Why learn WordPress?

Why Learn WordPress

Here’s a not-so-secret secret: We’re all being watched.

Our digital footprints are being observed by family, friends, teachers, employers, law enforcement, and the government. It’s a new reality for a new millennium, it affects all aspects of our lives, and it’s not going away.

You need the tools and knowledge necessary to have control over how you’re seen online. That control – that awareness – starts with a personal website. We think that website should be built with WordPress.

Everyone needs a website.

Google Search: Your Name

If someone looks you up online, what will they find? If you don’t have a website of your own, you’re leaving control in the hands of others.

If someone (e.g. a potential employer or recruiter, business partner, etc.) does a Google search for your name, the first result should be a website that makes a positive impression.

Have a website that truly belongs to you.

Terms of Service: Fine Print

There are plenty of web services that allow you to build a website. Tumblr, SquareSpace, Blogspot, Weebly – the list goes on and on.

The problem with these services is that, as a user, you’re bound to their policies and T&C’s, and they can change the rules at any time.  If the service closes down for whatever reason, you’re stuck.

For example, here’s an excerpt from Tumblr’s ToS:

The Services change frequently, and their form and functionality may change without prior notice to you. Tumblr retains the right to create limits on and related to use of the Services in its sole discretion at any time with or without notice. Tumblr may also impose limits on certain Services or aspects of those Services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Services without notice or liability. Tumblr may change, suspend, or discontinue any or all of the Services at any time, including the availability of any product, feature, database, or Content (as defined below). Tumblr may also suspend Accounts (as defined below) at any time, in its sole discretion.

A self-hosted WordPress site doesn’t deal with those sorts of restrictions. You play by your own rules. You can do whatever you want with your site.

The only 3rd party you’re really dependent on is your hosting provider. If you have a problem with them, you’re not stuck. You can pack up and move your site to a different server with little fuss. There are plenty of web hosts to choose from, e.g. HostGator or Bluehost, and even specialized hosts like WP Engine.

It’s an easily-transferable skill.

Above all else, WordPress is easy to use, and once you’ve learned the basics, you can jump into the majority of WordPress sites and know what you’re doing.

The administrator backend is virtually identical across all WordPress sites. The functionality that you work with on a regular basis – posts, pages, media – is always there. The worst you’ll have to deal with is additional bells and whistles (e.g. custom post types, plugins, or theme options) that add more to the system.

The takeaway?

  • Learning to use WordPress for one site gives you the skillset to manage most other websites powered by WordPress.

Why rely on a fragile corporate ladder?

WordPress Job Listings

By learning WordPress, you open doors to a broad market of potential job opportunities. Small businesses use WordPress. Big businesses use WordPress. Elementary schools and colleges use WordPress. Independent professionals use WordPress. You can work for them or sell services to them.

So, why should you learn WordPress?

In a nutshell:

  • You need to control how you’re seen online. That control starts with a personal website.
  • Your website should be 100% owned by you.
  • Learning WordPress gives you transferable skills you learn will open doors to new opportunities.

WordPress is powerful, and it’s empowering.

We want to see more people using WordPress, and we want to make it easier for others to bring new WordPress users into the fold. It’s why we’ve been working on building an interactive training plugin, and it’s why we’re running workshops and sponsoring meetups.

Let’s get started.

Featured Image credit: Alejandro Escamilla

About the author