10 WordPress Plugins to Up the Ante on Your SEO

WordPress is one of the most popular website and blog-building platforms in the world. Companies like Disney, The New Yorker, Sony, and BBC America even use it. 

Its popularity is well-founded, too: you have full control over a site’s theme, content, design, and everything’s already mobile-friendly. One of the best parts? You don’t have to be tech savvy to create and maintain a WP site.

While SEO-friendly templates are a given on WordPress, it offers users even more ammo to increase online visibility: SEO plugins. Take a look at the following 10 best WordPress plugins for better SEO, email, and social media marketing efforts.

1. Yoast SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a key factor in organically reaching potential consumers. One of the biggest reasons SEO isn’t incorporated into marketing efforts boils down to how complicated in can be. 

Luckily, Yoast’s plugin simplifies SEO implementation. If you have a blog and need some guidance, Yoast shows you how optimize your content in realtime with on-page guides and suggestions.

Price: Free (paid version available with additional features)

2. JetPack

Jetpack offers enhanced security, site performance improvements, and other tools to help you optimize your features and content for better user experience. It also offers a mobile theme option as an alternative to your theme’s mobile version.

Price: Free (paid version available with additional features)

3. W3 Total Cache

Slow load times are a major cause of high bounce rates on any website. W3 Total Cache can save the day, as it’s a great plugin for reducing your page load times. It may seem like a lot of work to empty your cache when adding or updating plugins, but this plugin can improve your overall site speed by 10x.

Price: Free

4. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a reliable plugin specifically designed for eCommerce websites. Marketers can use the WooCommerce plugin to add a product for sale, but link it to a completely different website (like a Shopify site). You have all the functionality of an eCommerce store, minus the hassle of collecting payments, shipping, returns, etc.

If you are using a theme, be sure to choose one that already has pre-made layouts and integrations with WooCommerce. Theme Forest, Elegant Themes, and WooThemes are all equipped for smooth WooCommerce functionalities.

Price: Free

5. Smartcrawl

It can be hard creating phenomenal content. But once you have it, you want to make sure your audience sees it. SmartCrawl gives your content that extra boost it needs for increased visibility on search engines.

With the setup wizard you can be up and running in just a few minutes.

Price: 14-Day Free Trial

6. OptinMonster

Any good marketing funnel should collect as many email addresses as possible. Gaining access to an email address means you have 24/7 access to that reader.

Research shows that–while annoying–pop-up lead forms work. OptinMonster is the number one lead gen plugin for WordPress. It does come with a price tag; however, it’s well worth the expense. 

*For the purpose of convenience, CSS knowledge is recommended for changing the style of the pop-up form.

Price: $49

7. Ninja Forms

Whether you go with a pop-up contact form or go a different route, it’s still crucial that you have a form somewhere on your site. Forms are one of the best ways to engage with your audience—not to mention an opportunity for prospective customers to communicate with you about transactions (or whatever it is they need).

Ninja Forms offers a clean interface, customization options, and there’s no limit on the number of forms you can implement throughout your site. 

Price: Free

8. Simple Share

Simple Share is a quick way to allow website viewers to share your content on social media. The plugin is lightweight and has a clean design. For a more advanced tool, you can try Easy Social Share. Easy Social Share costs $14, but comes with some awesome integrations with Google Analytics and WooCommerce.

Price: Free

9. “Pin It” Button Pro

Pinterest is a winning platform for visual brands. Marketers can benefit from “Pin It” Button Pro because it allows for a “Pin” button directly on top of images. This allows people to share directly to Pinterest.

Price: $29

10. Broken Link Checker

404 errors and broken links are annoying. They’re also really bad for SEO. With this plugin you can monitor links on your pages, blog posts, comments, and more. Once a broken link is identified you can edit the link directly from the Broken Link Checker plugin.

Price: Free trial

You’ve reached the end! Do you use any SEO plugins that didn’t make the list? Make sure to let us know! While you’re at it, reach out to us to see how we can help boost your online visibility and increase your revenue.