Today I bring you the best 30 WordPress plugins that you will need to make your project work perfectly this year.
Maybe you’re thinking: 30 plugins? Isn’t that too many? True, I’m not going to tell you to install all of them because depending on the project, you will need some and others and, in some cases, specific plugins.
Some of the 30 plugins that you will see are common and almost mandatory when creating a website, whatever type it is. Still, you don’t have to install all of them, as I explain below.
WordPress can boast of its plugins, you can do everything with them, so I bring you 30 essential plugins to choose among them what you like and need for your website.
As I’m telling you, there are millions of plugins for a blog. But, as you are a blogger, you have to go testing to find the best plugins that best suit your project, so in this article, you can choose from this list of plugins that you need.
What are the plugins for WordPress?
You need to know that you need to do it with the WordPress CMS to create a professional, profitable and revenue-generating website.
You will need to choose the right domain name and choose the best hosting for hosting, and from here, start installing plugins that will give functionality to the website.
WordPress plugins are additional programs that allow you to customise the design and configuration of your website to your liking by including forms, images or products, giving you the option to do almost anything you want.
There are many plugins to choose from. Most of the plugins are free, and we know some of the plugins to install in WordPress is complicated. However, if you plan to create a website or a blog, this article will show you the best plugins, so you don’t have to look any further.
Should you install 30 free plugins for your WordPress blog?
The answer is NO if you create a blog, and you should not install all the plugins that I show you. We are not recommended to install more than 12 plugins or more.
It would help if you studied how overloaded the web will depend on the resources consumed by each plugin installed, which is partly true. There is much diversity. WordPress plugins Installing is not an easy task. And download almost any type of plugin for free will, making you hesitate.
It is normal to find plugins that take up three times what another one would take when installed on your WordPress. However, f you wanted to on your blog with some so light plugins, they could give you the possibility to install all of them.
I have had 15 or more than 18 plugins, and my speed has been optimal.
Whoever tells you that you can only install 10 or 12 plugins in WordPress is lying.
For example:
Sharing on social networks’ plugin can slow down your website. But, on the other hand, like one Anti-spam, it hardly takes up any load, as it is only active to regulate comments, then it stops working.
So I’m telling you not to install plugins for social networks? The answer is No. It is necessary to insert social buttons on your website. You must install plugins for WordPress of this type because Social networks are essential to achieve visibility.
Some of the other WordPress plugins that will slow down the web apart from social networks are images, sliders or Seo. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use them because they are necessary, but you should use them wisely.
I would discard to use of slider plugins because of the slowdown. Furthermore, some plugins are not very advisable for web positioning because they decrease the ctr (usually not more than 10%). On mobiles, it can be seen correctly sometimes, and this is not good for the user. Otherwise, I recommend you use quality images.
How do you choose the best plugins for WordPress?
Each person should see which plugin is essential and which one he or she can do without.
Suppose you have doubts about whether a plugin is necessary. In that case, you can check whether it is too heavy and resource-intensive. This will help you when it comes to discard it or continue with it.
Which plugins should I install?
You can find millions of reliable and free plugins in the WordPress plugin directory.
As I have already been through that, and I know that with so many plugins for WordPress, you can spend hours searching and testing, I help you with that heavy work. So I’m going to show you the best 30 essential plugins for WordPress, and that is free that I consider essential and that many I use.
This way, you will be able to test which are the ones that best fit your website.
If I have to recommend the best plugins for WordPress, I will go for the following.
Top 30 free WordPress plugins
Best WordPress Security and Spam Cleanup Plugins
Security in WordPress, as you know, is essential. So you have to count on some plugins that provide security and possible hacks to your website and avoid the annoying spam in comments and forms.
1. Plugin Anti Spam Bee (spam)
The Antispam Bee plugin is one of the best WordPress plugins to prevent unwanted comments.
Some plugins like Akismet come by default in Google and work well because they protect. Still, the antispam bee plugin is essential for your blog because it works. Differently, this plugin does not send to the unwanted folder what it finds as it does the rest. Antispam directly prohibits the entry to robots and not even enter the comments in such a folder.
It is also very light.
With this free plugin, you will be more than protected.
Setup time: 1 minute, install, and you’re done.
Download link: Anti-spam
2. Duplicator (Backups)
This is a basic WordPress plugin to make backups.
I’m not going to tell you again how necessary it is to make backups almost every day.
This Duplicator WordPress plugin is simple, practical, fast and reliable.
In a couple of clicks, you will have the backup saved on your hard drive.
It is also very useful to make complete clones of a website with the idea of making a redesign and replacing it with the old one.
Setup time: 3 minutes.
