Skill building

WordPress, Microsoft 365 and SEO training for teams

I've spent twenty-two years on the same two patterns: WordPress editors who dread the CMS, and Excel users who've hit a ceiling. Both tracks are here, onsite or online, built around what your team will use the next day.

Training pricing at a glance

Open registration from $200 per student Private team $1,800/day Multi-day blocks same day rate

Private team day covers up to 10 participants. Multi-day classes bill at the same day rate (two days $3,600, three days $5,400). Travel across the Niagara region is included. Get a fixed quote after a 20-minute scoping call.

WordPress

  1. 101 Owners and admins
  2. 201 Content and SEO
  3. 301 Ops and maintenance
  4. 401 Block-era development

Excel

  1. 101 Foundations
  2. 201 Working with data
  3. 301 Tables and PivotTables
  4. 302 Forecasting and modelling
  5. 401 BI and dashboards

Also available as standalone foundations: Word 101, Outlook 101, PowerPoint 101.

Two tracks, one ladder shape — find your team's current rung.

About this archive

WordPress and Microsoft 365 training for teams that depend on both. Courses run onsite across the Niagara region and online across Canada — built around what your staff will use the day after training, not a certification checklist.

Engagements are sized for small and mid-size teams. Every course includes reference materials, follow-up Q&A access, and a post-training summary so managers know what was covered and what the team can do with it. Teaching is the part of the work I genuinely enjoy — connecting people to the technology they already have to use is something I have done from conference stages and into remote-community classrooms.

Training programs

WordPress programs

WordPress training first

  • WordPress training 101 Beginner

    In-person WordPress 101 for owners and new admins across the Niagara region. Pages, posts, blocks, media, and a monthly routine that keeps the site healthy.

    Subject
    Training

  • WordPress training 201 Intermediate

    Online WordPress 201 for marketing and content leads. Structure, headings, internal links, image SEO, and Core Web Vitals as a content lever.

    Subject
    Training

  • WordPress training 301 Advanced

    Online WordPress 301 for owners and ops leads. Real attack surface, backup and restore drill, update strategy, roles, and incident response.

    Subject
    Training

  • WordPress training 401 Expert

    Online WordPress 401 for agency and in-house devs. theme.json as a design-system contract, custom blocks end to end, and FSE on the merits.

    Subject
    Training

  • LearnDash LMS Training

    Hands-on LearnDash training for course teams managing enrollment, learner progression, reporting, and launch readiness in WordPress.

    Draft offering. Final scope is confirmed during the scoping call.

Microsoft programs

Microsoft 365 and productivity training

  • Microsoft Excel Training 101 Beginner

    Excel 101 is a hands-on starter course for staff who use Excel a few times a week. Real workbooks, plain language, no guessing.

    Subject
    Microsoft Excel

  • Microsoft Excel Training 201 Intermediate

    Excel 201 is for staff past the basics who need cleaner workbooks, IF/IFS logic, charts that read at a glance, and a first taste of macros.

    Subject
    Microsoft Excel

  • Microsoft Excel Training 301 Advanced

    Excel 301 is for analysts and team leads with bigger lists. Tables, lookups, PivotTables, slicers — turning rows of data into real answers.

    Subject
    Microsoft Excel

  • Microsoft Excel Training 302 Advanced

    Excel 302 is for staff who build forecasts and budgets. What-if scenarios, Goal Seek, Solver, and the auditing to trust the numbers you ship.

    Subject
    Microsoft Excel

  • Microsoft Excel Training 401 Expert

    Excel 401 is for analysts moving into BI work. Power Query, ETL pipelines, and dashboards built so the next refresh takes a click, not a morning.

    Subject
    Microsoft Excel

  • Microsoft Word Training 101 Beginner

    Microsoft Word Level 1 training — document formatting, styles, structure, and the everyday efficiency techniques that make Word work for you.

    Subject
    Microsoft Word

  • Microsoft Outlook Training 101 Beginner

    Microsoft Outlook Level 1 training — inbox management, calendar, tasks, and the habits that keep email from running your workday.

    Subject
    Microsoft Outlook

  • Microsoft PowerPoint Training 101 Beginner

    Microsoft PowerPoint Level 1 training — slides that communicate clearly, without borrowed templates and designs that distract from the content.

Teams I've trained

  • Government of Canada Privy Council Office — trainer for the Office of the Prime Minister under Stephen Harper and Justin Trudeau.
  • Government of Ontario Government training delivery across public-sector requirements, accountability, and scale.
  • Ferrero Rocher Delivered Microsoft 365 and reporting-workflow training for production-facing teams.
Christopher Ross

Your instructor

Christopher Ross

I've been the person teams call when their training has to actually stick — partly from twenty-two years of delivery rooms, partly from years volunteering with at-risk youth where the only thing that works is meeting people where they actually are.

  • Twenty-two years delivering training and nineteen years building with WordPress.
  • Direct delivery for media, education, and federal government programs.

View profile Get in touch

Common questions

Do you train onsite or online?

Both. I run private on-site team sessions across Niagara and open registration events when dates are posted. Distributed teams can train on Microsoft Teams or Zoom with the same materials and reference sheets.

What is the minimum group size?

Open public events have no minimum — register your seat directly from the event page. Private team bookings use a single day-rate model: $1,800 per day for up to 10 participants, billed in full-day blocks.

Can you tailor the course to our specific tools and workflows?

Yes. Custom workshops start with a 30-minute scoping call to map the agenda to your actual toolset and skill gaps. Use the Book Team Training link at the top of this page to start that conversation.

How far in advance do we need to book?

Two to three weeks is usually enough for onsite delivery in Niagara. Virtual sessions can often run within a week. Custom workshops need a scoping call first, so allow an extra week for that step.

What does a typical engagement cost?

Private on-site training: $1,800 per day for up to 10 participants. Multi-day classes bill at the same day rate — a two-day workshop is $3,600, a three-day workshop is $5,400. Travel throughout the Niagara region is included. Open public events are priced per student on the events calendar, and the 20-minute scoping call confirms your fixed quote for private delivery.

Who runs the training?

I do — Christopher Ross. Twenty-two years of training delivery, currently a Training & Development Specialist at M.L. Campbell (Sherwin-Williams), and an MA Candidate in Learning & Technology. Earlier instructional-design work includes WordCamp speaking, federal departments, and provincial education clients. Every session on this page is delivered by me, not subcontracted.

Is there a certificate or completion record?

Yes — participants receive a PDF certificate of completion with the course name, date, and trainer. Useful for HR records and manager reporting. Group completion summaries are available on request.

Where to next?

Tell me what your team needs to do differently.

A 20-minute scoping call is enough to map priorities to your tools and skill gaps. If training is not the right fix, you will hear that on the call.

Book a 20-minute scoping call About Christopher