If you've already decided what weapon you want to use it wouldn't hurt to see some video tutorials. Arekkz has done a pretty decent series on all of the weapons here:
Playlist.
Get some armor early on but don't worry too much about farming to get better armor until High Rank because you're just going to ditch your armor for the high rank version anyways. You can get through Low Rank just using the hunter armor or bone armor or whatever, or the jaggras, kulu etc. stuff. I hunted Barroth a ton of times just to get his armor and then I never touched it again once I got to high rank because even the basic leather and chain armor you get at the start of high rank is going to be better.
Try to go through low rank by yourself if possible, it'll make you better at the game as opposed to being 'carried' by other players.
Always eat before a hunt. Early on you won't get much benefit but after upgrading your canteen and ingredients you'll be able to consistently get max health and stamina from meals. Much later on you're going to want to learn to use the canteen to give yourself specific food skills and instead rely on max potions to max out your health for a hunt, but I wouldn't worry about that until sometime during high rank.
For hunting itself, I've often heard people suggest treating the game almost as a turn-based game. The monster will have its turn to attack you a couple times and then leave itself open for you to deal damage. Depending on the weapon you're using this isn't necessarily true. It's also always better to not take a hit than it is to deal an extra hit or two but then take a bunch of damage.
Set up an item set that you can use before each hunt. At the start you'll probably have an item set with maybe a well done steak and a potion or two when you go out gathering for materials, and another set for actually hunting stuff with all your mega potions and such. The quick item wheel (or the keyboard shortcuts if you're using them) are customized pert item set so make sure to save the item set after customizing it.
The icons in the bottom left of the screen both on the minimap and next to it show the monster's status, which is useful for knowing when it;'s angered and will chase you between areas if you try to zone out, or when it's close to dying and is captureable or going to sleep or is exhausted and going to eat etc. The little quest icon will show next to the target monster and the color of the quest icon shows the type of quest it is (a white marker means capture quest). The little green line coming from your position shows where the scoutflies are trying to guide you in case you get turned around.
There's likely more but that's what I can think of at the moment.
E: Oh yes, one more thing. There are certain weapons which are really popular (longsword, charge blade), or which are considered 'meta' (Bows). You may be drawn to them or even might not want to use them for the sake of trying to stand out. I say use what you feel is best regardless of what other people use, or use what feels fun for you. You're likely going to be sticking with a single weapon type for a while simply because trying to upgrade multiple weapons can become rather time consuming especially if you're just trying to progress.