Best WordPress Plugins
The best WordPress plugins add extra functionality an useability to your website or blog. Take a look at some of our “must have” favourites!
What is a Plugin
A plugin is an independently written piece of software which adds additional functionality to a program. A WordPress plugin sits on top of the operating system and adds additional features to the website or blog. It enhances either the end users experience, or the backend system for google or the website owner.
How Many Plugins Should you Have?
This isn’t a straight forward question because every website or blog is different. The best answer I can give is that you should always aim to have the minimum number of plugins running on your site as possible.
A simple website may run on just 5 plugins, where as a recipe blog selling cookbooks may need 20 or more plugins to operate efficiently and safely.
What are the “Must Have” Plug-Ins
Below are the types of Plugins that are needed the most. I have explained when they are used and if they are “must haves” plugins or only needed for specific types of sites.
To add a little bit more context I have also listed the plugins in order of importance. For example, I rate blog security over having a prettier comment section. Then I have given my favourite plugins using examples of both free and paid versions.
WordPress Security Plugins
Security plugins protect your site from becoming a victim to hackers, malware and brute-force attempts at accessing your site. If you are sceptical about the chances of this happening to you, don’t be. Websites come under constant attacks daily, with estimates ranging up to 50 attacks each day per website!!
A good security plugin will mean you will never become aware of these hacking attempts. The plugins are designed to prevent the attacks. Some will even provide security reports.
The 3 plugins I’ve used and loved are the ones I’m highlighting today, in order of ranking:
Wordfence
Free Version – The free versions scans and audits your core files, plugin files, theme files, posts, and comments for suspicious code, incorrect URLs, and spam.
Wordfence performs these scans regularly and automatically. The software will alert you if a threat, vulnerability, or corrupted file is found. It can’t restore any damaged files but it can report on the changes making repairs easier.
Unlike most plugins the free version includes a website firewall and limited login attempts to stop brute force attacks.
Paid Version – The premium version includes comment spam filters, country blocking, more customer support, remote scanning, and two-factor authentication and real time signatures and real time rules. Which ever plugin you choose, free or paid you will be happy with this one. Cost: $119
Securi Security Plugin
Free Version – The software allows you to hardens the existing WordPress software and run scans for common threats, malware monitoring, activity audits.
Paid Version – Provides amazing firewall protection which blocks brute force and malicious attacks from your site. The offer Malware protection and they guarantee to fix at no charge if a problem occurs. This is also a plugin which speeds up you site instead of slowing it down as it provides caching, CDN and serves static content from their servers. Cost $299
Jetpack Security
Free Version – No (not for security)
Paid Version– Provides an easy to use backups, malware scanning, and spam protection system. Includes a “one click “restore which allows you to restore from a back up if needed. Cost $420
WordPress Backup Plugins
Having a backup of your site is important in case your hosts server crashes or comes under attack and data is lost. It’s therefore important to have an up to the moment copy of your site that can be restored quickly.
A WordPress backup plugin will allow you to do this easily. You of course must then choose to save the back up on an alternative server, not on your computer or on your hosts server. Storing the backups on a third-party storage service like Dropbox or Google Drive is much wiser.
Updraft Plus
Free Version- This is one of the most popular free plugins on the web. It creates complete backups which can be scheduled or on demand. The backups can be uploaded directly to google drive, your computer or any other platform.
Should you need to restore a backup it can be done directly from your WordPress backend. I use this plugin
Paid Version – Adds the functionality to clone your website for staging and migrating purposes. Cost $70
Jetpack Backup
Paid Version Only– provides automated daily and real-time cloud backups. The software doesn’t slow the site. If a restoration of data is needed the backup is restored with a few clicks. Cost Unclear as multiple modules must be purchased
WordPress Cache Plugin
A WordPress Cache plugin can drastically reduce load times and speed up your site. This not only makes your visitors happy but is is a key ranking metric for google. They work by generating static HTML files for your visitors, instead of serving up dynamic content with each page load.
