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Our goal is to offer a progressive learning experience, guiding you from basic concepts to advanced topics in website development. Just as we advocate for a step-by-step approach in building your website, our courses similarly evolve from concise, foundational overviews to in-depth, detailed guidance. This approach ensures that, regardless of your starting point, you’ll receive the right level of instruction to grow and succeed at every stage of your learning journey.
As you progress, remember that there’s no one-size-fits-all method for building a website. Choosing to create your About page before your Homepage is completely up to you. However, our team of seasoned website specialists have thoughtfully arranged the process into a recommended sequence to ensure your progress is both effective and efficient.
If you already have a website, or a clear vision of your objectives, feel free to dive into any section that suits your needs. For beginners, following our roadmap will provide a comprehensive guide, starting from a broad understanding and planning phase, through hands-on creation, to enhancing your site with advanced features and offerings. Remember, it’s okay to skip over any part that doesn’t align with your current needs.
We suggest you briefly review the information below to decide the best starting point for you.
Regardless of what kind of site you’re building, creating your core base site is a necessity. Every site needs a Homepage at the very least, and, as you’ll learn, most include a base set of 3 to 5 pages, irrespective of what other pages or features your site ultimately ends up having. This is why we provide so many resources specific to this stage of your website creation journey. Whichever foundational course you choose to work through, you’re sure to find an approach that works best for you. For a progressive approach that will build your knowledge up like working with LEGO® bricks, we recommend starting at the beginning and working through these materials in the order provided below.
All of the resources provide a self-paced approach, there are no start and finish dates. Our webinars will run live on specific dates, but they each also provide a recorded version. The benefit of our live webinars is that they’re in real time and provide the most current experience of working with the software. They also include a live Q&A where you can ask questions relevant to the webinar topic and get immediate answers. But the recorded replays are a great option when you can’t attend a live version.
Discover your foundation for success with the essentials of website creation, the inner workings of your WordPress.com site, planning tips, and more.
The Getting Started course includes a Quick Start Guide which is the no nonsense approach to building a website and provides an excellent overview of what pieces are involved in creating a website. Each piece is concise allowing the entire process to be included in this one lesson. It will give you the bird’s eye view of everything you need to tackle to build a basic website, but it won’t deep dive into any of the explanatory details of “how” to do these pieces, or how to expand your site into more advanced features. It covers what steps you need to do and is presented in the order we recommend doing them.
This course also includes a Planning module that dives into the theory and explanations of how your website works and specifically, how it works within the WordPress.com environment.
The Quick Clips: Pro Tips lesson is one you may want to return to as needed for insights and reminders on how to do things. We’ll also be adding to this lesson when new features are released, or existing ones change.
Impress visitors and unlock your site’s full potential with expert guidance on adding and setting up custom domains.
Domains can seem daunting and surrounded by technical jargon, often becoming a stumbling block for many users. Our Mastering Custom Domains webinar aims to demystify the concept of domains, explaining their importance and guiding you through setting up a custom domain within WordPress.com. It’s an invaluable resource whether you’re gearing up to register a custom domain or just want to understand its impact on your website. Watching this early can help you avoid common pitfalls associated with domain management as you progress.
Your homepage, often the highest traffic page on your site, is essential for creating a solid first impression with your visitors.
As you progress through our Learning Hub Roadmap, now is the ideal time to explore our Compelling Homepages webinar. It offers valuable insights and visual examples to consider while planning and designing your Homepage. This webinar not only showcases what’s possible but also provides essential tips and information to guide your creative process. It also sets the perfect stage for our Quick Launch course.
Launch your site faster with a beautiful homepage design using the magic of drag-and-drop patterns, and the ability to add ready-made pages.
Our Quick Launch course simplifies DIY website creation. It introduces a unique ‘Design your own’ feature, which combines the convenience of a base theme structure with the power of patterns to design your Homepage layout. You’ll select from professional color palettes and font pairings, and effortlessly add additional pages pre-populated with professionally designed demo content. This course guides you through the fastest way to set up a multi-page site structure, complete with editable placeholder content. Additionally, it introduces you to using blocks and the Site Editor, empowering you to refine and personalize your site after the initial assembly.
Effortless theme creation is just a click away! Unleash the power of our Design Your Own Theme tool, and create your unique site!
This webinar is the perfect companion to our Quick Launch course, offering a detailed, visual guide to the ‘Design your own’ feature. What sets this webinar apart are the multiple versions available, each focusing on creating a different type of website. This approach allows you to witness the feature’s versatility and choose a version that aligns closely with the kind of site you’re planning to build. Whether you explore this webinar before, during, or after the Quick Launch course, it will enhance your understanding and utilization of this powerful feature, ensuring you make the most of its capabilities.
Take full control of your site’s design. Learn how you can customize every part of your site, code-free, with the Site Editor and Page Editor.
