With over 43% of the internet running on WordPress as of early 2022, there has never been a better time to enter the world of WordPress development. However, as with any profession, becoming a WordPress developer comes with its own set of challenges and roadblocks. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the truths about getting certified in WordPress and becoming a WordPress developer.
Is There Such a Thing as a WordPress Certification?
The short answer is no. WordPress is an open-source project, which means that anyone can contribute code. While there is the WordPress Foundation, a non-profit organization that oversees the WordPress software, they do not offer certifications. Consequently, there is no OFFICIAL WordPress certification.
That being said, some companies or individuals may create their own WordPress certification programs. However, these would not be officially recognized by WordPress or have any bearing on one’s ability to contribute to WordPress. If you’re interested in becoming a WordPress developer, the best way to learn is by getting involved in the community and contributing code yourself.
Benefits of Becoming a WordPress Developer
If you are looking for a career in website design, then you should consider becoming a WordPress developer. WordPress is the most popular content management system in the world, and there is a high demand for developers who know how to use it. Below are some of the main benefits of becoming a WordPress developer.
- Those working on WordPress websites can work remotely from anywhere in the world. This provides a great deal of flexibility and freedom when it comes to finding work.
- WordPress developers earn a good salary. WordPress developers are paid well for their skills. In fact, WordPress Developers are some of the highest-paid web professionals in the world.
- WordPress Developers have great job security. WordPress is not going anywhere anytime soon. As long as WordPress remains the most popular content management system (CMS) in the world (as it is now), there will be a need for WordPress Developers. This means that WordPress Developers have great job security and can rest assured knowing that their skills will always be in demand.
- WordPress is an open-source project, which means that there is a large community of developers who contribute to the software. By becoming a WordPress dev, you would be able to join this community and collaborate with other developers from all over the world.
- WordPress is constantly evolving and adding new features. As a WordPress dev, you would be able to stay up-to-date with the latest developments and help shape the future of WordPress.
WordPress Developer Training
Typically paid WP training courses for learning to develop and design in WordPress are better than free courses because they offer:
- Support from WordPress experts
- Access to a community of WordPress developers
- More comprehensive and up-to-date content
- Course materials that can be referenced later
While WordPress success isn’t dependent on the individual taking formal courses, many WordPress Developers find that paid courses give them the structure and support they need to succeed. WordPress Developers who are self-taught often have to piece together information from different sources, which can be time-consuming and frustrating.
Paid courses also offer students the opportunity to get feedback from instructors and other students, which can be invaluable when starting out as a WordPress Developer. In addition, most courses come with some kind of guarantee, so if you’re not happy with the course, you can usually get your money back.
Below we’ve listed some of the more popular paid WP training courses that will help you on your journey to becoming a WP dev.
UDEMY Courses
Udemy has many WordPress courses that can help you learn WordPress development faster. The courses are affordable and the quality is excellent. This is solid training for anyone wanting to learn WordPress development.
Courses include:
– WordPress Development for Beginners
– WordPress Development with Bootstrap
– WordPress Development with Advanced Custom Fields
– WordPress Development with WooCommerce
– WordPress Development with Jetpack
One of the more popular and beginner-friendly courses available on Udemy at the time of this writing was this course:
“WordPress 2022: The Complete WordPress Website Course“
Master The Complete WordPress – Build any Dynamic WordPress Website without Programming with WordPress Custom Post types
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
4.5 (2,315 ratings)
36,044 students
Created by: Tanzeel Ur Rehman
Cost: The cost for the Udemy course fluctuates immensely. At the time of this writing, the course retailed for $89.99 but was discounted down to $18.99. If you don’t like the price a course is at when you first find it, a good trick is to copy the course name and put it into Google Search along with the word “coupon code”. You’ll often find an available coupon to reduce your costs.
Online WordPress Certification & Education by WPacademy
WPacademy is an online institution that provides technical education to anybody, allowing students to work in technology. Students learn real-world abilities such as how to create websites, develop stronger internet marketing, and utilize genuine analytical data. Expert instructors at WPacademy have created 100+ video lessons, quizzes, and tasks that are always up-to-date thanks to the learning platform’s 100+ video tutorials, quizzes, and challenges developed by expert teachers.
