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Webinars facilitate efficiency in communication with prospects, staff, partners, and customers. Webinars are online events combining HD videos, built-in audio, and live polls to interact with people from all over the world. You can give presentations, demonstrate products, and deliver a message to thousands of people worldwide simultaneously. If you design insightful and memorable webinar content, you will get excellent results. This article will provide you with all the information on how to create a webinar. Follow the best practices given to create successful webinars. 

Did you know? On average, a customer attends about 23 webinars in one year!

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Why host a webinar?

Before you understand how to create a webinar, it is essential to know why it holds importance. The popularity of webinars is rising. For increasing your brand awareness and the understanding of your products and services by a huge percentage, webinars are a great option. They help you produce high-quality leads. Unlike in-person events, webinars are cost-effective. They allow you to create a stronger link with current and potential clients. Webinars will also enable you to demonstrate your knowledge and competence in your industry. 

Benefits of Hosting Webinars 

Once you know the benefits of hosting webinars, your research on how to create a webinar will receive a boost.

• Connect with and qualify prospects more frequently – Webinars will help you gain more eligible business leads from your target audience in a few easy steps than other available platforms. 
• Strengthen your brand awareness – Promote your products and business through online events that allow you to engage your target audience and attract interest. 
• Connecting with a large audience – Some webinar platforms like UnRemot allow the attendance of up to 200 people; this tends to help you communicate your message effectively with a broader public. Run economic meetings with employees – Webinars are also good for internal presentations. They can also be viewed at once, even if you have offices around the country.

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• Broaden exposure through reusable content – Record and post your webinar on all digital platforms to strengthen your brand and marketing administration. The webcam, audio, and screen of the webinar usually get captured in webinar platforms. 
• Engage attendees with HD videos – When the video quality is bad, the strongest message may be misunderstood. Several webinar platforms allow up to six presenters to move to better involvement through HD webcams. 
• Optimize your marketing procedures – Integrate your customer relation management ( CRM) solution in the webinar platform to manage lead generation & event creation in a single location.

Did you know? 60-minute webinars receive more attendees than 30-minute webinars. 

How to Create a Webinar

Follow these steps to know how to host a webinar for the first time 

1. Select a date and time

Hosting a webinar involves planning for a time suitable to participants in various time zones. The best time to host a webinar is usually Thursdays at 12 PM PST/ 3 PM EST.

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2. Select the subject of your webinar

Ensure that the subject guides and motivates participants. Keynote speakers are always great if the topic calls for it. This is highly recommended to have successful webinars. 

 

3. Adapt your branding to suit your needs

Once you select a topic for your webinar, pick a pertinent image for your front page and insert your logo to ensure that your brand’s design is reflected. This is an important tip on how to host a webinar. 

4. Build your webinar’s hashtag

Promotion is very important when you think of hosting a webinar. It is a good start to build a hashtag because it makes it easier for people to communicate about it on various social media platforms.

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5. Issue invites to your webinar

Sending out invites forms an essential part. This is when you should really make the event known. Go through your email list and send invites as required. On your website or blog, put up posts about the webinar. Use social media hashtags. Make yourself creative, and you will receive more attendees.   

6. Construct content for the webinar

Take control of the content when you start thinking of how to run a webinar. Your webinars will receive a great boost when you engage the attendees with photos, polling, and handouts.

 

7. Conduct a practice run

Familiarize your speakers with the controls of the webinar and ensure that things go smoothly. This can be done with a test run using the webinar software or tool. Step 7 forms a crucial tip for how to do a webinar because it will ensure the effectiveness of your webinar.     

8. Be the host of your webinar

Once you know how to create a webinar, you must proceed to also gain information on how to run a webinar successfully. This is the stage when your preparation will pay off. Host the webinar with confidence and surety. Do not miss out on recording your webinar so that it can be uploaded later on a video sharing platform.

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9 Follow it up

Follow up with your participants, ideally within 24 hours after the webinar. Ask if they have any further queries or requests to make. 

10 Make the recording of your webinar accessible

A recorded webinar is a good option for obtaining leads long after the webinar has been hosted. Publishing a record will expand your scope of the product, service or knowledge you sell and draw extra attention.

Strategies on how to create a webinar 

1. Know your target audience 

You must have answers to the following three questions,

• Who is going to be here? 
• What are the possible challenges or problems they could be facing? 
• What could they gain out of the webinar? 

You must ensure that you prepare for a high-value, efficient webinar by knowing who your attendees are.

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2. Give thought to visual branding 

You have to be trustworthy and consistent when it comes to webinars. Seek to harmonize it with the visual tone of your brand. For instance, you must insert a logo at appropriate places like the opening animation or main slides. You must also use fonts, colours and other visual elements which suit the overall style of your brand. Such details that seem tiny and insignificant, but note that it is important to establish a coherent experience for your webinar participants. Visual branding also makes your brand more recognizable, especially when your other content uses the same visual style.

3. Pay attention to mobile 

Not everyone will use a desktop to join your webinar. This is a considerable number of viewers you can lose if you do not optimize your webinar for mobile devices. For the actual webinar video, please ensure that your slides and annotation have an increased size of the text and visuals. Given the smaller screens on mobile devices, this ensures good visibility. You must also select a webinar to support the interactive features of mobile devices. For instance, ClickMeeting has a mobile application that contains features such as group chat, document sharing, and desktop polls.

Did you know? About 25 per cent of attendees join webinars using their mobile devices.

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4. Provide your services or products as an add-on 

Providing your product or service during the webinar does not turn the entire thing into an advertising scheme. As long as the webinar delivers all it promises, your audience must be more aware of any pitch that you make. 

You have to keep in mind these two things – 

• The remaining advice from the webinar, with or without your product, must still be helpful. 
• Make sure that you present the product when appropriate.

5. Consider starting a paid webinar series 

Marketing webinars can be pretty expensive. A paid webinar series would pay for itself. Asking participants to pay for a webinar increases expectations of a high standard of quality. Ensure that you fulfil this promise. If you trust your value and price, consider creating a paid webinar series for additional income. Remember to wait until you have the guarantee that your target audience will pay for your webinar content. Test various price points until you identify one for your audience. Although a paying model will hold your numbers down, a more active audience is likely to be present.

