Starting a new WordPress site can be both exciting and overwhelming. With so many themes, plugins, and customization options available, it’s easy to get lost in the process. However, there are a few essential plugins that every new WordPress site should have. These plugins will help you optimize your site for search engines, improve security, and add important features that will enhance the user experience.
Yoast SEO
One of the most important things to consider when setting up a new WordPress site is search engine optimization (SEO). Yoast SEO is a plugin that makes it easy to optimize your site for search engines like Google. With Yoast SEO, you can add page titles and descriptions, control which pages get indexed, and even set up your site to be more mobile-friendly.
Jetpack
Jetpack is a plugin developed by the creators of WordPress that offers a range of features to help you improve your site. Some of the most useful features include:
- Site stats: Jetpack provides detailed analytics on your site’s traffic, including the number of views, top posts and pages, and referral sources.
- Security: Jetpack includes security features like brute force attack protection, malware scanning, and automatic backups.
- Performance: Jetpack can optimize your site’s performance by serving images and static files from their global network of servers.
WPForms
If you want to add a contact form or other types of forms to your site, WPForms is an excellent plugin to use. It’s user-friendly and includes a drag-and-drop form builder, making it easy to create professional-looking forms with minimal effort. You can also set up form notifications, so you’ll be alerted when someone submits a form on your site.
WP Super Cache
One of the keys to a fast-loading website is caching. Caching stores a copy of your site’s pages in the cache, so they can be quickly served to visitors without having to be generated dynamically each time. WP Super Cache is a plugin that makes it easy to set up caching on your WordPress site.
Gravity Forms
Gravity Forms is a premium plugin that allows you to create advanced forms for your site. It includes a variety of form fields and options, including the ability to accept file uploads and create multi-page forms. Gravity Forms also integrates with a variety of third-party services, making it easy to connect your forms to email marketing platforms, payment gateways, and more.
WP Smush
Images can significantly slow down your site if they’re not optimized. WP Smush is a plugin that optimizes images on your site by compressing them and reducing their file size. This can help improve your site’s performance and speed, especially if you have a lot of images on your site.
WP Fastest Cache
Another caching plugin, WP Fastest Cache, is a great option for improving your site’s performance. It creates static HTML files for your site’s pages, which can then be served to visitors without having to run PHP scripts or access the database. WP Fastest Cache also includes options for minifying HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which can further improve your site’s loading speed.
Advanced Custom Fields
If you want to add custom fields to your site’s posts, pages, and custom post types, Advanced Custom Fields is an excellent plugin to use. It allows you to easily create custom fields and add them to your site’s content. This can be useful if you want
WP Security Audit Log
Keeping your WordPress site secure is essential, and WP Security Audit Log is a plugin that can help. It keeps a log of all the activity on your site, including user logins, theme and plugin changes, and more. This can be useful for detecting suspicious activity or troubleshooting issues.
User Role Editor
If you have multiple users on your WordPress site, User Role Editor is a plugin that can help you manage their permissions. With this plugin, you can create custom user roles and assign specific capabilities to each role. This can be useful if you want to limit what certain users can do on your site.
Gravity PDF
Gravity PDF is a plugin that allows you to create PDF documents from your Gravity Forms entries. It includes a variety of templates and customization options, making it easy to generate professional-looking PDFs.
WPForms Signature Addon
If you want to add a signature field to your forms, the WPForms Signature Addon is a useful plugin to have. It allows users to sign your forms digitally, making it easy to create legally binding documents online.
WPForms Mailchimp Addon
If you use Mailchimp for email marketing, the WPForms Mailchimp Addon is a plugin that can help you integrate your forms with your Mailchimp account. It allows you to automatically add form entries to your Mailchimp lists, making it easy to grow your email list.
Gravity Forms Slack Addon
The Gravity Forms Slack Addon is a plugin that allows you to integrate your Gravity Forms with Slack, a popular team communication tool. With this plugin, you can receive form submissions and other notifications in a Slack channel, making it easy to stay up to date with what’s happening on your site.
WPForms Stripe Addon
If you want to accept payments on your site, the WPForms Stripe Addon is a plugin that can help. It allows you to easily add Stripe payment fields to your forms, making it easy to sell products or services online.
In conclusion, these are just a few of the must-have plugins for a new WordPress site. With these plugins, you can optimize your site for search engines, improve security, and add important features that will enhance the user experience. As you continue to build and grow your WordPress site, you may find that you need additional plugins to meet your specific needs. However, these 15 plugins are a great starting point for any new WordPress site.
