Setting up a WordPress blog isn’t easy. It can be downright confusing. At times it can even be overwhelming. I know that’s how I felt when I made the switch to WordPress. I didn’t know what the best WordPress plugins for beginner bloggers were.
When you’re new to WordPress, you really don’t know what WP blog plugins to use. I know I didn’t. I am still learning.
There are so many to choose from. Anytime I see a blog post about the best WordPress blog plugins I immediately read it. I’m always learning about new plugins.
Since I know how confusing it can be I decided to write my own post. I want to share with you the ones that I use and love.
*Affiliate Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please see my full disclosure for further information.
Table of Contents
What are WordPress Plugins?
WordPress plugins work in a similar way to apps. They help with the functionality of your blog. WordPress doesn’t have every functionality built into it.
The plugins give your blog the functionality it needs. It’s another way to customize your blog.
Once you have your blog set up, go to where it says plugins. Search for the ones you want or click on the links below. Then click install. After that click activate.
You can deactivate and uninstall whenever you want. Remember downloading too many plugins can make your blog slow. Only download what you need. That’s why I wrote this post about the most useful WordPress plugins for beginner bloggers.
If you aren’t sure how to set up your WordPress blog, I recommend this free blogging course. If you don’t have a good hosting provider, I recommend Site Ground. It’s what I use. I love it!
Check the Google Web Story of this blog post!
WordPress Plugins for Beginner Bloggers
Tasty Pins WP Plugin for Bloggers
If you use Pinterest for your blog then you need Tasty Pins. With Tasty Pins, you can add a separate description to your pin.
If you haven’t noticed, whenever someone pins your blog post, it adds the meta description to your pin. Unless you use a specific code, it will do this every single time. With Tasty Pins, this isn’t a problem anymore.
You can create a specific description for your pin without your share button pulling your meta description. I know that some bloggers get around this by using the alt description for their pin description. This is wrong.
The alt description is used to describe your image for people with disabilities. By using Tasty Pins, you can use the alt description for what it’s for.
Another feature that I love is that with Tasty Pins you can prevent any image you want from being pinned. This is a problem for me.
Readers tend to pin my blog feature image. I don’t want this image pinned because it’s not the right size for Pinterest. Tasty Pins gets rid of this problem.
Tasty Pins is a must-have WordPress plugin for beginner bloggers. It has more features available than what I mentioned.
Check out Tasty Pins
Tasty Links
Tasty Links has so many beneficial features that I don’t know where to begin. Let’s start with affiliate disclosures. As I am sure you are aware, each blog post that has an affiliate link needs an affiliate disclosure. Having to add this manually all the time can be annoying.
With Tasty Links, you can automatically add your disclosure to each post. You can even add one after each affiliate link. Another feature I love is that you can add the no-follow tag to each affiliate link.
You don’t need to code it yourself. Sadly, WordPress doesn’t have this feature built-in. The only way to do this is by adding the code yourself with a plugin like Tasty Links.
If you want to make more money from your blog, you’ll like this next feature. Tasty Links allows you to automatically add affiliate links to keywords in your posts! There are so many more awesome features you get with Tasty Links. It’s one of the best WordPress blog plugins.
Check out Tasty Links
Tasty Recipes
This is a must-have plugin for food bloggers. Tasty Recipes gives you the ability to add recipe cards to your blog posts.
This means that readers can skip to the recipe at the bottom. Then they can print out the recipe. I use this all the time when I am looking for recipes.
It’s a lot easier to download a recipe than to write it down. It will save your readers so much time. With Tasty Recipes, you can choose from 5 different recipe card themes.
These themes will help you look more professional. It’s easy to use and install. If you don’t believe me then check out the testimonials page.
Check out Tasty Recipes
Thirsty Affiliates
Thirsty Affiliates is one of the best plugins for affiliate marketing. One feature that I love is that you can cloak your affiliate links. Instead of company.com/123456, you’ll get yourblog.com/recommendsproductname. It gives you a link that’s prettier to look at. It comes in handy for social media posts or FB groups.
You can do a lot more with Thirsty Affiliates. When you install it, you can add all of your affiliates to one page. This page is only visible to you. It’s at the back end. It comes in handy when writing blog posts for sure.
With the pro plan, you can automatically add affiliate links to your keywords. Plus, you can automatically add affiliate disclosures to your blog posts! Thirsty Affiliates has a free version too.
