Essential WordPress Plugins 2022

WordPress is a great platform to build websites that is full of a lot of useful features, but there are some plugins I find installing on almost every website I develop. These plugins all add an extra layer of functionality that is missing from the core WordPress software, some are free and others are premium plugins, but all are worthwhile if you want the best out of your WordPress site.

Here are the best WordPress plugins to improve your sites.

ShortPixel Image Optimizer

https://shortpixel.com/

ShortPixel is a plugin that automatically optimises the images and PDFs in your Media Library. It greatly reduces the file size of each image and can even generate next-gen image formats like WebP.

Why is this important? Smaller file sizes equal faster loading pages and that means your visitor’s user experience is improved. Google and other search engines are also using page speed as a ranking factor, so your website will rank higher when your images are properly optimised. Pretty important stuff for any business’ website.

RankMath SEO

https://rankmath.com/

RankMath is a plugin that extends the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) functionality of WordPress. RankMath is packed with features from improving your Page Titles and Meta to Schema Generation and even AI writing. It can easily integrate with Google Analytics and Webmaster and install tracking codes for you, this makes setup quick and easy. It is worthwhile for every website to analyse the traffic it is getting and see which areas can be improved.

WP Rocket

https://wp-rocket.me/

Does your website sometimes feel slow? WP Rocket is the plugin for you. On top of its default features that will make your site faster in a single click (page caching, browser caching, or GZIP compression), WP Rocket offers a set of advanced options to boost your performance even more, including delaying JavaScript execution, removing unused CSS, minification and LazyLoad of images and other media. Improving your Page Speed score ensures that visitors are not leaving your site in frustration waiting for content to load.

Gravity Forms

http://www.gravityforms.com/

Gravity Forms is a powerful form builder that can be used to gather information from your visitors. It can be integrated with email marketing software for building subscriber lists, integrated with payment gateways for online sales or just as a simple contact form.

This is a premium plugin that is definitely worth the price, especially for use in advanced forms.

Akismet Anti-Spam

https://akismet.com/

No one likes spam, not the email kind anyway. Akismet is a filter for WordPress originally built to stop comment spam, it now can integrate with contact forms like Gravity Forms so you will no longer receive dodgy marketing emails filling your inbox and only hear from customers or potential customers.

Advanced Custom Fields PRO

https://www.acf-extended.com/

Advanced Custom Fields is the plugin that truly transforms WordPress from its roots as a blogging platform to a full CMS (Content Management System). With the right set up it allows super easy customisation and management of all types of content.

So many WordPress Plugins

There are thousands of WordPress plugins available, and choosing which ones will benefit your website and which ones could be harmful, by slowing down your site and causing a poor user experience, can be critical to the success of your website. It’s important to choose the right ones and the number of plugins can be overwhelming. Choosing a plugin that is updated regularly and properly supported by the developer is ideal and sometimes it is best to pay for a premium version of a plugin if it saves a lot of time and pain.

If you would like a free consultancy with a WordPress expert, get in touch today to discuss optimising your website performance.