Yes, you read the title right. WordPress can be of help when it comes to your studies. And yes, even if you’re not signed up for any classes related to computer sciences.
So, it might be a good time to get some college essay help to free up enough time for tinkering with this CMS. You won’t regret it: besides your grades themselves, your desirability as a job candidate will improve, too.
Here are 4 ways you can benefit from WordPress in your journey towards a graduate (or undergraduate) degree. Some of them might be obvious, while others may turn out to be a surprise. Which ones are going to be which for you?
1. Gain Real-World Website Development Experience
That’s your number one gain from WordPress if you’ve taken up computer sciences classes. Then, chances are, you’ve been given an assignment to create a website. Maybe, the teacher even told you to use WordPress in particular.
Apart from raw WordPress skills, this experience will also help you develop or boost your hands-on knowledge on:
- Working with hosting platforms;
- Website performance optimization;
- Search engine optimization;
- UX and usability;
- Responsive design;
- Testing and debugging.
These hard skills will come in handy in any field of web development. So, even if you don’t plan to become a WordPress developer specifically, this CMS will still be a great introduction to the world of web development.
And, it’ll help you ace any assignment or test on the subject!
2. Develop Your Transferable Skills
Even if you don’t plan to devote your life to web development, tinkering with this CMS will help you boost some transferable (i.e. soft) skills. Those will come in handy in other classes – and in any job that you plan to land:
- Research. You’ll have to google how-tos and errors to create and improve your website;
- Analytical skills. They’ll get their boost not only during research but also when you map out your website and make sense of its stats;
- Problem-solving. Every debugging session you’ll have will contribute to developing it;
- Learning to learn. If you venture into using this CMS on your own, that’ll probably be your biggest takeaway.
3. Create an Online Portfolio
In case your studies have nothing to do with computer sciences, is WordPress useless to you?
Don’t be too quick to say “yes”. It can still come in handy when it’s time to hand in your assignments – and create portfolios.
Consider launching your portfolio online if you’re on the track to majoring in:
- Arts – to showcase your works, whether you specialize in digital or traditional arts (and try your hand at web design, too);
- Marketing – to post your case studies and projects (and get hands-on knowledge on digital marketing and personal brand development in the process);
- Communications – to boost your writing and online communication skills with practice;
- Architecture – to gather all college/university projects in one place for your teachers (and future employers);
- Project management – to demonstrate your skills with case studies (or maybe make a personal blog your first project to run).
Such an ePortfolio won’t just be a great project for posting creative assignments and showcasing your accomplishments. You can keep developing it up to a point it becomes your second resume of sorts. Then, when you look for a job, it’ll be instrumental in standing out among hundreds of other candidates.
4. Use the Full Potential of Educational Websites
These days, it’s not uncommon for some teachers to set up their course-specific blogs using WordPress. If your teacher is one of such people, don’t dismiss their efforts. Check out their website: you’ll find plenty of useful information on the subject there.
Besides just scouting for information for your assignment or test, you can also write comments under posts to ask a question or start a discussion. Or just thank the teacher for their effort if you found some posts helpful.
With distance learning becoming more prevalent across the world, educational websites slash virtual classrooms pop out at every college and university. You probably have already had to watch lectures and send your assignments via such websites.
And what platform do you think those websites run on? Chances are, it’s WordPress. So, you might be benefiting from this CMS indirectly, without even knowing about it.
Why WordPress & Not Some Other CMS?
WordPress isn’t the only way to create a website. Yet, it’s not an overestimation to say it’s the most popular one. 64.8% of all websites run on this content management system (as of May 2021). This begs the question: why?
Here are 5 explanations for its popularity:
1. It’s free of charge. Yes, there are no monthly or one-time fees. You can download it for free. The bare minimum you have to pay for is hosting itself (which typically starts at $3 per month).
2. There are plugins for every task imaginable. You can choose from 58,000+ plugins, both free and paid. Their purpose can range from theme building to spam protection and two-factor authentication.
3. Its learning curve is gentler. You don’t have to know a programming language to create a website with WordPress. And thanks to a huge variety of plugins, you can automate or simplify most tasks, like SEO (there’s Yoast for it) and theme building (Divi Builder).
4. The community is huge. WordPress has been around since 2003. Over almost two decades of its history, the community has grown to thousands upon thousands of people. That means that if you encounter a problem, finding a solution online will be no sweat.
5. It’s multi-purpose and robust. While WordPress started as a blogging platform, it’s not just for that anymore. Thanks to all the customization options, you can build anything with it, from a forum and a news portal to an online shop.