Turbocharge Your WordPress: 15 Must-Have Free Plugins for 2024

WordPress is a highly successful CMS that has transformed the world of web development through flexibility, scalability, and simple website building. Plugins are the essence of WordPress – there are thousands of them available, which can add virtually any necessary feature to your website. Thus, for 2024, several plugins are worthy of note with respect to effectiveness, functionality, and demand. Here is the list of the 15 most useful WordPress plugins that you should consider installing and using for your site.

Yoast SEO

Overview

Yoast SEO is one of the most recommended plugins for use in WordPress sites due to its extensive usage in this platform. It provides various tools and all of these are aimed to enhance the search engine ranking of your website. It is recommended for users with various levels of experience because of the simplicity of its interface and the effectiveness of its functions.

Why Choose It

Yoast SEO is easy to use and one of the most popular among SEO plugins. It assists with SEO by enabling the writer to make changes to the content in real time. Some of the tools available in the plugin are keyword optimization, readability analysis, and meta description. Through the help of Yoast SEO, you can be guaranteed that your content is both SEO optimized and makes sense to humans. For SEO-related help, you can get in touch with us at MHAFs.

Function

Yoast SEO provides several key functions:

• SEO Analysis: It rates your content based on other SEO aspects such as keywords, meta tags, and interlinking..
• Meta Tags Management: You can use it to edit title tags and meta descriptions since these are important for SEO purposes.
• Sitemap Generation: Yoast automatically creates XML sitemaps to help search engines navigate through your site effectively.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
3. Search for “Yoast SEO” in the search bar.
4. Click “Install Now” and then “Activate” once the installation is complete.
5. Configure the plugin using the setup wizard that appears upon activation.

Elementor

Overview

Elementor is a revolutionary element-based page builder for WordPress that will enable you to design beautiful and unique pages without coding. WP’s best-known features include an easy-to-navigate interface and a wide range of tools for designing websites’ appearance.

Why Choose It

It is possible to design your own layouts, include a number of designs, and make the changes you need while creating your pages. Its widgets and templates also provide a wide array of choices that users can easily include and arrange to come up with neatly built pages even without resorting to expert assistance.

Function

Elementor offers the following key functionalities:

• Drag-and-Drop Editor: Easily manipulate and rearrange objects on your page without having to write code.
• Pre-Designed Templates: View a gallery featuring professionally created templates for use in establishing pages within a website.
• Responsive Design Controls: Make sure that your pages look good on all devices and have integrated settings for responsive design.
• Advanced Widgets: Utilize widgets like sliders, testimonials, and social icons to enhance your page functionality.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
3. Type in “Elementor” in the search bar.
4. After installation, click ‘Install Now’ and then select ‘Activate’.
5. Begin building pages from the Pages > Add New menu and use the Elementor editor to make changes.

WooCommerce

Overview

WooCommerce is a powerful e-commerce plugin that converts your WordPress site into an online store. It offers numerous tools to manipulate products, control the payment process, and track orders, so it is the best fit for WooCommerce based WordPress stores.

Why Choose It

WooCommerce is preferred for its versatility and compatibility with large businesses. Whether you are running a local small shop or a huge online shop, WooCommerce has the solution for you. One of its core strengths is flexibility, an abundance of extensions, compatibility with numerous payment systems and shipping companies.

Function

WooCommerce includes the following key features:

• Product Management: Intuitive and flexible to infinity for product organizing and changes options for several groups of products (physical, /digital, variable).
• Order Management: Track and manage orders from your WordPress dashboard.
• Payment Gateways: Acceptance of different credit cards, PayPal, and bank wire transfer options.
• Shipping Options: Set up your shipping methods and rates according to the needs of your business.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Open up a web browser and go to Plugins > Add New.
3. Type in the word “WooCommerce” in the search bar.
4. After that, you have to click “Install Now” and then “Activate” after installation is complete.
5. Follow the setup wizard to configure your store settings.

WP Rocket

Overview

WP Rocket is a premium caching plugin that has been developed specifically for WordPress to enhance the speed of the website. In this way, there are employed various caching methods, which contribute to optimization of the page loading time and improving the result of its showing for the user.

Why Choose It

They are WP Rocket which is easy to install and very effective. unlike other caching plugins, it does not need any setup and starts working right from the moment of activation. Some of the features are page caching, database optimization, lazy loading which enhances the overall page load speed.

