30 Best WordPress Plugins to Supercharge Your Website

30 Best WordPress Plugins to Supercharge Your Website

In the early days of the internet, creating a website took some serious coding chops. However, with the advent of WordPress, anyone can build an attractive, functional site without needing to know the intricacies of HTML and CSS. Still, even the most flexible platforms have room for improvement. That's where WordPress plugins come in.

These bits of code built by third-party developers give your site extra abilities beyond essential blogging. With more than 70,000 free and premium plugins to choose from, the possibilities are truly endless. But if you're feeling overwhelmed by the options, don't worry. In this ultimate guide, we'll cover the best WordPress plugins that deserve a spot on your site.

Why Use WordPress Plugins?

Imagine WordPress as an ice cream sundae. The open-source CMS gives you the basics―a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a bowl with some whipped cream and a cherry on top. Nice, but kind of boring. Plugins are endless toppings and sauces that allow you to create a customised dessert that perfectly suits your tastes.

Some key reasons you should use plugins on your WordPress site include:

• Extend functionality. Plugins give your site special abilities ranging from better SEO to integrated booking systems.
• Save time—no need to build what's already been created from scratch. Plugins help you work smarter, not harder.
• Enhance design. Change up your site's look and layout with plugins tailored for aesthetics.
• Increase security. Protect your site from threats like hacking attempts, spam comments, and malicious code.
• Improve performance. Make your site faster, more reliable, and better optimised through plugins.
• Expand integrations. Seamlessly connect your WordPress site to other applications and services.
• Future-proof growth. As your needs change, plugins allow your site to scale and adapt.

With the right mix of plugins, you can give your users an exceptional experience while saving tons of effort on the backend. Now, let's dive into some of the best plugins on the market to take your site to the next level!

1. SEO Optimisation

Search engine optimisation (SEO) allows people to find your site when they search for relevant topics in Google and other search engines. Given that SEO is likely a primary goal of your website, optimisation plugins should be high on your priority list.

Yoast SEO

With over 5 million active installs, Yoast SEO is the undisputed leading plugin for optimising WordPress sites. The premium version packs many features, while the free version still gets the job done.

Yoast SEO lets you:

• Fine-tune page titles and meta descriptions
• Set focus keywords for each page and post
• Structure content for maximum findability
• Identify issues blocking search visibility
• Integrate with Google Search Console
• And much more

The plugin also analyses your on-page content in real-time, giving you specific feedback about how to improve SEO. Yoast SEO is an “install it and forget it” must-have for many site owners.

The SEO Framework

The SEO Framework is an excellent choice for those wanting an alternative to Yoast, packed with advanced options. The free plugin boasts tons of customisations for fine-grained control over search optimisation.

The SEO Framework stands out for its wealth of features, including:

• Microdata markup for richer search snippets
• Auto-generated open graph metadata
• Sitemaps tailored to search engines
• Tools for analysing SEO performance
• Support for international targeting
• A minimalist interface to avoid clutter

While very configurable, the plugin options may overwhelm some users. However, the SEO Framework is an excellent pick for SEO pros who know precisely what they need.

Rank Math SEO

Another favourite for WordPress SEO is Rank Math, which balances ease of use with customisation options. Like Yoast SEO, Rank Math has a free version with robust capabilities and a Pro version with extra perks.

Standout features of Rank Math include:

• On-page SEO analysis and scoring
• XML sitemap integration
• Redirect manager
• Role-based access levels
• Schema markup for rich snippets
• Content analysis to optimise pages
• And more

In short, Rank Math gives site owners a user-friendly way to configure WordPress SEO while still offering tools the pros need. For many site owners, it hits the plugin sweet spot.

2. Speed and Performance

A fast website loads quickly for users, ranks better in search engines and gives an excellent overall user experience. Speed optimisation plugins can work wonders at making sites more performant.

WP Rocket

WP Rocket accelerates site loading times remarkably fast with a simple one-click setup. There's a reason it has earned more than 1 million active installs.

The plugin speeds up sites by:

• Minifying code
• Enabling browser caching
• Lazy loading images
• Removing query strings from static resources
• And more

Expect site speed boosts of 200-500% on average. WP Rocket also optimises pages specifically for visitors on mobile devices. The free version still packs a punch, while the premium adds functionality like cache preloading. Overall, WP Rocket is the best WordPress performance plugin available now.

