Is WordPress Easy to Learn for Beginners?

23 March 2022Ashley Maxwell8 min read

If you consider how many YouTube videos exist called, “Wordpress for beginners,” you would expect WordPress to be pretty newbie-friendly, but the fact is that it isn’t. Even the uploading part, which most people consider to be the easiest, has a slew of small factors that can turn your website from a search engine dominator to a search engine deterrent. WordPress is something you can learn, and there is a great deal of benefit for doing so, but is WordPress for beginners?

Is WordPress Easy to Learn for Beginners?

Isn’t WordPress often noted as the best website builder? Isn’t it the most search engine friendly? Don’t many people consider it the most popular website creation tool on the planet? Yes, WordPress is all those things, but in order to take full advantage of it, you need to understand how it works. In short, if you want to use WordPress to its full potential, you need to master it.

If you are looking for the easiest-to-use website-building tool, also known as a CMS (Content Management System), then the free services offered by Google’s Blogger are your best bet. The system is free, the back end (technical side) is above reproach, and your content is read by Google whenever you post something new. Google’s own Blogger is the easiest CMS available today. However, where people often start with free websites and free website builders, most will graduate to the likes of WordPress in the end because they want to enjoy a full featured, customizable and incredibly powerful CMS.

What is WordPress Used For?

WordPress used to be known as a blogging platform, but these days you can create any type of website you like. It has become a website creation tool to the point where you can create your own version of Amazon or Facebook if you wish.

Can WordPress really do anything? Yes, it really can. The only sticking point is that there are times when it is easier to create a website from the ground up rather than trying to convert WordPress into something that deviates too far from being a regular website.

For example, if you want your website to Cloud compute a series of other people’s programs while offering analytics on how they perform, then it is possible to make your website do that if you have the Cloud computing capacity. However, it would be easier to create a website from scratch using a Vertanet engineer, rather that trying to turn your WordPress site into a Cloud computing/analytics hub. Doing so would be like trying to create a submarine out of your car. It could be done, but it would probably be better to build a submarine from the ground up.

WordPress can be converted into any type of website using three methods. You can start by adjusting the code for WordPress itself since it is open source, which means you can tinker with the code and turn it into whatever you want. The second method is to buy/use plugins, which are extensions to the WordPress program that other people have created. Thirdly, you could create your own plugins/extensions and use them to change your website.

WordPress is a Very Flexible Platform

WordPress is flexible enough so that you can stick to the bare necessities, you could stick to the basics, and get along reasonably well with the program. However, since you are able to create any type of website, there are quite a few things you can customize, change, add and remove.

WordPress is popular because it hides this complexity fairly well. Things like templates allow users to remove a lot of the hard work that comes from creating their website. For example, if you want a magazine style website, then there are templates and plugins that will allow you to create one. If you want a YouTube type website, then there are WordPress themes and plugins just for creating video library and/or interactive video websites.

The WordPress dashboard hides its complexity fairly well. You can tinker with the basic elements from the dashboard, and then choose to drill down deeper to access more customization options. The sheer level of complexity that can be involved in something as simple as creating a blog page means that learning WordPress can be rather difficult. What’s more, if you have a poor quality teacher, then the WordPress system can become very unintuitive. A good example is that of an audio mixing deck.

Audio Mixing Deck

If you have ever seen one, they are a hot mess of buttons and knobs. Even with a good teacher, it is tough to get to grips with one. WordPress isn’t nearly as unintuitive as that, but a poor quality teacher can introduce you to systems and features that are unimportant and thereby confuse the issue and make learning WordPress even more difficult.

One of the good things about WordPress being so flexible is that it adapts very well to modern technology. Things like mobile-and-desktop-ready websites are easy to create with WordPress, just like how dynamic websites are pretty easy to create with WordPress, especially when compared with trying to code/build them yourself. As new technologies arise, and as programming languages change and evolve, WordPress is adapted and evolved along with them, and this is all because of how flexible and adaptable the WordPress program is.

How Much Does WordPress Cost?

It is expensive, and don’t let anybody tell you any different. If you want a fully-functional, real, well-maintained, and search engine friendly website, then it is going to cost you money every month and/or year.

There are ways to keep costs down, but here is a hot tip for those of you who have already bought your website. Do not pay subscription fees for WordPress themes (templates) or plugins. Repeat, do not pay monthly or yearly subscriptions for them. If you wish to buy themes and plugins for a one-off fee, then that is your choice, but subscriptions are what kill new websites. The costs mount up quickly and it is very difficult to keep your website profitable when you are bleeding money through subscription fees.

WordPress website costs by month and year in GBP.
Domain Name Costs £1 /month £10 /year
Hosting £5+ /month £60+ /year
Pre-made Themes £10-20 /month £60-120 /year
Plugins (typical setup) £10/month £100 /year
Security £15+ /month £180+ /year
Developer Fees £100+ /month £1000+ /year
Hosting & Maintenance £80+ /month £960+ /year

The numbers you see above are typical examples, but costs can vary considerably. In truth, your costs will likely be greater than £100 per month if you operate a successful website, and closer to £20 per month if you operate an article website or one where security is not a big issue.

How Long Will it Take to Learn WordPress?

If you are coming from a website builder background, such as if you have been using Blogger or one of the free builders by GoDaddy or BlueHost, then it will take around two months for you to get a firm grasp of what WordPress has to offer. People who have a background in coding will have a far easier time with the customization side of WordPress, but may still struggle with the WordPress interface as a whole.

