For an excellent performance of websites, a blogger must install all essential WordPress plugins. If you install best plugins, then all arms of your website will work in perfect ways. Do you really know? Why is WordPress known for the best blogging platform, the answer is because of thousands of free plugins which can fulfill all need of bloggers?
Almost 85 out of 100 bloggers confuse for installing the WordPress plugins.There are about 50 thousand plugins available at WordPress platform and they really don`t know which are the best. I hate many plugins, which are poorly coded, hard to use, no update for a long time, full of bugs which could become the ghost for a blog and will slow down the website.
It seems like some blogger has listed the best WordPress plugins on their websites, the thing is, many of them are full of crap. People who are telling either misinformed (not tested) or have an alternate motive (like affiliate revenue).
Now, the question is how to find the best plugins and the answer has come below, I have listed all necessary WordPress plugins which can fulfill all your needs.
List of 20 Essential WordPress Plugins:
Yoast SEO:
Ranking at first page of google is the dream of every blogger and for it, blogger spends their 50% time on SEO kinds of stuff. There are many plugins which help to optimize an article and push it to be ranked in search engines. I have spent lots of my time on SEO related work and makes sense to think about which is the best SEO plugin. There are two best plugins one is Yoast SEO and other is All in one SEO and I recommend the first one which is Yoast SEO. To install and setup this plugin you should read my different article How to Setup SEO-By-Yoast WordPress Plugin?
- Check: How to Install and Setup “Yoast SEO” plugin
Akismet:
Spam is a word which can be seen everywhere on the internet. Spamming is the type of comment that is harder to catch which is real & which is fake. Akismet is used to filter and block spam comments and is one of the best WordPress plugins which can outsmart spammers. This plugin is one of two pre-installed plugins which comes by default but you need to activate it by putting API code.
- Check: How to Install and Setup “Akismet” plugin
WP Super Cache:
It is very important to keep your blog user-friendly and that`s why we must keep attention on the speed of our website. Search engines like google also examine your blog`s loading speed and rank your article accordingly. Caching & optimization is the way which can reduce blog loading speed. There are two most popular plugins which can fulfill your need and that are “WP Super Cache” & “W3 Total Cache”. I recommend the first one because it`s easy to setup and work well on all type of server while W3 Total Cache need some technical knowledge because in common it shows many errors if you do any wrong setting within your server. W3 Total Cache is also an excellent caching plugin but I recommend another one.
- Check- How to Install and Setup “WP Super Cache” plugin
- Check- How to Install and Setup “W3 Total Cache” plugin
Jetpack by WordPress.com:
If your blog running on WordPress platform, then Jetpack gives wings to your blog. Jetpack is a multi-purpose plugin, developed by WordPress which provides great features. This plugin fulfills the need of more than 15 separate plugins and can be install by one click. Jetpack is constantly adding new tools per user demands. This is one of the popular WordPress plugins which is updated regularly and that`s the beauty of it. The great feature of this single plugin includes Social Share, Traffic Statistics, Mobile Theme, Comment, Contact Form, Spelling & Grammar, Gravatar, WP.me Shortlinks, Wonderful Widgets. And these are well enough toolbox say why you should install this plugin.
- Check: How to Install and Setup “Jetpack” plugin
TinyMCE Advanced:
This plugin is Visual Editor and one of the most popular among the bloggers. With the help of this plugin, you can create the best article because it functions like Microsoft Word. You can easily change font style, font size, text background, insert smiley images, spellchecker, simple to add tables without skills of HTML or CSS coding and much more. I recommend this plugin because you can write a good-looking article if you are not happy with your theme default Font Style, Size. This plugin has excellent work for those who don`t have premium WordPress Theme.
- Check: How to Install & Setup “TinyMCE Advanced” plugin
Google XML Sitemaps:
A blogger needs a simple and powerful tool to rank articles in search engines and “Google XML Sitemaps is one of them. With the help of this plugin, you can create multiple sitemaps. A sitemap is the collection of URLs (Page, Post, Category, Archive, Meta Tags) which structure your site`s links to help search engine bot to find links, crawl, and index. There are many plugins like this but I recommend it because this is best among other. If you are using Yoast SEO then you can create similar sitemaps and you need not install this but if you don`t use Yoast SEO then you must use this one.
