Are WordPress Classes Worth It?

If you are looking to learn how to use WordPress, taking a class can be a useful way to receive an introduction to the WordPress software and learn more advanced ways to customize your WordPress website with different themes and plugins. Consider how much the class costs, what it offers, and whether you are planning to use WordPress for your personal website or pursue Web Design or Development as a career. Read on to learn more about whether it is worth it for you to take a WordPress class and what you can do with WordPress training. 

What is WordPress? 

WordPress is the web’s most popular content management system used to create blogs, websites, ecommerce stores, newsletters, membership sites, and much more. It is estimated that about 43% of the websites on the internet use WordPress and its popularity is due to its ease of use and accessibility. Even with no coding experience, you can use WordPress themes and plugins to create professional websites. Plugins on WordPress allow you to add different features to your WordPress website like ecommerce, email integration, discussion forums, and event calendars. You can also install data analytics plugins to help you run your business, manage the user experience, and optimize your website’s performance. With coding knowledge, you can customize and create themes and plugins to make a WordPress website even more unique and tailored to a person, business, or brand’s own needs.

Are There Reasons Not to Take a WordPress Class?

While learning how to use WordPress has benefits for many, that does not always mean you need to take a formalized WordPress class. Taking a WordPress class is useful for anyone who wants to maximize their use of WordPress for personal or business websites or if you are looking to create unique, customized websites using WordPress. There are introductory classes, advanced classes, short bootcamps, and even WordPress classes for small business owners. Taking a class can introduce not only the basics, but also ways to maximize your SEO using WordPress, make sure your website is secure, and integrate data analytics to guarantee that your website is performing how it needs to for your users. 

That said, there are valid reasons not to take a paid WordPress class. If you are only looking to set up a quick website, blog, or even newsletter for yourself or just for fun, you likely will not need to take a full class to learn WordPress basics. WordPress started as a free, blogging-only platform in 2003 and many individuals, large companies, and brands continue to use WordPress for this purpose. It is still free to get started blogging on your own WordPress page and you will not need to take a class or have any experience with website creation to create and customize a blog of your own using free themes and a variety of plugins. 

Once you are considering using WordPress for any profit-related endeavor or you want to optimize how you’re using WordPress to grow your business or personal brand, then it is especially useful to take a WordPress class. Many people need more structure and guidance in learning programming to create websites from scratch or to learn how to use WordPress’s advanced features, so if you find yourself struggling to use WordPress on your own, then you should look into taking a class. Even as a beginner, there are a variety of non-programming resources and classes that can help you get a handle on WordPress. 

Advantages of Taking a WordPress Class

While you can learn how to use WordPress on your own, many find that they benefit from the guidance and structure of taking a WordPress class. Classes offer access to instructors who can answer your questions, troubleshoot, and provide feedback on your work. Taking a WordPress class can be a good first step to networking, for those pursuing WordPress development or web development and design as a career, and you can work on projects to add to your portfolio. 

Choose What to Learn 

You can find a variety of WordPress classes and choose the one/s that works best for your knowledge level and what you want to do with WordPress. There are beginner, no-programming knowledge necessary WordPress classes as well as WordPress classes for small business owners, classes narrowly focused on SEO, or classes for those with coding experience who are ready to learn how to create themes and plugins. A formalized class allows you to cater the educational experience to your own needs. However, if you’re looking for something more comprehensive, you can also take just one class or bootcamp that will cover everything about publishing content, using themes, installing plugins, and even guide you in creating and customizing your website using advanced features.

Receive Guided Instruction 

There are a variety of free resources, guides, videos, and even courses that you can find online that aim to teach you how to use WordPress. What these free resources rarely offer, however, is access to an expert who can guide you in how to implement the skills you are learning. While some people can follow along with an internet video, others need hands-on instruction and access to someone who can answer questions and help you troubleshoot in case something goes wrong. With an instructor-taught class, not only are you more likely to receive up-to-date and curated course content, but there will be somewhere to clear up any misinformation or conflicting information. 

Learn Current Trends & Complete Hands-On Projects

WordPress classes often provide students with useful examples, information about up-to-date trends, and hands-on learning activities and projects. Instructors often bring in a variety of examples for their students (and usually can supply additional examples as necessary) that might be more up-to-date and reflective of current techniques and practices in comparison to some resources you will find online. Practicing what you are learning is often one of the main goals of a WordPress class. You won’t only learn how to do something, you get to test your abilities and improve your skills over time. 

