Do you want to learn WordPress for freelancing?
And become a Top WordPress Freelancer and make money online?
But, not sure where to begin?
In this article, we will talk about how you can Master WordPress, develop websites and earn income out of it, in just 4 steps,
- Get started with WordPress
- Create different WordPress websites
- Build your Portfolio
- Sign up for Freelancing
But before all that, let’s understand why this is the best time for you to start your WordPress freelancing journey.
Should you become a Freelance WordPress developer in 2022?
Many beginners believe that it’s too late to get started with WordPress, let alone have a successful WordPress Freelancing journey. They don’t think of WordPress as an in-demand skill in 2022.
Well, the truth is, WordPress is powering more websites now than ever! Yes, WordPress is the most used Content Management system and looks like it’ll continue to do so for years to come.
WordPress powers 39.6% of the internet in 2021, a growth of nearly 5% from 35% in 2020, and a 4% rise from the year before.
So, even if you haven’t started yet, it’s still worth your time to learn WordPress and become a Freelance WordPress developer.
What does it take to be a Freelance WordPress Developer?
Depending on whether you want to learn to code or not, you can become one of the two popular types of WordPress developers.
The first type of WordPress developers are non-coders, who primarily build WordPress websites using the readymade website templates available. With the powerful built-in themes and page builder plugins, this type of WordPress developer rarely uses coding.
Non-coding WordPress developers know their way around WordPress basics and are capable of setting a domain, hosting, and managing content on the platform.
While they are capable of creating professional WordPress websites, it’s advisable to learn the coding basics in the long run. Because only making use of the readymade templates may limit the scope and creativity of what can be truly achieved with a powerful platform like WordPress.
That is where the second type of WordPress developers come in, who make use of coding to build websites rather than solely relying on the website builder tools. Typically, such WordPress developers will be familiar with the basics of HTML, CSS, Javascript, and PHP which will help them extend the functionality of the platform.
These WordPress developers are capable of customizing and modifying the default WordPress themes and plugins. They may even be capable of developing their own plugins for the WordPress platform.
To state the obvious, WordPress developers who know how to code are capable of building custom-designed websites, which are tailor-made for businesses, compared to the non-coders. Depending on the project and requirements, they may even get paid more!
So, the bottom line is, get started with WordPress and its readymade templates to create websites of professional standards. And over the years, strengthen your coding basics to stand out as a Freelance WordPress developer.
Steps to Become a WordPress Freelancer
Having discussed what it takes to become a freelance WordPress developer, it’s now time to get started. We have split the entire process into four phases, one step at a time.
- Get started with WordPress
- Create different WordPress websites
- Build your Portfolio
- Sign up for Freelancing
Get started with WordPress
Well, obviously!! To be a professional WordPress developer, you first need to get started and learn all about WordPress. With several resources scattered all over the Internet, you can get started with WordPress in no time.
However, you need to differentiate yourself from the short-term WordPress learners like beginner business owners who only wish to create their own websites. That’s all there is to their goal, to create one WordPress website and be done with it.
While it works for business owners, that’s not the case with freelancing. As a freelancer, you need to refresh the basics and keep yourself updated on a regular basis. And that’s where a professional WordPress course comes in.
An exclusive WordPress course like Website Learner’s Make a Pro Website course will not only help you master WordPress but also act as a one-stop place to refresh the basics over time.
Create different WordPress websites
While the course and tutorial knowledge is essential to get familiar with the WordPress environment, real learning always comes with practical projects. Consistent practice in developing various WordPress websites will make a successful WordPress developer stand out from others.
So, before freelancing for other businesses and clients, you need to practise a lot by creating different types of websites. Instead of focusing on creating only one type of website, you need to be familiar with building WordPress websites across multiple genres.
Trust us when we say this, you can learn much easier by working on projects while parallelly learning from the lectures. This will get you prepared for all sorts of client requirements. And also, these practical projects can be part of your website development portfolio.
Build your Portfolio
Once you have hands-on experience in creating multiple WordPress websites, the next thing you need is a portfolio! As a freelancer, the first thing a client looks for is the websites you have created. More than anything, what really stands out is how unique and creative your work is among other freelancers.
So, it’s always advisable to keep a well-structured portfolio showcasing the amazing websites you have created over time. Such a portfolio will make you look professional and add to the credibility of your profile.
To get started, you can sign up with portfolio platforms like Behance and Dribble to showcase all the practical projects you have worked on over the course of learning WordPress. If you want to stand out from the rest, you can even opt to create a separate website for your portfolio.
Apart from showcasing your work across other platforms, you should also display your portfolio right there on the freelance platforms, if possible. Doing so will make it easy for the clients to find your work right within your freelancing profile.
And talking of freelance platforms, it’s time for you to sign up across different freelancing platforms.
