7 Common WordPress Design Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

With over 455 million websites on its platform, WordPress is one of the most widely used web hosting services on the net. This makes sense when you consider the infinite design schemes, diverse plugins, and user-friendly web building systems that the software offers.

When setting up your website, though, it’s critical that you work to avoid common WordPress design mistakes. Here, we’re going to look at some of the most common errors that could hamper down your website. Read on for some tips and tricks on what to avoid when designing your website.

1. Using Free Themes

Many people are initially drawn to WordPress because of its free themes. There are a lot of these themes on the platform, which makes designers feel like they can spend no money and create a bang-up website. Sadly, there are nowhere near as many free themes as there are paid ones, and the free themes that do exist are very limited in functionality.

Free WordPress themes generally have layouts that users dislike, which will drive away your target audience. The layouts generally also don’t let you use widgets and visual content, which is essential when trying to engage visitors. Invest in a higher-quality paid theme with the knowledge that it will convert.

2. Forgetting Visual Content

Many website designers forget to use visual content on their pages, or use them ineffectively.

This often ties into the issue of using exclusively free themes. There is a lack of creative layouts among them. You need to be able to use images in an interesting and unique way and make the most of your white space.

After all, people remember 65% of what they see while they remember 10% of what they hear. Combine that with the inefficiency of reading text walls, and the average consumer is going to click away from text-based content. It’s critical that you imbed graphics, images, and videos into any WordPress layout.

3. Using the Wrong Fonts and Colors

Many web designers use fonts that they like on their page regardless of size, boldness, or general readability. This can irritate consumers and cause them to turn away from an otherwise well-designed page. They’ll feel like they can’t read and understand it easily and decide it isn’t worth the effort.

You can stop this from happening by using bold, easy-to-read text. Keep the fonts large and don’t type anything out in long paragraphs. You never should have any paragraph longer than 3 sentences- the shorter, the better.

It’s also important that you select colors that make sense with your website. Showcase your brand colors to make yourself more memorable. Don’t include hues that clash with each other or make the site difficult for the user to look at.

Provide high contrast between the text and the background colors for your site. Lighter-hue backgrounds look great with bold black text. On the flip side, a high-contrast white will work best with a dark background.

4. Using Too Many Plugins

While the variety of Plugins are appealing to WordPress users, too much of a good thing is definitely a bad thing in this case. Overusing extensions will overload your site bandwidth quickly and slow it down. 40% of people abandon a site that takes too long to load, so this could be detrimental to your success.

Avoid this issue by selecting plugins carefully. Make sure that all extensions perform a specific and necessary function for your website. If you determine that you can do without a plugin, eliminate it to improve your site’s overall functionality.

5. Using Untrustworthy Plugins

While many awesome WordPress plugins are completely legitimate, there are others that don’t come from a reliable location. These illicit plugins can install malware onto your website, network, or PC.

When this happens, your customer’s personal and financial information can be stolen. The same can happen to you or your business. Some malware can also send out spam to clients that they can click on, installing malware onto their machines.

Avoid this problem by meticulously researching any plugin that you put onto your platform. You can choose to only buy commercial themes and plugins to avoid problems with free alternatives. When in doubt, don’t install- find an alternative that can’t cause serious issues.

6. Not Prioritizing Security

Regardless of your website’s purpose, security needs to be your #1 priority. Implementing a WordPress security strategy should at a minimum cover the basics.  Things like brute force protection, multi-factor authentication, encryption features, and firewalls go a long way in protecting the information stored on the platform. It would be disastrous if hackers used your site to get onto a network and steal sensitive information.

If you’re operating a commercial business, make sure that your customer’s information isn’t left vulnerable on the site. Get plugins and applications that serve as additional protective layers. It’s important that you also use a hosting plan from a reliable host who is serious about security and includes firewalls and backups as part of the plan.

7. Not Using Managed WordPress Services

WordPress site maintenance is a task best left to experts. You don’t just waste time with DIY online maintenance- you also waste money that you could spend on other facets of your business. This is combined with the fact that professionals can maintain and update your website with expert resources, knowledge, and tools.

Make sure that you work with a WordPress management service to ensure that your site is flexible, functional, and secure. WP Assist is happy to perform website edits, speed enhancement services, security, platform updates, and more to keep your website running smoothly.

Avoid Common WordPress Design Mistakes Today

While there are a plethora of WordPress design mistakes that could slow down and hinder the performance of your website, it’s easy to avoid these issues as long as you know what they are. Now that you have that understanding, it’s time to start building a website that will keep your target audience interested.

We’re committed to giving you all of the best possible information about upgrading and optimizing your WordPress site. Contact our experts to discuss your website’s individual needs and to schedule a call to discuss our WordPress support plans.