Thousands of plugins for one site – you have the choice
As a creator of affordable web sites, it’s no secret that Worpress is the CMS of choice (with me anyway), but when it comes to plugins, there are so many out there. Which ones are beneficial to your site?
The following is merely opinion. I receive no payment for naming my preferred plugins.
When installing WordPress as the CMS for your site – the first time logging in can be daunting. I’ve listed my go-to plugins to help setup your site for SEO, security, and usability.
Step One: Delete Hello Dolly.
Step Two: Grab all the following plugins:
- Insert Headers and Footers
- Ninja Forms
- Yoast
- Maintenance Page
- Wordfence/Sucuri
- Simple Custom CSS
These above listed plugins will help with the following:
Insert Headers and Footers: Getting your Google Analytics Script (or any coding/script that needs to be there) in the header of your site easily.
Ninja Forms: Easy to use contact form creation
Yoast: This one is the key to helping you get your SEO in check. With simple how to wizards, and advice. This is the go-to plugin.
Maintenance Page: Allows you to create a website or amend/change/refurb your site without fully going offline.
Sucuri: Added security to your site, advising of malicious login attempts etc.
Simple Custom CSS: When you’re ready to make some changes to your site this allows you to make simple adaptations (like a font change) within the code without breaking your site
Now, the above plugins are merely to help set your site up and get the right bits happening. There are plenty more you can use to optimise your site with sliders, page builders, search and filters, etc. Each individual site has it’s own needs, so based on what you site’s market is, the plugins will differ. I have built sites that have required polar opposite plugins, but the one’s listed IMO are the staple six you need to setup your site.
JB