WordPress is without a doubt an awesome platform for creating your website. Let us help you avoid 9 of the most common WordPress mistakes.
#1 Using default admin username
This is without a doubt the most common mistake we see when helping businesses with their WordPress websites.
Never use the default admin username, always create a secure username, avoiding the use of administrator, the name of the business, or your name.
The username should be unique to your website, contain both alphanumeric and case-sensitive characters.
#2 Regular Backups
We have seen it a thousand times, something happens to your website, and you need to restore it only to find out you haven’t got a reliable backup. Remember, you also need to back up the database.
Your hosting provider will normally provide a means of manually backing up the website files and database via their control panel.
Some hosting providers also offer an automated daily backup or snapshot which you can then use to restore your website.
The final option is to use a plugin, that allows you to backup the files and database and store them locally, on the server, or in the cloud.
#3 Ignoring WordPress Updates
Keeping your WordPress website updated with all the latest core WordPress, plugin, and theme updates is essential to maintain the security of your website.
However, you do need to take precautions prior to updating – create a fresh full backup of the site and database.
#4 Not Setting Your Permalinks
WordPress still uses the default permalink URL structure :/?p=23 which as you can see is not very human-friendly as well as being bad for your SEO.
Thankful, this can be changed via your WordPress Dashboard then Settings » Permalinks.
For most websites using the post structure is a perfect choice. Using this option makes the page URL easier for visitors to read, and more importantly more influential for SEO purposes.
#5 Not Indexing your WordPress site
Using the initial install of WordPress you are given the option to ‘prevent search engines from indexing your site’.
This is great when developing your new website, however, once your website goes live make sure this is un-ticked.
You will be amazed at the number of times we have spoken to a website owner about their WordPress site not appearing in Google search results, only to find this setting has been ticked (enabled).
#6 Just Another Blog Tagline
WordPress by default adds a tagline ‘Just another WordPress Blog’. Make sure you change this before Google indexes your website. Some themes also use this to display the tagline visual to your website visitors.
You can change this via your WordPress Dashboard » Settings » General.
#7 Comment Spam
Comments are a great feature for engagement, but often for small businesses they just end up being spam.
We generally recommend turning comments of fully, which can be done using a plugin like Disable Comments, or via the WordPress Dashboard.
#8 Not Installing an SEO Plugin
WordPress will automatically generate page titles and meta descriptions but to get the most from your WordPress website and rank higher you need to be able to customised these for your pages and posts.
Using a plugin like Yoast SEO allows you to create unique page titles, meta descriptions, and social sharing information for all your pages, posts, and media.
Failing to Connect with Google Analytics and Google Search Console
Both Google Analytics and Google Search Console are free tools to help you manage and improve your website SEO.
Once you have created a free Google Analytics account connect this to your WordPress website to start tracking website visitors. Then connect your Google Analytics account to Google Search Console for even more insights into your website traffic.
