Top 12 WordPress Plugins You Gotta Have

WordPress Plugins are basically a way to add some bells and whistles to your blog, things that you would not normally be able to do with WordPress right out of the box. Since WordPress is an open source project (the code is accessible to anyone with virtually no restrictions) so there are developers all over the world constantly creating new plugins every single day.

The majority of plugins are just extra fun things you can add to your blog that make it more interesting for your visitor but there are some plugins that you NEED to have if you’re trying to build a true asset which will add extra functionality to your blog making it easier for search engines to find you, help more people subscribe to your blog, and increase the end user experience overall. Those kind of plugins are what we are going to be covering today.

• Akismet (http://askismet.com) This one actually comes stock with WordPress but it is an absolute must have because this plugin will guard you from all kinds of crazy spam comments. Believe me, if you don’t active this plugin you will get TONS of spam comments. You have to use your WordPress.com API key to active this and you can find that key on your WordPress.com dashboard. If you don’t have an account you can create one here http://Wordpress.com

• All In One SEO Pack (http://wp.uberdose.com/2007/03/24/all-in-one-seo-pack/) WordPress does not come fully search engine optimized fresh out the box. What this plugin does is make sure you don’t have any duplicate content on your pages when you get indexed by Google and also gives you the ability to customize your blogs title, meta tags, keywords, home page description and a few other things to make sure Google and the others pick you up just the way you want them to.

• Google XML Sitemaps (http://www.arnebrachhold.de/redir/sitemap-home/) This plugin will ensure that your site gets indexed by Google the proper way and will get you listed in their results much faster. You can set up an automatic ping to the search engines every time you update your blog which will notify them of updates when you make a new post.

• WP Related Posts Widget (http://jameslao.com/) With this plugin you will have the ability to add a related posts widget to your sidebar or footer. This will help increase readership as it pulls keywords from your post and matches them to other posts on your blog so that your reader will always be receiving related content based on their interest in the article they are reading now.

• Sexy Bookmarks (http://sexybookmarks.net) What else can I say about this plugin, it’s straight up SEXY. Not only does this plugin look classy but it allows your to help get your content syndicated across social media and social bookmarking platforms including Twitter, Facebook, Digg, Delicious, Stumble Upon, and SO many more. Sexy Bookmarks gets placed at the end of your post and lets you choose which networks you want displayed.

• Disqus Comment System (http://DISQUS.com) One of the most popular comment systems for WordPress right now. This plugin allows you to display threaded comments making it very easy to reply directly to an individual comment. Disqus also implements some really cool commenting features that make your comments much more interactive like video replies, the ability to “like” a post like Facebook, direct sharing to Twitter, and many more awesome features.

• Digg Digg (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/digg-digg/) This plugin allows your to integrate Digg, Twitter, Facebook, and many other instant share buttons similar to the famous TweetMeMe button you see everywhere now. This plugin makes it super easy for your reader to share your blog with others and help get your content syndicated faster.

• Home Page Excepts (http://www.dailyblogtips.com/homepage-excerpts-wordpress-plugin/) Have you ever wanted to simply just display a short except instead of the whole blog post on your home page? Well this is the plugin for the job. It makes your posts more easily accessible for your readers because now they can view all your posts without having to scroll all the way through one to get to the next.

• Subscribe Remind (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/subscribe-remind/) This plugin will automatically place text and a link at the end of your post reminding your readers to subscribe to your RSS feed making your blogs content more easily accessible to your reader.

• WWSGD (http://www.richardkmiller.com/blog/wordpress-plugin-what-would-seth-godin-do) This plugin treats new visitors different than returning visitors using cookies to determine who’s been here before.

• Feed Footer (http://www.blogclout.com/blog/goodies/feed-footer-plugin/) This awesome plugin lets you add footers to your RSS feeds and gives you full customization of the process. You have no word limit, can add copyright information, code with full HTML, and even monetize your RSS feeds with advertisements.

• OIO Publisher Plugin (http://matthewneer.com/oiopublisher) A very affordable plugin at $47 that lets you easily manage and control paid advertising on your blog. If you want this then buy it through my affiliate link above and I will save you $15 dollars off your purchase by using this coupon code; J2010-NEER

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