Whether you are starting a business or a blog, you need a great website. There a few things you need to consider when you are creating your WordPress website. What hosting will you use, the theme, and what plugins for WordPress do you absolutely need to install on your site.
WordPress is an open-source platform and one of the most popular website content managements systems available. There are currently thousands of plugins for WordPress and most of them are free. Plugins enable you to add code and functions to your website without being a web programmer.
The downside with all these choices, if you add too many plugins for WordPress they will really slow your website down. Also, since many of the plugins are designed by users they aren’t always secure, and they can introduce viruses to your website. The good news is you don’t need to load up your site with every plugin available. There are a handful of plugins for WordPress that I add to every site.
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Here are the top 5 plugins for WordPress. I add these to every site:
1. MonsterInsights
This is my favorite plugin to pull in all the Google Analytics for websites. This plugin has been downloaded to more than 2 million websites. This plugin for WordPress allows me to see traffic right on the WordPress dashboard. You can easily set up the plugin, and the wizard will walk you through creating a Google Analytics account.
2. WPS Hide Login
This plugin helps you change the login page from the default settings (that everyone knows) to a personal login URL that you create. This adds another layer of security to your website.
3. Really Simple SSL
This plugin automatically detects your SSL site certificate provided by your host, and it configures your website to run over https. This is very easy to setup and get it running on your site.
4. Smush
This is an image optimizer that automatically compresses your image when you upload them to the WordPress media library. Increasing the page speed load time is going to be an ongoing battle. Images are the notorious culprits for slowing your website down. This plugin will optimize your images without a noticeable change to the image quality.
5. Yoast
This is my favorite SEO plugin. It is easy to use, and I love the visuals used to show if your post or page is good or needs work. Follow the steps in this Yoast video and your website will be SEO optimized in no time.
Remember, you don’t need to install every plugin available. You only need a few to really create a good website. Using the right theme for your website will also eliminate the need to use a bunch of plugins. The Divi theme for WordPress is my favorite theme to use. There are a number of customizable modules already built into the theme, so there is no need for unnecessary plugins. I always use the plugins above with the Divi theme.
Are you ready to start creating your website? Do you have a question? Let me know below or send me a note. If you need help building your website, check out jodierperry.com.
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