LiteSpeed Cache

Created by the team behind the LiteSpeed web server, this plugin is purpose-built for speed. It works remarkably well for caching pages, minifying code, managing browser caching, and more.

The LiteSpeed Cache plugin is unique because it:

• Supports WordPress Multisite networks
• Caches JSON and XML pages
• Allows cache exclusion for select pages
• Offers advanced .htaccess management
• Has enterprise-level security protections

For site owners already using LiteSpeed for hosting, it's a no-brainer plugin choice. But it works equally well for any WordPress site looking for speed gains.

WP Fastest Cache

As its name suggests, WP Fastest Cache is another plugin focused exclusively on making WordPress load faster for visitors. Workarounds, slow database calls and intuitive caching make it popular.

The plugin improves performance specifically by:

• Caching pages, feeds, and REST API calls
• Minifying CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
• Optimising database requests
• Offering precaching for critical pages
• Lazy loading images
• And more

The ease of use sets WP Fastest Cache apart while allowing for detailed configuration. Even website managers who are new to caching can get excellent speed results.

3. Forms and Surveys

From simple contact forms to complex multi-page surveys, form plugins enable user input collection on WordPress sites. They eliminate the need for complicated custom form coding.

WPForms Lite

The most popular WordPress forms plugin, WPForms, undoubtedly makes user input a cinch. Over 5 million websites currently have this free plugin installed for a good reason.

WPForms enables quick creation:

• Contact forms
• Multi-page order forms
• User registration forms
• Feedback surveys
• And more

The drag-and-drop form builder requires no coding expertise and works well with one of several page builders. Other handy features include spam protection, email marketing integrations, payment integrations, data analysis, and even form templates.

While WPForms Lite meets most basic needs, the Pro package adds features like file uploads, conditional logic, multi-select options, and more advanced reporting. For beginner to intermediate WordPress form needs, WPForms takes a lot of work to beat.

Contact Form 7

True to its name, Contact Form 7 is a top choice focused specifically on contact forms rather than complex data collection. Lightweight yet customisable, it's a long-time favourite.

Those looking to add a contact form to WordPress simply will appreciate that the plugin:

• Allows unlimited form fields
• Integrates data easily with various services
• Has CAPTCHA and other spam protections
• Offers some JavaScript customisation
• Requires minimal server requirements
• It has a simple shortcode system

Contact Form 7 lacks a form builder, so HTML basics are necessary. But for primary contact forms added to WordPress pages and posts, nothing beats this classic plugin.

Formidable Forms

The premium Formidable Forms plugin manages everything from simple lead capture to enterprise-level forms with complex logic. Top features include:

• Intuitive drag-and-drop builder
• Multi-page form workflows
• Entry management and reporting
• Spam blocking tools
• Customisable design options
• Payment integrations
• And more

Formidable Forms is noticeably faster and less resource-intensive than competitors. Advanced forms that integrate deeply with CRMs, databases, email services, and payment systems are top picks that balance power with ease of use.

4. Security Plugins

WordPress powers over 40% of all websites, making it an unfortunately common target for hackers, bots, and other threats. Security plugins function like an immune system, protecting your site from attacks so you can rest easy.

Wordfence Security

The cybersecurity company Wordfence offers a free WordPress security plugin that is relied on by over 3 million site owners. It's consistently rated the best WordPress security solution.

Wordfence Security helps by:

• Blocking common hack attacks
• Stopping brute force login attempts
• Catching malware and spam
• Monitoring filesystem changes
• IP blocking offenders
• And more

The WordPress firewall and malware scanner immediately start working when activated. Wordfence also has premium paid plans for added layers of protection, including country blocking and cellphone-based two-factor authentication.

iThemes Security

Another trusted name in the WordPress security world, iThemes has created a robust plugin packed with precautions for bulletproofing sites. Over 1 million site owners use it to prevent problems before they start.

iThemes Security stands out specifically by:

• Changing default admin usernames
• Adding 404 detection
• Enforcing strong passwords
• Scanning files remotely
• Concealing error messages
• Logging activity in real-time
• And much more

With both free and premium offerings and custom-built for WordPress, iThemes Security makes it simple to lock sites down without complicating lives for site owners and administrators.

Sucuri Security

Top WordPress-managed hosting companies like WP Engine rely on Sucuri technology to secure user sites. The plugin version gives DIY site owners enterprise-grade protection.

