The Wordpress Plugins I Find Most Useful for Optimizing My Blog: Part 1

When I started working with my self-hosted Wordpress blog, I was pretty unsure of what plugins could do for me. I tried a number out and gave up on quite a few. Here's a short overview of each plugin that I have found most useful, along with how to find it.

Akismet

Akismet is a spam catcher/killer that comes loaded automatically with Wordpress. For quite a while, I was using Spam Karma, the best-known alternative. I guess I figured that if it came with the software maybe it wasn't quite as good as something I had to add. Dumb reasoning. While Spam Karma worked quite well at catching spam, it suddenly started eating my friends' comments as well. Diving into the spam filter became a daily ritual and a real hassle. So I just switched back to Akismet.

Though Akismet comes automatically loaded, you'll need to get a "key" to set it up. Just register for an account at Wordpress.com (different from Wordpress.org, the .com allows you to host a blog on their site, but you don't need a blog there to get the code) and you get a key code as part of the deal. If you already registered there, just login to get your code. The same Akismet code can be used on as many sites as you need.

All in One SEO Pack

This plugin helps you SEO-optimize your blog. It's pretty easy to start using. Besides setting up Meta tags for your blog, you can configure things like the title that appears at the top of your page. So, for example, I could title the post "Dear Ana, I love you for being so helpful." But I could scroll down the editor page and write the more search-engine attractive title which will appear in search engines and the title bar at the top. I might choose "How I Saved Money on Bridesmaid Dresses." The post title doesn't give any idea of the subject, but it's friendly to the person who helped me. That's why the SEO option is so friendly.

You can add special tags which won't show up in your blog's tag cloud or a summary which won't otherwise show up on your blog.

It also lets you set "noindex" in various pages like categories to keep your site from being repetitively indexed in search engines and cutting down on the impact of your posts.