If you’ve been following our roadmap, you might have already experimented with the Site Editor and grasped its basics. This Site Editor vs. Page Editor webinar is your ideal next step, offering a deeper dive into the full capabilities of the Site Editor. However, regardless of your starting point in the roadmap, this webinar lays a solid foundation for your continued site development. Additionally, you’ll discover the key differences between the Site Editor and Page Editor, equipping you with the knowledge to effectively utilize both in your website design.
Build any website with the hands-on guidance you need for creating pages, menus, customizations and more — perfect for beginners and skill-builders.
The Create Your Site course is a comprehensive yet accessible guide that works well as a starting point or as a follow-up to the Getting Started or Quick Launch courses. It covers the essentials of site organization, creating additional pages and menus, utilizing patterns, and equips you with the skills for practical content customization. The course guides you through technical steps, but leaves room for you to tailor the specifics to your unique content needs. This course is perfect for those who have a clear content vision and seek practical, technical guidance to bring their website to life.
Navigate theme transitions with ease and confidence. Learn the ins and outs of switching themes to rejuvenate your website’s look.
Depending on the current stage of your website creation journey, you might wonder about the timing of this webinar in our roadmap. It’s strategically placed here to reinforce and expand upon what you’ve learned about changing themes so far. Ideal for those who have just set up their site, this webinar provides a deeper dive into the nuances and practical experience of switching themes. Here, you get to see it in action. Whether you’re planning a theme switch soon or just want to be prepared for the future, our Fearless Theme Switching webinar will arm you with the knowledge and confidence to refresh your site’s appearance without worry.
Craft a memorable header effortlessly using point-and-click tools, ensuring your site radiates a distinct and polished vibe from the outset.
Once you have your basic site structure, including pages and initial customizations, it’s the perfect time to inject more creativity into your site. This Site Editing: Custom Headers webinar focuses on the power of template features within the Site Editor, especially for designing custom headers. You’ll learn how to gain complete control over your site’s header using simple block manipulation, as we guide you through creating headers for different parts of your site, such as your Homepage, regular pages, and posts. This session is all about unleashing your creativity and personalizing your site’s first impression to visitors.
An in-depth introduction to AI-assisted content creation, focused on functionality, practical application, and ethical implications of tools like ChatGPT.
Unlocking the Power of AI is an in-depth introduction, designed for writers, website creators, and anyone intrigued by the potential of AI, will guide you through the fascinating capabilities of ChatGPT and similar tools. You’ll not only learn about the functionality of these AI assistants but also how to harness their power ethically and effectively in your content creation process.
Elevate your content creation to new heights with advanced AI tools. Learn how effortless writing and crafting can transform your WordPress experience.
A companion webinar to our course: Unlocking the Power of AI, our AI-Assisted WordPress webinar will take you through the practical application of utilizing our built-in Jetpack AI Assistant within your WordPress.com website.
Now that your website is taking shape, or you have a solid plan in place, it’s time to explore courses and webinars focused on specific strategies and features for building your audience and increasing traffic.
Remember, our resources are designed for flexibility. Feel free to explore them in any order that suits your needs and goals. Many of our lessons interconnect, suggesting relevant material from other courses to deepen your understanding of certain topics. So, release any stress or notions about a ‘right’ way to progress through your learning journey. There’s no need to complete every single lesson. Instead, embrace a learning path that feels natural and beneficial to you and your website’s growth.
Improve your site’s visibility with our SEO course. You’ll learn keyword usage, create optimized content, and attract more attention.
No matter what type of site you’re creating, you should be thinking about search engine optimization as early in the process as possible. Understanding the basics of SEO early on will save you time in the long run, if only from having to execute repetitive steps that you could have made part of your creation process from day one (such as including a keyword in your image file names).
This Intro to SEO course lays the groundwork for SEO in your website creation process, offering quick-win basics and in-depth guidance on keyword research and application. It’s designed to integrate seamlessly with your content creation, particularly blogging. For an effective learning path, consider an initial overview of this course, proceed to the Intro to Blogging course, and then revisit specific SEO sections as you refine your site’s components.
Do you want to grow your website through a search engine optimization (SEO) campaign? Great! The first step you need to take is choosing the right keywords to focus on.
Dive deeper into keyword research with this webinar, a perfect complement to our Intro to SEO course. Ideal for both beginners and those familiar with SEO basics, SEO Basics: Effective Keyword Research features an expert guest speaker demonstrating live keyword research techniques. This resource is valuable as both a supplementary and standalone guide, and it serves as a handy refresher on effective keyword strategies.
Unlock the potential of your SEO with our webinar! We’ll look at basic concepts and core WordPress features – and explore how plugins can expand your site’s SEO potential.
Our SEO Foundations webinar takes your SEO knowledge further, exploring advanced concepts and WordPress-specific features. Aimed at bloggers, entrepreneurs, and digital enthusiasts, it digs into how WordPress and Jetpack tools can boost your site’s SEO performance. This session is more than just foundational — it’s about leveraging the full suite of WordPress.com’s SEO functionalities and exploring additional plugins to maximize your site’s visibility.
Start blogging and grow your audience. You’ll learn to craft engaging content, identify your audience, and even monetize your blog.
