It’s hard to believe that there are over 40,000 plugins to choose from. Some are good, some are great and some are just OK. So how do you know which plugins are worth using? It’s not like you have time to explore tens of thousands of plugins. (And if you do, then you have amazing time management skills!)
Luckily, the research has been done for you. Now you don’t have to sift through the different plugins to see which are best for your business. Check out this list of top plugins that will save you time and help you achieve the solutions you’re looking for. From SEO to writing to analytics, we have you covered.
Let’s get started.
1. Jetpack
What makes Jetpack great is that it’s an all-in-one plugin that can be used to enhance any ordinary website. Designed for WordPress, Jetpack offers advanced features like analytics, content tools and mobile themes. You can choose what you want to activate based on your needs, or you can take advantage of all the features. It’s your call.
Have you ever thought about how easy or hard your content is to read? Well now you can find out with the FD Word Statistics plugin. The plugin uses both the Flesch-Kincaid and Gunning Fog formulas to score your writing and help you understand how easy it is to read. You can then adjust your content as needed to appeal to your audience and their level of education.
3. Just Writing
The name is fitting for this tool since it allows you to simply write without distraction. WordPress does have its standard Distraction Free Writing Mode (DFWM), but this plugin takes things to a whole new level. You can write freely without having to exit DFWM to adjust formatting. The Just Writing plugin also includes spellcheck and paragraph styling.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the typos you missed were overlooked by readers? Unfortunately, this is never the case. To avoid spelling and grammar mistakes that may go unnoticed by your tired eyes, the Proofread Bot is here to help. It detects spelling, grammar and stylistic issues and also runs the content through Bing to make sure you aren’t plagiarizing any material.
You don’t want Google to follow broken links on your website, but it’s hard to know if any are lurking on your pages. The Broken Link Checker can help with this. The plugin identifies broken links and alerts you when they surface. It also makes it possible to edit broken links from the plugin page so that you don’t have to go into each post to make the changes.
The XML sitemap plugin helps the search engines index your blog more easily. It works with a number of popular search engines like Google and Yahoo, and it allows them to crawl your site structure and retrieve information. The plugin will also notify the search engines when you post new content to your blog. Every bit of visibility counts!
7. Akismet
No one wants spammy comments on their blog. They’re distracting and annoying, and they make your blog look less professional. Akismet works to eliminate these nuisances by reviewing and filtering your comments. The plugin looks for red flags such as misleading links and signs of spam. You can keep tabs on which comments are being filtered out to keep your comments section clean.
With Title Experiments, you can split test your titles to determine which one improves your clickthrough rates. It’s a handy plugin considering that the title of your blog can make it a winner – or not.
The Editorial Calendar plugin keeps you organized. It has a simple drop-and-drop functionality that lets you schedule and manage your blog content through the months. You can manage different writers, edit titles, set publishing times and more all through this plugin.
10. Leadin
Leadin helps you better understand your website visitors so that you can convert them into leads. The plugin is both a marketing automation tool and lead tracking tool that tracks user behavior. This makes it easier to convert visitors, and when you do, Leadin will automatically add them to your contact list.
WordPress already has powerful SEO capabilities, but WordPress SEO by Yoast makes it even stronger. The plugin forces you to choose a keyword before you start writing, and it makes sure that the content is focused around that keyword. You can drive more targeted traffic to your website using this plugin, plus stay focused on the right goal.
Another neat plugin by Yoast, this tool makes it possible to track the performance of your blog directly in your WordPress account. It uses an integration with Google Analytics API and even adds data for search result pages and error pages. While anyone can benefit from using the plugin, it’s particularly useful for marketers who want more detailed reporting.
13. Click to Tweet
You’ve probably seen this plugin on content that you’ve read from other websites. It allows you to create tweetable moments directly in your blog post so that readers can easily tweet interesting facts or bits of information. Click to Tweet increases engagement and drives traffic to your site, and it’s very easy for readers to use. One click does it all!
14. OptinMonster
Do you want to grow your email list? Then OptinMonster is for you! With this plugin, you can take advantage of the many opportunities to get visitors to convert. OptinMonster gives you access to popups, slide-ins and sidebar forms to collect information. What makes it particularly useful is that it works with popular email marketing providers such as MailChimp, HubSpot and Constant Contact.
15. Revive Old Post
Extend the life of your old posts with the Revive Old Post plugin. With this plugin, your old content will be automatically shared on social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn so that you can get more views and possibly even new leads. The plugin is easy to use and includes options to schedule posts and manage multiple accounts.
16. W3 Total Cache
Chances are, the performance of your website can be improved a bit. The W3 Total Cache plugin is a great tool for optimization, and it helps you deliver a better user experience by increasing server performance, reducing download times and more.
If you use Salesforce and WordPress, you’ll love what this plugin has to offer. It’s designed to save you time and effort by connecting the two and registering users as leads in Salesforce. Without this plugin, you have do everything manually.
Well there you have it. Seventeen of the top plugins for marketing.
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