How To Fix Common WordPress Mistakes

How to fix common WordPress mistakes – the quickstart guide. We all start from the beginning and sometimes mistakes happen.

But knowing some WordPress basics can help you avoid mistakes that can easily be averted.

Here are 5 of the most common WordPress mistakes beginners make and how to fix them!

How To Fix Common WordPress Mistakes Yourself

Mistake 1: Blocking Search Engines

WordPress gives you an option to ‘discourage search engines from indexing pages.’
But because of this techy/confusing language, you may have misunderstood its meaning and turned it on.

Checking this box is one of the easiest and disastrous WordPress mistakes – it’s like saying to Google “please disregard this website, I don’t want to be found”

If your site is still under development, it makes sense to check this box (temporarily) but once you’re ready to launch Google needs to know about it!

Solution: Allow Indexing

How To Fix Common WordPress Mistakes 1

From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Settings > Reading

See the ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site’ – Make sure the checkbox is not checked > Save.

Mistake 2: Keeping The “Admin” Username

Using the default “Admin” as your username for your WordPress login is a huge security risk.

‘Admin’ is too easy to guess, and unfortunately, there are tons of hackers with nothing better to do than randomly go around trying to use it to log in to random sites.

Much like a weirdo walking around the neighborhood walking up to people’s homes just to see if their door is unlocked.

Solution: Change Your Username

Make sure your username is not easy to guess and always ensure that it is completely different to your published screen-name. Try not to use your email, name, or something that someone could easily guess.

How To Fix Common WordPress Mistakes 2

If you already have “admin” as a username – don’t worry, there is an easy fix to this.

Just create a new administrator account navigating to Users > Add New > choose a new username and fill out the required feilds > Save.

This will be your new user account and which you’ll use to login to your WordPress dashboard.

Mistake 3: Using the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

WordPress allows you to organize blog posts in categories, making it easy for your readers to navigate your blog.

When you install WordPress, you begin with a single default category called “Uncategorized”

If you don’t create any other categories or don’t assign posts to a category at all, all of your blog posts will fall under “uncategorized.”

This leads to a less than awesome experience of your blog from your reader’s perspective.

Solution: Rename ‘Uncategorized’

A simple solution is to rename the “Uncategorized” category to “Other” or to something more relevant to your blog.

How To Fix Common WordPress Mistakes

Navigate to Posts > Categories > hover over mouse “Uncategorized” and click “Quick Edit”
Then just rename the category > Save.

All the posts that were posted under Uncategorized will automatically be updated.

Mistake 4: Not Updating Your Tagline

When you set up your site on WordPress, it will automatically add a “Just Another Blog” tagline.

A tagline should be is a one-line description of what your site is all about, and will often show up in search results.

So important to take advantage of this, making it your own by creating a tagline that reflects your brand.

Solution: Update Your Tagline

how to change blog tagline just another wordpress site

Navigate to Appearance > Customize > Site Title > Tagline > Publish

 

Mistake 5: Not Selecting An SEO-Friendly URL Structure

SEO Friendly URLs contain keywords that easily explain to readers and search engines what each page or post is about within your website.

An example of an SEO friendly URL: http://sugarandcode.com/install-wordpress

An example of a non-SEO friendly URL: http://sugarandcode.com/?p=10467

I know which version of the URL i’d prefer to see, and Google feels the same way! In fact your permalink structure also plays a role in onsite optimization which helps you rank in search engines.

Solution: Select “Post-Name” Permalink Structure

Navigate to Settings > Permalinks > select “Post Name” > Save.

how to change blog permalink structure

Now all your pages and posts will be highly relevant which makes a big difference in SEO and your visitors ease of navigation.

I hope you found this post helpful in avoiding some of these common mistakes!

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