Have you ever tried to find a WordPress plugin to solve a problem, and you end up installing (and uninstalling) 20 different plugins before you find the right one? I like to call that Plugin Fatigue, and it’s one of the realest issues facing the novice WordPress user.
In this post, I will share 3 plugins that I use on every website I build. These plugins are life savers in every sense of the word. All 3 of these plugins will improve your website’s performance, security, and overall searchability.
Wordfence Security – Firewall & Malware Scan
This plugin has a free version, and a premium version. I use the free version on all of my client sites, and it’s more than enough protection.
What does it do? As simply as I can put it – it protects your website from malware and hackers. You can block traffic by region, country, even down to a more granular level. This WordPress Plugin protects your login pages, provides 2 factor authentication, scans for malware, and sets up a nice firewall that will keep your site safe and operational.
From Wordfence:
Wordfence includes an endpoint firewall and malware scanner that were built from the ground up to protect WordPress. Our Threat Defense Feed arms Wordfence with the newest firewall rules, malware signatures and malicious IP addresses it needs to keep your website safe. Rounded out by 2FA and a suite of additional features, Wordfence is the most comprehensive WordPress security solution available.
Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk
Every WordPress site faces a barrage of spam. Some plugins work, others don’t. Well, CleanTalk created a WordPress Plugin that works, all the time, every time.
This plugin is not free, unfortunately, but the $8/year you spend will be well worth the small investment. There’s a free trial period you can take advantage of, but one you see the power of this plugin, you won’t want to use anything else.
From CleanTalk:
Supports: Contact Form 7, Contact Form by WPForms, Ninja Forms, Gravity Forms, MailChimp, Formidable forms, WooCommerce, JetPack comments and contact form, BuddyPress, bbPress, Fast Secure Contact form, S2Member, MailPoet, wpDiscuz, any WordPress registrations & contact forms and themes. Just setup and forget the spam!
No CAPTCHA, no questions, no animal counting, no puzzles, no math and no spam bots. Universal AntiSpam plugin.
WP Fastest Cache
There’s a lot of debate out there about which WP Cache WordPress Plugin is the best, and based on over 10 years of WordPress development experience, I can tell you that WP Fastest Cache is hands-down my favorite.
WP Fastest Cache is so easy to use, it doesn’t have any confusing settings, and if you want to upgrade for advanced features, the option is there for you to do so. The free version is adequate for any average WordPress website.
From WP Fastest Cache:
This plugin creates static html files from your dynamic WordPress blog. When a page is rendered, php and mysql are used. Therefore, system needs RAM and CPU. If many visitors come to a site, system uses lots of RAM and CPU so page is rendered so slowly. In this case, you need a cache system not to render page again and again. Cache system generates a static html file and saves. Other users reach to static html page.
In addition, the site speed is used in Google’s search ranking algorithm so cache plugins that can improve your page load time will also improve your SEO ranking.
Setup of this plugin is so easy. You don’t need to modify the .htacces file. It will be modified automatically.
In Conclusion
Please keep in mind that there are other solutions out there that other developers may recommend. These recommendations are based on my experience and working with clients who want simple solutions.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me directly: support@websitebutlers.com or use our contact page.