Download link: Duplicator
3. iThemes Security (formerly Better WP Security)
Plugin to protect wordpress from attacks, malwares etc.
This is an essential plugin for wordpress if you want to have peace of mind and unless your hosting service guarantees complete security (as in my case), you need to install it.
Setup time: 10 minutes
Download link: Ithemes Security
4. WP-Optimize
To optimize and clean the database, remove spam, comments in drafts, unapproved, pingbaks and trackbacks if you have them activated.
The possibility of having it always deactivated to not occupy memory and only activate it when you want to do the cleaning process makes it very useful.
Setup time: 2 minutes
Download link: Wp optimize
5. Limit Login Attempts Reloaded (Prevent login attempts)
This plugin automatically blocks when a bot tries to access your WordPress after 3 attempts.
WordPress is always going to try to be hacked, this security plugin with a simple install and activate will prevent those attempts to enter your website.
Setup time: 1 minutes
Download link: Limit Login Attempts Reloaded
6. GDPR Cookie Compliance (CCPA ready)
This plugin is one of the most data protection compliant plugins on the web. It allows you to insert the cookies bar as well as specify the necessary and optional cookies.
It allows you to include links and navigation blocks until the user accepts them, rejects them or specifies which ones they want to see.
Setup time: 5 minutes
Download link: GDPR Cookie Compliance
Best WordPress Plugins for Seo and Analytics
Optimised content, linking your account with Google Analytics is essential. For this, having SEO and analytics plugins installed is another point to consider.
7. WordPress Yoast Seo (Web positioning)
Yoast is the best WordPress plugins today. It is an essential plugin for SEO.
Rare is who does not have this plugin installed or another similar SEO plugin.
Yoast Seo is the perfect WordPress plugin to familiarise yourself with SEO techniques when you are starting.
If configured correctly, the features Yoast Seo provides are fantastic and makes things much easier, although it consumes some resources.
Yoast SEO function is to correct everything missing from the post to be properly optimized: keywords, title, meta description, paragraph length. Mainly this Yoast SEO plugin performs a real-time Seo study of each post you write.
This is just one of the main functions, but it has many more.
If you want to learn how to configure it quickly, access the tutorial on Yoast Seo settings.
Configuration time: 15 minutes
Download link: Yoast Seo
8. Google Analytics WordPress (Web analytics)
Google Analytics is a necessary plugin, and you can use it to monitor the statistics of your website.
Monsterinsights is automatically synchronising your WordPress account with Google Analytics.
It does is to include a tracking code on your website so that once done, it will allow you to study the visits you receive, the pages with more audience, the best-positioned keywords, and many more options.
The use of Google Analytics is necessary to follow our strategy. It is a tool for daily use to analyse the statistics of your WordPress.
Setup time: 5 minutes.
Download link: Google analytics
9. Google Xml Sitemaps (Web Positioning)
Google XML sitemaps is an essential plugin for WordPress. It is an indexing program for your posts to appear in search engines.
Every time you publish, this plugin sends a notice to search engines, giving them the news you have just published.
Essential to gain visibility in Google as soon as possible.
Seo by Yoast has an integrated system. I advise you to deactivate it as it is more recommended with a much more advanced configuration.
You can learn how to configure Google XML Sitemaps by clicking here.
Setup time: 2 minutes
Download link: Google XML Sitemaps
Plugins to optimise the loading speed of your website
The loading speed is very necessary for your website to be liked by the reader and Google robots. You must do everything possible to make your website load as fast as possible.
Here I recommend you invest some money and forget the free stuff. Do you want your website to fly? Use one of these.
10. Wp Rocket (Loading speed)
I used to use the free Wp Super Cache plugin until I discovered Wp Rocket (paid). It’s awesome how good and easy to configure it is! It’s not free, but what can I say? I’m a free lover but improving the loading speed is worth it. It’s great and easy to use.
If your website is loading very slow, you might need to use WP Rocket. Because there are many free plugins to optimize the loading speed, but none like Rocket.
You are talking about free plugins, but WP Rocket is paid plugin? True, I put it in the list because I guarantee that when you use this tool and all that it achieves with it will seem free.
As I say, this is a premium tool. I always recommend using everything free whenever possible. But in these cases, I am sure it is worth investing in this inexpensive tool, and that will make your website go a lightning speed.
It is a cache program with very easy to configure options. All the loading errors of your website will be solved in a few minutes.
Wp Rocket – it is the best cache plugin that exists. Well configured is above any.
A poorly configured cache plugin can give more harm than good, and not all sites give the same performance. Wp Rocket works very well and greatly reduces the web loading times not only for its caching system but also for its functions of minification and file compression. The setup of Wp Rocket is very simple and well done gives impressive speed results.
