In spite of the fact that one should use the least number of plugins for their WordPress website, the truth is that beginners and intermediate website owners cannot totally ignore them. Though we staunchly support installing least number of plugins on your site, we believe there is no harm in using plugins from reputed developers who provide regular updates and decent support.
We only use WordPress for our sites and have tried hundreds of plugins for our websites. Mentioned below are some of the plugins which we found extremely helpful.
1. Advanced ads
Running an authority website and being one of the top publishers in your niche means advertisement is one of your main revenue streams. From Adsense to direct advertisers, we have tried it all. As anyone running multiple ad networks simultaneously on the website would know, managing and tracking ads is a difficult yet important task, especially when advertisers are paying you by the impressions. We have tried a series of ad management plugins for WordPress in the past, including Google’s own DFP, but none has been able to fulfill our requirements as has been done by Advanced ads plugin. With a series of Add-ons offering amazing features, this is a must-have plugin for your website once you are ready for running advertisements.
Having social media accounts on all popular networks is a must today not only from the perspective of promoting your content but also for search engine optimisation of your website. Again, we have tried several social share plugins before using Social Warfare (We have been using them now for more than a year now). The plugin has the finest, lightest and smartest looking social buttons and offers “unparalleled” options for customisation. Perfect for your responsive website as well, this plugin is the finest one out there with some amazing customer and technical support.
3. AMP for WP
AMP is not just a trend but a necessity now. Page loading speed is one of the factors Google uses to rank your web pages. If you are serious about ranking high in search engines, it is important to convert your pages to AMP. If you are technically impaired like us, then AMP for WP is the best plugin out there which will help you to automatically convert your website into an AMP version. The plugin is used by some of the top websites in the world and also has a great development team behind it. It has a series of add-ons and also offer premium support for additional payment.
4. PB Sandwich
From building your email list to selling your (or affiliate) products, professional-looking sales and landing pages are a must. WordPress is an excellent CMS tool but lacks some important features. Page builder sandwich is a front-end drag and drop page builder tool which makes building professional looking pages a piece of cake. It might get a bit buggy sometimes and has a learning curve to it, however, it is surely one of the best in the market out there.