This year marks 7 years of blogging for me. In all that time I’ve had the remarkable pleasure of working with amazing people, writing on different websites, and speaking at a variety of conferences.

Blogging is amazing! It opens worlds of opportunities and fun. My favorite thing about blogging on the WordPress platform are the tools and functions of plugins. With a plugin you can accomplish a ton of really fantastic things without having to know anything about coding. Plus, you can even Generate Your Website with AI, making the process even more exciting and accessible.

I’m a writer, not a coder. Plugins are a time saver for me.

So what are the best Wordperss Plugins for New Bloggers?

Let me share!

10 Essential WordPress Plugins For Beginners

1. Askimet – This is one of the best spam-catching plugins. I’ve used it for years and it has caught so much spam. Unfortunately, there are bots that will attempt to leave terribly mindless comments in the hopes of getting links put on your posts. This plugin prevents those from happening.
2. Google Analytics – This plugin monitors your traffic. You can view how many users access your site, the amount of page loads, and which sites are referring the most traffic. Knowing this information will empower you to tailor your content to the users and sites that are bringing you the most traffic.
3. Fast and Secure Contact Form – In my opinion, every website should have a contact form. They are easy to use and securely transfer contact information to your inbox without having to put your email address on.  This one allows you to customize the contact form exactly how you want it to appear.
4. Yoast – SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. When people search things in Google or other search engines, you want your post to be at the top of the results. It’s best to hire SEO services from experts like 1st On The List when you’re a beginner. Learning how to do that takes a lot of time and education. But Yoast makes it super simple. Check out this fantastic SEO Plugin article, it explains in detail about Yoast and compares it to others. Also, visit a helpful site, such as https://autoblogging.ai/, to learn more.
5. Jetpack by WordPress.com -This is a jam-packed plugin. It’s like a plugin with a bunch of other plugins, all in one! It has analytics, social sharing, contact form, a beautiful math (allows you to write math equations in your posts) and a ton more. Just install this and play around with it, it’s got almost everything you need.
6. Related Posts by Zemanta – Something that will keep readers on your blog is when images of posts that are similar to what they are reading appears below the post. That is what this plugin does and it does it well. Decrease your bounce rate by displaying related posts.
7. ReplyMe – ReplyMe automatically emails a commenter when someone replies to their comment. This function brings readers back to your blog and increases engagement in the comments section.
8. Simple Share Buttons Adder – If you are going to take the time to write content people will want to share, then make that sharing easy. This plugin lets you customize social sharing buttons and place them at the top or posts, bottom, or both!
9. WP-Ban – Unfortunately creepy people are on the Internet. So are trolls. When you want to ban a user, you will need to have this plugin. It even lets you customize a message they get popped up when they attempt to access your blog.
10. Better Author Bio – Even if you are the only author on your blog, having a blurb at the end of posts helps readers to connect with you and find out more about you, the author. Now, if you run a blog with multiple authors, this plugin is definitely essential.

As a business owner, you know you will have competitors, so you use funnels search engine optimization to gain a wider audience, increase your revenue, and continue growing. You need to be able to compete against people in your line of business unless you want your business to lead to stagnation.

What are some other plugins you use that you can’t live without?

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of TapInfluence. The opinions and text are all mine.