Below the 7 essential WordPress plugins that should be installed on every new WordPress site before you do anything else. Each one of these is a MUST have for every blog and WordPress site you build. Best of all they are all FREE; gotta love that!
1. Google XML Sitemaps: This is a plugin that will map your site to help Google and other search engines index your site better. In plan English, this will allow your WordPress site to play nice with the search engines, which in turn will help you show up higher when people search for what you are talking about. Don't be fooled that it is called "Google" XML Sitemaps, because Yahoo, Bing and Ask.com all index the same way, so this plugin will help index your pages and posts in all the major search engines. For more advanced user this plugin also allows you to customize priorities and other features.
2. TinyMCE Advanced: This is basically 16 plugins in one to add more functionality to the editor in WordPress so that it is more similar to utilizing Word and you are don't have to be constrained to the presets of your theme. Meaning, you have more control over type of font, size, color, adding tables, link and image options, etc. There are over 40 buttons that it can add to your toolbar and is customizable so you can drop and drag what items you want in your toolbar and where you want to see them.
3. Sexy Bookmarks: If you are posting good content that you want people to read, like and share (which you want EVERYONE to do!) this plugin makes it easy. Readers can easily share your blog posts and pages with people they know through the social media platforms they use and love with just a click of the mouse! You can customize which platforms you want people to be able to share on; this plugin gives you TONS of options..
4. Exclude Pages from Navigation: This will allow you to create pages that you want active but do not want to show up in your site navigation menu. This is great for creating squeeze pages (it would defeat the purpose of a squeeze page to have it in the menu bar!) or promotional pages for offers that you only want select people to see (i.e. your email list, your social media fans, or you know those offers that appear when you try to leave a site..."Wait, don't leave until you see this fabulous offer that we have to get your to buy right now" kind of thing, etc.).
5. Google Analyticator: A must for monitoring your site! This makes it sooo easy, so that you don't have to worry about going into your template and messing with code. This will work with your Google Analytics account (this is free and a MUST have for all of your sites to track activity on your site) so you don't have to do anything. Usually with Google Analytics you have to copy and paste the code into your template code...which if you don't know what you are doing, isn't necessarily the best things to change around the code of your template, so this does it all for you!
6. Platinum SEO Pack: A great plugin to make your WordPress site even more SEO (search engine optimization) friendly. It does a whole lot of stuff (most of which I don't understand) to make it more appealing to the search engines and get your blog posts and pages ranked higher in searches. It has fabulous standard settings so you don't have to tinker when you install it, but if you are more techie minded it also allows you to customize the setting to suit your needs better.
7. Custom Headers and Footers: This is a fabulous plugin that will allow you to add extra content above or below your posts and page content despite your theme. This plugin keeps you from having to modify your theme's code and allows you to quickly put in items like header images or your copyright information and links to your terms of service, privacy statement and disclaimers.
I especially love it for sales page templates. Most are just blank canvasses and don't have an area set for header images. Just be aware that you can enter text or HTML, so if you want to put in an image you need to know the HTML code for displaying the image (there is no image upload function). Here is a great site that shows HTML code for images: http://www.goldcoastwebdesigns.com/12.shtml
BONUS: This plugin comes pre-installed WordPress, but DO NOT ignore it, don't delete it; activate and use it! Its called Akismet is a fabulous spam comment blocker. When I started my first blog, I got very excited at first at how many comments I was receiving, until I found out they were all spam comments that contained links to less than reputable sites. This plugin prevents those comments from coming through. It also seems pretty smart, because I have never had it filter out a real comment, though I keep I have the spam sent to the spam folder (kind of like email) so that I can review them weekly just to make sure no real comments got banned. Just remember that in order for this plugin to work you have to sign up for a WordPress.com account (just an account not a blog) to obtain and "API Key" (don't ask me what this is, but it is important and several plugins utilize it, so just get it).
There are lots of other plugins I utilize and love, but this is the shortlist of essentials in my view. Each of the above plugins have been hyperlinked to the plugin site, but it is actually much easier to download from within you WordPress site back office, Plugin menu. In this menu you will see Add New and a search field, just type in the plugin name you want into that field and then you can install the plugin directly into your blog...it saves you the step of downloading then uploading.
If you have any other plugins you feel you can't live without, please share. I always love learning about what other people are doing!
Jenna Waites, as a Marketing Solutions Strategist, helps small business owners expand their reach and increase their sales. To get more great information to help your business, please visit http://JennaWaites.com.
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