7 WordPress Tips on How to Get Started for Beginners

When choosing a content management system, there are a lot of choices out there, but WordPress is great for both beginners and experts alike. If you’re planning on making the leap, though, there are a few things you’ll need to know about first.

Luckily, we’re here to help you get started. Read on to learn seven of the best WordPress tips we have to offer.

1. Choose the Right Theme

Working with WordPress means you have access to both paid and free theme options, and it’s essential to ensure you’re choosing the proper theme for your website. Remember that it’s OK to be picky, especially when it comes to the quality of the theme you’re selecting. Take your time and decide which would best suit your needs, and make sure that you can customize it to fit your branding.

It’s also important to consider mobile-friendly themes. Mobile responsiveness plays a big part in your Google rankings, and it’s one of the most important elements of quality SEO. Not to mention, the majority of website traffic comes from mobile users, so if they don’t have a quality experience, you’re a lot more likely to face poor rankings.

It’s simple to think that the right theme can take care of everything for you, but that’s more than likely not going to be the case.

Instead, find a great theme that you can accompany with great plugins. Having a theme that accomplishes most of what you need alongside a few multifunctional plugins is going to help your website function at its best without weighing things down or giving you too many things to keep up with.

2. Keep Content Clutter Free

It’s also easy to get carried with fun widgets or other visual elements on your websites but remember that your site’s viewers might find it overwhelming. If a page is visually overwhelming, people are either going to be distracted while they view your content, or they’re going to leave immediately.

When visitors leave right after they click on a page, this increases what Google calls your bounce rate. It refers to single-page sessions on your website, and it measures whether these sessions trigger other requests or not.

If your bounce rate is high and your website depends on getting other page views, then that isn’t good news.

Remember, the goal of any good website is to get visitors to view multiple pages. If your bounce rate is high in the places it shouldn’t be, that can mean bad news for your SEO and overall ranking.

3. Research Widgets

Widgets are a great way to add flavor to your website and make it stand out among the crowd. Whether it’s your Instagram feed, recent posts, or even your most recent YouTube video, widgets can help you promote the things that matter most.

These can be added to either your website’s header, footer, or sidebar. The ones available to you might depend on your website’s theme, but you can also find plugins that give you access to many more options. Don’t be afraid to experiment until you find the ones that work best for you!

4. Don’t Overload Plugins

Plugins can help your website a lot, but it’s important to remember that you shouldn’t overload your website. This could potentially cause your website to load slower, or it could have other impacts on your website’s ability to run effectively.

It’s also important to ensure you’re using the right plugins for you. Some plugins come with features that you might find unnecessary, while others are going to be a great fit for things you need. Taking a few minutes to read through reviews and go over your potential plugin’s features could mean the difference between a great choice and one that simply doesn’t fit.

Having too many plugins can add to the complexity of your website.  Much like the apps on your phone, plugins will need to be updated. Be sure to create a schedule, or to periodically check on your website’s needs to keep everything in working order. A lot of times, certain updates will contain necessary security updates, so it’s important to ensure that you’re keeping up with everything.

If you find yourself overwhelmed trying to keep everything up to date, you can explore working with a WordPress maintenance service provider to help you keep your website running smoothly.

5. Back Up Your Website

One of the most important things to remember when you’re first getting started is to keep updated backups of your website available at all times, especially your content.

Your content is the heart of your site. It’s what helps determine your search engine rankings, attracts visitors, and also what keeps them engaged. If anything were to happen to your website or its content, it could mean big trouble for your business.

You’re not completely out of options if you accidentally lose some important data, but you’re going to need access to your backups.

If you rarely update your website, having a weekly or even monthly backup should be enough.  However, if you have an e-commerce website or you publish content on a daily basis, then you will need a daily backup strategy.  If you think about this critical aspect of maintaining your website from the beginning, you’re not going to run into as many problems if things go awry. In fact, you won’t have to worry at all.

With a proper data backup routine, you’ll know exactly where your backup files are, and you’ll know where to find the content that you need.

6. Consider Security

Security needs to be a top priority when running any WordPress website, but especially your first. That means keeping up with your updates, but there’s also more to it than that. As the most popular content management system, WordPress website are often the target of hackers and malicious attacks.  Fending off brute force attacks, SQL injections and other forms of malicious activity is a daily reality for WordPress website owners.

Luckily, you have many options available to you when it comes to hardening your WordPress security.  Your first line of attack is a good quality WordPress security plugin.

With a security plugin, you won’t have to worry nearly as much about extra safety measures. These plugins can protect your website with things like malware scanners, firewalls, and plenty of other features. It’s important to ensure you’re choosing a reliable plugin, though.

7. Choose a Good Hosting Company

While setting up your website is easy enough, as a small business owner, you likely won’t have time to keep up with your website regularly. That’s where finding a hosting company that works well for you and your unique needs can make a big difference.

Without hosting, your website won’t be able to go live. The right one will host your website, but also provide a regular WordPress maintenance service. Some hosting services are WordPress specific, while others are good for hosting any website.

It’s important to conduct the right research so you can find the best hosting services for your specific needs. Some important aspects to keep in mind are performance, bandwidth, security and, of course, cost.

Don’t Take These WordPress Tips for Granted

Now that you know a bit more about one of the world’s most popular content management systems, are you ready to get started? Whether you’re looking to build a personal brand or give your business website the revamp it desperately needs, having these WordPress tips on hand is going to be a big help.