Securi Security Plugin
No additional Charge – Sucuri security paid plugin comes with a built-in cache option for your website content, and has enable gzip compression with a click of a button.
This type of option is best they are serving cached content to users before the request has even reached your website! That’s an incredible performance boost.
WP Rocket
Paid Version – After installation it takes just one click for this plug in to start weaving its magic. Running through your WordPress pages to build up the cache, then automatically turning on the correct settings.
Further speed improvements can be made by initialising lazy loading images, CDN support, DNS pre-fetching, minification, and more. WP Rocket is the caching prodram I run on my sites Cost $59 annual
WordPress SEO Plugins
A WordPress SEO plugin helps a user structure the post so it is optimised for the keyword they are hoping to rank for. It also assesses the readability of the content from a users prospective.
Yoast SEO
Free Version– When you download this plugin, the SEO fog clears. Everything becomes as easy as getting a green dot for readability and a green dot for SEO. It even tells you each area that needs improving. Before you know it you will be writing SEO optimised copy without even thinking about it. I have the free version.
Paid Version-In addition to the free version Yoast will also advise if you have dead links on your site and assess content quality and make link suggestions as you write. Yoast will help optimize your site for the right keywords for your users, and provide a previews for sharing on Twitter and Facebook. Cost $99
All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO)
There is no doubt that AIOSEO does absolutely everything you could want an SEO plugin to do. It does everything Yoast does and so much more. It will also act as a social share plug in and features WooCommerce SEO. The Basic plan is $49 per year and has slightly more capabilities than the free Yoast plan.
The real features come when you do up to the next packages. Functionality such as a redirection Manager, 404 Error Tracking, Advanced 404 Management, Internal Link Assistant and Google Search Console Integration are available on some of the more advanced plans. The Plus Plan $99, The Pro Plan $199 and The Advanced Plan Cost $299 There is a lot to love about AIOSEO, but you will have to determine how many features you need.
WordPress Image Optimizer Plugin
An image optimizer compresses images to save load times and server space. You need a plugin that will compress the image will still allowing it to look absolutely perfect and crisp. Readers get a fast website & beautiful images.
Short Pixel Image Optimizer
Free Version – In all testing Short Pixel Image Optimiser was ahead on file compression and quality. You get access to their content delivery system to serve images and the images are lazy loaded, further saving site resources. The only downside to the free plugin is that you can only compress 200 images per month.
Paid Version – If you need to compress a few more images 10,000 will cost $4.99 p/m and you are not locked into a contract, so you can literally just pay for the months you need to upload images. This is the plugin I use.
I don’t think you can beat this plugin, the free and the paid version is the cheapest of any and it set the industry standard for compression and quality.
WordPress Forms Plugin
Forms allow you to collect information from users on your site. This could be to add to a mailing list or to collect information about customer preferences. Most plugins have a “lite version which is free but they are very limited in layouts. Plus you will still need to use an email service to send newsletters, this equals a lot of moving parts.
WP Forms
Free Version-although basic it is beginner friendly and has a drag & drop form builder interface. It includes spam protection and some customising options. Sign ups go to your WordPress dashboard.
Paid Version – If you were going to choose a paid plan I would go for the PLUS version, this includes templates, unlimited forms and submission, includes smart workflows. WP Forms signups integrates with all the main newsletter providers such as Mailchimp and Convert kit, it offers segmentation and tags. Cost $99
Formidable Forms
Free Version-The free version is a great place to get started if you’re a blogger just in need of a few sign up forms. It is very basic, but worth trying out before paying for a plugin.
Paid Version -Formidable Forms is one the easiest to use, yet most advanced WordPress form builders. It has forms which automate quotes, estimates, and payment calculations. It is perfect for the business owner running WordPress. Of course it also has the ability to create your most basic blog forms.
Formidable Forms paid version starts at $39.50 and increases incrementally depending on the functionality you require. The premium plan is a monster of options costing Cost $299
Best Social Media Sharing Plugin
Social media plugins allow easy sharing of content from the website to the various social media platforms. The most common way is via a Share or Like button which is position in a conspicuous position on the page. The main thing to be wary of is that the plugin you choose doesn’t slow down your site as they can be very draining of resources.
