Top WordPress Plugins for SEO, Analytics, and Beyond
This blog post was updated on August 21, 2024, to reflect the current number of WordPress plugins, the current top-ranked plugins in the categories noted below, updated totals for plugin users and reviews, and an additional category for contact forms plugins.
There’s a reason WordPress is the most popular web content management system in the world-- it’s open-source (free for anyone to use and modify), and you don’t have to be a software engineer to use it. But it does take a little savvy, and the sheer volume of plugins (59,000 and counting!) might seem a bit daunting to the casual user. So we’ve compiled a list of the top WordPress plugins for some of the most frequently used applications.
Note: You'll notice you can choose between commercial and community plugins. Commercial plugins are developed with commercial businesses in mind and provide paid options for advanced features and tech support. Community plugins are just how they sound: they're developed by the WordPress community. They are completely free and might not offer the advanced features or one-on-one support that commercial plugins provide.
SEO
Yoast SEO is by far the highest-rated WordPress plugin for search engine optimization (SEO), with more than 10 million active installations and nearly 26,000 5-star reviews. The free version offers a score for SEO and readability and other guidance for improving your content, such as site maps and meta tags. The premium version offers additional tools, insights, and one-on-one email support.
Security
Wordfence is the most popular WordPress firewall and security scanner for blocking malicious traffic, scanning for malware, and two-factor authentication (2FA). Bonus: the Wordfence team is devoted solely to WordPress security.
Google Analytics
Monster Insights is a Google Analytics plugin for WordPress that allows you to take advantage of all those juicy tracking features without the help of a developer or the need to add complicated tracking codes to your site. It also offers integration with the WordPress WooCommerce plugin, as noted below. The Pro version starts at $99/year and has expanded options for custom reports, event tracking, and EU compliance.
Social Sharing
Social Media Share Buttons by Inisev make it easy for users to share your content with share icons for all the top social media platforms. You can also use your own customized icons. The free version is pretty robust, and the premium level offers options for design, placement, and functionality. You can try it out on this dummy site for free.
eCommerce
WooCommerce is “the world’s most popular open-source eCommerce solution.” Built-in tools and options for customization make it easy to handle payments, configure shipping options, and calculate fees and sales tax.
Email and Newsletter Publication
WP Mail SMTP by WPforms is a email and newsletter plugin that allows you to create and send newsletters, all from your WordPress dashboard. Paid plans provide white glove setup, email logging, advanced email reporting and stats, and more.
Contact Forms
Contact Form by WPForms has more than 13,000 5-star reviews, and it's well known as the best drag-and-drop tool for creating contact, feedback, subscription, and other types of forms--without the assistance of a developer.
Need a Pro?
WordPress provides plenty of widgets, templates, plugins, and tools, but it doesn’t install them for you, tell you what’s missing, or what your website visitors expect. Our Indianapolis web design team can develop a beautiful, custom WordPress website to enable customer engagement and either hand you the controls or manage it for you so you can run your business. Drop us a message in the contact form below or schedule a meeting to start a conversation about it today.