WPacademy offers an online WordPress certifications course that covers everything from the basics to creating a WordPress website from scratch. The course is designed for beginners and those new to WordPress.
The amount of time it takes to finish a program varies by course. Most video lessons are around 2-3 minutes in length, and students complete them at their own pace. Assuming you pass a course on the first try, the fastest you can finish any course is about a matter of minutes. The following is a breakdown of how much time you’ll need to spend on each component of the program, as well as courses and projects.
- WordPress CMS (12 hours)
- Search Engine Optimization is also known as SEO (6 hours)
- Ecommerce – 6 hours
- Google Analytics Training (10 hours)
The cost of the WPacademy Pro course at the time of this writing was $497, so it’s not as affordable as some of the other courses mentioned.
New Skills Academy WordPress Certification Course
New Skills Academy has a course titled “WordPress Certification” but again there is no official WordPress certification so that course title is a bit misleading. That doesn’t however mean that the course itself isn’t worth looking into.
This complete WordPress training package is ideal for people who wish to learn how to install WordPress while also learning how to install WordPress plugins and much more. When done, students will be better prepared to build and maintain their own website and improve their key abilities to utilize the core features of WordPress easily and effectively.
The course, which is made up of 30 interactive video-based lessons, will give you all the information and understanding you’ll need to hit the ground running and begin working with WordPress right away.
After finishing this course’s content, you will feel comfortable using and administering WordPress sites and will have a solid understanding of the essential features and tools required to develop a professional, effective website.
WordPress 101 Tutorial Videos for Beginners by WP101.com
This course titled “Learn WordPress and More with 200+ Easy Tutorial Videos” from wp101.com is incredibly comprehensive and offers multiple methods of access to fit any budget.
- Month-to-Month Unlimited Access – $19 per month
- 12 Months of Unlimited Access – $49 per year
- Lifetime Unlimited Access + ALL future courses – $89
On top of that, it’s a risk-free investment as they offer a 100% no-risk money-back guarantee for up to 14 days, which sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
A few of the benefits WP101 lists to becoming a member of their program are:
Learn WordPress Quickly
Don’t waste another minute looking on YouTube! Our simple WordPress tutorial videos will teach you all you need to know about WordPress in less than two hours.
Created for Beginners
Since 2008, the WordPress 101 videos have assisted three million novices in learning how to use WordPress and much more.
Easy to Understand Course Material
Our video tutorials are meticulously written and professionally produced to eliminate any ‘uhs,’ ‘ums,’ or convoluted technical jargon.
WordPress Training is Kept Up-to-Date
We add new videos to our WordPress 101 series with every major release of WordPress, so you’ll always be up to speed.
Answers to Your Questions on WordPress Training
In our members-only Community Forum, ask your WordPress questions and get expert answers from our WordPress instructors.
Free WordPress Certifications Training
If money is an issue for you, there are free WordPress certification training courses available that can help! These courses offer a great way to learn more about the WordPress dashboard, installing WordPress themes, and how to become your own WordPress administrator. Again, not WordPress certified as there is no official WP certification but you can get recognition from these companies that you can then add to your resume.
These courses are perfect for beginner website designers. Check out the courses below and start learning today!
- WPBeginner was founded by Syed Balkhi. Syed offers his course for free because he was sick of self-styled “blogging experts” demanding hundreds of dollars to teach people how to utilize WordPress. He claims that basic education like this should be given for FREE, which is why he established WPBeginner as a way for users to get what I wish I had when I started out. You can access the WPBeginner course here.
- We mentioned a paid UDEMY course further up this page on training for WordPress fundamentals, but did you know that UDEMY also provides some free training for WordPress beginners? Here’s a link to UDEMY’s free WP courses.
- Obviously, there are a plethora of videos on YouTube for WordPress site development, theme development, WordPress plugin training, and so much more, but we thought we’d throw in this video by Adrian Twarog. You can check out his “WordPress Theme Development Tutorial 2020” video here.
Back40 Design Web Development Services & Web Design Consultant Careers
On one final note, we here at Back40 Design are advocates for WordPress professionals looking for work and WordPress beginners just starting their journey in the WP development world. Scan through our website if you’d like to know more about our Web Development Services or to see if we have any job openings available relating to web development.
