(Updated) Everyone makes mistakes but committing mistakes is not a crime. However, not learning from those mistakes and trying to ignore it, is somehow a crime. Mistakes should be taken as experiences. When it comes to WordPress, not only the beginners but also the WordPress experts might sometimes make mistakes. And in this post, we are going to point out the 10 most common WordPress mistakes that everyone should know about and avoid in their WordPress journey. Let’s start our list.
10 Common WordPress Mistakes
Choosing the Wrong Platform
People often get confused between self-hosted WordPress and free WordPress.com platform. It is a common WordPress mistake made by people while choosing the correct platform for them. Sometimes people just want to create a simple personal blog but are outraged by the recurring cost of self-hosted WordPress. And, those who are willing to grow their business through their website are compelled to stay within the limited features provided by WordPress.com.
Both of them has their own pros and cons which makes it a little confusing for the new users. So, to not get into this fuss, it is extremely crucial to know the difference between the two of them and choose the correct one for your WordPress blog. If you are a personal blogger who doesn’t really care about making money from their sites, then we suggest you go for WordPress.com. And, if you are a blogger trying to make blogging your career, then you should choose self-hosted WordPress.
Choosing Free Themes
Beginners are likely to make this mistake more. This is because they would not know about the vulnerabilities that come along with the free themes. Free themes are actually used by numerous websites on WordPress. Not knowing this fact, beginners install the free theme and later feel bad when they see the exact same theme on some other websites. Also, free themes don’t always come up with the customer support, so whenever any problem arises, you will have to find solutions on your own. And not to forget, free themes lack many features that might be crucial for your blogs.
There are a few things you need to ensure before switching your WordPress themes. This will help you choose a better theme for your WordPress website.
Failing to Back Up your Website
We cannot be sure that everything will work smoothly, especially in the world of technology. Crashes will happen. It is not your fault, but not being prepared for those crashes is definitely your mistake. We all have made the mistake of not backing up our website. You only realize it when you fall in a hole and absolutely need the backup for rescue. Fortunately, WordPress offers several backup plugins which you can choose from. Once you’ve installed the plugin, you might want to test it to check its effectiveness. You can also back up your website manually. So, next time you think about making changes to your website, make sure you back it up first.
Too Many Widgets
WordPress provides all kinds of great widgets which can make your website more user-friendly. One of the WordPress mistakes people usually make is trying to make their website more user-friendly than needed. Filling your footer and sidebars with too many widgets is going to create more mess on your website. Jumbled pages will only end up confusing your visitors. So, when it comes to widgets, less is always better. To avoid this mistake, choose a few which are essential for your website, not all of them!
Installing Plugins
Besides widgets, WordPress plugins are another crucial element that makes your website user-friendly and appealing. WordPress offers various plugins to enhance your website. However, installing too many or unnecessary plugins are that one mistake people usually make. It will only create a mess on your website and make your website load slower. Also, installing poorly coded plugins might expose your site to security threats. To avoid this problem, install plugins that you actually intend to use and ignore the rest. While choosing the plugins, have a deep research on the developer of that plugin and the reviews as well.
And, not to forget, installing effective plugins can lead to increasing your website traffic.
Not Keeping Track of Comments
Comments left on your WordPress blog offer you a great opportunity to engage with your audience. That is why failing to keep track of comments on your website might not be quite beneficial for the growth of your website. It is one of the most common WordPress mistakes committed by many WordPressers.
In order to avoid this mistake, you should install a plugin which will help you filter out the spam comments. And, once the plugin is installed, take some time to read and reply to the comments on your blog. This will also help you build a healthy relationship with your users.
Ignoring Mobile Device Users
Now, this is the mistake that can be very annoying to both users and developers. People nowadays are more into using their mini computers i.e. Smartphones to surf the internet. And ignoring mobile device users means losing a bunch of audiences. You do not want to lose your visitors, do you? Therefore, it is really important to make your website mobile-friendly if you don’t want to disappoint your users and lose them.
Using Images Without Permission
This type of mistake is very common among all the WordPressers. If you are a blogger, you might know the struggle of searching for the perfect image to post on your website. After all those hard time searching, finally you find a picture and post it. But, did you give credit to the source from where you downloaded it? Many of the WordPressers forget about it and that is where you make the mistake.
Don’t just download and use anything you find on Google or anywhere on the internet. The image you just downloaded might be a copyrighted property belonging to an individual. Placing such images on your blog post without their permission might result in legal action being taken against you. So, before using any image on your website, find out if you are allowed to. Or at least don’t forget to provide image credit to the respective owner of the image.
Not Securing your Blog
Just like any other web application, WordPress is quite vulnerable to attack. Users don’t care about their website security until it gets hacked. This is also one of the reasons why backing up your website is important. There are many hackers out there looking for vulnerable websites to enter. And your one mistake (of not securing your website) can lead them to your website, making it easier for them to control and demolish it. This is why you should secure your blog using antivirus software and firewalls.
Ignoring WordPress Updates
WordPress constantly releases new versions with several important fixes and updates. If a blog owner ignores these updates, the site will open up to security issues. There is a simple fix to this mistake: don’t ignore the WordPress updates. The newer versions are created for a genuine reason. So, keep your WordPress site updated and keep the bugs away from your website.
There you go, 10 most common WordPress mistakes to avoid. Avoiding these WordPress mistakes will also help you improve customer stability on your website. So, go ahead and mend your mistakes!
Have you ever made these kinds of WordPress mistakes on your website? Please let us know through the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you.
Great article, and while I knew most of these tips there are a still a few I didn’t know about. One thing I see on some new (and maybe even older) WordPress site is people don’t disable/remove the meta admin widget from their sidebar. No reader/viewer/client/customer, etc needs to see a link for you to log into your WordPress dashboard when they got to your site. That tab is completely useless (just go to yoursite.com/wp-admin) and should be removed as soon as your site is active.
Nice article, A very old and famous saying, “to err is human and to forgive is divine“, is absolutely true. We all make mistakes, because none of us is perfect. Whether it’s real life or WordPress, mistakes happen everywhere. To commit a mistake is not a crime, however, not learning from it and not trying to repeat it again definitely is. Everyone learn from their mistakes, but it’s much better to learn from the others’ mistakes.
In the case of WordPress, the primary focus of a novice is to set everything up and get things running as soon as possible. In this hurry, there are quite a few things that are ignored which may lead to numerous security vulnerabilities and affect your blog/site in the long run.
Hopefully, everyone will use this guide to avoid the same blunders and make their WordPress site better, faster and more secure and of course a success.
Here are some tips which also the most common WordPress mistakes that almost every one of us makes in the beginning.
#1. Forgetting to change the default admin username
#2. Staying with the default tagline “just another blog”
#3. Forgetting to install a caching plug-in
#4. Making life difficult for mobile users
#5. Forgetting to create backup
Thanks for the great thought and helpful information. Really appreciate it. I have bookmarked it for future reference.