If you’re just starting out making websites with WordPress, then these 5 projects for beginners will be a great way to learn. WordPress is a great platform to build beautiful and functional websites without having to write a single line of code.
In order to create and deploy a website, there are a few steps you’ll need to take that will guide you from the start of your project to the finish line.
- Choose Your WordPress Project
- Pick a Web Host
- Select a Domain Name
- Create Your Project
- Launch Your Project
- Monetize Your Project (Optional)
I’ll walk you through all of these steps and provide you with 5 WordPress project ideas as well as a full tutorial on how to create the project. All you will have to do is follow the steps and customize your project to your own specifications. Let’s get started!
Choose Your WordPress Project
The project you choose is completely up to you and what your goals are. For me, I wanted to make a blog so I could make the best online resources for Computer Science students. But your goals might be different.
Whatever project you choose, it’s important to pick something that’s really interesting to you. This way, if you face any challenges along the way, you will be more likely to stick it out and persevere.
There are plenty of WordPress projects that you can make. You’re only limited by your imagination. However, these are 5 WordPress Project ideas that are great for beginners and can even earn you some money if done correctly.
- Blog
- Course
- Forum
- Social Media
- eCommerce
Pick a Web Host
If you’re unaware of what a web host is, it’s the server that keeps your project online and running. They keep backups of your files which is really important and they can help with most issues that arise with your website once it’s live.
There are plenty of web hosts to choose from. Of all the hosts that I’ve used my favorite by far is BlueHost. I highly recommend them because they’re the least expensive compared to other hosts and they have the best customer service. Also, their platform is super beginner-friendly and very compatible with WordPress.
Get Started With BlueHost Here
I personally use them to host all of my websites. However, if you’re more comfortable with another host that’s totally fine too. If you’re reluctant to get started because of the cost, consider one of the options of monetizing your project and earning some passive income.
If you picked BlueHost then here’s a quick guide to get you started creating your WordPress project.
Select a Domain Name
Another great thing about signing up with BlueHost is that they give you one free domain name when you sign up for their hosting. However, you can also purchase a domain name from GoDaddy, Name Cheap, or anywhere else and you can easily transfer it to your BlueHost account.
Either way, when choosing a domain name, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Try and keep it short
- Choose a name that’s relevant to your project
- Choose a .com web extension
- Once you find one you like, pick it before someone else does
Create Your WordPress Project
Choosing a host, a domain name, and a project are the easy parts. Creating your project is the hard part. But don’t worry, I got your back. For each of the projects that I listed, I found awesome tutorials that will help you create it from start to finish.
Blog
This website, Comp Sci Central, is the first WordPress project that I ever made. I wanted to create the best blog for Computer Science students with the best resources.
Most of the projects created on WordPress are blogs because that’s what WordPress was originally intended for. WordPress eventually evolved into something much more but at its core, WordPress is a Content Management System which is ideal for running a blog.
If you want to make a blog, this is a great tutorial to help you create it.
How To Monetize Your Blog
- Ads
- Affiliates
- Your own product
Course
If you have some special skill, why not create a course and share it with the world? Creating a course is a great way to help people out and possibly earn some passive income in the process.
In order to fully develop a course, not only will you need to build the site, but you’ll also need to add all the course content. Videos are a great option for skills. I’ve personally purchased courses on learning Calculus and learning blogging skills.
If you want to make a course, this is a great tutorial to help you create it.
How To Monetize Your Course
- Sell the course
- Ads
- Affiliates
Forum
Another great WordPress project you could make is a forum. Forums such as Quora.com and Reddit.com are super popular and have millions of users.
If you want to create a platform for questions, answers, and discussion then maybe a forum is the beginner WordPress project for you!
If you want to make a forum, this is a great tutorial to help you build it.
How To Monetize Your Forum
- Ads
- Affiliate
Social Media
Social Media websites have been popular since the early day of MySpace. These days, however, people are looking for alternatives to the large platforms such as Facebook and Twitter for various reasons.
Perhaps this is your opportunity to build the next big social media platform, or maybe just an opportunity to learn some WordPress skills.
If you want to build a social media website, this tutorial should help you get started.
How To Monetize Your Platform
- Ads
eCommerce
eCommerce is the new commerce, especially in the covid era. Amazon.com is the world’s largest store and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is the richest person in the world.
Today, nearly everyone shops online. You could make a specific store for shoes, clothes, homemade goods, or anything else you can think of.
If this is the WordPress Project you want to make, check out this tutorial.
Monetize Your eCommerce Site
- Commerce (product sales)
- Ads
- Affiliate
Launch Your WordPress Project
You picked a WordPress project, chose a host and a domain, built and customized your project to your exact specifications.
All I can say is: Wonderful Job!
At this point, there’s only one thing left for you to do, and that’s to launch your project! So go ahead and show the world what you’ve just created!
Monetize Your Project (Optional)
If you want a reward from all the hard work, there are several ways you can monetize your project. I briefly listed the ways that each project could be monetized so now I’ll expand on that and give you a few resources.
You probably already know this, but just in case you don’t, there’s a very important rule necessary for monetization… In order for a website to make money, even if it’s just a few cents per day from ads, a website needs users. The more users, the more money your project can make.
Ads (Advertisements)
Placing ads can be a great source of revenue for your project. Ads bring in more than 60% of the revenue for this website. If you’re interested in placing ads on your website, I highly recommend Ezoic.
Ezoic is a Google certified publishing partner so they place quality ads and they also pay much more than Google ads do. Signing up is quick, easy, and best of all, free.
Affiliates
Affiliates are another great way of earning money from your project. Affiliate marketing is similar to ads. However, with affiliate marketing, you recommend a specific product.
If you want to see an example, check out this article I wrote with affiliate products from Amazon. If you want to try affiliate marketing, two popular affiliate networks are Amazon Affiliate and Click Bank Affiliate.
Sign up for Click Bank Affiliate
Course
Creating a course and selling it can be a huge source of revenue. The best part about this option is that the profit margins are very high.
Instead of selling someone else’s course and making 10% percent as an affiliate, you can sell your own course, set the price, and keep 100% of the revenue.
Products
In addition to making a course, you could also create any other product and use your website as a means to sell it.
Once you master the skills of developing and launching websites, a world of possibilities opens up to you.
You make your own products, buy wholesale and resale, or you can sell your art.
Other Projects
If you want to take your developer skills to the next level after completing your WordPress Project, you can learn a programming language such as Java or Python.
Java and Python are both general-purpose programming languages and Python is sometimes used in web development. I assembled a list of projects for both languages if you want to learn and practice.