{"id":17938,"date":"2023-05-26T09:16:54","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T09:16:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.searchenginejournal.com\/wordpress-plugins\/478143\/"},"modified":"2023-05-26T09:16:54","modified_gmt":"2023-05-26T09:16:54","slug":"11-wordpress-plugins-every-site-should-have-via-sejournal-martinibuster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketingnewsbox.com\/?p=17938","title":{"rendered":"11 WordPress Plugins Every Site Should Have via @sejournal, @martinibuster"},"content":{"rendered":"
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One of the exciting things about WordPress is the unlimited potential to create a website that does every single thing you want it to.<\/p>\n

Before loading up on plugins, it\u2019s a good idea to create a plan for choosing the most essential WordPress plugins<\/a> that are necessary for keeping the running and the site visitors happy.<\/p>\n

Essential WordPress Plugins<\/h2>\n

Many non-essential WordPress plugins add functionality or style in a way that slows a website down. Often, there are better ways of accomplishing the same without a plugin.<\/p>\n

But there are essential plugins that (arguably) no site should be without.<\/p>\n

Creating a list of 11 essential plugins is a subjective exercise that is limited by one\u2019s own experience and knowledge.<\/p>\n

For every plugin I have chosen as essential, there are no doubt many others worthy of consideration that do something better suited for different needs that might be more complex (or simpler).<\/p>\n

So, it\u2019s probably best to consider this a shortlist to add to other shortlists.<\/p>\n

The best place to begin is with a subjective opinion on what kinds of plugins are essential.<\/p>\n

Arguably, there are four necessary kinds of plugins that are essential to virtually every WordPress website.<\/p>\n

WordPress Plugins For Security<\/h2>\n

There are many excellent choices for security plugins. Among the choices, three stand out to me as worthy of consideration.<\/p>\n

Also read The WordPress Security Guide To Keep Your Site Safe<\/a><\/p>\n

1. Wordfence<\/h3>\n

Wordfence<\/a> hardens a website against external threats by locking down areas of the site that are commonly exploited \u2013 and has a malware scan to check for intrusions.<\/p>\n

It does things like blocking malicious files from executing in WordPress folders where they commonly hide, sending alerts when plugins and themes need updating, and providing an option to force strong passwords.<\/p>\n

It even provides the option for instituting two-factor authentication \u2013 previously a Premium feature, now available in the free version.<\/p>\n

However, the main feature is its firewall.<\/p>\n

Wordfence has built-in firewall rules that automatically detect malicious activities or user agent profiles and immediately block them.<\/p>\n

External threats generally don\u2019t have a chance against the firewall, but adding your own custom firewall rules can really bring down the hammer against malicious bots.<\/p>\n

For example, several of my sites experienced an increase in hacking bots using a Chrome 90 user agent, which is a 2-year-old version of Chrome. That browser version currently has a market share of less than 0.08%.<\/p>\n

That means blocking all user agents with that user agent has a low probability of blocking an actual user.<\/p>\n

Adding a custom rule blocking all instances of bots using Chrome 90 instantly blocked thousands of hackers every month.<\/p>\n

It is important to note that excessive use of manual firewall settings (like blocking many IP addresses) could result in a performance hit.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the Wordfence automatic lockout is useful because it expires after a set time, which will prevent bloating the database.<\/p>\n

Wordfence is also authorized by the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures Program as a CVE Numbering Authority.<\/p>\n

This gives it the authority to contribute vulnerability information that its researchers discover and add it to the CVE\u00ae Program, a database of vulnerabilities. I mention this only to show how Wordfence is an authoritative and expert organization.<\/p>\n

Over 4 million users trust Wordfence, and for good reason \u2013 because it is easy to configure and it works.<\/p>\n

The Premium version of Wordfence offers a more advanced firewall that receives up-to-the-minute threat signatures.<\/p>\n

2. Sucuri<\/h3>\n

Sucuri<\/a>, which is currently owned by GoDaddy, is a security auditing, malware scanning, and website hardening solution.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t duplicate the features in Wordfence, so it can work together with Wordfence as a two-part security solution.<\/p>\n

Sucuri features a file integrity scanner that alerts users to changed files, hardens the website against intrusions, and offers security notices like when someone logs in.<\/p>\n

The paid version of Sucuri offers a firewall that actively blocks threats.<\/p>\n

Using the free versions of Sucuri together with Wordfence offers an outstanding level of WordPress security.<\/p>\n

3. Akismet Spam Protection<\/h3>\n

Akismet Spam Protection<\/a> is used by over 5 million users. It was created by Automattic, which is a for-profit company founded by Matt Mullenweg, creator of WordPress.<\/p>\n

You can count on seamless integration between Akismet and the WordPress CMS.<\/p>\n

Akismet is easy to implement for protecting contact forms and comment sections. It\u2019s a useful plugin to install on any site that has comments turned on and\/or a contact form.<\/p>\n

Backup And Restore WordPress Plugins<\/h2>\n

4. UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup<\/h3>\n

UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup<\/a> plugin is trusted by over 3 million users. It\u2019s an easy-to-use backup solution that makes it simple to roll the site back to a previous version.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve used it successfully to migrate a site from one server to another server, as well as to recover after pushing the wrong button and deleting my template.<\/p>\n

Migrating from one server to another is as simple as backing up with UpdraftPlus, setting up WordPress on the new server, adding the UpdraftPlus plugin to the new installation, and then using UpdraftPlus to recover the site from a backup.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it. Moving a site with UpdraftPlus is so easy, it feels like magic.<\/p>\n

SEO WordPress Plugins<\/h2>\n

Publishing a website requires optimizations.<\/p>\n

WordPress SEO plugins don\u2019t do SEO in the sense that one pushes a button, and the site is magically search optimized.<\/p>\n

They are tools that make it easy to accomplish the technical chores required of a well-optimized website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are many SEO plugins to choose from, and out of all of them, two are highly regarded in the SEO community.<\/p>\n

Also read 13 Best WordPress SEO Plugins<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Rank Math SEO<\/h3>\n

Rank Math SEO<\/a> is a relatively new SEO plugin that quickly gained over 1 million users.<\/p>\n

It has an easy-to-use interface and offers many features that require a paid version in other plugins, such as the IndexNow and local SEO optimizations.<\/p>\n

All of the important technical SEO chores are handled by Rank Math. It also has additional features for optimizing content.<\/p>\n

Some of the important features that come in the free version of Rank Math:<\/p>\n