As a freelance web developer, I live and breathe WordPress. I’ve designed and developed dozens of WordPress sites over the years for small business clients. Through trial and error on both personal and client projects, I’ve figured out my go-to plugins that I install on pretty much every site.
These GPL-licensed plugins have become absolute must-haves in my web dev toolkit. They help me build high-performing, user-friendly sites much faster and provide the functionality and features my clients need.
In this post, I’ll share my list of essential plugins and real examples of how I’ve used them for clients. I’ll also give some tips for how you can access these premium tools without breaking the bank. Let’s dive in!
Yoast SEO – Optimizing Your Way to the Top
Every website needs to get found by search engines, and Yoast SEO is the gold standard for optimizing WordPress sites. The SEO capabilities it offers are invaluable:
- Analyzing pages for optimal SEO title, meta description, etc.
- Generating XML sitemaps to improve indexing
- Integrating with Google Search Console to monitor performance
- Offering readability analysis to improve content
- Adding breadcrumbs and more for site architecture
I start building every new client site by installing and configuring Yoast to maximize their SEO strategy from day one. The results speak for themselves.
For a recent client (a small local retailer), implementing Yoast and improving their content increased organic search traffic by over 40% month-over-month! Their keywords now regularly rank on the first page of Google. Yoast’s页面报告s gave us the data we needed to fine-tune their approach.
Elementor – Building Pages Visually in a Flash
Creating custom page layouts and templates used to be a pain before I discovered Elementor. As a visual person, I much prefer dragging and dropping content blocks rather than digging into code.
Elementor’s intuitive page builder toolkit lets me quickly prototype and build pages to spec for clients. I can create pixel-perfect landing pages, service pages, contact forms, portfolios, and so much more all within WordPress with Elementor.
For example, I used it recently to design a multi-page signup flow for a client’s subscription box service. With customized form fields, dynamic sections, and conditional logic, I set up a polished conversion funnel converting visitors into subscribers. Everything from design to fonts to colors could be controlled through Elementor.
The page builder’s flexibility and extensibility make it an essential part of every project these days. I don’t think I could live without it!
W3 Total Cache – Speed Up Your Site in a Flash
Site speed can make or break the user experience and affect your SEO rankings. I’ve run into plenty of clients with sluggish, overloaded sites. W3 Total Cache offers a powerful solution for optimizing performance.
With features like page caching, content delivery network distribution, and database optimization, it can significantly reduce load times. One client’s online store was crawling with 8+ second page load times. After installing W3 Total Cache and tweaking the settings, their site speed improved to under 2 seconds!
Faster load times kept visitors on their site longer, improved conversion rates, and boosted sales revenue. For any site I build, W3 Total Cache is a must-have to maximize speed from the start.
Akismet – Stop Comment Spam in its Tracks
Dealing with comment spam is a huge headache and distraction. Akismet saves the day by automatically detecting and neutralizing spam comments before they ever get published.
I don’t have to waste time reviewing and manually deleting comment spam anymore. For sites that rely on user-generated content and engagement, keeping the comments section spam-free is critical. Akismet’s API-driven spam blocking does an amazing job stopping those annoying spam bots.
It’s such an indispensable tool that I install it on every single WordPress site I work on these days, whether it’s my own or a client’s. Akismet marks one of the first plugin installations once the site is set up. I never look back!
UpdraftPlus – Automated Backups for Peace of Mind
After experiencing major data loss early in my web dev career, I vowed never to get burned by another preventable disaster. UpdraftPlus answered the call to keep every site backed up and protected.
With customizable scheduled backups to local storage or the cloud, UpdraftPlus ensures I have dependable archives ready in case issues arise. I can restore sites quickly with a single click.
One client had their site hacked a few months ago, which jeopardized months of content and work. Luckily, I had UpdraftPlus backups rolling daily. We reverted to a clean backup from the week before, minimized the damage, and identified the security flaw. Having reliable backups prevented a total catastrophe!
No matter what size or type of site I’m working on, UpdraftPlus is the first backup solution I turn to. It provides me and clients invaluable insurance against data loss, damage, or attacks.
