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[Sticky] Free plugins that every blog needs

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(@theo)
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WordPress (dot org) has a ton of handy and very good free plugins. But, there are also a lot of outdated and poorly developed plugins. Some can even create a security issue by allowing malware and viruses to access your blog.

It makes sense only to install regularly updated plugins that have a high number of active installations, along with a high rating.

To add plugins to your blog, on the WordPress dashboard, go to 'Plugins > Add New' 

Here's a list of 'must have' plugins.

 

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

SEO is all about getting free traffic from Google and other search engines.  Although nothing you do will ever beat creating quality content, some SEO things are worth knowing about and implementing.

Yoast SEO is a plugin that helps you to optimize your blog posts and pages for search engines.  It's the best and most widely used plugin for SEO.

 

Cookies consent

Even if your blog is not hosted in Europe and your intended audience is outwith Europe, you cannot prevent European residents from visiting your blog. That is why virtually every website or blog now has a cookies consent plugin installed.

GDPR Cookie Consent by WebToffee is the most widely used free plugin for this purpose.

 

Spam Prevention

As your blog begins to get more and more visitors, it will probably start getting spammed with 'bot comments'.  These are comments generated by bots, and they are always spam.  Without an effective spam filter in place, you can easily end up with 100's even 1000's of these spam comments.  

The best free spam prevention plugin is Akismet.

 

Caching

Caching is required to help speed up the loading time of your blog.  Some hosting providers have built-in caching, but some don't (find out more about choosing the right kind of hosting).  If you don't have caching built-in, there are plugins to do the job.

W3 Total Cache or WP Super Cache are two of the most widely used free caching plugins.

 

Social Sharing

Allow your readers to share your blog posts on social media.  It's a great way to get extra exposure.  

Sassy Social Share is a popular,  feature-rich plugin with lots of options.

 

Contact Form

Every blog or website should have an easy way for users to get in touch. If you add an email address to your blog,  you are making it easy for spammers.  A contact form is a better option. 

WP Forms Lite is a free plugin that allows you to create simple or more complex forms and easily add them anywhere on your blog.

 
Posted : May 25, 2021 1:32 pm
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