Essential WordPress Plugins

The three plugins that I consider a must consist of All in One SEO Pack, wp-spamfree, and wp-db-backup. They are all described below and directions for finding and installing are also provided. Note that there are  other plugins you will probably want to add later as well, but for sure you want these 3 from the get-go.

All in One SEO Pack – this plugin allows you to optimize your blog for the search engines and it is about the most popular plugin created for that purpose. The easiest way to install this plugin is to choose Plugins from your WordPress Dashboard, search for all in one seo, and select the Action install, as shown below.

You can activate and adjust settings or use this All in One SEO plugin just the way it is – I would recommend using it as is with its default settings.

wp-spamfree – this plugin can just about eliminate comment spam. Without it, you might get 20-200 spam comments per day. Enough said! To easily install, just search for wp-spamfree as shown below and install directly from your Dashboard. Once installed and activated, I would recommend navigating to Settings, and then WP-Spamfree and deselecting the boxes as shown below.

wp-db-backup – this plugin will automatically backup your blog in the unfortunate event that you accidentally delete your database of posts. Without a backup your blog is forever gone! Again, search for this plugin from your dashboard, using the search string wp-db-backup, and install it. After you install it and activate it, you must navigate to Tools and select Backup, as shown below. You then should have a backup emailed to you weekly, as shown in the bottom screen shot. The one option I select is to forgo having spam comments backed up – see check box in screen shot. After you choose these settings, it is all automatic!

Note: In addition to the backup plugin above, I would recommend using a host that will make a backup of your blog on another server. Before I had this plugin, I accidentally deleted my blog database on a blog. Hostgator had another copy. And for a nominal $10 fee restored my blog. Not every host will help you out this way!

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Since hostgator allows unlimited additional websites, it only costs me $9/year to put up a whole new site on its own domain! That comes to about 80 cents a month!
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