- Check: How to Install & Setup “Google XML Sitemaps” plugin
Contact Form 7:
For Blogger, it is very important to communicate with the site users. There are many tools which help to create contact form but “Contact Form 7” WordPress plugin is best among all others. This is very simple but powerful contact form creator, trusted by more than one million bloggers. With the help of this plugin, you can put contact form anywhere on the site like Post, Page, Widget or footer area.
- Check: How to Install & Setup “Contact Form 7” plugin
WP Smush – Image Optimization:
Loading time of your blog is one of the major factors which ranks your article in search engines. If your page loading time is more then this experience made more frustration for your visitors. There are lots of reasons behind the speed of blog and image size is one of them. There are many tools which help to reduce and optimize image size and WP Smush is best among all. I recommend it because it is very simple to use, easily compress and optimize images without losing quality.
- Check: How to Install & Setup “WP Smush – Image Optimization” plugin
AddToAny Share Buttons:
Social media is one of the simplest ways to become popular on internet world. There are about 75% internet users active on social media sites. After search engines, social media is the second largest way to drive traffic to your websites and it also helps to find favorite websites that`s why bloggers connected with social sites all times. There are many plugins which help to share articles on social sites and keep your blog connected to millions of users. AddToAny is one of the best plugins which fulfill your needs, it is simple and has great features.
- Check: How to Install & Setup “AddToAny Share Buttons” plugin
WPtouch Mobile Plugin:
If we talk about the internet users, there are about 80% users connected through the smartphone and only 20% through the desktop. From 2017, Google announced that ranking will be calculated based on 100% mobile friendly sites. It is very important to keep website mobile friendly and it can be only happening through mobile friendly themes or with the help of tools. If your theme is not mobile friendly, then WPtouch Mobile Plugin is the solution. This plugin automatically detects the mobile visitor and quickly transform the blog into mobile friendly.
- Check: How to Install and Setup “WPtouch Mobile Plugin“
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP):
Every blogger wants from the visitors to keep connected on the site as much as possible. It is very important to reduce bounce rate, increase page views, improve on page SEO and increase the average time of the site. YARPP is one of the best WordPress plugins which does multiple works for website owner alone. It automatically figures out the most relevant posts and pages and display in front of the visitor, you can set the location of related articles like below the article or on the widget in the setting of this plugin.
- Check: How to Install and Setup “YARPP” Plugin
BackupBuddy :
Getting a backup of your whole site is an easier task with BackupBuddy WordPress plugin but this is not free, it is a premium plugin and you need to buy it. I recommend it because of great features and trust of millions of bloggers. With the help of this plugin, you can easily backup all articles, users, comments, plugins, theme and settings. You can do these all remotely or locally through a backup schedule or by email notification. This plugin can easily backup, restore or move your WordPress blog to another hosting server.
- Check: How to Install and Setup “BackupBuddy” Plugin
Redirection :
Sometimes you can see the error code 404 during browsing internet that is because of missing article or broken URL. If there are 404 errors on a site that`s cause of bad SEO behavior and not good for user experience. To fix error 404, a blogger must redirect that page to different active URL. Redirection WordPress plugin is one of the best tools to redirect 404 errors through 301 redirection feature of the plugin. Any broken and orphan URL can be easily managed by this plugin.
- Check: How to Install and Setup “Redirection” Plugin
Broken Link Checker:
I have talked about redirection of missing or broken link but how can I do that if I really don`t know which link is broken. First, you need to find which URLs show 404 errors for that you can take the help of WordPress plugins. Broken Link Checker is one of the best plugins used to find missing URLs or broken links. I recommend this plugin because it is quite easier to setup, use and trusted by many bloggers.
- Check- How to Install and Setup “Broken Link Checker” Plugin
WP Mail SMTP:
I can understand, it is very difficult to send an email to the users from WordPress sites. By default, WordPress uses PHP mail function to send the email and most of the time email went to spam box at user end or sometimes site owner face another difficulty in sending an email. There are some plugins which fix this problem and WP Mail SMTP WordPress plugin is one of best compare to others. A non-tech guy can also install and setup this plugin with Gmail SMTP feature. To configure this plugin, you need to use email provider server, many domain registrars or web hosting companies provide SMTP server to host your emails. I recommend it because anyone can easily configure it with Google Gmail server.
