These days, nearly everyone and their dog has a blog – and most blogs run on the popular (and free) Wordpress system. But did you know that, while Wordpress has some amazing features already built-in, there are extra plugins you can download that will help you build, manage and promote your blog easily?
Even better, these plugins are free – so you can download and use them immediately! Here are the top 10 Wordpress plugins for your blog:
1. Akismet – Akismet is a smart spam filter for your blog that prevents people from posting junk comments and spam or smut links on your blog.
Ideally, it will catch them before you or your visitors can see them – and through Wordpress’ administrative area, you can view the comments, delete them or tell Akismet that they aren’t spam after all. Download it free at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/akismet/ .
On a related note, if you’re getting trackback spam (when someone at a completely unrelated, questionable site links to one of your blog postings in an attempt to get a link on your own page) – you can download the free trackback verifier at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/simple-trackback-validation/
2. Google Sitemap Generator – This free plugin generates a sitemap for your blog that immediately tells Google (and other top search engines) the easy way to find your posts. It also works on MSN, Yahoo and Ask.com. Download it free at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/
3. All-In-One Search Engine Optimization – Make search engine optimization of your blog a breeze with this plugin. You can set the title, keywords and description for each individual blog post in just seconds. Download it free at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/
4. CForms – Contact Form Creator – Add customizable contact forms to your blog. This plugin also supports multi-page forms, so if you want the user to continue filling on a form on a second or third page – CForms can handle it. Also available in a number of languages. Download it free at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/cforms/
5. NextGEN Gallery – Add a custom photo gallery to your Wordpress blog. Includes advanced features such as watermarking, a slideshow feature, create multiple photo album sets and much more. Read more about it and download it free at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/nextgen-gallery/
6. ShareThis – An easy, unobtrusive way to add social bookmarking features to your blog. You can customize the bookmarking sites you want to add, change the colors to fit your site’s design and much more. Beats having hundreds of little social networking icons all over your site! Download it free at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/share-this/
7. Events Calendar – Add a calendar of events to your blog with this free plugin. You can also customize it to appear in the sidebar of your pages instead of in the post itself. Currently if you use this plugin together with the NextGEN gallery – the calendar will display in the gallery itself. The programmers are working on a way to fix this issue. Free download at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/events-calendar/
8. Adsense Manager – Add Google ads to your pages (as well as ads from other popular networks) and manage them automatically with this plugin. Works with other popular ad networks such as Yahoo, Commission Junction and more. Download it free at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/adsense-manager/
9. PodPress – If you want to broadcast audio through your blog – having PodPress is a must. This easy-to-use plugin works to turn your blog into a hosted podcast, where subscribers can tune in and listen much like a teleseminar.
You can also offer a paid option, customize the audio player, view stats of who’s listening and much more. Highly recommended. Download it free at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/podpress/
10. WP Polls – Easily add a poll to your blog. Highly customizable, supports multiple answers and much more. A great way to get visitor feedback – and it’s free! Download at: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-polls/
[...] to plugins that will help you follow the methods I’ve outlined here. I’ve posted the Top 10 Recommended Wordpress Plugins in a separate blog entry to help you separate the best plugins from the [...]
Keywordluv…I would still be working a nine to five right now if this tool wasnt out. It brought me so much traffic and revenue that my internet business is now lucrative enough to live off of….God bless keywordluv
It’s a great little plugin, isn’t it? I’ve found that another related one called Lucia’s LinkLove is also incredible for driving good traffic and getting repeat comments.
I really liked your blog! You have some great content. Check out my blog and give me some feedback… I just posted a great blog about the 36 Best Wordpress plugins for 2009., thanks !
All-in-one SEO pack is definitely the best.
Hmm….thanks for the list of the 10 wordpress plugins, now I will install that plugin in my blog
The SEO plugin is by far the best tool they have. Customizing all the pages titles and meta tags is so helpful compared to the regular Wordpress.
I am all about Akismet to keep spam out of my blog, which is so helpful to keep your readers from seeing it and make your blog look cleaner overall.