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Tips for hosting webinars 

To help you with knowing how to create a webinar, here are some helpful tips.

1. Choose a good platform to host your webinar

It is crucial to first pick a platform for hosting the webinar. It must be one that you can trust. Renowned webinar platforms make registering for your webinar simple for people. They also provide multiple means for them to get involved. Some people might look at your webinar on their computers, for example, and others would like to join through their phones or smartphone applications. Furthermore, certain webinars have repeated advertisements and a limited number of participants.

All of this should be taken into account when selecting a webinar platform which works for you. This must be taken care of before you begin wondering how to create a webinar. Some popular webinar hosting platforms are UnRemot, GoToWebinar, WebEx, Adobe Connect, and AnyMeeting.

2. Finalize on the most suitable day and time

It is necessary to host your webinar on a day and time that will allow for a maximum number of participants. The best time to host a webinar for your company will depend on the target demographic. The latest WhatCounts survey indicates that Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to host webinars. This is because Mondays and Fridays are normally filled with re-launching and last-minute activities.

Google Analytics could also be used to identify the regions worldwide from where the most traffic is obtained. Then, you can select the best time according to those time-zones. You cannot host your webinar when it is midnight, for instance, if most of your web traffic is coming from the UK. Note that you can experiment with hosting a webinar on several days and times and draw a comparison of attendance rates to assess which will work the best for you.

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3. Make use of the appropriate equipment 

You can boost or damage your webinar with the equipment you select. Keep them ready before you plan on how to create a webinar. Utilize headset microphones or landline phones to make sure that the audience can listen to your presentation clearly. This is a better alternative to relying on built-in microphones on your laptop or desktop computers. It is also a smart idea to keep a backup computer and battery replacement for your equipment in the event that you encounter any technical problems.

You must also print your slides so that if a glitch occurs, you will not lose your flow of thought. The right equipment enhances the effectiveness of your webinar and provides an excellent experience for participants.

4. Promote your webinar beforehand 

You have to promote ahead of time to maximize the attendance of your webinar. Begin with developing a dedicated landing page, which will present the topic and speakers of the webinar. Then, emphasize the date and time and provide an explicit call for individuals to register. In your social media page, you could also promote webinars and create an enticing hashtag to inspire people to get involved. You can also post a short video to show participants what they can expect on the webinar day. Create a blog post that acts as a preview for your webinar subject.

Finally, several email reminders can be sent. On the day of your webinar, you can send a direct email invite for participants to join the event.

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5. Select a topic that can engage your audience 

It will be difficult for you to get people interested in your webinar, let alone to get them to attend it. If you pick a topic which your audience does not enjoy, it will become more exhausting to attract even a few attendees. It is essential to focus on a particular idea that will connect with the audience when selecting a topic. Narrow it down and cover one part in great detail if your idea is broad. An in-depth webinar on a particular subject is far better than a broad overview.

If you inform them about a product, service or significant industry trend, you must give participants value by communicating your message clearly and offering them valuable tips and advice. Once you accomplish this part of the how to create a webinar process, you are sure to host a successful webinar. 

Did you know? The most attractive webinar titles have the words “x ways to…”, “how to…”, “trends”, and “new”. 

6. Engage your attendees 

It is also essential to ensure that your presentation is attractive visually. With the use of a variety of images, and by introducing only one topic in every slide, your audience will stay alert and involved. Do not avoid talking with your audience during your webinar, even when you want to stay focused on your script alone. Your audience can provide valuable information. This is why you have to make sure that every 4-5 slides, you ask them questions and start the interaction.

At the end of your presentation, you must also leave plenty of time to answer the questions posed to you. You can allot 45 minutes at the end of your webinar lasts for 45 minutes, for example. There are also polling options on several webinar platforms that you can use to ensure audience engagement.

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7. Practice hosting your webinar 

This is a very significant aspect of how to create a webinar process. Keep practising your webinar many times to make sure that everything progresses without any issues on the day that you go live. Rehearse your presentation some days ahead of time to make sure that all your devices function efficiently. By doing this, you can also close any unnecessary apps that could reduce the speed of your computer. This will help you recognize and address potential problems and establish trust in your ability to produce a stellar webinar.

8. Follow up with attendees

Follow up with event participants after the webinar and send them an email expressing gratitude for joining your webinar. You can also request feedback from them and assess their experience. Also, please ensure that people that registered but were not able to join the webinar receive a recording. Freebies or webinar highlights can also be offered to encourage people to join your company for the next step or participate in a future webinar.

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9. Assess your performance 

Step back and assess the event after the webinar. You can evaluate the recording and webinar quality using in-platform metrics. You should also meet speakers and team leaders in order to address what has gone well and areas that can be changed. You should also take input from the audience and make improvements to your webinar to make the next webinar even more successful.

Live webinars or web conferencing is an efficient mechanism to conduct online meetings, marketing products and services, training programs, events and even academic lectures. They enable easy reach to prospective leads, customers and learners, thereby creating a significant impact on an organization’s sales and revenue targets. You can interact and collaborate effectively to build up a healthy and strong interpersonal relationship. But to achieve your objective, you need to invest in the best webinar software. The platforms must be equipped with the latest advanced features, offered at affordable rates.

Top 15 Webinar Software in 2020

1. Unremot
2. MyOwnConference
3. Demio
4. ClickMeeting
5. GoToWebinar
6. WebinarNinja
7. Webex
8. Zoom
9. Livestream
10. WebinarJam
11. BigMarker
12. AnyMeeting
13. Webinars OnAir
14. Adobe Connect
15. Google Hangouts

In this article, we will guide you on the best available webinar software to enable your marketing goals. Before discussing the various types of webinar conferencing software, let us first try to understand the meaning of it and its benefits.

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What is an Online Webinar Software?

