Any tips for a newbie?

So I just started playing this game and whenever I tame a dino, (all I have timed so far is dilos and paras) they are quickly killed off by a wandering Sarco or Baryonyx. Is there any quick or easy way to toughen them up because I feel like cannot take anything much bigger down to tame without taming some lower level dinos first.

Update: Thanks for the help everybody, I moved my base to a better location and it is a million times easier. Also is there any way to stop the dinosaurs you have following you from auto killing unconscious dinos? I find it annoying to have to go out alone to tame anything. Also I clearly need to keep the wiki bookmarked because there is a lot I need to learn from that.