Are you tired of scouring the internet for the perfect plugins to enhance your WordPress website? Look no further! We’ve done the hard work for you and put together a list of the 7 essential plugins that every WordPress website needs.
Wait, before you go plugin crazy, remember that they can affect your site’s performance. So be sure to check out our other blog post for tips on optimising your site and avoiding mistakes. “Optimising WordPress for SEO”
Without further ado, let’s dive into the must-have plugins that will take your WordPress site to the next level!
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a powerhouse eCommerce plugin for WordPress, used by over 810 million websites! It’s packed with all the essential features you need to create a fully functional online store.
Developed by the talented folks at Automattic, the same company behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, and other popular services, WooCommerce has solidified its position as the go-to option for eCommerce sites.
But wait, there’s more! To really supercharge your WordPress eCommerce site, we suggest using additional plugins like:
- Order Delivery Date – this a free plugin for WooCommerce that enables customers to select a preferred delivery date during the checkout process.
- FunnelKit – makes it easy to build sales funnels and add eCommerce automation to WordPress
- Octolize Flexible Shipping – with this plugin, you can set up custom shipping rates based on the weight, subtotal, destination, and more.
- Stripe for WooCommerce – makes it super easy to accept credit card payments, as well as add Google Pay, Apple Pay, and other popular payment methods to your website.
Don’t be afraid to experiment and find the perfect combination of plugins that work for your unique business needs.
With WooCommerce, the possibilities are endless, and the sky’s the limit when it comes to creating a thriving online store. So what are you waiting for? Start building your dream eCommerce site today!
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is a powerful plugin that is designed to help improve your website’s search engine optimization (SEO).
It offers a variety of features and tools that can help make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your website, and ultimately help increase your website’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Here are some reasons why you may want to consider using Yoast SEO:
- Simplifies the process of optimising your content for search engines: Yoast SEO makes it easy to optimise your content for search engines by providing real-time feedback and suggestions as you create your pages and posts.
- Helps improve your website’s visibility: By optimising your content for search engines, Yoast SEO can help improve your website’s visibility in search results and increase traffic to your site.
- Provides analysis and suggestions for improving your website’s performance: Yoast SEO provides a range of features that can help improve your website’s performance, including XML sitemaps, meta descriptions, and breadcrumbs.
- Offers a range of customization options: Yoast SEO allows you to customise a range of settings and options to suit your needs and preferences.
Overall, Yoast SEO is a powerful tool that can help improve your website’s SEO and performance.
By using the plugin’s features and following best practices for optimising your content, you can help increase your website’s visibility and attract more visitors to your site.
WP Fastest Cache
WP Fastest Cache is a caching plugin for WordPress that helps improve website speed and performance. The plugin works by creating static HTML files of your website’s pages and posts and serving those files to visitors, rather than generating pages dynamically with each request.
When a visitor accesses a page on your website, the plugin checks whether a cached version of the page already exists. If it does, the cached version is served to the visitor, which can significantly reduce the amount of time it takes for the page to load.
- Browser caching: This feature allows your website’s pages to be cached on the visitor’s browser, which can reduce the amount of time it takes for the page to load on subsequent visits.
- GZIP compression: This feature compresses your website’s files, reducing their size and improving page load times.
- Minification: This feature removes unnecessary characters from your website’s code, reducing file size and improving page load times.
- CDN support: WP Fastest Cache is compatible with content delivery networks (CDNs), which can further improve website speed and performance.
Overall, WP Fastest Cache is a useful tool for improving website speed and performance, particularly for websites with a lot of content or high levels of traffic.
However, it is important to note that caching plugins can sometimes conflict with other plugins or website features, so it is important to test your website thoroughly after installing WP Fastest Cache to ensure that everything is working as expected.
Elementor
Elementor is a brilliant page builder plugin for WordPress that’s taking the web design world by storm! With over 5 million active instals, it’s quickly become the go-to choice for creating stunning, responsive websites with ease.
One of the biggest benefits of Elementor is its user-friendly interface, which allows users to drag and drop elements onto their pages and see the changes in real-time. You don’t need any coding knowledge to use it, which makes it an accessible option for beginners and seasoned designers alike.
Elementor also comes with a vast library of pre-designed templates and blocks, making it super easy to create a beautiful website in minutes. And if you want even more design options, you can access the extensive library of third-party add-ons, such as Ultimate Addons for Elementor, that further enhance your design capabilities.
Here are some of the best features of Elementor that Bastion really loves:
- Intuitive drag-and-drop interface: With Elementor, you can create beautiful, professional-looking websites without any coding knowledge. The drag-and-drop interface makes it easy to add and arrange elements like text, images, and widgets.
- Huge selection of pre-designed templates: Elementor comes with hundreds of pre-designed templates that you can use to create a website quickly and easily. These templates cover a wide range of industries and niches, so you’re sure to find one that fits your needs.
