You’ve started your own blog to showcase your knowledge and build your online brand awareness, now what? The adage of build it and they will come doesn’t apply to the online world where there are billions of websites for people to surf. By ensuring that your blog is as efficient and socially friendly as possible, you can increase traffic and build your online audience. Just remember that content will always be king!
One of the best content management systems for blogging is WordPress, and thankfully it comes with tonnes of great plugins to help you get your site noticed.
Following are 7 WordPress plugins that I’ve used on blogs and websites that will power your site in the search engines and the social world.
Flexo Facebook Manager
This plugin allows you to integrate Facebook into your website. The plugin supports the following: Like Box; Comments Area; and Different Options for Personalization among others. It allows your visitors not only to read your materials but also share it on Facebook and use their Facebook accounts through your site! Created: flexo studio
Google Plus Widget
Google Plus is one of the newest social media platforms out there that’s quickly gaining in popularity (thanks to being part of the Google world), and it also offers a great opportunity for website traffic. An easy-to-use plugin which allows you to add your Google + profile badge along with an optional Google + button anywhere on your site. Created by: osp_wpfx
Digg Digg
Digg Digg displays all the popular social sharing buttons (such as Twitter, Digg, Google+, Delicious, Pinterest and Stumbleupon) with up-to-date counts on your website or blog. It’s customizable so that you can have a floating bar or pin the buttons on the top or bottom of your posts. And it’s a lazy loading plugin, meaning that your website will load before the plugin which increases website performance. Created by Buffer App
W3 Total Cache
A slow loading site equates to lost traffic. Nobody wants to wait for a site to download and research shows that 25% of users will abandon your site for another after 4 seconds of wait time. W3 Total Cache speeds up your blog’s loading time by caching every part of your site. By increasing the loading time of your blog by ten times (according to their website), your visitors will be happy and won’t surf off to another blog. Created by Frederick Townes
Pinterest Pinboard Widget
If you’re a Pinterest addict (admit it, it is slightly addictive) this widget is for you. The Pinterest Pinboard Widget will use the original Pinterest thumbnails from your account to add a mini pinboard on your blog. Created by: codefish
WordPress SEO by Yoast
With blog traffic now being monitored more closely by Google’s most recent Panda update, you need to ensure that your blog is taking full advantage of its SEO power. WordPress SEO Plugin by Yoast makes it easy by suggesting focus keywords and great SEO titles by analyzing your content (which is always SEO king). It also gives great reminders about keywords, character length and forgotten tags. Created by Joost de Valk
Counterize
Knowing who your users are is important in knowing who you’re targeting and if you need to tweak your online strategy. Counterize is a very powerful analytics plugin that will give you detailed reports on your blog’s traffic. It loads right into your dashboard and gives you great insight such as how many unique visitors you have, how are they getting to your site and what do they do when they get there plus many more. Created by Gab Software.
There are 18,967 WordPress plugins available on WordPress.org (as of this writing) which offers you many different options and opportunities for your blog or website. While the seven plugins may not work for your needs, check out the site and find something that will. Just make sure to read the reviews and do a trial run with it before letting the public experience it.