- Check: How to Install and Setup “WP Mail SMTP” Plugin
Disable Comments:
Commenting on a website is the kind of communication between webmaster and readers. A reader leaves a message to website owner through his/her comments but there is also some person who spam the website through this feature. It is very important to get command on commenting on post/page rather than the default setting of WordPress. A webmaster can control on comment box with the help of plugins and “Disable Comments” is one of best the WordPress plugin which fulfills the need.
- Check- How to Install & Setup “Disable Comments” Plugin
All In One Schema.org Rich Snippets:
Every webmaster wants to rank the website`s articles on the first page of search engine and for that, they do all possible kinds of stuff of SEO. I put this plugin on this list because it is important and rank your article in search results of Google, Yahoo, Bing, Facebook and others in a good format with article information, star rating, photo, etc. It is very necessary to make your website Schema enabled and this WordPress plugin help you to make a short summary of articles. I have listed this plugin because it helps your site to rank higher in the search engine.
- Check: How to Install & Setup “All In One Schema.org Rich Snippets” Plugin
Display Widgets:
“Display Widgets” is one of necessary WordPress plugin to be installed in a blog. Sidebar widgets help blog`s articles to be optimized, with the help of this plugin a webmaster can easily put related articles in the sidebar. In every WordPress site, there is default widgets feature but that is very limited. In this plugin, a blogger can change sidebar content for different pages, categories and avoid creating multiple sidebars and duplicating widgets.
- Check: How to Install & Setup “Display Widgets” Plugin
Ad injection:
I know you are Adsense lover and so you should take care your AdSense account from fake click bombing. In common, google disables Adsense account if there are suspicious clicks on ads. With the help of this WordPress plugin, a blogger can set a number of clicks on ads per unique IP in 24 hours. This is very essential and popular plugin having great features to serve ads which help a blogger to put ads on sidebar, footer, top, bottom or middle of an article.
- Check: How to Install & Setup “Ad injection” Plugin
iThemes Security:
If your blog is running on WordPress CMS platform then you need to keep attention on the security of it. There are about 30,000 new blogs are hacked every day due to weaker password and obsolete software, so it is necessary to secure your WordPress site with good security provider plugin. “iThemes Security” WordPress plugin is one of the best plugins which secures and protect a website more than 30+ ways.
- Check: How to Install & Setup “iThemes Security” Plugin
Other Essential WordPress Plugins by Blogger Choice
List of Best SEO Plugins:
Search Engine Optimization(SEO) is most important for every website. A blog can only index and rank at high position in the search engine like google if it is the best SEO optimized. There are many things responsible for good SEO optimized page like Article information, Design, Images, Internal & external links, Page speed, etc. A good WordPress plugin helps the article to be ranked at the higher position in the search engines. I have written the list of important SEO plugins which are necessary and most popular among thousands of WordPress Plugins.
Check: Top 5 SEO Plugins
Check: Best SEO Tools
List of Best Content Maker plugins:
Making a good content is very difficult for a newbie. A good article should be good in information as well as has responsive page layouts so that visitors must like a site and return next time. A blogger wants an easy way to create and optimize a page and so get the help of page builder. There are hundreds of plugins which help to build a page but you must know which are best among others. I have written the top Content Maker WordPress plugins which are used to create a good page. Visit the additional article to see the important list of plugins and their setup guide step by step.
Check: Top 5 Content Maker Plugins
Best Caching/Speed-Up Plugins:
Ranking of a page at a higher position in search engine depends on many factors and loading speed is one of them. If an article is good in design and also having good information but page speed is too much then that article can`t rank at high position in search engine, so it is very important to reduce the speed of a page. There are many plugins known as caching plugins which help to improve website speed. I have written a list of essential WordPress plugins which help to cache database, image, post, page, categories, etc that speed-up a blog.
Check: Top 5 Speed-Up Plugins
Best Social Media Plugins:
There are 80% readers active on social media and that is the reason bloggers have connected their websites through social sites. If you have millions of followers on facebook, twitter, and other social media sites then you can easily bring thousands of traffic by simply posting a single page there. There are many software available to connect your site with top social sites but you need to know which are the best. As per the readers request I have written the top and best WordPress plugins which help to bookmark, follow, share articles on social media.
