Making mistakes is an intrinsic part of our lives; however we can prevent their reoccurrence if we learn from our mistakes and even take a cue or two from other people’s mistakes as well – then success is inevitable. Here in this article, we make an endeavor to outline some of the most common WordPress mistakes, and how we can avoid them.
Mistake #1:
When you Miss out on the Best Plugins
It is true that most of us get to know about the pros and cons of a WordPress Plugin only by trial and error. So, the basic is to undergo preliminary research to dig out the best plugins for your WordPress site. Some of the most popular must-have plugins are Google XML Sitemaps, Akismet, Contact Form 7, etc. to name a few.
Mistake #2:
Forgetting Site Backup
There can be nothing worse than losing your entire WordPress site data to an unexpected crash, just because you forgot to take a backup. Beside automated backups, you can also take your site backup manually. All you need to do is Go to Tools and then Export; or you can simplify things by use of an automatic backup plugin like WP-DB-Backup.
Mistake #3:
Using an Unfriendly Permalink Structure
You have to understand that the default WordPress setting is not search-engine-friendly. So to get the best value of your SEO expenditure, you are required to use keywords in your permalink structure. All you need to do is ‘Go to Options’, then Select Permalinks in your Admin Panel and in the Custom Text Box enter, “/category/postname/post_id”
Mistake #4:
Decision to use only One Server
This pointer is mainly directed at Non-WPWebHost user. Here it is suggested that you do not misjudge the value of a Content Delivery Network (CDN), as it can really improve your reader’s experience. So, here are a few things which you can do – research CDNs (like MaxCDN or Cloudflare) and copy your content on numerous mirror servers around the world. The main advantage of doing so is that it will make easier for your guest to view your page, irrespective of their location. Also, it reduces the load time because not all of the requests are being sent to the main web server.
Mistake #5:
Not Integrating Webmaster tools
Search engines require little help to crawl very deep. So, in case you want to get all your pages indexed, you will have to submit an XML sitemap to Google Webmaster tools. Also, using webmaster tools has its own share of benefits – you become eligible to receive a lot of statistics.
Mistake #6:
Not Consulting Analytics Programs
Not consulting an analytics program for your WordPress blog is just like driving a car at night without headlamps. It will be sheer mistake to not use analytics program like Google Analytics, which help you monitor website traffic besides keeping tally of the keywords that lead to your site.
Mistake #7:
Being without an Identity
Identity crisis poses to be a major blunder for most WordPress blogs. Consider having a Gravatar or Globally Recognized Avatar for yourself. For those who aren’t familiar with Gravatar, it is an image that appears beside your blog comment or discussion forum and represents you across the entire internet. The main purpose of Gravatars is to lend credibility and attract attention just like Google Authorship.
Mistake #8:
Overlooking Google Authorship Markup
Who would not want to increase credibility and maximize exposure of their WordPress site? Everyone wants, and Google Authorship Markup helps you achieve that. It’s a simple process and the result is a photo next to the meta description in the search results.
Mistake #9:
Not being Mobile-friendly
It will be a big-big mistake if you do not give importance in making your WordPress blog mobile-friendly, because nowadays, there has been an ever-growing population of smartphone users accessing website on their mobile devices. So, to make your blog a success, it is inevitable to make your site mobile-friendly. While one option is to customize your site by using a plugin like WPtouch; another option is to use a WordPress theme that is responsive to smartphones, iPod touch and tablets.
Mistake #10:
Use of Default Favicon
While favicon being the icon associated with your website is displayed in the browser’s address bar, next to the page title in a tab, and beside the page name in a list of bookmarks; most new WordPress users chose to use default favicon that comes with the theme. However, that looks rather unprofessional. So for a professional look, you can create a custom icon by – first searching for a free favicon generator on the web, creating a file (usually 16 pixels by 16 pixels), then go to the images section of your theme and replace the default favicon with your custom design.
Let us know about the WordPress mistakes you have made or what else is worth mentioning?