Top WordPress Plugins Every Blog Should Have
I’m always working on new projects and half of them are new blog sites, usually in niche markets. When setting up a new blog, I have a separate folder I use for uploading all of my important wordpress plugins. I’m always on the look out for ways to improve spacing, loading times and reader interaction, and many of the plugins do just that. Here is my breakdown on wordpress plugins that every blog should be using.
For a list of the most recent top WordPress plugins, be sure to visit the official WordPress.org plugin ranking page.
Stop Spam with Akismet
This one is a given, but it’s still a necessity. Without Akisment, managing your blog and comments would just be a pain. The bigger your site traffic the more comment spam you will get. You may be getting comment spam on your new blogs before even getting a real comment. The bottom line is, Akismet is your first line of defense for cutting down comment spam.
– Download Akismet for WordPress
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP)
You spend a lot of time writing your blog content, don’t let your old posts die and get lost for ever. Once a reader gets to the bottom of your post, instead of seeing just a comment form, add in the YARPP plugin and show a list of your older related posts as well. This is a great way to bring new traffic and attnetion to your older posts.
– Download YARRP for WordPress
Improve Your Chances of a High SEO Listing
Bring your blog’s search engine power to the next level by adding the “All-in-One SEO” plugin. This plugin is at the top of many designers lists as a must have. All in One SEO allows you to add in your own meta description, title tags and keywords for individual blog posts and pages.
– Download All in One SEO for WordPress
Threading Your Comments is a Must
It wasn’t til recently that I set this blog up with threaded comments. Before then, it was a mess and very annoying to respond to someone, as it would set all comments out of order. The blog is now running of Brian’s Threaded Comments plugin, which keeps everything clean and organized, while actually increasing your blog commenting activity.
– Download Brian’s Threaded Comments for WordPress
Bring in Free Viral Traffic with Twitter
There are a lot of different options to choose from when adding social media buttons to your blog. I’ve been using TweetMeme for a while now and have been happy with it. In short, this plugin will create a short redirect link and allow other Twitter users to “retweet” your post in a single click. This is great for bringing in free viral traffic.
– Download TweetMeme for WordPress
WP Super Cache to the Rescue
Any digg, resource or social media related blog already understands and appreciates the value of WP Super Cache. This plugin is responsible for saving a ton of downtime and server crashes for blogs overloading with traffic. WP Super Cache plugin increases the page/post loading time and reduces the resource consumption on your server.
– Download WP Super Cache for WordPress
Is Your Blog iPhone Ready?
Last year I finally got my hands on the iPhone and there is no going back. Unfortunately many sites just didn’t look that great, or where overwhelmed with content. I came across a plugin called WPTouch, which make your blog completely accessible and easy to read through the iPhone. This plugin is definitely worth checking out. (I also did a full post on this plugin a while back)
– Download WPtouch iPhone Theme for WordPress
Other top notable wordpress plugins on my list include; Contact Form 7, Subscribe to Comments, WordPress Automatic Upgrade, WordPress Backup & Google XML Sitemaps.
There’s hundreds of amazing plugins out there, and I’ve only mentioned a few. Feel free to leave a comment with your favorite wordpress plugin that isn’t on the list.