WordPress is the #1 CMS used to build websites for several reasons, including its ease of use and the vast array of themes that can be used to make every website built using WordPress unique. However, most users find the most helpful element of WordPress to be plugins.

Plugins are an app or software that can be added to a WordPress website that provides additional features and functionality. They can add this functionality either in the back end to make building and managing the WordPress site easier, or they can add it to the front end to benefit visitors to that website.

One slight problem, although some might say this is positive, is that there are so many plugins to choose from, and not all of them have the high levels of reliability that you want for your website. Thankfully, a core number of plugins have proved themselves, and today are some of the most installed plugins on WordPress, with many web designers considering them essential when designing a WordPress website.

To ensure you are aware of them, we have outlined fifteen essential plugins below, briefly explaining what each of them does. Note they are not necessarily in order of importance.

#1 – Rank Math SEO

If you want to rank on Google and see organic traffic coming to your website, SEO is a must. However, if, like most website owners, you are not an SEO expert, it can be daunting. Thankfully, Yoast SEO can help, enabling you to optimise content and web pages with suggestions and actions to take. Get → RankMath

#2 – Jetpack

This multi-function plugin provides WordPress website owners with tools to create content, enhance the security of their website, and, importantly, improve its performance. It also offers ways to customise your website and enhance its functionality to help it load quickly. Get → Jetpack

#3 – Akismet Anti-Spam

For WordPress website owners who have decided to include a blog on your website, you can allow comments on your blog posts to help build trust and engagement with your audience. Unfortunately, some comments will be spam, but fear not; the Akismet anti-spam plugin will filter these. Get → Akismet Anti-Spam

#4 – WP Super Cache

Fast website load speeds are critical for good user experience and Google rankings. This plugin will help your website to load faster as it stores cached static versions of your website in browsers. Get → WP Super Cache

#5 – WP-Optimize

WordPress is based upon a database; problems with this database can cause websites to malfunction or load slowly. WP-Optimize is a plugin that can overcome these issues by cleaning up your WordPress database to help your website perform better and load faster.

#6 – WP Smush

This strangely named plugin can be a huge help for websites that use a lot of images within its content. Images are often the prime cause of slow-loading pages, so you need them optimised to reverse this. This is exactly what WP Smush does by reducing the file sizes of images, but it does so without diminishing image quality.

#7 – Social Snap

Social media should play an important role in your digital marketing, and one way you want this to occur is your audience sharing your content on their social media pages. This is achieved via Social Snap which creates buttons on each page that users can click when they wish to share them to their favourite social media platforms.

#8 – WP Mail SMTP

WordPress website owners that use their domain for email rather than the likes of Gmail, will find this plugin useful as it helps to ensure that the emails you send reach the inbox of those that you are emailing.

#9 – WP 404 Auto Redirect to Similar Post

This plugin automatically redirects 404 error pages to similar posts based on title, post type, and taxonomy. It offers customizable fallback options, exclusion rules, and the ability to create custom search engines. The plugin aims to improve user experience by guiding visitors to relevant content instead of dead ends.

#10 – Redirection

A versatile WordPress plugin for managing 301 redirections and monitoring 404 errors. It allows users to create specific URL redirections and redirection rules through a user-friendly interface. The plugin supports various HTTP redirect codes and offers features like inclusion/exclusion rules and redirection management

#11 – Updraft Plus

No website owner should ever leave to chance their website crashing or worse being hacked, which is why creating backups of your website are crucial. Updraft Plus will create such website backups for you automatically.

#12 – WP Security Audit Log

Another plugin that helps with the security of your website is WP Security Audit Log. As its name suggests, it creates a log of all activity on your website such as login attempts so that you can identify possible security threats and address them.

#13 – WP RSS Aggregator

If you wish to display RSS feeds from other websites, for example when wanting to curate content for a niche website so that there is always new content for your users to enjoy. This plugin will do this job for you by displaying those RRS feeds.

#14 – Gravity Forms

If the forms you need for your website are somewhat complex, such as order forms and multi-question forms for quote requests, then an awesome plugin for creating them is Gravity Forms which has multiple customisation features.

#15 – Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP)

YARPP displays related content (posts, pages, and custom post types) based on a customizable algorithm considering titles, content, tags, categories, and taxonomies. It offers templating options for customized display, supports RSS feeds, and includes caching for improved performance. The plugin aims to increase user engagement and time on site.