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The Complete Beginner‘s Guide to Learning WordPress with Free Online Video Tutorials

With over 40% of all websites now powered by WordPress, learning it has become an essential skill for anyone getting into web design, development, and digital marketing.

But where do you start when you know absolutely nothing about WordPress?

Attending a beginner WordPress workshop or meetup is a great way to learn from experts. Unfortunately, these may not be accessible or available to everyone.

The good news is you can now learn WordPress completely online through free video tutorials. Handpicked by a webmaster with 15+ years of experience, this guide will share the best free WordPress courses for beginners.

Let‘s get started!

Why Should Beginners Learn WordPress?

Here are some key reasons why WordPress is the ideal starting point for anyone new to web design and development:

  • Easy to use – WordPress is designed to be user-friendly for beginners with little to no coding skills required. Everything is point and click.

  • Extremely customizable – Tweak everything from design to content structure with just a few clicks using themes and plugins. Adapt it for any industry or niche.

  • Constant innovation – New features and improvements are added frequently. It now even allows full site editing right from the front-end.

  • Strong ecosystem – From hosts to developers, thousands of businesses specialize in WordPress. Get help easily.

  • Scales with you – Works just as well for personal blogs as for enterprise sites with millions of visitors. Perfect for all growth stages.

  • Great for SEO – Optimized code structure, built-in SEO features, and SEO-friendly themes and plugins make it easy to rank well.

  • Future-proof investment – The skills you gain will continue to be relevant for years to come given WordPress‘ ongoing popularity and market share growth.

Clearly WordPress offers immense value, whether you want to build your own site or progress into a web-based career. Let‘s look at what exactly a beginner should learn.

What Does a Beginner WordPress Workshop or Course Teach You?

A beginner WordPress workshop or course would typically cover the following topics:

  • WordPress basics – terminology, how content and layout work, core concepts
  • Installing and hosting WordPress – how to get WordPress on a web host
  • Creating WordPress content – posts vs pages, adding text, images, videos
  • Introduction to themes – designing your WordPress site
  • Customizing a WordPress site – menus, widgets, appearance settings
  • Plugins for added features like SEO, forms, galleries, ecommerce
  • User management – members, contributors, authors, administrators
  • Site management – updates, security, backups, performance
  • Finding help & support – documentation, forums, Facebook groups

The goal is to teach new users everything they need to get a WordPress site up and running. Let‘s look at the best free video tutorials that cover all of the above topics and more.

Free Online WordPress Courses and Tutorials for Beginners

Here are the top free WordPress video learning resources handpicked for beginners.

The Essential WordPress Basics

For an absolute beginner, this 25 minute WordPress tutorial from LearnWordPress is the perfect starting point. It covers:

  • What is WordPress?
  • WordPress terminology
  • How content and themes work
  • Introduction to plugins and customization

The instructor explains WordPress basics in a beginner-friendly way. Follow along to gain a fundamental understanding before diving deeper.

WordPress.org vs WordPress.com Explained

Many beginners are confused between self-hosted open source WordPress.org and WordPress.com.

This quick 6 minute video tutorial from WPBeginner clearly explains the key differences between the two WordPress platforms in terms that are easy for beginners to understand.

How to Choose the Best WordPress Hosting

Your choice of WordPress hosting has a big impact on your site‘s performance and security.

The right hosting provides the optimal server configuration to run WordPress fast and smoothly.

This 7 minute video from Kinsta explores different hosting options like shared, VPS, managed WordPress hosting and helps you pick the best one for your site.

How to Install WordPress on cPanel Shared Hosting

Once you have hosting, it‘s time to install WordPress.

This step-by-step video from WebHostingSecrets shows how to easily install WordPress through cPanel in under 6 minutes.

We also have a visual guide on installing WordPress with cPanel that takes you through each step.

Installing WordPress Manually via FTP

If your web host doesn‘t have cPanel, then you‘ll need to install WordPress via FTP.

This FTP installation tutorial from FreeCodeCamp walks you through all the steps including uploading WordPress files, configuring the database, and running the installer.

Introduction to Creating WordPress Posts and Pages

Once WordPress is installed, it‘s time to start publishing content!

This 7 minute tutorial from Black n Bleu explains the difference between posts and pages in WordPress. You‘ll learn how to create both using the WordPress admin dashboard.

Formatting WordPress Content with the Visual Editor

The WordPress visual editor makes formatting your content easy.

This tutorial from ThemeIsle gives a tour of the WordPress editor toolbar so you can format text, add links, insert images, embed videos, and more.

Easily Adding Images and Galleries in WordPress Posts and Pages

Enhance your content with photos and galleries using the built-in media manager.

This 7 minute video from WPBeginner shows how to upload images, insert them into your content, and create beautiful galleries.

Scheduling WordPress Posts in Advance

Want to publish posts in the future?

This 2 minute tutorial from WPTuts shows how easy it is to schedule your WordPress posts in advance.

Introduction to WordPress Themes and Customization

Themes control how your WordPress site looks and functions.

This 8 minute themes tutorial from Josh Hall explains how WordPress themes work and what you need to consider when picking one.

Next watch this 7 minute video from Designmodo to learn how to customize your WordPress theme‘s design including colors, fonts, menus, widgets, background, etc.

Must-Have WordPress Plugins for Beginners

Extend your WordPress site‘s functionality with plugins.

This plugin basics video from WebHostingSecrets covers must-have plugins for security, SEO, contact forms, galleries, ecommerce, analytics, and more.

Check out our guide on essential WordPress plugins every site needs.

Improving Your WordPress Site‘s Performance

A high-performing site results in happy visitors.

These two videos from WPBeginner offer tips to optimize your WordPress site speed and improve WordPress performance.

Google recommends sites load in under 2 seconds. Slow speeds lead to high bounce rates.

Backing Up Your WordPress Site

You should always have a WordPress backup strategy in place for when disaster strikes.

This backup basics tutorial from Kinsta covers backup plugins, managed backups, and manual backups to safeguard your site.

Where to Find Help and Support with WordPress

As a beginner, you‘re bound to need some assistance. This 5 minute video from Elegant Themes shares where you can find help and support within the WordPress community.

We also have an extensive guide on WordPress help and support resources for beginners.

Additional WordPress Resources and Learning Material

Here are some other helpful free resources to continue learning WordPress:

For live workshops, WordPress offers free online events for beginners at WordPress.tv.

This covers the best free WordPress tutorials online to help you learn WordPress from the ground up. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Written by Jason Striegel

C/C++, Java, Python, Linux developer for 18 years, A-Tech enthusiast love to share some useful tech hacks.