I get asked this question a lot…
“What are the best WordPress plugins for my new blog?”
So I decided to put what I know about these top WordPress plugins into a blog post. Next time someone asks me “What are the best WordPress plugins for my new blog?” I will just send them here! And Hello if I’ve just sent you here 🙂
This is a simple list of plugins for a new WordPress site. You might not need all of these and you might need some, not listed, that are specific to your field. Start with these and ask questions in the comments. There are hundreds of good plugins. Seriously. But you only need a few good and highly functional ones to get started.
The BEST way to install these plugins are to go into your WP Dashboard — > Plugins. Do a search for the name of the plugin and install from there.
If you are completely new to the WordPress plugin interface you might want to watch a few instructional videos before you tackle this.
Here are MY top ten favorite plugins:
1. WordPress SEO Plugin by Yoast
This a total must-have plugin. You should use this plugin with every post you create. If you are concerned about having good SEO for your site (and you should be) this plugin helps you rank for your main keyword. For example, for this post my main keyword is of course “plugins.” The interface to make sure I’m getting that keyword into all the right places is built-in to the post creation page. I can see clearly when I have my keyword in the article heading, page title, page URL, the post itself (content) and the meta description. You can read more about it here.
2. Pretty Link
I use this very handy plugin a lot. I heard about it from the fabulous Amy Porterfield (one of my co-authors for my first book). I use this plugin to create a short link that contains my domain name. For example; I can take a freaky long URL for a LeadPage like this one: https://phylliskhare.leadpages.net/get-the-lesson-now/ and turn it into this one: https://phylliskhare.com/StrategicPlan You can read more about Pretty Link here and I suggest getting the Pro plan.
3. Fanciest Author Box
If you have multiple guest authors on your blog, this a must-have for showing social authority for your authors. You can read more about it here.
4. Click to Tweet
You might recognize Click to Tweet in its web-based form, but it is also an amazing plugin! It’s part of a larger system called CoSchedule (I’m planning on writing an entire post on this one soon). When you use it you’ll create a box like the one below that links right back to your post. Go ahead – click to tweet it! Read more about it here.
[Tweet “Click to Tweet is still one of the best tools for increasing Reach on the Internet. “]
5. Plulz SEO Facebook Comment
Many people say you MUST have a Facebook interface for comments. I’m not so convinced. I prefer to use Disqus. If Facebook is your biggest engaged social site, then look into using this one.
6. Follow Me
You can see one version of how this can look on my website. See the tab over there on the right side? Click it open to go directly to any of my social sites. You have lots of options of where to place this little gizmo. You can read more about it here.
7. Link Within
Here’s another must-have plugin. Some people say it will triple your traffic because of the suggested posts below the one you are reading. There are other systems that create a nice suggested “next to read” interface. I like this one. Read more about it here.
8. Pinterest Plugin
I recommend two different types of Pinterest plugins. Weird – right? This one works if someone is viewing your posts on a mobile device, and the other plugin I recommend looks fabulous if viewing on a desktop or laptop. Here’s more info.
9. Pinterest Pin It Button for Images
This is my FAV Pinterest plugin, but it doesn’t show up on images on a mobile interface. You can see how this looks on my blog images, including the one above. Read all about it.
10. Digg Digg – Floating Share Bar
Full disclosure — I don’t use this one. But it’s considered one of the best social sharing plugins available. I use Shareaholic’s SexyBookmarks. I really like how DiggDigg looks on certain sites, so look around before you decide which social sharing plugin you are going to use. Read all about DiggDigg here.
Do you know how hard it is to keep to only 10 plugins? I bet you have a few favorites, too. Put them in the comments!