).

If you really want to be certified, you’ll need to coordinate with both the instructor and your industry’s governing body on the requirements.

But if you just want something to brag about to your friends and family, or something to add to your resume, then the Udemy courses are just fine as they are.

Is Udemy A Scam?

Udemy is a very legitimate online education training platform that’s intended for anyone who wants to enhance their skill in any industry.

It’s also a great platform if you want to hone a particular skill, thanks to the wide availability of basic and advanced coursework.  

From complete learning resources to accreditations and certifications, Udemy really makes it worth your while if you enroll in any of their courses.

And for that reason, I would recommend this platform to anyone who wants a totally different learning experience online.

Justin Hagen
 

Justin has worked as an SEO and content specialist for the last 9 years. His success in the industry has allowed him to graduate from college, pay for a wedding, and pay for their first car. He recently joined Jerry as a writer for the Smart Affiliate Success blog.

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