WordPress is one of the most popular blogging platforms on the planet and one of the reasons we find it so likable is because of the vast amount of themes and plugins we can install to suit our needs. There are thousands of free plugins available from the WordPress repository for free but in this post, I’d like to share my experience with some premium plugins that have made a huge difference in my blog.
1. CommentLuv Premium
Hands down, this is my all-time favorite plugin. It’s so flexible and can be customized with so many different options, I’m willing to bet it will be hard to find two blogs with the exact same settings! CommentLuv all started with the concept of rewarding commenters with a link back to their blogs but it has evolved into a blog promotion machine that keeps going just like the Energizer Bunny! This plugin has way too many features for me to list them all in this post, so I’ll just highlight one of my favorites. It’s referred to as “social enticements” which gets people sharing your posts on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ in droves.
2. SEOPressor
I rely on the SEOPressor plugin every day. The functions it performs are very simplistic, and it really helps me manage the quality of the posts submitted by the guest authors on my blog Basic Blog Tips. For example, SEOPressor reminds you to include keywords in your H1, H2, H3 and Alt-image tags. It tracks your keyword density and checks for internal links. Believe it not, you would be surprised how many guest bloggers don’t know that they are supposed to create internal links back to other posts on my blog. SEOPressor is almost like my little virtual assistant and since I’m an affiliate through ClickBank, it has paid for itself many times over.
3. BackUp Buddy
The name itself should be enough for you to know what this plugin can do. But really there is so much more to it then just backing up a few files! Backup Buddy creates a full and complete backup of all the databases and files on your blog (free backup plugins do NOT do this). You can send the files to a remote location for storage such as Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloudfiles, Email, and FTP. These can be used to restore your blog if necessary or to move your blog to a new host as well. Keep in mind that you should always back up your blog before you update to a new version of WordPress or any of the premium plugins I’ll mention here in this post or others that you have installed.
4. Pretty Link Pro
Have you heard about this one yet? Once again, I need to mention affiliate marketing, after all, how else do you think I can afford to pay for premium plugins and themes? :) Pretty Link Prois used to create unique links for your affiliate products because to be quite honest with you, sometimes the links we get from our affiliate programs can be very “ugly” and they are almost impossible to remember. PLP makes the links “pretty” and tracks the hits too, so don’t be afraid to create pretty links for blog posts or social networks that you want to have stats on also.
5. Optin Skin
Last but not least it’s time for me to introduce you to the new kid on the block. Optin Skin is the brain child of none other than Glen Allsop from Viper Chill. If you don’t know about Glen, trust me this guy is a real whiz kid and this time he has created his own product and it is really something for him to be proud of. Optin Skin will help you get people to sign up for your email list, or buy your products by giving you 18 customizable templates to choose from to create your unique optin form. It integrates easily with Aweber, MailChimp, FeedBurner and more. And one of the best things I love about Optin Skin Plugin is that it doesn’t pop-up!
That’s my top five “can’t-live-without” list of premium WordPress plugins, let me know what you think of them. Are you using these plugins too, or did I miss some of your favorites?
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