We know that WordPress is awesome and that 25% of all sites around the globe are using it. There are certain functions however that you need to plug in to WordPress to make it even better.
Luckily WordPress has a massive list of plug-ins that can do all sorts of things on your site – galleries, forms, social, SEO, security, backups and the list goes on.
Try to think of a function that your site might need and 99.99% of the time there will be a plug-in that can take care of the job. But which are the go to plug-ins that every site should be using?
Certain functionality is usually required for most sites and I have the best 3 plug-ins that take care of the job.
1. Backups
BackupBuddy. Yup, what’s the use of a site if you don’t back it up – it is a habit you better get into because you NEVER want to lose your data and files and have to rebuild the site from scratch. BackupBuddy is easy to use and you can set it to backup at different time intervals and you can choose exactly what needs to be backed up. One other great function of this plug-in is the migration tool – if you do a full backup and want to move your site to another host, it can be done in a few simple steps, just too easy!
2. SEO
WordPress SEO Plugin by Yoast. Another top plug-in and as you can see by the name it’s main function is helping you with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). It gives you direction in what needs to happen on your pages and posts (and in your site in general) to optimise the content so search engines like Google and Yahoo give your site a massive high five! It is a pretty in-depth plug-in so it is also useful for people that have a lot of experience in SEO.
3. Contact Forms
Contact Form 7. Ok, so a site without a contact form is like a house without a letterbox – it makes it hard for people to get in touch. You need this functionality on your site so that prospective customers or clients can contact you when they want to. Super easy to setup and with some great add-ons such as the MailChimp extension, this is a great starter for your site to open up the lines of communication with your users – and after all, it’s all about the communication!
If your site means a lot to you, these plug-ins are a great place to start and get some super functionality with minimal fuss and headaches – sounds like a good plan. Good luck and give your WordPress site a quick cuddle from me. (ok, maybe that was a bit weird!)
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