WordPress is the most used CMS in the world due to its efficiency and functionality and is easy to install and use at the same time. But with all ease and simpleness there are a lot of things you have to know and remember while running a site powered by WordPress. That is why we collected 5 the most common and important mistakes you should avoid in your WP practice. So, below we’ve gathered all the info to make you learn by experience, but not mistakes.
1. Disregard of Security
Certainly, while speaking about website management, the first thing you should take into consideration is the securite. It’s the highest priority! There are already numbers of tricks and tips for making your WP website well protected, but some users still make mistakes which cost a lot at the end.
– Use “admin” as Username
The very first mistake that has to be mentioned as this one is tend to be made frequently and on daily bases. By default, all the administrators have a user name “admin”, which should be changed right after. However, users typically keep it and the risk of threads rises. That is why the username has to be changed immediately; otherwise you are using the most common one. And if you combine it with a poor password you are asking to be hacked.
– Keeping WP Default Database Prefix
When you login to your site backend, by default WordPress is starting with “wp_” as your table prefix. That is mean that your table comments are “wp_comments”, links are “wp_links” and so on. As this is predictable then it may be easily hacked, so it is important to change it. Firstly you have a chance to rename it right with the installation. Another way is to open wp-config-sample.php, find the prefix area, and change “wp_” to something else, whatever you wish. If you think about something difficult to guess for instance, 2-3 word saying. ypur past nickname. etc you will prevent yourself from hacks.
– Remove “WordPress” References
It is highly recommended removing anything like “Powered by WordPress”. Remove all the scripts which may have a notice of this and of the version you have. It is well known fact that hackers search on the internet for anything “proudly powered by WP” and attacks everything that comes up.
2. Administrator Post All the Content
Do not use administrator to post a content. Keep this account for backend works only. You can simply create a contributor and use it as an author. Why it is so important? It is not that hard to guess your username as it is displayed in the posts and it is quite certain to post the content under administrator account. If you care about the security of your WordPress site do not be predictable.
3. Neglect the Regular WordPress “Backup”
So far, we have seen some mistakes and all of them more or less concerning security. But actually, there is no system on the Earth which is totally secure. For the sake, do not play with fire and be ready for everything, so the backup of your WordPress site regularly is what you need. It is crucial to have all the files, images, posts, tags, themes and other types of content being backup. If you neglect it, you are literally have a possibility to lose everything. There are three options for you: server-site backups, which are offered by hosting providers and can be scheduled every day or plugins to secure the important information or use hard drives, flash USB drive and so on.
4. The Lack of Tags
The structure of your site is really important for SEO, load time of your site, visits time, etc. You can structure your content by categories and combine categories with the tags. For instance you have tag “fiction” which unite categories like “novels”, “historical novels” and others, the other tag “non-fiction” has a categories “tutorials”, “research” “research papers” and so on. This will help your users easily find what he is exactly looking for. It is easy to create categories on your WordPress site that is why all users create lots of them but not enough of tags. However, it is better to limit the categories and use tags for the site clear organization. It is pretty simple to add tags as well, just go to menus the screen options and turn on the posts and tags. So, think about the organization and use more tags for main navigation.
5. Ignoring the Updates of WP
Everyone knows, “new is always better” but for the sake of convenience or for other reasons, users tend to ignore the upgrade of WordPress. There is a myth that your website will break if you make an updates, but it is not true at all.
If you have the most recent CMS version, you are one step ahead to your successful web project. The new releases are appearing constantly, and when the last version of WordPress is out there, you will be notified, and there is the auto-upgrade function, so just a few clicks and voila. Other reason why it is important to update is that WordPress sites without revise are open for security issue, and outdated versions are vulnerable even more.
To conclude
When you care about the security of your website and avoid top mistakes at least WordPress is a great CMS for everyone. If you already have a website but thinking about changing it to WordPress, migrate your site with an automated aisite converter. Apart from a swift and accurate converting process you will get lots of benefits and possibilities to make everything almost invisible.
