There's just one little problem, with access to 54,697 WordPress plugins how do you make sure you're using the best ones?
It's easy…we've done it for you!
We've put together a collection of must-have plugins for your WordPress site, including everything from SEO optimiser's to the best form creators to boost your sites performance.
1. Yoast – SEO for everyone
SEO is the mountain to climb for every website, if you can get to the top it's cause for celebration!
Yoast SEO is the ideal plugin whatever your business and however you use your site.
It's easy to use and functional, helping you optimise your site and reach for that number one spot.
Once you install this one you'll wonder how you ever survived without it. Even better you'll start seeing SEO results within days.
2. Click To Tweet
If you're going to write amazing shareable content then why not make tweeting easy for your readers with this plugin.
With Click To Tweet you can select a section of text that you think would make great Twitter content and add your click to tweet.
Before you know it you'll more shares and higher engagement, not bad huh?
3. Securi Security
If you're concerned about the security of your site (you should be) then this is the plugin for you.
Securi Security specialises in WordPress security and it's completely free!
With site auditing, monitoring and scanning this plugin provides everything you need to take your security up a few notches.
4. UK Cookie Consent
The amazing thing about this plugin is just how easy it is to setup and use.
You can literally install the plugin and you're ready.
UK Cookie Consent populates a page on your site with your cookie policy information and even gives you an automatic link to this page from your notification bar. Pretty nifty!
5. Use Any Font
Use Any Font is perfect if you want to install a custom font to your WordPress site.
Although WordPress gives you a pretty nice range of fonts to choose from it's always nice to have extra options.
This plugin is great if you have a particular font associated with your branding, and there's no need for any fiddly css fun.
6. Thrive Leads
Building a chunky mailing list filled with loyal customers and profitable leads sounds amazing.
With the Thrive Leads plugin you're one step closer to doing just that.
It's so easy to build eye catching and functional opt in forms in the visual editor. No design team needed!
7. WooCommerce
WooCommerce integrates with WordPress turning your site into an online store in a few simple steps.
You can literally sell anything with this plugin. Physical products, digital products and even memberships and recurring subscriptions.
What's not to love?
8. Insert Headers and Footers
It doesn't take a genius to figure out what the Insert Headers and Footers plugin does, but that's the beauty of it.
This plugin is so simple to use and means you don't have to start messing around with editing your theme files.
It even makes adding your Facebook Pixel nice and easy!
9. Wordfence Security – Firewall & Malware Scan
This plugin is great if you want to add an extra layer of security to your WordPress site.
Wordfence Security regularly checks your site for known vulnerabilities and alerts you to any potential security issues.
It even scans your files, posts and comments for anything suspicious.
10. Simple Social Media Share Buttons
Allowing people to share your site content on social media is an absolute must have feature if you want to climb the ranks.
The Simple Social Buttons plugin lets you add sharing buttons to your site pages in a few quick steps.
You can even choose where you want the buttons to appear and pick which style button suits your site most!
11. Akismet Anti-Spam
Letting spam sneak onto your site – not good!
With the Akismet plugin you're protected from malicious content reaching your site.
All comments are automatically checked for spam from a global database and notifies you before you approve.
This plugin even has a discard feature that outright blocks the worst spam, saving you disk space and speeding up your site.
12. Shortcodes Ultimate
This is one of our favourite WordPress plugins!
Once it's installed you have access to over 50 shortcodes that you can post straight into your editor to make your site really stand out.
With Shortcodes Ultimate it's so easy to add buttons, tabs, sliders, boxes, quotes and so much more.
13. AccessPress Instagram Feed
Instagram plays such a huge part in business marketing that you'd be crazy not to show off your feed at every opportunity.
The AccessPress Instagram Feed plugin lets you display your Instagram feed anywhere on your site.
You can choose from 3 layout designs, all of which are fully responsive and mobile compatible.
14. OptimizePress
The OptimizePress plugin lets you create high converting landing pages, sales pages and membership portals for your site.
You can easily edit your pages with the live editor and make them look amazing quickly and with little tech knowledge.
If you want higher conversions then this is the plugin for you!
15. PushCrew
PushCrew lets you communicate with your customers using push notifications.
Now your customers will never miss a message!
The great thing about this plugin is that it works on all devices, desktop, tablet and mobile.
This plugin can actually send your opt-in rate and CTR through the roof so it's definitely worth a try!
16. OGraphr
If you've ever wondered how to add meta-tags to the header of your theme then this is the answer!
OGraphr lets you add meta information like descriptions, author info, permalinks and images for your posts.
Pretty clever!
17. Google Analytics by MonsterInsights
Google Analytics is a big player in the online world and a complete must for your website.
The MonsterInsights plugin makes integrating Google Analytics with your WordPress site an absolute doddle.
You don't need to be a tech genius to install, implement and understand this plugin which is why we love it!
18. Shortlinks by Pretty Links
If you want to shrink your URL's wouldn't it be nice if you could use your own domain name?
Well with the Shortlinks by Pretty Links plugin you can do just that.
Not only does this plugin allow you to create nice clean links, it also tracks and reports clicks on your URL for you.
19. Pure Chat
Having a live chat feature on your site is such a bonus if your focus is customer service and support.
With the Pure Chat plugin you can have unlimited chats and unlimited users all for free!
If that's not enough Pure Chat even offers real-time analytics and visitor tracking.
20. Antispam Bee
This plugin is the first step in saying goodbye to spam on your site, for good.
Antispam Bee blocks spam comments for you and it's totally free!
There are also a huge range of options so you can fully customise how you want it to work for your site. You can specify exactly what you want to block and what you want to allow.
21. YouTube
If you market yourself or your business through YouTube videos, then why not add them to your site?
In the past embedding videos to your WordPress site could be a little tricky. Not anymore!
With the YouTube plugin you can display your videos in gallery style or single video. You can also choose to have your videos on continuous play and many more fun features.
22. Google XML Sitemaps
This plugin is great for helping search engines to index your site.
Google XML Sitemaps makes it easy for search engines to see the structure of your site and get information from it more efficiently.
It even lets search engines know when you post something new and exciting!
23. WP Offload S3 Lite
Data storage is a big deal and Amazon S3 offers a powerful solution to your storage issues.
The WP Offload S3 Lite plugin automatically sends your images, documents, videos and any other form of media to Amazon S3 through WordPress.
When you add something to your Media Library it's instantly stored to Amazon S3 without any duplication of work.
It's time saving, efficient and most importantly it stores all your data in once place.
NOTE: It's important to mention that the more plugins you have installed on your WordPress site, the slower your site will run. If you have any plugins that you no longer use it's good practice to clear them out. After all everyone loves a speedy site!
I recently installed Askimet and it has been GOLD!! Will definitely try out some of the other ones you listed! Thanks for this post!
Amazing list, most of them were already familiar and in use but there were some newbies for me too!
Thanks for this article, I was looking up plugins but was not sure which ones were the absolute best!
I didn’t know most, thank you
Nice post! Thanks for sharing this wonderful article. I would like to share one more WordPress plugin that you can use to track and monitor all users activity in your website. You can also get notified when a selected user logged in at the admin area.