5 Of The Best WordPress Plugins For Your Blog

Hey, blogger! If you’re like me, you love finding the best WordPress plugins to add to your toolkit.

Whether it’s a plugin that makes your website faster or one that helps you manage your content better, there’s nothing quite like finding the perfect plugin to get the job done. Am I right or am I right?

I’m going to share with you my favorite picks for 5 of the best WordPress plugins that are FREE and that I personally use and love. So whether you’re just starting out with WordPress or you’ve been using it for years, check out these plugins and see how they can help make your website work better for you.

Let’s dive in!

First, What Is A WordPress Plugin?

Feel free to skip this part if you already know what a WordPress plugin is, but if you don’t here is the low down…

Think of a WordPress plugin as a piece of software that “plugs into” your WordPress site.

Plugins may add new functionality or extend existing functionality on your site, allowing you to create virtually any kind of website, from e-commerce stores to portfolios to directory sites.

Basically, your blog is your oyster when it comes to plugins. 🙂

Some common features that plugins provide include:

• Adding custom fields, post types, menus, and widgets
• Automating tasks like backups and security scans
• Enhancing the search engine optimization (SEO) of your site
• Integrating with social media networks

To install a plugin, you simply need to download it from the WordPress Plugin Directory.

To find this directory, scroll down your user “Dashboard” to “Plugins”. From there, select “Add New” to find and add a plugin.

Now that you know what a WordPress plugin is, let’s dive into the “meat and potatoes” of this post.

5 Of The Best WordPress Plugins To Use

For me, the plugins I’m about ready to share make blogging life easier, keep things organized, and create a better user experience for readers.

Without further ado, here are 5 of the best WordPress plugins to add to your toolkit.

Kiwi Social Sharing Plugin

What It Is

Kiwi is a social media sharing plugin that allows you to share your content on popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. The plugin also includes a built-in icon library with custom icons for each social media platform.

Why I Use It

I downloaded and deleted several social sharing plugins before finding Kiwi. I gravitated towards this plugin because of its ease of use AND for the variety of things you can link to for FREE to share your content.

It pretty much has all the popular social media platforms other than Instagram and TikTok as you can see in the screenshot below.

Link Whisper

What It Is

Link Whisper is a plugin that helps you add internal links to your articles. It’s powered by AI (artificial intelligence), so it can suggest links based on the content you’re writing.

This can be really helpful for keeping your site organized and for providing readers with more information about related topics.

Why I Use It

I heard about this plugin from blogging expert, Miles Beckler, on YouTube. He talked about how Link Whisper is super helpful if you have A LOT of content. It takes the “guesswork” out of what internal links to add to your post. More importantly, it’s a time saver (which is why I love it).

Thanks Miles!

LuckyWP Table of Contents

What It Is

Have you ever read a blog post and scrolled to the “meat and potatoes” to save time? That’s the glorious thing about having a table of contents.

The LuckyWP Table of Contents plugin creates an SEO-friendly experience for your posts, pages, or custom post types. It has a customizable appearance, so you can make it match the look and feel of your website.

Why I Use It

Having a table of contents is an added perk for your readers to easily find the information they need and it creates a better user experience. 🙂

The image below is an example of what one of my blog posts “Ultimate Guide On How To Add Links To WordPress” table of contents looks like.

PDF Embedder

What It Is

The PDF Embedder plugin is a nifty little plugin that allows you to embed PDF files directly into your posts and pages. It’s really simple to use, just add the PDF as you would any other image!

Plus, the plugin automatically resizes the PDF to its natural dimensions to make it look great on any device.

Why I Use It

PDFs are an amazing way to create more content and add more value to your readers. In my opinion, this little plugin is a win-win.

For instance, you can use PDFs to create thumbnails for social sharing OR to create a free resource library on your site. And THEN, you can have your readers sign up for your email list to access your free resource library. See where I’m going with this?

In a nutshell, PDFs are a great value add for your blog and audience!

Updraft Plus

What It Is

UpdraftPlus is a plugin to help save your website from server crashes, hacks, security flaws, bad plugin or theme updates, and insecure web hosts. It’s an essential plugin to have installed on your website in order to ensure that your website is safe and secure. Plus, you can schedule automatic backups of your website so you don’t have to worry about it.

Back up everything into the Cloud to your choice of Dropbox, Google Drive, Openstack Swift, Email, and more. The paid version allows you to back up your data to more platforms like Microsoft OneDrive, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Storage, Backblaze B2, SFTP, SCP, and WebDAV.

Why I Use It

Fingers crossed my site never crashes or gets hacked, but if it does, I have peace of mind knowing this plugin is installed!

To Wrap It Up

So there you have it! My top 5 favorite WordPress plugins, all of which are free and easy to use.

• Kiwi Social Sharing
• Link Whisper
• LuckyWP Table of Contents
• PDF Embedder
• UpdraftPlus

Whether you’re just starting out with WordPress or you’ve been using it for years, I hope you’ll check out at least one of these plugins to see how it can help make your website work better for you.

Until the next post, wishing you much blogging success!

xo

Lindsey

Thank You

Thank you for being here today!

What are some of the best WordPress plugins you’ve used? Let me know in the comments below.

Was this post helpful? If so, I’d love your support by sharing it. 🙂

About The Author

Linds is the proud mom of two little miracles, Mono Mono twin girls, and one AMAZING older brother! She is the founder and content creator of Mono Mono Twins, Intensive Therapy for Kids, and Co-Founder of The LENN Foundation (a 510c3 that helps children with cerebral palsy receive grants for intensive therapies to thrive). ♥

Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. I only recommend deals or items I love because you might like them too! With my affiliate relationships, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks so much for supporting Mono Mono Twins!