Chapter 7
Which Blog Plugins Should you Use?
(+3 Plugins I Recommend)
Welcome to Chapter 7 of The Blog Strategist’s Master Blogging Course. In this module, we will explore the best blog plugins you should use & how to install a plugin in WordPress.
Plugins are components of your blog that adds new functionalities. For example, if you want to add social share buttons, if you want to keep a backup of your blog data, if you want to include a pop-up message in your blog, etc., you have to use a separate WordPress plugin for each of these functionalities.
Fun Fact: Did you know that there are more than 50,000 plugins on the WordPress directory with more than a billion combined downloads to date.
One key factor that differentiates WordPress from other website builders (like Wix and Squarespace) is the vast plugin ecosystem associated with it. With WordPress, you will find a plugin for nearly every blog functionality you need.
And through this chapter, I’ll tell my favorite plugins & the ones I believe everyone should use. We will see:
- What are the important types of plugins every blog should have?
- Why should limit the number of plugins you use?
- Where can you find WordPress plugins?
- How to install & activate a WordPress plugin?
Before we begin, here’s the table of content for this course. I recommend starting from the first chapter if you are new to blogging & want an overview of how to set up a successful blog. This is a standard section meant for first-time TBS visitors. If you’re a returning visitor, please feel free to skip this section & move ahead to the module content below.
This is one of the chapters of “The Blog Strategist’s Master Blogging Course”. This free course includes multiple chapters covering the A-Z of everything you need to know to achieve blogging success (and mostly everything you would probably find on a $497 paid blogging course). I know it because I personally bought and went through thousands of dollars worth of blogging courses and scoured through 1000s of articles & videos on blogging over the last decade!
- How to Start a Blog & Make Money (in 2025)? – Introduction
- How to Choose the Right Niche for Your Blog?
- How to Choose the Perfect Domain Name for Your Blog? (or avoid a crappy name atleast!)
- Where Should You Host Your Blog? (I recommend Dreamhost)
- How to Get a Free Domain Name & Host Your Blog on DreamHost?
- Which Blog Theme Should You Use? (I Recommend GeneratePress)
- Which Blog Plugins Should You Use? (+Plugins I Recommend)
- WordPress SEO Settings – Understanding What Google Likes
- How to Write the Perfect Blog Post? (Writing Module)
- How to Get Visitors from Google? (SEO Module)
- How to Drive Visitors from Pinterest? (Pinterest Traffic Module)
- How to Make Money from Your Blog?
- How to Set-Up Your Blog for Long-Term Success? (Email Traffic Module)
- 17 Things I Truly Wish Someone Told Me When I Started Blogging!
- My Final Thoughts on Starting a Blog
At The Blog Strategist (TBS), my mission is to bring the kind of premium content you would see on $497 blogging courses to my fellow bloggers, for free. I don’t sell blogging courses, I hate putting information behind paywalls and I am not an affiliate sellout recommending anything & everything for a commission. Every single word in TBS is written from my heart (and constantly updated), there’s zero AI bulls**t.
I am transparent about what I do, I publish monthly income reports, operates this blog as a public case study and believe in genuinely helping my readers scale their blogs. I do not write for search engines or social media, but to create truly helpful content for my readers – that’s my mantra.
Click here to explore the Free TBS Master Blogging Course.
Click here to download our Free TBS Master Blogging E-Book.
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You now have your blog up and running and has activated the theme.
The next step is to set-up the required plugins.
What are the important types of plugin every blog should have?
- SEO Plugin (Recommended: Yoast SEO – Free & Premium)
- Page Builder Plugin (Recommended: Elementor – Free & Premium)
- Analytics Plugin (Recommended: Site Kit by Google)
Let’s look at these plugins in more detail. I’ll also explain why I recommended these plugins & why you should use them.
1. SEO Plugins (Recommended: Yoast SEO)
Why Yoast SEO: With more than 10 million active installations, Yoast SEO is one of the most popular SEO tools to install. From keyword optimization, readability analysis, and SEO analysis to post length, you will find a whole suite of features. I use this plugin for XML sitemap generation, SEO & readability analysis.
Pricing: Freemium. Yoast has both free and premium versions. The Premium version costs $99, including one year of free updates and support. But you will be able to access all the crucial features on the free version itself – and hence my recommendation.
2. Page Builder Plugin (Recommended: Elementor)
Why Elementor: In my opinion, Elementor is the most popular page builder plugin in the WordPress community. With more than 10 million active installations, you can design high-end web pages for free using Elementor.
I do use page builders for writing blog posts – I instead write content directly on WordPress Gutenberg panel. I use Elementor for designing standalone pages & landing pages only.
Pricing: Freemium. Elementor has both free and premium versions. The pro plan starts at $59 per year for 1 website. But the free version itself provides most of the features you’ll need & hence my recommendation.
