The 12 Staple WordPress Plugins That Make a HUGE Difference for my Blog

By Gina | October 28, 2015

When I first switched to WordPress as my blogging platform, I was perplexed and inspired by the world of plugins. I couldn’t wait to dive deep into finding the right plugins for my online space. After lots of research and fine-tuning the features I wanted on my site, I came up with all my staple WordPress plugins for my blog. So without further adieu, the list of all the plugins I use on this site:

The 12 Staple Plugins That Make a HUGE Difference for my Blog

1. Better Click to Tweet

I use Better Click to Tweet for the “Click to Tweet” boxes in my posts. I’ve found these are amazing for engagement, and I personally love to use them on my favorite bloggers’ sites as well. I first started with the plugin “Click to Tweet,” but then I had some issues with it. I then found “Better Click to Tweet” – and this is the one you blog babes should use! | Download This Plugin

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2. Disqus Comment System

This is MY FAVORITE commenting system by far. I realize others may have different opinions, but I’ve found after switching to Disqus, comments and engagements in my posts have increased. Disqus is also great for conversations and makes commenting really easy. I just sign in once and I’m able to remained signed in to comment on my favorite sites, too. | Download This Plugin

3. Google Analytics Dashboard for WP

Google Analytics is like oxygen in the blog metrics world. It supplies all the necessary data for traffic, bounce rate, conversions and more for our websites. Installing it on WordPress is easy with this plugin. If you would like to learn more about Google Analytics and getting started with you, you can check out Blog Ambitions’ post about the metrics she likes to analyze for her bog. | Download This Plugin

4. GZip Ninja Speed Compression

This plugin makes your site load faster by compressing your files. Nothing better than a speed increase! | Download This Plugin

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5. Instagram Feed

This is the plugin I use to display my Instagram feed in my footer. The great thing is that it’s customizable and responsible, two things to look for in great plugins! | Download This Plugin

6. Jetpack by WordPress.com

Many use this plugin to give you all the features from the free version of WordPress.com. I use it mostly for the Related Posts option at the bottom of my posts, but there are countless options such as Custom CSS, Infinite Scroll, Contact Forms, and more. | Download This Plugin

7. jQuery Archive List Widget

One thing I don’t like about the default WordPress settings is the archives list design. In Blogger, I liked the toggle option to see posts easily from the past. So I found a plugin to fix this! This plugin gives you a better design for your archives list. I like to use it to find specific posts I have in mind. | Download This Plugin

8.Revive Old Post

This plugin connects with Twitter and Facebook to help promote previous posts. I have mine set up with Twitter to post every 15 hours. There are other options to customize including adding an intro or hashtags, excluding specific categories, and enabling Google Analytics tracking. This is a great option to make sure you populate your Twitter with posts from the past every day! Plus it goes on in the background, so you don’t have to think about it! | Download This Plugin

9. Simple Share Buttons Adder

This plugin adds share buttons at the end or beginning of your posts. I chose to do a “ribbon” style for the social icons, but these can be customized to your brand as well. Placing share buttons on your site is a great way to encourage readers to engage! | Download This Plugin

10. WordPress Editorial Calendar

I also installed WordPress Editorial Calendar to view my posts in a calendar format. It helps me to keep my posts organized by topic and for me to see how many posts a week go up on my blog. Sometimes it’s easier to view posts on a calendar format, so if you like planning and would like a free calendar options for your editorial calendar, this plugin works! | Download This Plugin

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11. Yoast SEO

Okay, I HIGHLY recommend this one. I have become quite the nerd when it comes to SEO, researching ways to increase it for bloggers and biz owners. Yoast SEO gives you a great interface for controlling the SEO settings on each blog post, and allows you to make your site more SEO-friendly. It also adds XML sitemaps to your site, which is very important for Google and other search engines to index your site. Basically, you can’t not have this plugin if you run a site! | Download This Plugin

12. Genesis Title Toggle

I use this plugin (specific to the Genesis framework) to remove the titles on some of my pages on my blog. For example, on my blog friends page, I removed the title of the page and replaced it with a centered header that replaces the need for the title. This allows for more design flexibility for your Genesis themes. | Download This Plugin

I’m always exploring new plugins, so I will keep this post updated as I use different ones for my blog and other web projects.

What plugins do you love for WordPress?

Posted in Blogging