25 Common WordPress Mistakes to Avoid in 2023
As the most popular content management system powering over 40% of websites, WordPress makes it easy for anyone to build a professional site without coding skills. However, its flexibility and massive ecosystem of plugins and themes also open up opportunities for beginners to make mistakes.
Having helped thousands of users start and grow their WordPress sites over the years, we‘ve seen the same missteps pop up again and again. These blunders can negatively impact everything from your site‘s security and performance to your search engine rankings and user experience.
To help you bypass these pitfalls and set your site up for success from the start, here are 25 common WordPress mistakes to avoid in 2023:
Choosing the wrong hosting plan or provider
Your WordPress hosting lays the foundation for your site‘s performance, security, and growth. Don‘t just go with the cheapest shared hosting plan – make sure to choose a reputable provider that offers WordPress-optimized hosting with good performance, uptime, support, and scalability for the future.Not keeping WordPress core, plugins and themes updated
WordPress regularly releases updates that patch security holes, fix bugs, and add new features. Ignoring these updates leaves your site vulnerable to hacks and malfunctions. Enable auto-updates or manually check for and install any available updates at least once a month.Using a nulled or pirated WordPress theme
Never download premium WordPress themes from torrent or "free download" sites. These pirated themes often contain malware or backdoors that compromise your site. Only get themes from reputable marketplaces or directly from the theme company.Not optimizing images before uploading
Images are often the biggest culprit of bloated page size and slow loading times. Before uploading images to WordPress, optimize them by compressing the file size, choosing the right dimensions, and selecting the right file format (JPG, PNG, WebP). You can optimize images using tools like Photoshop, TinyPNG, or plugins.Ignoring WordPress security best practices
WordPress sites are a common target for hackers. Protect your site by following security best practices like keeping software updated, using strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, monitoring for suspicious activity, and following the principle of least privilege when setting user roles and permissions.Not setting up regular backups
Backups are your insurance policy against data loss from hacks, server failures, or human errors. Don‘t rely solely on your host‘s automatic backups. Set up a WordPress backup plugin to automatically save complete copies of your site‘s files and database to a remote location like Google Drive or Dropbox on a regular schedule.Not using a child theme for customizations
If you modify your WordPress theme‘s files directly, those changes will get overwritten when you update the theme. Instead, create a child theme to safely make customizations. That way your modifications will be preserved even when updating the parent theme.Overloading the site with too many plugins
Plugins are great for adding features and functionality to your site without hiring a developer. However, installing too many plugins, especially poorly coded ones, can slow down your site, introduce security holes, and cause unexpected conflicts. Be selective and only install well-maintained plugins from trusted sources. Remove any plugins you‘re no longer actively using.Not optimizing the database regularly
As you add content and make changes to your site over time, your WordPress database can accumulate clutter like post revisions, spam comments, and orphaned metadata that bloat its size and slow down queries. Optimize your database every few months using a plugin like WP-Optimize or by running the built-in database optimizer in your hosting dashboard.Using the default "admin" username
The "admin" username is the first thing hackers try when attempting to brute force their way into a WordPress site. Using this obvious username makes their job easier. Instead, choose a unique username that‘s not easily guessed. You can change your username from the Users screen or by adding a new Administrator user and deleting the original "admin" account.Not changing the default table prefix
By default, all WordPress database tables are prefixed with wp_. Hackers scanning for vulnerabilities know this, so changing the default prefix to something unique can help obscure your database tables as an extra layer of security. You can change the table prefix by editing your wp-config.php file or using a plugin.Installing plugins from untrusted sources
The official WordPress.org plugin directory is the safest place to find free plugins since submissions are scanned and vetted for security and coding standards before being listed. Avoid downloading plugins from random websites or links posted in forums and social media groups as these can potentially contain malware. If you need premium plugins, purchase them from reputable marketplaces or the plugin developer‘s official site.Not using SEO-friendly URLs / permalinks
The default WordPress URL structure isn‘t optimal for SEO or readability. Change your permalinks to a more descriptive and keyword-rich format like "Post name" by going to Settings > Permalinks. Be sure to add 301 redirects if you‘re changing the permalink structure on an existing site to avoid broken links.Not optimizing the site for performance and speed
