If you’ve never heard of WordPress, you better acquaint yourself quickly. It’s not a mandatory skill for most jobs, but keep in mind, as of March 2012, WordPress is on over 60% of websites around the world which makes it the most widely used and popular content management system (CMS) currently in existence. There are approximately 19,707 plugins freely available in the WordPress Plugin Directory which are responsible for 308,645,125 plugin downloads.
These plugins are for everybody even if you’re a newbie that just created a WordPress blog and needs some advice, or you’re a professional that uses WordPress as a business website; or better yet, you’re somewhere in between. Although we love these plugins, you don’t have to download them; don’t worry, we won’t be mad.
A little while back, we published our Top WordPress Plugins post and had much success, including having to add new plugins that were shared by users. This is the follow-up and therefore, does not contain the plugins in the 1st article (check both for a full list). If we’re missing some, please let us know.
Best Free WordPress Plugins in 2012
Adsense Made Easy
Creates a widget that allows you to add Google AdSense to any widget sidebar or area of your theme.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/adsense-made-easy/
Broken Link Checker
Checks your website/blog for broken links (links that go to websites that no longer exist) and missing images then notifies you on the dashboard and via email if any are found. This is great for SEO as broken links lower your website quality score.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/broken-link-checker/
Captcha
Plugin simply asks the visitor to answer a math question to determine whether the visitor is a human being and not a spam robot when posting a comment and when logging into the dashboard.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/captcha/
Category Order
This allows you to easily reorder your categories the way you want via simple drag and drop.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/order-categories/
Comments Switcher
Allows users to comment on your blog using their Facebook credentials instead of having to register to your site. We prefer this one as it allows for integration with the regular commenting system.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/comments-switcher/
Official StatCounter Plugin
Adds the StatCounter tracking code to your blog. We emphasize search engine rankings transparency and this plugin not only shows where a user came from, which search engine was used, but also shows the ranking of the keyword and the page it was linked to on Google.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/official-statcounter-plugin-for-wordpress/
Permalink Finder
Never get a 404 page not found again! If you have restructured or moved your blog, this will find the right post or page.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/permalink-finder/
Post Ratings
Rating system for your WordPress blog’s post and page that shows up on Google search results next to the link.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/post-ratings/
Pricing table
Easily generate pricing tables that actually look good.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/pricing-table/
Related Posts Thumbnails
Shows related posts and their thumbnails under each post.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/related-posts-thumbnails/
Social Slider
Links to your social networking sites’ profiles in a box floating at the left side of the screen.
Link: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/social-slider/
Some other plugins can be found at our previous Top WordPress Plugins page, but there are still many other plugins available and we would love to hear your suggestions! Which plugin can’t you survive without?
RSS
Facebook
Google+
LinkedIn
Twitter
July 13, 2012 at 7:52 am
You forget about WpSmartApps.com product ‘Readers From RSS 2 Blog’, http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/readers-from-rss-2-blog/
They also have pro version on same product: http://readersfromrss2blog.com
But about me i really love product ‘Immediate List Building Pro’ by them http://immediatelistbuildingpro.com
Thanks
July 17, 2012 at 1:34 am
Hi,
We would love for you to share the benefits of these plugins and even an example for us (as well as the readers) to view.
Thanks,
Empire Media Group
August 10, 2012 at 7:55 pm
This plugin is definitely worth reviewing! Check it out!
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/design-approval-system/
Let us know if you got any questions!
August 11, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Looks interesting… Does anyone have feedback about this plugin: “Design Approval System”?
September 3, 2012 at 11:18 am
I have found Cudazi’s scroll to top to be invaluable, especially when the pages get long. The up arrow just appears in the bottom right.
September 10, 2012 at 11:15 am
great list – couple of personal recos
ClickDesk for chat – http://www.clickdesk.com/
Akismet for spam filtering on comments – http://akismet.com/
September 11, 2012 at 3:16 am
Hi Roger,
Great additions, but some clients have had mixed reviews about Akismet.
Thanks,
-Klim
September 23, 2012 at 3:42 am
Yeah, these are top plugins.. Why not to include a WordPress login page customization plugin?
“Erident Custom Login and Dashboard” is an awesome one for Login and Dashboard page customization. Check it: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/erident-custom-login-and-dashboard/
October 10, 2012 at 4:43 pm
Thanks for the enlightenment, have been searching for the right social plugin that matched my site for a while now and couldnt find the perfect one. This article helped me thanks.
October 17, 2012 at 3:49 pm
thanks for sharing !!!
There is another really great list of wordpress plugins sorted by category:
http://www.allinwordpress.com/best-free-wordpress-plugins/
October 28, 2012 at 8:13 pm
good collection.
October 31, 2012 at 11:57 am
WP Auto Affiliate Links will automate the adding of links inside your content.
October 31, 2012 at 8:28 pm
We love the “SEO Smart Links” plugin… Any reason for your preference?
Thanks,
-Empire Media Team
November 2, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Thank you! i will bookmark ♥
Pingback: Best for WordPress | Mercy's WordPress Blog
November 28, 2012 at 8:40 pm
For those who find it difficult to add content to your site but are very active on social media, you should check out this WP plugin my team and I created. It’s called Tint, and we help aggregate social feeds into your site so you’ll always have a more dynamic and less static site.
Check it out here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tint/
January 21, 2013 at 8:03 pm
I thought I’d share one of my FREE plugins here, it creates a Facemash from your blog’s images to allow you to increase your pageviews and find out which image people prefer the most, here’s the link
http://epicplugins.com/epic-reviews/pics-mash-image-rating-tool/
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February 15, 2013 at 4:42 am
Cool
February 17, 2013 at 10:18 am
nice article. many people wants free plugins for their WordPress website or blog. it may be helpful for them.