Webinar Software is utilised to conduct online meetings and conversations through video calls. You can demonstrate live presentations and events to the desired audience with ease. They assist in real-time collaboration and interaction while being placed remotely at different locations of the world. There are free webinar software and paid ones for advanced toolset and features.

Tip: There are an ample number of open source webinar software and licensed software too. It is essential to scan through the webinar software reviews before investing in them.

Benefits of using Webinar Broadcast Software

1. Addressing a vast audience

The webinar software help in connecting with a large number of audience. You do not have to depend on social media engagements specifically to gain sales leads. You can easily target suspects and prospects virtually with a minimalistic cost and expenditure. Majority of the webinar conferencing software are user friendly, enabling demos and live conversations.

2. Minimal Cost

The advantage of using webinar broadcast software is that the expense is far less than face to face meetings or promotion on social media platforms. The prices are low and affordable. Your audience need not invest while attending the online webinar. You do not need to invest in additional infrastructure since you won’t be conducting events or live shows in physical mode.

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3. Brand recognition

Leveraging webinar hosting software enhances the quality of your presentations and events. More and more customers are attracted to attend online meetings and webinars. Gradually your domain and brand earn recognition. They eventually result in gaining customers and sales leads.

The Best Webinar Platforms

While selecting the best webinar platforms for your business, you must remember some points.

• Perform a webinar software comparison between the short-listed products
• Join forums or consult with experts for webinar software reviews
• Scrutinise the features offered by the software and check for compatibility with your desktop or laptop
• Verify the pricing packages offered and their long term subscription plans

The list of best webinar platforms for your reference and guidance:

1. Unremot

Unremot promises to provide the highest collaboration amongst distributed teams and audiences. It is one of the most user-friendly online resources available. The platform is essentially designed to collaborate and interact with anyone, anywhere, thus most appropriate for those who regularly communicate & host webinars.

Key Features on Unremot

• One-tap video calls
• Easy Screen Sharing
• File Sharing
• Tile-based participant view for video sessions
• Full-screen view for both participants and screen share

Pricing

• 14 Days Free Trial
• Standard: $20/month
  • Up to 100 team size
  • Public spaces
  • Private spaces
  • Unlimited video calls
  • Unlimited text chats
  • Unlimited recordings
• Enterprise: Write to us at hello@unremot.com

2.  MyOwnConference

MyOwnConference is a robust platform for webinars and video conferences. It has a user-friendly UI, so you don’t need special technical skills to schedule and hold the webinar. Also,  you don’t need to install any software for using MyOwnConference. It is compatible with almost all browsers. Moreover, this is a reliable solution and provides 99.98% uptime.  

Key Features of MyOwnConference

• Webinar recording in Full HD format
• Completely browser-based, no installation is required
• Integration with Google Analytics for deep analytics and insights
• Real-time polls and surveys, chat and private message.
• The user-friendly interface in 16 languages
• Automated email invitations and reminder emails
• Ability to share files and documents with attendees during a webinar

Pricing  

• Free account for 20 attendees for lifelong use  
• Plan for 60 attendees, priced at USD 36 per month 
• Plan for 150 attendees, priced at USD 60 per month 
• Plan for 300 attendees, priced at USD 84 per month 
• Plan for 500 attendees, priced at USD 120 per month

3. Demio

Demio is one of the most popular and best webinar platforms used by several entrepreneurs and business. It has the best recording options and facilities in the Cloud. The UI is attractive and user friendly. You can even conduct polls, share documents and engage in question-answer sessions with the participants. All these activities can be created live during the webinar.

Key Features of Demio:

• Automated recording of the sessions and preserving them in a cloud platform. The recordings can be easily referred to in future whenever required. They can be circulated to the customers too who have missed the webinars. The users can also personally access and download the recordings.
• Offers options for customising the front end UI and other features and menus available in the product
• Robust analytics and reporting capabilities
• Seamless integration with the various marketing tools
• Instant messaging and chat options with a group or individual participant
• Efficient performance monitoring of the webinars conducted with Demio

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Pricing

• Free trial for 14 days
• Three paid plans (annual subscriptions):
  • • The Starter Plan for accommodating 50 persons in a room with a monthly payment of USD 34
    • The Growth Plan for accommodating 150 persons in a room with a monthly payment of USD 69
    • The Business Plan for accommodating 500 persons in a room with a monthly payment of USD 163

4. ClickMeeting

ClickMeeting is considered as one of the prominent and best webinar platforms. Its key USP is its attractive, user-friendly UI. Medium and small-sized companies have found the tool very useful while conducting product training and marketing their products and services. The automated recording is available for easy access, download and sharing across the targeted audience. Its strong reporting and analytical capabilities allow detailed insights into a webinar’s performance.

Key Features of ClickMeeting:

• Instant messaging and chat facilities with a group of participants or any specific individual
• Conducting live interactive surveys and polls during an ongoing webinar session
• Easy integration and connection with various social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook 
• Provision for sharing videos by multiple presenters 
• Automatic, easy recording of meetings and live sessions. The recordings are stored on the Cloud. Users can easily access them and download for usage and future reference. You can even share the webinar recordings as per your needs.
• Robust reporting and analytics to determine the webinar performance and attendance
• Provide interactive live whiteboards for engaging participants

Pricing

• Free trial for 30 days
• Two paid plans (annual subscriptions):
  • • MyWebinars allowing 25 viewers, rated at USD 25 per month
    • MyWebinars Pro enabling 50 viewers, rated at USD 35 per month

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Tip: ClickMeeting has a provision for customised pricing wherein you need to contact their sales team to obtain the best quote.

5. GoToWebinar

Large enterprises and organisations prefer using GoToWebinar as their webinar platform. Studies on webinar software comparison have proved it to be the most efficient in hosting live sessions. It has the potential to enable effective management of an entire event at ease and comfort. You can focus on increasing your business growth and sales leads without bothering about the technicalities of the tool. It allows streaming of webinars live and record meetings automatically. There is an embedded automated email notification facility within the tool.

