use-wordpress-internet-home-businessWordPress plugins are one of the most remarkable features of this very powerful software tool that folks are using to build their Internet home Business.

If it is not already, it is quickly becoming the industry standard. In fact, if you are not using WordPress to build your Internet home business website, you are making a huge mistake. And, WordPress plugins provide the functionality for your website.

A plugin is actually a piece of software or code designed to perform a particular function.  For example, if you have an e-commerce website, you look for  a WordPress plugin.  Or, if you want to do invoicing directly from your Internet home business website, you simply look for WordPress plugin that is built to do that!  Furthermore, they are easy to find right from your WordPress dashboard and can be installed with the push of a button.

WordPress plugins can only be used on self-hosted WordPress websites.  This is another great reason to get your own hosting.  And, I recommend HostGator. All HostGator accounts come with Fantastico Delux… which provides a one-step installation of WordPress!  The service that WordPress offers for free blogs is simply fantastic and a great way to get content on the Internet.  However, it does not support WordPress Plugins!

Here is a list of standard WordPress Plugins that I highly recommend and personally use.

..just type the bolded name into the plugin search box.

Akismet:  Akismet is quite possibly the best way in the world to protect your blog from comment and trackback spam. It keeps your site protected from spam 24/7/365.  This will require you to get an API key at Akismet.com.  But, once you have your key, you can use it on multiple sites!

Jetpack by WordPress.com:  See this article on Jetpack by WordPressThis is a must add to any WordPress site!  It is multi-functional and replaces an earlier need for other plugins.  At this time it includes 10 different free features. There is one other “paid” feature called Vault Press, which I find a little pricey. But, here are the ones I recommend activating:

Sharing:  Drag and drop Social Media sharing services into the enabled section to have them show up on your site, and drag them into the hidden section to have them hidden behind a button.  Lots of options!  I’ve replaced a former plugin with this feature, and I really liked that former plugin!

Spelling and Grammar:  The After the Deadline Proofreading service improves your writing by using artificial intelligence to find your errors and offer smart suggestions. After the Deadline provides a number of customization options, which you can edit in your profile.  Google loves good grammar and this one will “kick-your-butt!”  But, you will be better off using this!

Subscriptions:  Easily allow any visitor to subscribe to all of your posts via email through a widget in your blog’s sidebar. Every time you publish a post, WordPress.com will send a notification to all your subscribers.

When leaving comments, your visitors can also subscribe to a post’s comments to keep up with the conversation.  I’ve put this on all my sites! The emails your subscribers receive are extremely professional!  Read and screenshots at Jetpack by WordPress.

Cbnet Ping Optimizer:  Say what???  This valuable plugin saves your wordpress blog from getting tagged as ping spammer. As good as it is, WordPress has a flaw.  Everytime, you update an article or post, it send outs a ping notifying the world that you just published a post.  This plugin stops that from happening!  …so, what is a ping?  Read more here!

Google Ajax Translation:  The Google AJAX Translation WordPress plugin provides a quick, simple, and light way to add translation to your blog.  This will translate your articles into any of 52+ languages.  I have sites that are indigenous to the U.S., but I have other sites that are international.  Why not provide an international user an easy way to translate and read your material?

W3 Total Cache:  This plugin improves the user experience of your site by improving your server performance, caching every aspect of your site, reducing the download times and providing transparent content delivery network (CDN) integration.  In other words, it allows your site and pages to load much faster and this is a unit of measure that Google uses to rank your website.  This is particularly important for websites that have a great deal of content!

 

Features that Google Require on a Website

 

Easy Privacy Policy: Automatically adds a privacy policy page that includes an Adsense compliance section.  All the compliance legalese is done for you!  Don’t forget to cover this base!  Otherwise, Google may not like you!  And, you want Google to like you… as they are more likely to send you visitors!

Fast Secure Contact Form:  The contact form lets your visitors send you a quick E-mail message. Super customizable with a multi-form feature, optional extra fields, and an option to redirect visitors to any URL after the message is sent. This WordPress plugin includes CAPTCHA and Akismet support to block all common spammer tactics.  Plus, Google wants you to provide a contact feature to your users!

 

WordPress Plugins for SEO:

 

SEO is search engine optimization.  Proper SEO allows the major search engines (Google, Bing and Yahoo) to index and rank your website.  The higher you are ranked the more organic or free traffic they will send you.

Special Note:  There is one setting that I highly recommend you change in WordPress and do this for all new installations.  If you have an old installation, I also recommend it.  One of my sites had over 90 articles when I updated this setting, and it worked great!

Change the default WordPress Permalink default feature. This will automatically apply to the title of your posts and pages.

How? Just follow these steps.

  • On your WordPress Dashboard, Pick “Settings”
  • Then Choose “Permalinks”
  • Tick on the “Custom Title” option
  • Then type in /%postname%/
  • Hit Save!

 

Google XML Sitemaps: This WordPress plugin will generate a special XML sitemap which will help search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo and Ask.com to better index your site!  Plus, it will provide you direct access to both Google and Bing Webmaster Tools.  You need to claim your site(s) with both Google and Bing and verify that you are the owner.  I use the Meta Tag option.  This is easy stuff; as I will show you with the next WordPress plugin.

Custom Headers and Footers:  This plugin adds custom header and footer Meta Tags for main page content.  This is where you simply copy and paste the Meta Tag that Google and Bing send you to verify your website!  Here is a screen shot of exactly where it goes.  You just click “Update Settings” at the bottom of the page, then return to Google or Bing and click their “Verify Now” button!

Platinum SEO Pack: This WordPress plugin provides a complete SEO solution for your WordPress blog. I probably run against convention here. A lot of people use All-in-One SEO. It really doesn’t matter, but you should definitely install one or the other.

Keyword Statistics: This plugin checks the content of a post or a page for keyword-density (single words and optionally 2- and 3-word phrases). This is an awesome WordPress plugin. It can update its information on the fly while the author is writing content. This is great way for you to check and improve your keyword density!  And, keep that density at about 2-3 percent!

In conclusion, I have provided you the most essential WordPress plugins available today!  So, if you are building an Internet home Business or contemplating doing so, WordPress is the platform on which you should build your business.

 

If you have any questions on WordPress plugins, I’m always here to help!

Please post your questions in the Comments section below!

 

 

 

 

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