In as much as the developers promise you that using WordPress is easy, for a beginner, it can be a daunting task. There are many things you will need to learn as you go along, and you are likely to make some mistakes. If you do not notice the errors and rectify them in good time, it may impact on the proper running of your WordPress blog. You could end up losing traffic, someone could hijack your site, and your SEO may not have any impact.

The good news is that you can always go back and fix the errors. Read on for some of the mistakes you may make and how you can rectify them.

1. Using the Wrong Platform

The success of the WordPress blog will depend on the platform you are using. There are two WordPress platforms; WordPress.com and WordPress.org. The latter will give you full control and is the right option for anyone serious about blogging.

2. Web Host Providers

The right web host is vital; find one that will give you a responsive website. The online visitor has so many options available, and they will not spend time on a site that is not responsive. You should also ensure that the Host you opt for can support WordPress.

Some may not be able to host it at all, while others will not allow you to optimize. You will end up facing technical issues like slow-loading pages. WordPress.org has Siteground and Bluehost as the approved providers.

You should also note that the providers may include extras you do not need at all. What it does is drive up the cost of being on the platform. The basic things you need are a domain name, SSL certificate for security purposes, and the web host. The more comfortable you become with WordPress, the more you can add the different plugins, but in the initial stages, they may not be necessary.

3. Incorrect Installation of WordPress

The good news is that your web host provider can install WordPress for you. In the case that you have to do the installation on your own, make sure you do it correctly. When you download WordPress, it comes in a zip file requiring that you extract the necessary files.

4. Legal Requirements

Make sure you highlight all the legal requirements, including copyright policies, privacy, and disclosures. You need to craft your policies, and you can get tons of resources online that will give you a guide.

5. Consent Banners and Cookies

You know how you open up an article, and you find a message that says this website uses cookies? Well, this is a legal requirement because you need to get the visitors permission to store the cookies as well as to collect data. You will also find plugins which have widgets for banners.

6. Image Use

It is an offence to use images without permission from the owners. You could run into legal problems which you do not need. Fortunately, there are so many online sites where you can get free stock images. Such include Unsplash.com, pixabay.com, and pexels.com, among others.

Find out what their policies are with regard to the use of pictures. Also, remember to give due credit by citing the picture source.

7. Ignoring Security

It is essential to take the necessary steps to install security features in a WordPress blog. You may lose data if you do not pay due attention to this aspect. There are specific plugins that you can install to increase the level of safety, including limiting login attempts.

Two-factor authentication is also necessary, and all it requires is that you get the appropriate app. You will also find several layers of security that you can install. Make sure that your site has an SSL certificate so that the visitors to your blog page know that their information is safe.

Related Read: Top 10 WordPress Security Plugins 2019 (Keep Your Site Secure)

8. Choosing the Incorrect Username

Be careful about the username you select for admin purposes. Use one that is not easy to guess so that you do not give hackers an easy time.

9. Password Issues

Many people do not take the time to get a strong password. They will usually opt for those that are easy to guess like birthdays, first names, among others. Take the time to get a strong password; you will find tools online that will ease the process for you. With the Two-Factor authentication, you get an alert in case anyone attempts to log in.

10. Not Being Careful With the Themes You Choose

When you are opting for themes for your website, only use those from a secure source. You will find many offers for free themes, but some may contain malicious code which the hackers will use to access your site.

You will also not get a unique look on your website if you use the free ones because everyone runs for them. While it is easy to customize the look of your page, you may lack advanced features or the necessary support for your website. WordPress has secure themes that will allow you to customize your site as you wish.

11. Not Creating Back-ups

Make sure you back-up all your data so that you can access them if your site gets hacked. You can lose data in other ways, like when updating or installing plugins. You will find free back-up tools like UpdraftPlus on WordPress to help with data back-up. Some webhost providers will also have tools you can use to store your data safely.

Make sure that you back-up your work before making any significant changes. You would not want to lose your work by forgetting to take this vital step.

12. Not Running WordPress Updates

Many people feel that running updates is bothersome or takes too much time. They will, therefore, neglect to do it, or put it off for as long as they possibly can. It is a bad idea to do this. Let’s put it into perspective for you, why would the developers spend countless hours ensuring you have the relevant updates if it is not essential?

Updating your WordPress blog will give you access to the latest security features which will protect you from hackers. You also get the benefit of any significant changes that the developers come up with. You will get a notification in your email or on your WordPress dashboard when there is a new update. Just make sure that you do the necessary back-ups before you run them.

