WordPress is (in my opinion) the best software solution available for companies that want to build a solid web and/or blog presence online. It’s very simple to set up provided you use a web host that supports WordPress and in particular one that uses a one click type of installation system.
That being said, I’ve seen lots of simple errors that people make with their WordPress setup. Some are just embarrassing for them, but some can be costly in the long run. See if you are guilty of any of these WordPress FAILS:
- Blocking the Search Engines. I am not sure why anyone would want to block the search engines from finding their site, but there is a setting that allows you do to this. I actually found a client’s website blocked from the search engines; a client who was wondering why they were not getting web visitors.
- Not Setting Permalinks Correctly. One of the biggest benefits of using WordPress is that it is a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) friendly platform. But when you don’t allow keywords in your URL’s, that takes a lot of the value away.
- Not Deleting the Initial Blog Post. If you still have a post titled “Hello World!” please delete it.
- Not Filling Out the About Us Page. You know, you don’t even need to have one of these pages, but to have it and have it blank is just a crime.
- Having a Demo Page. If you have a page that says “This is an example of a WordPress page” please delete it.
- Not Responding to Comments. Hmm, did you not realize the goal is engaging an audience? Now they are here and you ignore them? They probably will not come back and that’s a big loss for you.
- Overuse of AdSense. I won’t even promote an article in social media if I have to scroll past the ads to find where it starts. I get that you want to earn some money, but that screams “desperation.”
- Having Content That Sucks. Sorry to use that word; but if you have a commercial blog and you are promoting it, you have to have content with substance, not a lot of typos, and well written in the language that your primary audience speaks. I often get people who want to guest post here and they send me writing samples that would totally discredit the site. Well, I hope that doesn’t sound arrogant.
- Not Paying for Akismet (the anti spam plugin). Come on; its $5 per month and it will save you lots of time and headaches.
- Using a Basic (free) Theme. Ok, if you are just getting started, I will give you a pass, but just know that once you upgrade to a “real” theme, you will be taken a bit more seriously, and you will likely have more people sharing your content. I was guilty of this for a long time myself, but I have since matured. There are many WordPress web designers out there and many offer very affordable solutions.
- Using WordPress.com instead of hosting their own version of WordPress. The big concern here is that you don’t really have control over your content. If they decide that you have violated a term or condition, your site could be shut down and you would have to start over from scratch. You also don’t get to use many plugins which will limit your experience.
I am sure I could come up with more, but 11 seems to be a good number to start with. Feel free to post in the comments below and share some of the issues you have seen with WordPress sites.