Have you just set up a website powered by WordPress?

If so, you know that there are tons of plugins you can use to help improve your site. But where do you start? So many of the plugins do the same thing. It’s hard to tell which ones are worth your time.

Lucky for you, we did a round up of the must-have plugins for any WordPress site.

If you want your professional website to be successful, it needs to work well and look great. Read on to discover the best WordPress plugins 2017.

1. Askimet

It’s always fun to get an alert that there’s a new comment on your WordPress site. That is until you realize it’s just spam.

You can enable comment moderation to deal with it. If you have a site with a lot of traffic, sifting through spam comments takes up too much time.

That’s why Askimet makes our list of Best WordPress Plugins 2017. It was created by Automattic, the company that created WordPress.

Askimet automatically scans through all your comments. When they find one that seems like spam, they filter it out.

It’s not perfect, though. Sometimes it will miss a spam comment. Other times it labels a comment as spam when it’s not.

However, when you let it know that it’s made a mistake, Askimet will learn from it. Eventually, you’ll find fewer errors.

2. Yoast SEO

Having an SEO strategy is important for any WordPress site. The Yoast SEO plugin makes the whole process a lot easier.

Yoast will help you with your content, meta descriptions, keywords, and more.

Like to Grammarly, Yoast helps you with your writing. In real time it will tell you if you’re using the passive voice too often. It will also assess your content’s readability.

One way to lower your SEO ranking is by having duplicate URLs. You can set up Yoast to create unique URLs for you automatically. This is an especially helpful feature for eCommerce sites.

There is both a free and paid version of Yoast SEO. Obviously, the subscription plugin is more advanced. If you’re just getting started in SEO, the free version will still instantly improve your site significantly.

3. JetPack

You’ll find Jetpack on a lot of lists for the best WordPress plugins 2017. That’s because instead of needing many different plugins, Jetpack, another Automattic product, is a one-stop shop.

This plugin covers site stats, sharing, comments, appearance, security, and writing. It automatically creates XML sitemaps so search engines can find you more easily. It also protects your WordPress site from cyber attacks.

Jetpack contains over 30 modules to help you make your site a well-oiled machine.

4. WooCommerce

This is the most popular plugin for any eCommerce site. In fact, 30% of online stores use WooCommerce. And with good reason.

The free version of WooCommerce allows you to calculate shipping costs automatically. It also allows you to accept major credit cards, Paypal, and bank transfers.

You’ll be granted access to tons of WooCommer compatible extensions. This includes Google Analytics, PDF packing slips, and new product badges.

5. WP-Rocket

WP-Rocket keeps your site loading fast. This is great for improving your SEO ranking. The faster the site speed, the more user-friendly it becomes.

WP-Rocket starts at $39 a year. There are plenty of similar free plugins trying to help achieve the same thing. However, this plugin is worth the money.

It’s really easy to set up. Once you do, you’re done. WP-Rocket just goes to work for you and you can forget about site speed issues.

6. Google Analytics Dashboard for WP

This free plugin will allow you to see how many people are viewing your site and from where. Plus, you can track how long people stay on your page. That can help you analyze your SEO strategy.

Google Analytics Dashboard for WP will generate site reports for you. These reports will keep you up-to-date on the site’s performance, as well as individual pages.

7. BackUpWordpress

With internet hackers lurking behind every corner, you have to keep your site secure. Performing regular backups of your WordPress site is a must.

BackUpWordpress makes that easier for you. You can backup your site, files, and database on an automatic schedule that you decide on. If you’d like, you can have your backup files emailed to you.

Pricing starts at $29 for a one-year license.

8. Google XML Sitemaps

Tried everything to boost your SEO ranking and nothing’s helped? You might need to set up an XML sitemap.

This will make it easier for search engine bots to index your site. Once you activate the plugin, a sitemap will be created automatically.

The Google XML Sitemaps plugin is free. Plus, every time you publish something, it’ll alert search engine bots.

9. Broken Link Checker

If you’re trying to improve your SEO ranking, this is another helpful plugin. The name is self-explanatory. This plugin will check your site for broken links automatically.

The plugin will scan everything on your site, even comments containing broken links. It also searches for missing images. From there, the plugin will give you options for how you’d like to fix any broken link issues.

10. Wordfence Security

A password isn’t enough to keep your WordPress site safe. For peace of mind, try the Wordfence Security plugin.

First, it protects your site with a two-step authentication log-in process. It also enables a firewall to protect you from hackers.

If your site is currently under attack, Wordfence lets you monitor your traffic in real-time. That way you can see exactly what’s going on and make an informed plan on how to stop it.

Best WordPress Plugins 2017: The Takeaway

It’s important to do all you can to set up your site for success. These are the best WordPress Plugins 2017. Using these will improve your site, and in turn, boost your SEO ranking.

Looking for more help with your site’s Search Engine Optimization strategy? We can help manage that for you! Contact us for more information.