Starting a tube site is fun… until you realize you’ve imported 50,000 random videos, your server is crying, and nothing looks the way you imagined.

If you’re using WordPress + an importer like WPTubeBot, you already have a powerful setup. But there are a few classic mistakes almost everyone makes at the beginning.

In this post we’ll go through the most common newbie mistakes and, more importantly, simple fixes for each one.

No complicated SEO, no hardcore dev stuff. Just practical advice.

1. Importing way too much, way too fast

The mistake

• Turning on every provider at once
• Importing 50+ videos per run
• Cron running every 5 minutes from day one

Result:
Your database explodes, your server slows down, and you lose control of what’s actually on the site.

Simple fix

• Start with few providers only
• Use calm settings:
  • 5-10 videos per run
  • Cron every 15-30 minutes
• Set new imports to “Draft” first, review a few, then switch to “Published”.

Think slow and steady, not “all in one night”.

2. Creating too many categories and tags

The mistake

• 60+ categories
• Hundreds of messy tags imported from feeds
• Same niche duplicated under different names (“home made”, “homemade”, “amateur”…)

Result:
Users get lost, Google gets confused, and your menus look like a wall of random words.

Simple fix

• Aim for 8-15 main categories to start:
  • Examples: Amateur, MILF, Teen, VR, Lesbian, Anal, Hardcore, Hentai…
• Merge or delete tiny categories with only a few videos.
• Use tags sparingly:
  • Only for things people might want to browse (POV, big tits, cosplay, threesome…)
• It’s totally OK if most of your traffic goes through categories + search and tags are mostly internal.

Clean structure beats “every keyword as a category”.

3. Forgetting basic legal and trust pages

The mistake

• No privacy policy
• No terms of use
• No 18+ notice
• No way to contact you

Result:
The site looks shady, visitors don’t trust it, and in some cases you might be breaking rules from ad networks or regulations.

Simple fix

Create a few simple pages:

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use / Disclaimer
• 18+ / Age warning page
• Contact (even a simple form or email)

Then:

• Link them in the footer
• Optionally add an age warning banner or gateway depending on your jurisdiction

You don’t need a lawyer-level document for a small project, but you do need something.

4. Ignoring how the site looks on mobile

The mistake

• Only checking the site on desktop
• Video player or thumbnails look tiny on phones
• Menus impossible to tap
• Popups covering half the screen

Result:
Most adult traffic is mobile, so you’re basically annoying most of your visitors.

Simple fix

Once in a while, grab your phone and:

• Open the homepage, a category and a video page
• Check:
  • Is the player easy to use?
  • Are thumbnails big enough to tap?
  • Can you actually read the text?
  • Are there too many popups / banners?

If something is painful on mobile, fix that before you add more stuff.
Simple, clean, mobile-first layout wins.

5. Never checking what the importer is actually doing

The mistake

• Setting up WPTubeBot (or another importer) once
• Forgetting about it for weeks
• Suddenly discovering tons of weird content or broken embeds

Result:
Your site fills with junk or off-topic trash without you noticing.

Simple fix

Make it a habit:

• Once a week, go to Posts → All posts → sort by newest
• Scan the last few pages of imported videos:
  • Any thumbnails broken?
  • Any titles in the wrong language?
  • Any content that doesn’t match your niche?

If you keep deleting the same kind of junk:

• Adjust your provider filters:
  • Exclude some categories
  • Block specific tags
  • Disable a low-quality source

Your importer is a robot. You need to be the editor.

6. Over-monetizing too early

The mistake

• 4 popunders
• Fake “Play” buttons that go to sponsors
• 8 banners around every video
• Aggressive push / redirect scripts

Result:
Short-term some money, long-term users hate the site, bounce rate goes up, SEO collapses.

Simple fix

Start simple:

• 1–2 banners in clear positions:
  • Under the player
  • Above or below the video grid
• 1 text link like:
  • “Watch full scenes on [Sponsor]” in the description
• Avoid:
  • Fake play buttons
  • Infinite popups
  • Auto-redirect scripts

You can always increase later if you see that users stay and interact.
But if the first impression is “spammy”, they never come back.

7. Installing a ton of random plugins

The mistake

• Every time you see a cool feature, you add a new plugin
• Many overlap: 3 cache plugins, 2 SEO plugins, 4 page builders…

Result:
Site becomes slow, conflicts explode, and debugging is a nightmare.

Simple fix

Keep it lean:

• 1 SEO plugin
• 1 cache/performance plugin
• 1 security/anti-spam plugin
• Your importer (WPTubeBot)
• Anything else only if you really need it

Once a month:

• Review your plugin list
• Deactivate and delete what you don’t use anymore

Fewer plugins = fewer problems.

8. Not backing up or testing changes

The mistake

• No backups at all
• Updating WordPress or plugins on a live site without testing
• Breaking something and not knowing how to roll back

Result:
One bad update and your tube is down for hours or days.

Simple fix

• Ask your host if they do automatic daily backups.
• If not, install a simple backup plugin and schedule:
  • At least 1 backup per day, stored off-server if possible.
• Before doing big updates:
  • Backup
  • Or test on a small staging copy (some hosts offer 1-click staging).

You don’t need a full dev workflow, just minimum “if it breaks, I can go back”.

9. Trying to be “perfect” instead of consistent

The mistake

• Waiting to have the perfect theme, perfect logo, perfect SEO, perfect everything
• Never launching or rarely updating because it’s “not ready”

Result:
Months pass, site doesn’t grow, motivation dies.

Simple fix

Accept this:

• Your first design won’t be perfect
• Your first content won’t be perfectly organized
• That’s fine

Focus on:

• Getting a basic but clean site live
• Importing steadily but safely
• Spending a little time each week polishing:
  • Fix titles
  • Clean bad imports
  • Improve your top pages

Consistency beats perfection.

Final thoughts

Running a tube site with WordPress + WPTubeBot (or any importer) is not rocket science.

Most problems come from a few simple mistakes:

• Too many imports
• Too many categories/tags
• Too much monetization
• Too many plugins
• Too little checking

If you:

• Keep your structure simple
• Import at a healthy pace
• Look at your site like a real user once per week

…you’re already ahead of most new webmasters.

If you want, next we can do a follow-up post like “A Simple Weekly Checklist for Tube Webmasters (So You Don’t Break Anything)” and turn these mistakes into a one-page routine you can literally follow every week.