- Customisable widgets: Elementor has a large library of customizable widgets that you can use to add functionality to your website. These widgets include everything from contact forms and social media icons to pricing tables and image galleries.
- Responsive design: All Elementor templates and widgets are designed to be responsive, meaning they will look great on any device, whether it’s a desktop computer, tablet, or smartphone.
- Theme builder: With Elementor Pro, you can create custom headers, footers, and other templates for your WordPress theme. This makes it easy to create a cohesive design across your entire website.
- WooCommerce integration: Elementor integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, making it easy to create beautiful, high-converting product pages and sales funnels.
- Regular updates and new features: The Elementor team is constantly updating and improving the plugin, with new features and functionality being added regularly. This means you can be confident that your website will always be up-to-date and cutting-edge.
Overall, Elementor is an incredibly powerful and flexible tool for creating beautiful, high-performing websites. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or a complete beginner, you’re sure to find something to love about this plugin.
Akismet
Ah, Akismet! The superhero of WordPress plugins that helps you fight off evil spam comments and keep your website’s comment section squeaky clean! It’s like having a personal bouncer for your website, keeping out unwanted guests who are trying to sneak in and leave spammy comments.
Imagine your website’s comment section is a party, and Akismet is the bouncer at the door, making sure only legitimate comments get through. No more sifting through endless comments advertising suspicious products or services, or dealing with bots trying to hijack your website. Akismet saves you time and energy, so you can focus on what you do best – creating amazing content and engaging with your audience.
So, why do you need Akismet? Well, because nobody likes spam, and it’s a menace that can quickly ruin the user experience on your website. Akismet is your trusty sidekick that helps you fight spam and keep your website’s comment section tidy, so you can create a welcoming environment for your readers and engage with them without any distractions.
With Akismet by your side, you can enjoy peace of mind, knowing that your website is protected from spam comments, and you can focus on creating amazing content and building a vibrant online community.
And the best part? Akismet works silently in the background, without bothering you with constant alerts or notifications. It’s a definite must have if you website features a comment section.
WP Forms
Gone are the days of complex form-building processes that require coding skills or hours of frustration. WPForms comes to the rescue with its intuitive drag-and-drop form builder that makes creating forms as easy as pie. You can whip up contact forms, registration forms, survey forms, and more in just a few clicks, without needing to be a tech wizard.
But that’s not all! WPForms also comes equipped with built-in captcha integration, which helps you fight off those pesky bots and spammers trying to infiltrate your forms. Say goodbye to unwanted form submissions and hello to peace of mind with WPForms’ powerful captcha feature.
And if you’re worried about making your forms look good, fear not! WPForms comes with stunning pre-designed templates that you can customise to match your website’s style effortlessly. No more bland and boring forms that put your visitors to sleep! With WPForms, your forms will be eye-catching and engaging, making your website’s user experience top-notch.
And if you’re worried about making your forms look good, fear not! WPForms comes with stunning pre-designed templates that you can customise to match your website’s style effortlessly. No more bland and boring forms that put your visitors to sleep! With WPForms, your forms will be eye-catching and engaging, making your website’s user experience top-notch.
UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus is your trusty companion that makes website backups a breeze. With just a few clicks, you can schedule automatic backups of your entire website, including your files, database, themes, plugins, and more. And guess what? You don’t need to be a tech genius to use it! UpdraftPlus’s user-friendly interface makes it easy for anyone to set up and manage their website backups without any hassle.
UpdraftPlus offers a variety of backup storage options, including popular cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, and more. You can choose where to store your backups and easily restore them whenever you need to, making it a breeze to recover from any website mishaps.
Let’s talk about security! UpdraftPlus takes data protection seriously, offering encryption options to keep your backups safe and secure. Plus, with its easy-to-use migration feature, you can effortlessly clone or transfer your website to a new location, making website migration a breeze.
UpdraftPlus is like a backup guardian angel that’s always looking out for your website’s well-being. It’s a must-have plugin for any WordPress website owner who values peace of mind and wants to ensure their website is protected at all times.
One Last Thing
As we wrap up, we hope you found this overview of essential WordPress plugins helpful. WPForms, Elementor, UpdraftPlus, WooCommerce, Akismet, WP Fastest Cache, and Yoast SEO can greatly enhance your website’s functionality, design, security, performance, and SEO.
If you’re interested in learning more about WordPress tips and tricks, be sure to check out our other related blogs. We have segments dedicated to providing valuable insights and guidance on various aspects of WordPress, from optimising your website’s performance to leveraging advanced features and techniques.
Thank you for joining us on this journey, and we look forward to sharing more informative and engaging content with you in the future. Stay tuned for our upcoming blogs, and feel free to explore our other segments for more valuable resources. Goodbye for now, and happy WordPressing!
