This one day training course will give you all the tools you need to create your very own WordPress website. By the end of the training day your website could be live online for all to see!

By the end of the training day you will know how to:

- Design a website from scratch.

- Plan your site structure and add navigation.

- Customise your website design (the simple way!)

- Add images, text and videos.

- Add forms.

- Use plugins with tips on the essential ones for your site.

- Add social networks.

- Monitor your web traffic and your appearance in search results.

Assistance is provided to help you set up web hosting and purchase a domain name. If you already own a domain name, I will help you transfer your new site over to it.

Who is this course for?

• Anyone who wants to be able to set up a website themselves.
• People who currently own a WordPress website but want the skills to be able to update it themselves and know how it works.
• Anyone who wants to control their own website.
• Anyone who is looking to start a career creating websites for other people.
• People wanting to avoid making mistakes on their website.
• People who panic that if something goes wrong they will completely ruin their website.
• Individuals wanting to maintain, update and post regular content on their website.
• Anyone wanting to get a deeper understanding of WordPress for SEO purposes.

What you will learn

How to set up a WordPress website.

- What WordPress is.

- Setting up of WordPress.

- Creating users.

Creating your website

- Creating pages and posts plus the difference between them.

- Ensuring pages and posts have SEO friendly URLS.

- Sourcing images.

- Adding images and embedding videos.

- Adding links (and realising the importance of your sites internal linking structure).

- Using the Gutenberg editor.

- Adding blocks.

- Top blocks to use.

- Creating a blog/ news page.

- Moderating comments.

- Cookies, GDPR and SSL certificates.

- Integrating social media channels.

- How to backup your website and where to save your backups.

- Adding content forms / Google maps.

Designing your website

- Ideal steps to take before creating a website.

- The purpose of a webpage.

- Your ideal user.

- Wireframing tools / the pen and paper method.

How to set up your site navigation

- Creating menus.

- The difference between categories and tags.

- Setting up correct site navigation (especially for search engines).

- Submitting your site to search engines for indexing (so that your site appears in search results).

- Setting up your blog/ news page.

- How to set up a sidebar.

- Structuring your website for SEO purposes.

Making your website look fabulous

- WordPress themes and how to use them.

- Your guide to picking a great WordPress theme.

- The anatomy of a WordPress theme.

- How to install a theme.

- How to edit your theme.

- Using the same theme as another website – and how to do it.

- My recommended themes.

- What a framework is.

- Genesis framework introduction.

Search Engine Optimisation

- Basic intro into SEO.

- Setting up Google Analytics and Google Search Console.

- Free tools for improving your SEO ranking.

- Resources to learn more.

- The importance of content and why it is still king.

- How to add meta descriptions in your content to improve ranking.

- The best free WordPress SEO plugins.

What happens on the day

- You will need to bring a PC, Mac or Chromebook plus the charger. I prefer to use a portable mouse, you might prefer this too.

- We will take regular breaks throughout the day to keep you fresh!

- You don’t need to have any experience using WordPress. You should have a basic knowledge of computers. If you can search on Google, copy/paste and send an email then you will be fine.

At the end of the day you will leave with

- A professional and fully functioning website for you to host. You can update and add content at your own pace.

- A working knowledge of WordPress.

- Comprehensive training guide covering all aspects of what we learnt on the day. This guide will be available for you to take away in print and you will also receive it in .pdf format.

- A friend(me) to help with any WordPress queries.

I will give you advice on

Choosing and purchasing a domain name, plus setting this up.

Where to host your WordPress website.

Setting up an email address.

Suggested tools and services for your website. Some free, some paid for.

If you love WordPress as much as me I will provide free advice on where you can learn more.

We will break for lunch.