If you’ve ever thought about creating your own blog or podcast using WordPress but don’t know where to get started then you’re in luck as WordPress.com has created two subscription-based courses to show beginners the ropes.
The hosted version of the world’s most popular CMS is moving into the customer education space with its new Blogging for Beginners and Podcasting for Beginners courses.
Earlier this year, WordPress.com launched free daily and in-depth topical webinars for its customers. Following customer feedback from these webinars, the service’s parent company Automattic decided to expand its educational content to include both blogging and podcasting.
Chief marketing officer at WordPress.com, Monica Ohara provided further insight on the company’s latest push into the online education space in a press release, saying:
“We are excited to venture into online education and help anyone, anywhere learn new skills. Our vision is to create a supportive community where you can meet new people, share ideas, and grow together.”
WordPress.com’s Blogging for Beginners was soft-launched back in October and the course provides on-demand, text-based foundational lessons to help users establish a successful blog. The course’s lessons including building a blog, understanding audiences, design, writing for the internet, branding and how to grow and make revenue for just $49 per year.
As podcasting is a bit more complicated, WordPress.com’s Podcasting for Beginners course has an annual subscription fee of $99. The course includes lessons on finding a niche, choosing a podcast format, recording and editing interviews, submitting podcast directories, growing an audience and making revenue from a podcast.
As WordPress.com used a combination of its own products including WooCommerce, Jetpack, Sensei LMS and P2 to create its new courses, anyone can build a similar service using Automattic’s tools.
WordPress.com plans to continue growing its customer education offerings going forward and the company will launch additional courses next year.