Running a blog on WordPress can seem daunting especially if you’re not super tech savvy. Luckily, these must have free WordPress Plugins can really boost your site’s optimization and help things run more smoothly. Now you can save your crying fits and meltdowns for when you’re not able to log in to your blog because there is an error. Oh have I been there.
Must Have Free WordPress Plugins
LAZY LOAD. If you read my 14 Free Online Tools for Every Blogger & Site Owner post, you know I talked about Pingdom Tools, which shows you how fast your website loads. Load time is extremely important because if your site takes forever and a day to load, people will click out faster than you can say, “Jack, come back.” Lazy Load loads images as you scroll so it speeds up load time and saves bandwidth.
J QUERY PIN IT. Pinterest is an amazing tool for content creators and a great way for your blog to get noticed. This Pin It button allows you to add a custom button so it will flow with your website theme if you choose it to do so.
WP SUPER CACHE. Again, load time is super important so adding the WP Super Cache plugin will allow your website to load faster and use less server resources.
DISQUS. If leaving a comment on your website requires too much work/hassle, people won’t comment. Disqus makes leaving comments extremely easy and quick. I do not regret adding it to my website one bit!
WP SMUSH. Reducing file size will allow your website to load a lot faster. That’s where WP Smush comes in. Simply install it and it will reduce your file sizes without compromising quality.
YOAST SEO. During university, SEO was a term that was always being shoved down my throat. SEO this, SEO that, SEO is God. Even though SEO is not the single most important thing you can do for your blog, it’s still very important. SEO Yoast is an extremely easy peasy, no muss, no fuss way to optimize your website and it’s content for search engines.
SIMPLE SOCIAL ICONS. This is such an easy and simple way to add social media icons to your site, and you can customize the colors and such. If you’re looking for something easy and quick, but still cute, this is a great option.
INSTAGRAM FEED. Adding an Instagram feed to your website is a great way to get people to visit your Instagram page and give them a taste of what you’re offering. The free version is simple and has some customizable options, which is what I’ve stuck to, but you can opt to pay for the pro version, which will give you even more features.
What free plugins can’t you live without? Let me know in the comments below!
Follow me: Instagram | Twitter | Facebook |
♥ ♥ ♥