Key Features of GoToWebinar

• Recording of events and play in webinars 
• Well defined reports and intelligent analytics 
• Live polls and surveys for collecting feedback from the audience
• High-end audio and video quality
• Seamless integration with GoToMeeting, Salesforce, Zapier and others.
• Automated recording of webinars and live sessions
• Prompt customer support with 24 X 7 assistance for problem resolution
• Easily customisable registration pages
• In-built facilities for sending email notifications to the invitees 
• Send documents and files to the participants during a webinar

Pricing

• Starter Plan costing USD 89 per month for 100 invitees
• Pro Plan costing USD 199 per month for 500 invitees
• Plus Plan costing USD 429 per month for 1000 invitees

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6. WebinarNinja

Major product brand companies have voted WebinarNinja as one of the trusted and best webinar platforms. It is easy to use, and you do not require any technical skills to adopt the tool. The webinars are created super efficiently with minimal keyboard and mouse clicks. The key attraction of the platform the various typed of webinars that can be conducted as per the type of audience. A series of webinars can be executed at one go. It can host a combination of both recorded and live videos. It even has the provision of running recorded webinars as and when requested. 

Key Features of WebinarNinja

• Instant messaging and live chat with the host, individual participant or group of participants 
• Easy sharing of screens or presentations 
• Conduct live interactive polls during the webinar and also before and after the webinar
• In-built email notification facilities 
• Integration with major CRM platforms and almost more than 1000 apps 
• Reporting and analytics abilities for performance monitoring and insights 
• Ability to accommodate multiple presenters for a session, sharing screens or videos simultaneously.

Pricing

• Free trial for 14 days
• Starter Plan for 100 attendees, priced at INR 39 per month
• Pro Plan for 300 attendees, priced at USD 79 per month
• Plus Plan for 500 attendees, priced at USD 129 per month
• Power Plan for 1000 attendees, priced at USD 199 per month

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6. Webex

Webex is one of the best webinar platforms offered by CISCO. It has some really great features for its users; like conducting demos, online meetings, live presentations and events. The participants can easily collaborate using its web version. It provides the flexibility to record the meetings either in a central server or in your machines. The app can be accessed from different devices. It is compatible with almost all browsers.

Key Features of Webex

• Super audio and HD enabled video quality
• In-built adaptors to integrate with several marketing tools
• Capable of handling almost 40,000 participants
• The platform is Cloud-based, hence enables easy access
• Ability to conduct surveys, polls, question-answer sessions
• Provides an efficient interactive online whiteboard for real-time engagement with the participants
• Facility to share documents 
• Embedded audio calling capabilities for the invitees

Pricing

• Free trial for 30 days
• Three paid plans (annual subscriptions):
  • • The Starter Plan for accommodating 50 participants with a monthly payment of USD 13.50
    • The Growth Plan for accommodating 100 participants with a monthly payment of USD 17.95
    • The Business Plan for accommodating 200 participants with a monthly payment of USD 26.95

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8. Zoom

Zoom is essentially a video conferencing tool and one of the best free webinar software. The interesting part is it is a fully cloud-based platform. You can download its app in your mobile, desktop and laptop and use with ease. Its UI is extremely user friendly, allowing seamless conduct of meetings, events and live sessions. If you are looking for live broadcasts, then the tool is especially helpful, allowing speakers to talk in sequence.

Key Features of Zoom

• It supports interaction for a total count of up to 100 participants with clear audio and HD enabled video quality
• Easy integration with Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook. This enables efficient session scheduling and emailing about the events to the participants
• Connected well with social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook. Hence you can easily conduct live webinars and broadcasts with your social media connects. 
• Captions available for translating the speaker’s conversations into textual messages
• Conduct live surveys and polls during an ongoing session
• You can share your entire desktop, a particular screen or app
• The viewers can engage in one on one chat with individual participants or the host. They can also engage in group chat.
• Virtual interactive whiteboards available for the host or the presenter 

Pricing

• Sign up for free for 100 participants and 40 mins of the webinar time limit
• Pro paid plan offers 1 GB additional size in the Cloud for recording, costing USD 14.99 per month
• The business paid plan is applicable for small and medium-sized business. It can occupy 300 participants, costing USD 19.99 per month
• Enterprise paid plan also costs USD 19.99 per month, but it is basically for large enterprises, supporting 1000 participants.

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9. Livestream

Livestream is one of the efficient and best webinar platforms for video communication and conferencing. It is specifically used by companies for conducting product demos and training. The best part is that it is compatible to work in different browsers. It is also accessible from any devices – mobile, desktop, laptop, tablets, etc. The key feature of the platform is its emailing system. You can craft emails for promoting your webinars and easily automate them. You can even check the status of the emails, whether they have been read by the intended recipients. Data security is one of the prime concerns of Livestream company management. They comply with the GDPR standards and guidelines strictly.

Key Features of Livestream

• Offers different webinar themes suited for your events and meetings
• Conducts live polls and surveys for collecting feedback and recommendations from the viewers
• Customer support provides multi-language facilities
• Invitations are created and scheduled through a single click
• Automating the scheduling of webinar sequence with ease
• Facilities for unlimited storage of recorded meetings and webinars 
• Data export facilities into .xls or .csv format
• Extensive reporting and analytics facility on performance and attendance
• Integration with social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube and Facebook 

Pricing

• One of the best free webinar software offering meetings of 20 minutes duration free. You can schedule unlimited webinars and meetings. The limitation of the free plan is ten registrations for each webinar and 4 participants for a meeting. 
• Webinar Premium plan for a price of USD 99 per month with a 4 hour limit per session
• Meet Premium plan is applicable for a price of USD 31 per month, allowing up to 8 participants

Tips: Livestream also has an Enterprise offer where you can avail a customised plan for a specified price quote.

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10. WebinarJam

WebinarJam leverages innovative and latest technologies for conducting online sessions and meetings. Flash, RTMP, HLS and WebRTC are utilized efficiently along with special Broadcast Distribution techniques. It is extremely user friendly, providing HD video quality.

