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While I’m sure that everybody has their own list of Essential WordPress Plugins, I thought that I’d share mine (and hopefully you’ll share a few of yours in the comments). Always remember that I’m a just a blogger, albeit one with seven years experience, not a WordPress expert, coder or designer. These are plugins that I find essential for security, design, SEO, and social media purposes.
Gosh, I’m not usually that modest. If I haven’t chased you away, here is my list of Essential WordPress Plugins.
My Top 13 Essential WordPress Plugins
I’ve said before that I’m a bit of a plugin junkie. I know that’s a bad thing, but I can’t help myself. If the only downside, though, is that my blog loads a millisecond slower, then I guess it’s something I’ll live with.
I once wrote a list of my six favorite non-essential plugins. If you’ve read it (or if you check it) you might note that some of my non-essentials have developed into essentials. That is because I wrote the post last year, and with more use of those plugins, now I can’t see how I could blog without them.
I should also point out that I use WP Site Care for my WordPress support, so they take care of certain aspects of security and backup, so that I don’t have to deal with it. They’re awesome, by the way. Anyway, a couple of my essential plugins are ones that they installed and use for my blog. I’m including them because everything seems to run just fine.
Essential WordPress Plugins for Security
Wordfence is like a security net for your website. It is a free plugin (with some paid upgrades available, but not really necessary). It scans for viruses, malware, and other suspicious links at regular intervals, then reports any issues. It catches any attacks from potential hackers, and will lock them out after a certain number of attempts. You can also block certain IPs and even entire countries if necessary. You can set your own scan times, and even use Whois to look up suspicious IP addresses. Want to learn more?
Backup Buddy is not free. But at only $80 a year (blogger price), it really is priceless. Seriously, how much is it worth to you to be able to restore your entire site if it crashes? That’s what Backup Buddy can do.
Essential WordPress Plugins for SEO
Yoast SEO makes Search Engine Optimization easy. Most WordPress bloggers have already discovered the necessity of this free plugin (with premium upgrades available), but if you haven’t, get it now. Yoast SEO will tell you what you need to do to have your blog post rank better in search engines, including adding alt tags to photos, setting a meta description, keyword usage, and much more.
Google Site Map by Best Web Soft. It took me a while to get my site mapped properly. I tried it the hard way, tried other plugins, but it was never right. While that certainly could have been user error, when I started using Google Site Map by Best Web Soft it all came together.
Essential WordPress Plugins for Marketing
Sumo has so many tools that it’s hard to know where to start. I currently use the Smart Bar (that bar at the top of my page where you can subscribe to my emails); the Image Sharer, which allows readers to share your photos to social media; the List Builder, that pop-up that encourages you to subscribe. Hopefully, that pop-up only happens every few weeks or so because Sumo also allows you to set it up that way. You can also link to Google Analytics and see real-time traffic on your blog. There are lots of other bells and whistles, some free, some paid, that can help you market your blog.
Essential WordPress Plugins for Genesis
These plugins are specific to the Genesis Framework, so if your theme is not Genesis-driven you can just skip this section.
Genesis Simple Hooks. Have you ever read directions to add code to your blog “before the header,” or “before the closing </head> tag? It can be a little scary to do these things, but Genesis Simple Hooks makes it so easy!
Genesis Design Palette Pro is for blogging do-it-yourselfers like me (and probably for blog designers too!). Genesis Design Palette Pro allows me to make changes in fonts, colors, modify my header or footer, navigation, sidebars, or content area without knowing how to write a single line of code!
Essential WordPress Plugins that keep me sane
This is an all-around category of plugins that make my life easier, save me time, and solve those little blogging problems that the non-experts among us always seem to have.
Anti Spam was one of my non-essentials in my last post, but now it has moved up. Most bloggers use Akismet, which is fine, but I got tired of hundreds of spam messages which, even though they were caught, I still had to check to make sure that nothing fell through the cracks. With Anti Spam I never see any spam, it seems to disappear into cyberspace. It rarely makes mistakes, so my spam folder stays empty.
CoSchedule. I finally took the plunge and signed up for CoSchedule. I told myself if I could consistently use the free WordPress calendar for a while, I deserved to get the best. CoSchedule goes way beyond being an editorial calendar, though. It is also designed to be your social media scheduling hub, and I intend to make the most of all its features.
Change Permalink Helper. Six months ago I decided to change my permalink structure so as not to include the date. My purpose was to make my evergreen content seem more timeless, but it also raised a problem. All those old links floating around needed to be redirected to my new permalinks. The Change Permalink Helper automatically changes all of my old permalinks and I don’t have to worry about it.
Essential WordPress Plugins for Reader Appreciation
Comment Reply Notification has not been updated for a couple years, but it works so well for me that it is still on my essential WordPress plugins list. Have you ever left a long, well-thought-out comment on someone’s blog, never to hear a response? Until you go back a week later and find out that the blogger responded, but you didn’t receive notifiaction about it? Comment Reply Notification puts an end to that. When you reply to someone’s comment, it sends an email. Simple as that.
