WordPress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) for creating and managing websites. With WordPress, you can easily create a website without having to code from scratch. There are thousands of plugins available in the WordPress plugin directory that can help you add various functionalities to your website. In this blog, we have compiled a list of the top 21 essential free WordPress plugins that every website needs.
Whether you’re a blogger or a business owner, these plugins can help you build a better website without breaking the bank. In this blog post, we will discuss the top 21 essential free WordPress plugins that can help improve your website’s performance, security, and user experience.
- All in one migration
If you are planning to migrate your website to a new host or domain, All in One Migration is the perfect plugin for you. This plugin allows you to export your entire website, including your database, media files, plugins, and themes, and then import them into a new WordPress installation. All in One Migration also supports incremental backups, so you can easily back up your website on a regular basis.
- Disable WP Notification
WordPress sends various notifications to the site admin, such as updates, comments, and new user registrations. While these notifications are useful, they can also be overwhelming, especially if you have multiple websites. Disable WP Notification is a simple plugin that allows you to disable or enable specific notifications, so you only receive the notifications that are important to you.
- Yoast SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is essential for improving the visibility of your website in search engine results. Yoast SEO is one of the most popular SEO plugins for WordPress. It allows you to optimize your website for search engines by analyzing your content, providing suggestions for improving it, and adding meta titles and descriptions. Yoast SEO also includes a sitemap generator, which makes it easy for search engines to crawl and index your website.
- Redirection
Redirection is a must-have plugin for managing 301 redirects and fixing broken links on your website. It allows you to easily create and manage redirects from your WordPress dashboard. Redirection also includes a log of all the 404 errors on your website, so you can quickly identify and fix any broken links.
- Beaver Builder
Beaver Builder is a drag-and-drop page builder plugin that allows you to create custom page layouts without having to code from scratch. It comes with a wide range of pre-designed templates and modules, making it easy to create stunning pages quickly. Beaver Builder is also compatible with most WordPress themes, so you can use it with your existing theme.
- Ninja Forms
Ninja Forms is a powerful form builder plugin that allows you to create custom forms for your website. It comes with a drag-and-drop form builder, making it easy to create forms without any coding. Ninja Forms also includes advanced features like conditional logic, multi-part forms, and file uploads.
- WPForms
WPForms is another popular form builder plugin for WordPress. It comes with a drag-and-drop form builder that allows you to create custom forms, surveys, and polls. WPForms also includes templates for various types of forms, such as contact forms, registration forms, and payment forms. WPForms is also mobile-friendly, so your forms will look great on any device.
- Jetpack
Jetpack is a multi-functional plugin that includes various features like site stats, security, backups, and social media sharing. Jetpack is developed by Automattic, the same company that created WordPress, so it is a reliable and trustworthy plugin. Jetpack includes a range of features, from analytics and social media integration to security and backups.
- Akismet
If you have a blog on your website, you’ll likely receive a lot of spam comments. Akismet is a plugin that helps you filter out spam comments automatically. It is a powerful anti-spam plugin that works in the background to identify and block spam comments. Akismet is developed by the same team that created WordPress, so it is reliable and trustworthy.
- WP Super Cache
WP Super Cache is a caching plugin that helps speed up your website by creating static HTML files from your dynamic WordPress site. It helps reduce the server load and improves the user experience. WP Super Cache is a popular caching plugin that is easy to use and can significantly improve your website’s performance.
- WP-Optimize
WP-Optimize is a database optimization plugin that helps clean up your database and reduce its size. Over time, your WordPress database can become cluttered with unnecessary data, which can slow down your website. WP-Optimize helps clean up your database and optimize it for better performance.
- UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus is a backup plugin that allows you to backup your WordPress website to a remote location like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Amazon S3. It is easy to set up and allows you to schedule regular backups of your website. UpdraftPlus also allows you to restore your website from a backup if anything goes wrong.
- Broken Link Checker
Broken Link Checker is a plugin that helps you identify broken links on your website. Broken links can harm your website’s SEO, and they can also be frustrating for your visitors. Broken Link Checker scans your website for broken links and notifies you when it finds any. You can then easily fix the broken links or remove them from your website.
- WP-DB Manager
WP-DB Manager is a database management plugin that allows you to manage your WordPress database from your WordPress dashboard. It includes features like database backup, optimization, repair, and restoration. WP-DB Manager is a powerful plugin that helps you keep your database clean and optimized.
- Smush
Smush is an image optimization plugin that helps you reduce the size of your images without losing quality. Large images can slow down your website, so it is important to optimize them for better performance. Smush optimizes your images by compressing them, stripping unnecessary data, and resizing them.
- Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)
Advanced Custom Fields is a plugin that allows you to add custom fields to your WordPress posts, pages, and custom post types. It is a powerful plugin that helps you create custom content types and add custom fields to them. Advanced Custom Fields is easy to use and does not require any coding knowledge.
- ShortPixel
ShortPixel is an image optimization plugin that helps you compress your images for faster page load times. It uses lossy compression to reduce the size of your images without sacrificing quality. ShortPixel is easy to use and allows you to optimize your images in bulk.
- Elementor
Elementor is a drag-and-drop page builder plugin that allows you to create custom page layouts without any coding. It comes with a range of pre-designed templates and modules, making it easy to create stunning pages quickly. Elementor is also compatible with most WordPress themes, so you can use it with your existing theme.
- Contact Form 7
Contact Form 7 is a popular form builder plugin that allows you to create custom forms for your website. It comes with a simple form builder that allows you to create basic contact forms without any coding. Contact Form 7 is easy to use and can be customized with CSS.
- Google Analytics Dashboard for WP
Google Analytics Dashboard for WP is a plugin that allows you to view your Google Analytics data directly from your WordPress dashboard. It is easy to set up and allows you to track your website’s performance without leaving your WordPress dashboard. Google Analytics Dashboard for WP includes a range of features, from real-time tracking to custom reports.
- TablePress
TablePress is a plugin that allows you to create and manage tables on your WordPress website. It comes with a range of features, including sorting, filtering, and pagination. With TablePress, you can create professional-looking tables without any coding.
Conclusion
WordPress is a powerful content management system that can be customized with a range of free plugins. The plugins listed above are essential for any WordPress website and can help improve your website’s performance, security, and user experience. Whether you’re a blogger or a business owner, these plugins can help you build a better website without breaking the bank.
In summary, the top 21 essential free WordPress plugins are:
- All-in-One WP Migration
- Disable WP Notification
- Yoast SEO
- Redirection
- Beaver Builder
- Ninja Forms
- WPForms
- Jetpack
- Akismet
- WP Super Cache
- WP-Optimize
- UpdraftPlus
- Broken Link Checker
- WP-DB Manager
- Smush
- Advanced Custom Fields
- ShortPixel
- Elementor
- Contact Form 7
- Google Analytics Dashboard for WP
- TablePress
These plugins cover a range of functions, from backup and optimization to SEO and form building. By using these plugins, you can improve your website’s performance, security, and user experience.
Sourabh Agrawal
An Interactive Web Engineer
I am a WordPress developer with the hands-on experience with front-end techniques as well as the backend coding. I love creating new websites, optimizing them for performance and front-end detailing. I am graduated from the University Institute of Technology, RGPV in 2011 with a Bachelor of Engineering in Information Technology.