Specific elements that make Sucuri Security such an asset include:

• Malware detection and cleanup
• Blacklist monitoring
• DDoS prevention
• Post-hack site hardening
• Custom alerting profiles
• File integrity monitoring
• And more

The free Sucuri plugin works well but is best coupled with add-on plans for the full benefit. Overall, Sucuri Security does an exceptional job of eliminating existing or future threats.

5. Backup and Migration Plugins

No website is immune to disasters like server crashes, hacking incidents, or accidental mass deletions. WordPress backup plugins eliminate that stomach-dropping feeling when catastrophe strikes. They also facilitate smooth site migrations.

UpdraftPlus Backup/Restore

The longtime #1 backup and restoration plugin for WordPress, UpdraftPlus, does precisely what its name suggests simply and affordably. Meet demands for reliable backups across 5 million sites and counting.

UpdraftPlus is trusted for good reasons, including:

• Backup to cloud or local storage
• Restoration with a single click
• Migrations to new hosts or plugins
• Multi-site compatibility
• Remote access via other plugins
• Scheduled hands-free backups

With robust free functionality and add-ons like multi-vault storage, UpdraftPlus Backup/Restore handles all offsite backup and restoration needs. Explicitly developed for WordPress, few backup solutions integrate so neatly.

BackWPup

Whereas most competitors focus solely on backups, BackWPup goes further to provide server-level functionality for WordPress instances. It facilitates cloning, mirroring, and synchronising WordPress installations alongside robust backup tools.

Users praise BackWPup for:

• Simple job scheduling
• Backup archives search
• Destination flexibility
• Working well with large sites
• Handling bad host configurations
• Integrating smoothly with cPanel
• And more

For WordPress users wanting to move beyond just backup/restore to robust copy management, BackWPup is a stellar choice. The free version meets most needs, while the paid unlocks business-level features.

BlogVault Backup

While newer to the market than some rivals, BlogVault Backup already has over 300,000 site owners trusting it for easy WordPress backups and restoration. The plugin shines through usability.

Reasons BlogVault is gaining steam include:

• One-click setup process
• Scheduled and on-demand backups
• Data retention policies by backup
• WP-CLI integration
• Simple migration options
• Affordable premium plans
• And more

BlogVault still trails rivals in configurability but offers the most accessible backup solution for non-technical users. It leads the WordPress pack for “set it and forget it” backup reassurance.

6. User Management Plugins

Maintaining user roles and permissions across a site with multiple administrators and authors can become chaotic minus a plan. These plugins bring sanity back by streamlining user organisation and settings.

User Role Editor

The go-to choice for managing WordPress user roles and capabilities, User Role Editor lives up to its utility promise. Freemium functionality makes it useful for sites big and small.

Standout User Role Editor features include:

• Change default WordPress roles
• Custom user role creation
• Granular capability management
• Multisite compatibility
• Role import/export options
• Bulk actions to handle user groups
• And more

For enterprise-level sites especially, configuring user settings without help quickly becomes unwieldy. User Role Editor makes accessing user permissions fast and uncomplicated across installs.

Members

Plugins like User Role Editor handle backend user management beautifully, leaving the front-end registration process alone. That's where Members come in, providing unmatched user login, registration, and profile administration tools.

Members lets you:

• Customise login/registration pages
• Configure frontend user profiles
• Set multiple registration forms
• Integrate with social logins
• Moderate new user signups
• Build membership packages
• And more

The plugin perfectly complements something like User Role Editor for a full-fledged user management solution. Nothing else compares to site owners selling memberships or needing custom frontend user portals.

ProfilePress

In the same vein as Members, ProfilePress creates full-fledged front-end user registration and account portals. Where Members offer more user management, ProfilePress wins for profiles and directories.

ProfilePress stands apart through:

• Custom user account pages
• Profile form builder
• Moderation abilities
• Custom user roles
• File upload and messaging
• Member Directories
• And much more

For community-focused sites wanting polished user profiles searchable by custom fields, ProfilePress creates exceptional experiences for site visitors and members.

WooCommerce Shipping Labels, Dispatch Labels, & Delivery Notes

The WooCommerce Shipping Labels plugin is your go-to solution for seamless order processing. This plugin lets you quickly generate custom labels and notes tailored to your business needs. It allows you to automate the creation and personalise and craft detailed shipping labels, dispatch labels, and delivery notes for each order. It also offers many layouts and even allows you to create templates.

