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Essential WordPress Plugins: What Every Administrator Should Install

 

Experienced WordPress site administrators know that the right plugins (or wrong ones) significantly impact site functionality and speed. Plugins are small tools that bring new features to WordPress without requiring you to write code yourself.

 

Well-chosen WordPress plugins can improve your site's search engine visibility, security, performance and user experience considerably - whether it's an online store, blog, or portfolio page.

 

 

The most popular WordPress plugins - such as Yoast SEO for search engine optimization, Contact Form 7 for forms, WP Rocket for caching, and Elementor for page building - are everyday tools for most administrators. Free versions of these plugins are sufficient for many to start with, but sometimes a quality paid plugin can save you time and frustration.

However, when selecting plugins, you should be careful. Too many installed plugins slow down your site and can also cause compatibility or security issues. The most important thing is to identify which plugins are genuinely necessary for your site and focus on those.

 

Essential WordPress Plugins for All Websites

Effective operation of a WordPress site requires the right tools and plugins. Here are the most important plugins that every WordPress user should install to make their site visible in search engines and to function quickly, securely, and user-friendly.

 

Visibility through Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is the cornerstone of your website's visibility. Yoast SEO and Rank Math are the best-known SEO plugins that help optimize your content for search engines.

 

These plugins provide you with features such as:

• Keyword analysis and content assessment tools

• Meta-data management for articles and pages

• XML sitemaps for search engines

• Optimization for social media sharing
   

Yoast SEO is easy to master, especially for beginners. Rank Math offers more features even in the free version. Both clearly show how to improve content for search engine visibility. However, install only one of these SEO plugins - not both!

Usually the free version will get you far, but the paid version can save you valuable time.
 

Additionally, you should install some visitor tracking on your site, e.g. Google Analytics plugin. It tells you important information about where visitors come from and what they do on your site.

Hostaan's WordPress hosting packages automatically install the Rank Math SEO plugin, so your WP site is immediately ready for optimization.

 

Performance is Key
 

Your website's loading speed matters a lot: both in the eyes of visitors and search engines. WP Optimize is an excellent plugin that, in addition to caching, takes care of optimizing your images.
 

If you want to try another alternative, consider these:

• W3 Total Cache – versatile caching solution

• WP Rocket is a plugin that speeds up your site automatically.

• But remember again: install only one
   

With these plugins your site:

1. Loads pages faster from cache

2. Automatically reduces images and other files to download

3. Delays loading of heavy elements until they are needed (lazy load)
    

Hostaan web hosting offers excellent performance and reliable service for your WordPress site thanks to fast SSD drives and 24/7 monitoring. With caching plugins, you get even more out of your site's speed. Hostaan's web hosting packages automatically install the user-friendly WP Optimize.
 

Security Above All

Online security is now more important than ever. Sucuri and Wordfence are the two most common security plugins for WordPress.

 

Their most important features:

• Login attempt limitations

• Malware scanning and removal

• Security update management

• Firewall to prevent attacks

 

UpdraftPlus or another backup plugin is also almost mandatory. It allows you to automatically save your site to cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox. You never know when a backup will actually be needed.

Hostaan's web hosting packages take care of your site's security with an application firewall and WPS Hide Login plugin. In addition, in our SmartWP hosting packages, security updates are also handled with functional testing and certainty.

 

Reservations, Contacts and E-commerce

Customer service is the foundation of all business. Contact Form 7 is a popular contact form plugin that can be easily customized to your needs.

Contact Form 7 is automatically installed in all our WP hosting packages.

 

E-commerce and reservations are handled with these:

1. WooCommerce – the market's most popular e-commerce solution

2. Bookly, Amelia, Bookingpress, Booking Calendar – appointment scheduling system for WordPress
    

These plugins integrate seamlessly with your WordPress site and make communication with customers easy. Mobile compatibility is considered in all of these – and that's absolutely necessary nowadays.
 

WordPress Plugin for All Needs

The versatility of WordPress is particularly evident when you need something a bit out of the ordinary. Whether it's an online store or content production challenges, there are almost always ready-made tools for special situations... and if something doesn't exist yet, you'll surely find a suitable WordPress developer for your project.

