"Must Have" WordPress Plugins & Tools for Business Sites

1. Contact Form 7

Contact form 7 aids with a seamless creation and management of multiple contact forms. Using the plugin, one easily filters out all spammy submissions and uses reCaptcha verification.

Contact Form 7 is a free plugin that has over 5 million active installations and a 4.1-star average rating over WordPress. The latest version of Contact Forms 7 is 5.2.2. Developed by Takayuki Miyoshi, it works on WordPress version 5.3 or higher.

2. Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is a WordPress SEO plugin developed by Team Yoast and is widely believed to be the best available alternative for the effectiveness and functionality of on-page SEO. The plugin guides a user in a step by step way while creating content, for the best on-page SEO. A user benefits from guidelines for the density of target keyword, heading tags, readability, and metadata.

Yoast SEO has over 5 million active installations and an average rating of 4.9 over WordPress. The current version is 15.1.1 and WordPress version support is 5.4 or higher.

3. Classic Editor

Classic Editor is a plugin created by WordPress contributors. It is the official plugin which WordPress team maintains. The plugin restores the Edit Post screen and the previous, classic WordPress editor. Using the plugin, a developer can add old-style Meta boxes, extend the screen, or depend on their previous editor.

Classic Editor has an average rating of 4.9-stars over WordPress and over 5 million active installations. The latest version is 1.6 and WordPress version support is 4.9 and higher.

4. AkismetSpam Protection

As an end-to-end plugin, AkismetSpam Protection is among the best WordPress plugins for countering spam. It keeps spammers away and safeguards the security of your site over the long term. The plugin reviews all comments shared on the site and shares their history, helping you determine spammy content.

The plugin is created by Automattic and has over 5 million active installations. The latest version is 4.1.6. The average rating over WordPress is 4.7-stars, and WordPress version support is 4.6 or higher.

5. Elementor

Elementor, created by Elementor.com, is the most popular free page builders in WordPress, and one of the plugins that have over 5 million installations. The plugin maintains five-star ratings and is easy to learn and use. As a drag-and-drop page builder, Elementor features many templates and styling options.

The latest Elementor version is 3.0.12 and WordPress version support is 5.0 or higher. The average rating over WordPress is 4.8-stars.

6. WooCommerce

WooCommerce, created by Automattic, is an open-source, all-in-one eCommerce platform for WordPress, and features a range of customizations, extensions, and features. They have numerous fully customizable WordPress themes and many conversion optimization tools that bring success to a WordPress web mall. For its high effectiveness, WooCommerce is reasonably priced.

The average rating for WooCommerce over WordPress is 4.8-stars. The plugin has over 5 million active installations and the latest version is 4.6.0. WordPress version support is 5.3 or higher.

7. Jetpack

Jetpack is a website security, enhancement, and performance plugin developed in 2011 by Automattic, the company that also developed WordPress. Jetpack has over 5 million installations and a range of great features. As per the creators, using the plugin allows one to eliminate at least 10 plugins from his website.

The latest plugin version is 9.0.2 and WordPress version support is 5.4 and higher. The average rating over WordPress is 3.9.

8. Really Simple SSL

Google showing not secure warnings to all non-secure websites. It is tough for one to take his entire website to HTTPS to avoid these warnings. Really Simple SSL, created by Really Simple Plugins is a free, easy to use, and lightweight WordPress plugin, which features automatic redirection and helps accomplish the aforementioned.

The plugin has an average rating of 5-stars over WordPress. The latest plugin version is 3.3.5 and WordPress version support is 4.6 and higher. Really Simple SSL plugin has over 4 million installations.

9. WordPress Importer

WordPress Importer is developed by wordpressdotorg and is another one of the best free WordPress plugins. When you need to import content from a WordPress export file, WordPress Importer imports all content easily. This may be in the format of demo content for a new WordPress theme.

The latest plugin version is 0.7 and it has over 4 million active installations. WordPress version support is 3.7 or higher, and the average rating over WordPress is 3.9-stars.

10. Wordfence Security – Firewall & Malware Scan

WordFenceSecurity by Wordfence makes both, free and paid versions available for users and is among the most preferred and reliable WordPress security plugins. The plugin makes a range of tools available, such as malware, backdoor and virus scanning, email alerts, and brute force hacking protection.

The latest Plugin version is 7.4.11 and the average rating over WordPress is 4.8-stars. WordPress version support is 3.9 and higher, and the plugin has over 3 million active installations.

