WordPress is a versatile platform that has gained mainstream popularity amongst business owners and bloggers alike. It has provided people with a virtual blogging space that is easy to use and navigate around.

You do not have to be a tech junkie to be able to use WordPress for your purposes. WordPress has made your job easier by providing a ton of accessibility features that add creative functionalities to a website.

It is one of the most simple to use Content Management Systems (CMS) that users can readily get their hands on.

You can use WordPress for a blog, a business website, or even a magazine. You have a plethora of options to choose from when it comes to WordPress’s usability and versatility.

WordPress is also big on themes, templates, customer support, and useful plugins that make its user experience stand out from all the other blogging platforms out there.

WordPress plugins can take your normal blogging experience to the next level by adding new and useful features. There are more than 54,000 official WordPress plugins available to users and they just keep on increasing with each passing day.

An important thing to keep in mind is that not all WordPress plugins are created equal. Some are better for advanced users while some are good for beginners. Moreover, not all plugins are compatible with every theme. Each plugin has something unique to offer and is better at doing a specific job than the other.

With that said, let’s take a look at what WordPress really is, how WordPress plugins work, and the 10 must-have WordPress plugins you need to make the most out of your experience at this amazing platform.  

What is WordPress?

WordPress is an open-source content management system (CMS). What this simply means is that you can use the WordPress platform for your content management while also modifying it according to your needs. And you can do all of this for free.

A content management system is basically a tool that helps make it easier for you to manage all crucial aspects of your business or website in one place without needing to be proficient in programming or coding.

Simply put, WordPress is the easiest way to build a website without knowing a single line of code.

Different Ways You Can Use WordPress

WordPress is an extremely versatile tool to have in your arsenal whether you are a blogger or a business owner.

The platform is not just limited to writing blog posts. It comes with an extensive library of built-in media resources that handle audio, video, and image files.

You can easily embed YouTube videos on this platform along with sharing your Instagram pictures, Twitter Tweets, and Soundcloud music files with the click of a button.

There are many different ways that WordPress can be used in. It can be used for complicated tasks and it can be used for simple and straightforward tasks. Whatever tickles your fancy, WordPress can most likely do it.

Here are some of the most common uses of WordPress:

• Blogging
• Building a business or corporate website
• Building a membership website
• Selling e-books
• Selling online courses
• Starting an online store
• Building an eCommerce website
• Podcast website
• Dropshipping website

And much more!

While these options are just a small part of a very platform, they are enough to show you how versatile WordPress can be in its usage and the value it can bring to a user.

The best way to truly experience the power of WordPress is by giving it a go yourself. With so much to offer, you certainly won’t regret signing up!

What are WordPress Plug-Ins?

WordPress plugins are pieces of software or code that are written in the programming language called PHP. This can incorporate additional features to your WordPress website, bringing a whole new depth to your experience.

A decade ago, only expert coders could build websites and make modifications to those websites like WordPress now allows everyone – yes, even those without any previous knowledge of coding – to do.

Not just that, WordPress allows users to customize their websites to their liking without compiling a single line of code. This brings an experience that is curated exclusively for the user which is what makes this platform so amazing.

There are a lot of options to choose from when it comes to plugins. You can choose free WordPress plugins or premium versions that provide a wider selection of offerings.

As an admin, you can activate and deactivate plugins whenever you feel necessary.

10 Must Have WordPress Plug-Ins

As mentioned before, not all plugins are made equal for everyone. Here is a list of 10 must have WordPress plugins that every beginner user should have.

WPForms

Contact form is an essential part of any website as it is a way for your audiences to get in touch with you.

WPForm is a user-friendly must-have WordPress plugin that provides you with a contact form. It is a drag and drop online form creator. This WordPress plugin can easily integrate with many different kinds of platforms such as payment and marketing platforms.

Its key features include:

• Built-in contact form templates
• Smart conditional logic to show or hide fields of the contact form
• Geolocation services to display user’s location
• Enhanced user experience with multi-page forms

All in One SEO (AIOSEO)

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a determining factor in your business’s success. It helps bring more traffic to your website by helping your web page rank better on search engines such as Google.

All in One SEO (AIOSEO) is a WordPress plugin that is widely popular amongst its users and for good reason.

It helps you properly optimize your web page according to the Google SEO. You can follow this AIOSEO setup guide to get started with this amazing tool.

Another great SEO plugin is Yoast SEO that also provides you real-time SEO analysis to help your website rank better and reach your target audience easily.

Optimole

Optimole is another handy WordPress plugin that makes your web pages load faster than ever.

According to Shopify, 79 percent of online shoppers are likely to not return to your website if it is slow as it provides for a poor user experience.

Slow performance is largely due to images taking up 50 percent more time than average to load.

