Best Plugins for WordPress
One of the first things that you will ask yourself, as a new WordPress user, is “Which Plugins must I install to make my site the best?” This is a very pertinent question, since WordPress is pretty much all about plugins. They are what give functionality to the millions of websites that currently use the WordPress CMS. So, which are some of the must have WordPress plugins that can be found out there?
You can’t have them all
Before getting down to business, we need to point out that you cannot possibly install all the plugins that are in the WordPress Directory on your site. These currently stand at 50,461.
There is usually the temptation, particularly when you are just setting out, to install a high number of plugins. However, you will soon discover that this is not advisable. Having too many plugins can actually end up slowing down your WordPress website.
Must Have WordPress Plugins
We have to admit that this list is composed of only the plugins that we use on our site. It may, therefore, be slightly biased. In any case, here are the must have WordPress plugins for your website;
- Yoast SEO
Yoast is without a doubt, one of the best WordPress plugins that you will be able to find out there. If, as you should, you are worried about Search Engine Optimization, then Yoast will do wonders for your website. In fact, Yoast SEO is the plugin that we probably use the most when creating content for this blog. The great thing is that not only does it have a highly functional free version, but it also allows us to do the following;
- Determine whether or not we have used a particular focus keyword before.
- Show us our keyword density and warn us should this be below or above the recommended range.
- Yoast also tells us if we have missed various SEO essentials, including having the keyword in the title and as one of the subheadings.
- It warns us if none of our images have alt attributes that contain the focus keyword.
- We also get a warning should an article be below the recommended 300 word minimum.
- Jetpack
Jetpack is another must have WordPress plugin for your website or blog. This plugin, which is made by WordPress.com, is multi-functional and comes with features that allow you to grow and secure your website. Jetpack has the following functionalities;
- WordPress website security
- Backup your data
- A highly advanced spam filtering feature
- Traffic Tools that monitor and collect statistics about visitors to your site
- Site backup services
- Image optimization helps speeds up WordPress websites.
- Shows related content to your readers, which helps them stay on your site for long
- Comes with social sharing tools, which helps publicize your website
- Email subscription services
- It provides advanced comments and contact forms.
- Broken Link Checker
This is another of the plugins that we recently discovered and have been using on our website. Links, as we mention in this article, are the pathways through which Search Engine bots crawl across the World Wide Web.
The Broken Link Checker is an extremely useful way of keeping your site clean by detecting and removing broken links that can be harmful to your SEO score. It sends you email notifications when it detects broken links on your website.
- JTRT Responsive Tables
One of the things that you are likely to discover while setting up your WordPress website is that it can be very difficult to create tables. Although there are a good number of table plugins in the WordPress Plugins directory, the majority require a university degree in order to make them work, while the rest are not very useful.
JTRT
The issue is so difficult that some people will tell you to avoid the use of tables on your site. However you do not actually need to take this drastic step. The JTRT Responsive tables plugin offers a great way through which you can create tables on your WordPress site.
This is what makes it one of the must have WordPress Plugins that can be found out there. We have been using this plugin a lot on this blog. Although it could use a bit of refinement, the plugin, more or less, does what we want it to do.
- Cresta Social Share Counter
The importance of having some form of social media plugin on your website can never be overemphasized. Fortunately, there are countless Social Media plugins in the WordPress plugins directory. The one that we use on this blog is the Cresta Social Share Counter.
The thing that makes this one of the must have WordPress Plugins is that not only does it allow your readers to get the word out about your site, but it also serves to satisfy the vanity that reposes in even the best of us. What better way of showing your blog’s popularity than by displaying the number of shares for each post?