Key Features of WebinarJam

• Livestream of events and easy registrations
• Efficient integration with social media platforms
• Accommodates multiple attendants
• Helps to conduct live polls and surveys
• Compatible with different browsers and devices

Pricing

• Basic Plan at USD 499 per year for 500 participants per webinar
• Professional Plan at USD 699 per year for 1000 participants 
• Premium Plan at USD 999 per year for 5000 participants

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11. BigMarker

BigMarker is immensely popular since it permits multiple presenters to attend the session. You can easily send email invitations and notifications for reminders. It provides seamless integration with prominent CRM systems for efficient conversion of sales into prospective customers.

Key Features of BigMarker

• Provides in-built forms for surveys, and polls
• Automated recording of webinars 
• Integrations with Marketo, MailChimp and many more
• Browser-based, hence no installation needed
• Easily customizable landing pages and webinar themes
• Supports more than 135 currencies

Pricing

• Starter Plan at USD 79 per month for 100 attendees
• Elite Plan at USD 159 per month for 500 attendees
• Summit Plan at USD 299 per month for 1000 attendees

12. AnyMeeting

AnyMeeting is best used for small start-up companies, academic firms and institutes. The tool has attractive features like automatic recording of webinars, HD video quality, screen sharing etc. It supports interactions and collaborations with prospects, clients and internal teams.

Key Features of AnyMeeting

• User-friendly landing pages
• Conduct live polls and surveys and question answer sessions
• Real time messaging and chats
• Embedded reporting and analytics features
• Email notifications and reminders to participants

Pricing

• 30 day trial period
• Webinar Lite for USD 48 per month for 50 attendees
• Webinar Pro for USD 128 per month for 200 attendees
• Webinar Enterprise for USD 298 per month for 1000 attendees

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13. Webinars OnAir

Webinars OnAir is hosted in Cloud, enabling easy access and usage. It helps to conduct recurring webinars with ease and at affordable rates. A vital feature of the tool is to track the participation rate and their conversions into prospective customers.

Key Features of Webinar OnAir

• Accommodates a large audience base of 50,000 participants
• Permits presentations by almost 10 speakers in one go
• Instant messaging and live chats with participants
• Registration facilities offered at a single click

Pricing

• 30 day trial period
• Monthly plan of USD 19.97 for 25 participants and USD 99 for unlimited participants

14. Adobe Connect

Adobe Connect is an efficient platform for creating webinars, sharing documents, hosting online meetings and video conferences. You can customize the meeting rooms to conduct the events and live sessions, suited for the attendees.

Key Features on Adobe Connect

• Wide variety of templates for webinars
• Integration with CRM systems like SalesForce, Eloqua etc.
• Conduct live surveys and polls 
• Robust reporting and analytics for better monitoring and insights

Pricing

• 30 day free trial period
• Monthly plans – USD 130 for 100 people, USD 470 for 500 people and USD 580 for 1000 people
• Yearly plan for USD 1250

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15. Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is the best free webinar software. It easily integrates with Gmail and Google Chrome. You can stream the webinars on YouTube for reaching up to a large audience. Majority of companies, online business and academic institutions use it for conducting online meetings and live conferences.

Key Features on Google Hangouts

• Free with no costs involved
• Easy installation in other mobile devices, laptops and desktops
• Automatic recording of sessions
• Easy to use screen sharing with participants
• Permits chat with 30 attendees at once

You can also check for various open-source webinar software like Big Blue Button, Linphone, Mconf, EZTalks, Jitsi to name a noteworthy software. But before investing in any of the webinar hosting software, it is recommended to register for the free trial period. Some of the best webinar platforms do not necessitate registration or addition of any credit card details. Hence it is advisable to avail the free of cost facilities to determine the quality of the tool and its features. 

Back in the 20th century, if you wanted to attend a seminar happening in Silicon Valley, California, where Elon Musk or Sundar Pichai is the speaker you would have to go to that location. But, thankfully it’s the 21st century, and anyone can attend a seminar staying from anywhere. In this blog, we will discuss what is a webinar, how it works and what are its advantages and what are the elements of a good webinar.

What is a webinar?

The word webinar is the mix of two words – web and seminar and is an event conducted on the internet exclusively attended by online audiences. It is a presentation, lecture, seminar, workshop transmitted over the web using video conferencing software.

To define webinar in simple words, a webinar is a real-time online meeting held via the internet. It connects the individuals who are the viewers from different parts of the world. Interactivity or the ability to discuss, send and receive information in real-time; these are the main features of a live webinar.  

How does a webinar work?

Technically, a webinar solution or software is invoked by all participants in a webinar. Some webinar solutions include software and functionality that differ for the host and the audience. A webinar solution may run as a web browser application and some webinar solutions require to download and installation of the software on each participant’s computer. A webcam is used to display the visual of the participants and the participants see the visuals of the host on the computer screen. Participants speak and listen to audio via computer microphones and speakers.

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Webinar solutions are usually licensed as a service based on pricing models. Some webinar solutions are free of cost. While the chargeable ones vary – fixed cost per minute per user and monthly or annual fee, allowing unlimited use with maximum capacity per session. A webinar, along with the visuals of the speaker, is also accompanied by images, videos, documents, presentations, etc. The presentation of visual materials is accomplished through directly visualising the image of the presenter’s computer screen to the participants instead of the speaker’s visuals. The speaker would select the appropriate image, video, presentation through their computer screen. 

How to do a webinar?

Apart from the technical know-how, it is important to understand how a webinar works in actual. 

Before a webinar takes place, the host must fix an appointment and invite the desired participants. Generally, there is a limit to the number of participants. So those who are interested must register to attend the session. The host would, later on, send a confirmation email to the selected participants. The email contains instructions along with the details of the login and access link. Participants connect to the webinar which requires standard internet connectivity. Connecting to a webinar is possible only for a limited period. If you start the login procedure after the expiration of the deadline, the access is stopped after a few minutes, an online seminar has begun.

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What device do you need to conduct or participate in a webinar session?

To conduct or participate in a webinar, you require the following devices and installations. 

