Struggling With WordPress? WordPress Blogging Tips

WordPress Struggles? Success Tips and Tricks

Are you struggling with WordPress? Get answers to your FAQs and solve your WordPress issues with our expert tips and solutions. Start optimizing your site today.

WordPress is the most popular blogging platform in the world and for a good reason. It’s user-friendly and has a lot of great features. However, WordPress itself is large and complex. This is where WordPress maintenance and support services can help.

WordPress is an incredibly easy-to-use content management system that can take the headaches from running your online business. But many inexperienced users are still struggling with it and looking for a way to run their business without the hassles of learning to code. Here are some tips that can solve common issues.

WordPress offers so much that it can become overwhelming at times. Most of us in the process of creating a website have been struggling with WordPress.

Struggling with WordPress? We’ve Got Your Back!

ChallengeSolution
Finding the right themeCheck out popular theme marketplaces like ThemeForest to find beautiful, customizable themes. Consider free themes too!
Plugins overwhelming youFocus on essential plugins at first – security, SEO, caching. Add functionality gradually.
Confusing setup and configurationFollow step-by-step setup guides. Use auto-installers like Softaculous for easier setup.
Lack of technical skillsTake online courses on WordPress basics. Refer documentation or hire a freelancer if stuck.
Finding hostingChoose optimized WordPress hosting like Bluehost or SiteGround for speed and security.
Traffic and marketingLeverage SEO, social media and email marketing to drive traffic. Use Google Analytics.
Security threatsInstall security plugins. Update WordPress and plugins regularly. Backup site frequently.
Lack of time for maintenanceSet a maintenance schedule. Monitor site for issues routinely. Use managed hosting for support.

What is WordPress?

WordPress is the world's most popular website builder

WordPress is a free and open-source platform similar to blogging programs such as Blogger or Movable Type. 

Matt Mullenweg founded WordPress in 2003. As all things website-related, WordPress is coded in a hypertext markup language – or just HTML. It’s built using PHP, another scripting language that allows users to develop more advanced websites with dynamic content. (The links and images on a webpage are constantly being updated.) 

XML also has a part to play in the needed structure of the program as it provides the ability to edit posts whenever users feel like it (thanks to version control) and also staves off any major formatting issues from occurring while allowing people to maintain an open dialogue about each post with their followers/commenters. 

What makes WordPress so unique?

WordPress is unique because it’s 100% open source. This means the code is publicly available; anyone can access, edit, or enhance it however they like without restrictions.

It also means that you know exactly what you’re getting: a completely free and non-commercial piece of software written entirely for users like you and me.

WordPress is also special because it’s free to download, install, update, and use. This means that anyone can set up a site without paying for expensive software or the services of an expert.

WordPress has massive potential for developers – it’s continually being extended by thousands of coders worldwide with new themes and plugins. WordPress is a work in progress, and developers are constantly improving it, piece by piece.

Anyone can create a website with WordPress – regardless of their technical skill level. The platform has many features, such as publishing posts and pages online, tracking your readers across multiple social networks (Google Analytics), adding multimedia content (photos, videos), and managing pages.

However, there are still many possibilities beyond those included features. Many plugins are available that add new functionality, such as displaying your latest tweets on your homepage or creating a contact form. You can create an online store with WordPress, and shipping rates are automatically calculated–WordPress covers you.

Struggling with WordPress – Why is WordPress So Difficult for Beginners?

If you are struggling with WordPress, then you are not alone. Blogs grow in number over recent years.

As someone who has helped numerous friends and family members set up their websites or blogs, I know firsthand how much work goes into building a successful online platform.

Before diving into solutions, let’s break down the key reasons novices find WordPress difficult:

It’s a Flexible (But Complex) CMS

First, what is WordPress? It’s a content management system (CMS) that runs around 40% of all websites. WordPress offers much more flexibility and customization than simple website builders like Wix or Squarespace.

