10 Must Have WordPress Plugins for 2018

This article was updated on August 6th, 2020 at 05:57 am

So, you have a WordPress site that you have put in a lot of effort designing, updating and optimizing. Well, you’re not alone, given that almost 16 million websites have been created on WordPress as of 2017. Not just that, Google recorded 37 million global searches for WordPress per month, as of 2016.

This free, open-source content management system (CMS) with 59.4% market share, is probably the most powerful and easiest blogging platform available today. And, what adds to its usefulness are the 10,000+ plugins that help users add various functionalities to their websites, such as SEO, photos slideshows, social media sharing, and much more, without the need for any programming or even tech knowhow.

Ready to give your website some awesome functionalities? Here are 10 plugins that will help you create a strong online presence.

10 WordPress Plugins You Should Have in 2018

Let me start with the 4 latest plugins that will add the newest functionality to your WordPress website.

1. Two Factor Authentication

In general, Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a two-step verification, which is a security process in which the user is required to provide two authentication factors to verify they are who they say they are. The benefit of such authentication is that it protects your website from unauthorized access, which provides an extra layer of protection to protect your account against hackers. After Facebook and Google, WordPress is now giving its users the ability to add two-factor authentication to improve security. Two-factor authentication is open source software that can be set-up in two ways on WordPress, via SMS verification and through Google Authentication apps. After installing this software, you’ll be able to log in to a WordPress site using your smartphone.

2. Application Passwords

A spin-off of the main Two-Factor Authentication plugin, Application Passwords allows authentication of a user without the need for the user’s password. This can be accomplished by using a base64 encoded string of the username and a new application password.

3. Customizer UI Experiments

Developed by the Customizer team, customer UI experiments is a Word Press core feature-plugin. The role of this plugin is to have the small user-oriented features tested and changes proposed in core track tickets. The user is allowed to add, modify and remove components.

4. Gravity Forms + Strout Invoices

Do you know what sprout invoices are? These are invoices that allow businesses to reduce the time spent on fielding project requests, estimating projects, invoicing clients and getting paid. Using the Gravity Forms + Sprout Invoices plugin, you can easily create dynamic invoices and estimates based on the prospective client’s form selections, says WordPress. Saving a lot of your time and energy, this plugin can be a useful choice for business.

Now, let’s look at the most popular WordPress plugins that can save those dollars businesses and developers would have otherwise invested to create an appealing and seamless website.

5. Jetpack

A highly popular WordPress plugin created by Automattic, the same people who created WordPress.com, Jetpack offers users a plethora of out-of-the-box features that greatly improve WordPress powered blogs and websites. The plugin not only secures your site, it can help increase traffic and engage your readers, ensuring minimum bounce rate. The plugin also provides features like automatic sharing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, Tumblr and WhatsApp, video hosting, site monetization, advanced security and backup services, priority support, and more.

6. Contact Form 7

Want to add free customized contact forms to your website to enable conversation with users and potential customers? Contact Form 7, the most popular free contact form plugin for WordPress is what you need. According to Webhostinghub.com, adding a contact form that is a series of questions that a visitor can answer, allows businesses to receive general feedback from users about their website, as well as service requests. The popularity of this plugin is such that it is one of the most downloaded WordPress plugins of all time.

7. Wordfence Security

We are living in times where the risk of online crime has surpassed that of real-life crime. It therefore becomes necessary to learn how to protect yourself and your website from online threats, especially when it is a source of income for you. According to KSN data, Kaspersky Lab Solutions detected and repelled 277,646,376 malicious attacks from online resources located across 185 countries all over the world in Q3 2017. Scared? Don’t be. You can protect your WordPress website from a wide range of online threats by installing an all-in-one plugin, Wordfence Security, which recognizes and blocks the latest security threats and constantly monitors your website.

8. UpdraftPlus

No doubt, having a website backup is a perennial requirement, which every website owner should invest in to prevent disaster. Having a backup keeps your data safe from hacking, computer catastrophes, viruses, Trojan horses and other malware, as well as damage due to employee error, says an article by HostGator. Ranked the world’s most popular scheduled backup plugin, having managed more than a million currently-active installations, UpdraftPlus has simplified backup and restoration by quickly creating the backup to a variety of different storage options, including email, Google Drive and Dropbox, and downloading it to your computer instead of sending it off to long-term cloud storage.

9. NextGEN Gallery

A plugin that continues to receive over 1.5 million new downloads per year, NextGEN Gallery is a plugin that offers website owners and developers a modern way to display their images. After the success of NextGEN Gallery, its premium versions, NextGEN Plus and NextGEN Pro, have been launched, allowing users to add new photo gallery displays, ecommerce, light boxes, proofing, and pro support for websites.

10. Migrate Guru

A plugin that runs on external BlogVault servers, Migrate Guru is a smooth and reliable way to move your Word Press site or WordPress multisite network to a different WordPress hosting, without the need of any manual work, add-ons or added tools. Even sites as heavy as 200GB can get easily transferred using this plugin.

Having a website is only half the battle. Being able to run it seamlessly, giving users a satisfying browsing experience, and being able to protect it against malicious elements is a constant effort. The good thing is that WordPress knows this and offers simple ways to achieve all of it.