What plugins do you always use when starting a blog?

Hey guys, I’m working on a blogging platform and wanted to ask what plugins you always go for when setting up a blog. I want to make sure I’ve got the basics covered.

The platform is mainly for food blogs, but I’d love to hear what works well for any type of blog.

Thanks a lot!

Wordfence for security.

Amal said:
Wordfence for security.

Yeah, plus you can add extra protection with Cloudflare WAF rules.

I mostly use paid ones:

  • WP Rocket (for caching)
  • Cleantalk (spam protection)
  • Shortpixel (image optimization)
  • Yoast (SEO)

Honestly, just Hello Dolly for me.

RankMath for SEO and PerfMatters for speed. The rest depends on the site.

Rowan said:
RankMath for SEO and PerfMatters for speed. The rest depends on the site.

True, that’s the way to do it.

  • SEOPress
  • Perfmatters for speed
  • OOPSpam for spam filtering

For me, it’s ACF… that’s it.

Here’s what I use:

Elementor Pro for building
Akismet Anti-spam for blocking spam
Big File Uploads for larger uploads
Complianz for privacy and cookie notices
Site Kit by Google for analytics
Super Progressive Web Apps to make the blog feel like an app

Also, I use Quic Cloud (came with Litespeed). Not using Litespeed anymore though.

Keep plugins to a minimum and make sure to update them. Remove anything you don’t use.

For our clients, we usually go with:

  • Wordfence for security
  • OOPSpam for spam filtering
  • SEOPress for SEO
  • Perfmatters for performance

We also recommend putting the site behind Cloudflare.

Here’s my list:

  • Ultimate Blocks for the editor
  • Rank Math for SEO
  • Fluent Forms for contact forms
  • Tableberg for tables
  • BlogVault for backups

If you’re just blogging, Classic Editor is great. It feels like writing an email, and you can easily find categories and tags in the sidebar. That’s super important for keeping things organized.

If you’re planning to do more complex stuff like adding galleries or videos, the block editor could be better, but it’s slower.

Other things to consider:

  • Good caching plugin (I like WP Rocket)
  • Spam filter (Cleantalk works well)
  • Image optimization (helps if your host doesn’t provide it)
  • Backup plugin with secure storage

Later on, if you get serious with blogging (like food blogs), you might need a better search plugin or a recipe-specific plugin. That’ll help with search engines and accessibility.

I’d say Cloudflare and Classic Editor.

Stream, Yoast, ACF, Gravity Forms… the usual.

For me, a security plugin, spam filter, and something to block bots are a must. They save me from dealing with nonsense emails.

Depending on the site, I might add caching, image optimization, and an SEO plugin.

I usually go with Sucuri, Autoptimize, Docket Cache, BBQ: Firewall, and The SEO Framework.

Dynamic Front-end Heartbeat Control helps with page responsiveness.

Here’s what I install on all sites:

For building: Astra Pro or Neve Pro with Elementor Pro
For managing multiple sites: MainWP
Backup: WP All-in-One Migration or BlogVault
Security: Virusdie or MalCare
Speed optimization: SiteGround Optimizer or WP-Optimize, plus EWWW or ShortPixel for images
SEO: SEOPress or Squirrly SEO
Social media management: Publer
Forms: WP Fluent Forms
Analytics: Google Analytics, Clicky, or HockeyStack
Writing tools: Advanced Editor Tools (used to be TinyMCE Advanced)