You Should Know These WordPress Plugins!

1. What are WordPress plugins?
2. How do you install WordPress plugins?
3. WordPress plugins: Blessing or curse?
4. 22 popular WordPress plugins: From SEO, to performance, to other extensions
5. Conclusion: WordPress Plugins

There are estimated to be over 60,000 free WordPress plugins. Add to that countless paid versions. Some plugins are an all-in-one solution, others specialize in a single function. How are you supposed to keep track of them all? Our guest author Marie Bachmayr gives you a general overview on the topic, presents the pros and cons of plugins and provides you with a list of the most important plugins for WordPress.

What are WordPress plugins?

WordPress plugins are software components that you can optionally install on WordPress. They expand the functions of your CMS and thus those of your website. Most plugins have a particular function, for example, they add an author box to your articles. Thus, you can install various plugins to customize your WordPress exactly as you need it.

How do you install WordPress plugins?

If you log in to WordPress as usual, the installation process is very simple. In the menu you see "Plugins". There you not only find an overview of all your active and inactive plugins, you can also install new ones. For this there is a search field, where you can enter the plugin name, which then directly guides you to the installation.

If the plugin is not in this library, you can download it from the WordPress website as a ZIP file. In your WordPress backend, you then have the option to upload plugins. There you can store and install the ZIP file.

WordPress plugins: Blessing or curse?

Plugins offer the unbeatable advantage that you can install them without programming knowledge. Also, operation and configuration - as far as the plugin allows - are usually quite straightforward.

In particular, WordPress plugins have the advantage that they are widespread, and thus often tested. After all, WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems worldwide. If you have questions or problems using a plugin, you will usually find an answer after a brief search.

The main advantages at a glance

• No programming skills needed
• Easy to use
• Widespread
• Large selection

Despite the numerous advantages of plugins, for every (new) feature that your website should have, you should ask yourself whether you need a plugin or whether you turn to programmers. Because most of the functionalities that plugins bring, you can alternatively write directly into the code (let it be written). While this then requires programming knowledge, it also offers advantages. You can save the cost of the plugin. Also, you make your site less vulnerable to outside attacks. Direct programming into the code is usually safer.

You also have to constantly update plugins to increase security. Depending on the application, they can also slow down your website. With the large number of plugins, compatibility problems may occur. That is, the function of one plugin may block that of another.

The disadvantages at a glance

• Less security for the website
• Costs for plugins
• Possibly negative impact on the speed of your website
• Possibly incompatibility

22 popular WordPress plugins: From SEO, to performance, to other extensions

In many cases, despite the mentioned disadvantages, plugins make your life easier. Below, we present some exciting WordPress plugins. However, this list is not to be understood as a "must-have", it merely provides you with an overview of potentially relevant and very widespread plugins. But as mentioned: Always weigh up which extensions you need and which can alternatively be programmed. Having a huge database of plugins is not recommended.

1. Yoast SEO

Yoast is one of the most downloaded WordPress plugins. It offers a wealth of features that help you optimize your website for the search engine. For example, you can create title tags and meta descriptions for each URL, enable or disable indexing. The plugin also offers an XML sitemap function that makes it easier for search engines to crawl websites. Yoast also offers a readability and keyword optimization tool, even though this function works much more precisely with semantic SEO Tools. The plugin has already recorded well over 200 million downloads.

• Main function: Search engine optimization
• Cost: free basic version

2. Yoast Duplicate

The little brother of Yoast SEO is Yoast Duplicate Post. Instead of creating new posts again and again, where you always make similar settings, you can copy existing posts or pages with Yoast Duplicate. A practical application that speeds up the setting of texts.

• Main function: Duplication of posts
• Cost: free

3. Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP

With structured data, you help the search engine to assign your content to certain categories. You give the crawler the information, for example, that certain content is FAQs, recipes, definitions, etc. By marking the content, you increase your chance to appear in the featured snippets and also improve your rankings in general.

• Main function: Structured data
• Cost: free

4. Jetpack

Jetpack is an all-in-one plugin. That means, the plugin claims to offer a wide range of functions and extensions for WordPress websites. So it includes, among other things, backup and security functions, performance boosting tools and evaluations of statistics and social media integration. Despite the label "All-In-One", the plugin of course cannot fulfill everything. The SEO functions are, for example, rather basic.

• Main function: All-In-One-Plugin
• Cost: free basic version

5. WPForms

WPForms is a powerful and user-friendly contact form plugin for WordPress. With it, you can quickly and easily build professional contact forms for your website, using numerous templates and customization options. WPForms also offers integrations with email marketing tools like MailChimp and Constant Contact, as well as payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe. Contact Form 7 can be a sensible alternative.

• Main function: Contact forms
• Cost: around 50 € per year

6. WP Rocket

WP Rocket is a caching plugin that speeds up website load times and improves user-friendliness. Page caching, browser caching, and Gzip compression are some of the key features. While WP Rocket does cost money, it's a quick and easy way to improve Core Web Vitals. These are in turn important for the rankings of your website and provide a positive user experience.

• Main function: Website speed
• Cost: around 60 € per year

7. WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache is also a WordPress plugin for fast load times on a website. The plugin generates static HTML files of the pages and delivers them instead of dynamic PHP pages. The plugin offers many customization and configuration options and is especially useful for websites with high traffic.

