WordPress has been used extensively in the building websites for website editors. Running such a website would require that you get yourself a reliable web hosting service provider to keep your site up and run at all times.

WordPress newbies will often experience the disappointment that comes about due to slow speeds while opening their blogs. This could be the result of hiring a bogus web host.

Low traffic to the WordPress site could also be another negative that WordPress newbies often meet when starting. What’s more, security issues of their sites and unexpected restrictions are also in the cards for those starting with their WordPress sites.

But what mistakes are you making to go through all this? Read on to find out!

1. Choosing the Wrong Web Host for Your Site

Once WordPress newbies make this mistake, everything could go wrong for them. Getting the right host for your website could help you avoid lots of issues with your site. Issues of slow browsing speed, constant breakdowns, and site restrictions could all be sorted out by choosing the right web host. Since choosing a web host could determine the success of your website, below are things you should do to choose the right web host:

Research on Customer Service of the Host

A good web host should have a reputation for supporting customers all the time. Most times, it is not only enough for them to run your site. The web host should also be ready to sort out any issues you may be having with your site at any time. It is important to verify that web hosts can satisfactorily deliver with all the services they claim to offer. Without proper verification, you are bound to be disappointed once things start to go south with your website.

Verify whether your web host can support you during the late hours of the night. Further, you can test other features such as their responsiveness through the live chat on their website. It is also important to test whether they can support you through their phone lines provided at any time of the day. This gives you a rough picture of their reliance and whether their staff can be helpful.

Avoid Free or Cheap Hosting

Cheap is expensive! That phrase rings a bell, right? The joy of cheap prices at the beginning comes with a higher cost later on. Choosing free web hosting services would be the first mistake you make when starting. These free hosting services are only free for the first few months. Soon, the host starts to redirect your site’s traffic to their site such that those visiting your website experience too many ads than they would like. This is for the obvious reasons of the cost factor, where they try to regain what they have given you for free. This could hurt the optimization of the site and the loading speeds as well.

On the other hand, cheap hosting would not be the best, especially if you are only starting on WordPress. In case you experience issues with your site, it would be difficult for you to troubleshoot on your own. What’s more, cheap hosting services are not cheap for nothing – you are most likely going to experience delays when you need their services the most. These web hosts offering cheap subscriptions promise their customers unlimited disk space as well as unlimited hosting services. As soon as your website finds its breakthrough, they will require you to subscribe to their more expensive plans, failure to which you experience major downtimes with your site.

Unlimited Hosting Services Are Not Necessarily the Best

Unlimited may sound good and attractive, but in the web hosting world, it may not be joy after all. For web hosts to offer unlimited storage space for your website, it probably means that they are using shared servers. For content-rich websites, shared servers are never the best option for websites with complex applications and coding. Since your website will most likely entail complex coding, it is essential to find a web host offering private servers or hybrid ones. Before choosing your web host, enquire the type of servers they use for hosting website pages to avoid any frustration in the future.

Taking Chances with Security

The security of your website is too crucial to be left unattended. Most website owners take the risk of assuming that no online security risks will come their way. Hoping is not good enough! It is essential to find out what your host offers in terms of the security of your site. Check whether secure socket layers (SSL) is one of their security protocols. Making the security of your website a priority helps in the protection of user data and also helps prevent any legal issues that could arise due to a breach of privacy and customers’ information.

Get Familiar with All the Details

Don’t be quick to start working with a web host before conducting your due diligence. Most website masters say that this happens to site owners once they spot the benefits of working with a particular web host. Don’t rush! Take your time to look at any downsides of a host to verify whether they are good enough for you.

Be sure you will get the optimal loading speeds to avoid low browsing speeds. Since not most web hosts are perfect or offer the best all-around services, ensure that your host guarantees a refund in case services are not satisfactory for a certain period. This helps you pay for the services you have rightly used.

2. Choosing a Free Theme

Most free WordPress themes are based upon frail and poor code. For business, WordPress may offer services until a certain point with free themes, beyond which you are required to sign up for premium services. You’ve probably experienced this with most online services, right? Proper coding is essential to the integration and proper functioning of your website with various search engines.

Many WordPress site owners often see nulled themes as the better version of free themes. These are crack versions of the Premium WordPress themes which are free to use. However, most of them contain viruses and are easy targets for hackers, especially when your website starts to register high amounts of traffic. It is understandable that choosing a premium plan for your theme for your new WordPress site may be expensive, but is often the safest and best option.

3. Installing Unnecessary Plugins

Plugins are essential for the smooth operation of your WordPress site. Most users often find themselves going through many tutorials to find out the necessary plugins for their WordPress websites. Martin Simmons, editor at theessayclub says, “Plugins are aimed at optimizing the site and increasing the speeds of loading. However, installing plugins recommended by any website master may be the first step of limiting the speed of your website.”

Loading your website with too many plugins may slow down your site as a result. It is important for website owners to research on the importance of each plugin before installing to avoid an overload. It is also essential for WordPress site owners to look out for multi-purpose plugins. These include any plugin that can serve the purpose of several plugins. Installing such a plugin would be great for your site as it would be optimized without having to choke it with too many plugins. Whatever plugin you install in your website, make sure that it is a necessity and not just for the sake of having it.

4. Missing About Page

After setting up your WordPress site with the right technical features, it is also important to define your brand and make yourself known to the world. Proper coding, choosing the right WordPress theme, having the right plugins, and having an attractive website design may not be enough to drive traffic or attract customers. It takes more than that! Don’t let your flawless content fool you either, as it is not enough to do the job for you. It takes much more than a good design and great content.

It is important that the visitors of your web pages get to know you through the information you provide about yourself. An informative About page is vital for the growth of your website or brand as it tells your visitors what you are all about. Most people think that having an About page on your WordPress site is cliché. Contrary to that belief, it is as important as any other feature of your site. When writing the About page, be straightforward. Don’t use descriptive words to label this page – just call it About Page so that visitors know what to expect from reading the content on your site.

5. Missing or Incorrect Credentials

Leaving out any information that might identify you may cost you so many leads and potential customers. People visiting your web pages need to know who you are so that they can interact with you on your social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. After all, what are WordPress sites for? The traffic driven to your website is best utilized by getting in touch with those prospect customers through social media platforms. WordPress websites are widely used for e-commerce, where brands are advertised online. Sellers can then interact with potential customers through social media platforms, whether the sale of their products occur.

It, therefore, means that WordPress site owners should indicate their social media profiles and handles. This makes it easy for potential customers to reach out to them or tweet them. It is also essential for website owners to include their names on their web pages, preferably in the blogs. This helps with the popularity of your website among visitors as they can easily remember the author of the content and can search for more of their content and profiles.

Including your name on the web pages, especially in blogs may also help in ranking your name high on search engine results. What’s more, website owners can also preserve their privacy by not including their real names, but instead using a professional pseudonym. This also helps them keep a safe distance from their readers and for privacy.

Conclusion

Setting up a new WordPress site may ask so much of a newbie, and may be often overwhelming. Due to this demand, WordPress site owners become vulnerable to making certain mistakes that could prove to be costly to the growth of the websites. Mistakes such as choosing the wrong web host can be avoided by doing your due diligence on potential web hosts so that you end up with the best. It is also important to install the right plugins and use the right theme for your WordPress website to avoid any technical issues.

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