 

E-commerce Plugins

WooCommerce is the king of online stores in WordPress. This easy-to-use plugin turns your regular WordPress site into a functioning online store in just a few minutes.

The best part is that WooCommerce is completely free!
 

WooCommerce also has a huge number of extensions:

• Payment methods: Klarna, PayPal, Stripe, Paytrail, Visma Pay, card payments

• Shipping integrations: Posti, Matkahuolto, DB Schenker

 

Complete customization is perhaps WooCommerce's biggest advantage, but it also brings challenges. You can choose a suitable theme for your store and easily customize it according to your company's brand. But - if problems arise, you cannot call the online store application's customer support.

All our WooCommerce hosting packages automatically install the most important WooCommerce plugins, such as Posti Shipping, Visma Pay and Complianz (GDPR cookie banner)

 

Content Production Plugins

Elementor is a content creator's dream tool. With this visual page builder, you can create even complex pages without coding skills. Another alternative is Divi, which also offers an easy way to get started.

 

Divi's "drag and drop" functionality makes content editing really easy. You don't need to be a nerd to create impressive pages.

 

Do you publish a lot? Editorial Calendar helps visualize publishing schedules. You can see a whole month's publications at a glance and easily move articles to different days.

 

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Plugins

The efficiency of a WordPress site often depends on the plugins used. With the right plugins, you can manage your site, speed up loading times and improve user experience. Remember, however, that with plugins, less is usually more - so don't install any unnecessary plugins on your site!

 

What are the most important WordPress plugins for a beginning administrator?

For beginners, we recommend a few easy-to-use plugins.

 

Yoast SEO helps improve search engine visibility and gives clear instructions for content optimization. Yoast SEO's "traffic lights" easily indicate how well your content is optimized.
 

Contact Form 7 makes creating contact forms effortless. You build forms with drag and drop style in just a few minutes.

Elementor is one of the most popular visual page building tools with which you can create impressive pages without coding skills. However, Elementor is not the lightest option, but it works well for beginners.

 

How can I speed up my website loading times with WordPress plugins?

Site speed affects both user experience and search engine visibility. WP Rocket or WP Optimize work as effective caching plugins and significantly reduce loading times.
 

Smush optimizes images automatically and reduces their file size without significant quality loss. Image processing happens in the background, and you don't have to do anything yourself. Smush is not necessary, however, if you use WP Optimize, which also takes care of image optimization automatically.

As a Hostaan web hosting user, you get an extra benefit: our servers are optimized for WordPress sites, which further speeds up your loading times.

 

What kinds of plugins are recommended for improving WordPress site SEO?

Yoast SEO is among the most popular SEO plugins. It offers good tools for meta-data management and content optimization.

Rank Math is a challenger offering somewhat broader functionality, with a modern interface and extensive features. Its installation instructions are particularly clear for beginners, and we offer the Rank Math SEO plugin as standard in all WordPress installations added to our hosting.
 

What security plugins should be used on WordPress sites?

Wordfence Security is a comprehensive security solution that includes both a firewall and malware scanning. It protects your site from hacking attempts.
 

UpdraftPlus handles backups and is therefore an essential part of security. You can schedule automatic backups to cloud services.

 

What are the most user-friendly contact form plugins for WordPress?

 

Contact Form 7 is a popular option that offers more customization options for those with coding skills. It's lightweight and works well with most themes.

 

WPForms is perhaps the easiest way to build various forms. Its drag and drop interface makes building quick and effortless. Forminator combines ease of use and versatility. With it, you can create not only contact forms but also surveys and quizzes.
 

How can I create an online store on the WordPress platform? What plugins do I need?

With the WooCommerce plugin, you can get started easily and access all the essential tools for setting up a store.
 

Additionally, a huge ecosystem of plugins has emerged around WooCommerce. These provide solutions to practically every need.
 

Payment options are a big part of e-commerce. If your target audience is in Finland, the Paytrail payment plugin is a good choice because it supports all the most important payment methods.

In our managed WooCommerce hosting packages, all the most common WooCommerce plugins are installed automatically.