WordPress is one of the most accessible and flexible website builders. WordPress has been a partner of multiple established websites on the web. Have you visited TechCrunch, Sony Music, BBC America, robots.net? Yes, that website is built using WordPress. How cool is that? The ability to use Free WordPress Plugins to your WordPress website is fantastic and has been a standard for other website builders as well.
Plugins add new features to your website and is a must-have if you plan on using WordPress. There are paid plugins, but you don’t have to use them yet. These top free WordPress Plugins we’ll talk about will jumpstart your website and get it going.
Best Free WordPress Plugins for Every WordPress Website (2022)
1.) Limit Login Attempts Reloaded
Limit Login Attempts Reloaded is a simple but very effective WordPress plugin. It lets you set a limit on how many times a user can access your backend site. If a user reaches the limit with the wrong details, he or she (or it) is immediately locked out from your website.
This is really useful to prevent unauthorized access to your website.
You might think that it’s unlikely that people are trying to access your site. But after installing this plugin, you’ll be shocked at how many people and even bots trying to gain access to your site.
Who knows, one day someone might really try to hack your website, and you’ll be glad you installed this plugin.
2.) WP Smush
Images are an essential aspect of building a beautiful website. They add more depth and professionalism that impresses visitors. The problem is, having high-quality images in your site is one of the key factors in slowing down your site. You don’t want that, because site speed has a direct impact on search rankings.
Good thing there’s a free plugin called WP Smush. This plugin lets you compile and compress your images to their lowest possible file size without losing their quality.
That way, you can still have stunning photos and a fast-loading site. Quite a win-win if you think about it.
3.) Yoast SEO
In case you’re not familiar, SEO or search engine optimization is basically the ranking up of your website on search engines. The higher your site or a page in your site in the rankings, the more visible your site will be.
Yoast SEO is a plugin that suggests edits to your text through colour-coded indicators. It is the go-to site when it comes to search engine optimization, with over 1 million users.
Through Yoast SEO, you can make sure that your content scores high in search engine ranks.
4- WooCommerce Table Rate Shipping Pro
This is a plugin that provides you with everything you need for a WooCommerce site with table rate shipping on it. With this plugin, setting shipping rules has become easier than it had ever been. So, if you are a WooCommerce store owner, this plugin is unavoidable for you.
By installing it, you have the following functionalities at your disposal:
- multiple shipping methods (e.g. Standard, Overnight, Express, Freight)
- custom shipping calculation based on weight
- option to change shipping method labels displayed to the customers based on the contents of the cart
- control over shipping fee according to the countries, states, or zip/postcode
- control over shipping fee based on the number of the items in the cart
- integration with WooCommerce shipping zones
- configuration of shipping rate based on the total cost
- hiding certain shipping methods based on the contents of the cart
- option to include or exclude tax
- option to add handling fees for each of the orders
One of the most important features, if not the most important, is the logged-in user rules feature that enables setting up shipping rules that can later be applied only to logged-in users. It is one of the ways to single out and reward loyal users.
5.) Beaver Builder
Most people get intimidated by building a website due to the programming knowledge required. Beaver Builder helps those who are new to website building to create a beautiful website without the hassle of coding.
Beaver Builder is a free and intuitive WordPress plugin that lets you drag and drop the content to your site.
You can place cells inside your website and within those cells, place images, text, and other media. Beaver Builder is a handy plugin, especially for beginners.
6.) WooCommerce
WooCommerce is an excellent plugin for business owners looking to sell products online. After installing this plugin, you’ll have the ability to design your own online store.
WooCommerce plugin comes with hundreds of extensions and apps that can further improve your store.
WooCommerce also comes with the ability to accept Paypal and credit card payments.
7.) Pretty Links
Sharing your links is one of the best ways to improve traffic to your website. But sometimes, the links on some of the pages on your site may not look good on social media and affiliate sites. This can significantly affect website visit count and traffic.
Pretty Links is another useful free plugin that lets you shorten your links and make them look, well, prettier!
Another good thing about Pretty Links is that it can also track how many users click your links. This feature is great and allows you to see whether your links are working or not.
Takeaway
There you have it — some of the Best Free WordPress Plugins you can use on the WordPress website. There are still literally hundreds of free plugins you can discover.
Go to wordpress.org and start exploring more plugins you can integrate on your site.
Hey Saurabh,
Pretty Links is a new thing that I learned from your article. I have been seeing that most links automatically getting converted to short URLs while sharing to social media and I wondered how. Now I understand.
Thank you,
Mudassir