My Favourite Plug-Ins for WordPress

(The bottom of this blog includes a bonus video on how I made this blog post. )

 

  1. Coming Soon by SeedProd
  2. Akismet Anti-Spam
  3. CDN Enabler
  4. Cookie Notice and compliance for GDPR/CCPA
  5. Site Kit by Google
  6. Smush
  7. Wordfence Security

1. Coming Soon by SeedProd

This plug-in creates a simple splash page that hides your new WordPress site until you are ready for your website to go live. It is the very first Plug-in I load and set up.

2. Akismet Anti-Spam

It might come pre-loaded but only use plugins that you need. You need this plug-in if you have a blog and allow comments. I removed it once and quickly got thousands of fake comments on a client’s site – so it definitely works well.

  1. CDN Enabler

Rewrites URLs like CSS, JavaScript, and images, to be served by a content delivery network (CDN) which helps speed up your WordPress site. Only use this plug-in if your host doesn’t provide CDN service.

  1. Cookie Notice and compliance for GDPR/CCPA

Adds a notice to your site to tell visitors that your site uses cookies and helps you comply with GDPR, CCPA and other data privacy laws. I use the plug-in by Hu-manity.co and it always works well for me. Whatever one you choose – be sure to use one.

 

  1. Site Kit by Google 

Sets up search console, Google analytics and site speed tests. In other words,

    • how your site appears in Search results
    • how many visitors you’ve had
    • analytics on your visitors
    • you can even run speed tests on your site

This used to be so difficult because you had to set these all up separately and now Google makes it so much easier I need to thank Google.

  1. Smush

This easily reduces image file sizes to help load time which improves performance and helps with SEO. I use Smush from WPMU DEV  and it saves me hours of resizing my images manually. Plus, I have tried other image optimizing plug-ins that caused problems so I trust Smush.

 

  1. Wordfence Security – This is a must have plug in.

I keep my site safe by using Wordfence Security – Anti-virus, Firewall and Malware Scan by Wordfence I use the free version and it has always been amazingly good at keeping my site secure. However, if my site ever went into the BigLeagues – I would pay for the Pro version for sure.

 

      • Only use plug-ins you need.
      • Remove any that you don’t need that may have been included in your hosting package.
      • Always keep plug-ins up to date by enabling auto updates for your plug-ins.
      • No, I did not get paid to mention any of these plug-ins. I just use them and they work well for me.

 Do you agree? What are your Go-To plugins that you always use?

Are you new to WordPress and want to learn more? Watch the video on how I created this post:

The Easiest Way to Create a WordPress Post