Check out Thirsty Affiliates
Updraft Plus
This WordPress Plugin for beginner bloggers is essential. I am not just saying that. With Updraft Plus you can backup and restore your WordPress blog.
This means that you can back up all of your files, plugins, databases, and your theme. If your blog should ever crash you can restore it. These features are available on the free version.
With the premium version you can:
- Clone your blog and move it to a new host or domain
- Only backup new changes if you prefer
- Get expert help when you need it
- Backup your blog before doing any updates
- Backup non-WordPress files
- Backup WordPress multi-site
- Restore backups from other plugins
Updraft Plus allows you to send your backup files to Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon web services, or Rackspace. The premium version gives you more storage options.
Check out Updraft Plus
All in One SEO WordPress Plugin
There are many things I like about All-in-One SEO. First, I like that it tells you exactly where to put your focus or main keyword. This is so crucial for SEO.
AIOSEO gives you an SEO score. This score rates your blog post for SEO. It’s basically a report card. It tells you what SEO mistakes you’re making.
I also like that you can connect your Google search console account to All-in-One SEO. It even integrates with the Bing search console and other plugins.
If you’re totally new to SEO then you’ll love their SEO audit checklist. It analyzes your blog in seconds. This audit lets you know what to improve when it comes to SEO.
There are two additional features that I love. AIOSEO tells you how to improve your blog title. One of the ways to outrank competitors is to have a good title.
The other feature that I love is the no-follow tag for affiliate links. Yes, All in One SEO does have a free version.
Check Out All In One SEO
If you don’t know anything about SEO then I recommend this SEO course for beginner bloggers.
Siteground Optimizer Plugin
This plugin used to be exclusive to SiteGround customers but not anymore. Now, this plugin is available for free to anyone.
What it does is makes your blog faster, enable HTTPS with just a click, compress your images, enable or disable lazy load, and more. This plugin is free.
If all of this confuses you no worries. There is a tutorial you can watch for free.
Check out SiteGround Optimizer
WordFence: A must-have WordPress Plugin for bloggers
WordFence Security Plugin is one of the best security WordPress Plugins. I absolutely love this plugin.
It comes with a firewall, malware scan, login security, and more. I love the daily security emails. If there is a WordPress plugin with security issues, they let you know.
Even if you don’t have a plugin installed, they give you the latest security updates about it. Not to mention it has a free version. It’s one of the best free WordPress plugins for beginner bloggers.
If you want to keep your blog secure this plugin is a must.
Check out WordFence
Yoast Free WordPress Blog Plugin
You probably have heard of Yoast. You might be wondering what’s the big deal? It took me a while to actually download it.
I thought that since I knew SEO, I didn’t need it. Boy was I wrong. It can help you with your SEO efforts.
What I like about it is that it tells you if you aren’t using your main keyword enough. Proper keyword density is important.
I also like that it tells you what you aren’t doing. Yoast makes it easier to optimize your blog for SEO not just your blog posts. This plugin has a free version.
Check out Yoast
Sitekit by Google WP Blog Plugin
Last but not least is Site kit by Google. One of the things I miss about Blogger is seeing my blog stats. Blogger has a blog stats dashboard built right into the platform.
Whenever you see your blog posts you see the pageviews next to each one. There is no guesswork about what your top posts are.
Sadly, WordPress doesn’t have this option built-in. In order to get this, you need to install Site kit by Google.
It connects your Google Analytics to your WordPress Dashboard. With this WordPress blogging plugin, you’ll get metrics for your entire blog and individual posts.
I like that it includes tag manager and page speed insights. The best part is that Site Kit by Google is free!
Check out Site Kit by Google
Must-read related posts
11 Best Free Online Courses for Beginner Bloggers
The Best Blog Themes to Have a Professional Looking Blog
How to Start a Money Making Blog on a Budget
10 Big Blogging Mistakes To Avoid
10 of the Biggest Blogging Myths Debunked
Conclusion
I hope this list of WordPress plugins for beginner bloggers helps you. The right plugins can make a huge difference in the performance and look of your blog.
Often the best WordPress blogging plugins are easy to use. Definitely make sure they’ve been updated recently. If you’re confused about what a plugin does find a good tutorial on it. It’s something I still educate myself on.
What are some of your favorite plugins? Let me know in the comments below! If you haven’t done so yet follow me on Instagram for more tips!