• Personal computer, laptop, smartphone and tablet. Almost all the webinar solutions are functional in all the above-mentioned devices. 
• Few webinar solutions are required to be installed in the system while some can be accessed via an internet browser.
• A webcam is required for personal computers to enable visual conferencing
• Microphones and speakers are required to listen and talk to each other. 

What are the types of webinar?

Based on the release and availability of content, webinars can be classified into three categories. 

1. Live webinars

 A live webinar is when you are presenting the online seminar in real-time to a live audience. These sessions are usually one-time events that occur during a specified date and time. There are no options to pause such engaging webinars. It happens as it is like a person demonstrating in real-time. 

2. On-demand webinars

On-demand webinars are also known as pre-recorded webinars. A webinar or a training session is recorded in prior and you invite people to watch the pre-recorded webinar on a certain platform. It is signed up by the audience to watch it later on at the time of their convenience.

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3. Automated webinars

Automated webinars are almost the fashioned version of on-demand webinars. The only difference is that the time to release the pre-recorded webinar is pre-fixed by the presenter. In simple words, the presenter records and upload the webinar to a certain platform, the date and time of release are set. When the said date and time arrive, the webinar is streamed live to the audience.

What are the features of a good webinar?

Online seminars are interesting and make the participants enthusiastic for the organisers and the participants. The live session which helps people located in distinct locations to take part in the seminar are the key feature of a webinar. There are many free and paid webinar software and services to choose from, some of the common features of the webinar solutions include the following. 

1. Live sessions

This is the key element and one of the main uses of webinar. This feature helps the persons located in distinct places to attend live webinar sessions. It is an online presentation held via the internet in real-time. The ability to interact and discuss is the main element here. In some webinar solutions, the attendees are only able to chat with the host. The provisions are limited in number for the attendees to interact with the host.

2. Sharing relevant documents and presentation

During a webinar, the host can share relevant presentations, documents, videos, images, etc. In many seminars/webinars, the session begins with videoed introductions. Often, presentations are the beginning and the reference point of the webinars. This feature is a hand-in-hand tool for the host.

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3. Whiteboard

Like, how a white/blackboard is important for a seminar, a whiteboard is also important for conducting a webinar. The host would need a whiteboard to make such sessions interesting. Whiteboards are commonly used to make it an engaging webinar for the audience. Text boxes, drawing tools, shapes and erasers are used to illustrate the ideas and enrich the webinar content. 

4. Desktop sharing

Desktop sharing is a simple solution available in most of the webinar solutions. As the name suggests, desktop sharing enables the remote participants to view your desktop. Desktop sharing is also known as screen sharing. In simple words, it is the practice of sharing the contents of your screen with another or multiple devices. 

5. Chat

This feature allows the attendees of the webinar, hosts and the panellists to communicate for the duration of the webinar. Most webinar solutions have a chat function that allows every participant to type brief messages to each other. In many webinar solutions, if attendees can chat with other attendees, panellists, host, or only the host depends on the settings that the host has selected.

6. Recording

This feature of a webinar can also be considered as an advantage and main uses of webinars. A seminar cannot be recorded until it is installed with necessary set-ups. But, the webinar software has the ability to record the live video and save it in the cloud storage. Anyone who missed the chance to attend a webinar can watch the recorded video later.

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7. Polls and surveys

Polls and surveys help in gathering insights, opinions and feedback from the attendees. Running polls and surveys on any topic during the webinar helps to gather opinions and feedback from the audience about the session. These results should be analysed to improve future seminars and make informed business decisions. 

Tip: Polls and surveys, chat options help you to understand the questions and opinions of the audience. A better understanding of all the features helps you to present a healthy session. 

What are the pros and cons of a webinar?

The contents could theoretically be similar, but online seminar differs from the conventional face-to-face seminar. Webinars offer some advantages to classical lectures, but at the same time, they also come with some disadvantages. The online seminar format scores especially when it comes to being location independent. Further, it saves money & time for both speakers and the participants. On the other hand, you are totally dependent on technology where technical glitches are inevitable. If the device of the participants is broken or if there is any problem with internet connectivity, they can’t take part in it. The webinar might have to be cancelled or postponed if there is any technical problem from the speaker’s side.

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Advantages of hosting a webinar

1. An opportunity for everyone: A webinar is an open platform that offers opportunities to everyone not bothering about the individual’s current location. Unlike seminars, where it could be attended only by those who are present in a certain location, a webinar eliminates the barrier of physical presence in a certain location. 

2. Saves cost: Webinars help in reducing the cost incurred for travel. To attend the conventional seminars, one has to spend some currency for travelling. A webinar can be seen as a cost-effective method of conducting the same. 

3. Limit to the number of participants: In the traditional one, you can’t be able to accommodate more than a certain number of individuals. Practically, there is no limit to the number of participants to attend a webinar. In theory, the maximum number of participants depends on technical conditions.

4. Record a session: This is one of the main advantages of webinar sessions. The webinar sessions are recorded easily. Unlike the traditional one, a webinar doesn’t need any additional installations. Those who were not able to attend the live sessions could see the recorded video of the entire session. 

5. Share documents: References are important for any seminar/webinar. Webinar helps to display the relevant documents, images, videos, etc. Prior projector installation is required for the conventional one – seminar. In a webinar, no such installations are required as it is a come along of webinar solutions.

 

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Problems to be aware of before hosting a webinar

1. Technical problems: There is a risk of technical difficulties during the presenter’s time in the podium. Technical issues can lead to the cancellation of the event or prevent participants from participating in it. 

2. Difficult to determine the mood: For a speaker, it would be difficult to determine the mood of the participants. If it is a seminar, the speaker would be able to observe the mood of the audience and could alter the speech’s tone later on. Also, body language is missing in virtually engaged seminars. Lack of clapping, handshakes and standing ovation leads to apathy. 

3. Distractions: As there is no one to look over the participants, they could be easily distracted due to their surroundings and other circumstances. Also, the presenter has no control over the environment and they cannot ensure that there will be no interruptions and distractions. This sort of happenings would lead to a lack of focus. 

