Some people believe that the most enjoyable things in life come for free, and we tend to agree. Whether it’s a complimentary cup of coffee at the bank or businesses handing out free water bottles (I also make sure to grab a free lollipop every now and then), freebies can be fantastic. However, when it comes to WordPress, which boasts a whopping 54,000+ free plugins, not all of them are created equal. That’s why we’ve decided to do the legwork for you and compile a list of some of the very best free WordPress plugins.
So, let’s dive right in!
Top Free SEO Plugin – Yoast
In the world of plugins, Team Yoast stands together, with over 25,000 five-star reviews backing their reputation since 2008.
If you’re aiming to climb the ladder on search engines, this plugin is a must-have. Yoast proudly presents itself as an all-purpose tool for SEO users of all kinds, from small bakery owners to massive corporate giants.
Sure, there’s a Premium version, but Yoast SEO Free is jam-packed with the most crucial features you’ll ever need.
At A2 Hosting, we rely on Yoast for all our blog posts, and like diligent students, we give our work a final check before sharing it with the vast internet.
Here’s what makes Yoast SEO shine:
1.It takes care of the boring stuff like crafting titles and meta descriptions, saving you time.
2.It offers advanced XML sitemaps, making it easier for Google to understand your website’s structure.
3.SEO analysis – it digs deep into your content to improve your search engine performance.
4.Readability analysis – arguably Yoast’s best feature. Yoast uses an algorithm to evaluate how user-friendly your post is. They provide multiple checkpoints to enhance readability for both humans and search engines.
Best Free WordPress Speed Booster – A2 Optimized
When you hear about lazy loading images, it might bring to mind a slow-moving tortoise waking up from a nap. But, in reality, this technique plays a crucial role in making websites load faster. According to Neil Patel, people’s patience runs thin when it comes to slow websites, with around 40% of visitors leaving a site if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
Technically, this falls under the umbrella of SEO, but it’s something every website owner can benefit from: optimizing their images.
Lazy loading images means they’re only loaded when users scroll down and see them, rather than all at once when the page first loads.
Now, let’s talk about Smush. It’s like a magician for your images, making them smaller in size without sacrificing quality (this is called “lossless compression”).
Here’s what makes it great:
1.You can compress or “bulk smush” up to 50 images in just one click, saving you from the tedious task of doing it one by one.
2.It gives you the power to resize images. Larger image files mean longer loading times, so you can set maximum width and height dimensions.
3.Smush doesn’t impose daily, monthly, or yearly limits on image compression, as long as your images are under 5MB in size.
4.It’s like a detective for your website, quickly spotting problematic images that might be slowing down your site.
Top Free WordPress Performance Booster – A2 Optimized
Here’s a cool fact: A2 Hosting has its very own WordPress plugin called A2 Optimized!
Yes, you heard it right. A2 Optimized was specially crafted to make your WordPress website better and more secure. Our experts have tinkered with the settings and functions of third-party plugins to bring you the best.
What makes A2 Optimized stand out:
1.Page caching magic:
It stores complete copies of webpages so that they can be retrieved faster by users, making your site speedy.
2.Compressing HTML pages:
This nifty feature reduces the size of HTML pages, leading to faster page loading times.
3.WordPress fortification:
A2 Optimized adds extra security by toughening up your WordPress setup, preventing unauthorized access to specific files.
4.Comment form guardian:
It keeps pesky bots at bay, safeguarding your comment forms from unwanted spam.
Conclusion
In conclusion, these are just three of the many plugins out there, but they’re our favorites, and they’re practical and efficient for all your WordPress needs, no matter what they may be.
If you have any questions about how A2 Hosting can improve your website, don’t hesitate to reach out to our sales team today! And if you’re in search of a hosting solution for your WordPress website, be sure to check out our new Managed WordPress Hosting plans!
