Blogging for so many years, I have installed and tested hundreds of plugins. As much as I would love to have 50 installed on my blog at once, I know that’s not a good idea as that could affect performance. Plugins are in fact, very important to a blog’s success; but you have to pick what is best for the blog and your viewership.
With that being said, there are certain plugins I cannot live without on a blog of mine. Each one serves a specific purpose in making the blog run better, help with speed, and SEO as an added bonus. The following plugins are my recommended best for 2017.
Akismet
This Akismet Plugin comes with the JetPack Plugin is great with helping catch those spammy blog comments and puts them in the spam folder automatically helping you with combating spam in the comment system. A good trick to stop almost all spam is to remove the website URL field from the comment box.
Short Pixel
The Short Pixel plugin is an image optimization plugin that reduces the size of images for a better score in GTMetrix but most of all, it helps speed up the blog because they are optimized. This plugin does everything automatically when you upload an image, you just have to set up the Short Pixel Plugin which takes 5 minutes and you are all set. Image optimization is important in regards to SEO so take this into consideration when installing plugins.
So I’ve Saved A lot of space with my web host
Revive Old Blog Posts
The Revive Old Blog Post plugin is an amazing plugin that I have used for almost 2 years and can’t live without out. This plugin shares old blog posts automatically according to the time schedule I select to certain social networks. This plugin is like my own social media employee and helps supply content to certain social networks to help get traffic or people sharing my blog content. A blessing in disguise and worth the investment. Consider the Revive Old Post Plugin as a tool for your blog.
A look at my recent submissions in real time
Yoast Premium SEO
There are a few SEO plugins that are very good but nothing can compete with the Yoast Premium SEO plugin. I have been using this plugin for a long time and using the paid version but the free version is just as powerful. You must have an SEO plugin for your blog that will help get the blog posts indexed fast and help with search results. Although you still need to build backlinks to your internal links to achieve decent rankings.
A look at one of the settings this plugin comes with.
Comet Cache
The Comet Cache plugin is a fantastic plugin for caching and will help speed up your blog. The free version has its limitations but the pro version as discussed in my Comet Cache Plugin blog post has a lot more. You need a caching plugin these days as speed is a ranking factor now and most of all no one likes a slow blog.
Some Settings
iThemes Security
The iThemes Security is a powerful security plugin that helps protect your blog in so many ways. With a free version and a pro version, it does not matter what version that you use. I am using this plugin for a long time and it’s like my own wordpress security expert working for me each and every day.
The settings panel is an easy to follow and it’s worth it to install this plugin and also use cloudflare.
Another screenshot:
Visit the iThemes Security plugin page to learn more details.
- Also Read: How The Akismet Plugin Can Help Combat Spam
My Final Thoughts
The plugins above are the main plugins I use on any blog I start. Let’s say these are the core plugins for myself. I do list other plugins that I have used and still use from time to time in our plugins category. Having trouble coming up with blog topic ideas? Do take a look at our blog post on How To Get Ideas when you have none.
If you have any questions about any plugins I talk about on this blog, share your comment below and I will try to help you.
Share this blog post with your followers if it’s helped you.
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