• Simplifies order processing
• Generates custom labels effortlessly
• It provides the option to automate label creation
• Customises the documents easily
• Can access and print documents conveniently
• Offers multilingual support

Simplify your order management with the WooCommerce Shipping Labels plugin, the ultimate solution for effortless customisation and simplified processing.

7. Social Media Plugins

Websites and social platforms like Facebook and Twitter might seem completely separate online worlds. WordPress social plugins build bridges between them for massive reach expansion and traffic capabilities.

NextScripts: Social Networks Auto-Poster

As one of WordPress's longest-running social media plugins, NextScripts has cemented itself as the go-to for auto-posting content across platforms. Over 1 million installs fuel its success.

NextScripts stands out namely for:

• One-click setup
• 400+ social integrations
• Posting scheduling
• Comment cross-posting
• Mass posting of existing content
• RSS auto-publishing
• Following growth tools
• And more

For both one-off campaign auto-posting and perpetual content syndication across social sites, nothing beats NextScripts for both depth and breadth of integrations.

Social Pug

Jumping past just social posting, Social Pug positions itself as an all-in-one social media management plugin for WordPress. Growth tools aimed at skyrocketing following and traffic make it unique.

Core Social Pug features consist of the following:

• Auto-posting to major platforms
• Posting queue for scheduling
• UTM link tracking
• Suggested content analytics
• Follower acquisition tools
• Savings on social ads
• And more

While more streamlined in platform connections than NextScripts, Social Pug wins for those hyper-focused on maximising social media ROI through intelligent posting tools.

Social Snap

Connecting WordPress to one platform specifically, Social Snap focuses squarely on supercharging sites' presence on Facebook. Customised Open Graph metadata and specialised posting give it an edge.

Website managers rate Social Snap for:

• One-click Facebook Page integration
• Auto-posting published content
• Customizable Open Graph data
• Photo tag importing
• Moderating comment mirrors
• Facebook debug tool
• And more

WordPress sites invested heavily in Facebook as a channel, going beyond Social Pug and NextScripts to leverage fringe Facebook features, which proves incredibly valuable through this niche plugin.

8. Related Posts Plugins

Related posts plugins show site visitors content related to their current viewing, keeping them engaged and driving page views. Let's explore plugins that help surface recommendations.

Related Post Plugin – Recommended Content

With this plugin active, you can show contextual posts and page recommendations through a widget placed anywhere on the site. Configuration options give flexibility.

The Related Post Plugin shines for:

• Including images with recommendations
• Customising widget disclaimer text
• Choosing widget location per page
• Setting the maximum number of suggestions
• Defining relatedness
• Respecting exclusions
• And more

For most implementations, this easy-related content plugin has everything needed to increase on-site engagement via relevant links.

YARPP

With over 3 million active installs, YARPP (Yet Another Related Posts Plugin) is a popular option for showcasing related content across WordPress sites. The fully customisable plugin has earned praise for its advanced options.

YARPP enables:

• Showing related posts, pages, and custom post types
• Choosing relatedness criteria like tags, categories, content, etc.
• Setting matching thresholds
• Defining display formats, styles, headings
• Implementing thumbnail images
• Allowing user input customisation
• And more

For developers or site owners comfortable digging into configurations, YARPP offers incredible fine-grained control over related content displays not matched by simpler plugins. The free version still packs a serious punch.

Contextual Related Posts

Taking ease of implementation to the extreme, Contextual Related Posts requires zero settings or coding while still intelligently displaying relevant content recommendations. The truly “set it and forget it” nature makes this plugin unique.

Simply installing Contextual Related Posts gets you:

• Automatic-related post-detection
• Responsive content suggestions
• Customisable themes
• Respect for excluded posts
• Easy placeholder customisation
• Out-of-the-box effective displays

Contextual Related Posts eliminates headaches for site owners without the expertise or desire to customise related content tools deeply while still working beautifully.

9. Email Marketing Plugins

Building an email subscriber list gives site owners invaluable direct access to current and potential website visitors. Integrated email signup plugins simplify list building while offering other perks like newsletter templates.

Bloom

Bloom positions itself as an all-in-one solution for everything from email signups to sending campaigns and driving traffic back to websites with tracking links. As a result, the plugin boasts a vast feature set.