4. Almost zero interaction: The interaction between the audience and the host is too less compared to the seminar sessions. This is the main downsides of webinars, the lack of interaction between participators and presenters. As everything is conducted online, there is only visual audio interaction lacking direct physical interaction. 

5. Teamwork: Webinars are also conducted for team training. For team training, teamwork is an essential part as it adds value to the task everybody is involved in. Webinars completely eliminate this aspect as everything is virtual.

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FAQs

1. What is a webinar?

To define webinar in simple words, it is a real-time online meeting held via the internet. It connects the individuals who are the viewers from different parts of the world. 

2. What devices do I need for a webinar?

A personal computer is the most basic requirement. Microphones and speakers are required to listen and interact. A webcam is required for visual conferencing. The last requirement is the installation of webinar solutions or an internet browser to access the webinar. Generally, all the webinar solutions are supportive of a tablet or a smartphone which would suffice all the requirements of the above-mentioned devices except the installation of a webinar solution. 

3. How does a webinar work?

A webinar is an engaging online event where the speaker addresses a large audience who participates by responding to polls, submitting questions and using other interactive tools. They initially register for a particular session. After the selection, the participants receive a mail containing the login details and links to access. 

4. Are webinars recorded or live?

Webinars can be broadly classified into two categories. They are live and recorded. Live webinars and obviously live. 

5. Can others see you during a webinar?

The audience does have the ability to see the presenter. The audience, in most webinar solutions, can only type in and submit the questions to the speaker during the live session. The presenter, in most cases, would not be able to see or hear the audience. 

6. What is the difference between a podcast and a webinar?

A webinar is an online seminar held in real-time for people all around the world and they are commonly multimedia – contain both audio and video. A podcast normally includes only audio. 

7. What is the best webinar software?

GoToWebinar, EasyWebinar, Adobe Connect, Google Hangouts, and Zoom are the best webinar software. 

8. How to do a webinar?

The host must fix an appointment and invite the desired participants. Generally, there is a limit to the number of participants. So those who are interested must register to attend the session. The host would, later on, send a confirmation email to the selected participants along with the details of login and access link. 

Online coding Bootcamp is an effective method to equip yourselves with the requisite technical skills for a bright career. The form of training is significantly gaining popularity due to its affordable price packages and shorter duration. In this article, we will discuss the need and types of online coding Bootcamp. We would also talk about the best online coding bootcamps and courses. We will also provide a short guide on how to manage your finances for attending the online coding classes.

First of all, let us try to understand what is an online coding Bootcamp and its importance in today’s modern world.

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What is an online coding Bootcamp?

An online coding Bootcamp is a well designed packaged training program, offering innovative means of enhancing technical skills. A wide variety of training curriculum is provided to the attendees. The key ones being programming languages, web design and development, UI design, digital marketing etc. The courses accelerate your learning acumen, in comparison to dedicated classroom sessions in a college or a school.

Companies are vehemently recruiting software programmers or related skills for upgrading their IT department. This has led to a high demand for technical architects and programmers. Hence it is now essential to upskill faster through convenient ways to qualify for the jobs. You also need to stay ahead of the competition. An online coding Bootcamp is essentially the answer to your problem.

Important Fact

Both paid and free online coding bootcamps are available. Depending on the courses of your interest and suitability, you can opt for them.

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What are the different types of online coding bootcamps?

The benefit of enrolling into an online coding Bootcamp is its various flexible options in providing the training and the courses. So if you are a regular full-timer in a school or college then you can even opt part-time or flexible timings. Certain learners are also engaged in full-time jobs or other responsibilities, they may even go for the self-paced programs. Depending on your time, skillset and preferences, you can select from any of them and register.

Types of online coding bootcamps

1. Part Time

A part time online coding Bootcamp is generally held during the evenings or on the weekends. Technical professionals who cannot afford day time or even weekdays for attending the courses may opt for part-time bootcamps. The duration of typical part-time online coding Bootcamp is for approximately 8 to 9 months. The time required is much more since the days invested for the training programs is less compared to a full-time online coding classes.

Tip:

Before enrolling into a part-time online coding Bootcamp, you must check out on your regular work or study schedule. If you are working or studying full time during the weekdays, it is better to apply for weekend courses.

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2. Full time

Full time online coding Bootcamp is an accelerated method of acquiring the desired technical knowledge and skill. Many students and learners prefer a fast track mode of training. For them spending dedicated time for competency building is the right option. Hence they opt for a full time training program with focused attention on the courses. The duration of the programs is comparatively shorter than the part time ones. A typical full time online coding Bootcamp lasts for about 4 to 5 months.

Remember: 

Full time Bootcamp won’t allow you to engage in any other learning activities or job. You need to be 100% dedicated to the learning courses.

3. Online courses

Online courses on various technical niche skills are present in abundance. These courses provide you with study materials and guides. Webinars are conducted live or recorded for the learners. It is an efficient and convenient mode of learning at your flexibility. Preferably students or professionals who cannot afford to spend full time or even dedicated fixed part-time options can avail the online courses. Some of the best online coding courses are offered by Coding Dojo, Thinkful, Lambda School and others. They even provide different forums and discussion threads where you can post your questions. Answers and explanations are provided by the experts to aid your learning spree.

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Tip:

Attending online courses at your own will demands immense self-motivation and inspiration. It’s your sole desire to complete the courses within a self-prepared period. It is recommended to prepare a planner for completing the online courses timely. List the topics to be covered and mention the duration of completion against each of them. This will help to finish the training course without delay.

4. Self-Paced

Certain paid and free online coding bootcamps are self-paced. The vendors offering the courses, design a certain curriculum for the topic with allotted time for each. The programs provide step by step guidance on the sub topics to be covered. Different educational resources are assigned to each of the subtopics. Exit tests and quizzes are embedded within the learning package. You need to complete the program in sequence as per the guidance. But you will not be under any liability of finishing within any stipulated time frame.

Tips:

Since there will not be any dedicated instructor for a self-paced online coding Bootcamp, it is advisable to be cautious while registering for such a program. Read the reviews and discuss in online forums before availing the programs.