Setup time: 10 minutes
Download link: Wp Rocket
11. Perfmatters (loading speed)
This plugin will not only give you similar features to Wprocket, but it will also allow you to use conditional loading. If, for example, you use a Form plugin only on the contact page, this plugin does not load it on the entire website, speeding up the loading speed, eliminates unnecessary elements, and makes preloading local loading.
With this and Wprocket, you do not need more, and your website will go like a shot.
Configuration time: 5 minutes
Download link: Perfmatters
12. Lazy Load Form Comments (Loading speed)
If you have many comments in your posts, this plugin will allow you to apply them deferred. That is, they will not be loaded until the user scrolls.
This way, you will gain some speed on your website.
Setup time: 1 minute, install and activate
Download link: Lazy Load for comments
13. Plugin Autoptimize (Loading speed)
Autopimize is a plugin for WordPress that optimizes HTML, CSS or javascript and allows you to cache all this optimized code. It is unnecessary to load it every time a visitor comes to your page to make your website gain speed.
If you want, you can read the article and learn how to configure it and other tools to optimize the speed of a website.
My recommendation is to use it if you don’t want to spend money on Wprocket (mentioned above).
Setup time: 2 minutes
Download link: Autoptimize
14. Wp smush it (Image optimisation)
To reduce the weight of images. The loading of images for your blog is fundamental.
Nowadays, there are very good hosting services such as webempresa, which automatically reduce the weight of your website’s images.
Before requesting the free service from webempresa, I reduce each image manually with the Riot program before uploading it to the web.
Smush is a WordPress plugin, and it performs a general reduction of all the images on your website automatically and without losing quality.
If you have previously made your particular compression, it will leave the images for your blog very light, thus increasing the same loading speed.
Setup time: 1 minute
Download link: Smush it
Form plugins and drag-and-drop web creation
Capturing subscribers is a task that you must do from the first moment you have to have subscription forms and call to action boxes.
If you want to create forms and create websites only, you have the best and easiest to use here.
15. Contact form 7 (Contact form)
To create WordPress contact forms.
Contact form 7 offers forms for everything, whether it is to offer a contact page, recruitment.
Simple and customizable with welcome message design features.
Possibility to use shortcode
Shortcodes are lines of code enclosed in square brackets []. They allow you to insert a form on the site of your choice using a single line.
If you use the following layout plugin, you will be spared this plugin as it has very comprehensive form options
Setup time: 15 minutes
Download link: Contact Form 7
16. Elementor (Web Builder)
Elementor is one of can’t be missing in this list of essential plugins. If you have already bought a WordPress template and your idea is to start building your website only with its options, forget it. You need a layout plugin.
Elementor Page Builder is a WordPress plugin with which you will be able to easily create the pages of your website quickly and with spectacular professional results. With a drag and drop system (Drag & Drop), you will be able to do absolutely everything you can think of.
Infusion with a template like Generatepress, the design result is spectacular.
Forms, buttons, backgrounds, sliders, galleries, effects, gradients. Have you seen a web design that you love and would like to replicate? With this layout plugin, you are going to get it.
It has a free version with which you can achieve results that you will hardly get with the template unless you use CSS code. The premium version is spectacular.
I leave you with this tutorial so that you will be amazed by everything it offers.
Configuration time: 5 minutes
Download link: Elementor page builder
Plugins for Multi-language websites
17. Wpml
If you are going to create a multilingual website, you have free plugins like Polylang, but if you want to opt for the best plugin for the multilingual website, this is one of the best.
Easy to implement, it allows you to apply the translated texts on the website quickly.
Setup time: 5 minutes
Download link: Wpml
18. Weglot
If you want to do the translations automatically, Weblog has a free part up to a certain number of words. After that, you pay according to the size of the website.
The way to implement the texts will be very easy through the platform. A little bit more expensive than the previous one but worth it.
Setup time: 5 minutes
Download link: Weglot
The best WordPress plugins for social media
Social media is the order of the day. Whether you are just starting out or already have some visibility, you will have to use them.
For this, you need to have social icons to link your articles, and your users can contact you through them.
These are the best WordPress plugins for social networks:
Using a plugin to share your articles on social networks is essential.
19. Access Press Social Share (Social networks)
AccessPress is a social share free WordPress plugin designed to allow readers to share an article on social networks.
Simple and visual, it allows you to share your articles easily.
Setup time: 1 minute
Download link: Access press social Share
20. Social Warfare
Although Social Warfare is paid, it has a very good free version. Although limited, it allows you to have an attractive design to share WordPress articles.
