Blogging Tips: Top 6 WordPress Plugins

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by Mariah Humphries on June 1st, 2011 | 3 Comments »

So you have your blog set up on WordPress and you may even have an amazing theme to go with it, but now what? What will make your blog or website grab the attention of the online universe?

This is where the handy plugin comes into play. There are so many plugins to choose from and the process of deciding can become overwhelming. That is why I have listed some of the most important plugins for any website or blog. Your blog or website needs to be much more than just a visually attractive site. You must take measures to ensure the integrity of your hard work.

Top WordPress Plugins to Help Your Blog

Google Analytics for WordPress: A MUST! A tool that lets you look into the details of your blog/website traffic and how well your marketing is doing. You can keep track of several sites as well under one account.
Akismet: No one likes spam, right? This is a great plugin to help stop the spam comments from getting through.
W3 Total Cache: Helps your pages to load faster. When you have taken the time and money to create a site that you love and want to share with the world, the last thing you want is to have visitors go away because your site loads slowly.
All in One SEO Pack: There are so many SEO (Search engine optimization) plugins out there but when it comes to giving your site that extra edge in searches, go with a plugin that is well known. NOTE: if you use StudioPress or Thesis as your theme, an additional SEO plugin is not needed. Both these themes are very SEO friendly.
Google XML SiteMa ps: This plugin helps all the search engines to index your site. You can also set up priority for your posts and set priority levels for your content.
WPTouch: Not only do most of us live online but we also use our phone as our information tool. This plugin allows your site to become an app on your visitor’s phone. If your visitor wants to see your site in a normal view, they can easily choose to view the regular theme.

NOTE: Some WordPress plugins require code work to activate.

What blogging platform do you use? What are your favorite plugins?

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Mariah Humphries is a wife, mother to three handfuls, graphic designer, blogger, photographer, and addicted to all things Starbucks. She blogs at Humphries Nation where you can find her talking about faith, kids, and the randomness of life. When she is not watching a kids game or reading her Nook, she gets lost in social networking. She is also the one woman show over at Jula Studio as a print and WordPress designer.