I don't mix any vocals yet, but I'm always making beats and mixing them. I'm pretty much a novice as well, I've only been making beats for about 2 years now. I EQ every single instrument, sample, and FX. Some people say it gets rid of the "trueness" of the track, but I honestly like cleaner sounding tracks. How you go about this depends on what instruments, samples, FX, and percussion you are using. It would be pretty much impossible to say there is a "right way" to mix and all songs must follow that. All songs are different. At the end of the day, do what sounds good to you! Make sure you have some clean quality instruments and samples though or else all of the EQing in the world couldn't save you. Haha check out this beat I just made. I've recently just started to get cleaner beats.