Social Warfare
Paid Version – This plugin has all the features you want. It lets you control what people share on social media & how they share it. All the top social networks inc Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Tumblr, Flipboard, email & Mix. It includes floating share buttons, share count tally and popular post widgets. Social Warfare has been one of my favourite plugins. Cost $29 p/y
Grow Social
Free Version – This is a simple plugin to use, The social share buttons can be customised to integrate with your website’s design. Basic social share buttons in the footer and pop-up social share option.
Paid Version – Everything in the free version, plus 10 social media networks, custom colour hover buttons, syncs with google analytics, links shortened through bitly and social media follow buttons. Cost $34 p/y
WordPress HFCM (Header, Footer, Code Managers)
This little piece of gold makes you feel like a coding genius. Downloading a Header and footer code manager means that anytime a third party needs a tracking code placed in a header you don’t need to go into your website or blogs actual code. You just open the plugin and paste the script under the title header.
Headers,Footers & Post Injections
Free Version – This is a five star rated free plugin with more than 400,000 downloads. I can’t see a reason to go looking for a paid version. This one will do everything you need.
WordPress Pop-up Plugin
A “pop-up” is a little box that ask you if you would like to do something. Some people may find them annoying but they are a very effective way of getting signup, leads and increase your social media following. Its a quick way to reach your reader without taking them away from the page they’re on.
MiloTree
Paid Version -This is a lightweight pop-up which is google compliant. It only covers a small section of the screen and is easy to close. Having said that I have had great success with it. The offer is so easy to change. Some months I use it to gain followers, other months to get signups. MiloTree is a no brainer for me I have been using it for at least six years now on various websites. Cost $108 p/y
WordPress Comments Plugin
Comment plugins may allow users to comment through supported platforms, like WordPress.com, Twitter, and Facebook. This can improve the user experience and may increase the chances of them commenting and sharing comments from your site. This in turn can build a sense of community. I put this plug in last because the only comment plugin I liked was one called “Comment Luv.” Comment Luv had its hey day about 9 years ago and really worked at encouraging traffic and comments. So now I just use the default WordPress comments section. I don’t feel there is a plugin that’s worth potentially slowing your site.
Niche Industry Plugins
WordPress eCommerce Plugin
An eCommerce plugin makes it possible for you to set up an online shop on your own website or blog. This means you won’t be paying fee’s to third parties for hosting your products and you will be keeping customers on your site longer which is good for Google analytics.
WooCommerce
Free Version -WooCommerce is one of the most popular eCommerce plugins. It has extensions that make it extremely functional. You can simply add the features you would like. Start with the basic installation and then add all the additional WooCommerce Plugins needed so your shop is set up as you like. You can set up a store selling digital or physical goods, print label and calculate postage. Even the additional plugins are usually free. The downside is that it does take a little bit of effort to get all the features you need and have everything working together smoothly.
WP Easy Cart
Free Version -Just like WooCommerce Easy Cart has everything you could want in an eCommerce Plugin and it has a free version which allows for unlimited products. The benefit of this over WooCommerce is that it’s a finished shop right out of the box. So it’s great for beginners or if you don’t have time to worry about the moving parts. This is an off site setup but you access the shop through your WordPress dashboard.
Paid Version -There are two upgrade options which are fabulous. They add functionality such as linking to Mailchimp and QuickBooks, allowing for subscriptions and affiliates and even Groupon. Cost $69-99 p/y
WordPress LMS (Learning Management System) Plugin
These plugins allow you to create and run online courses on your website. They all have different features such as various content styles, quizzes, grading and the option to accept payments.