CommuntLuv lets you share a little love with your commenters by giving them the option of sharing their last blog post. And it’s always nice to share the Comment Luv.
Broken Link Checker has moved up to the essential list with this post. Broken Link Checker monitors your posts, comments, pages, blogroll, and other custom fields for broken links, images, and redirects, and notifies you when it finds them. This is useful for older posts, when old websites have disappeared, or when pages that you may have linked to have changed. It’s much easier than going back through hundreds of old posts to check for bad links. You can fix the problem directly within Broken Link Checker too, so you don’t have to edit a post or delete a comment.
What are your favorite essential WordPress plugins? I always have room for a few more!
This post contains a few affiliate links. While most of these plugins are free, some do have a cost associated, and if you purchase using one of my links I will make a few dollars. Thank you.
My weekly linkups! Please stop by and check out all of the great recipes, workouts, and information that all these awesome bloggers share every week!
Sunday Blog Hop with Jenn
Meatless Monday with Sarah and Deborah
Meatless Monday with Annmarie
Inspire Me Monday with Janice
Anything Goes with Marilyn
Bonnie, the Pin Junkie
Tip Tuesday with Debbie in Shape
Wild Workout Wednesday with Annmarie, Michelle, Sarah, and Angelena Marie
Wednesday Wisdom with Nanna’s Wisdom
The Running Coaches’ Corner with Rachel, Suz, Lora Marie, and Me!
The Blogger’s Pit Stop with Kathleen
Let’s Get Real with Karen.
Friday Fitness with Jill
Fitness Friday with Miranda
I’m always so scared to add any more plugins on my blog for fear that it will slow load time… Or mess up my website because in the past they have!! That being said, I’m super interested in SimpleHooks (cuz wtf is befor & after header stuff lol) & WordFence!
Simple Hooks make life so much easier. And when you use Wordfence you realize how many people are trying to attack your blog (because it sends you emails when it blocks them out).
Yoast is the best plug in! I’m so glad I got that a few years ago because SEO is something I really don’t get but Yoast makes it super easy.
I’m pretty sure that Yoast has taught me all I know about SEO.
I really like wordfence so far! And I switched to Sumo Me from Sharaholic, and I’m digging it. I also have Supercache, which I use to clear things out from time to time.
I have Supercache too and I do the same thing. I almost included it, but the list was getting long and time was getting short.
i want to add commentluv – i love seeing that on other people’s blogs!
It is also good for SEO because it provides links out from your blog. So it’s a win/win!
That change permalink will help me so much! I wanted to change to remove the dates too but then all my links were messed up so I switched back. Super helpful, thank you!
So if I change the permalinks and install that plugin, all my backlinks should be good?
Download the plugin first and it should give you directions. I’m at work, so no access to my computer and I don’t remember exactly how I did it.
Click to tweet is one of my favorites! I’m actually trying to clean up my plugins now because too many is not a good thing.
I love Click to Tweet! I listed it in my non-essential list, but it is pretty important.
ooh some of these are new to me! I need to look into these when I get back from my trip. I love click to tweet so easy to share that way.
I use comment notification, but I just installed it and didn’t do anything with it. I was wondering if you remembered if you needed to configure it?
I have comment luv on my to buy list. Looks great! I love it as a reader of other blogs, because then I find lots of great blogs to read 🙂
I also use supercashe and click to tweet. Great list! Pinned!
Oh use the free version of Comment Luv! That’s all you need. I do. I’m not even sure what you get if you pay!
I’m pretty sure you need to configure comment notification, but I’m at work right now. I’ll take a look later today.
Sorry, your comment ended up in my spam folder ;( Just got it now.
GASP! a free version, off to check that…well ok when I get home.
Thanks for your help!
Comment notification hasn’t orked in a while. Test it on your blog by leaving a comment when you are logged out of admin. Then log back in and reply to your comment and it should send you a notice. Be sure to use a different email address from your admin email.
Comment Reply Notification 1.1.1 works and no setup required.
Well, that’s disappointing to find out. I still get responses from readers when I respond with a question or something that needs a response, so I assumed all was well. So the other one has the same name? I’ll have to check it out. If by chance you actually see this comment can you leave a link? Thanks! 🙂
Sorry, your post is right. What you use is correct. I got confused in the comment section as there is also a plugin without the word reply in it. I have spent two weeks trying to find a good one that looked nice and didn’t take a phd to configure. As they say in the movie, “Carry on!”
With 26 plugins on my blog, I’m a bit obsessive lol. I am on the same page as you with your choices. Yes, I live with the lag they cause too but they are worth it!
I actually have, ahem, a few more than that. 😉 But I agree, totally worth it.
This is such a helpful list Debbie. I luv CommentLuv, the paid version answers comments, stops spam and a few other things, so it can replace a few plugins.
I was looking for an answer plugin though, to recommend to someone, so I have noted the one you mentioned.
It is always good to read reviews about plugins.
Be careful. The paid version does NOT answer comments. It sends a gneric message as a welcome when a commenter leaves a comment the first time. All subsequent comments do not notify a reply was made.
