Best WordPress Plugins 2020

thank you so much for watching the press
Avenue YouTube channel my name is John
and today we're gonna talk about plugins
so I get this question probably once a
week and it's a great one and it's what
kind of plug-in do I use for this
what kind of plug-in do I use for that
what are the best plugins should I buy
this one should I not buy this one so
I've used an absolute ton of plugins
developing probably a thousand sites by
now for clients my own business and
helping other people with their
businesses so I've had a lot of
experience with quite a few plugins over
on our Facebook group we get this
question again this is where it comes in
about once a week I'll put the link in
the description below it's free to join
you can ask these questions all day long
some people or say some WordPress groups
now ban this question I love it I think
people need to know what people enjoy
using because there's a lot of junk out
there there's about 30,000 plugins in
the WordPress repo a lot or great some
are brand new no one's ever heard of
them and then others are just pure junk
so it is good to ask that question and
get a decent answer from somebody that
has experience either for myself or the
other almost 400 people that are in here
alright so let's get into it so what
I've done is I've created a new website
for digital entrepreneurs and it'll have
tutorials that aren't wordpress related
so they'll be youtuber related social
media etc so within that all I've done
is created a blank WordPress website and
I've installed my favorite plugins where
most of them are free and I'll keep this
video down to just the free ones and
maybe we'll do a paid one if you do want
to see that leave a comment below anyway
so this has just free plugins that I
install on every site I think they're
absolutely great and they cover an
absolute ton of ground so they work for
90% of the websites out there maybe even
a hundred percent depending on what
you're doing with that being said I
don't have like a ecommerce things
I don't have appointments stuff like
that that may be tailored to your
business but if you have any questions
do let me know so first things first
a kismat anti-spam plug-in this one
comes with WordPress so I didn't
necessarily install it you can get a
free API key and protect yourself from
spam essentially on your blog so it
looks like this right here you have to
have an API key for it to work where
this gets really confusing is you have
to be wordpress.com username and
password to get this API key there are
other ways to do this but I typically
use this one to block spam
next up on the list atomic blocks so
it's the gutenberg blocks collection if
i have head over to posts and i go to
add new will see the gutenberg editor
and then if you're wondering why it's
tan which i was earlier it's because of
the new 2020 theme so this is my title
i'll just say first plugins and then
this is where I start writing if I hit
plus I'm adding a block these are the
blocks that come with WordPress so I got
a paragraph an image this is just the
typical stuff now Gutenberg is great in
that it has all these options but if you
want to take it further
I recommend atomic blocks so let me
leave without saving it so that's what
this is here if I go to view it tells me
a little bit more about it they have a
new section block and a layout block now
all of this is coming down the pipeline
for Gutenberg but if you want it right
now
I do suggest atomic blocks so they have
a bunch of demos Accord is that
accordion block all the time so if you
want an accordion which is this right
here great for an FAQ great for adding
kind of longer form content into other
content or if people do want to see it
they can click and see it as Gutenberg
do this
no but atomic blocks does add it in so I
usually activate this
and then it shows it's actually really
beautiful kind of setting screen here
and it shows what blocks are available
they now do have a pro version but
actually just use the free one and we're
talking about free plugins so go back to
posts go to add new type this plug-in
and now when I go to the plus again I
have my most used and then I have an
atomic blocks section so if I click in
here it says a B or atomic blocks
testimonial block notice spacers buttons
drop cap there's that accordion so you
just click it here and it adds it in
I'll say let's say FAQ number 1
a man I'll say this is the aq one
section or description or whatever you
want so there's that and it's an
accordion and then I can go over here to
the settings and I can leave it open by
default or not change the title size and
add a class to see what this looks like
on the front end here it is here best
plug-in there's that arrow so it just
adds additional functionality that I
otherwise wouldn't get other want other
blocks that I like with an atomic blocks
are the testimonial block um these ones
don't have a preview which is too bad
call to action I do like that one the
grid I've used and the columns in this
one oh the layouts are the columns there
it is this one's great yes Gutenberg
does this I just don't think it doesn't
well and I've had issues with it
so now I just use this we'll do three
columns and there we go paragraph
paragraph paragraph other ones I've used
that's gonna film there we go um this
layouts one is new you can get these
really great looking layouts similar to
a page builder but without paying so if
we want a team members block I'll click
this and now we have here's our amazing
team Kyle Fran we got them all and it's
added a ton so yes could I lay this all
out of course I could do three columns a
picture a heading a paragraph and a
paragraph but this one it's all done for
me and over here I have a lot more
options that I would have in Guttenberg
