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My Top 5 Essential WordPress Plugins

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Services for Real Estate Pros with Agent Solutions




It's no secret that I am huge fan of WordPress and all that the platform has to offer as a stand alone blog or as a complete corporate web presence. One of the great things about WordPress is the ability to add "plugins" to increase the functionality of your site. Below is a list of my top 5 essential WordPress plugins.

 

 

  1. All-In-One-SEO
    This plugin takes your WordPress site's search engine optimization to the next level. For the novice user it works right out of the box and for the more advanced SEO expert you can tweak the settings to meet your specific SEO goals.

  2. Google XML Sitemaps
    The use of an XML sitemap is an awesome way to ensure that search engines find all the pages on your site, and not just the ones linked to your home page.

  3. cforms II Contact Forms
    There are numerous contact form plugins available for WordPress, however my favorite is cforms II. This plugin allows you to create many different kinds of forms, not only standard contact forms and customize the style and layout to match your site. The possiblities are endless with this plugin...and it's FREE!

  4. Akismet
    By far the best anit-spam plugin out there. Made by WordPress for WordPress users.

  5. WordPress Editorial Calendar
    A fabulous tool to help organize past posts and plan your future posts. The drag and drop feature makes this plugin easy to use with a clean layout and is a must have for the sites we work on.

I would love to hear what your favorite WordPress plugins are, so don't hesitate to share them here.

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Online Marketing Management | Listing Management | Social Media Management

T: 403.852.0923 | F: 403.398.1376 | E: jennifer@agentsolutions.ca

Comments (9)
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Joetta Fort
The DiGiorgio Group - Arvada, CO
Independent Broker, Homes Denver to Boulder

Thank you for this info. I've been wanting to put a contact form on my posts, so I'll be checking into that cforms II.

Feb 08, 2011 05:28 AM
Jennifer Wilson
Agent Solutions - Calgary, AB
Agent Solutions

You're welcome Joetta. cforms II is quite a comprehensive plugin and may require a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, it's a powerful contact form solution. Like I mentioned there are a ton of different plugins out there. If you thought you might want one that is easier to use you could also check out Contact Form 7.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Feb 08, 2011 05:36 AM
Wade Mattingly
WEICHERT Realtors--Bluegrass Living - Lexington, KY

Jennifer, I would like to start a WordPress blog but quite honestly had a bad experience 2 years ago trying to "do one".  What would you suggest to get off the ground, learning wise?

Feb 08, 2011 05:49 AM
Jennifer Wilson
Agent Solutions - Calgary, AB
Agent Solutions

Hey Wade,

I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience with your WordPress blog. Was it getting WordPress installed that was the problem or were you having trouble making your way around the WordPress dashboard (i.e. creating a page, creating posts, etc.)?

 

Feb 08, 2011 05:59 AM
Adrian Willanger
206 909-7536 AdrianWillanger-broker.com - Seattle, WA
Profit from my two decades of experience

Jennifer, Just installed a new blog, thanks for the great suggestions, I've been looking for a good form plug-in. Thanks.

Apr 01, 2011 01:34 PM
Jennifer Wilson
Agent Solutions - Calgary, AB
Agent Solutions

You're welcome Adrian.

You're going to love cforms and all the things you can with it. If you have any trouble with it let me know.

Apr 01, 2011 02:07 PM
David Grbich
Realty One Group - www.FindCARealEstate.com - San Juan Capistrano, CA
Orange County Real Estate - 949-500-0484

Thanks for the list of plugins - I switched from AIOSEO to Yoast - curious which you think is best? Regards, Dave

Mar 19, 2012 02:43 AM
Jennifer Wilson
Agent Solutions - Calgary, AB
Agent Solutions

Hi Dave,

Thanks for stopping by. I love the Yoast SEO plugin. I would have to say I prefer Yoast to the All-in-One SEO. The All-in-One plugin is great for my clients that want control over their SEO without getting too overwhelmed. Yoast is a bit more comprehensive and tends to be a bit more than some of my clients want to learn to manage on their own.

What are your thoughts on the two plugins?

 

Mar 19, 2012 03:30 AM
Tom Janes

What will be your top WordPress plugins simply depends on what kind of website or blog you own. However, there are certain plugins which are almost common and essential for every kind of portals. Yes, of course my favorite one is All in one SEO plugin for WordPress out of all listed here.

Jul 14, 2014 05:32 PM
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