WordPress is my favourite platform for building websites. Its strengths are its scalability, the excellent potential for SEO optimisation and its complete flexibility with functionality and design.
My website designer developer Abby Storey from Birdhouse Digital says ‘I can build any feasible design and can add countless features. WordPress is full of wonderful possibility!’
Here are the 4 essential plugins that Abby installs into every WordPress site she builds:
- Yoast SEO – an SEO plugin. On TOT: HOT OR NOT I currently pay for the Premium version of Yoast SEO, mainly for its auto-redirect function and the ability to add 5 keywords instead of just 1 keyword. However, for Bright Smart I am testing out another SEO plugin called Rank Math because I’ve been told that it offers the same premium features of Yoast SEO for free. If it works well then I will switch all my sites to Rank Math. Compare Yoast SEO (free version) vs RankMath.
- WP Rocket – an amazing caching plugin. Caching your site means that it will load faster, which is good for SEO and for the user experience.
- Gravity Forms – Almost endlessly customisable forms with conditional logic integrations with mailing lists (Mailchimp, Mailerlite etc), payment platform integrations and more.
- An image optimising plugin – keeping image sizes small will help your site load fast. I have used WP Smush (free), TinyPNG (pay after 500 compressions per month) and Abby recommends ShortPixel (paid)
What plugins do you have in your WordPress site and do you know which ones are essential (and which ones might not be essential)?