Building a new website is exciting, but jumping straight into design and content can lead to technical headaches later. WordPress comes with many default settings that are not always best for performance or search rankings.
If you want your site to be fast, secure, and easy to find, there are a few things you should fix immediately after installation. Here is a guide on the WordPress settings you must configure first.
1. Set Your Site Title and Tagline
The first thing people see in their browser tab and search results is your site title. By default, WordPress often sets this to “Just another WordPress site.”
Go to Settings > General to update this.
- Site Title: This should be your brand or business name.
- Tagline: This is a short sentence explaining what your site does.
Even if you use a logo later, these text fields are vital for search engines to understand your website.
2. Change the Permalink Structure
Permalinks are the permanent URLs of your individual posts and pages. The default WordPress setting usually includes numbers or dates, which are not friendly for visitors or search engines.
Head to Settings > Permalinks and select Post Name.
This changes a link from something messy like yoursite.com/?p=123 to something clean like yoursite.com/how-to-bake-cake/. Clean links are easier to share and help you rank better because they include your keywords.
3. Set Your Timezone
It might seem small, but setting the correct timezone is essential for scheduling posts. If you want a post to go live at 8:00 AM in your local time, WordPress needs to know where you are.
Go to Settings > General and find the Timezone section. Instead of using a UTC offset, it is better to select a city in your region. This automatically handles daylight savings changes for you.
4. Manage User Registration and Roles
Under Settings > General, there is a box labeled “Anyone can register.” Unless you are running a membership site or a forum, you should keep this unchecked.
Leaving it open can lead to a flood of spam accounts. If you do need to allow registration, ensure the New User Default Role is set to Subscriber. This prevents new users from having the power to delete content or change your site settings.
5. Configure Reading Settings
How do you want your visitors to see your content? In Settings > Reading, you can choose your homepage display.
- Your latest posts: Best for bloggers who want their newest articles front and center.
- A static page: Best for businesses that want a professional landing page.
Also, check the “For each post in a feed” option. Set this to Summary instead of Full text. This encourages people to click through to your website to read more, which increases your page views.
6. Control Your Comments
Comments are great for engagement, but they can also be a magnet for spam. Go to Settings > Discussion to set some ground rules.
A good practice is to check the box that says Comment must be manually approved. This ensures that no “bot” comments or promotional links appear on your site without you seeing them first. You can also require that commenters fill out their name and email.
7. Organize Your Media
When you upload images, WordPress creates several sizes of that image. To keep things organized, go to Settings > Media and make sure the box “Organize my uploads into month- and year-based folders” is checked. This makes it much easier to find files via your hosting account or FTP if you ever need to troubleshoot a technical issue.
8. Check Your Visibility
This is the most important step if you want visitors. In Settings > Reading, look for the Search Engine Visibility section.
Make sure the box “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” is unchecked. If this is checked, Google will not show your website in search results. Developers often check this while building a site, but forgetting to uncheck it after launch is a common mistake that kills traffic.
By taking ten minutes to adjust these basic settings, you build a much stronger foundation for your website. It ensures your site is professional, easy to navigate, and ready for search engines.