The premium version is, along with Monarch, the best WordPress plugins for social networking at present and is worth investing in them.
If you want, you can see the full potential of this plugin here.
Setup time: 5 minutes
Download link: Social Warfare
21. Simple Author box (Author’s box)
This WordPress plugin gives the functionality to insert an author box at the end of each post.
The user likes to see who is behind each article. Being able to insert a photo and a text with what you do is essential, and if you also have access to your social network profiles, so much the better.
The image and descriptive text for the author box is automatically inserted according to the data you have edited in the wordpress control panel in your profile (Text + avatar photo).
Setup time: 1 minute
Download link: Simple Author box
22. Plugin Better click to tweet
With options such as the Vcgs toolbar plugin. Better click to tweet allows you to insert phrases in the text of your posts to be shared via Twitter by the user.
It gives the possibility to visually avoid having to insert an image and capture the reader’s attention.
Setup time: 1 minute
Download link: Better click to tweet
Best WordPress Content Plugins
Content is king is the phrase I have read the most in recent years, and it is true.
You must take care of the content. Google’s algorithm will never go against good content and good interaction of your posts caused by it.
To give visibility to your posts, you have to have plugins to link to related articles, table of contents etc.
In short, make the reader’s navigation easier and more attractive.
23. Wp Popular Post (Most popular posts)
Attractive post with which you can insert in the WordPress sidebar the most popular articles you have.
Very useful to gain durability of page visits.
Download time: 1 minute
Download link: Wp popular post
Using an index in your posts makes it easier for Google to crawl, use Table of content plus.
24. Plugin Easy Table of contents (Table of contents)
The plugin allows you to insert in the part you want of your post an index addressable to each point of it.
It is very useful for the reader because he can see the outline of what he will read and, therefore, very beneficial for the search engine robots as they will see a logical order in the post and will value it in terms of SEO.
A plugin is needed to display this content, but it is indispensable.
Setup time: 1 minute
Download link: Easy Table of contents
25. Q2W3 fixed widget (sticky widget)(Fixed sidebar)
This plugin fixes the banners you have in the sidebar so that the last one will always accompany the text on the left.
This scrolling effect will mean that when a user reaches the end of your blog post, they will not find space on the right giving a greater visual sensation and a greater call to action on the last banner, image or text.
Suppose you decide to install this plugin. It would help if you were fixed the last image you add to the sidebar and not activate the first one. If you do, it will scroll over the other widgets you have configured.
Setup time: 5 minutes
Download link: Q2e3 fixed widget (sticky widget)
26. Custom Sidebar (Conditional sidebar)
This plugin allows you to create different sidebars on each page.
WordPress applies the same sidebar for the whole website; with this plugin, you can create custom sidebars and show each one what you want.
Configuration time: 5 minutes, depending on the types of sidebars you want to create.
Download link: Custom Sidebars
The best plugins for eCommerce
If you want to insert a payment gateway or set up an eCommerce to sell products, you have two plugins that will create a magnificent virtual shop on your website.
27. Plugin Woocommerce (E-commerce)
The eCommerce plugin par excellence.
If you want to sell products, assign colours, sizes, prices and turn your website into an online shop, this is the best plugin.
With the possibility of choosing a wide variety of additional widgets, you can drag and drop to adapt the shop to your liking. Customize it with customer reviews, images, shopping cart.
There is no other like it, and it’s free.
Read the tutorial on how to create an online shop with Woocommerce.
To create an online shop with Woocommerce, you need to install Woocommerce on a good template. These are the best themes for online shops.
Setup time: 60 minutes
Download link: Woocommerce
28. Easy digital download
If you want to sell ebooks or courses and set up a payment gateway or PayPal, an easy digital download is one of the best plugins for this. It is simple and effective.
Setup time: 30 minutes
Download link: Easy digital download
Best plugins for Adsense and affiliation
29. Ad inserter (Google Adsense Advertising)
If you include Google Adsense advertising on your website, you recommend that you insert the ads where you want and not automatically.
This plugin allows you to install the blocks between paragraphs, sidebar etc., as many as you want and in the way you want.
Setup time: 5 minutes
Download link: Ad Inserter
30. Rich Affiliate (Affiliate website)
There is another plugin to create affiliate websites, such as AAWP, but this plugin is cheaper and better.
What distinguishes this plugin from the famous AAWP is that it allows you to use it without the need for Amazon API. It creates affiliate boxes directly through a scraper until you get the API.
If you want to sell products from others and get a commission, this is your plugin.
Setup time: 5 minutes
Download link: Rich Affiliate
That’s all for now. These have been the best plugins for wordpress of this 2021.