With Bloom, users specifically praise:

• Unmatched signup form customisation
• Simple newsletter builder
• Email automation options
• Signup bait content locker
• Granular analytics by source
• Multi-list support with segmentation
• And more

For small to medium sites ready to get serious about leveraging email marketing, Bloom makes executing integrated campaigns easier than using WordPress for content creation, thanks to its intuitive interface.

Mailchimp for WordPress

This official Mailchimp plugin allows deep integration of the popular email service into WordPress sites for flawless list-building and newsletter campaigns. Seamless email marketing awaits.

The Mailchimp plugin enables:

• Syncing existing lists and campaigns
• Displaying signup forms anywhere
• Sending post notifications or RSS campaigns
• Viewing analytics from the dashboard
• Following GDPR and other regulations
• Utilising drag-and-drop email builders
• And more

For current Mailchimp users getting their first WordPress site or site owners switching from another provider, no third-party integration matches the polish of the official Mailchimp plugin.

Convert Pro

Trusted by brands like Microsoft and Samsung for maximising conversions, Convert Pro is an enterprise-level plugin for supercharging email opt-ins. Using psychology and growth principles, it generates remarkable results.

Convert Pro customers praise:

• Lightbox popups and sticky bars
• Scroll-triggered email signups
• Multi-step form creation
• Dynamic content customisation
• Real-time conversion analytics
• Robust automation based on triggers
• And more

Convert Pro drives opt-in rates dramatically upward through research-backed methods exposed to non-technical users for sites invested heavily in email list growth over sheer ease of use.

10. Caching Plugins

Caching plugins build temporary copies of site pages to show visitors faster loading while avoiding resource-intensive database queries. They're essential for improving site speed beyond the limits of web hosting alone.

WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache, the longstanding king of WordPress caching, lives up to its name through reliably quick page loads. Over 3 million installs power the open-source plugin's popularity.

Elements that make WP Super Cache shine consist of:

• Support for Apache and Nginx
• Transparent caching background processing
• Cache rebuild upon publishing
• Scheduling for high-traffic times
• Configurable cache exclusion
• Cache file compression
• And more

Thanks to its reliability over years of releases, plus its customizability, rivalling premium plugins, WP Super Cache remains the go-to caching starter plugin for WordPress today.

W3 Total Cache

Brought to the WordPress scene by well-known web host W3 Edge, W3 Total Cache takes a kitchen-sink approach by packaging caching and CDN and object caching capabilities.

Reasons for W3 Total Cache's success include:

• Over 30 configurable cache settings
• Integrated Cloudflare CDN
• Database caching and query optimisation
• Compatibility with Varnish servers
• Page, object, database, and browser caching
• Advanced features like minification and compression

While arguably overkilling the needs of many site owners, agency-level sites already leverage tools like Cloudflare value to consolidate them all through W3 Total Cache's unified interface.

Swift Performance Lite

Although Swift Performance comes from niche WordPress host SwiftTech, its caching plugin works impressively well on regular hosts. Straightforward functionality plus reliable page speed gains power and popularity.

The lite version of Swift Performance wins praise for:

• Caching dynamic WordPress content
• Triggering cache rebuilds when needed
• Supporting Nginx via LiteSpeed
• Ease deleting cache manually
• Graceful handling of WordPress updates
• Negligible hosting resource demands
• And more

Swift Performance Lite checks all the boxes for site owners wanting a “set it and forget it” caching experience without dealing with configuration overload.

Website Success Relies on the Best WordPress Plugins

Like a quality ingredient transforming an average meal into a culinary masterpiece, the perfect plugin can take your WordPress site from good to exceptional. Invest time upfront in finding plugins tailored to your goals, and enjoy the benefits for years.

The plugins above represent prime choices for accomplishing common website objectives like accelerating speed, collecting user input, backing up content, driving social shares, and more. Treat them like building blocks that, when combined, result in a custom site capable of amazing things.

WordPress snakes its way into internet technology discussions for a good reason. Backed by a devoted community of contributors, the open-source CMS offers seemingly endless possibilities through plugins and themes. Not tapping into that ecosystem means leaving potential untapped.

Hopefully, this guide gave you ideas for possibilities for your site using WordPress plugins so far unexplored. Optimising already excellent WordPress core functionality through innovative plugins gives sites the winning edge for visitors and admins alike.

Frequently Asked Questions About WordPress Plugins

Still have questions about leveraging plugins effectively on WordPress sites? These commonly asked questions provide additional answers.