But with great power comes great complexity. WordPress relies heavily on plugins and themes to add features. So there are tons of options to wade through. The dashboard has numerous, sometimes confusing, settings. For beginners, all of this can feel overwhelming.

Perfecting the Design is Hard

WordPress themes allow you to control your site’s look and feel. There are thousands of free and paid themes available.

While having options is great, sorting through them and tweaking a theme to match your vision can be challenging for beginners lacking design experience.

Steep Learning Curve

To build a site with WordPress, you’ll have to learn the ropes. There is new terminology to grasp, like plugins, widgets, taxonomies, etc.

Many settings and features are not intuitive. So be prepared for a learning curve while acquiring all the WordPress development skills needed for success.

Key Functionality Requires Plugins

WordPress lacks some essential website features like contact forms, email subscribers, galleries, e-commerce, and more. These require installing plugins to add functionality.

Finding the right plugins and configuring them to work well together can be difficult for WordPress beginners without much technical know-how. But plugins are a must for many sites.

Potential Site Speed and Security Issues

Since WordPress is open-source software built on PHP and MySQL, it can potentially suffer from performance and security issues. But these risks can be minimized with proper hosting, setup, and maintenance.

Still, site speed and security are concerns beginners must tackle. Caching and security plugins are often necessary to make WordPress fast and safe.

As you can see, WordPress offers incredible flexibility and capabilities. But this power comes with a decent learning curve. Next, we’ll explore tips to make the process much smoother.

Benefits of WordPress

Blogging/writing platform

WordPress was created for blogging, with a distribution system (directories, etc.) that made it easy for bloggers to distribute and monetize their work in their new era. If you’re looking to start a personal blog or a website for your business, then WordPress should be at the top of your list.

Community support network

Community support is one of the best things about using WordPress because their community is massive and well-rounded – providing answers and solutions for almost all issues with creating and maintaining a WordPress site.

Updates are free

This is a bonus to using WordPress (that other platforms don’t offer). Any time there is an update, it will be sent directly to your computer, and you can download it for free without being charged any fees or subscription costs – this is very appealing from both the personal user and business owner standpoint.

How to Get the Most of WordPress?

If you’re thinking about using WordPress, then here are some things to keep in mind:

1. Know what you need the site for and who it will serve.

If you want to create a blog or essential website, then go right ahead and use WordPress. Still, if you’re looking at something more substantial such as an eCommerce store or even a business site, you’ll have to modify the platform to ensure it can handle all your needs.

2. Keep in mind that WordPress is not designed for SEO

So it won’t be updated often to fall in line with SEO trends or best practices – if this is a concern, you should stick with other platforms.

3. Take advantage of the community support and learn as much as you can

It will behoove you to constantly learn how WordPress works, what plugins work for your project, and which ones don’t. This may be a small detail, but if your goal is to build a long-term website on this platform, then you need to take the time to do your research. Buying a domain and setting up hosting isn’t enough; it’s about knowing how to use WordPress effectively (which may mean tweaking layouts, themes, etc.).

4. Use a reliable host such as Cloudways or Siteground.

Cloudways Review – The Best Cloud Platform For WordPress (6)

These companies are highly regarded for their top-tier hosting packages and willingness to support you through your customization process. If you want a worry-free experience, stick with these two companies – they won’t disappoint you.

Cloudways has become a popular hosting provider for managed WordPress hosting. Check out why Cloudways is a great hosting provider for those looking to get started with managed WordPress hosting.

SiteGround is a great hosting provider for WordPress because they host websites built on the platform itself. They provide reliability, customer service, and support whenever you need it (unlike other hosting providers).

5. Choose a unique design

Think about the impression you want to make and how a unique design can help you achieve this. Using one of your theme’s many pre-designed WordPress templates can be very tempting. However, if you’re starting an online business that will take off, don’t try following in the footsteps of your competitors who have successfully driven their niche forward through strategic customization. The last thing startup entrepreneurs want is to come across as someone else’s doppelganger!

