How Hard is it to Learn WordPress?
WordPress can be a bit daunting to beginner bloggers. No sugarcoating here! However, let’s weigh the pros and cons for your blog to find out: how hard is it to learn WordPress?
Often aspiring bloggers love the idea of creating a fresh new site but become easily overwhelmed – or even held back – by the technology aspect. If you’ve never had any experience working on the back end of a website, the idea of creating a blog on WordPress can feel intimidating.
Out of so many choices, WordPress stands out as a leading platform for bloggers. But, whether you are brand new to blogging or just looking to switch platforms, you might wonder if it’s really worth it.
What is WordPress?
WordPress includes many different facets.
To begin, it is a free content management system (CMS). Through a CMS, you can create content, file and store it, and publish it on your own site. WordPress is also an open-source software (user-edited) that supports all kinds of content on the web – text, images, videos, and more!
Here’s where some confusion might arise: there is a difference between WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org. WordPress.com is a free version that is hosted through WordPress itself, while WordPress.org is a free software that is stored and published through a paid host of your choice. This is known as being self-hosted.
When advising new bloggers, we recommend and refer to WordPress.org.
Why is WordPress best for bloggers?
Compared to other platforms and website builders, we firmly stand behind WordPress.org as the best choice for bloggers. Here’s why:
- With WordPress, there is more control over functionality, design, and user experience. With drag-and-drop page templates on other platforms, there are limitations to what you can offer or edit for your viewers. Additionally, WordPress gives you the control to keep growing and changing your site as your business or audience needs change.
- WordPress is designed for better SEO (Search Engine Optimization). A quick Google search will highlight many ways that WordPress caters to ever-changing SEO best practices. WordPress utilizes multiple components and tools for increased search optimization, such as adding keywords to permalinks, optimizing images through alt text and captions, and the overall experience for mobile users.
- WordPress is easier to monetize. Ads, affiliate marketing, and plugins are all essential factors in monetizing your blog and WordPress is well-equipped to support these. Easily incorporate these options to get more clicks and ongoing traffic!
- WordPress is the most widely used content management system (over 62% of known CMS users) and the number of users keeps growing. With that, the options for plugins have grown and so has the amount of available support across the web!
- From a long-term perspective, WordPress will give you room to grow without the pain of switching platforms later. Changes like this can be costly as you export content and potentially lose access to some in the process. It might be tempting to choose an easier set up at the beginning, but as your blog and readership grow, you’ll thank yourself for choosing WordPress!
Learn more about the best platform for bloggers at these resources:
- Why WordPress is Best for Bloggers with Grayson Bell, Episode 69
- The Best Platform for Blogging Success
Challenges of learning WordPress
We mentioned that trying to learn WordPress can be daunting at the beginning. Let’s narrow these challenges down into a few pain points that can be lessened over time and with practice!
Many other platforms advertise the simplicity of “drag and drop.” Alternatively, starting a WordPress site is a very multi-layered process. Instead of just choosing the elements for each page through a website builder, you will need to choose theme(s), plugins, and more to get your site published.
If you’ve never set up a website before, you’ll need to do a little more research on the components needed for WordPress than on other sites.
A bonus of WordPress – yet also a challenge – is that there are so many themes, plugins, and other functionality upgrades. With these options, it can take time to know what to use and where to start. If you struggle with “analysis paralysis,” it can be helpful to have a mentor or community to coach you through user-friendly options (more on that later!).
Because WordPress is an open-source software, it’s not intuitive when you first begin. There are many settings to decide on AND a lot of terminology to learn and understand.
What to know about WordPress
Despite the inevitable challenges in learning to use WordPress, here are a few other key things to know that make this platform worth the effort!
- You do NOT need to know any coding to set up a website or blog on WordPress. Hooray! More time for creating and showcasing your content.
- The newest version of WordPress is based on blocks. This makes it so much simpler to set up your site and create content. WordPress has incorporated the appeal from other website builders through this new option.
- Choosing a well-designed theme will have the functionality and templates needed to set up a site. These premade themes mean you won’t need to design anything! Learn more about one of our favorite places to shop for themes in our interview with Lauren Dierschke of Restored 316 and the difference between parent and child themes here.
- Since so many people use WordPress (2 out of every 5 websites across the ENTIRE internet in 2023), there is no shortage of support. You’ll find resources in online forums, courses, and memberships. If you have a question, surely someone else has already asked AND answered it!
How you can learn WordPress
The best way to learn WordPress is to just jump right in and try it! There is so much benefit to learning as you go – don’t wait for the perfect circumstances! No matter your budget or availability, you can find options that suit your needs.
- Start by finding free websites and video tutorials online. Utilize readily available free resources to explore and figure out on your own AND determine where you might need additional help.
- Take an online course and join a community. Learning alongside others in similar blogging stages can be a powerful motivator and provide much-needed support and accountability along the way! This is exactly why we created The Ultimate Blog Bootcamp – a comprehensive course to build your blog from idea to published along with live weekly coaching calls and an online community.
- Hire a designer to create your site. While it may seem enticing to have the legwork done upfront, we don’t recommend this for most beginner bloggers as it can be a very expensive option when you are starting out. Also, with the “done-for-you” approach, you will miss out on the working knowledge needed to make simple changes or conduct site maintenance over time.
When it comes to your blog and business, you’ll find that some things are worth the extra learning curve. If you’re still on the fence about choosing WordPress, reach out and let us help you move forward! Connect with us here or on Instagram at @sparkmediaconcepts