The Best WordPress Plugins
On this page you will find the best WordPress plugins, ever. These are essential installations – but remember, Worpdress runs faster with fewer plugins, so don’t be tempted to install them all!
W3 Total Cache
The ultimate swiss-army knife of caching, from the basic page caching (keeping a static copy of the page), to CSS/JS/HTML minification (making your files smaller), as well as handling uploads to a Content Delivery Network.
Download | Plugin Site | TutorialWP-SuperCache
If W3TC is too much for you, SuperCache is the answer. Very simply, it makes static HTML files to serve users, and much fewer settings to break.
Download | Plugin Site Backup Buddy Premium
Expensive, but the only plugin that can truly handle both file and database backups easily. Only for pro-bloggers though at that price, but a license lasts a lifetime.
($75 for 2 site license)Purchase CloudFlare Caching Service
Though not really a plugin, this is a free service that works fantastically with WordPress to reduce the amount of spam requests for your page and cache certain resources in local CDNs around the world. Results in significant speed increases. Well worth it but requires you to adjust the name servers for your domain so can be a little tricky to set up.
Signup | Review Secure WP
From the WebSite Defender guys, this gives you a thorough security check and make a number of small adjustments to harden your Wp install, such as hiding the version number. Also available as an
online service.
Download | Plugin Site | Review Wassup
Wassup gives you a full stats dashboard and even real-time monitoring of visitor activity, without needing an external service like WordPress Stats or Google Analytics.
Download BackWPup
This won’t work for everyone’s setup, but it’s a fairly comprehensive free solution if you are lucky enough to get it working; includes email backups, Amazon s3, dropbox; and does a full file and DB backup, not just post export.
Download Quttera Malware Scanner
A fairly competent malware scanner that doesn’t require signing up elsewhere and is completely free. Upon running a scan, a remote site will download your files, scan then report back. If you use free themes a lot and you’re not confident with PHP and Javascript – you need a site scanner of some sort.
Download Vaultpress Premium
Another premium backup service from the guys that created WordPress, so you know it’s rock solid.
($15 per month per site)SignupWP-Optimize
Optimizes the database by running the
optimize SQL command, removing post revisions, spam and unapproved comments. It’s essential if you don’t manually manage your database or run your own optimization scripts. Also includes functionality to rename users, useful for changing the default admin user.
Download | Plugin Site Redirection
Monitor your site 404 errors and create simple 301 redirects easy to keep the Google link juice flowing and your readers free from 404 pages. Find what’s 404ing, redirect it, easy.
Download Broken Link Checker
Dealing with broken links can be pain if you’re waiting for readers to report them – get ahead of the game with this plugin and automatically check all the sites you’ve linked to before they become a problem.
DownloadSearch Engine Optimisation
WordPress SEO by Yoast
Widely regarded as
the SEO plugin for WordPress. It has an extensive feature set and rave reviews. Give it a whirl, there are alternatives though. Includes XML sitemap features.
Download | Plugin Site SEO Ultimate
Another extensive feature set – this one has a 404 error tracker and well as link cloaking for your affiliate links, as well as the standard features. Each module can be disabled as required, so scales with your needs. Quite heavy when fully enabled though.
Download | Plugin Site | Review All-In-One SEO
A basic set of features, but still a very popular choice for handling SEO concerns.
Download | Full review Google XML Sitemaps
Creates a site map for you to submit to Google and automatically updates it when you post new content. Essential for getting indexed quickly and accurately.
Download | Plugin Site SEO Friendly Images
Adds ALT and TITLE meta tags to your images so you can start getting valuable Google Images traffic.
Download Robots Meta
The only easy way to add robots meta tags to specific pages, search results or feeds. Includes options for deindexing from directories and search engine specific tags. Also lets you edit htaccess and robots.txt from within the WordPress admin.
Download
The ultimate swiss-army knife of caching, from the basic page caching (keeping a static copy of the page), to CSS/JS/HTML minification (making your files smaller), as well as handling uploads to a Content Delivery Network.Download | Plugin Site | Tutorial
If W3TC is too much for you, SuperCache is the answer. Very simply, it makes static HTML files to serve users, and much fewer settings to break.Download | Plugin Site 
Expensive, but the only plugin that can truly handle both file and database backups easily. Only for pro-bloggers though at that price, but a license lasts a lifetime. ($75 for 2 site license)Purchase 
Though not really a plugin, this is a free service that works fantastically with WordPress to reduce the amount of spam requests for your page and cache certain resources in local CDNs around the world. Results in significant speed increases. Well worth it but requires you to adjust the name servers for your domain so can be a little tricky to set up.Signup | Review 
From the WebSite Defender guys, this gives you a thorough security check and make a number of small adjustments to harden your Wp install, such as hiding the version number. Also available as an online service.Download | Plugin Site | Review 
Wassup gives you a full stats dashboard and even real-time monitoring of visitor activity, without needing an external service like WordPress Stats or Google Analytics.Download 
This won’t work for everyone’s setup, but it’s a fairly comprehensive free solution if you are lucky enough to get it working; includes email backups, Amazon s3, dropbox; and does a full file and DB backup, not just post export.Download 
A fairly competent malware scanner that doesn’t require signing up elsewhere and is completely free. Upon running a scan, a remote site will download your files, scan then report back. If you use free themes a lot and you’re not confident with PHP and Javascript – you need a site scanner of some sort.Download 
Another premium backup service from the guys that created WordPress, so you know it’s rock solid. ($15 per month per site)Signup
Optimizes the database by running the optimize SQL command, removing post revisions, spam and unapproved comments. It’s essential if you don’t manually manage your database or run your own optimization scripts. Also includes functionality to rename users, useful for changing the default admin user.Download | Plugin Site 
Monitor your site 404 errors and create simple 301 redirects easy to keep the Google link juice flowing and your readers free from 404 pages. Find what’s 404ing, redirect it, easy.Download 
Dealing with broken links can be pain if you’re waiting for readers to report them – get ahead of the game with this plugin and automatically check all the sites you’ve linked to before they become a problem.Download
Widely regarded as the SEO plugin for WordPress. It has an extensive feature set and rave reviews. Give it a whirl, there are alternatives though. Includes XML sitemap features.Download | Plugin Site 
Another extensive feature set – this one has a 404 error tracker and well as link cloaking for your affiliate links, as well as the standard features. Each module can be disabled as required, so scales with your needs. Quite heavy when fully enabled though.Download | Plugin Site | Review 
A basic set of features, but still a very popular choice for handling SEO concerns.Download | Full review 
Creates a site map for you to submit to Google and automatically updates it when you post new content. Essential for getting indexed quickly and accurately.Download | Plugin Site 
Adds ALT and TITLE meta tags to your images so you can start getting valuable Google Images traffic.Download 
The only easy way to add robots meta tags to specific pages, search results or feeds. Includes options for deindexing from directories and search engine specific tags. Also lets you edit htaccess and robots.txt from within the WordPress admin.Download 