Sign up for Freelancing
Once you know your way around WordPress and have created multiple websites, it’s time to sign up and start your freelancing journey. To make things easier on both ends, several freelancing platforms are available on the Internet that bridge the gap between freelancers and clients.
To begin with, you can sign up with popular platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc. By strategically planning the work and finding the right set of clients, you can make great money with your WordPress skills.
So, that’s the process of becoming a freelance WordPress developer.
How to Become a Top WordPress Freelancer
By this time, you know how to become a freelance WordPress developer. But here are some tips that show what it takes to become a truly successful freelance WordPress developer.
Be up-to-date with WordPress
WordPress as a content management system comes up with its regular updates. Thousands of premium themes and plugins also add up to the WordPress ecosystem. Being a WordPress freelancer, it’s more than essential to keep yourself updated with such WordPress news.
As it’s quite hard to manually keep track of everything, it’s advisable to be part of a large WordPress community. This way, you will get to know about the major news and updates from WordPress in one place.
And by being part of such a community, you can also get your queries, if any, solved in no time.
Find the right balance
One of the most important aspects of the freelancing journey is to find the right balance between quality and price. As a freelance WordPress developer, it’s obvious that you’ll get a variety of projects across different price ranges.
So, it doesn’t make sense to work the same way for all projects. You need to take a call on the time and effort each one takes, keeping in mind that there shouldn’t be any compromise on the quality.
Promote across Social media
Social media just keeps growing and it’s only smart to take advantage of it. In fact, there are equal chances of you getting a freelance job via social media compared to the freelance platforms.
That is why it’s recommended to ride the tide and promote your freelancing services across all social media platforms.
Network with professionals
Networking is the method of having a professional relationship with fellow developers and enthusiasts, which will be beneficial in the long run. As important it is to be part of a WordPress community, it is equally important to have your own professional network.
Networking not only improves your credibility but also helps you get new clients over time. Moreover, it helps you stay relevant in the domain and keep yourself up-to-date.
Pros and Cons of being a WordPress Freelancer
Pros
- Working on your own terms
The number one reason why most people switch to freelancing is the ability to work on their own terms. Unlike full-time jobs where it’s mandatory to work on a schedule, freelancing has the flexibility to work when you feel like working.
Considering the work is remote, you can work anytime, from anywhere, as long as the projects are completed within the deadlines.
- Well-established platform
Powering over 450 million websites worldwide, WordPress is going nowhere anytime soon. Over the years, it has slowly established itself as the frontrunner of all the Content management systems in the market.
Learning and mastering such a well-established tool is always an advantage that will give you a headstart among your peers.
- Amazing community
WordPress, being the open-source platform it is, has a large number of communities across the globe. These community members make it a safe haven for people to share knowledge and even get doubts resolved.
Such communities will encourage participation and come a long way in the WordPress freelancing journey.
Cons
- Highly competitive
It is general knowledge that with popularity comes competition. Being popular and easy to get started, WordPress has become one of the easiest ways for people to start freelancing.
Though most of the competition will be novice website developers who use ready-made templates, the client may not be aware of it. Eventually, the freelancing market may become competitive as a whole.
- Work uncertainty
Unlike traditional 9 to 5 jobs, being a freelance WordPress developer is a matter of choice. And it has its own set of drawbacks, one being the uncertainty in work.
While freelancing provides a flexible work environment, it kind of lacks the security that comes with the traditional job, which may not work well with a beginner freelancer. Also, one can’t help but think of all the benefits that come with a full-time job.
Challenges you may face as a Freelance WordPress Developer
- Finding Clients
One of the biggest challenges in the freelancing journey is getting clients for your work. Especially beginner freelancers find it hard to get a client and kickstart their freelancing journey. In fact, the very first project takes time!
Even if you get started with the first project, it’s still a challenge to get the right clients who respect and pay for your skill as a service. And what’s even more challenging is retaining the clients, which will be beneficial in the long run.
- Quoting the Right Price
Quoting the right price for your work and getting it approved by the client is a challenge, not just for beginner freelancers but even for experienced ones. With the huge WordPress freelancing market, clients look for the most affordable option.
While clients negotiate, it’s important to stick with the price your work deserves and not agree to anything less. By doing so, you not only improve your credibility as a professional but also help fellow WordPress developers quote the right price.
- Remote work environment
The very nature of freelancing is the ability to work on your own time, remotely. While most freelancers are used to such work environments, developers who are beginner freelancers, switching from a full-time job, may find it difficult to adapt.
Also, with remote locations comes obvious challenges like work-life balance and lack of proper communication with clients. While it’s natural to face these challenges initially, things will get better over time.