Also Kathleen, you may not see this response since I just found out from Marilyn that Comment Reply Notification no longer works. See the comment above from her. She says there is a Comment Reply Notification 1.1.1 (same name but different apparently), that works without set up.
Debbie – I use some of these, but definitely need to check out others! Thanks for your recommendations! Pinned, tweeted & Stumbled!
I’m pinning this to refer to later. I really, really, want to switch over to WordPress. Blogger just isn’t cutting it for me anymore. It lacks so many important elements, especially when it comes to SEO. This is very helpful!
Great list Debbie! You have some good ones here. Certain share plugins are incompatible with each other. Shareaholic Pinterest isn’t working on most blogs. If another plugin uses pinterest, the pinit call doesn’t work. I don’t know if shareaholic is working on this but try to use it on your blog and see what happens. I tried to pin this from your shareaholic and nothing happened. I havent figured out yet if it is just mobile or all computers. You may want to send support a notice. Anyway, I am pinning from my browser and tweeting your post!
Thanks for all your helpful comments today (even though apparently you may not see this response 🙂 ). The PInterest button is working for me, but it was good to check because I usually use the SumoMe one. I do occasionally have problems pinning from mobile, but usually just blamed it on the circumstance, not the plugin.
Mobile is the death of me when I comment. Shareaholic lately hates it and crashes my browser. Other plugins I have no problem with. Must be something they did in an update that messes with mobile/iPad. Have a better day than I am having! 😉😇
Thanks Debbie for the tip about Change Permalink Helper! I’m in the same position as you were in. My posts have dates on them, and I want to remove them, but the thought of going back and manually fixing everything stopped me in my tracks! I’ll be checking that out! 🙂 Thank you!
It was a life saver! I was afraid of the same thing! I tried another plugin, but it didn’t work right. I haven’t had to worry about a thing with this one.
Pinned this! I use a lot of these. I’ve been thinking about looking into SumoMe, I just hate popups so I’m afraid to take the plunge. I’m going to look into the design palette pro as it sounds just up my alley. Thanks for putting this together.
You don’t have to use the pop up if you don’t want it. Or you can set it to appear every few weeks (or however often you want). I do use the popup, but I also use the bar along the top (can’t remember what it’s called) and the photo sharing. They have other things too, including plain old sharing buttons.
I love reading other people’s favorite plugins. I have to get Genesis Simple Hooks…thank you! I used to be able to find the header in my code, but can’t since switching to Genesis Framework, so I’ve left it alone and gone all kinds of run around routes. This will make my life so much easier. Thank you for sharing your list!
Simple hooks has been so useful! I don’t have to use it very often, but when I need to insert some code somewhere it really is a lifesaver.
nice list of wordpress plugins.i am thinking to use sumome for my blog.
Woot Debbie, this post was among the most clicked. It will be featured on Friday.
I use Updraft for my backups. It’s automatic and a bit cheaper at only $35 per year. I’m trying to love Co-Schedule, but I may go back to Hootsuite and Tailwind. I do like Triberr – the plugin automatically sends all my posts to my Tribes. My tribemates give me a ton of shares on Twitter, but sadly, it doesn’t seem to be making much difference on pageviews. I have simple hooks and site maps, but no clue what to do with them. I think I need to study those a bit more. I do love YARPP – yet another related post and there’s another one that shares my old posts to FB and Twitter, but I can’t think of the name right now. I think I’m going to have to do a post on cool tools that I use for blogging.
Thank you SO much for this great list! I plan on adding several of your suggestions to my blog. Very helpful post.
Congratulations! You post was chosen as my feature for #OverTheMoon! I hope to see you again on Sunday.
I actually downloaded some of these plugins immediately after reading this! Especially commentLuv (which is downloading right now!) seems like such a lovely option!
~ Sofie
Thank you for this information. I have a few of these and was not familiar with many of them. I love to learn new things!
Your blog is really good. I would like to recommend plugins named Avartan Slider which makes website’s more presentable and Blog designer to decorate your Blog.
Avartan Slider: http://goo.gl/jw3rPS
Blog Designer: https://goo.gl/Qpkgpt
Both Plugins are Available in Lite and Pro version.
There is no doubt that These are the must have WordPress plugins for every blogger.
Currently I am using few of them like Yoast SEO, Jetpack, W3 Total Cache, Redirection, Wp Smush.it.
For WordPress security, I am using ” iThemes security ” also known as ” Better WP Security “.
Thanks for sharing this list with us.
Nice list of plugins.
I love WordFence and I think it is the first plugin that has to be installed on a new WordPres site. The guys from https://www.rosehosting.com recommended to me this plugin. It has tons of security features and will keep your WP installation secure. I will test the other plugins listed above on my test WordPress website 🙂
I love all the posts, I really enjoyed, I would like more information about this, because it is very nice.
Thanks for sharing.
Hey Debbie,
Thanks for sharing the list of essential WordPress plugins. I am using few of them, Toast and SumoMe are my favourite.
I am going to check the other too.
Thanks.