Today we’re going to dive into what WordPress plug-ins to download on your new WordPress blog!
There are 13 plug-ins that are highly recommended for every WordPress blog and today we’re diving into what they are, what plug-ins are, and how to download them!
What Are WordPress Plug-ins?
Plug-ins are easy ways to add additional features to your website’s appearance, such as an Instagram feed, mailing list sign-up, or an image slider on your home page. They are also an easy way to add additional features to your websites themselves, such as Google Analytics tracking, an SEO checker, and helpful tools like “Insert Headers and Footers” for adding required coding to your site without messing with the fully written code.
How Do You Install Plug-ins on your WordPress Dashboard?
All you have to do to add a plug-in is hover over the “plug-ins” left-hand menu item and on the drop-down, click “add new”. Then you will search for either the name of the plug-in you’re looking for (like the ones mentioned below) or a feature you’re looking for.
Here is a visual walk-thru:
From there you will head back over to the “plug-ins” menu item on the left-hand menu bar and select installed plug-ins. On the next page, you’ll scroll for the new plug-in and click “activate”. Then you’ll want to dive into the plug-in’s settings and set it up!
If this is your first step into blogging, make sure to check out my post here all about how to set up your first WordPress blog!
Diving into starting your first blog?
I’ve recently launched a free course that dives in DEEP on all that it takes to start your first WordPress blog & I would love to have you!
In the course we dive into:
- How to create your blog business plan
- How to set up WordPress hosting
- A detailed WordPress dashboard walk-thru
- How to customize your website
- Which website plug-ins are recommended
- What pages you need on your site
- How to write your first blog post
- How to create a content plan & strategy
- Info about your social media accounts
- How to set up Google Analytics
- What other sites/apps are recommended
- A list of influencer/blogger networks that pay
Click the button below to learn more!
What WordPress Plug-ins to Download
Here is my list of what WordPress plug-ins to download!
Yoast
Yoast is the KING of SEO & provides all of the tools you need to write a post with great SEO.
It adds a block at the bottom of each post that allows you to easily set your keyword, SEO title, meta description, and more! From there you can check through the suggestions that come up under it which suggest what you can do to better optimize your blog post.
W3 Performance
This plug-in makes optimizing your site easy! An optimized site is more likely to show up in top Google searches (aka, it’ll help you be liked by Google). Read through the walk-thru it provides when you first activate it and you’ll be set!
Smush
This plug-in is great for easily optimizing any and all images you upload to your site so that you do not have to worry about it.
Updraft Plus
Updraft is a great tool for externally backing up your site (which is a great idea btw). You can hook it up to your Dropbox account and set how often you’d like the plug-in to backup your account & you can do it manually inside of the plug-in as well!
Insert Headers and Footers
This is a GREAT tool for those of us who are not great with coding. Over your blogging career, you’ll find that various things will require coding to be put into your website and this plug-in makes it super simple. All you have to do is copy and paste the required coding into the header or footer box that it provides.
WP Forms
The easiest way to add a customized contact form to your site! Just follow the instructions it gives and update the plugin with your colors then you’re set!
Gutenberg Editor
Gutenberg is by far the superior editor in my opinion. It makes both post writing and page building SO simple with easy-to-use blocks.
Gutenberg allows you to use set blocks to set up and write your blog posts and pages in the easiest way imaginable. Simply click a block and it’ll insert a text block, heading block, image block, and so much more.
Jetpack
You’ll find that some people do not like this plug-in, but I like it! It provides a great way to get a quick glance at your analytics + top post pages. It also offers a handful of plug-ins that work great inside of the Gutenberg editor. The plug-in features many more features, so go ahead and walk through them!
Askimet
Askimet is by far the best security plug-in. They have a “pay what you can” option, making it super affordable, and it keeps on top of any and all potential website spam/attacks.
Google Site Kit
This plug-in is a great way to easily access Google Analytics + Google Search Console without leaving your site.
Smash Balloon “Feed Them”
You’ve likely seen this plug-in in action already on your favorite blogs. It is a simple way to add your Instagram feed to your website. I love the look of it as a footer item on your site.
GDPR Cookie Consent
This is the easiest cookie consent form to edit in my opinion! All I did was change the colors and it was good to go. To read about why you need a GDPR consent form, click here.
Email marketing of choice
You’re going to want to go with the plug-in that goes with your email marketing site. I personally use mailerlite! If you have questions about the importance of an email list, let me know!
Google Web Stories
Google Web Stories are something you’ll want to hop on right away when you dive into blogging. It is by far the best way to snatch organic site traffic, and at that, a great way to explode your traffic right from the start. You essentially use the plug-in to make stories for your blog posts that then show up on Google!
Other helpful plug-ins:
- Tasty Pins – this easily allows you to add a pin description, hidden pin images, and more in order to optimize your post for Pinterest.
- Pin Image – there are many to choose from but essentially it’ll add a little “pin-it” button over your images for your readers to easily save your post to their own Pinterest account.
- MiloTree – I personally have not used MiloTree but many bloggers can’t live without it! With MiloTree you are able to set up custom social media/newsletter pop-ups on your site in an attempt to grab your reader’s attention and get them to follow you on social or sign up for your email list.
- Simple Social Icons – my favorite plug-in for easy to customize and lite social icons for your website. These would be the little social icons you can see at the top of my site!
I hope this list of what WordPress plug-ins to download helps you in setting up your WordPress site! For more blogging tips, make sure to follow on Tiktok and check back here for weekly blog posts!
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