Welcome! I've barely played WoW but heard things went downhill there. I hope this ends up being a better experience for you.
Some things I've found useful...

- Do class/job quests when possible. You get gear for it and new moves that will not unlock by leveling alone.

- Use the market board. You can buy better gear and sell items you don't need for extra gil. During the MSQ, for a while you get rewarded with free gear. If you already have gear you want at a higher level you can sell this. Selling to NPC vendors is usually a waste and they will under pay you dramatically.

- Duty Finder and Party Finder are different beasts. Duty Finder you're likely to get matched up with some random strangers of uncertain skill level in a dungeon, raid, boss fight, etc. This can be fine but sometimes you get horror stories lol. Party Finder I usually use if I'm trying to accomplish something very specific or queues are too long. Party Finder is usually more experienced.

- The story is actually good and it's worth watching cutscenes! A Realm Reborn lasts stupid long, its early phase in particular I think can be awkward. It gets way better.