- Keeping the website Secure
Though WordPress is as secure as the other platforms, at times, it becomes a popular target for hackers and scammers, owing to its high popularity. As a Freelance WordPress developer, it becomes quite a challenge to ensure there are no security threats on the client websites.
Though WordPress comes with regular updates and security fixes, the third-party plugins may make the entire website vulnerable. The best solution as a WordPress developer is to make sure all the software is up-to-date and credible enough to install on the website.
- Dependent on Plugins
With WordPress plugins, you can add any and all sorts of features to a WordPress website! That’s what makes them a crucial part of the WordPress ecosystem. While the ability to include any kind of feature using the plugins is seen as an advantage, the same acts as a bane as well.
Because, with the vast library of plugins, WordPress developers may get too comfortable with the plugins, and not put their coding knowledge to use.
The Ultimate question: Do you need to learn to code?
Initially… No! Eventually… Yes!
Being a beginner who only starts out with WordPress and website development, it is fine for you to create WordPress websites without any coding. Though it appears to be a blessing initially, over time, it limits the flexibility and customization options one gets by knowing to code.
When we say coding, we don’t mean that you need to master several programming languages. It is quite sufficient if you are strong with the basics of programming languages like HTML, CSS, PHP, and Javascript.
These four programming languages constitute WordPress and are responsible for its functionalities. So strengthening your basics across these languages not only expands customization opportunities but also makes you stand out from novice WordPress developers.
Must-need Resources to become a Top WordPress Freelancer
As discussed, there are several resources available on the Internet to learn WordPress. But having chosen to become a freelance WordPress developer, you need to take a call on whether you wish to learn it the hard way or the easy way.
The hard way is searching all over the Internet to find the right WordPress tutorial. It’s sort of a never-ending process where you collect all the scattered resources and try to make sense of it. There is no guidance on where to begin and you may even get lost eventually.
The easy way is when you enroll in a well-structured course with all the essential resources in one place. It drastically reduces the time and effort put into finding the right beginner tutorials. But, even after this, comes the question of choosing the best WordPress course of the lot.
With years of experience in creating tutorials for WordPress beginners, we at Website Learners have curated the most comprehensive Make a Pro Website course. The course teaches you everything from WordPress basics to successfully managing one all by yourself.
In short, everything you need to get started as a Freelance WordPress developer!
Though the course is generally priced at ₹14,899, you can now get the WordPress course at a whopping 70% discount, for ₹4500 only!
With all the necessary resources available in one place, the Make a Pro Website course is more of an investment in your freelancing journey. So, make use of the limited period offer and master WordPress.
And looking at how rapidly eCommerce is growing across the world, we have come up with a separate WordPress eCommerce course as well. Apart from the general WordPress lectures, this course dives deep into the eCommerce world.
Website Learner’s WordPress eCommerce course teaches all about the popular WordPress eCommerce platform, WooCommerce. It starts from eCommerce basics and then teaches about several eCommerce aspects like setting up taxes, promoting the store, etc.
By mastering WooCommerce, you, as a freelancer, can create all sorts of business websites, be it for beginner entrepreneurs or established enterprises.
Get started now as the course is now available at a flat 70% discount off the original price!!
The WordPress eCommerce course will be highly beneficial if you’re planning to freelance by creating websites solely for other businesses.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Is WordPress good for freelancing?
Yes, absolutely! Being the most popular content management system, WordPress is one of the easiest platforms to get started with website creation. Even an absolute beginner can learn WordPress and build websites in no time.
That is why WordPress is regarded as one of the best platforms to master and begin freelancing.
How do I become a successful WordPress developer?
First things first, you need to learn and master the popular content management system, WordPress. Once you know your way around the platform, it’s time to put the lessons into practice. Create different types of practice websites across various domains, and eventually build a portfolio.
Apart from these, it’s recommended to learn the basics of programming languages like HTML, CSS, PHP, etc. This will make you stand out from the competition.
Does WordPress need coding?
No, initially you don’t need coding. But as a professional WordPress freelancer, you’ll need coding in the long run. WordPress is hugely popular for its ability to create websites without knowing how to code.
While that holds true initially, a WordPress freelancer must also be strong with the basics of HTML, CSS, PHP, etc. Doing so enhances and opens up even more customization functionalities.
How long does it take to become a WordPress developer?
Well, that depends! While you can learn and create a WordPress website in one week, it takes several weeks, even months of practice to become a full-on WordPress developer.
Apart from the lectures, consistent practice by creating different types of websites will come a long way in the freelancing journey.
Where can I find ideal WordPress freelance projects?
A beginner WordPress freelancer can get started with popular freelancing platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, Freelancer, etc. As WordPress is a highly popular domain, the competition is fierce too. So, it is recommended you have a portfolio with all of your best works and what you offer as a WordPress developer.
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