WPForms – Build Custom Forms in a Snap
Forms are a necessity for interacting with visitors and collecting information. With WPForms, I can easily create surveys, contact forms, email signup forms, and more with just the right fields and features my clients require.
Conditional logic is a game-changer for displaying relevant fields based on user choices. File uploads and multi-page forms are also useful for certain clients. For one legal site, we even integrated PayPal payments into intake forms using WPForms.
The user-friendly drag-and-drop form editor makes it simple for me to customize forms exactly as clients request. And handy integrations with top form automation tools like Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor, and more keep everything synced seamlessly.
Smush – Make Your Images FASTER
On image-heavy sites like portfolios and online stores, managing and optimizing images is crucial. Smush has become my go-to for compressing images without sacrificing visible quality.
By losslessly reducing file sizes, it helps sites load faster while saving on hosting space and bandwidth. For a client’s online fashion boutique, Smush cut their image file sizes nearly in half! Pages with big photos loaded much quicker after putting Smush image optimization into play.
With bulk smushing of entire media libraries, auto-smushing on upload, and integration with leading hosting providers, it’s an easy choice for me. Smush even offers lazy loading and WebP file conversion for additional speed boosts when needed.
WooCommerce – The Best Choice for Online Stores
If I’m setting up an online store for a client, WooCommerce can handle pretty much any ecommerce needs imaginable. From product listings to inventory to shipping and payments, the powerful plugin has it all built-in.
I can create full-featured shops at a fraction of the time and cost of custom development. WooCommerce extensions allow me to scale up functionality with advanced features like subscriptions, bookings, and memberships. All while sticking with WordPress and avoiding touchy proprietary systems.
With a bit of customization, I’ve built WooCommerce stores for clients selling everything from gardening supplies to electronics and every niche in between. The flexibility WooCommerce provides is unparalleled.
Access Premium Plugins without Breaking the Bank
Rather than paying full price for each of these amazing GPL plugins individually, I recommend exploring GPL Guru. Their WordPress subscription plans provide “all-access” to TONS of premium plugins and themes (including the ones I mentioned) for one low annual fee.
It saves a lot both in budget and headaches by consolidating tools under one roof. With frequent plugin updates rolled in too, it’s an amazing value!
For any developers or site owners wanting to get access to all the best commercial-grade WordPress tools, definitely give GPL Guru’s subscriptions a look. You can try it risk-free with their 30-day money back guarantee too.
Hopefully this breakdown has been helpful for understanding my must-have plugins and how they benefit real-world sites! Let me know if you have any other questions. I’m always happy to chat more about WordPress plugins and share experiences maximizing their benefits for clients.
- Ready to take your WordPress site to the next level? Our guide on “Maximize Earnings: Gravity Perks Pay Per Word Plugin“ is a must-read. Discover how this powerful plugin not only boosts your site’s performance but also provides innovative ways to maximize your content monetization.
- For those looking to excel in the eLearning domain, our article on “Unlock eLearning Excellence with LearnDash LMS & More!“ is essential reading. Explore the features and benefits of LearnDash, a game-changing plugin for anyone in the eLearning space.
Faq’s
Q: What are some of the essential plugins you use on most WordPress sites?
A: My must-have plugins include Yoast SEO, Elementor, W3 Total Cache, Akismet, UpdraftPlus, WPForms, Smush, and WooCommerce.
Q: Can you provide examples of how certain plugins benefited your clients’ sites?
A: Yoast SEO increased organic traffic 40% for a retailer, Elementor built a polished signup funnel for a subscription service, and UpdraftPlus backups prevented total disaster when a site was hacked.
Q: Why do you recommend exploring GPL Guru’s subscription plans?
A: GPL Guru provides affordable access to premium commercial-grade plugins like the ones I mentioned through yearly subscriptions versus expensive individual purchases.
Q: What are some key features of W3 Total Cache that improve site performance?
A: W3 Total Cache offers page caching, content delivery network distribution, database optimization, and other tools to significantly reduce load times.
Q: How does WooCommerce benefit your ecommerce client sites?
A: WooCommerce enables me to build full-featured online stores at a fraction of custom development time/cost thanks to its flexibility and expansive feature set.