so I want round pictures so whoops I'll
go over to here t-tom will make you
round background color you're the boss
you get to stand out text color so you
see how that works it's just a lot more
options without a ton of bloat and also
it's constantly being developed and
worked on so that's enough about Tomic
box if you want to know more about it
let me know in the comments I could do a
whole tutorial just on that
here's that layouts again so you can
have favourites so I really like team
members and it'll be under my favourites
sorry oh there's the sections do you
want a header
services team there's only a couple per
one but more and more coming out I have
this once excellent to contact us I
frame with the Google map and we preview
it
give it a moment as our FAQ there's our
team and there's our map fantastic
alright moving on the next plugin I
always install is a better search and
replace now this is just on the back end
and we have another tutorial on securing
your WordPress website and even a course
and we recommend this for securing your
WordPress website and how you do it as
we go to tools better search replace and
I search for and I've already done it on
this one I search for the HTTP version
of this link and I replace it with the
HTTPS I search the entire database and I
do a dry run so this is automatically
checked and it's the dry run so it
actually says 14 tables were searched
once L found that needs to be updated so
now I turn off dry run and I'm doing an
actual database change and it's super
fast as you can see and now it's updated
it so one link was insecure and now it's
secure other things you can use this for
is if you're changing names if you've
moved from a local host to a live host
hosted somewhere else you can change
those URLs in here it's really great
it's lean it's mean and it's very fast
they also have an upgrade to a pro
version so a lot of these if the basic
functionality doesn't work for you
upgrade to the pro version if you want
to back up an SQL file import and see a
more detailed report I've never used the
pro again I've only used the free one
and it's incredible next up custom post
type UI so this adds custom post types
similar to let's see atomic blocks right
here is shown as a custom post type
if you've used like the events calendar
stuff like that it'll say events that's
a custom post type so different plugins
are custom post types and how they work
this allows me to activate it and then
it allows me to create a new custom post
type
simply by filling out this form which is
long but it's really just what do you
want the items list to be called we'll
call it movies list
and then here are all the options and
then you hit add post type at the bottom
so typically what I do is I say video
tutorials and then I name I usually
don't change the default names I just
leave it as my videos all videos add new
video etc and then I hit save and then I
can save my video tutorials in there
again if you want more info on custom
post types let me know moving on plugins
disable comments if you're gonna blog
and you don't want comments you can turn
it off with this plug-in very easily now
you can go into settings and then
discussion and turn it off but this
wipes it out across the board and I
really like it so you simply click
activate and then says it's not
configured so we'll configure it and
then it says where do you want to turn
off comments so you can say just pages
and media or you can check them all or
you can just say everywhere so a disable
all comment related controls I'm gonna
leave it on for this site but that's
what it does and then it makes this
section here disappear so you don't have
to worry about comments again um which
is really great and then within your
posts it won't say comments on or off
either it just gets rid of it next up
plugins google analytics dashboard for
WP or the GAD WP by exact metrics this
allows you to connect to your Google
Analytics account and then set up the
front end and back end settings so I'll
go to tracking code here I can go to
advanced and I can turn on user opt-out
remarketing force SSL whatever I want
all in here which is actually really
great
I can exclude tracking for myself or any
other admins and it's very easy to set
up
not a lot of below so that's that one
back to plugins let see optinmonster's
not a free one it's a service
redirection redirection simply redirects
so some SEO plugins do this as well this
one is free I've been using it for years
now and it's really great if I go to
tools redirection how I would use this
is they have a whole new set up that I
haven't seen before
oh here we go basic setup monitor
permalink changes in WordPress posts and
pages so Yoast SEO does this as a part
of a premium part of their plug-in so
you pay to do it with yo CCO with this
one it's free what this means is if I
change a permalink so if I have on this
site right here John banca comm slash
Google Analytics and I change it to
Google Analytics tutorial 2019 this
monitors that that change has been made
and makes the redirect for me so if
someone saved the old link or if I
tweeted it out or if it's out there on
the interwebs then this redirects them
if they go to the old link which is
fantastic
keep a log I do store a log typically to
see all the redirects that are happening
on the site and then store IP redirects
and 404 errors I do turn this on as well
um it does say please note that if you
need to adhere to gdpr which i don't but
if you do I wouldn't turn this one on
here and then hit continue setup now
it's testing out the site it says it's
good wordfence doesn't like this plug-in
and then CloudFlare caching you do need
to clear the cache with your redirects
and I hit finish and it's done there we