Optimole tackles this issue by optimizing the images on your website to take the least possible space. It also relies on a cloud-based system to speed your website up.

Optimole does all this by detecting a user’s screen size and resizing the image on a web page to load faster.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce, as is evident by the name, is a must-have WordPress plugin that every eCommerce store owner should have. It allows users to sell anything and everything without any hassle.

WooCommerce offers a plethora of extensions and modifications that can be made by the user to make the plugin as customizable as possible.

It also offers many themes along with the ability to sell all kinds of products whether it is digital, physical, or affiliate.

With WooCommerce, users also have access to the following features:

• Unlimited products
• Unlimited images
• Product ratings and reviews
• Product sorting and filtering
• Shipping wherever you want
• Selling anything possible
• Embedded products
• Variety payment options

WP Rocket

The world is becoming faster than ever. A slow loading website can make or break your business. WP Rocket provides faster loading times by making cached copies of each page on your website. This way, it reduces the workload of your servers and loads the web pages quicker.

Here is what you can expect from this plugin:

• Boost shorter loading times
• Enhance user experience
• Support WordPress multisite
• Load images quicker

Akismet

Akismet is a WordPress plugin that filters out all spammy comments from your website. It offers a status history of comments and allows you to understand and recognize which comments Akismet marked as spam and why. It also gets rid of any suspicious links in the comments section of your website.

With the Akismet WordPress plugin, this is what you can expect:

• Basic and advanced filtering of spam comments and links
• Spam statistics in your WordPress admin area
• Privacy and GDPR Compliance
• Approved comments display

UpdraftPlus

Website owners should always have proper backups in place. UpdraftPlus is the optimal tool to do just that.

UpdraftPlus is a popular WordPress plugin that allows manual as well as automated backup options including Dropbox, email, and Googe Drive.

It is extremely simple to install and configure, requiring minimal effort by the user. Here are some of the features you will have access to while using UpdraftPlus:

• Restore backups
• Delete backups
• Remote storage options
• Non-WordPress files backups
• Remote location backups
• Cloning and migrating WordPress website

UpdraftPlus also comes in a premium version where you can get additional benefits of automatic backups before migration and multiple remote storage options.

MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is an essential tool to have in any business owner’s arsenal.

When it comes to running a successful business, website analytics are key. They play a vital role in any business’s growth and future potential.

MonsterInsight is a WordPress plugin through which you can set up Google Analytics for your website with a few simple steps and see how your website is performing.

This WordPress plugin makes the task of following your website analytics easier than ever. It lets you understand complicated analytics that can help you recognize where you should focus your future business efforts in.

Instead of wasting your time trying out different marketing strategies for your business, have a look at the insights MonsterInsights has to offer. This plugin will act as the guiding tool that will let you know what performs well with your target audience and what doesn’t.

This way, you are able to create a data-driven strategy that works for your business and increases your website’s traffic.

MonsterInsights is also a great tool for eCommerce platforms as it tracks metrics like total revenue, top referral sources, conversion rate, and top-performing products.

Here is what you can expect your MonsterInsights WordPress plugin to do:

• Enhanced link attribution
• Real-time statistics
• Google Analytics dashboard
• File download tracking
• Tracking ads
• Quick setup
• Universal tracking

Wordfence Security

Over 73% of the popular WordPress-powered websites were found to be vulnerable to security attacks and malware according to research conducted by WpWhiteSecurity.com.

Security is a necessary evil that we now have to deal with in the age of technology. While the internet is a great tool and has changed many people’s lives for the better, it does come with its risk.

But that should not scare you.

The Wordfence Plugin is created to keep your website as secure as possible. It puts a firewall in place on your website. This firewall defends against malicious attacks by keeping a check on core files, bad URLs, malware, SERP spam, malicious redirects, backdoors, code injections, and much more.

It also offers users with a secure login system by blocking any suspicious attempts at getting access to your content. Every time a suspicious activity takes place on your WordPress account, you will be notified on your website so that appropriate steps can be taken.

Here is what Wordfence ensures for its users:

• Advanced manual blocking
• Leaked password protection
• Country blocking
• Troubleshooting files
• Two-factor authentication

Elementor

Elementor is one of the more edgier WordPress plugins that you can install. It is a visual web page builder, giving you the ability to create original designs.

This means that you don’t have to be a web development expert to add cool effects to your website. You can add overlays, interactive nav bars, animations, and much more with a few clicks and drag-and-drop action.

Elementor’s key features include:

• Over 150 ready-to-use web page templates
• Ease of use
• Enhanced user experience
• Fully original designs

The Bottom Line

If you use WordPress for your content management, plugins are going to be your best friend.

In this must have WordPress plug-ins guide, everything has been laid out for you. Now, all you have to do is to put into action and watch your WordPress website flourish as a result of your efforts!