Memberpress
Paid Version -This is the most powerful membership plugin with built in features allowing you to easily create and manage an online courses. You can also track your students as they complete the different lessons and classes. This allows you to see the areas where students are getting stuck and may need some extra help. MemberPress can collect payments using PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, and more. Cost $197 p/y
Teachable
Paid Version -This is a powerful drag and drop course builder. Unlike the other LMS, Teachable is not a WordPress plugin. They host your course and provide you with all the tools you need to build your online courses. It comes with built-in email marketing integration. Cost $348 p/y
LearnDash
Paid Version -This LMS provides all the same features as the other two options. Easy to design courses with multiple payment options. Drip feed course work, quizzes and times exams. Something that is a little unique is you can choose to purchase it as a plugin for your own WordPress site for Cost $199 p/y, or you can have a pre built website with various templates included with the plugin for Cost $288 p/y
WordPress Recipe Plugin
If you have a food blog one of the most important plugins will be you recipe plugin. The recipe plugin provides a lot more than a pretty format for your recipe. It improve your SEO for Google and Pinterest searches and pins using JSON-LD and schema.org Structured data. There is so much SEO wrapped up in the plugin. (hint: always fill in every field)
WP Recipe Maker
Paid Version -This plugin ticks all Google’s boxes. The starting package of $49 per year doesn’t include unit conversions, nutrition calculations or custom recipe fields so I would give that a miss.
The Pro Bundle has everything you need plus some handy extras such as short codes which allow printing, or “jumping to the recipe”. The print page is interactive and includes space for ads. The template editor lets you customize the design. The serving sizes are adjustable, it allows rating which show in Google search. Affiliate links can be added to the ingredients and the equipment and will be remembered for future use of those products. For these reasons the Pro Bundle is the best WP Recipe Maker choice. Cost $99
Tasty Recipes
Paid Version -This is another premium WordPress recipe plugin. It doesn’t have tiers, it’s all inclusive. Tasty recipes includes nutritional information, embedded videos, and flexible formatting so you can create your recipes according to your writing style. The recipe serves are scalable. There are 5 premade themes and you’re able to convert recipes from other plugins. Tasty Recipes also uses JSON-LD for the best Google and Pinterest SEO. Cost $79
Analytics Plugins
Understanding the data as presented by Google can be very confusing. Years on I still look at it and wonder why it can’t be simplified. Thankfully there are some plugins that present our data in a more useable fashion. Take a look!
Monster Insights
Paid Version – MonsterInsights is a fabulous Google Analytics decoder! You get more so many features, tracking options, and it’s super user-friendly. Monster Insights also helps you link you Google Analytics (GA) account to your website. All the data is provided in real time. You can see where your visitors arrived from, what pages they interacted with or files they downloaded and what page they existed from. There is a light version of this plugin with limited functionality. The premium version Cost $199
Clicky
Paid Version -This is the minified version of Monster Insights. Clicky gives you all the same information on a single screen. There isn’t the in depth tracing of the customer through their journey on your site but you can see how the traffic arrived at your website.
Statistics are easy to read and compare to past period. Like Monster Insights all information is provided in real time. There is even spy mode which allows you to see the visitors as pins on the countries of origin Cost $79 p/y
WordPress Plugins I can’t live without!
I write for a number of different sites and I have a few different niche blogs of my own. So I’m very familiar with quite a lot of plugins. Some of these I have chosen, and others are ones that I work with on my contractors sites.
I wanted to put together my list of “go to” plugins. You won’t need all of these. If you have a fashion blog you won’t need a recipe plugin for example. I hope this helps a little. Sometimes you do have to pay for peace of mind, sometimes the free version is A ok! I’m a little tight with my money so you will find I have chosen some of the free and not so well known plugins where possible.
- WP Rocket
- Securi Security
- MiloTree
- WooCommerce -FREE
- WP Recipe Maker
- Header & Footer Post Injections -FREE
- Yoast – FREE
- Askimet Anti-Spam -FREE
- Social Warfare
- Clicky
“There are three responses to a piece of design – yes, no, and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for”
-Milton Glaser
Which plugins did you decide on? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below. I would love to know your feelings of paid versus free.
Affiliate Disclosure
The content on this site is reader-supported. This means if you click on some of our links, we may earn a small commission. You will never be charged more, and in some cases, it may cost less due to arrangements I have with suppliers. Please see my complete disclosure policy for more information.
