Nine common WordPress setup mistakes that can hold back your search rankings, from permalinks to comment spam, and how to fix each one in minutes.
These nine mistakes show up on almost every WordPress site I look at. Most take a minute or two to fix.
1. The wrong permalink structure
URLs like yourdomain.com/?p=123 tell Google and visitors nothing. In Settings > Permalinks, choose "Post name" and save.
2. Unused image sizes
Each upload is saved in several extra sizes you may never use, which adds up to gigabytes and slower backups. Set the sizes to 0 in Settings > Media and let your optimization plugin handle the rest.
3. Category and tag bases in URLs
/category/ and /tag/ add nothing to a URL. A custom structure such as /%category%/%postname%/ gives cleaner links. Flush permalinks after any change.
4. Sticking with the classic editor
The old TinyMCE editor produces outdated HTML. Blocks output proper headings, lists, tables and images with no extra effort.
5. Full posts on the homepage
A front page of full posts is a wall of text. Set it to "Summary" in Settings > Reading.
6. Comments where you don't need them
Open comments attract spam bots and give Google junk pages to crawl. Unless you want discussion, turn them off in Settings > Discussion.
7. The default tagline
"Just another WordPress site" tells visitors you never finished setup. Remove it in Settings > General, or replace it with a real description that includes your main keyword.
8. Updating without staging
One bad plugin update can take the site down. Test on a staging copy first. Most hosts offer one-click staging.
9. Loose discussion settings
If you do keep comments, the defaults let anyone post links. Turn on "Comment author must have a previously approved comment" and most spam stops while real conversations continue.
Check this list again after major updates. These settings are easy to miss and easy to fix.
If you want a hand with your own site, see my WordPress development services.
Category: WordPress
