When you start creating your WordPress website, they are several amazing features that you can add to your website to help with its functionality. Plugins are pieces of code that empower site owners to extend and modify the features available on their WordPress site. The WordPress plugin library features thousands of plugins that you can review like creating a newsletter or adding a contact form. Once you identify the types of plugins that you want for your website, it’s time to install them on your website.
What Types of Plugins Are Available?
The largest source of plugins that are free is the official WordPress Plugin Directory. Premium plugins can be purchased from a developer directly or through the WordPress.org directory. These plugins typically come with a range of additional options, including ongoing customer support and regular updating from the plugin creator.
How to Install a Plugin
When you start to install plugins on your WordPress site:
Select “Plugins,” from the dashboard and “Add New.”
2. Go to the Plugin Directory, which has a list of available featured, popular, and premium plugins. To find a specific plugin, you can use the “Search Bar,” on the top right-hand side of the directory.
3. After you find the plugin you are looking for, click “Install Now.”
Jetpack
Jetpack contributes to the improvement of WordPress powered blogs and websites through stats, related posts, search engine optimization, social sharing, protection, backups, and much more.
Once you’ve installed the Jetpack plugin, you’ll find a new menu item pop open on your sidebar called “Jetpack.”
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is the highest-ranking WordPress SEO plugin. It is the favorite tool of millions of users who are looking to add value to their content through SEO. Using Yoast, site authors can control how content is seen on search engines, social networks and optimize their content with suggested keywords. It is best recommended for WordPress users because it makes it easy to control titles, set targeted keywords, and manage sitemaps.
Yoast is incredibly easy to use and can help you optimize multiple aspects of your WordPress site including:
Your URL
Meta description
Tags
Keyword density
Internal and external links
The readability of your content
WooCommerce
WooCommerce powers millions of eCommerce sites worldwide, and it’s the only WordPress plugin to make the list of top eCommerce platforms. WooCommerce is available directly from WordPress or as an eCommerce option offered by most web hosting providers. WooCommerce is a fully functioning eCommerce platform that adds all the components of an online store to any business site.
Wordfence
Wordfence includes an endpoint firewall and malware scanner that are built from the ground up to protect WordPress. Wordfence uses the newest firewall rules, malware signatures and malicious IP addresses it needs to keep your website safe.
Web Application Firewall identifies and blocks malicious traffic. Built and maintained by a large team focused 100% on WordPress security.
[Premium] Real-time firewall rule and malware signature updates via the Threat Defense Feed (free version is delayed by 30 days).
Updraft Plus
UpdraftPlus simplifies backups and restoration. It is the world’s highest-ranking and most popular scheduled backup plugin, with over two million currently-active installs. Backup into the cloud directly to Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3 (or compatible), UpdraftVault, Rackspace Cloud, FTP, DreamObjects, Openstack Swift, and email.
UpdraftPlus:
Restores.
Backs up to more cloud options than any others
Allows you to set up automatic backup schedules, for the ultimate in convenience
Is faster, using up fewer server resources
Has been tested on over 1 million sites
Once you find a plugin you would like to install, make sure the plugin is compatible with your version of WordPress and that the plugin is still being maintained. You can also read the ratings and reviews and test the plugin in staging to see how compatible it is with your site.
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