How to Get Help With WordPress

Below, you will find an unedited excerpt from my new book about building Internet-based businesses, Online Business from Scratch. To receive updates about the book, visit www.fromscratchbook.com.

By now, you’re probably either saying “I already know all of this stuff, let’s get on to the good part!” or “This is overwhelming. I have no idea how to do any of this stuff!” If you are having trouble grasping some of the technical aspects of putting a website together, fear not. Because WordPress is the most widely used content management system on the planet, there are a ton of available resources which you can lean on to get help with WordPress.

Here are some different ways that you can get technical help with WordPress:

• Use WordPress Tutorial Websites –WPBeginner.com and WP101.com both offer excellent video tutorials that teach you how to do anything you would ever want to with WordPress. The official WordPress website also has an extensive lessons guide that covers the basics of how to use WordPress, which is available at https://codex.wordpress.org/WordPress_Lessons. There’s a lot of WordPress training content available, but don’t try to watch every video in a course before building your website. Practice just-in-time learning and only watch the videos or read the lessons that are directly relevant to what you’re working on right now.
• Find a Local Meet-Up Group – Many cities have local meet-up groups for WordPress, website development and general programming. You can often learn a lot about building websites by attending local meet-ups, listening to the presenters and talking to other attendees. You can check to see if there is a relevant local meet-up group by visiting www.meetup.com. A list of WordPress-specific meet-up groups can be found at http://www.meetup.com/topics/wordpress/.
• Community Education Classes – Many communities offer community education classes, which allow you to take classes from experts for a minimal fee (often around $25.00). Check and see if your community offers any relevant community education classes. If there is a WordPress class or a website development class, consider taking it. You’ll be able to learn how to build a website in a structured environment and will have the opportunity to get personal help from somebody that knows what they’re doing.
• Find a Freelancer to Help You – If you need someone to walk you through the basics of running a WordPress website and have them help with some parts of building your website, don’t be ashamed to get help from a local freelancer. You shouldn’t hire a freelancer to build your entire website for you, but you can hire a freelancer to teach you how to use WordPress and rely on their expertise when you get stuck. You can find freelancers at local meet-up groups, by searching for freelancers in your area on Google or by posting an ad on Craigslist. If there is a code bootcamp in your area, reach out to the organizer and see if they have any students that might be able to help you out. If you can’t find a local freelancer, you can find one online by using a service like UpWork.com or Freelancer.com.
• Sign-Up for WP Curve – WPCurve (www.wpcurve.com) is a subscription-based WordPress support service. For $79.00 per month, WPCurve will make their team of WordPress experts available to fix any issues that crop up on your website. They won’t build you a new website from scratch, but they will do things like help you boos conversion rates, reduce your website’s load times, recover from getting hacked, improve your search rankings and help you configure plugins. You may not need this service on an ongoing basis, but it might be very helpful to have for a few months while you are getting your site off the ground.
• Don’t Hire a Marketing Agency – It might be tempting to call in a local marketing agency and have them build your website for you, but this isn’t a good plan. While a marketing agency may build you a nice looking website, they will never take responsibility for your website’s success or lack thereof. You need to learn the basics about using WordPress and operating a website and when you pay an agency to do everything for you, you miss out on learning a critical competency that you’ll need to run your online business.