{"id":97160,"date":"2019-12-13T08:45:00","date_gmt":"2019-12-13T14:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/?p=97160"},"modified":"2025-05-14T13:34:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T18:34:45","slug":"how-to-get-more-out-of-wordpress-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpengine.com\/case-studies\/how-to-get-more-out-of-wordpress-today\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get Even More Out of WordPress Today"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Plug & Play<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Whether you\u2019re a WordPress veteran or a newbie, there are always things to learn and digest. I started using WordPress for my own personal blog way back in 2005. While my friends and colleagues were piddling around using Blogger, LiveJournal, Typepad and other word processors, I was creating Pulitzer-worthy content (disclaimer: subjective) with an incredibly intuitive and user-friendly platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast forward 14 years later and WordPress is still king.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An estimated 60 percent of all websites with a Content Management System (CMS) use the open source and uber-flexible WordPress platform. Let\u2019s say\/hope your business is one of them. How confident are you that you\u2019re taking full advantage of all the rich goodness that WordPress<\/a> has to offer? Or are you basically using it as a one-dimensional content machine with no real business strategy behind it?   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Obviously today\u2019s WordPress is much more than just a simple blogging platform. It\u2019s constantly improving and evolving with every new, customizable, updated\u2014even free!\u2014plugin. Plugins and tools are key to maintaining and increasing your site\u2019s functionality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of plugins, there are more than 50,000 of them. None of which makes espresso. They update on a regular basis thanks to a team of developers who work round the clock because they are dedicated\/passionate\/ignoring their families.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need tens of thousands of plugins. But depending on your company\u2019s goals and aspirations, well, there\u2019s a plugin for that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 4 S\u2019s: Search, Security, Stats & Social<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Search<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEO is top of mind for most agencies, assuming you want your target audience and potential customers to actually find you. A website should be anything but coy. So make sure it\u2019s easy to find.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yoast<\/a>, the #1 WordPress SEO plugin today, boasts many features centered around SEO analysis, readability, related keyword\/keyphrase analysis, and help with overall content creation. The plugin also allows you to add tags to improve your search ranking. There are typically basic plugins and premium versions. For example, Yoast Premium costs $89\/year for additional cool features like the Insights tool and social previews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Squirrly SEO<\/a> is another crowd-pleaser. It reviews and analyzes every page on your website in order to improve their rankings. You also don\u2019t need to be an SEO expert to use this. Leave that to the\u2026 SEO experts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Akismet<\/a> plugin is one of the most popular security plugins, and for good reason: It catches spam. (You know, like those \u201csafe online pharmacy free Nikes\u201d comments.) The tool essentially protects your website from malicious content, including contact form submissions. If someone\u2019s trying to Trojan Horse your site, they\u2019ll have to get through the mighty Akismet to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sucuri<\/a> is another security plugin that detects and fixes malware and hacks while preventing future attacks. You\u2019ll receive website monitoring through daily updates. Also, since WordPress sites can be targeted for security breaches and hacks due to any vulnerable plugins and weak passwords, be sure to check out iThemes Security<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stats<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interested in stats? Of course you are. Everyone likes numbers, unless the numbers are bad, and then you try and bury the numbers. But that\u2019s another story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MonsterInsights<\/a> is a plugin that leverages Google Analytics. It comes with its very own dashboard and provides you customized analytics reports regarding audience demographics, content performance, Google ranking and more. The best part? You don\u2019t have to be able to code. So you can totally stop pretending every time a developer walks by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can also go a little more old-school and use Google Analytics Dashboard for WP<\/a> which employs the latest Google Analytics tracking code to view your stats. Finally, aside from being another security layer, Jetpack<\/a> is also a plugin for site stats and analytics, related posts and really getting to know your audience. But not in a creepy way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social plugins are fairly important if you want your site to be social and popular versus anti-social and totally forgettable. (Welcome back to high school.) You can broaden your audience by reaching out to them with everything you\u2019ve got, making sure that all your social posts are accessible anytime, anywhere.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the best social sharing plugins is Social Warfare<\/a>, which provides the sharing buttons for all the top social networks. Social Warfare doesn\u2019t slow down your website the way that some other share buttons do and the buttons themselves are actually attractive. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen those unsightly Facebook and Twitter buttons on other sites. It makes you not want to share. Ever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other fun and exciting social plugins include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n