People with no experience with website builders may struggle for the first few weeks. The key is to take it slowly. The surface-level stuff can be mastered in a few days, but gaining a full understanding of how it works, why it works, and why doing things a certain way is important, is going to take weeks depending on your uptake level and your teacher.

It also depends on what you want to achieve. For example, if you want to create a blog, then there is no need to learn every feature and function. On the other hand, if you need to make major changes to your website and create dynamic solutions on an ad-hoc basis, then you will need to spend weeks learning all the features and functions that WordPress has to offer.

Page Builders Can Make WordPress Easier to Use for Beginners

A page builder is a piece of software you plug in to WordPress and helps some people create their websites a little more visually. Many of them are similar to the sort of thing you use when you design a custom birthday card online. They are very much a “WordPress for beginners” tool, and they can help you create a more visually pleasing website and web pages.

If you are building a WordPress site, you don’t need a web page builder. There is already a very good and very modern web page builder that is built in to the base WordPress design. It is called the Gutenberg, and it uses modular design to help you create and design web pages the way you want.

If you are looking for a different web page builder, perhaps something a little more traditional, then you could try Elementor. It is the first free and open-source advanced page builder for WordPress, and there are plenty of YouTube videos online that show you how to use it.

Is WordPress Good for Beginners?

If you learn the surface level stuff first and get to grips with it, then a beginner will eventually do very well with WordPress. The thing is that ease of use and mastery isn’t what is important. WordPress isn’t very beginner friendly, but that is not what matters. By getting to grips with WordPress, you are setting yourself up in a stronger position over the long term.

Unless you are going to have your own websites designed from scratch, then WordPress is where you will end up eventually. People gravitate towards WordPress because it is the strongest solution. The marketing teams at Wix and SquareSpace may try to convince you they have a long term solution, but by learning WordPress you are giving yourself a very strong and powerful solution over the long term. One could liken it to learning to drive a car. You can go your entire life without learning to drive and without owning a car, but over the long term, life gets a lot easier when you learn to drive and get your own car. The same is true of learning WordPress and getting your own WordPress website.

Is WordPress Still Worth Learning in 2022?

Yes, WordPress is absolutely still worth learning. It is becoming more and more relevant as time goes by. The fact is that WordPress is on the very cutting edge of online interaction. It is so far ahead of its time that it has left many of its users languishing behind, and it has done this through a revolutionary new system called the Gutenberg editor.

Not only is it faster and far more efficient than its older version, but it is far faster too. Plus, it helps you create websites that have smaller file sizes, which makes them far more search engine friendly. But, that alone is not why the newer Gutenberg editor is on the cutting edge of online technology.

The system is future proof. It allows websites to be assembled and carved up in a way that was never easily accomplished in the past. People who are familiar with dynamic websites will already understand why this is a good thing, but it goes far deeper. In the future, apps, software, Cloud computing and a wide variety of web browsers and devices will be able to draw segmented information from a website and use it at will. Added to this is the fact that future downloading and rendering systems will be able to use as many CPU cores as they wish, and more cores that are used, then the faster websites will render.

You should definitely learn WordPress now because in the future when other websites are running to catch up with the super-fast, super search engine friendly, super efficient websites that WordPress is creating, you will be riding high with all the others who took the time the learn WordPress sooner rather than later. Even a WordPress for beginners course is enough to get you started.

FAQs

You don’t need a developer if you are using WordPress, but if you want something customizing or you have a unique project you want to undertake, then it is often easier to hire a developer or somebody who offers WordPress solutions.

If you wish, you can start out with WordPress on your own with just a few YouTube tutorial videos. Then, as you become more advanced, you may reach the limit of what you can do alone. Perhaps you need your own plugin designed, or perhaps you need your website code altered. In those cases, you should consider hiring a developer. Also, there are times when hiring a developer is cheaper than paying a subscription for a plugin or WordPress theme.

You can opt for a hosting service that comes with WordPress already installed, or you can have a service like Vertanet install your WordPress site for you. Your hosting provider will offer different levels of WordPress help and support. Some will set up your WordPress for you, whereas other will leave all the WordPress installing to you. Installing WordPress can be tricky depending on your hosting provider. It is not a “WordPress for beginners” subject. If you already have a web hosting provider and you need to install WordPress, then use a service like Vertanet to do it for you.

You don’t need managed WordPress hosting, but it does remove the hassle of installing WordPress and keeping it updated. Again, it is not necessary, but if your hosting provider offers it, then you should strongly consider it.

These days, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is more about what “Not” to do, and WordPress is a good starting point in that regard. It offers you a fast, efficient and lightweight website solution that is easily customizable so that you may make it more efficient. If you have a WordPress theme that is not very search engine friendly, then try one of many lightweight free themes that run faster. You can use tools like PageSpeed Insights to see what is slowing down your website, and then adjust your website to fix the problem. Sometimes it is as simple as changing a few images or deactivating a plugin.

To reach your website’s full potential, you should be actively investing in SEO.

GoDaddy is the cheaper and slightly more fun option, but they had a bit of a data leak where customer data was released. The affected customers had their personal details put through gambling sites so the hackers could use their free spins and free credits. Resellers were also affected, including tsoHost, Media Temple, 123Reg, Domain Factory, Heart Internet, and Host Europe. This leaves Vertanet, which offers a middle-priced solution for people who want managed WordPress websites that are beginner-friendly, still highly customizable, secure and search engine friendly.