Check: Top 5 Social Media Plugins
List of Best Security Plugins:
For newbies and the bloggers who have little knowledge in programming should protect their blog with good security software. In WordPress, there are more chances a blog can be hacked if a bug plugin installed or having the weak admin password. With the help of best security software, a blogger can protect WordPress site and can come out from fear of hacking. Visit my different article to find out the list of most popular WordPress Security Plugins.
Check: Top 5 Security Plugins
Best Email Marketing Plugins:
Selling a product through a blog is common these days. Almost all bloggers take the help of their websites to sell third party products or services and known as affiliate marketers. If you do so then you should do email marketing. In the email Marketing, a blogger suggests readers subscribe the blog for related coming article and collect emails through it. Good email marketers can sell a huge number of products to the existing readers through collected emails. There are many ways to collect emails like a comment, popup box, support messages, etc. See the list of top WordPress plugins which help for email marketing.
Check: Top 5 Email Marketing Plugins
Best Login/Signup Plugins:
A blogger can increase readers through best article writing skills and useful information. If your article is interesting for users then they must leave a message through comment box or can be become the future reader by sign-up. There are many ways to collect the information of readers and sign-up is best among all. There are many plugins which help users to log in through Gmail or social sites like facebook. I have written the list of top membership( sign-up/in) WordPress plugins in my another article.
Check: Top 5 Signup Plugins
List of Best Contact Plugins:
To establish communication between users and bloggers is more important which can drive more traffic, increase trust and also increase sales. In general, a reader can ask questions or give suggestion to the owner of the site by filling the contact form. There are thousands of software at WordPress platform and selecting a good one is difficult. I have listed the top WordPress Contact Plugins on the request of many readers, so visit my related article to find out your need.
Check: Top 5 Contact Plugins
Best Website Backup Plugins:
To keep a backup of a blog is necessary for every blogger and that is for preventing loss of data. A blogger would lose some pages, posts or even database of a website due to server errors, hacking or software errors. A good backup can restore all lost files and your website will keep running continue without any loss. I have written a separate related article which lists important plugins and their setup guide to keep a copy of a blog.
Check: Top 5 Backup Plugins
Best Affiliate/Link Cloaker:
Redirecting of a link is kind of cloaking, a cloaking technique is used mostly by affiliate marketers for their purposes. Google also don`t like affiliate links on a page, so it is very important to cloak third party links. A good cloak can also filter the traffic and redirect according to geographical location, type of device, users, etc. A blogger can cloak broken or missing URL to prevent loss of traffic and trust of users by redirection technique. See the list of best cloak WordPress plugins which are popular among bloggers.
Check: Top 5 Link Cloaker Plugins
Top Ad Manager Plugins:
I already said that creating a blog is a good way to make money online. A blogger can earn dollars through advertising on his/her blog or by selling products or services. It is very important to keep a blog clean from advertising links or banners and it can only be possible by putting advertising at an appropriate place without loss of earning. At the WordPress, there are hundreds of plugins which help to serve ads on a blog but knowing a good one is not easier for newbies. I have used many ad manager WordPress Plugins to serve ads on Adsense and another network on my different blogs for a long time and which are a list in the related article.
Check: Top 5 Ad Manager Plugins
Top Stats/Analytics Plugins:
Analysis the result is one of the important facts for future success and it also applied on blogging. To check total traffic stats of a website is useful to make good changes in posts and also for making future strategies. A good plugin can provide enough information like traffic source, location, device used, time on site by the reader, etc. which help a blogger to make important changes accordingly. I tested many WordPress plugins which are enough to provide useful stats of traffic. The listed of best traffic stats software and their setup guide are given in another article.
Check: Top 5 Analytics Plugins
E-commerce, Paypal Donation & Payment Plugins:
These days, a blog is created for making online money rather than providing free information. Everyone wants to make money online by sitting at home and blogging is easier than any others. There are many such people who really don`t know anything about web programming language and running an e-commerce website and that can be possible only through WordPress Plugins. I have written a separate article about top plugins which help to collect online donation or sales payment.
Check: Top 5 Payment Plugins
Best Photo Gallery Plugins:
An article is good looking and also SEO friendly if it contains images. If there are photos with written information is easier and understandable for readers. Putting images at appropriate places in an article is also very important on good layout basis. I have listed the top and popular Photo Gallery WordPress Plugins which help to design a good looking page.
Check: Top 5 Photo Gallery Plugins
Important Tools for Bloggers:
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