Are you looking for the best WordPress plugins for bloggers? There are certain plugins every blogger needs if they truly want to succeed. From securing your website to collecting more leads, the right set of plugins can elevate your blogging business to the next level.
That’s why, in this article, we’re going to help you discover the 12 best WordPress plugins for bloggers.
1. WPForms
With its intuitive drag and drop form builder, WPForms has skyrocketed to being the best contact forms plugin on the market for good reason. Creating contact forms, along with virtually any other type of form you can imagine, is absolutely effortless with this plugin.
WPForms has hundreds of pre-built form templates to choose from, which will save you valuable time. You can even integrate the most popular email marketing websites (MailChimp, AWeber, Drip, Constant Contact, etc.) and payment gateways (PayPal, Stripe, etc.) to increase your subscriber base and your revenue.
If you run a multi-author blog, you can easily set up a custom user registration form for brand-conscious login screens, and accept post submissions from guest bloggers. You can even create surveys and polls to engage your readers and potentially generate ideas, based on reader feedback, for future posts!
WPForms is 100 percent responsive and your forms will look gorgeous on any device. Best of all: your forms can be placed on any post, page, or widget-ready area with a simple click of a button.
Get Started with WPForms Today!
2. MonsterInsights
What good is a blog without traffic? And what good is traffic without a way to analyze it? The answer is “nothing!” That’s why MonsterInsights was invented.
MonsterInsights gives you a hassle-free way to connect your WordPress blog with Google Analytics to get the reports you need most, directly on your WordPress dashboard.
Find out your traffic stats, as well as where your readers are coming from, what words they searched for to find you, which posts are the most popular, and so much more.
If you have free ebooks or other files available for downloading, MonsterInsights will track your download statistics. It will also track your eCommerce stats, should you decide to connect it with WooCommerce or Easy Digital Downloads.
When you know where readers are coming from and how they interact with your blog, you can plan your content marketing strategy more effectively. By utilizing MonsterInsights, you will have all the insights you need to raise your traffic, lower your bounce rate, and earn more money.
Get Started with MonsterInsights Today!
3. Akismet
Akismet has been around since 2005 and remains one of the very best WordPress plugins for bloggers. It’s a top-notch product that’s a must-have for every WordPress website owner.
Spam can hurt your credibility, if left unchecked. Or, it can take up a massive amount of your time if you try to filter it all yourself. That’s why Akismet was created.
Once installed and activated, the Akismet plugin will abolish spam from your comments’ sections automatically. Say goodbye to wasted hours deleting junk commentary, and hello to more time to blog!
Get Started with Akismet Today!
4. Yoast SEO
You’ll never have the traffic you desire if no one can find you online. The way to get more visitors? Boost your SEO (search engine optimization) with Yoast.
Yoast SEO forces you to select a focus keyword for each piece of content you write, optimizing your posts and pages as you write. It also has options for meta data, and snippets, to keep your summaries concise for search engines and social media.
As the world’s most popular SEO plugin, Yoast SEO is definitely one of the best WordPress plugins for bloggers.
Get Started with Yoast SEO Today!
5. Google XML Sitemaps
An XML sitemap is how bloggers tell search engines about all of the existing posts and pages on their websites. It also tells the search engines which links on your blog are the more important, and how frequently you make updates.
While sitemaps don’t necessarily boost your rankings on search engines, it does allow said search engines to crawl your website more efficiently. If you’re a brand new blogger and don’t have as many backlinks yet, this is especially important.
By default, WordPress doesn’t create XML sitemaps. Which is why you’ll need the Google XML Sitemaps plugin. Once installed and activated, Google XML Sitemaps will create a complete sitemap of your blogging website for search engines, without affecting your speed or performance.
Get Started with Google XML Sitemaps Today!
6. Sucuri
Security is an issue for all bloggers, big and small. With Sucuri, you’ll be able to have peace of mind, knowing your blog is secure.
Protect yourself from malware, hacks, and other security threats. As a bonus, Sucuri ups your website’s performance and makes it faster!
Want to know more? Read our complete Sucuri review!
Get Started with Sucuri Today!
7. WP Super Cache
Rather than serving up heavy WordPress PHP scripts, WP Super Cache will generate an HTML file for your site visitors.
Show static HTML files from your blog to anyone who hasn’t commented, logged in, or accessed a password-protected post.
Get Started with WP Super Cache Today!
8. Shared Counts
Unlike most social sharing plugins, Shared Counts doesn’t use tracking scripts, cookies, or store users’ data; making it completely GDPR compliant.
Add sharing buttons to your blog posts, linking to the most popular social media networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.). Your readers can even share your posts via email!
Get Started with Shared Counts Today!
9. UpdraftPlus
It’s critical for bloggers to back up their WordPress databases and files on a regular basis. If there’s an accident, or a hacker attack, you could be at risk for massive data loss. Fortunately, if you make backups, these catastrophes don’t have to mean the end of your business.
UpdraftPlus backs up and restores your entire WordPress website. The backup files are sent to a remote, secured location to keep them safe should you need them due to erasure, corruption, or hacking.
Want to learn more? Read our full UpdraftPlus review!
Get Started with UpdraftPlus Today!
10. OptinMonster
If your readers are leaving your website too quickly, and your bounce rate is through the roof, then you’re in need of OptinMonster.
Thanks to OptinMonster’s Exit-Intent® Technology, you can catch users right as they’re about to click off of your blog and show them a message that converts them to subscribers, followers, or even customers.
This is one of the best WordPress plugins for bloggers because it’s the BEST lead generation tool on the market today. You’ll be able to maximize your email subscriptions, increase reader engagement, and vastly lower your bounce rate.
Get Started with OptinMonster Today!
11. ThirstyAffiliates
Manage, organize, and cloak your affiliate links with ThirstyAffiliates to optimize your blog’s earning potential.
ThirstyAffiliates catches 404 errors, has the option to link chosen keywords automatically, and you’ll get all the statistics and reports you need to plan your marketing strategy.
Want more information? Read our ThirstyAffiliates review!
Get Started with ThirstyAffiliates Today!
12. AdSanity
Ads are a great way to earn additional revenue as a blogger. Whether you’re publishing network ads or self-hosted banner ads, AdSanity can help you manage them.
The beginner-friendly interface makes AdSanity the perfect plugin to get started with. It makes ad creation simple and easy.
Want to know more? Read our full AdSanity review!
Get Started with AdSanity Today!
We hope this article helped you discover the best WordPress plugins for bloggers.
If you liked this post, you might also enjoy our comparison of the 9 best email marketing services.
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