WordPress powers about 26% of the Internet. Now that is whooping figure if we compare the number of websites online. With so many blog’s out there , you need some thing that makes you stand out of the crowd . You’ve got to think out of the BOX. Only awesome content won’t do. It actually won’t do at all. You need some thing more. Ah, yes, you got me right. You need awesome theme and awesomer plugins to support your WordPress site. With so many WordPress plugins out there, it is hard to choose the right one. There are tens of hundreds of plugins for the same functionality. What the heck is the problem, then? Not all of these plugins are properly coded. 60% of the plugins in the WordPress repository are so poorly coded that either your site will crash or the site loading speed will be terrible. So here I am with a solution for you. A list of 15 plugins that need to be used to take your blog to the next level
SEO
1. All in one SEO pack
All in one SEO pack is an awesome Seo plugin that automatically optimizes your site for Search Engines. All you’ve got to do is write some awesome content, set up All in One Seo pack the right way and then just sit back and enjoy organic traffic. Download Plugin – here.
2. SEO by Yoast
So far this is the best seo plugin after All in One SEO pack. It not only has optimization options but it also more customizable options than All in One SEO Pack. It has features like in-built site map and Title, Meta optimization. Using All in SEO pack and SEO by Yoast on the same blog is not a good idea .
3. Google XML Sitemaps
This is the best plugin for generating sitemaps for a blog. Even though most of the SEO plugins come with an in-built feature to create Site Maps. I recommend using this plugin for generating Site Maps as these are properly generated.
Spam Prevention
4. Akismet
Akismet is the best plugin to prevent spam . It is a service provided by WordPress itself. All you need to do is get an API key for Akismet and enjoy. It prevents all of the spam and dumps them in the spam folder. Just in case you think that it has accidentally spammed a genuine comment, you can always check the Spam folder. Now that is awesome, isn’t it?
5. G.A.S.P (Grow Map Anti Spam Bot Protection )
This is a simple yet powerful plugin that adds a check box under Comments field. If the box is not checked, the person is not allowed to comment. This way, spam bots cannot comment on your blog posts.
6. S.A.B.R.E
This cool plugin prevents spam registrations to your blog. What’s the big deal? Is that what you are thinking? These spam registrars some times can inject worms into your site and hack it.
Contact Forms
There are plugins in WordPress for making a contact form too.
7. Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 is an awesome plugin that let’s you create, manage and embed multiple contact forms. This is one of the greatest plugins for making a Contact Form. This plugin generates a short code. Your contact form appears anywhere where you copy the short code on your site. This is cool stuff, isn’t it?
8.Fast Secure Contact Form
This plugin is also the same as Contact Form 7 but this faster and more reliable. Then why is it ranked lower than Contact Form 7, well, Fast Secure Form misses some of the important features that Contact Form 7 has.
Page Speed Improvement
There are plugins specifically made for improving your page load speed too.
9. Wp Super Cache
WP Super Cache is a caching plugin that helps a lot in improving the page loading time. This plugin makes the site load upto 60% faster. The reason it is so widely used is because it can easily be integrated with a CDN.
10 . W3 Total Cache
This is a great plugin too. In face, it is better than WP Super Cache. But for setting this plugin up, you need to be super geeky. Another thing, integrating a CDN with this plugins is difficult.
11. WP Smush.it
WP Sumsh.it is a great plugin for compressing images. This plugin compresses images to the lowest possible size to improve page loading speed. You can Smush images in Bulk using this plugin.
12. WP-Optimize
WP-Optimize is an awesome plugin that let’s you optimize databases and delete post revisions, spam comments etc.
Security
13. Antivirus
The name says it all. This plugin acts as an anti-virus to your blog. It does not allow your blog to get infected by any malware.
14. Login Lockdown
This is a superb plugin. This plugin blocks any user who fails to login with the right password thrice in a row. Don’t worry if the user is you. As you can try to login again after 24 hours.
Sharing Buttons
15. Digg Digg
Digg Digg is the best there is. Wait, don’t go. It is the best social sharing button plugin ever. It gives you lot of button options, position options and also different configuration options.
Last Words:
These are the top plugins that you need to use. Now, go and try them. Do you know any other plugin that can take your blog to the next level? Please leave your comments.