With users expecting pages to load in 2 seconds or less, a slow website can damage your search rankings, traffic, and conversions. Optimize your WordPress site for speed by choosing a lightweight theme, compressing images, enabling caching and Gzip compression, minifying CSS and JS files, lazy loading long pages, and using a CDN.Using a low-quality or bloated WordPress theme
Your WordPress theme has a big impact on your site‘s design, functionality, and performance. Avoid themes that are poorly coded, bloated with unnecessary features, not mobile responsive, or no longer actively maintained. Choose a theme from a reputable developer that‘s built for speed, SEO, and usability.Not having a contact form or clear contact info
Make it easy for visitors to get in touch by adding a contact form and displaying your contact information prominently on your site. Create a dedicated contact page linked from your main navigation menu. Include key details like your business address, phone number, email, and social media profiles. Add an easy to use contact form plugin like WPForms or Contact Form 7.Ignoring web accessibility guidelines
Web accessibility means designing your site to be usable by the widest range of people, including those with disabilities. Following accessibility best practices is important for inclusivity, SEO, and even avoiding potential legal issues. Use header tags properly, include alt text on images, provide transcripts for audio/video content, ensure sufficient color contrast, and support keyboard navigation.Not setting up Google Analytics and Search Console
Understanding how people find and interact with your site is key to making informed optimizations. Google Analytics lets you track your traffic, referral sources, popular pages, user demographics, and more. Google Search Console helps you monitor your site‘s performance in search results, fix indexing issues, and discover your top keywords. Both tools are free and should be set up on every WordPress site.Not building an email list from the start
Building an email list lets you stay in touch with your visitors and bring them back to your site again and again. But many beginners put off starting an email list until their traffic is already established. Start building your subscriber list from day one by adding opt-in forms to your site and sending a regular newsletter. Choose a reputable email marketing service like Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or Constant Contact.Publishing duplicate or thin content
Duplicate content means having substantially similar content appear on multiple pages or domains. This can happen through plagiarism, content syndication, or simply publishing very short, fluffy posts. Search engines may filter out or penalize pages with duplicate content. Avoid this by publishing original content and using 301 redirects, rel=canonical tags, or noindex meta tags to tell Google which version to index and rank.Not interacting with readers in the comments
Reader comments offer a chance to engage with your audience, get feedback, and even generate new content ideas. Respond thoughtfully to comments to make your readers feel heard and encourage further discussion. Install an anti-spam plugin and manually moderate comments to keep the conversation constructive. You can also use a plugin like Jetpack or wpDiscuz to enable social logins, upvotes/downvotes, and threaded replies.Using too many categories and tags
Categories and tags help organize your content into topical groupings to help visitors find related posts. However, using too many categories and tags creates clutter and can actually hurt your SEO. Stick to a clear hierarchy of 5-10 main categories, use tags sparingly for more granular topics, and avoid assigning multiple categories to the same post.Not installing a caching plugin
Caching speeds up your WordPress site by storing a static version of your pages and serving that to visitors instead of dynamically generating the page each time. This reduces the load on your server and improves loading times. Install a caching plugin like WP Rocket, WP Super Cache, or W3 Total Cache and configure it properly to keep your cache and database optimized.Not using a CDN
A content delivery network (CDN) is a distributed network of servers that delivers your website content from the location closest to each visitor. Using a CDN can significantly improve your page loading times, reduce bandwidth usage, and protect your site against traffic spikes and DDoS attacks. Integrate your WordPress site with a popular CDN provider like Cloudflare, KeyCDN, or StackPath.Ignoring WordPress coding standards and best practices when adding custom code
Whether you‘re tweaking your theme files, adding snippets to your functions.php, or creating a plugin from scratch, it‘s important to follow the official WordPress coding standards for quality, security, and compatibility. Properly document and organize your code, sanitize and validate any user input, escape your output, and avoid modifying core WordPress files directly. If you‘re not comfortable with coding, hire an experienced WordPress developer to implement your customizations.
By avoiding these common WordPress mistakes and following best practices from the start, you‘ll set up a solid foundation for your site to load fast, rank well in search engines, and deliver a great experience to your users. Remember that maintaining a successful WordPress site is an ongoing process – keep learning, monitoring, and improving as you grow!
