Everyone learns from their mistakes. But it’s always better to learn from others. We have made a list of a few of the more common mistakes that most beginners make.
Hopefully you will use this guide to avoid the same errors and make their WordPress website faster, more secure and of course a success
You will need to have a domain name and hosting service. We have seen so many new website owners fall into the trap of spending money on features that they do not need. Hosting companies and Domain registrars will always try to up-sell you on additional services.
You may think that some of these add-ons are necessary since the sales pitch is presented so well. Add-ons like extra email accounts, enhanced privacy, SSL, boosted security to name a few. (And Why pay extra for backups when it is so easy to do it yourself). But depending on your situation, you will not need all of those extras. You can save that money and spend it on other features of your website and business.
It may not seem like a lot of money right now, but it adds up over time, especially when you see that outrageous renewal fees.
Stay updated. It is often a good idea to set up WordPress to update automatically. But always keep it updated to the latest version. Hackers and malicious attackers scans the Internet looking for Software installations that have not been properly updated. Do not let you be the one they find!
The Admin user-name is created when you install WordPress. That account name has "Administrative Privileges". Hackers know this. It is easy for someone who wants unauthorized access to your site to run a Brute Force attack targeting the admin username. It is especially important that it not continue to display the generic title that comes "Out of the Box". Make it a priority to change this user-name when you are installing, it just makes sense to change it right then.
Also see WordPress Codex on the Default Admin Name
The Weakest Link to any website is a weak password. This is right up there with not changing the “admin” username. When you choose a password, it needs to be strong. We feel this is so critical that we have written several articles on this.
Creative Password Ideas You Will Remember
How do I Create a Strong Password
Being used by almost 40% of all the websites on the Internet today. Hackers seem to love WordPress. In recent years, the rise of attacks on WordPress is alarming and calls for action.
Despite the attacks, WordPress Security is still a massively misunderstood and underappreciated concept. And unfortunately, most website owners find it more convenient just to overlook it.
Creating a website and leaving it up for years with no upkeep and updates can make you more prone to attacks.
With the ease that a good Security plugin can be installed, there is no excuse for poor security anymore.
Security Plugins
Wordfence Security - Firewall and Malware Scan
All In One - WP Security and Firewall
CleanTalk - Security, FireWall, Malware auto scan
BulletProof Security - Security Protection: Malware scanner, Firewall, Login Security
Hide My WP Ghost - Hide all common paths, wp-admin, wp-login, wp-content, plugins
Shield Security - Scanners, Security Hardening, Brute Force Protection Firewall
MalCare - Comprehensive Firewall, malware scanner, cleaner and more
Defender Security - Malware Scanner, Login Security and Firewall
NinjaFirewall - Advanced Security Plugin and Firewall
WP Cerber Security - Malware scanner and integrity checker
You should always have your WordPress backed up regularly. Failure to create a backup may seem like a rookie mistake to those who perform those backups. But it is something far too easy to forget. There are many Plugins you can use.
One east way for Backups is with cPanel interface Backup Wizard.
WordPress Backup Plugins
With the thousands of free WordPress Themes available. You should be careful because many are poorly coded and constructed. And many are totally unsupported and not regularly updated. Some things to look for are.
But if you might be interested in purchasing a commercial theme, we recommend you look at any one of these trusted theme providers: Elegant Themes, VW Themes, Template Monster, Themify, or ithemes.
With thousands of WordPress Plugins available. You really want to have as few plugins as possible on your site. If you can run your entire site with zero plugins, then congrats, you are officially a "WordPress Wizard”. Too many plugins can slow your website and can increase the likelihood that you will encounter conflict issues within the site itself. Also, there are often security vulnerabilities. So be carefully, and always make sure that your plugins have been tested with the latest WordPress release. And most important, get rid of unused plugins.
See our article on WordPress Hacked and Website Backdoors.
