When you start a blog, you will need many like tools plugins and software for the proper functioning of your website. Plugins help non-coders to help in the appropriate functioning of their sites. There are thousands of plugins on the WordPress directory. You don’t need them all to grow your blog. Here is the list of best WordPress plugins free to use on your website in the beginning.
What are WordPress plugins?
Plugins are a bit of code that plugin to your existing WordPress site. In simple words, they add functionality to your website or enhance the current functions. Plugins can add new features to your website without you need to change any codes.
Plugins can be used only for wordpres.org websites or self-hosted websites. They cannot be used on websites using wordpress.com.
Where to find these plugins?
Plugins can be found in the directory of WordPress. There are thousands of plugins, but you don’t need all of them. To install the particular plugin, type the name of the plugin you want in the search bar on the Plugin Directory page.
Install the plugin with the single click and then activate it. You don’t need too many steps. If you want to have some plugin that is not in the directory, you have to download the plugin and then upload the zip file. Don’t open the file, use it as it is.
Activate the plugin, and you are done.
Best WordPress plugins free
1. Yoast SEO
This is the first plugin I always install as soon as I start building my blog. This plugin helps in analyzing your SEO efforts and suggesting what you need to do to properly use keywords.
Yoast SEO is highly recommended and is widely used. It is user friendly, and the best part is you will get in-depth tutorials on Yoast blog.
2. Social warfare
This is the plugin for social sharing buttons on your blog post. You should make your posts easily sharable on social media platforms. This can help you get more social media shares on your blog.
Making your content easy to share will help you grow more.
3. Akismet
As your blog grow, you will start getting a lot of comments. It is also normal to get comments from bots that are not genuine. Anyway, you don’t want your site to have spam comments. Having too many spam comments can lead to bad user experience
Akismet is the plugin that will keep comments from publishing on your website before you moderating the comments.
4. Cookie notice
By law, you have to inform your readers that you use cookies on your website. Cookie notice is required by law, and you should inform your readers that your website uses cookies. Telling them with a cookie notice is the easiest way.
Cookie notice is a simple plugin that will do the required work. You have to mention it in your privacy policy also.
5. Wp rocket
Wp rocket is a caching plugin. The cache ( pronounced cash) makes your browser remember the temporary files. When someone visits your website, again and again, the menus, images, headers, etc., will be recognized from the earlier visit. They don’t have to load each time.
In other words, it makes your site load faster and thus provides a better user experience.
6. WP forms
You need a contact form on your website, for if someone wants to reach out to you, they can easily do so.
The best part is it is free, and you can have a contact form ready in a few minutes.
7. Shortpixel
As bloggers, we love t use images on our blog posts. Nobody likes long forms of text-only without any photos. The problem is that images can make your site load slow. Which means you have to do everything to keep your site load faster.
Always create the right size images in JPG format instead of PNG. JPG images have a smaller size as compared with PNG.
Shortpixel can further help to compress the image without diluting the quality.
8. Updraft plus
This is the plugin you need for regular and automated backups of your site. It is a high ranking and most used plugin for backups and restoration. Backups are required even if your website host says that backup is done. You have to have little control over the backups of your website.
Updraft Plus is WordPress, so you don’t have to worry about the compatibility.
You may require your backups if your website gets hacked or something goes wrong. Having a backup will not let you lose your hard work.
9. Word defense
Word defense helps to keep your website safe from hackers. If the hackers get to your site and try to hack it, word defense will help you by limiting the login limits.
After three login attempts, your site is locked, and you will get an email about the issue. You can then change the password and make it more difficult to guess.
These are very basic and simple plugins you will need for your website to function correctly. Having a few plugins can actually help you create a better website, whereas having too many plugins can make your site load slower and negatively impact the user experience.
These are the only WordPress plugins you should have on your website for proper functioning.
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