5 Must-Have WordPress Plugins

Date of Update: 09-21-2016

1. SEO Plugin

One of the most important things about having a website for your business is making SEO a priority. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, ensures your website has a high-ranking placement in search results from places like Google or Bing.

When you have a website built with WordPress, there are plugins that will make SEO easier. Two of the best SEO plugins I’ve found are WordPress SEO by Yoast and All In One SEO. Both of these plugins give you the ability to add SEO title, meta descriptions and meta keywords to every post and page on your site.

WordPress SEO by Yoast has a preview of the Google snippet so you can see exactly what users will see when searching for your site.

In addition to automatically generating meta data, All In One SEO has the benefit of linking up directly with Google Analytics. This is a big timesaver and a must have for eCommerce sites.

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2. Sitemap Plugin

Having a sitemap for your page is one more thing that helps to boost your rankings. And if you decide to use WordPress SEO by Yoast, you’ll be able to use their built in sitemap generator.

If you’re not a fan of SEO by Yoast, or if you would rather use a stand alone plugin, fear not. There are several other sitemap generator plugins available. I happen to like Google XML Sitemaps plugin. It gives you a quick, auto generated, easy to use XML sitemap for your site.

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3. Caching Plugin

You may be wondering what caching is and why you need it. The cache for a site is an area in the computer that stores recently used information. So when your site is loaded through a browser on someone’s computer, if it’s available, the cached version is loaded. This makes your site load much faster.

My favorite caching plugin is W3 Total Cache. This plugin was specifically designed to increase the user experience and improve load times. The only downside to this plugin is the massive amount of settings. New or novice users may be confused by the settings and therefore feel intimidated. For a more easy-to-use option, I would go with WP Super Cache. This plugin still has all the advantages of a caching plugin, but is super easy to use. The quick install and configuration will make novice users feel much more comfortable.

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4. Security Plugin

As a website owner, you should definitely be concerned with security. Like any other asset, you want to make sure your investment is safe and being watched. Using a security plugin helps to do this. While not all security plugins are easy to use, some make site monitoring very simple.

My personal favorite is Wordfence. This plugin does pretty much what the title implies, it puts a security fence up around your site. With constant monitoring, this plugin allows you to see who is visiting your site, where they are from, and what they are doing. It allows you to block users who try to maliciously log into your site and you can even see live traffic. There is both a free and paid version of this plugin.

Secondarily, I would recommend All In One WP Security & Firewall. This plugin uses a grading system to let you know where your site is lacking in security. The three levels of security auditing allow you to make changes as simple as monitoring user accounts to database management. Novice users will want to use caution when installing this plugin. Changing some of the features can ultimately impact the site stability. So it’s best to ensure you know what you’re doing before changing any of the settings.

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5. Backup Plugin

Making backups of your site should be part of your regular maintenance routine. There are several reasons backups can be useful, but the most important one is to protect your site in the event it is compromised. The worst thing to happen is to have put so much time and effort into building your perfect site, and then it disappears overnight.

BackWPup is a great plugin that allows you to create backups of your site and store them or send them to various locations. BackWPup is a free plugin so the capabilities end at backups, but it does allow you to schedule backups based on a specific frequency.

Personally, I like All In One WP Migration. As a plugin it was designed to make site transitions easy, but it’s great to use as a backup plugin. The big plus is that it makes backing up your site a one-click process. And if you ever need to import your backup to recover your site, it’s also a one-click process. The only downside to using this plugin is that there are no scheduled backups. You’ve got to go into the plugin and create the backup yourself. If you are a seasoned webmaster, remembering to backup your site is like second nature. But if you are a novice, using something with scheduled backups may be the best route to take.

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