Clean up long post titles in the permalink. For example, “Ten Ways for Smart Parents to Tame Their Kids” would appear as a long, long URL. You can shorten that permalink to ” parenting-tips-unruly-kids” based on SEO keywords.

Use SEO-optimized affiliate links throughout your website or blog. These will optimize your search engine ranking and potentially increase the money you make from publishing ads on your site (through pay-per-click services such as Google Adsense, for example).

7. Be familiar with WordPress options and tools

Become familiar with the options and tools available to use with WordPress. For example, clicking the “kitchen sink” button gets you many formatting and importing options to distinguish your site. Use this for many of your formatting options. Use these various features to customize your homepage’s style to fit the tone of your company’s mission and vision.

8. Be patient!

This is the most crucial step – sometimes things go wrong and won’t work out exactly as planned (because this is a fast-moving platform). Accept that you’ll have to work through these issues and be persistent with your solution – you won’t be able to get anything accomplished in life if you give up on something the first time it doesn’t go according to plan.

Learn everything about WordPress

Build a Website - The Ins and Outs of Building a WordPress Website from Scratch

How to Make WordPress Easier to Use for Beginners

Here are powerful but simple tips and tricks to quickly master WordPress:

Choose the Right Hosting

Your web hosting provider is crucial. For beginners, choose a managed WordPress host. The best options like Bluehost, SiteGround and A2 Hosting offer:

  • One-click WordPress installation
  • Pre-configured caching and security
  • Automatic WordPress updates
  • Expert support
  • SSD storage and CDN for speed
  • Free site migration
  • 30-day money-back guarantees
  • Affordable pricing

With the right hosting, you can easily launch and run a WordPress site.

Use an SEO Optimized Theme

Carefully select a theme that is:

  • Responsive for mobile devices
  • Fast loading
  • SEO friendly
  • Easy to customize
  • Actively maintained and supported

Stick to minimalist multi-purpose themes like GeneratePress, Astra, OceanWP, or Hello Elementor. Then use the customizer and page builder to adapt it to your needs.

Choose Essential Plugins

Hundreds of WordPress plugins available

Don’t go plugin crazy. Carefully curate your selection to include only what your site realistically needs. Quality over quantity is wise.

Top plugins like Yoast SEO, Smush image optimizer, Shortpixel image compression, and WP Rocket caching are essential for most sites. Use reviews and ratings to find the best in each category.

Follow WordPress Best Practices

Building a WordPress site right means adhering to certain best practices. Here are key ones to follow:

  • Logical structure – Organize your content using proper heading tags (H1, H2, H3) and structure content into logical sections. Use short paragraphs and lists for scannability.
  • Engaging media – Include relevant images, graphics and videos throughout your content to enhance engagement. Optimized your media for faster loading.
  • Value-adding links – Link out to credible external resources to provide additional value. Use keywords as anchor text where suitable.
  • Clear calls to action – Encourage your readers to take the next step with clear CTAs like email signup, contact forms etc.
  • Mobile responsive design – Use a responsive theme and test your site on all devices. Mobile responsiveness is a must today.
  • Fast performance – Use a cache plugin like WP Rocket and optimize images for speed. Tackle any site speed issues.
  • Strong security – Never miss updates or compromise on security. Use strong passwords and limit user roles.
  • Quality content – Well-researched and written content wins. Focus on value, not just quantity. Use tools like Grammarly to polish writing.
  • User experience focus – Check that your site offers an excellent user experience from start to finish across all devices.

Following these tried and tested best practices will ensure your WordPress site has a solid foundation.

Learn With Quality Resources

Don’t try to figure everything out alone through trial and error. Lean on the WordPress community’s collective wisdom to shortcut the learning curve.

