7 Best WordPress Plugins for Blogs in 2019

Originally posted on https://www.onblastblog.com/7-best-wordpress-plugins-for-blogs-in-2019/

Ready to build your WordPress blog? You’re in good company. WordPress runs over a third of all the websites on the Internet.

There’s a lot you can do to customize WordPress with the use of plugins. Keep reading to discover the best WordPress plugins for blogs.

Plugins add specific functions to your blog, beyond the out-of-the-box WordPress installation. They’re simple to install and with a community of plugin creators out there, the choices are vast.

Here’s a list of seven must-have WordPress plugins that you should check out.

The Jetpack plugin is hard to shove into any one plugin category. It includes many helpful features for blogs. Here’s a highlight of what’s available in Jetpack:

• Custom CSS
• Social Media Sharing
• Related Posts
• Faster Image Loading
• Up-Time Monitoring
• Hacker Control
• Video Hosting
• Visitor Tracking and Stats
• Newsletter Subscriptions
• Social Post Scheduling
• Accompanying Mobile App

Bonus: this plugin is from the company behind WordPress. It’s safe to say that they know what they’re doing when it comes to enhancing your WordPress experience.

Search engine optimization is essential for getting your blog noticed and sending Internet traffic your way. Created in 2008, the Yoast SEO plugin is one of the top WordPress plugins for bloggers, hands-down. Yoast brags that using it satisfies visitors and search engines alike.

A word of caution with this plugin though, it has a lot of settings to configure. If you’re interested in a more personal one-on-one route, consider consulting with a professional SEO company. Some companies, such as SEOJet, gives away their proposal for SEO services to anyone.

The PushEngage plugin sends updates to your readers via a browser using push notifications. Using a plugin like this helps you keep the readers you already have coming back for more. Getting faithful readers to come back to your site is more efficient than having to attract new ones over-and-over.

OptinMonster is another one of those top WordPress plugins that help bloggers manage their mailing lists. It simplifies the process of adding a subscription form, sending out newsletters, and targeting an audience for effective engagement.

An overload of spammy comments makes managing a website challenging, to say the least. Rather than cleaning up spam, your time is better spent producing great content.

Using the Akismet plugin will save you a ton of time and frustration. It kills spam right in its tracks.

The best part, it’s included in every WordPress install. All you need to do is configure it.

If you’re interested in selling courses, ebooks, or tangible products, consider the WooCommerce plugin.

When it comes to digital products or services, WooCommerce is capable of displaying product images on your blog, taking payment, and delivering them to your buyers. Customers can pay using a variety of methods too, PayPal included.

One of the main ways that bloggers make money is through ads and affiliate programs. That said, most of the time affiliate links are hideous and scare potential clickers off.

With the Pretty Links cloaking feature, your links are less intimidating and more coherent with your website. A link containing your domain name is more often perceived as a safe click. The plugin lets you track the number of times each link is clicked as well.

Making use of the best WordPress plugins for blogs lets you add the precise functionality that you need to your site. From backups to social media, there’s a plugin for that!

Now it’s your turn – try out some new plugins and see for yourself what they will do for your blog. Got any favorites that we haven’t listed here? Let us know in the comments.