5 Must-Have WordPress Plugins for Every Website or Blog!
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If you have a WordPress website or blog, or are thinking of starting one, here are 5 Must-have plugins that every website should have!
All of these plugins are completely free and can help you get your website more traffic, more customers, and more security from hackers and accidental crashes.
If you’re on the fence about starting a WordPress site, watch this video to see how powerful the WordPress platform can be.
Stay tuned.
Direct Links to Plugin Downloads
(Security) iThemes Security: https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-wp-security/
(Backups) UpdraftPlus: https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/
(Contact Us) Contact Form 7: https://wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/
(Email Marketing) SumoMe: https://wordpress.org/plugins/sumome/
(SEO) Yoast SEO: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/
*Video has been transcribed below for readers*
Hey what’s up guys! ODi Productions here from How2makeWebsite.com, your #1 online resource for helping you create your first website both easily and affordably.
Today I’ll be sharing 5 Must-have plugins for every WordPress website or blog. I love each and every one of these plugins and as a professional web developer, they’re the first things I download on every new WordPress install. They’re that great, and the best part of all, they’re completely free to download and start using.
For those unfamiliar with plugins, these are basically packages of code that you can add to your WordPress website to add functionality, such as a contact form, e-mail signups, etc. Think of plugins like extensions to your website, taking WordPress from a simple blog to an actual traditional website.
To install a new plugin, simply go to “Plugins” on your left sidebar, then click “Add New”. From here you can search up the name of the plugin in the search bar, then finally, click “Install Now”.
Now to save you some time, you can click the link in the description below for a resource page that directly links to all 5 of these plugins for instant access and download. Remember, they’re completely free so you can pick and choose whichever ones you want, and immediately start using them.
Okay so without further ado, let’s jump into the first plugin.
1. Security: iThemes Security
Direct Link to iThemes Security: https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-wp-security/
The first plugin is a security plugin called iThemes Security.
I think that security should be the first priority for every website or blog, no matter how big or small.
This plugin is going to make your WordPress site much more secure, preventing hackers from breaking into your account and stealing confidential information, or even worse, deleting your website entirely.
What iThemes Security does is add multiple layers of security, such as blocking the IP addresses of any brute-force hackers trying to log into your admin account. For example, if someone tries to log into your account 5 times without success, it will block their IP address from accessing the website again.
As great as the WordPress platform is, it can be quite vulnerable in stock form. Once you add a plugin like iThemes Security, however, then you add some much-needed protection through multiple layers of security protocols.
2. Backup Plugin: UpdraftPlus
Direct Link to UpdraftPlus: https://wordpress.org/plugins/updraftplus/
Tying in with the theme of security, our second plugin allows you to backup your website and files, so in case anything happens to your servers, or if your website crashes, you can restore it at the click of a button.
My preferred backup plugin of choice is called UpdraftPlus.
Another potential vulnerability of WordPress is that it’s mostly an online platform. What this means, is that all the work and content and customization that you do is stored exclusively on a web server. Now the issue is, and I’ve learned this the hard way, is that sometimes servers crash and you can lose everything you worked for.
Don’t learn the hard way, download UpdraftPlus and schedule regular backups every week. You can even link a free Dropbox account so that your backups automatically get sent to your Dropbox account.
3. Contact Form Plugin: Contact Form 7
Direct Link to Contact Form 7: https://wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/
Our third plugin is a simple yet effective contact us plugin, and the most popular one is Contact Form 7.
Now I know it seems like common sense, but everyone should have a contact us form or page on their website so viewers or potential customers can reach you via email.
You can customize the form fields to ask for certain info such as Name, Email, Phone Number, Subject, etc. Then you can implement this contact form on any page by copying and pasting the Shortcode onto a page’s text box.
It’s that easy.
4. E-mail Signups: SumoMe
Direct Link to SumoMe: https://wordpress.org/plugins/sumome/
Now these last 2 plugins are going to focus on the marketing side of things so you can get more customers and more traffic.
Our fourth plugin allows you to collect e-mail signups through various methods, and it is my favorite plugin on this list.
The plugin I’m referring to is called SumoMe, which is actually a bundle of plugins by one company.
SumoMe is unique because it actually contains a suite of plugins you can activate on your website. The main goal of SumoMe plugins is to collect visitor e-mails through various opt-in forms such as List Builder and Welcome Mat.
List Builder is your typical pop-up e-mail collector, that creates a dialogue box asking your visitor to sign up for updates.
Welcome Mat is more unique in that it adds a full-screen pop-up that really captures your visitors’ attention.
Building your e-mail list is one of the most powerful marketing tools for capturing your customers and audience. Email gives you a direct line to your customers so you can promote your products or services.
SumoMe also integrates with all of the top e-mail marketing software such as MailChimp, Aweber, and much more.
There’s no better way to start collecting e-mails from Day 1 than SumoMe.
5. Search Engine Optimization: Yoast SEO
Direct Link to Yoast SEO: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/
Our fifth and final plugin is for SEO, or Search Engine Optimization.
The best SEO plugin for WordPress is made by the company Yoast.
For those who are unfamiliar with SEO, the basic concept is that you can rank higher on the Google search rankings by focusing on certain keywords and incorporating these keywords into your page’s title, description, and content.
If you rank high enough, you can receive massive amounts of organic traffic from people searching for that keyword.
Yoast allows you to edit any page’s meta title and description so you can focus on your keyword of choice.
Yoast also analyzes your entire page and provides very helpful suggestions on how to improve SEO readability.
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