An Introduction to WordPress Marketing Plugins
Hello, and welcome!! Here’s a brief introduction to WordPress plugins. Plugins are bits of code that “plug in” to your WordPress site. They typically a.) extend existing functionalities, or b.) add new features — but exact functions may vary. In the case of WordPress plugins, their types, and thus purposes, include the following:
- Website builders
- Form builders
- SEO plugins
- Site performance
- Analytics plugins
- Backups plugins
- Social media plugins
- Security plugins
As of writing this article, the WordPress plugin library offers 58,800 plugins. While that number may explain the common saying in WordPress circles (“there’s a plugin for that”), it does also discourage some newcomers from exploring it in depth. Finding the ideal website video optimizer or image editor plugin among thousands of options can be daunting. Fortunately, however, there’s no theoretical limit to how many plugins you may use, so there is room to experiment!
How many plugins should you be using?
That said, before suggesting WordPress marketing plugins you should try, we should offer a word of caution. You may, by all means, run multiple plugins to suit your website’s every need. You must, however, have the right number of plugins running at once. That’s because, as lightweight as many plugins may be, they can still tax your website’s performance. In turn, slower loading speeds can deter visitors, hampering your lead generation efforts.
In brief, most cautious marketers agree on using up to 5 plugins at any given time for shared hosting. For Cloud hosting, you may run up to 20, but ideally, you should always weigh the benefits against the cost. If that one plugin doesn’t work for you or doesn’t serve its purpose anymore, it’s always best to remove it.
So, What Are the 5 WordPress Marketing Plugins That You Should Try?
Having covered what plugins are and how many you should have, we may now delve into our suggestions. Some will be directly focused on the marketing process, while others will assist marketers with everyday tasks and workflows. In no particular order, our 5 picks are the following.
#1 Yoast SEO
Starting with SEO, Yoast SEO could not be missing from this list. This and the next entry cover almost any aspect of SEO copywriters may need. With search engine visibility being so crucial, who doesn’t want to blog effectively and make it to the first page?
Started in 2008, Yoast SEO has over 5 million active installations today, as well as a 5-star rating. Moreover, it takes care of continuous, substantive updates, and currently supports 51 languages.
Its free version offers a plethora of SEO features, including:
- Automated technical SEO improvements
- XML sitemaps
- Readability analysis
Should these not suffice, the premium version offers even more features, including:
- E-mail support
- Social previews
- Automatic internal linking suggestions
#2 All in One SEO (AIOSEO)
Another SEO plugin, AIOSEO is among the most popular Yoast SEO competitors. That’s not to say you need to choose between the two, as many marketers may use multiple similar-purpose plugins.
AIOSEO is also an established plugin, having started in 2007. It currently has over 2 million active installations and a 4,5-star rating. Its developers continue to update it, and it supports 56 languages.
The free version of AIOSEO offers the following features, among others:
- Google Analytics
- XML sitemaps
- Google AMP support
Its premium version expands on these features, offering more functionalities like:
- Smart schema markups
- Advanced SEO modules
- WooCommerce SEO
#3 Broken Link Checker
Still on the front of SEO, albeit from a different angle, Broken Link Checker is another excellent plugin to consider. As the name implies, it focuses on detecting broken links across your site. In the words of the developers, “[i]t helps you fix bad links to improve SEO and user experience”.
Broken Link Checker is, admittedly, less flashy than other entries on this list. Likely because of its narrower focus, it currently has 700,000 active installations and a 4-star rating. It seems less frequent updates and supports a more modest 27 languages. It does not have a paid version, however, so you may try it at no cost.
Broken Link Checker offers the following functionalities, among others:
- It monitors your posts, pages, comments, and other content for broken links, and notifies you when it finds any.
- For convenience, it can make broken links display differently in posts.
- As an optional feature, it can also prevent search engines from following broken links.
You may find Broken Link Checker here.
#4 MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress
On to analytics plugins, MonsterInsights is an excellent WordPress marketing plugin you should try. As the name implies, this plugin offers a better connection between Google Analytics and your WordPress site.
Currently, MonsterInsights has over 3 million active installations and a 4,5-star rating. Feature-wise, the free version offers a Google Analytics dashboard inside your WordPress dashboard. In the developers’ words, its “customized reports […] eliminate the fluff and only show you the stats that matter”.
The premium version includes a wealth of tracking features, including for:
- Events
- Ecommerce
- Affiliate links
You may find MonsterInsights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress here.
#5 Marketing Plugin –Akismet Spam Protection
Finally, Akismet is among the most popular WordPress plugins today. Akismet has a single purpose; to fight comment spam.
Neil Patel dubs it “the top comment spam plugin”; with over 5 million active installations, a 4,5-star rating, and next to no reported issues, the title seems well-deserved. Notably, however, Akismet is only free for personal blogs and offers paid subscriptions for business sites.
Akismet’s features include:
- Automatic checks for all comments
- Visible URLs in comment bodies
- Additional review tools for moderators
You may find Akismet Spam Protection here.
Conclusion
That should conclude our list of the top 5 WordPress marketing plugins you should try. With the exception of Akismet, you may do so at no cost and settle for free versions or upgrade to premium ones according to your needs. We hope you found this list concise and, most importantly, useful.
Photos used:
https://pixabay.com/illustrations/wordpress-water-logo-background-588494/
https://pixabay.com/photos/security-protection-anti-virus-265130/
