Web Design WordPress Mistakes That You Need to Avoid
A lot of beginning web developers build their first website on a content management platform like WordPress. WordPress is easy to use, very affordable (or even free in some cases) and comes with a huge range of add-ons and plugins to improve your new site.
However, there are still a lot of things that can go wrong with WordPress websites, as many novice developers have found out. If you want to build a decent, functioning website, then you need to make sure that you avoid the following common mistakes that inexperienced WordPress users often make:
1. Not backing your site up
Backing up your website is absolutely essential, especially if you’re using a cheap hosting provider. Basically, backing up your website involves creating a copy of all your site’s content, including written content, images, videos and more. This can be done with various plugins or through dedicated website backup platforms. Many hosting providers also offer back-ups.
2. Using too many plugins
Although plugins can be extremely useful, and will make your life as an inexperienced web developer extremely easy, they can also slow your website down dramatically. It’s important to make sure that you only use plugins which are useful and which actually offer measurable benefits for your website.
3. Not optimising for mobile users
A huge percentage of internet browsing is now done on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. This means that you need to make sure that the website has a design for people who use mobile devices, otherwise you will find that your bounce rate is higher than it should be. The best tip for mobile web design is to make sure that your website is fully optimised and fully responsive.
4. Using themes that are too complex
A lot of novice web developers go for the most complex looking WordPress themes. Although this can work (in a minority of cases), complex themes often end up looking messy and poorly designed. Unless you’re a particularly artistic person, it’s usually a good idea to go for simpler themes that are easier to manage.
5. Forgetting to include a contact form
If you’re planning on running anything more than a simple personal blog, then you need to make sure that your audience has some way to contact you if they need to! Unfortunately, a lot of WordPress beginners forget to add a contact form to their blog, which can be very harmful in the long run. If possible, you should use a simple contact form plugin on your website.
There are a lot of mistakes that you could make as a WordPress beginner. Outlined above are just a few of the most common, but make sure that you do your research and take advice from experienced web designers to ensure that you’re doing things the right way.
A lot of beginning web developers build their first website on a content management platform like WordPress. WordPress is easy to use, very affordable (or even free in some cases) and comes with a huge range of add-ons and plugins to improve your new site.
However, there are still a lot of things that can go wrong with WordPress websites, as many novice developers have found out. If you want to build a decent, functioning website, then you need to make sure that you avoid the following common mistakes that inexperienced WordPress users often make:
1. Not backing your site up
Backing up your website is absolutely essential, especially if you’re using a cheap hosting provider. Basically, backing up your website involves creating a copy of all your site’s content, including written content, images, videos and more. This can be done with various plugins or through dedicated website backup platforms. Many hosting providers also offer back-ups.
2. Using too many plugins
Although plugins can be extremely useful, and will make your life as an inexperienced web developer extremely easy, they can also slow your website down dramatically. It’s important to make sure that you only use plugins which are useful and which actually offer measurable benefits for your website.
3. Not optimising for mobile users
A huge percentage of internet browsing is now done on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. This means that you need to make sure that the website has a design for people who use mobile devices, otherwise you will find that your bounce rate is higher than it should be. The best tip for mobile web design is to make sure that your website is fully optimised and fully responsive.
4. Using themes that are too complex
A lot of novice web developers go for the most complex looking WordPress themes. Although this can work (in a minority of cases), complex themes often end up looking messy and poorly designed. Unless you’re a particularly artistic person, it’s usually a good idea to go for simpler themes that are easier to manage.
5. Forgetting to include a contact form
If you’re planning on running anything more than a simple personal blog, then you need to make sure that your audience has some way to contact you if they need to! Unfortunately, a lot of WordPress beginners forget to add a contact form to their blog, which can be very harmful in the long run. If possible, you should use a simple contact form plugin on your website.
There are a lot of mistakes that you could make as a WordPress beginner. Outlined above are just a few of the most common, but make sure that you do your research and take advice from experienced web designers to ensure that you’re doing things the right way.