When it comes to WordPress plugins, I’m like a kid in a candy store. There are so many cool options that it’s sometimes hard to choose. When selecting plugins for your small business blog, I recommend keeping one thing in mind: just because you can doesn’t mean you should.
Here a few of the top plugins you might want to consider:
1. All in One SEO Pack – This plugin is designed to help you improve your search engine results. It automatically generates META tags for your posts and optimizes your post titles for search. You can just plugin and go, or you can fine-tune settings to suit your specific needs.
2. Back Up WordPRess – This backup tool is easy to use, and it allows you to automatically schedule backups of your small business blog. You can adjust how many backup files are stored as well as opt to have files automatically sent to the email address of your choice.
3. Broken Link Checker – With this plugin, you’ll get notifications on your dashboard when broken links are detected in your blog’s content. You can also see broken links when viewing your blog normally by choosing to have broken links display differently within posts. The best part of this plugin is that it makes it easy for you to update and edit URLs from your dashboard without opening and editing the blog post like you would normally do through the WordPress visual editor.
4. Login Security Solution – The security plugin can help save you from brute force attacks. It tracks IP addresses, usernames, and passwords as well as monitors logins made by form submissions and auth cookies. You never know when a malicious attacker will try to hack your site. Better safe than sorry!
5. WPtouch – If your blog isn’t mobile friendly already, add this plugin now. WPtouch lets you customize how your blog appears for your mobile visitors and it’s a cinch to use. It even lets your mobile viewers switch between the mobile theme and your blog’s standard theme. If you need more features, you can also check out the Pro version.
6. Sharebar – Make it easier for your readers to share your content on popular social media sites and via email. From your dashboard, you can customize which sharing options appear on your site and customize the way the Sharebar appears. If you don’t like Sharebar, there are plenty of other plugin options for helping readers spread your posts. Poke around and find one that’s right for you.
7. Dynamic “To Top” – This is a must-have plugin for the long-winded writer or the small business blogger that frequently features tutorials with lots of screenshots and scrolling. The back-to-top button only appears in JS enabled browsers, and it can be disabled for visitors on mobile browsers.
8. Editorial Calendar – This editorial calendar plugin lets you see your scheduled posts in a calendar view and then drag and drop them to reschedule. It’s a huge time saver and give you a great visual picture of what is scheduled to post when on your blog.
9. Easy Heads Up Bar – This simple plugin adds a notification bar to the top of your WordPress blog website. It lets you link your call to action to promote anything from sales and promotions to polls and surveys.
10. W3 Total Cache – This plugin has been recommended many times over for helping bloggers improve site performance by reducing download times.
What plugins can’t you live without?