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Using the WordPress platform is a great way to build your website, as well as improve its features and functionalities. Through these plugins, you can enhance the overall design of your site, make it user friendly, and protect it from viruses and spam. They come from a wide range of sources; you can get some plugins for free and while some are available at a low cost.
However, with more than 54,000 WordPress Plugins available these days, it is certainly difficult to identify which among those you really need the most. If you’re a new blogger, here are five WordPress plugins that can help you the most:
1.Akismet
Akismet is perfect for almost all bloggers, but it is best for those who have blogs that get high volume of traffic. This plugin is especially developed to filter and regulate comments, allowing you to check and either discard or accept comments before they get published on your blog. Although this plugin is already installed in your content management system, you still need to register a new account to activate it. This plugin offers a basic plan that is free to use for personal or non-commercial purposes, but you can upgrade it for more protection and support.
2. Google Analytics
We recommend using the full Google Analytics platform. However, adding this platform as a plugin to your WordPress system enables you to quickly view your site’s traffic volume, your content’s performance, and the origin or source of your site visitors.
This plugin will certainly save you time as this can quickly display the key metrics of your web visitors through your WP dashboard. This plugin gives you statistics on the number of visitors per day, their country of origin, and your main sources of traffic. Knowing the people who visited your blog and the way they have accessed your page is essential, most especially if you are investing too much money, time, and resources in improving your site traffic.
3. Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is the most popular and most user-friendly WP plugin. If you prefer to increase traffic volume through organic searches, then this plugin is great for you. Installing this in your WordPress system allows you to automatically see suggestions below each new blog. Some of these include adding a focus keyword and meta description to your content. Then, it will generate your SEO score according to your content, title, slug, and more.
For instance, if your focus keyword is not included in the title or is less frequently used in your content, you will get a low score, thereby giving you an idea that you will likely get low volume of traffic. It will continually give you suggestions until such time that you will get a “good” SEO score (green). It will also grade the readability of your content. A good SEO score will certainly increase your SEO ranking. What’s more is that you can definitely get this plugin for free, unless you want to upgrade to its premium version.
Many bloggers benefit from Yoast SEO. This is because even if you have no idea how to come up with an SEO-friendly blog content, this plugin can make your life easy. From meta tags to post optimization, this plugin is a great guide that will help you improve your ranking. Moreover, this plugin also offers easy-to-follow instructions, which are great for novice bloggers.
4. UpdraftPlus – Backup/Restore
Accidentally losing all your blog’s content is a nightmare for any blogger. This free plugin, however, makes it easier to create backups of your blog and restore your site’s content of your site when necessary. It enables you to automatically store your files into your cloud space, Dropbox, or Google Drive.
5. Wordfence Security
Wordfence Security serves as a firewall for your WP blog. It filters and prevents the entry of malicious traffic and alerts you on potential security threats. It maintains the security of your site and sends daily or weekly notifications on the status of your site security. It is certainly worth it to download this plugin. Since your website will be protected from viruses, malware, etc., you do not have to hire a developer to fix your website.
As long as this does not cause conflicts with your other plugins or slow your site down, this is a great one to install in your WP system.
Final Thoughts
These plugins will definitely help you write blogs easier and faster. Bear in mind that you do not have to use too many plugins. Doing this may only cause conflicts within your WP system. It is essential to regularly check your plugins and assess if you are still using any of those. Otherwise, uninstall those that you do not need.
Always take into account the purpose of your blog as you grow your business. It is best to install only the plugins that support your business goals. With thousands of plugins to choose from, it is important to test each plugin and find out whether each one suits your needs and preferences. Testing plugins is not that difficult; you can easily activate, install, or deactivate them if you find that they aren’t suitable for you.
Melissa Lobo
Bio:
Melissa is a young and energetic writer, a mom to a sweet little boy, and a fur-mom to two perfect pooches. Before becoming the Associate Content Director for Project Female, she was a journalist specializing in topics related to women in politics and policy affecting women.