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List of Best Online Coding Bootcamps

Innumerable companies are offering the best online coding courses. Before deciding on which online coding Bootcamp to register or enrol, you must remember the following:

• Comprises of experienced and expert instructors and mentors
• A flexible and transparent application process
• Good review and recommendation by students and learners
• Job placements after attending the training programs and courses
• Diversity of the topics covered in the learning packages
• Multiple payment plans and options for convenience

Let us now discuss the key online coding bootcamps, enlisted below:

1. AcadGild

They focus on educating students in smaller groups of not more than 12. You can select from the 12 learning courses offered by the company. The courses focus on mobile development, data science, digital marketing and web development mainly. Their offices are based out of India and in the California region of the US. An experienced group of mentors guide the students in understanding the topics for each of the courses. The students are expected to complete projects assigned as part of the curriculum. The mentors guide the students in job placements too.

Did you know?

AcadGild has a strong 24 X 7 online support for the students and learners, assisting them in enhancing their technical skills.

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2. App Academy

The key objective of the company is educating through a hands-on method of learning. For the training programs, they ensure to provide a live environment to perform the curriculum tasks. Their offices are at the US in San Francisco and New York cities. They encourage students to spend less time on lectures and focus more on practical programming. There are a total of 5 learning courses offered by the company. The courses deal mainly with Algorithms, Docker, CSS, Express. The students are provided with the opportunity to deep dive in each of the topics.

Fun Fact:

App Academy offers free code camp for the introductory courses.

3. Bloc

It is an online coding Bootcamp, especially investing in a 1 on 1 interaction with the students. Each student is assigned a mentor for enhancing the competency and knowledge level. It guides the students to be proficient in web design and development. The courses are designed in such a way to qualify for the available technical jobs. You can select from any of their part-time or full time learning programs.

Facts

Every week, students are granted approximately 80 hours for connecting with experienced designers and developers. You can discuss with them and resolve any clarifications or queries.

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Did you know?

The training curriculum and content of Bloc are prepared by a two step process. The courses are designed and written by expert developers. The content is then validated and verified by a special Advisory board comprising of recruiting professionals.

4. Coding Dojo

If you are looking for competency building in the industry preferred web development programming languages, then Coding Dojo is your answer. The courses offered by the company are high rated by the learners and students. Their curriculum is detailed, providing full coverage of the topics equipped with practical examples and use cases. The Training programs are well suited for both freshers as well as experienced web developers. Students can connect with dedicated mentors daily for 14 to 15 hours. Their learning packages mostly focus on AJAX, Angular, .NET, Apache and many more.

Fact:

The Bootcamp duration varies between 14 weeks to 20 weeks depending on whether you opt for full time or part time learning options.

Did you know?

The instructors of Coding Dojo are experienced professionals with work expertise in big companies focusing on web design and development.

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5. Codesmith

Codesmith aims at creating engineers rather than technical experts. Their courses offer advanced competency building on the programming languages and computer science. They ensure the students are well versed on algorithms and logic. The technologies which are mainly catered by the training courses are Dev Ops, Node, React, Machine Learning, Reduc etc. They aim at equipping learners with software engineering skills like technical communication, strong analytical and problem solving abilities. The company offices are based out of the US in Los Angeles and New York cities.

Fact:

The company offers flexible training programs – both part time and full time for the students.

6. Dataquest

Dataquest offers one of the best web-based online coding bootcamps. The courses are focused mainly on subjects related to Data Science, Data Visualization, Data Analytics, Database Design and many more. It offers training courses suitable for various levels of experience for the Freshers, Intermediate level and also for the Experienced professionals. The curriculum is specifically designed to fit into the various job opportunities available in technical portfolios.

Fact:

Reviews by several learners have established the fact that the training programs of Dataquest are comparatively better structured than others.

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7. Lambda School

Lambda School mainly focuses on educating students and learners on the emerging and cutting edge technologies revolving around Java Script programming. They offer both full time and part time courses on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Software Engineering, Computer Science and others. Their training programs are one of the advanced and interactive among the rest. The company strives to provide a feel of a real classroom through its virtual learning sessions. The students and instructors interact in real time mode, learning and collaborating effectively. 

Did you know?

You can instantly connect with experts and instructors through the messages and chat facilities provided by Lambda School.

8. Springboard

Springboard ensures students are well prepared for the technical skills desired as per the industry standards and best practices. Their students are spread across various parts of the world. The learning courses are mainly focused on Machine Learning, Data Science and UX design. Besides they offer the students opportunities to connect with prominent industry experts. The experts guide the students on their career path as well as future growth. They offer an online coding Bootcamp for 6 months and also self-paced workshops. Students can also interact with the vast alumni community for better support and assistance.

Did you know?

The Data Science program of Springboard provides an opportunity for deferred tuition payment. On certain circumstances, students are provided with the flexibility to pay the fees once they are recruited by any company.

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9. Thinkful

Thinkful is a top rated online coding Bootcamp with a vast alumni network. It offers almost 13 online learning courses to choose from. The company focuses mainly on emerging and cutting edge technologies. The training programs are focused on digital marketing, data science, product management and design, data analytics and many more. Special care is invested in conducting 1 on 1 session between each of the students and an experienced industry professional. The students are provided appropriate guidance on future career options and job placement opportunities.

Important Fact

Students are guaranteed employment within six months of attending the programs of Thinkful.

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How to financially prepare for online coding bootcamp?

Several companies offer a free code camp for the introductory courses. But for an advanced level of courses, there are tuition fees associated with them. Certain online coding bootcamps provide deferred tuition fees payment options too. Nevertheless, you need to be prepared financially for paying the fees. Some of the options that you can avail are:

• Apply for scholarship programs offered by many industries
• Apply for a student loan from banks
• Apply and request for sponsorship from your employer
• Request for temporary financial help from peers or family members with a guarantee of paying back the full amount

An Online coding Bootcamp is exponentially attaining popularity due to its flexible study options. Hope the article has provided you with the necessary information for enrolling into the courses to be proficient in technical programming skills.