This post about plugins may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure for more info.
Wordpress can be a little frustrating at times, especially when your blog doesn’t look like the way you want it to. Then you begin to question everything, from your skills in computers to modern technology development.And if you’re like me, who at the very beginning stage of blogging didn’t knew what on earth are plugins, welcome to the mystery!
So…What are plugins?
Plugins are the tools that you use on your blog to make it more customizable, readable, easily sharable. In short, more user-friendly and professional looking!
It’s like putting makeup on your blog. haha!
To go to your plugins menu, Click on “Plugins” on the left side of the screen. And click to “Add New”.
There are thousands of plugins for WordPress out there which you can use to customise your blog.
BUT…. don’t ever install each and every plugin you see as because excessive plugins on your blog can dramatically slooooow down your website. Resulting in low traffic on your blog, and bad rankings in google. Of course, you wouldn’t want that to your blog!
So without further discussion lets dive right into the Plugins that you’ll need to make your blog look and perform more professionally.
1: Jetpack (Traffic insight tool)
The main feature of Jetpack is that it lets you see in-depth traffic stats on your blog. Don’t you want to know how many people visit your blog today, yesterday, last month? What blog posts they viewed? which links had they clicked on? Of course, you do! We all do!
It also has SEO (Search Engine Optimization), backup and security tools you can use.
To get Jetpack, search for it in the ‘add new’ plugins section of your WordPress Dashboard (on the left) or click the link Get JetPack here
P.S. It’s totally free to use!
2: Sumo
OK! How do I say this, but I Think Sumo is the BEST plugin you can possibly have (at least for me it is!) Sumo lets you add a social media sharer( like Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter etc) integrated to each and every page of your website. An example is given below folks!
Sumo also lets you collect emails from your readers for your email list with an attractive integrated popup where you can offer a freebie or simply ask for their emails. Also, you can collect as many as 500 emails and send everyone emails, all for FREE! (Of course, you can upgrade to collect unlimited emails, Yes U.N.L.I.M.I.T.E.D)
Example below!
Sumo also lets you see in-depth traffic stats if you connect it with Google analytics.
Furthermore, SumoMe integrates with all the major email services (like Convertkit, MailChimp, Aweber etc).
3: Lazy load (increases page loading speed)
Increases the speed of a page loading. Lazy Load doesn’t load the images on your page until someone actually scrolls over them.
As high speed = more time spent on your blog post, higher conversion rates.
Your readers will bounce if your blog took too much time to load.
4: Yoast SEO
This WordPress plugin helps you with basic Search Engine Optimization (You know, The SEO)
Yoast SEO scores your page on how well you used target keywords, internal and external links, image tags, meta descriptions, readability, and other factors that affect your page ranking with Google. By implementing good keyword usage/research (highly searched, long-tailed keywords with the least competition) and including all the ingredients of good metadata, you prime yourself for Google to take notice.
Ummm…What does it mean?
In simple languages, It tells you what your blog post needs to be included so that the overall SEO of your blog is good.
A good SEO = higher ranking on Google, higher page views, higher income.
5: Social Warfare (Social media sharing)
Social Warfare is by far the best plugin for social media sharing. Driving traffic to your blog is hard enough, so why not take the FREE opportunity to convert those traffic into much more traffic by sharing your content on their social media.
Also, the social media hover buttons, which you can set to hover on certain image sizes.And the ability to set which specific image you want to show up when someone DOES share your content.
6: Convertkit (Lead Conversion)
Okay, This plugin, in general, is used for collecting email from potential leads. This Email service provider (ESP) is one of a kind with pure gold quality opt-in templated and integrated automation. Yes, you can send emails to your email list even when you’re sleeping!
The ConvertKit plugin for WordPress allows you to embed simple opt-in forms that capture leads with a simple shortcode.
7: Akismet (spam prevention)
We all hate spam. It’s annoying. It hurts your site’s credibility. Filtering it manually is confusing and time-consuming
Akismet is a simple plugin that analyzes your blog comments and filters out the spam comments (leaving them in a spam folder for you to review it later). This saves you a ton of time, keeps your blog clean, and this plugin is also absolutely FREE.
Search for it in the ‘add new’ plugins section of your WordPress Dashboard or Get Akismet here
8: Grammarly
OK! it’s not actually a plugin, its an extension. But it really helps me to write my blog contents error-free. I am not an English grammar/ spelling specialist, so I am always prone to commit writing mistakes. Grammarly lets you check your spelling, grammar, punctuation, tense and all that deep stuff real time and makes it really easy to correct it.
Crappy spelling and grammar mistakes don’t give out a good impression on your readers. So don’t do that to your self. Even if you think ” I will write my blogs with acute caution”, still there will be minute hidden mistakes.
If it wasn’t for Grammarly, an English professor with OCD will bang his head on the computer.
P.S. Its basic version is FREE!
9: W3 Super Cache ( Increased Page Speed)
Whenever we talk about performance in WordPress, we know caching mechanisms help a lot to save server execution time and reduce the overall load time of a page.
The plugin allows you to serve static HTML to the vast majority of your users.
What benefit does that have? How about reduced bandwidth usage, perceived lag issues, and server load.
Yes, all there technical features and benefits go above my head as well. You just have to know that it improves your overall website performance!
To know about its features and installation process: How to Install and Setup WP Super Cache for Beginners
10: User Profile Picture.
WordPress doesn’t allow users to change their author profile picture natively…WIERD!
User profile plugin overrides the gravatar on WordPress and allows you to upload your own photo.It’s an incredibly simple plugin to customize your user profile picture, and guess what? It is also free. Get User Profile Picture.
Feel free to check my Pinterest Profile out for more tips and suggestions!If you enjoyed this article about WordPress plugins, Let me know in the comments!
If you have any questions, suggestions? let me know, drop a comment!
Original article and pictures take i0.wp.com site
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