Function

WP Rocket offers several important functions:

• Page Caching: Develop copies of your pages to serve the visitor and enhance the delivery time.
• Cache Preloading: Automatically generates the cache for your pages before a visitor accesses them.
• File Optimization: Minifies and combines CSS and JavaScript files to reduce their size.
• Lazy Loading: Stalls the loading of the images and videos that may take time before the actual user gets a glimpse of them.

How to Install It

1. Buy the WP Rocket plugin directly from the official website.
2. To do this, log in to your WP Rocket account and download the plugin zip file.
3. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
4. Go to plugins > click on installed plugins > click on add new > click on upload plugin.
5. Click “Choose File” to open the zip file and then install it by clicking “Install Now” and then “Activate.”
6. Settings of WP Rocket can be adjusted in Settings > WP Rocket.

Jetpack

Overview

Jetpack is a very useful plugin that was created by Automattic, the same company that is behind WordPress. It offers an array of tools that help boost the performance and security of your WordPress website.

Why Choose It

Jetpack is a set of essential WordPress features that are bundled within one plugin. And it provides all the enhancements to security, performance, and a site management tool. It is popular with WordPress users due to its simplicity and the fact that it can be used for numerous functions.

Function

Jetpack includes the following key features:

• Site Security: It offers security against external attacks such as using force and the damaging of malware attacks.
• Performance Optimization: Includes tools for image optimization and content delivery through a global Content Delivery Network (CDN).
• Traffic Insights: Provides analysis and site flow information for tracking the audience’s actions.
• Social Media Integration: Enables you to share your content on social media platforms without much struggle.

How to Install It

1. Go to your WordPress site and sign into your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins on your WordPress dashboard and click on Add New.
3. Type in the name “Jetpack” in the search bar.
4. Click “Install Now” and then “Activate” after installation.
5. Link Jetpack to your WordPress. com account and then setting up its other parameters.

WPForms

Overview

WPForms is a powerful form-building plugin for WordPress that enables you to generate different types of forms for your site. No matter if you require contact forms, surveys, or registration forms, WPForms makes it easy with a drag-and-drop page builder.

Why Choose It

WPForms is praised for its simplicity and ease of use. It provides a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to create forms without any coding knowledge. Its pre-built templates and customization options make it easy to create forms that meet your specific needs.

Function

WPForms provides several key features:

• Drag-and-Drop Builder: Edit forms and convert them to fillable fields within a few minutes without having to program anything.
• Pre-Built Templates: Start quickly with templates for contact forms, surveys, and other types of forms.
• Spam Protection: Interacts with anti-spam programs to eradicate prolific occurrences.
• Form Management: Easily manage and view form submissions from the WordPress dashboard.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Go to Plugins on the WordPress toolbar and click on the Install new option.
3. Type in “WPForms” in the search box.
4. The user can install this launcher by clicking “install now” and after installation, there will be button to click and activate.
5. WP forms can be created and edited under WPForms > Add New.

All-in-One SEO Pack

Overview

All in One SEO Pack is a complete SEO plugin for WordPress that can be used to enhance the visibility of a site in the search engines. It offers a set of options and features that helps raise the rank of the website in the search engines and its functionality.

Why Choose It

All in One SEO Pack is again commonly used for its simplicity and features with regard to SEO optimization. This tool is perfect, especially for users who seek simple means to handle SEO issues without the necessity to comprehend some complicated strategies. These are XML sitemaps, social network integration, and SEO settings.

Function

All in One SEO Pack offers the following key functionalities:

• XML Sitemaps: It automatically creates sitemaps to aid search engines in indexing your site.
• Meta Tags Optimization: This enables setting up unique meta titles and descriptions for every page as well as for every post.
• Social Media Integration: Provides settings for optimizing content sharing on social media platforms.
• SEO Analysis: Includes tools for assessing and improving your SEO performance.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Then click Plugins and choose Add New.
3. Type in “All in One SEO Pack” in the search bar.
4. After its installation, tap on ‘Install Now’ and then on ‘Activate’.
5. Set All in One SEO > General Settings options.

Akismet

Overview

Akismet is an effective anti-spam plugin, designed by Automattic to protect your WordPress website from spam comments and contact forms. It employs a global database to scan and eliminate spam messages and e-mails quickly.

ensuring your site remains clean and user-friendly.

Why Choose It

It is well-known that Akismet is one of the most effective anti-spam solutions. It scans all the comments and submissions with the help of its global database and provides fully controlled spam-free comments and submissions. This aids in keeping the quality of user interactions on your site at high standards.

