Practicing regularly is key to learning how to play the guitar the best you can. Have a basic mastery of positioning your fingers as well as knowing your scales and chords. Once you are comfortable and familiar with the basics you can move on to more advanced and complicated songs to tackle on.
If you can, do take advantage of free guitar lessons given by guitar center stores where they teach the anatomy of the guitar including learning some of the best techniques for playing in different styles such as strumming or picking. The lessons are intended for a group, so it is a fun way of studying in a casual and friendly environment.
Once you are at home and practicing, it is important to play with the right tempo, and use a metronome if you can. Having the right rhythm keeps you in the right pace so you don’t sound horrible. Some experts recommend that daily practice at few hours or so is better than long hours of playing once a week.