Choosing the wrong platform or template; forgetting to create a backup; not optimizing images or ignoring updates are some of the mistakes we make when we create a WordPress blog. But there is more.

We all make mistakes and if we are just starting in some activity it is easier to fall into them.

Making mistakes is not bad. Not learning from them and not trying to repeat them is.

We all learn from our mistakes, but it’s much better to learn from the mistakes of others.

When we want to start a blog and decide to do it with WordPress, our main goal is to start as soon as possible.

But this race to get our blog out as soon as possible can cause us, due to ignorance, to make decisions that affect, for example, its security, SEO, or its future development.

In this article, I have compiled some of the most common mistakes that are made when starting a WordPress blog.

Choosing the wrong platform

When we decide to start a WordPress blog, what do we choose? WordPress.com or WordPress.org?

Most beginners get confused between these two possibilities and it is one of the most common mistakes, if not the most common.

If you want to start a blog, it is very important to know what their differences are and what is the best option.

1- WordPress.com

• Is free.

• It is very easy to set up. Anyone, and when I say anyone, I mean anyone, can do it.

• You can only choose from several default templates. You also cannot make changes to the template.

• You don’t have your domain.

2- WordPress.org

• You will have to spend a little money to buy hosting and your domain, but for less than $ 100.00 a year, there are very good options.

• You can choose from thousands of templates, either free or paid.

• You can make any changes you want to the template.

• It offers the option of including security plugins, SEO, and Google Analytics, so that the blog loads faster…

• You need to know to be able to install it, although there are very good tutorials on the internet that guide you step by step.

• You have full control of your blog.

If you are a blogger who is starting and you are not sure if you are going to continue blogging for a long time, I recommend that you start with WordPres.com (the free one), because there is always time to switch to WordPres.org.

If you are a company, it is advisable to start directly with the ‘.org’. For less than $ 100.00 it is a good investment.

Choosing an inappropriate template

Choosing a good template is essential. Design plays a decisive role in the user’s reading experience. And that the user has a good experience on our blog is very important to Google.

There are three elements that you should take into account when choosing a template for your blog:

• The ease of use for you.

• Ease of use for the reader.

• A reasonable price.

If you go with WordPress.com you can choose free and paid templates at WordPress.com/Themes.

If you go with WordPress.org and want a free theme there is a good collection at WordPress.org/Themes

But if you are interested in a paid one, there are many websites to choose from:

• ElegantThemes

• StudioPress

• ThemeForest

Yes indeed. Be prepared to browse hundreds and hundreds of templates until you find the one you like.

Forget to change the default admin username

When you first install WordPress, the username ‘admin’ is created by default.

It is the name mostly used by hackers to try to enter our blog.

It took me more than a year to realize it and to change it, and because I didn’t do it I had a scare.

Even now, the security plugin that I have warns me that every day there is someone who wants to log in to the blog with the user ‘admin’.

During installation, WordPress already offers the option to change the username, so there is no point in leaving the default one.

The ideal is a combination of numbers and letters, both for the username and the password.

Not optimizing images

One of the worst mistakes is forgetting to optimize images when we publish an article.

If you want your WordPress site to load faster, optimizing images should be a priority.

Using heavyweight images has a huge impact on the speed of your blog, while optimized images improve overall site performance.

So don’t forget to optimize the photos before uploading them to your WordPress site.

Forget to install a caching plugin

A lot of beginners are unaware that it is necessary to install a caching plugin, as they do not know that the speed of their blog plays an important role in getting better rankings in Google.

Caching is used to increase efficiency and decrease load time.

The three best free plugins to speed up our blog are Fastest Cache, WP Supercache, and W3 Total Cache. I have the first one installed.

Using too many categories and tags

One of the best features that WordPress has is the ability to categorize your blog content with categories.

Taking advantage of this great feature, most bloggers create too many categories and tags as they think that it will be better for users and Google, but actually, it is not.

On the other hand, if you use many categories it can have a negative effect.

Too many categories not only make it difficult to navigate your blog but also affect SEO and positioning.

Therefore, try to limit the tags and categories. No more than 10 categories on your blog is a good number.