The power of WordPress has a lot to do with the fabulous plugins you can get when you install WordPress on your servers (if you are using WordPress.com, this option is not available to you). These are our top 10 Plugins that we use for our WordPress websites. We believe they are absolutely essential for having a successful website that will get your more leads and more sales!
(If you aren’t sure how WordPress works or how plugins work, check out our WordPress Basics course!)
1. Redirection
This plugin is really important for the back end of your website. If you need to change the slug, or the url, of any of your pages, you are going to want to use redirection in order to redirect old urls to new ones so you don’t lose one bit of traffic. The back end is very easy to use, you just copy & paste the old and new url in their spots and you are all set!
2. Broken Link Checker
A broken link is a link that doesn’t go to an active webpage. Broken links are never good to have on your site. This plugin will notify you by email if any link on your site (either on or off the site) goes to a broken link. A great way to make sure you have all your links up to date!
3. WP Super Cache
We have written about WP Super Cache before, and this is an excellent plugin for making your site faster. In this nibble we go into how it actually works. You will want some sort of caching plugin for your website to speed it up (which Google loves!)
4. All in One SEO
All in One SEO is everything you need to optimize your website for search. The settings are great for no indexing areas that may give you repeated content (like category and tag pages) and it allows you to write Meta Titles and Descriptions on each page, which is so essential for SEO!
If you are unsure about what SEO is, then we suggest to check out our free course “The Essentials of SEO“.
5.Imsanity
Many of us don’t realize that size does matter when it comes to images. But it does, and when you upload extremely large images to your WordPress website (or any website for that matter!) it can slow down your loading time and worsen user experience. That is why we were so happy to find Imsanity, which automatically shrinks images when you upload them so you don’t have to. Definitely a must have for all websites.
6. ShareThis
Social is huge and if you don’t have social buttons on your website, you are missing out. ShareThis is a great plugin that not only allows you to put buttons either at the top or bottom of your posts and pages, but it also gives you buttons on the left or right of the page which scrolls down with your users’ browser as they read more. Reminding them to share your awesome content!
7. Akismet
Akismet is one of the few plugins that automatically comes with a WordPress installation, but we noticed that not everyone knows what it is or how to use it. When activated (and you do have to get a key, but can get one for free), it will help stop spam comments. You actually won’t even see spam comments anymore as Akismet will spam them automatically for you. It rarely makes a mistake, and will save you tons of time in the long run.
8. Pretty Link Lite
Pretty Link Lite is one of our new favorite plugins. This is great for marketing, if you are trying to earn money from your website. Instead of having ugly affiliate links that are all but impossible to remember, you will have beautiful urls that you can easily share with your users. Not only that, but it will track how many clicks you get on each link, showing you if your campaign is working or not.
9. Facebook Like Box
Facebook is huge and if you have a fan page, you are going to want to show it off on your website. The Facebook Like Box is an easy way to have people like your fan page on Facebook through your widget area. You can decide whether or not you want streaming (which shows your Facebook posts) or if you want to show off who actually likes your page.
10. Testimonial Widget
Testimonials are a great way to show potential clients who you have already helped and what they got out of your services. This plugin will give you the option to have testimonials rotate through your side bar, showing potential clients how awesome you are to work with!
With these top 10 plugins for WordPress, your website will surely get off the ground running. If you don’t have a website yet and are ready to get started, why not check out our VIP Website Packages in order to get you started with a roaring bang!
