If you are just beginning to build your website you have probably noticed that plug-in is very prominent aspect of any Word Press website. So, exactly what are plug-in? Why are they important to my site? How do I find and install them?
In this post I am going to give you a brief overview of why plug-in exist and how you can use them to your advantage. In part 2 of this series on plug-in I will show you how easy it is to install a plug-in on your Word Press website.
What are plug-in?
Basically, plug-in are mini programs or codes written by an individual or a company that you can install, or “plug-in”, to your website. Once you install a plug-in it is now a part of your website and is affecting it in some way.
Most plug-in are offered for free with the option of upgrading to a premium version for increased functionality. Some plug-in are only available through purchase. And some are free but will ask for a donation. Typically there is no need for someone just starting out to purchase any plug-in. All of the good and most widely used plug-in are available for free.
Why do we need plug-in?
As you know, the internet operates by languages called code. Unfortunately, most of us (me included) do not know how to speak code. If we do know some code, it’s typically not enough to really do any advanced and complicated things with our websites.
Also, the Word Press content management system is purely the platform your website is created from. It is not very advanced and doesn't offer a lot of functionality by itself. To increase this functionality you can either write your own code (which is probably impossible for you and I) or find someone else to do it for you.
Basically, plug-in are designed to fill this knowledge gap and allow us to improve our site, increase its functionality, and better our user experience.
1. All-In-One SEO Pack
All-In-One SEO Pack was created to increase the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of the content you publish on your website. This plug-in allows you to easily edit how your posts will show up on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), integrate webmaster verification, edit website and post Meta data, among a plethora of other things.
It all sounds very boring and complicated, but it is probably one of the most important plug-in you can install if you are looking to get traffic from search engines…and it will automate most of the process for you!
2. Max Buttons
Max Buttons is a plug-in created by Max Foundry that will allow you to create nice looking buttons throughout your website’s pages and posts. Without this plug-in, if I wanted to put a button on my page, I might have to create an image in Photoshop, make sure it is the perfect size (down to the pixel), upload it to the website, place it perfectly in my post or page, insert the proper link…and it still probably won’t look as good as if you just used Max Buttons.
3. Pretty Link Lite
Pretty Link Lite is designed by the company Case proof. This plug-in can affect your site positively in very subtle ways. Basically, using this plug-in will make all of your links “pretty”. Many times URL and links that show up throughout your website can be quite long and “ugly”. This plug-in allows you to shorten them up and make them more appealing to your visitors
This is also a very good plug-in to utilize if you plan on doing any affiliate marketing. This is because it allows you to hide your affiliate links from Google. (This topic is worthy of a whole series of posts itself…so more about this at a later date!)
4. Subscribe To Comments Reloaded
I consider Subscribe to Comments Reloaded to be one of the most important plug-in I have installed on this website. How many times have you left a question or comment on a website and really wanted to know what the answers or responses would be? Unfortunately, in many cases the only way to know if someone has responded is to manually check the website. This is huge hassle…not to mention you will probably just forget about it.
Subscribe to Comments Reloaded solves this by allowing commentors to subscribe to your comments. This means that if someone replies to their comment they will be notified via email of the response. This dramatically increases visitor engagement on your site and also gives you a presence within their email.
Conclusion
I hope you now have a better understanding of what Word Press plug-in are and how they can vastly improve your website. Keep in mind that this was just a VERY brief overview. There are literally tens of thousands of plug-in available for you to experiment with.
However, keep in mind that, as with everything, you need to have due diligence to make sure a plug-in is legit and won’t do more harm than good to your website. Also, if you install too many plug-in, it can have negative effects on your site speed.
Was this post interesting and informative? If so, here are some others you may want to look into:
What Are Word Press Categories? – How You Can Use Them to Group and Organize Your Posts
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