Create a WordPress Theme 

If you are planning to make a career using WordPress, you will likely need to know how to construct a WordPress website from scratch. This will involve creating unique, custom themes for yourself or your clients. This is an advanced skill and one taught in many WordPress classes. The benefit of taking a class that directs you in theme editing and creation is that you will receive feedback on the look and functionality of your theme not only from your instructor but from other students in the class, as well. Additionally, as previously said, if you run into issues with your code, an instructor can help you troubleshoot and resolve the problems.

Build Your Portfolio

Many classes will direct you to undertake projects that you can add to the professional portfolio that you will show to prospective employers. If you do not already have examples of your work from previous experience, it can be incredibly useful to get started on building your portfolio in a classroom setting where an instructor will be able to direct you on how your portfolio should look, what it should contain, and which projects are good enough to be included. 

Who Should Take a WordPress Class

A WordPress class will benefit someone looking to use WordPress professionally. Whether you’re looking to create and manage websites for others, gain more traction for your personal website or brand, or looking to capitalize on WordPress’s SEO capabilities, taking a class can help you gain the skills necessary to optimize your WordPress use. 

Web Developers & Web Designers

Four out of every ten websites are created using WordPress. Many of those creating these websites are Web Developers and many of those determining the look and layout of the website are Web Designers. Training in web development and design continues to be in demand and you will likely need to take a class, bootcamp, or certificate program to learn the skills necessary to follow these career paths. There is even a viable career for those who know programming and specialize in working with WordPress called WordPress Developer. 

Learn more about the Web Developer or Web Designer career path, including the specifics about what these careers entail, average salaries, and the next steps to working in web development or design. 

Digital Marketers

Those working in digital or social media marketing will benefit from learning how to use WordPress. WordPress is known as SEO-friendly, with some suggesting the use of themes and structured formatting makes WordPress websites easier for web crawlers to read (though there are ongoing debates about this). Either way, many not only use WordPress websites for marketing, promotion, and sales but there are a variety of plugins that can help Digital Marketers with SEO and consumer analytics. Because of the ubiquity of WordPress software, Digital Marketers will benefit from an above-average level of knowledge of WordPress. 

To learn more about what Digital Marketers do and how to become one, follow this link to explore Noble Desktop’s digital marketing career path page. 

Freelancers

Those interested in freelance website creation or management should also consider taking a WordPress class. Freelancers run their own businesses and find their own clients, making it a great option for those looking for more flexibility in when they work, where they work, and who they work for. Many businesses, large and small, contract out the creation and maintenance of their websites, making freelancing a viable option. If you want to create websites on a contract basis or even just maintain, update, install security patches, and so on for a business or organization’s current website, you should consider taking a WordPress class. 

Small Business Owners 

Even businesses that only run brick-and-mortar storefronts often need a website to raise awareness of the business and grow their customer base. Small business owners will benefit from knowing how to use and manage a WordPress website as well as how to use WordPress to maximize the outreach of their small business. Larger businesses often contract out the creation of their website, but learning how to create, manage, and use your own WordPress website will be more cost-efficient for a small business owner. Additionally, this will let you maintain control of your web presence as your business grows and allow you to determine the best way to use WordPress to maximize the kind of outreach you want your business to have. 

Content Creators

Writers, filmmakers, YouTubers, journalists, photographers, and more all could benefit from having a website and online presence that lets people know who you are and directs others to where they can find your work. Content creators from all media forms use WordPress to create their websites and even manage, organize, and store their content. Taking a WordPress class can help content creators not only learn the WordPress system but maximize their use of WordPress. For those interested in growing their brand, increasing their audience, and guaranteeing that their content reaches the right people, a WordPress class will be a great way to learn these essential skills. 

Types of WordPress Classes 

Once you have decided to take a WordPress class, consider the cost and curriculum. Make sure that you take the right class for your knowledge and experience level and that the course curriculum will teach the skills and techniques that you are interested in learning. 

Free Courses

There are free courses of study that you can online from a variety of sources. WordPress itself offers a variety of free resources geared towards teaching everything from installing and logging into WordPress to more advanced skills that WordPress Developers will need to rewrite the software themselves. You can also find other free courses, videos, guides, and additional resources online that either aim to give you comprehensive knowledge about using WordPress or try to break down, explain, and model specific aspects of WordPress. While it might be overwhelming to fully teach yourself WordPress mastery through only free resources, these can be helpful to provide further examples or upskill once you get started creating websites using WordPress. 