go now how I add one is the source I
would put an old URL here and then I put
in new URL here and then it kind of
writes you through here what is actually
happening and then you can put them in
groups so
redirections can just be things that
you've redirected modified posts are the
ones that it's captured I sometimes add
one affiliate links I'll put in here but
I do have another plug-in for that and
then you can do all sorts of other stuff
and then you click add new
oh here's the gear opens it up even
further if you know all the error codes
and typically does move permanently but
if you wanted a temporary redirect or a
permanent redirect you can go look up
what these error codes mean
so that's redirections if you have any
questions let me know in the comments
below
moving down set sassy
social share say that three times fast I
want to attempt it if you need gdpr
compliancy you can talks about it here
you configure the plug-in that just
gives you the help guide but it puts it
over here on the left hand side and
allows you to set up like floating
buttons you only go to this one this is
sassy social right here this button bar
follows my posts all the way down also
if I go to a blog where it's set up you
can include it in your template so now
here I have it on the left and then this
is that as well so if I click Facebook
it allows me to share this post exactly
what I want to Facebook
close all right so that's sassy social
share there are ton ton of plugins that
do this I've gone from paid ones to free
ones and I actually really do like this
one and I've been using it quite a bit
lately again questions asked below SEO
press now there are two camps on this
SEO press or Yoast SEO those are the two
that I recommend 99% of the time
Yoast SEO walks you through the SEO
process by showing you a stoplight if
you see a big red stop circle you're
probably doing something wrong yellow
lets you know you're getting there and
green says hey you're doing a great job
with your SEO SEO press does a little
less hand-holding so you do need to know
a little bit about SEO and allows you to
really gear your site and configure it
the way you want to rank they're both
excellent plugins I've seen sites using
both of them depending on how you're
using it or who is using it so we do if
Yoast SEO on here as well and we do have
a video on configuring this but if you
go to settings right out of the gate it
has this wizard that says you can start
the wizard and has some things to fix it
also recommends Google my business page
this is fantastic if you want to rank
well locally or even in your country I
would create a Google my business page
so you go to google.com and type Google
my business and you sign up for a
listing I should probably do a video on
this because it's excellent it's a great
way to get leads and get people either
in the door or on your site so these
guys recommend it and they show you how
to do that
add your site to Google they recommend
that too and then of course they have a
paid upgrade which in my opinion is huge
I think it's 40 or 50 bucks I'll put a
link below and you get an apps for
unlimited sites you get an absolute ton
of stuff for a minimal price so that's
SEO press yeah again if you want a
tutorial on this leave a link in the
comments let me know what you think of
any of these and I'd love to chat about
them
all right next plugins that we recommend
short pixel image optimizer so again
this is a service kind of a sass where
you put in an API key they you go sign
up on their site and then you they'll
let you smash down a hundred images for
free what's nice about this is instead
of your server handling the crushing of
an image their server does it and sends
it back and you can also test it and
then if you don't like it you can roll
back to the backed up image and short
pixel does it all for you so the free
one gives you a hundred credits so a
hundred images a month now initially
when you're getting a site rolling you
may have way more than a hundred images
because you have the full size may be a
square size and a thumbnail size so at
least three sizes per image so if you
had 33 images you would have 99
compressions that need to happen so just
keep that in mind if you max out so you
get to a hundred and you have more
images you can just wait 30 days and
smash them down there or smash them down
somewhere else using something like
image opt-in or JPEG mini on your
computer so that's short pixel if I go
to media here oh it still needs to be
set up and I've no images on the site
and all these notices but it'll show on
the right-hand side here if an image has
been smashed down and how much savings
you've realized so if you put in a four
megabyte image it smashes it down to say
200 kilobytes and will show you hey
you've had a 99% savings which is really
good for speed and SEO and not driving
your users nuts
so that's short pixel
next if you do any kind of affiliate
stuff or you're referring stuff I like
to use thirsty affiliates you could
create a custom post type and do it all
yourself but this one's pretty lean and
allows you to track affiliate links on
our site press Avenue comm we have some
affiliate links on here and we're using
thirsty affiliate so let's see that's
our own so this one says WP forms which
we really like they've a pro version
thirsty affiliates is where we save this
link for our own sanity I've seen
YouTube videos will people save them all
in spreadsheets I'd rather have it all
on the site so I can just click search
and be done this does just that
but if you see it it's very similar to
redirection mm-hmm so I have a title
here so I can just say this is a
different site and the destination mmm
so just meet me referring to myself what
this is is it's your domain slash