13. Emails on Contact Pages

Many people error by putting the email address on the contact pages. What you do is give access to bad bots, which will use the information to send you spam emails. Use the WordPress Jetpack Contact Form to add contact information to your website.

14. Ignoring Visitor Feedback

Feedback from your visitors will help you make the necessary changes to your WordPress blog. Not responding may be as a result of not checking the review queue or having the wrong settings. You have the option of manually approving comments. Or allowing comments from those whose comments you have previously approved.

Make sure you install the correct plugins so that you filter comments. You do not want to waste a lot of time moderating comments manually, while a plugin like Akismet can help with the function.

15. Running Updates on Your Site Is Live

You should not inconvenience visitors to your WordPress blog by making any changes while the site is live. You have the customize option in WordPress, which will allow you to create and preview any changes before making them live.

16. Unused Plugins

With so many options available, people go crazy and download so many plugins which they end up not using. Make sure you disable or delete such. It will make it easier to back-up your data, and the website speed will be better.

17. Disregarding image size

Pay close attention to the size of the images you want to upload on your WordPress blog site. Some of them are very heavy and will affect the responsiveness of your site because you will use a lot of bandwidth. A fast website will also help with your Google ranking.

One good tip is to compress your images before uploading them. You will find many plugins on WordPress, and excellent online resources to walk you through the process.

18. Cache Plugins

Cache plugins will boost the speed of your blog page. It does this by eliminating the need for downloading pages every time a visitor comes to your website. Reusing the assets will lower the size of the page, thus making the loading speed faster.

19. Google Analytics

You must have a way of monitoring the amount of traffic you get on your website. Knowing what content your visitors gravitate towards will help you with the generation of relevant content. Google Analytics offers you the monitoring functionality, thereby allowing you to measure performance and put in place appropriate strategies to improve the experience on your page.

20. Not Paying Attention to Your Site Speed

Make sure you do a speed test on your website to ensure that it is loading fast. One sure way of losing website visitors is to have a slow loading page. No one has time to spend waiting for information from your blog page; information that they can easily access from other websites.

21. Ignoring Mobile Optimization

More people use mobile devises to access the internet. If you do not optimize your WordPress blog for mobile, you will lose out on a lot of traffic. Google also pays attention to sites that are mobile responsive, thereby improving their search rankings.

22. Not Using the WordPress Editor

Many people will initially have a challenge using the WordPress editor. They will, therefore, use the word to do the writing and then export it to WordPress. The major problem is that the formatting will be different; you, therefore, waste a lot of time in reformatting the article.

Try to familiarize yourself with the WordPress editors to save on time. With practice, you will get better and and improve your efficiency levels. The other advantage is that it saves as you work, you are not likely to lose your content in case of anything like a power outage.

23. Not Taking Advantage of the Support

You will find a lot of support that you can take advantage of if you’re struggling with WordPress. The platform has a support forum where you can get help for the more general issues. Other resources you can use include Quora, Google, and the WordPress stack exchange.

24. Not Turning Off the Directory Browsing

Leaving on the directory browsing will give people access to your files and blog structure. Turn it off by adding the code # Directory Browsing OFF Options All -Indexes under FTP, htaccess file under public_html.

25. Changing Themes

There are two types of themes on WordPress, the parent and child theme. The parent is the core, and if you change anything, and then it updates, you will lose only changes. Avoid the loss by using the child theme, which is extra settings you apply after the parent theme.

You will find many plugins, including Orbisius child theme creator, Child Themify, among others, to create a child theme.

Related Read: Will Changing A WordPress Theme Damage SEO Rankings?

26. Too Many Plugins

The temptation to download plug-ins on WordPress is real. You have so many available, but the result is that you will overload your blog page, thereby causing it to crash or to run slow. Be careful about your choice because they have different features.

Only download what you need. Be careful about those that may conflict with each other and ensure you install one at a time. Only go with those that are compatible with your WordPress version.

Final Thoughts

We have shared with you quite several mistakes that you may make when working on your WordPress blog page. You need to pay attention to these errors because they could impact on the overall success of your site.

Take advantage of the support on the platforms and the community forums to get solutions to these problems. Otherwise, go ahead and generate exciting content on your website and see the traffic to your pages increase. Also, research on how to monetize your website so that you can make extra cash.