Bootcamps

Bootcamps, which are usually paid classes offered by known educational providers, are geared toward teaching a specific skill or tool in a short amount of time. They usually condense the learning process into several hours though some may last weeks, depending on how quickly the learner moves through the material. Bootcamps can be especially useful for those with busy schedules who want to learn something quickly. There are many quality WordPress bootcamps for all skill levels, from novices with no programming knowledge to those with coding experience who are looking to upskill by learning WordPress skills. 

Certificate Programs

Certificate programs often seek to impart comprehensive knowledge to those on specific career paths. Completing the program “certifies” that you can perform specific skills necessary for a certain job or role and these programs will usually give you a digital or paper certificate that you can show to employers. If you are interested in doing web development or design as a career, finding a quality certificate problem is a great way to gain the knowledge and skills you need in a shorter amount of time than it takes to get a degree from a university or college. 

Consider the Cost

The cost of taking a WordPress class is highly variable depending on length, course curriculum and requirements, and what education provider is offering the course. Free resources come at no cost, but many WordPress classes range in cost from the low teens to thousands of dollars. The principle “you get what you pay for” applies here and many of the low-cost WordPress classes are video-based instructions offered by those trying to convince you that they found the one set of techniques that work best. Live and in-person bootcamps and certificate programs will cost more than most classes that are self-paced (also called on-demand classes) or just a series of video lectures or readings. Bootcamps and certificate programs run by known education providers cost more because they offer expert instruction with proven results similar to the education you would receive from an accredited college or university. You should choose a class that will work best for your needs, provide the skills you want to learn, and that comes from a reputable provider. 

Alternatives to Taking a WordPress Class

There are alternatives to taking a WordPress class or bootcamp. These include free online resources that you can use to teach yourself WordPress. There are plenty of free guides, videos, seminars, and other online resources to help you learn the basics of using WordPress, even with no programming knowledge. Free resources might also direct you to additional, more advanced resources that you can look into to increase your WordPress skills. 

If you are not ready to commit to taking a paid WordPress class or are only looking to use the basic features of WordPress for fun, start with free online resources. Check out Noble Desktop’s free Intro to WordPress seminar. This short seminar provides an overview of WordPress, how to begin from the point of installation, what features and services to know, and more. 

Learn WordPress Skills with Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers a variety of affordable in-person and live online classes for those looking to learn how to use WordPress. A great bootcamp option is Noble Desktop’s 18-hour WordPress Bootcamp. Knowledge of HTML and CSS is a prerequisite to taking this bootcamp as it is designed for those who want not only an introduction to WordPress but who want to learn more advanced and specialized ways to code and develop customized WordPress websites and themes. This prerequisite can be fulfilled by taking Noble’s Web Development with HMTL & CSS class or equivalent knowledge and training in HTML and CSS. Students taking this bootcamp can expect to receive expert instruction and hands-on guidance as they learn the ins and outs of WordPress from installing WordPress, publishing posts, adding text, images, and video, and utilizing themes and plugins, to learning about more advanced customization options, downloading WordPress onto your computer, and creating your own custom theme for WordPress. 

Additionally, you can consider taking a longer, more comprehensive certificate program to learn multiple skill sets and tools throughout one class. The WordPress Bootcamp is included as part of two useful certificate programs offered by Noble Desktop, the Front-End Web Development Certificate and the Web Design Certificate. Both certificate programs are geared towards teaching WordPress website development and are for those looking to follow career pathways to become Web Developers, Web Designers, or WordPress Developers. 

Front-end web development focuses on coding the part of a website or application that users will see and interact with and this is usually the part of web development that you’ll need to know to become a WordPress Developer. The Front End Web Development Certificate offers hands-on training from experts and taking this program will provide all of the skills necessary to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for front end web development and WordPress website creation. The Web Design Certificate will be more useful if you are interested in not only learning to code, for WordPress and other websites, but also learning important principles of design and getting hands-on experience creating clickable prototypes of websites to add to your portfolio. 

Additionally, if you take Noble Desktop’s Full-Stack Web Developer Certificate, you will have the option to add on the WordPress Bootcamp at the end for no additional cost. This program is especially useful for those who want to become well-rounded Web Developers and are interested in knowing not only how to program the part of a website users see and interact with (the front end) but also the infrastructure behind the front-facing website (the back end).