whatever you write here actually I think
it's refer slash whatever you write
there so hit save
and it's gonna be super small I ad says
John bunka calm or yourdomain.com slash
recommends and I usually go to settings
and change this
so I say link appearance again we can't
we
tutorial just on this go is popular so
you'll see like wpbeginner.com slash go
slash something and that is their
referral link and I think affiliate
links really do have a bad rap so I'll
say custom honestly every time you click
something someone's making money just
make sure it's you so hit save now mine
says refer so now it's jump on koat.com
slash prefer because I change it here
slash affiliate name sends me to my
affiliate link so if you want to know
more about affiliate linking how to sign
up for more anything about that let me
know in the comments below and I'd love
to answer your question next plugins
again we're getting there I'm on WP
engine and they have this content
performance plug-in I'm not going to
talk about that so that's what that is
WP male SMTP so activate this what this
does is if you've ever not received a
notification from your website or your
website sent an email you knew it sent
an email but you never got it it's
because the WordPress software it uses
basically the PHP mail function which
doesn't always get email to the person
that they need to get it to if you're
running an e-commerce shop you're doing
appointments running any kind of money
through your site I would recommend this
plug-in because it allows you to
actually get those notifications it
allows your customers and users to get
those receipts get notifications etc so
they have a pro version which gives you
more options but the from version gives
you plenty of stuff so right now it's
showing the mailer is PHP which is just
the default you can use mailgun or
SendGrid
I personally like SendGrid more they're
about the same mailgun had a bunch of
errors so I dumped them I got send grade
but I've read both ways between the two
so they're both free up to I think a
thousand emails a month which most
people won't do unless it's a larger
site so there it is there
can also run into your Gmail or your
Outlook oh that looks the pro doesn't
say pro well um send in blue etc or
other smtp if your tech guys running
you're emailing server you would contact
them and do other and then you fill out
everything below so SendGrid a mail gun
gun who I normally recommend they
recommend send in blue it's probably the
same you sign up for free you get an API
key you put in here you sit hit save
what happens is maybe someone fills out
a form on my site it sends them a you
know hey you booked this appointment or
thank you for buying that what happens
is WordPress sends it to send grid
SendGrid
guarantees it gets in their inbox so
that's really great
so there it is there all right
if you have any questions again leave it
in the comments below
WP forms light so if you just need a
simple contact form these guys are
really great so I'll just click create
my first form and then simple contact
form is right here in the templates name
email you know how can we help you
Don I hit save and it doesn't get any
faster than this close how you show this
is say go back to my post about the best
plug-ins for WordPress I would go to
plus and then under most use these are
just the ones you've used recently
common blocks formatting widgets so let
me remember where it is embeds see here
we go fumble online video
oh here it is widgets so here's WP forms
click here there's the cute little bear
I select the simple contact form there
it is and then I'll hit save and it
would show on the front so WP forms so
someone fill this fills this out then WP
mail SMTP sends it to my inbox so I know
hey there's a client hey there's a lead
hey they want XYZ lead magnet so just
keep that in mind really good stuff
alright get down here finally Yoast SEO
I talked about SEO press Yoast SEO is
it's excellent it's not necessarily for
beginners but they do a really good job
with people starting up with their sites
so it's just over here as a why over a
box and it kind of walks you through
your issues and non issues with SEO
again I like SEO press this one has both
installed doesn't matter too much except
when you go to posts there'll be some
confusion at the bottom if you have to
SEO plugins and it'll be your confusion
not WordPress's so we come down here so
now here's Yoast SEO and ask what
keyword are you focusing on so I'd say
you know best WordPress plugins for 2019
our plugins that I love installing and
then the next block down this is SEO
press the same thing your target
keywords are down here and then this is
what it looks like on Google
I like SEO press because it strips out
all the they don't have all these
banners and upgrades and confusion on
the side here they kind of just strip it
all out and make it easy alright so that
is my list of plugins that I love to
install that are free on the majority of
WordPress websites if you have a need
for other plugins please ask I love
answering that question you can ask it
in the comments below
additionally let me know if there's any
alternatives to plugins that I've listed
here that you like more or you have had
better experiences with or if you've had
even bad experiences some of these
you know just let me know I like to keep
a pulse on what's good and what's not
and some people use these things way
more than I do
I lastly give it a thumbs up if any of
these were helpful or if you like any of
these plugins and then also go ahead and
hit that red subscribe button and the
little Bell next to it and you will be
on par to receiving new videos when
they're posted again my name is John and
thank you so much for watching the press
Avenue YouTube channel