Are you a WordPress newbie? This popular web platform is ideal for small business websites. There are hundreds of themes, plugins, options and support available. WordPress is my development platform of choice for my sites and my client’s sites. In my opinion there are several dozen reasons why I prefer WordPress and reason numero uno is it’s inherent SEO capabilities.
I have several clients who love to tinker with their own sites and they call my when they get stuck. Like when they get a white screen of death (nothing but white), 500 fatal server error or a fatal error with a reference to an offending line of code. The first time this happens is a real sphincter pincher… WTF did I do?
Now that it is possible to add plugins and themes through the dashboard and API access to WordPress.org, it’s very easy add and try new bells whistles and features on your site. Not too long ago, we had to load everything into WP via ftp…
These are the 3 most common mistakes I see people have made when I go in and fix their install:
- Mistake 1: Using a buggy theme. There are hundreds of themes at WP.org. When selecting a theme, I recommend you look for 1 key metric besides the look. That is a rating of 4+ with at least 10 votes.
- Mistake 2: Plugin compatibility. Plugins are mini programs you add to WordPress for additional functions and options (one of the best benefits). Plugins must be compatible 1st with the version of WP you are using, 2nd with the theme you are using and 3rd with the other plugins you are using. Any compatibility problem can cause plugins to NOT work or your site to crash.
- Mistake 3: No test site. It’s a best practice to have a test or development site where you can play test new options, bells whistles and upgrades before adding them to your live or production site.
When problems happen and they eventually will remember that you can always delete the incompatible plugin folders to get your site working again quickly.
Have fun.