Here are excellent beginner-friendly resources to learn WordPress:

Also take advantage of YouTube channels like WPCrafter, Learn WordPress with WPBeginner, and forums like the WordPress Support Forums to get WordPress help.

Leveraging these resources will save you countless hours figuring things out alone through trial and error. Invest time into learning WordPress the right way.

Start Small and Iterate

Don’t try to build out your entire complex website right away. Start with a simple homepage and blog section to get used to WordPress.

Once you have a handle on the basics, gradually add and experiment with more advanced features like:

  • Setting up a custom menu
  • Adding sidebar and footer widgets
  • Configuring social sharing buttons
  • Installing galleries or sliders
  • Adding forms or e-commerce plugins
  • Importing subscriber lists
  • Integrating with email marketing etc.

Take an iterative approach to steadily add functionality instead of trying to do everything at once. Accept that you won’t get it perfect the first time. It takes most people several websites to master WordPress.

Photo of WordPress.com homepage - How to Choose a Web Host?

FAQs

What are some common challenges beginners face with WordPress?

Some common WordPress challenges beginners face include learning the dashboard and terminology, choosing the right hosting, themes and plugins, perfecting site design, improving speed and security, and overcoming the steep learning curve.

Does WordPress work well for beginners?

Yes, WordPress does work well for beginners thanks to its wide adoption and amazing community support. By following WordPress best practices and using beginner-friendly themes and hosts, the learning curve can be overcome.

What hosting should beginners use for WordPress?

Beginners should choose managed WordPress hosting like Bluehost, SiteGround or A2 Hosting that offers one-click WordPress installation, pre-configured speed and security, and excellent support.

What are the must have WordPress plugins?

Must have WordPress plugins include a security plugin, caching, image optimizer, contact form, SEO and analytics. Yoast SEO, WP Rocket, Smush and ShortPixel are highly recommended.

What themes are easiest for WordPress beginners to use?

The easiest WordPress themes for beginners are minimalist and lightweight options like Astra, GeneratePress, OceanWP and Hello Elementor. They are responsive, fast, SEO friendly and easy to customize.

Conclusion

Learning WordPress involves overcoming a fairly steep initial learning curve. But by following the tips outlined in this guide, you can smooth out the difficulties most beginners encounter.

The key is choosing the right hosting and theme to start. Then curating your essential plugins. Don’t forget to leverage the amazing WordPress resources to shortcut your learning curve. And finally, take an iterative approach to steadily add features as your skills improve.

While mastering WordPress takes some effort, it is one of the most valuable skills any entrepreneur, blogger or site owner can learn. The ability to use WordPress to turn your ideas into reality is worth the temporary struggle.

Create a plan before you begin building your site. Write down what you wish to accomplish with your site and what you want to convey to readers. That lets you create a website that can accommodate your needs without you don’t have to add stuff later.

After reading this article, you should have a better understanding of WordPress. It can be thrilling to see how others use it yet know little about it. The ideas within this article can pave the way for your WordPress success.

References

https://torquemag.io/2022/11/wordpress-troubleshooting/

https://themeisle.com/blog/wordpress-troubleshooting-beginners-guide/

https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-to-troubleshooting-wordpress-errors-step-by-step/

https://wpdeveloper.com/best-wordpress-support-maintenance-services/

https://elementor.com/blog/troubleshooting-wordpress-errors/

https://www.wordpresssupport.co/wordpress-troubleshooting/

https://instawp.com/troubleshooting-wordpress/

https://wordpress.org/support/article/wordpress-lessons/

https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/beginners-guide-on-how-to-start-a-blog-using-wordpress/

https://generatepress.com/

https://wpastra.com/

https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/

https://shortpixel.com/wordpress-image-optimization-plugin

https://www.elegantthemes.com/blog/wordpress

https://www.lynda.com/WordPress-training-tutorials/279-0.html

https://www.youtube.com/wpcrafter

https://www.youtube.com/wpbeginner

https://wordpress.org/support/forums/

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