While primarily tailored for blogging-focused sites, our Intro to Blogging course also offers valuable insights for any site incorporating a blog. Choose lessons that align with your goals, whether you’re an avid blogger, hobbyist, or a business offering a blog component. Beyond traditional online journaling, blogging has become a key strategy for audience growth. This course covers everything from foundational planning to content refinement and monetization. Even if a blog isn’t central to your website plans, we recommend exploring this course to fully understand its potential impact before making a decision on whether it aligns with your needs.
Few things will set the tone of your WordPress blog like your main blog page, where all your posts are displayed.
Complementing the Intro to Blogging course, our Custom Blog Pages webinar focuses on enhancing your main blog page. It’s useful at any stage of your blogging journey, whether before, during, or after the course. Instead of covering general blogging concepts, this session delves into customizing your blog page, exploring various elements that can make your posts stand out. It’s a deep dive into the aesthetics and functionality of your blog display, enriching your blog’s appeal.
Elevate your website with plugins! Discover plugin power, from selection to management. Join and choose your site’s perfect enhancement!
At this point in your website creation journey, you may be ready to consider additional functionality. This is where plugins come into play. One of the key strengths of WordPress is its extensibility, often achieved through plugins, which can add diverse features without the need for complex coding. With tens of thousands of plugins available, there’s likely a solution for almost any functionality you wish to incorporate. However, navigating the world of plugins can be daunting due to the sheer variety and their individual learning curves. Our Picking the Perfect Plugin webinar offers a solid introduction to working with plugins, helping you understand how to choose the right ones for your site and guiding you towards effective plugin management.
Learn how to create engaging newsletters to engage your audience, share updates, and explore monetization opportunities, regardless of your tech skills.
Newsletters offer a versatile way to connect with your audience. Whether it’s a simple update about new content or a fully crafted custom message, newsletters can adapt to your style. They can range from free subscriptions to premium offerings, catering to various audience engagement strategies. Our Newsletters 101 course demystifies the process, helping you choose the right newsletter format for your needs and guiding you through the setup process. Regardless of your site’s focus, incorporating a newsletter can significantly enhance your connection with your audience. Devote some time to explore this valuable tool and discover how it can elevate your site’s engagement.
Learn to build engaging membership sites that suit your specific needs. We cover everything from content protection to monetization strategies.
Not every site will want to offer a membership, but as with newsletters, there are many different types of memberships from simple to advanced, free to paid, one-time or recurring. Once you’ve established your base site and have an established routine, investigating membership models could be a strategic move. There’s certainly no harm in learning about the options to gauge if it might be a good fit for you. You never know when inspiration may strike.
Of course, if you already know that you want a membership component for your site, then you’re in the right place. Our Membership Sites 101 course covers several different options and ways to approach a membership site so that you can research with confidence and make informed decisions.
Create impactful online courses with WordPress.com: a structured blueprint from idea to launch for everyone.
Something that many website creators overlook is that in order to offer online courses, all you need is to know more than the people you aim to help. Offering free or paid courses doesn’t require you to have an education degree, or to be setting up a full blown university. If you have a reason to create a website, you very likely have a reason to offer an online course. Because whatever your website is about, it’s something that you have experience and knowledge in, and there will be someone out there who doesn’t.
Yes, there are some niches that will be more popular than others. But it depends on your goals. Offering an online course could simply be a fun addition for your audience to play with, or it could be a series of courses to teach a certain skill. The point is to keep your options open, explore ideas, and don’t limit yourself. You’ll never know what’s possible until you try.
Just like newsletters and memberships, there are several ways to approach offering online courses. This course, all about Building Online Courses, allows you to get curious and also walks you through bringing your online course idea to life.
Discover the art of teaching online with WordPress and the Sensei LMS plugin. Let our experts guide you to course creation success.
This webinar goes hand-in-hand with Building Online Courses if you’re considering the option of using a learning management system (LMS). Our course dives into the basics of getting started with the Sensei LM plugin, and the Effortless Course Creation: Sensei LMS + WordPress.com webinar gives you a live demo peek inside so you can really see what it’s all about.
Begin your podcast with confidence. You’ll learn idea generation, recording techniques, editing, and monetization for a successful show.
Creating a podcast is another way to enhance your online presence. Some people prefer to deliver audio content rather than written; some people prefer to consume audio over written content. So it makes sense to consider whether creating a podcast is a good fit for you. The great thing is that you don’t need any special skills or prior experience. This Intro to Podcasting course will take you through all the ins and outs of creating a podcast, and it can be a terrific addition for your website.
Whether you’re an ecommerce veteran or this is your first online business, join us for the inside scoop on launching a store that’s fully customizable, completely yours, and ready to grow from the start.
Our WooCommerce 101: How to Set Up a Store webinar offers a terrific introduction to working with the WooCommerce plugin which adds eCommerce functionality to your site. Whether you’re planning to set up a store within your site, or add the ability to sell your online courses, this webinar covers the basics you need to get started.
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