There are many reasons why WordPress is the world’s favourite content management system (CMS). It’s incredibly easy to build a website or e-commerce store without needing a background in web design or development, it has readily-available themes to help you get set up quickly, and there are thousands of resources out there to help you with the ins and outs.
But one of the best things about WordPress is that you can adapt the platform to your needs with plugins. For a small business or entrepreneur, WordPress plugins allow you to create a professional business website in next to no time. For example, WooCommerce turns your WordPress site into an online store, and other plugins enable you to add helpful features like anti-spam, security and SEO. You can even add an appointment scheduler, your start-up timeline, and website health checker. (Read more about that here.)
However, with so many options available, figuring out which ones to use can be tricky and time-consuming. To help you get started, we’ve prepared a guide to help you understand plugins, and which ones are essential to install on your site.
An introduction to WordPress plugins
While WordPress includes the basic features you need to create your website, its plugins and themes make it flexible and customisable. In short, a plugin adds additional functionality or features to your WordPress site.
Adding a plugin to WordPress is easy. Simply locate the plugin by searching for it in your dashboard under Plugins > Add New. You can also download a plugin’s ZIP file from the WordPress Plugin Directory or another online market.
Regardless of which method you choose, you can finish adding your new plugin by clicking on the Install and Activate buttons as they appear. The plugin will then become visible in your dashboard’s Plugins list.
The WordPress Plugin Directory includes over 50,000 free options to choose from. Plus, it provides information that can help you evaluate each plugin’s quality. It’s a good idea to look at a plugin’s star ratings, reviews, the number of downloads, update history, and if it is compatible with your version of WordPress: this information can be used to indicate the plugin’s quality. There are also a few key plugins that can improve nearly any website.
However, it’s important to note that some plugins can cause compatibility errors. To be safe, test each plugin in a staging environment, and back up your site before installing a new one.
Finally, remember to always keep your plugins up-to-date. Failing to do so could result in security issues, errors, or other problems for your site. Automated updates are a smart way to make sure that your plugins are always updated.
5 essential plugins for WordPress users
Your site probably has specific needs that will point you towards using certain plugins. However, some key tools are beneficial to just about any website.
Let’s look at five of them.
1. Jetpack
Created by Automattic, the company that runs WordPress.com, Jetpack is an all-in-one plugin designed to help improve your site in a variety of ways. It’s one of the most frequently downloaded plugins and includes security and performance features, as well as daily backups to help secure your site.
Jetpack also provides a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for videos and other media files, to keep your site’s speed up. Plus, you’ll gain access to website analytics, a high-quality advertising program, and more.
2. Akismet Anti-Spam
No one likes to see spam comments. They degrade the quality of your site, hurt your users’ experience, and may even damage your site’s search engine rankings. Akismet Anti-Spam can help you filter out spam comments, so they never make it to your blog posts.
WordPress was created for publishing posts, and many WordPress sites are used for sharing content and discussing it via comments. By stopping spam before it happens, you can improve your comments section and help your users build a high-quality online community.
3. Wordfence
No site owner wants their site broken into, its data stolen, or any other sort of security breach to occur. Installing a security plugin such as Wordfence can help keep your site and your users’ data safe from malicious hackers.
Wordfence includes a firewall, a security scanner, and other features to prevent attacks that could destroy your WordPress site. However, bear in mind that too many plugins can lead to slower loading times, so it might be a better option to choose an all-inclusive security solution like Cloudbric WAF.
4. Yoast SEO
SEO is vital to the success of any website. In order to gain visitors, you need your site to rank well in search engines, and on-page SEO can help it do that. Yoast SEO provides handy SEO tips right in the WordPress editor, to help you maximise the potential of every post and page.
Over five million WordPress users have installed Yoast to improve the quality and visibility of their content.
5. W3 Total Cache
Site speed is very important. Not only does a faster website have less chance of losing visitors, it’s also likely to rank better in search engines. Caching, the practice of making static copies of your pages that can be displayed to visitors more quickly, is a WordPress performance best practice.
There are many plugins available to enable caching for your site. W3 Total Cache is one of the best, with almost 3,000 five-star ratings in the WordPress Plugin Directory. It’s a must-have if you want to ensure the fastest possible loading times for your site.
Putting it all together
While the overwhelming volume of WordPress plugins available can make them seem intimidating, in reality, they’re easy to use and can help you customise your site to fit your exact needs. With some careful consideration, you can use plugins to handle your site’s most essential tasks.
To recap, our recommendations for the five most crucial WordPress plugins include:
- Jetpack
- Akismet Anti-Spam
- Wordfence
- Yoast SEO
- W3 Total Cache
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