 | If this is your very first WordPress website and you are going it alone, the process can be quite daunting. So here are 7 essential plugins you need, before you even think about adding content to your site. |
1. Make your website secure: You need to do something about preventing hackers gaining access to your website. Nothing is 100% secure, but you can start off with a very simple plugin, such as Login Security Solution which secures your site against brute force automated attacks. Then check out higher level plugins, such as Wordfence which also checks your site for Malware.
2. Backup your website: If your site is hacked, your hosting company will have a backup copy of your website, but it could be from week’s ago and is not updated. If your server is hacked (and it has happened) your entire website is lost – forever. So a backup plugin, such as BackupBuddy, DropBox Backup & Restore or Amazon S3 backup & Restore are all worth checking out.
3. Add an SEO plugin: This makes your SEO so much easier and gives you an easy way to make changes to your Title tags and Meta descriptions. A popular plugin is Yoast SEO, but there are plenty of them available online.
4. You need a spam filter: When you open up your content to comments, you will be inundated with spam. Sorting and deleting all of the spam can seriously eat into your time, so adding a spam plugin is essential. Check out Akismet or Disqus, but there are lots of others available.
5. Make your site load faster: Fast loading sites are just about vital for any internet entrepreneur, so load a caching plugin for increased speed. Check out WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache as these are two of the most popular options.
6. Install Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools: Not really plugins, but if this is your first website then both of these are really essential to your online success. With user demographics and data about the number of visitors to your site, as well as the most popular pages and keywords, you can easily evaluate your campaigns and tweak them as necessary.
7. Add a favicon: These are those small images you see at the top of the browser and look so much more professional than the default image of a page. So install a favicon plugin, such as Favicon XT-Manager and uploading your new favicon will be a breeze.
With these 7 plugins, your site will be good to go and you can start to think about adding content.
For more information on internet marketing or SEO training, contact Adam at The SEO Shop: adam@theseoshop.com.au or complete our online enquiry form.
2. Backup your website: If your site is hacked, your hosting company will have a backup copy of your website, but it could be from week’s ago and is not updated. If your server is hacked (and it has happened) your entire website is lost – forever. So a backup plugin, such as BackupBuddy, DropBox Backup & Restore or Amazon S3 backup & Restore are all worth checking out.
3. Add an SEO plugin: This makes your SEO so much easier and gives you an easy way to make changes to your Title tags and Meta descriptions. A popular plugin is Yoast SEO, but there are plenty of them available online.
4. You need a spam filter: When you open up your content to comments, you will be inundated with spam. Sorting and deleting all of the spam can seriously eat into your time, so adding a spam plugin is essential. Check out Akismet or Disqus, but there are lots of others available.
5. Make your site load faster: Fast loading sites are just about vital for any internet entrepreneur, so load a caching plugin for increased speed. Check out WP Super Cache or W3 Total Cache as these are two of the most popular options.
6. Install Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools: Not really plugins, but if this is your first website then both of these are really essential to your online success. With user demographics and data about the number of visitors to your site, as well as the most popular pages and keywords, you can easily evaluate your campaigns and tweak them as necessary.
7. Add a favicon: These are those small images you see at the top of the browser and look so much more professional than the default image of a page. So install a favicon plugin, such as Favicon XT-Manager and uploading your new favicon will be a breeze.
With these 7 plugins, your site will be good to go and you can start to think about adding content.
For more information on internet marketing or SEO training, contact Adam at The SEO Shop: adam@theseoshop.com.au or complete our online enquiry form.
