Have you ever been editing your WordPress site and considering adding some extra functions? Perhaps you wanted to add a contact form, or maybe to improve its security. Whatever it was, you’ve probably ended up searching for it on Google and found yourself going down a rabbit hole; lost in the endless plugins that WordPress has to offer and questioning which one you really need. Maybe you’re not even sure what a plugin is!
Here are some of our favourites, and a few helpful tips along the way…
What are WordPress Plugins?
Plugins pretty much do what it says on the tin – they are bits of code that you “plug in” to your website, to either add or extend its functionality. Plugins can provide an almost infinite amount of functionality, from e-commerce, contact forms and security, right through to making it snow on your website!
There are thousands of developers around the world making plugins for WordPress. To get a plugin listed on WordPress plugin directory, you need to meet a lot of requirements, but that doesn’t by any means imply that all the plugins on the directory are of good quality!
A plugin might also be made to be bespoke to your requirements, by your own web developer.
Tip: when choosing a plugin, consider the following:
does it have lots of good reviews? Has it been updated recently?
And is it compatible with the latest version of WordPress?
You’re probably thinking, do I need to put my hand in my pocket? Possibly, but not necessarily. Lots of plugins are free to use; others are free to use but have a paid version with extra features that you can upgrade to. Many plugins are paid-for from the start.
But, with nearly 60,000 plugins freely available on the WordPress plugin directory, and 1000s more available online through third-party sites, which ones should you be using, and how many is too many?
Ascendancy’s favourites
We’ve been using WordPress for longer than some of us care to remember – so when it comes to plugins, we have used a fair few!
Included in this list of our favourites are a few free ones and others that are paid for,, but we think they are worth it.
Wordfence
Cost: Free (advanced features behind a paywall)
We couldn’t start the list off without going for one of the most important plugins that we believe every WordPress site should have. Wordfence is a security plugin that helps protect your website against online threats.
Yoast SEO
Cost: Free (advanced features behind a paywall)
With our Digital Marketing specialism, it’s no surprise that Yoast SEO features high on our list. Using Yoast, you can improve your title tags, meta descriptions and more.
MonsterInsights
Cost: Free (advanced features behind a paywall)
MonsterInsights allows you to simply connect your Google Analytics to your website to start tracking your visitors.
Gravity Forms
Cost: from $59 per annum
Although there are alternative free plugins for adding contact forms to your site, Gravity Forms is our favourite thanks to its advanced features and friendly form builder functionality. The benefits definitely outweigh the price tag.
WP Fastest Cache
Cost: Free (advanced features behind a paywall)
When it comes to improving customer experience, speed is one of the most important factors. Although there are many ways to improve the speed of your website loading, caching is a quick win.
SmushWP
Cost: from $36 per annum
On the topic of speed, image file sizes are another common reason for poor performance on the various page speed tools such as Google PageSpeed. Although there is a free version of this plugin, take it from us – it’s almost not worth it (I promise this isn’t a paid ad). By installing this plugin (we advise the Pro paid-for version for more impact), you can get your images optimised better for the web.
WooCommerce
Cost: Free (paid add-ons available)
Want to turn your website into an e-commerce platform and sell online? WooCommerce is your go-to plugin for this. With loads of advanced add-ons available, WooCommerce can accomplish almost anything you want to do on your e-commerce site.
WPCode
Cost: Free (paid add-ons available)
If you’re comfortable doing so, WPCode lets you add code snippets into your website. Use carefully though, adding code to your site can have detrimental impact!
CookieBot
Cost: Free (advanced features behind a paywall)
GDPR – there, I said it! All websites should now have a cookie consent widget on the site if they are using any marketing or analytics cookies. CookieBot is one of Google’s approved ‘Consent Mode 2’ compliant plugins and is used by a number of our clients to help them stay compliant.
Before you get too carried away adding hundreds of plugins to your site, however, you should be aware that plugins can have a negative impact on your website’s security and performance.
How many is too many?
Although plugins can add some great additional functionality to your site and turn it into a powerful selling-machine, having too many plugins can have a detrimental effect.
It’s fairly normal to find a WordPress site with 20-30 plugins, but it’s important to make sure those plugins are high quality. Before adding a new plugin, be sure to look at its star rating, whether it has been updated recently, and whether it is compatible with your version of WordPress.
Every plugin installed on your site adds extra code, which can cause issues with site speed. Not only that, but having a large number of plugins can make your site hard to manage and keep up to date. If plugins become out of date or unsupported, you have an increased risk of your website being hacked!
So, when it comes to plugins, be selective, and when you’re not using a plugin any more, deactivate and delete it from your site.
Using WordPress and would like a website MOT? Looking to have a new website designed and built? Get in touch today and we’d be happy to help!
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