Believe it or not, the era of the World Wide Web has given a revolutionary paradigm shift to businesses across the world. The idea of not having your own website for your business is no longer optional. That is the reason web developers across the world are getting paid handsomely. There are many programming languages developers use for web development. However, one of the most popular web developing languages is WordPress development. It has some excellent themes and plugins that can give users some great functionality and reports on their website.
Unfortunately, being a WordPress developer, no matter how hard you try, there is always the chance you will make mistakes. And let me tell you, it is perfectly fine to make mistakes as you will learn from them. However, in this blog, I have given you some tips, and some simple mistakes to avoid that every developer can use as checklist whilst developing the site using the WordPress programming language.
Generally, when a developer gets an assignment, he just tries to complete it in a given time without double checking and testing all the functionalities and features. This is not advisable. Negligence from your side can cost a client security vulnerability amongst other things.
Here is a list of mistakes WordPress developers generally make:
1. Caching plugin installation
You need to remember that your site’s speed and uninterrupted functionality is very important in getting a high ranking on the various different search engines. Never miss to install Content Delivery Network (CDN) and catching plugin.Some of the best catching plugins are W3TOTAL cache and WP Super cache. Also, these plugins are free and will enhance the efficiency of your site and reduce the loading time of the same. If you know about CDN like cloudfare or MaxCDN.
2. Filtering of spam comments
Spam comment is a headache for any website blog and spam comments reduce the ranking on the search engine. If you are looking for a successful search engine optimisation, you need to take action on the issue. You can install quality plugin to stop receiving spam comments like Askimet, one of the best plugins for stopping spam comments. All you need to do is to install it and register it for an API key. However, if the comments are necessary for you to read and reply, you can do that too. It depends on the usage of the website owner.3. Overusing Plugins- Big No
The main beauty of the WordPress development is the large library of different types of plugins that makes the website function and look better. If you are not using these plugins, you are not doing the right thing. However, you need to be smart here. There are some plugins that will create conflict with others and hence, the website will turn out to be non-functional. You need to avoid this mistake to make sure that the website is running smoothly and without any bugs.4. Never ignore WordPress updates
There are many WordPress developers who turn blind when any kind of WordPress update arrives. They consider it a serious harm to the website functionality, which is a myth and nothing else. Anytime a new WordPress update is there, it is important to update the site as it will benefit the design and functionality. You need to trust your coding and themes as in the long run there should not be any issue with your website. So next time you see an update, just install it without hesitation. Contributors’ only desire is to improve the efficiency and UI of the website and nothing else.5. Create a backup of WordPress
Now you are making a serious mistake if you don’t backup your WordPress site. Before you perform an update, take a backup of the whole website to avoid any unwanted situations. This is the safest way to keep your website intact and secure.6. Make a contact form
Everyone wants user information for future marketing and promotional uses. A common mistake as an amateur developer is to not make a contact form and just supply a generic “contact us” page. You need to give the customer a chance to get in touch. Gravity forms are the latest and highly recommended forms as they enable the user to use drag and drop documents and images.7. Make your website responsive
If your website is not responsive, you will lose the customers who surf from their smartphones and computers. Furthermore, Google can penalise you for redirecting the mobile traffic to the desktop page. A smart developer will use WPtouch plugin to create a responsive website. If you want your users to have a great user experience irrespective of the platforms they use, you need to go for the responsive website.8. Use CAPTCHA forms
Do you want your site accessible to the spam users? If yes, you can avoid using CAPTCHA forms and if you don’t, never make the mistake to ignore them. It is the best way to get rid of spam submissions on your website and allowing the right ones to enter with utmost ease. You must have heard about reCAPTCHA offered by the Google. You can use CAPTCHA in contact form, registration and comment forms. Let the genuine people submit the inquiries and problems.9. Don’t overuse of categories
Using more than ten categories will surely mess up your whole database and it will be difficult for the website to function smoothly. There is a category and tag feature, but you need to understand the difference between the two. Rookie developers use them interchangeably and end up having problems in the site’s functionalities. When you start a website, just build some categories and later on, you can add some more.10. Use customized favicon
Please don’t tell me that you have used default favicon for your site provided by the WordPress or a theme company. Favicon is the icon that will be shown in the address bar of the browser and on the bookmark list. If you want to make your site look more professional and mature, you need to make a unique and customized favicon.By Richard Kearsey, a creative director of New Media
