This post may contain affiliate links. Anyone who is putting together a WordPress website or considering doing so is invariably faced with the question of plugins. For those building their first WordPress website or new to WordPress the plugin ecosystem can seem overwhelming. We break down the basics of WordPress plugins and give you our baker’s dozen of the top 13 WordPress plugins that can help solve some basic tasks, supercharge your WordPress website and keep it secure.
So what are WordPress Plugins?
Plugins are add-ons (as they are called by Wix) or extensions (as they are called by SquareSpace) that allow your WordPress website do more than it can do out-of-the-box. Plugins help make WordPress such a powerful platform. It is hard to believe now, but remember, WordPress was originally built as a blogging platform. Since then, developers have created plugins to allow users to do things like view your social feed, view events and purchase tickets and shop directly from your WordPress websites. In addition, developers have created plugins that make WordPress websites faster, more secure and some that make the lives of WordPress developers easier. (A hearty “thank you” from us to you!) Note that whether you are on the WordPress.com platform or using the open source WordPress.org version, there are plugins for both. Bear in mind that the plugins differ and if you are on WordPress.com, availability will differ depending on the plan in which you subscribe. If you have specific needs for your website, you may want to check to make sure you have the version of WordPress or plan that supports the integrations and plugins you need. **Also Read: [The Differences Between WordPress.com and WordPress.org](https://www.trivessa.com/blog/the-differences-between-wordpress-com-and-wordpress-org/)**
There Are WordPress Plugins for That
You may be sitting in front of your WordPress website thinking about a function you want to add, or something you would like WordPress to automate for you. If you’ve thought of it, there is no doubt someone else has thought of it too. And a plugin developer was surely right behind with a plugin.
Sometimes Less Is More
Our mantra with plugins is “less is more” and the reason is two-fold. The first reason is speed and the second reason is security. We try to keep the number of plugins down to just those that are really needed and we delete any that are not being used. Not just deactivated, but deleted. They can always be added back later, if needed. The reason to delete them is that they can slow down your website and ones that are not updated can be open doors for security breaches.
How To Choose WordPress Plugins
With over 58,000 plugins, many of them perform the same or similar functions. So how do you choose? Like buying anything online, yes, you can look at the reviews, but there are other factors to consider.
1. Downloads. How many others have downloaded the plugin? A plugin with thousand of downloads with lots of great reviews means that it is basically being tested and evaluated on thousand of websites everyday.
2. Updates. Has it been a long time since the plugin was last updated? That may be a red flag that the developer has abandoned the plugin. Every time WordPress gets updated, plugins will likely need to be updated as well. Plugins that are not keeping up with WordPress may work for only a short time and you may need to seek an alternative soon.
3. Compatibility. Is the plugin compatible with the current version of WordPress? An easy way to find out is by searching for it from within the Plugins tab within WordPress (known as the WordPress repository). It will clearly state If it is “Compatible with your version of WordPress” or it will say “Untested with your version of WordPress.” Consider the latter along with the last time it was updated. Those two combined can signal an abandoned plugin.
4. Free trial or sandbox demo. Many plugin developers will provide a free trial period or a sandbox demo website. These are great ways to decide if the plugin is going to solve your need without committing to the purchase of the plugin. This is really helpful if your website has a specific need. In lieu of these, the next best thing is a full money-back window such as seven or 14 days to try it out.
5. And of course, user reviews. Make sure to read some of the reviews, not just look at the overall score. Even the one star reviews. Sometimes they are deserving and sometimes they aren’t. Are the one star reviews really old? Did the developer respond to the issues and correct the problems? Sometimes the issues have been rectified and the plugin is four or five-star worthy, but the one star reviews remain dragging down the overall score.
Which WordPress Plugins Does Your Website Need?
This is one of those situations where “it depends” – and it truly does, depending on the functionality and integrations your website needs. We have listed some great plugins we have used either on our own website or on client websites that are useful across a number of different functions.
