Struggling to Learn the Basics of WordPress How to Overcome It

Last updated on November 29th, 2018 at 11:14 am

Are you struggling to learn the basics of WordPress WordPress and feeling lost? If you’re reading this then chances are you’re considering starting a self-hosted blog. Congratulations, there’s no better time than now to stake your claim in the online world and start creating the future you want!

Okay, okay, you’re NOT going to hear me say that building a successful blog will be easy. It won’t be, it’s going to take a lot of work. Do you have what it takes to build a successful blog?

Only you will be able to answer that question. It’s going to take a lot of work to create a successful blog. What I can tell you is that if you’re struggling to learn the Basics of WordPress and feeling lost, I can help you.

In this post, I am going to discuss some of the basic tasks that every blogger should understand. It’s not a lot and the great thing is that you can learn everything as you continue blogging. Heck maybe in another post, I’ll share what my typical blogging day looks like.

You don’t have to be techie to start a blog, if you’re letting that stop you from starting your own self-hosted blog, let me help you learn the basics of WordPress.

Wouldn’t that just be amazing!

If you’re the type of person who’d rather learn on your own, I just wrote a step-by-step tutorial ebook called JumpStart WordPress, it’ll show you the exact steps that you need to setup your self-hosted WordPress blog. You can check it out here.

Why You Need to Know The Basics of WordPress

When you’re thinking the basics, adding new posts and pages to your blog may come to ming. However, when I am talking about the basics, that’s not what I am referring to.

• I’m actually talking about things like how to SEO optimize your blog posts.
• Submitting your WordPress blog to the search engines.
• Which plugins will give you the best bang for the buck.

I know that everyone is different and there are so many plugins to choose from. However, as a new blogger, it may help you if someone suggests which plugins to start with. I even share which plugins are powering my this blog.

Once you have a better understanding of your blog, and know what you want to accomplish. You can choose the plugins that will help you accomplish your blog’s goals.

The main thing, is that you don’t want to let analysis paralysis keep you from hitting publish on your new blog post.

If you’re a DIY blogger, then here are some of the basics of WordPress that you should be familiar with as you get your self-hosted blog started.

I am sure that everyone’s opinions will vary, but this is what I feel is what every new blogger should learn when starting their own self-hosted blog.

Installing WordPress

One of the first basic tasks that you’ll be faced with when you either start a blog or migrate from a free platform is to learn how to install WordPress.

This can be a scary thing, especially, if you’ve never worked with WordPress before. The great thing is that most hosting companies like SiteGround offer free WordPress installations.

So if you’re not the type of person who feels comfortable trying to learn how to install WordPress manually, you don’t have to.

Choose a hosting company that does the installation for you. That way you won’t have to spend hours trying to figure out how to install it. Imagine how great it’ll be to have one less to-do task on your plate. All you’ll have to do is log in and start adding themes and plugins.

If you pick start with SiteGround through my link, I’ll give you the JumpStart WordPress eBook for free.

Tracking Your Visitors

When your blog is brand new you won’t get any visitors. Unfortunately, it’s going to feel like you’re just talking to yourself. Heck, I’ve been blogging for about 6 months now and I still feel like this sometimes. You’re going to have to find ways to motivate yourself to keep publishing new content.

Don’t worry, just keep working towards your goals and eventually, before you know it all your hard work and persistence will pay off.

This is why it’s extremely important to add analytics to your WordPress blog. Once you start getting traffic, you’ll know what type of content your visitors like. This information is extremely useful, because it will help you know what type of content your visitors are looking for.

If you’re still struggling to get traffic to your blog, then I highly recommend this eBook.

How to Use That Information

While I don’t claim to know everything about using Google Analytics, I have learned how to read which posts and pages are getting the most views on my blog.

Once you know what your visitors like, you can use that information to write new blog posts or create products. It’s up to you, the main thing is you need to know what type of content your visitors like.

Once you start to get traffic to your blog, you’ll want to check your analytics on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

Updating WordPress and Plugins

If you’re a DIY WordPress blogger (which most of us new bloggers are) you don’t have the money to outsource things yet.

This means that you’re the person who does everything. You write content for your blog, hopefully, on a consistent basis.

You update your WordPress core and plugins. Heck you may even be the one who does the regular maintenance tasks for your blog.

Don’t worry, it’s not hard and once you get the hang of it, you’ll be running your WordPress blog like a champ. The great thing is that those maintenance tasks don’t have to be done very often.

You’ll Learn the Basics As You Grow

Most people choose to get started with a free platform because they’re scared of learning WordPress. They continually tell themselves they’re not techie enough.

Guess what, when I first got started with WordPress, I wasn’t techie enough. It took me over 8 hours to set up my first WordPress blog. That experience alone should’ve kept me away from WordPress.

It didn’t, instead I used XAMPP now I am using Desktop Server and love playing with WordPress. This helps me test things out on my local host, without having to worry about messing up my live site.

This is one of the most important reasons to have a backup for your blog. If you don’t have one yet, I recommend reading this post as I discuss how to setup an automatic backup for your blog.

Plus messing around with WordPress helps me get more familiar with it and allows me to create tutorials that I can share with you.

Final Take Away

As you can see, learning the basics of WordPress isn’t a long list of to-do’s. In fact, once you get these basics down, you can start blogging.

Sure your blog may not look great and your design may need some work. However, don’t let that stop you from getting started. If you’re ready to start your blog, but have been letting the basics hold you back, ask yourself why.

Is it because you’re afraid of what people will think of you? Maybe you’re afraid of being criticized? Those are just excuses, heck I’ve got you covered with basic WordPress tutorials that will help you learn how to start, grow and monetize your blog.

I recommend learning everything you can about driving traffic to your blog. This eBook has been a huge part of growing my own blog. You can get it here.

Hand Picked Articles for You

• How to Start A Blog
• Ultimate Guide to Google Analytics for Beginners
• Dealing With WordPress Problems As A Beginner

If you’re ready to get started, pick up my JumpStart WordPress for beginners eBook to find out exactly how I set up my blog. You can read more about it here.

Have you started your self-hosted blog? If not what’s been holding you back jumping in and just getting started? How much did you know about WordPress when you first started your blog?