Do you want to power up your WordPress website? Plugins are a great place to start. WordPress plugins can easily add additional functionality ranging from e-commerce to website builders to your existing WordPress website. With over 55,000 plugins in the WordPress directory, finding the right plugin for your website can be tough. That’s why we’ve decided to compile a list of the 10 essential WordPress Plugins. These plugins are a must-have for any WordPress website.
WooCommerce
Link: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/woocommerce/
It’s no secret that eCommerce is a must-have for any business that sells physical or digital products in 2021. Unless you are living under a rock, you know that the e-commerce industry has been growing at an extremely fast rate. WooCommerce adds eCommerce functionality out of the box to any WordPress website and can be extended to add additional functionality such as subscription-based products. WooCommerce is one the most trusted names in WordPress eCommerce and is made by the creators of WordPress, Automattic.
BigCommerce
Link: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/bigcommerce/
BigCommerce takes a slightly different approach to WordPress eCommerce than WooCommerce. WooCommerce allows you to use extensions to customize your shop, payment options, order management, shipping & fulfillment. On the other hand, BigCommerce provides payment processing, order management, and shipping & fulfillment out of the box. In conclusion – for users who want a simple all-in-one solution, BigCommerce is a great option.
Yoast SEO
Link: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/wordpress-seo/
Yoast SEO is the #1 WordPress SEO Plugin, and for good reason. Yoast aims to provide a friendly and simple SEO experience for everyone from beginners to pros. This plugin offers a suite of features such as automated technical improvements, XML sitemaps, title and meta description templating, and in-depth Schema.org integration. Furthermore, Yoast provides great tips and tricks for improving your content writing SEO. To conclude, Yoast is a clear leader in the SEO sector and is a must-have plugin for any WordPress website.
WP Super Cache
Link: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-super-cache/
WP Super Cache is another great plugin by the creators of WordPress, Automattic. Slow websites can deter users from using your website and WP Super Cache aims to give your website a speed boost by serving up static HMTL files to your users. If you want to optimize your website even further, we’ve compiled a guide on how to optimize your website’s speed.
Smush
Link: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/wp-smushit/
Smush adds lazy loading, optimization, and compression to your images in your WordPress library. It is an award-winning image optimizer and will give your website a good speed boost. It is compatible with most themes, page builders, and media library plugins and is a quick and easy way to make your website load super fast!
Formidable Forms Lite
Link: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/formidable/
Whether you want to build a simple contact form, a survey, or a quiz — Formidable Forms is a great option. It is the most powerful form builder plugin. Formidable Forms is easy to use with its drag & drop functionality but includes more advanced features to allow you to build forms such as price calculators or registration forms. Formidable Forms even provides a solution for managing form entries.
Elementor
Link: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/elementor/
If you’re building a new website, or want to add website builder functionality to your current website – Elementor is a great option. Whether you are a website developer, a marketer that wants to get online fast, or just someone with a personal website Elementor can help. With Elementor, you get professional features right out of the box – and 100s of pre-designed templates and blocks, giving you the tools to create a professional-looking website with ease.
Really Simple SSL
Link: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/really-simple-ssl/
Since 2018, Google has had a zero-tolerance policy for websites without SSL certificates — that means not having an SSL certificate on your website impacts your SEO rankings. If you have a BlackSun WordPress Premium plan, you get a free SSL certificate, however, WordPress doesn’t enable HTTPS by default. With Really Simple SSL you can force HTTPS on your entire website with the click of a button.
WP Mail SMTP
Link: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-mail-smtp/
With over 2 million active installations, WP Mail SMTP is the top option for enabling SMTP on your WordPress website. If you want to ensure email deliverability, you’ll need to enable SMTP. With an easy-to-use setup wizard, and support for SMTP mail servers and Office 365 mail servers, you will find setting up WP Mail SMTP to be simple whether you are a beginner or advanced user. Don’t have email hosting? Get started today with one of BlackSun’s shared hosting plans.
Jetpack
Link: https://en-ca.wordpress.org/plugins/jetpack/
JetPack is Automattic’s backup and security solution for WordPress. It is a plugin that will help make your website faster and safer, and help you grow your traffic with built-in marketing tools. JetPack has both free and paid versions, the free version includes core features such as site stats, downtime monitoring, related posts, automated sharing to social networks, and search engine optimization.