WordPress – http://www.wordpress.org/ – is an incredibly powerful tool even in its “out of the box” presentation. What started as a blogging platform has morphed into a fully functional content management system (CMS) which can be further extended and customized through the use of plugins.
According to the site, “Plugins can extend WordPress to do almost anything you can imagine.“ I’m not sure I’d go that far, but from a web developer’s point of view I will say that they make my job much easier. Why reinvent the wheel when there’s a perfectly good version right there?!?!
With that in mind, there are a few plugins that I nearly always include as my “default” WordPress install:
- Akismet – This is essentially a spam blocker. Once your site/blog is out there you’re invariably going to be found by spammers. It’s unfortunately part of the package when you take your business online. This little gem will cut down on spam drastically. It won’t cost you a thing, but you will need to sign up for an Akismet API key. http://akismet.com/
- All in One SEO Pack – You need your site/blog to be found and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the ways you do it. This allows you to customize titles, keywords, URL formats, etc. Very effective and better yet, completely FREE.
- Google Analyticator – I’m a firm believer in the power of analytics. How’s your site doing? Where’s your traffic coming from? What keywords are people using to find you? Google Analytics is an outstanding free analytics tool. This free plugin makes adding it to your site a breeze. You can sign up for Google Analytics account here: http://www.google.com/analytics/
- Google XML Sitemaps – A sitemap is more than a way for users to find your content. It’s a very important tool that allows search engines (Google, Yahoo, Bing, Ask.com) to find your content. This free plugin will create them for you. For more info on the importance of sitemaps visit http://www.sitemaps.org/
- AddToAny - In the social media world we live in allowing people to share your content is super important when it comes to marketing your site. This free plugin allows you to customize which sharing services (social media outlets) you show on your posts and pages.
NOTE: You may have a WordPress theme that has a social sharing option. In that case you won’t need to utilize this plugin. But I’d STRONGLY advise you offer sharing of your content in some way.
There are certainly other plugins out there, but these 5 are the ones that I utilize nearly 100% of the time for both my personal sites as well as for my clients.
Have I left one of your favorites off the list? Let us know!
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