Function

Akismet provides the following key features:

• Spam Filtering: Saves the time of having to manually scan through all comments and submissions.
• Comment Moderation: It also offers an interface for viewing and handling the identified comments.
• Integration: Works seamlessly with popular WordPress comment and contact form plugins.
• Analytics: Offers insights into spam activity and trends.

How to Install It

1. Navigate your browser to the WordPress login page and enter your login details.
2. On the WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins and click on Add New menu.
3. When inside the WordPress dashboard, type “Akismet” in the search bar.
4. After installation, click on the “Install Now” button and then click on the “Activate” button.
5. Obtain an API key from the Akismet website and enter it under Settings > Akismet Anti-Spam.

UpdraftPlus

Overview

UpdraftPlus is one of the most popular WordPress backup plugins that enable you to create and schedule backups of your site. What it offers is the ability to set up automated backup and guarantees that your data is safely stored and can be easily restored.

Why Choose It

UpdraftPlus is favored for its reliability and flexibility. It provides automatic or daily, weekly, or monthly backup capabilities and supports one-click restore and multiple location backup options that include; Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon S3. Its ease of use and versatility make it suitable for handling site backups from different sources.

Function

UpdraftPlus offers several important functions:

• Automated Backups: Specify the backups to be performed on a recurring basis to take place at the chosen time.
• Multiple Storage Options: Backup data to different remote storage services to enhance data security.
• Easy Restoration: Restore your site with a few clicks from a backup.
• Backup Encryption: Encryption can also be used when safeguarding backup files with the aim of boosting security.

How to Install It

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard by entering your correct username and password.
2. Plug-in management can be opened by going to Plugins, then Add New.
3. Search for “UpdraftPlus” in the search bar.
4. Press the ‘Install Now’ button and activate it after installation is complete.
5. Configure backup settings under Settings > UpdraftPlus Backups.

Smush

Overview

Smush is an image optimization plugin that aims to assist you in decreasing the size of the picture that is displayed in your post without the quality being affected. This aids in enhancing your site’s loading speed and, therefore, performance.

Why Choose It

Smush is most famous for its performance and ease of use in the context of image compression. It normalizes and resizes images on the fly as well as features one-click smush for multiple images at once. Two major advantages of this Scammer Website Speed test tool include its simplicity and additional options that enable site optimization.

Function

Smush provides several key features:

• Automatic Compression: Compress images automatically as they are uploaded.
• Bulk Smushing: Batch edit to optimize multiple images from the media library at the same time.
• Image Resizing: Crop images to decrease their size and resolution where necessary.
• Lazy Loading: Implement lazy loading to defer the loading of off-screen images.

How to Install It

1. Go to your WordPress site and then navigate to your Admin area by entering your login info.
2. Navigate to Plugins on the WordPress dashboard and click on Add New.
3. Search for “Smush” in the search bar.
4. Click “Install Now” and then “Activate” after installation.
5. Configure settings under Smush > Dashboard.

Contact Form 7

Overview

Contact Form 7 is one of the best and most versatile plugins that allows users to handle and develop contact forms for WordPress websites. It also lets you add contact forms where you can have numerous forms with different options to customize them.

Why Choose It

Contact Form 7 is popularly preferred by many users. It allows for different form fields and additional settings which makes it possible to develop simple contact forms as well as other forms. It is easy to use and can be extended through the addition of add-ons which makes it popular.

Function

Contact Form 7 provides several important functions:

• Custom Form Fields: Include various fields such as text fields, e-mail fields, and file fields.
• Form Customization: Modify the form using simple markup language and CSS.
• Spam Protection: An integration with Akismet and CAPTCHA is used to deter spam entries.
• Email Notifications: Configure email notifications to be sent when a form is submitted.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Go to the Plugins tab and click on Add New.
3. Type in the “Contact Form 7” in the search bar.
4. After that, you are required to click ‘Install Now’ and, subsequently, ‘Activate’ once the installation is complete.
5. Create and manage forms under Contact > Contact Forms.

Classic Editor

Overview

Classic Editor is a plugin that restores the old WordPress editor, which was replaced by the new Gutenberg block editor. It provides an option for the users who had preferred the earlier version of the editor to use the classic editor instead.

