10 Must-Have WordPress Plugins
Filed in Blog Better (Blogging 401), Building Traffic (Blogging 201)
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So, you’ve started a blog and you’re using WordPress for your platform. You know there are all sorts of plug-ins out there, but that big long list at the WordPress site looks a bit overwhelming.
Never fear. If you’ve got an FTP program (and if you don’t, here’s a free one for you FireFox users), you’re just a few steps away from adding plug-ins that will help your blog stand out from the crowd.
1. Add-Meta-Tags. You’ve heard of META tags. You vaguely know they have something to do with search engine optimization and that means more traffic from search engines. But who really has time to edit their headers these days? Install this plug-in and it will do that dirty work for you, automatically adding META tags to your front page and single entries. For you control freaks out there, customized tags are easily implemented, too.
2. Comment Timeout. Leaving comments open on old entries isn’t a good practice. For one thing, it invites spammers who see those forgotten entries as invitations to litter your place with their spammy URLS. For another, who really wants to engage in a conversation with a commenter about an entry that’s two years old and will never again see the front page? Install this plugin to close comments on older entries automatically. You can also configure it on a per-post basis to allow more popular discussions to continue.
3. Blog Voyeur. Sometimes you just don’t have the energy to pore over your traffic statistics figuring out which of your fellow bloggers have been visiting you lately. With this plug-in you don’t need to: install it and keep track of who’s coming to your site daily and how long it’s been since they last left a comment, then turn around and repay the favor with a visit to their site. After all, we all need good karma. (Note: I’ve since discovered that Blog Voyeur inserts smilies at the end of RSS feeds. Since I’m a firm believer that emoticons have no place in a blog entry, I edited out that bit of code in the plug-in.)
4. CommentLuv. While we’re on the subject of good karma, what better way to share the link love than effortlessly linking back to your commenters last blog entries? This plugin will automatically look for an RSS feed at a commenter’s site and insert a link to their latest entry. Don’t worry, it’s a “no_follow” link so you won’t be involuntarily passing on link juice, but you will be helping publicize the people who take time to say something at your site.
5. Comment Relish. So, someone finally linked you and now the traffic is flocking in to your site! How do you turn those first time visitors into a regular reading audience? Obviously, you give them good content, but this plug-in can help, too, by sending a “thank you” note including your link and where to find your RSS feed to someone after they leave their first comment at your site.
6. FeedSmith. Bloggers love showing off their subscription numbers, but what do you do if you’ve got 9 subscribers to your RSS 1.0, 13 subscribers to your RSS 2.0, a dozen more to your Atom feed and still more to your Feedburner feed? Why, you group all of those feeds into one with this simple plug-in which ensures that all of your RSS readers subscribe to your Feedburner feed, making your numbers look that much better.
7. SEO Title Tags. You want good traffic? Want to show up high in search engines? The default configuration of title tags on WordPress isn’t going to help you much. Install this plug-in and one tiny snippet of code to make your pithy entry titles become keywords for the search engines.
8. Similar Posts. Let’s say you’ve captured a new reader’s interest with a well-written entry. Now, how do you go about letting them know you’re not a one-post wonder? This plug-in serves up a nice, tidy list of links to other entries you’ve written on similar topics so newcomers to your blog know how to find more of your great stuff.
9. Subscribe to Comments. A good blog is all about interaction, both between the blogger and his/her reader as well as between the readers themselves. This plug-in allows commenters to follow the conversation on the entries they find most interesting, increasing the likelihood that they’ll visit and respond again.
10. WP-Ajax Edit Comments. When you’re the blogger, you’ve got the luxury of going back to edit your misspellings, fix grammatical errors or just plain polish up your writing. Commenters don’t have that option, and that fact scares off many a shy person who’s afraid of looking like a fool to the whole world. Give your commenters the option to edit themselves and you just might find them eager to leave comments on your blog.
This is certainly not an exhaustive list, and I welcome your suggestions for further entries along this line. What plug-ins do you find indispensable on your website? Your ideas may just make it into a later blog entry with, of course, credit to you for having drawn my attention to the plug-ins you like best.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 at 4:33 pm and is filed under Blog Better (Blogging 401), Building Traffic (Blogging 201). Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Tagged in: blog | blogging | plug-ins | plugins | WordPress
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Top Commenters
Very informative list…many thanks.
Keith’s last blog post..The Song of Liberation
I recommend Owen’s comment email responder plugin. It’s easy to reply to comments, and it lets everyone know that you really DO reply to comments!
Elizabeth’s last blog post..Beware the Wordpress upgrade
I’ll have to check that one out, Elizabeth. Thanks!
Just in time for my launch. Thanks
Loving the page so far.Kudos.
jae’s last blog post..Busy days
Oh, how I wish you’d do a similar post for TypePad. Love your new blog, by the way.
Anne’s last blog post..Maybe “The View” Could Hear God if They’d Shut Up
I don’t use TypePad and never have, but if users out there have plug-ins for it that they recommend I’ll be happy putting them together in a list. Just contact me with the info!
I hope you get lots of responses! Thanks so much.
Anne’s last blog post..Maybe “The View” Could Hear God if They’d Shut Up
Greetings - thanks for the great post! I am going to download at least two of the plugins you recommend.
Mark from MyTropicalEscape’s last blog post..Do You Ever Sit Back And Consider How Lucky You Are?
You have just planned my Saturday! Adding plugins till my eyeballs bleed.
Karen’s last blog post..Izea Ranks
Enjoy, then! Just be sure to read that update on the Blog Voyeur plugin. I never got around to replacing the .gif image so I’ve temporarily deactivated the plugin on my sites rather than deal with the smiley face at the end of my RSS feeds.
Do you find that the SEO related plugins you list above work better than the All In One SEO Pack plugin that is available? It seems to me that the all in one does everything that the SEO Title Tags and Add-Meta-Tags and then some. Or am I missing something? Or, is it just a case of more than one way to skin a cat?
The AIO plug-in didn’t play nicely with my theme and would have required a lot of template tinkering to get it to do so.
Since I know quite a few of the readers here don’t like or know how to play with their templates, I wanted to stick with recommending plug-ins that worked pretty much OOTB.
Now that you mention it, I think the AIO is messing with me in a couple of areas, so I’m going to deactivate it and try out the two you recommend here. If the little issues I’m having resolve themselves, then I’ll know that was it.
Suzanne’s last blog post..I Know My Life Purpose - Now What?