There are tons of great free plugins on the WordPress Plugin Directory. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of trial and error to figure out exactly which ones are the most useful, have the fewest bugs and actually make your life a little easier. Below are some of my favorites that I’ve used throughout the past for years on my own websites and with clients. I’ve really enjoyed them and I hope you will too.
Last Updated 10/16/2014
Best Free WordPress Plugins
Traffic & Conversions
- WordPress SEO by Yoast (the BEST seo plugin I’ve ever used - grab it!)
- SEO Friendly Images (adds your post titles to every image in your post to maximize seo)
- Google XML Sitemaps (improves seo with a super simple sitemap)
- Alexa Claim and Certify (claim and certify your WordPress blog through Alexa.com)
- WordPress Related Posts by Zemanta (adds beautifully designed related posts boxes to your posts)
- W3 Total Cache (a reliable caching plugin to help speed up your site)
- UpPrev (slide out promo box that provides a related post link)
Ecommerce & Ads
- WooCommerce (set up and online store on your website)
- Easy Adsense (allows you to integrate Adsense ads within your posts)
Communities & Forums
- BuddyPress (build your own social network or niche community)
- bbPress (create a discussion forum on your WordPress site)
- s2Member Framework (free membership plugin to add members-only content)
Stats & Analytics
- Jetpack by WordPress.com (this plugin has everything - stats, image hosting, share buttons, etc.)
- Google Analyticator (allows you to view Google Analytics in your dashboard)
- Clicky by Yoast (integrate Clicky Analytics into your website and even track comments)
Social Plugins
- Simple Share Buttons Adder (clean, simple and easy to setup)
- Pinterest Pin It Button for Images (ads a custom Pin button to all of your blog images)
- Easygram (easily import all of your Instagram photos into your WordPress blog)
- Floating Social Bar (adds a floating share bar to every blog post)
- JetPack Share Buttons (formerly ShareDaddy - simple and easy to activate share buttons)
- Shareaholic | email, bookmark, share (fun share buttons that stand out with on-site analytics)
- JetPack Comments (a super simple comment box with social login)
- CommentLuv (let your readers share a link back to their website in your comments section)
Multi-Author Plugins
- CoSchedule (simple drag and drop calendar that also let’s you schedule social shares)
- Edit Flow (set up your own editorial calendar and designate work to contributors)
- Editorial Calendar (drag and drop editorial tasks)
- My Comments Manager (notify each post author when there are new comments on their posts)
- Simple Local Avatars (add a custom head shot/avatar on every user profile)
- Star Box (show an author bio box on every post - connects to their user profile)
- WordPress Author Profile Avatars List (add a list of authors to your sidebar)
Website Protection
- Akismet (auto-delete the majority of spam comments on your blog)
- Easy Tynt (copying analytics and copyright protection)
- WP-CopyProtect (prevents visitors from copying your content and images, allows admin privileges)
- Limit Login Attempts (prevents hackers from logging into your site through multiple attempts)
- Simple Login Log (track login attempts on your site to protect against malicious behavior)
Custom Links
- Ultimate Nofollow (adds a “nofollow” check box when adding links to posts or pages)
- Pretty Link Lite (allows you to create a custom link for any url - great for affiliate marketers)
- Click to Tweet (create a custom tweet within a post that readers can tweet out)
Web Design Plugins
- CSS Plus (adds a unique custom css box to each page / post)
- WP Post Signature (adds a custom signature to the bottom of every post)
- Add New Default Avatar (add a custom default avatar to your comments section)
- Regenerate Thumbnails (regenerates all your thumbnails when you see they aren’t fitting correctly)
- Ultimate Coming Soon Page (create a totally custom splashpage, edit css, add html, anything!)
More Great Free Plugins
- Easy Recipe (creates a custom recipe layout and integrates with Ziplist)
- ZipList Recipe Plugin (readers can easily save their favorite recipes)
- Recipe Rich Pins for Pinterest (add meta data to your Pinterest pins)
- Post-It for Writers (add a post-it note widget to your dashboard and posts)
- Audio Player (easily add a custom mp3 player to any page or post)
- Archives (this creates an archive page with jquery tabs for tags, categories, etc.)
- WPtouch (creates a mobile-friendly version of your site, for non-responsive websites)
Best Free Genesis Framework Plugins
- Simple Social Icons (insert your social profile icons in any widget area)
- Genesis Responsive Slider (a slider that works perfectly with mobile responsive Genesis themes)
- Genesis Simple Edits (customize the links in your post info or footer credits)
- Genesis Simple Hooks (adds code snippets or ads anywhere on your site)
- Genesis Title Toggle (remove the title on any post or page)
- Genesis eNews Extended (mail form that can handle Feedburner or MailChimp)
- Genesis Featured Widget Amplified (supports custom post types, tags, etc.)
- Genesis Connect for WooCommerce (seamlessly integrate WooCommerce into any Genesis theme)
Not a Genesis user? Check out their top of the line themes here.
Do you have a favorite plugin? I’d love to check it out and maybe even include it on this page. Email your plugin ideas to contact@chantillypatino.com.