Why Choose It

Classic Editor is suitable for those who type in the old WordPress editor or for those who need to synchronize the work of the new editor with plugins and templates that may not be adapted for Gutenberg. It is a friendly user interface for creating content For and editing content.

Function

Classic Editor offers the following key features:

• Familiar Interface: Provides the traditional WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor for content creation.
• Full Compatibility: It is compatible with plugins and themes that support the classic editor.
• Editor Settings: Allows you to configure settings to use either the classic editor or Gutenberg editor as the default.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins on the WordPress dashboard and click on Add New.
3. Go to the Installation tab and type in “Classic Editor” in the search bar.
4. Click “Install Now” and then “Activate” after installation.
5. Configure settings under Settings > Writing.

Google Analytics Dashboard by MonsterInsights

Overview

Google Analytics Dashboard by MonsterInsights is a plugin that connects your WordPress site with Google Analytics so you can view your data in the WordPress admin area.

Why Choose It

MonsterInsights is most famed for its ease of use and wide range of analytics capabilities. This extension makes it easier to configure and monitor analytics from Google analytics without the need to navigate outside the scope of the wp-admin. As a tool, it has advanced features for tracking and integration, which makes this tool ideal for site owners who want to monitor the performance of their site.

Function

MonsterInsights provides several important functions:

• Google Analytics Integration: Allows linking your WordPress site to Google Analytics for tracking and reporting purposes.
• Real-Time Stats: View real-time data on your site’s traffic and user behavior.
• Enhanced E-commerce Tracking: It gives out daily, weekly, and monthly statistics on the e-commerce performance such as conversion rates and performance of products.
• Custom Reports: Build and explore targeted reports to review selected characteristics of your site’s performance.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. To do this, click on Plugins in the WordPress menu and then click on the Add New.
3. Type in “Google Analytics Dashboard by MonsterInsights” in the search box.
4. Click “Install Now” and then “Activate” after installation.
5. Connect your Google Analytics account and configure settings under Insights > Settings.

Broken Link Checker

Overview

Broken Link Checker is a plugin that helps you identify and fix broken links on your WordPress site. It scans your site for broken links and missing images, ensuring that your site remains error-free and user-friendly.

Why Choose It

A Broken Link Checker is very useful when it comes to ensuring that your contents are not corrupted by broken links. Malfunctioning links also affect the quality of experience customers get and this may affect the company’s or the website’s ranking in SEO. First of all, this plugin helps to find system errors such as broken links without much effort on your side.

Function

Broken Link Checker offers the following key features:

• Link Scanning: Automatically scans your site for broken links and missing images.
• Email Notifications: Alerts you when it finds any broken links.
• Link Management: Offers a control panel for addressing the problematic issue of broken links.
• Customizable Checks: Allows you to configure the frequency and type of link checks.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Install New.
3. Go to the search bar of the word press and type “Broken Link Checker”.
4. After installation, please click the icon then click “Install Now” and then “Activate”.
5. Settings must be set under Tools > Broken Links.

WP Mail SMTP

Overview

WP Mail SMTP is a plugin to make sure that your WordPress site emails are delivered by setting up the SMTP for outgoing mail. It assists in addressing delivery concerns and enhances the dependability of your email communication.

Why Choose It

WP Mail SMTP is important in ensuring that your site’s emails do not go directly into the spam folder of the recipient. It offers a convenient means of setting up, and possibly solving, any problem with the delivery of emails and their settings. It supports several SMTP providers and is easy to configure which makes it very popular.

Function

WP Mail SMTP provides the following key features:

• SMTP Configuration: Configure the associated SMTP settings to increase the chances of Email delivery.
• Email Testing: Check that the email functionality is working properly to make sure that the configuration is proper.
• Email Logging: Keep a log of sent emails to track delivery and troubleshoot issues.
• Compatibility: This is compatible with several SMTP services, including Gmail, SendGrid, and Mailgun.

How to Install It

1. Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
2. Navigate to Plugins > Add New.
3. Type WP Mail SMTP into the search bar.
4. After installation, click on ‘Install Now’ and then ‘Activate’.
5. Configure SMTP settings under WP Mail SMTP > Settings.

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Final Words

I hope that this list of the most popular WordPress plugins for 2024 will be helpful in improving your website. Every plugin concerns certain requirements, such as search engine optimization, design, security, or performance. Therefore choosing the right plugins really goes a long way for fueling up your website as well as making it more functional for the users. If you want any help with your WordPress website design, you can contact us.