• Main function: Website speed
• Cost: free basic version

8. W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache is a WordPress plugin that improves website load time by using a variety of caching technologies like browser caching, page caching, and database caching. The plugin offers many customization and configuration options and is especially useful for websites with high traffic or for websites that contain a lot of media content.

• Main function: Website speed
• Cost: free basic version

9. Lazy Load – Optimize Images

Lazy Load is a plugin that you can also use to influence website speed. The plugin relies on lazy loading. That means, only the contents that are important for the operation of the website are loaded, as well as everything that the users can see. That is, only when the users scroll down, the website loads after.

• Main function: Lazy Loading
• Cost: free

10. Simple Author Box Pro

With this plugin you can introduce the authors of an article. This helps your readers to build trust in the content, for example, because an expert has written the article. Also, search engines perceive author boxes as a positive sign of trust and authority. If you don't have the opportunity to rely on programmers, the plugin can give you a quick and easy way to integrate such a box.

• Main function: Author box
• Cost: around 40 € per year

11. Smush

Smush is a plugin for image compression. It ensures that no large images are loaded into your WordPress, as the plugin automatically reduces them. This improves the loading times of your websites and optimizes the user-friendliness again, because your users don't have long waiting times when accessing your page. Alternately, you can also use the WordPress plugin Optimole.

• Main function: Image compression
• Cost: free basic version

12. EWWW Image Optimizer

Similar to Smush and Optimole is EWWW Image Optimizer an image optimization plugin that reduces the file size of your images and thus improves the website's load times. Additionally, it allows you to automatically convert images to the WebP format. Google's image format provides lossless compression with smaller size.

• Main function: Image compression
• Cost: free

13. Redirection

The Redirection plugin gives away its function in its name: With this plugin you can set up redirections or redirects. If you have to delete a page, for example, it makes sense to set up a redirect to another, preferably appropriate URL. You can do this, for example, with this plugin.

• Main function: Setting up redirects
• Cost: free

14. MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is a Google Analytics plugin for WordPress, which allows you to monitor website statistics directly in WordPress. You see the traffic, the user behavior and get an overview of the most popular content. Extensions such as e-commerce tracking, custom dimensions, and more are optional.

• Main function: Website statistics
• Cost: around 400 € one-time

15. WP PostRatings

With this plugin, your readers can rate and comment on your posts. WP PostRatings offers the familiar star rating, which you can add to your posts. The advantage: The rating increases the engagement on your website. The stars can even potentially appear in the SERPs and ensure a higher CTR there.

• Main function: Star rating
• Cost: free

16. Antispam Bee

Comments and reviews are a good option to increase engagement on the site and at the same time receive feedback from your readers. However, spam can also occur. Antispam Bee is a useful plugin that helps you get rid of it. It automatically blocks spam comments and prevents you from constantly getting these notifications. A similar plugin is Akismet.

• Main function: Avoid comment spam
• Cost: free

17. Updraft Plus

This plugin is a backup tool with which you can secure and restore your WordPress website . It provides a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to schedule and automate your backups in the settings. Similar plugins include Backup Buddy or BackWPup.

• Main function: Backup Tool
• Cost: around 70 € per year

18. DSGVO Pixelmate

The DSGVO Pixelmate plugin helps you adapt your WordPress website to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This allows you to customize your cookie banners, among other things, and obtain consent for the processing of personal data.

• Main function: Cookie Banner
• Cost: around 40 € per year

19. Real Cookie Banner

To create cookie banners, you can alternatively use this Cookie WordPress Plugin . With Real Cookie Banner you can customize the banner and text as you need it to meet the requirements of the GDPR and other data protection laws.

• Main function: Cookie Banner
• Cost: free basic version

20. Wordfence Security

Wordfence Security is a WordPress plugin for website security. It offers features like malware scans, firewall protection, IP blocking, and protection against brute force attacks. With around 200 million downloads, this plugin is one of the most popular extensions of WordPress.

• Main function: Website Security
• Cost: free basic version

21. Really Simple SSL

Really Simple SSL helps you with the creation of the security certificate. Instead of making complicated settings at the hoster, you can easily get your security certificate with this plugin. An SSL certificate is a must for every website, because only then can website data be encrypted and transmitted securely. If you don't have the certificate, your site will be marked as insecure and you will lose traffic.

• Main function: SSL Certificate
• Cost: free basic version

22. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is, as the name suggests, a plugin for online shops. The open source solution supports you in setting up your shop system in WordPress. With the plugin, you can offer your products on the site and describe them with suitable content.

• Main function: E-commerce
• Cost: free

23. Site Kit by Google

Site Kit by Google is for all WordPress pages that use Google Tools. With the plugin, you bring Google functions into your WordPress: From Google Search Console to Google Analytics to Google PageSpeed Insights, you combine your most important Google services in one dashboard.

• Main function: Integration of Google Services
• Cost: free

Conclusion: WordPress Plugins

The selection of WordPress plugins is gigantic. While the functions often overlap: SEO, website security, loading speed and e-commerce are the most popular functions. The good thing: You can try out plugins and then deactivate and delete them - especially if they are free, you take hardly any risk.

Either way: Consider for each plugin whether you really need it. Install only as many plugins as necessary, deactivate and delete those you no longer need and make sure to update the plugins regularly for security reasons. Before doing updates, it is a good idea to back up the site to protect yourself from risks.