1. Yoast Premium – for SEO.
If you are new to SEO, there is a bit of a learning curve on terminology, but otherwise this one is very easy to use. Yoast walks you through how to set up your on-site SEO and provides tons of support documentation and tutorials. They also provide great resources and tutorials on SEO.
2. WooCommerce – for eCommerce.
Want to add shopping to your WordPress website? Then WooCommerce is the way to go, hands down. Once installed, it is super intuitive, flexible and powerful. Use their CSV uploader to make the product import process a breeze. You can set up an online store to sell a few items or run an eCommerce powerhouse. And there are additional plugins that compliment WooCommerce to provide additional functionality beyond the basic storefront.
3. WP Forms – for sign up & contact forms
WP Forms is a great form builder plugin, and so much more. You can use it for contact forms, surveys, booking inquiries and more. There are a lot of forms plugins out there, but we have found this one to be super easy to use, has the most value for the price and provides additional helpful features.
4. Tablepress – for creating tables
If you need to present data in table format, you don’t want to set that up by hand. This plugin will allow you to set up and format beautiful tables in WordPress with data imported from sources such as Excel.
5. Strong Testimonials – for adding testimonials
An easy-to-use plugin to collect, feature and format testimonials on your website. We like the various layouts that it offers and the ability to customize how the testimonials appear – from their quote marks to a carousel feature.
6. The Events Calendar – for featuring events
A great way to share information on upcoming events. The free version provides a simple calendar page for your website. With the paid version, you get a number of layouts that can be embedded into an existing page. It also works in tandem with WP Forms – events can be added using a front-end form so team members don’t have to log into the back-end of the website.
Also Read: Why Every Small Business Needs a Website
7. Wordfence – for security
This is kind of a Swiss-army knife plugin that does a number of handy and important functions. Wordfence performs malware scanning and protection against brute-force attacks. It also alerts you/your developer when plugins need to be updated for websites that cannot do auto-updates.
8. Akismet – for filtering spam comments
If you decide to allow comments on your WordPress site, be prepared for spam comments. You can moderate the comments, but that can become cumbersome if your blog posts get a lot comments. Working in the background, Akismet filters out the comments that it believes to be spam. Askimet key subscriptions are free for personal blogs and paid levels are available for businesses and commercial websites.
9. Smash Balloon – to show your social feed
Want to display your Instagram or other social feed to your website? SmashBalloon is a great option. It offers Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. Note that you do have to check your feed on your website occasionally as social feeds can break. This is generally due to passwords, logins and security with the social networks.
10. GiveWP – for fundraising
GiveWP turns a WordPress website into a full-fledged fundraising platform. The basic plugin is free and provides a lot of functionality. Pair it with a form plugin to create a peer-to-peer solution. We did it with both WP Forms (using the Pro version for post submissions) and Ninja Forms (using the Front-End Posting extension).
11. Sucuri – for security
Security is so important and while cost can be a concern for small businesses owners, the cost of not having a secure website is far greater. This plugin protects your website from malware, brute force attacks, and other possible attacks. In addition, they offer a CDN (content delivery network) to help improve website speed.
12. Yith – for adding power to WooCommerce
We have used a number of their plugins in tandem with WooCommerce. Yith makes a variety of useful WooCommerce add-on plugins. And, we love that they have a live sandbox that allows you to try any and all of their plugins for an hour (with extra time allowed). And their support is top notch!
13. Divi – for building WordPress websites
There are two types of Divi – the Divi Builder which is their full blown theme builder. But there’s also the Divi plugin which gives you the ability to use Divi with any theme. We love Divi because of the variety of the ease of use and flexibility. Some may say there’s a bit of a learning curve, but that’s true of WordPress in general.
That’s our handy baker’s dozen of handy, useful and important plugins. With 58,000+ plugins, no list can ever be comprehensive. There are some really niche plugins and some that lean more toward developer tools. If you have any questions about a particular plugin and need some guidance, objective assistance or help installing one, feel free to reach out.
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