11. Contact Form by WPForms – Drag & Drop Form Builder for WordPress

In WordPress, Contact Form by WPForms is a contact form plugin that is the most user-friendly in the category. The plugin features a powerful drag and drop builder. One can create great online forms in merely minutes, such as email subscription forms, donation forms, survey forms, and order forms.

The plugin has a 4.9-stars average rating over WordPress and has over 3 million active installations. The latest version is 1.6.2.3 and WordPress version support is 4.9 or higher.

12. Yoast Duplicate Post

Yoast Duplicate Post is a plugin created by Enrico Battocchi and Team Yoast. It has got numerous five-star reviews and allows users to clone any type of posts, and save them as drafts for further editing. The plugin is privilege based and highly customizable using relevant settings.

The average rating over WordPress is 4.8-stars, and the latest plugin version is 3.2.6. The plugin has over 3 million active installations, and WordPress version support is 3.6 and higher.

13. UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin

UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup is created by UpdraftPlus.com and David Anderson. It is the highest-rated scheduled backup plugin in the world and has over 2,400 5-star reviews. As a free WordPress backup plugin, this makes it easier to backup WordPress site. When one clicks on install, all one’s data is backed up in the cloud.

The average plugin rating over WordPress is 4.8-stars. It has over 3 million active installations. The latest version is 1.16.31 and WordPress version support is 3.2 or higher.

14. All-in-One WP Migration

All-in-One WP Migration, created by ServMask has over 3 million active installations and 5,700 5-star ratings. The plugin exports the WordPress website, including themes, plugins, media files, and databases. No technical knowledge is required for the same. It bypasses all serialization difficulties and upload-size restrictions.

The plugin has an average of 4.6-star rating over WordPress. Its latest version is 7.28 and WordPress version support is 3.3 or higher.

15. Google Analytics Dashboard Plugin for WordPress by MonsterInsights

Google Analytics Dashboard Plugin for WordPress by MonsterInsights is the most popular Google Analytics plugin for WP. It has over 3 million active installations and brings confidence to data-driven business-critical decisions. Actionable analytics reports are made available right at the dashboard.

The average rating for the plugin over WordPress is 4.6-stars. Its latest version is 7.28 and WordPress version support is 3.3 or higher.

16. Advanced Editor Tools (previously TinyMCE Advanced)

Advanced Editor Tools by Automattic has a classic paragraph block for Gutenberg block editor. So one can use the TinyMCE Editor for most tasks, but still, have access to all new features of the block editor. Version 5.5 has significant improvements over Version 5.0, such as the Clear Formatting button.

The latest version is 5.5.1 and WordPress version support is 5.5 or higher. With over 2 million active installations, the average rating over WordPress is 4.5-stars.

17. All in One SEO Pack

All in One SEO Pack plugin is developed by the All in One SEO team. It is easy while being powerful at the same time. It provides prime features for on-page SEO, smart sitemaps, schema support, webmaster tools connect Google AMP, WooCommerce SEO, etc. It is the end to end WordPress SEO plugin for your website.

The free WordPress plugin has an average rating of 4.7-stars over WordPress and currently has over 2 million active installations. The latest version is 3.7.1 and WordPress version support is 4.9 or higher.

18. Google XML Sitemaps

Google XML Sitemaps, by Auctollo, is yet another useful WordPress SEO plugin. The plugin indexes your website with a special XML map, over search engines such as Bing, Google, and Yahoo. An XML sitemap is created automatically upon installing the plugin. It allows search engine bots to view, crawl, and index your website.

The average plugin rating over WordPress is 4.9 stars. It currently has over 2 million active installations. The latest version is 4.1.1 and the WordPress version support is 3.3 and higher.

19. WP Super Cache

WP Super Cache by Automattic quickly increases your website’s speed and brings in a measurable difference to the success it finds. The plugin is free and easy to use. It generates static HTML files from a dynamic WordPress website. Webservers use these files instead of heavier PHP scripts.

The latest WordPress plugin version is 1.7.1 and WordPress version support is 3.1 or higher. The average WordPress ratings for the plugin are 4.3-stars. It currently has over 2 million active installations.

20. WP Mail SMTP

WP Mail SMTP by Automattic is a free and easy transaction email tool. It helps one out when WordPress ceases to send emails. The plugin helps reconfigure wp_mail() PHP function. It allows one to use the proper SMTP provider. So it helps all emails reach recipients’ inboxes.

The plugin has an average rating of 4.7-stars over WordPress. The latest version is 1.7.1 and the WordPress version support is 4.1 and higher. The plugin currently has over 2 million active installations.