Given how obsessive the Internet has become with multiple posting through blogs and social media. We suggest just slowing it down. Google updates have increasingly prioritized how valuable your content is. Any posts should be carefully revised and edited prior to publishing. Beyond the search engines, it will also help you from a good user experience perspective.
Ever look at your browser window and see a small icon next to the title of the page?
WordPress has a "W" 
Bing has a "B" 
Google has a "G" 
RSH Web Services has 
The problem with neglecting favicons is that your custom site will begin to look like all the rest. Plus, do you want to advertise your "Theme Company" with its favicon. Your favicon should be part of your identity and your brand.
More information on creating a Favicon
Another common WordPress mistakes is not having a contact form available. You go through the process of building your WordPress site. But with no way for visitors to contact you. Most people want to know who you are and be able to interact with whoever is behind the website. You will want a contact form somewhere (or multiple places) on your website.
WordPress Contact Form Plugins
Contact Form 7 - Just another simple but flexible contact form plugin
Fluent Forms - The Fastest Contact Form Builder Plugin
Constant Contact Forms - Official Constant Contact plugin
Contact Form by WPForms - Drag and Drop Form Builder for WordPress
Forminator - Contact Form, Payment Form and Custom Form Builder
Ninja Forms - The Drag and Drop Form Builder for WordPress
Form Maker by 10Web - Mobile Friendly Drag and Drop Contact Form Builder
The permalink is a static hyperlink referring to one of your blog posts that look something like.
"https://www.this_is_your_site.com/2019/02/?p=325"
This type of link can hurt your Search Engine ranking. The link can be made much better, both for user engagement and for the Search Engines. You will want to change it. You can change your permalink structure through Settings > Permalinks.
For more on Changing Permalinks, see WordPress.org.
WordPress Permalinks Plugins
Permalink Manager Lite - 60,000+ active installations
Custom Permalinks - 100,000+ active installations
Longer Permalinks - 8,000+ active installations
WP Better Permalinks - 1,000+ active installations
Permalinks Customizer - 4,000+ active installations
Automatically Update Permalinks - 1,000+ active installations
Custom Post Type Permalinks - 100,000+ active installations
Permalink Manager for WooCommerce - 40,000+ active installations
While you are building your WordPress website, you should also be optimization for SEO purposes. This can include a number of things such as installing analytics, making good use of keywords and phrases. And making sure your site speed and structure are in good order. This is a common WordPress mistake that if overlooked can have serious consequences in the long run. Why create the "Best WordPress Website" if no one can find it.
SEO Optimization Plugins
SEOPress - On site SEO
Internal Link Juicer - Improve your SEO through internal link building
Premium SEO Pack - SEO Plugin helps you increase the SEO value of your site
Slim SEO -Fast, Automated WordPress SEO Plugin
WP-Optimize - Cache, Clean, Compress
All in One SEO - The original WordPress SEO plugin
Yoast SEO - Improve your WordPress SEO
Rank Math SEO - Best SEO Plugin for WordPress
SmartCrawl - WordPress SEO checker, SEO analyzer, SEO optimizer
The SEO Framework - Ad free WordPress SEO plugin. Secure, fast, automated
There is simply no good reason why you should not be using a "Cache Plugin". These plugins can help you with speed and optimization. There are a lot of great WordPress cache plugins out there, and setting one up is very easy and will be very beneficial for your website.
WordPress Cache Plugins
W3 Total Cache - Search Engine (SEO) and Performance Optimization
Super Page Cache for Cloudflare - Caching your webpages onto global CDN using any Cloudflare Plan
Comet Cache - Real time snapshot (building a cache)
Hummingbird - Optimize Speed, Enable Cache, Minify CSS & Defer Critical JS
LiteSpeed Cache - All-in-one acceleration and PageSpeed improvement: caching, image/CSS/JS optimization
WP Fastest Cache - The simplest and fastest WP Cache system
WP Super Cache - A very fast caching engine for WordPress that produces static HTML files
WP Optimize - Clean, Compress, Cache
Bundling privacy, domain names, SSL, SSD and security
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