3. Analytics Plugin (Recommended: Site Kit by Google)
Why Google Site Kit: With more than 4 million active installations, Site Kit is the official plugin by Google for WordPress. With Site Kit, you will be able to link to important Google properties and get detailed insights under a single umbrella. You will find four major insights under Site Kit:
- Google Analytics (overall website analysis including sources of traffic, pages, visitor details, etc.)
- Google AdSense (details on how much money you made, which pages contributed the most, etc.)
- Google Search Console (details on how your site is performing in Google search)
- Page Speed and Experience (how fast your website loads, user experience, etc.)
Pricing: Free. This plugin from Google is completely free to use and extremely useful – and hence my recommendation
What are the other types of plugins available?
As I mentioned, each functionality usually requires a separate plugin. Which means there are:
- Spam protection plugins like Akismet
- Performance improvement & caching plugins like WP Super Cache
- Contact form & list building plugins like Contact Forms by WPForms
- Data backup plugins like UpdraftPlus
- Social sharing plugins like Sassy Social Share
- Multi-purpose plugins like Jetpack
- and many more for individual functionalities
Whether you want to set up a store, an online course section, a donation feature – every feature calls for a separate plugin which brings that functionality. And the best part about WordPress is that you’ll find a plugin for almost everything!
Limit the Number of Plugins you Use to Improve Performance
One common mistake I see beginner bloggers make is that they download a plugin for anything and everything. This is wrong.
Why?
Because more the number of plugins, slower your website gets. Plugins add a lot of code to your site & starts reducing the page load speed. Because more the features that you have to show to visitors, the more time it takes.
That’s why the best practice is to limit the number of plugins as low as possible.
Use a plugin only if you really need it.
And you must never use two plugins for the same functionality.
For example, if you objective is tracking performance, use either Google Site Kit or Monster Insights. Using both is redundant & will hurt your site. But many people actually do use multiple plugins for the same functionality. Anti-spam plugins are another thing – people use Akismet & multiple other spam plugins together.
Another category is performance plugins. We download 3-4 performance plugins assuming it will improve things. Whereas what ends up happening is the opposite – it diminishes performance.
Have 1 plugin for each of the essential functionality you need.
Where can I find WordPress plugins?
You can visit the WordPress plugin directory – https://wordpress.org/plugins/ where you will find 59,000+ plugins listed.
CodeCanyon is the biggest plugin and code marketplace (by Envato) where you can discover & purchase 5,000+ WordPress plugins.
How to Install And Activate a WordPress Plugin?
Follow the below steps to install a WordPress plugin.
- In the WordPress navigation panel on the left side, click on “Plugins“.
- From the drop-down choices, open the “Add New” option.
There are two methods to install a plugin.
- The first option is to upload a third-party plugin as a zip file
- The second option is to install a plugin directly from the WordPress Plugin Directory.
If you purchase premium plugins from platforms like CodeCanyon, you will receive the plugin as a zip file. This plugin can then be uploaded to WordPress using the first method to unlock its functionalities.
Let us now see each of these methods in a bit more detail.
Option 1: Install Plugin Using Third-Party Zip File Upload
In order to install a third-party WordPress plugin:
- Click on the “Upload Plugin” option at the top of the WordPress dashboard.
- Click on “Choose File“.And select the zip file of your plugin.
- Click on “Install Now“
Your new plugin will now be installed. You will have to activate the plugin in order to access its functionality.
To activate the uploaded plugin,
- Visit the “Appearance” section in the left-side WordPress navigation panel.
- Click on “Plugins“
You will now see the list of plugins that you have installed.
- Click on the “Activate” button to activate your plugin.
With that, the new plugin will be activated on your blog.
Option 2: Install New Plugins From The WordPress Plugin Repository
The second option is to install and activate plugins directly present on the WordPress plugin directory.
In order to do that:
- Type the name or keyword of your preferred plugin on the “Search plugins” search panel
You will find the plugin, if present, in the search results.
- Click on the “Install Now” button
This will install your plugin. The next step is to activate the installed plugin.
Just after clicking on the “Install” button, you will find an “Activate” button in its place.
- Click on the “Activate” button.
The plugin will now be activated and you will be able to access its functionality and edit settings in the “Installed Plugins” section under the “Plugins” option in the left-side WordPress navigation panel.
And with that, you now have a well-designed and functional blog ready.
I hope this guide was useful to you in choosing the blog plugins. If you feel there is something I missed out, any doubts, suggestions or recommendations you have – please let me know in comments section below. I promise you I’ll try to incorporate all genuine feedback to make this guide even better. Please don’t limit to just feedbacks, let me know your views & thoughts on this topic!
And if you liked the guide & found the content helpful – kindly share it with your friends, with someone you feel will benefit from it. Also, please feel free to bookmark the guide or pin it so that you can access it anytime!
So, take your time & install the plugins you have finalized. Once you have the plugins installed & activated, the next step is to make the necessary SEO settings in WordPress Admin dashboard.
Let’s continue!