Grecia, Costa Rica
I scanned my plug-ins a few moments ago.
Turns out, I am down to 3:
- Classic Editor
- Manage WP Worker
- Social Warfare
Classic Editor works for me because typing words for you is most fun for me and most beneficial for you; I go with what I know for now. I will use blocks when the plug in goes away.
Manage WP Worker performs functions mission critical to the blog. I’m kidding. I have no clue in hell what it does but trust my developer.
Social Warfare makes it easy for 5 billion humans to share my blog posts.
For Blogging From Paradise, 3 plug-ins offer me all the functionality my blog needs to be helpful for you.
What About Other Bloggers?
How many plug-ins do you need for your blog?
Other bloggers use far more plug-ins than I because each possesses different:
- needs
- requirements
- functionality
based on personal preferences combined with the needs of their readers.
For example, travel bloggers who embed heavy imagery typically use a plug-in to speed up their blog from what could have been slower than a snail on a 3 day drunk moseying through molasses in the winter. Using a speed-up plug-in prevents that nightmarish user experience.
Other bloggers create a flashy interface – pop-ups, etc – best achieved by plug-ins. List-building proves important for them. Perhaps their readers love pop-ups.
Yet others use plug-ins for Google Analytics, Google AdSense and spam prevention. Some bloggers appreciate the increased capabilities of checking stats via their backoffice. Swatting spam proves very necessary for experienced bloggers who deal with a tsunami of bogus comments daily.
Benefits of Using Plug Ins
- boost reach (embed social sharing buttons for 5 billion social media users)
- improved user experience (add a personal touch with a “blogging welcome mat” message for new readers)
- enhanced monetizing potential (capture reader email addresses for building a list)
I can wax poetic about the upsides of various plug ins even though I am not a technical blogger.
Literally, the possibilities are limitless in a sense but beware the 2 biggest downsides to using blog plug-ins.
1: Plug-Ins May Slow Down Your Blog
Heavy plug ins eat up server resources like pigs at the trough.
Using one or more heavy plug ins diminishes the user experience (UX) because readers need to wait for precious seconds to access the real money maker on your blog: content.
Gauging the effect on performance – and hence UX – is key. Figure out whether the slow down is worth the function performed by the plug-in.
For example, let’s say that a pop-up plug in nets you 5-10 new subscribers daily who then unsubscribe and never visit your blog again because the pop-up plug in creates a 20 second load time.
Honestly list the pros and cons before deciding to use and keep any plug in.
2: Plug-Ins May Become Corrupt and Break Your Blog
Plug ins are notorious breakers of blogs.
Once the plug in goes south so can your blog in some cases.
Corrupt plug ins cause a great deal of stress in green bloggers who usually fear that their blog has vanished for good.
The good news is that testing each plug in by logging in to your database (via cPanel) – not your WordPress backoffice since your blog is temporarily broken – and disabling one at a time can yield the culprit.
But the bad news for plug in junkies is this: the more plug ins that you use the more likely one will corrupt and temporarily break your blog.
Can I Give *You* a Specific Number of Plug Ins to Use?
No.
I cannot give you a specific number of plug ins to use because I do not know your preferences, needs and your reader’s desires.
Every blogger possesses different requirements, preferences and reader needs. As each differs so do the number of plug-ins bloggers use.
Many bloggers would feel utterly naked using 3 plug-ins like I do at Blogging From Paradise Dot Com.
I would instantly delete almost all plug-ins if I took over a blog with 7-10 plug ins.
There is no right or wrong answer here.
But typically speaking, most bloggers tend to use at least a:
- spam plug in
- SEO plug in
to optimize posts for Google and to keep spam in check.
For starters, most count those 2 as being fairly fundamental plug ins, at least in the beginning of their blogging career.
Practical Steps to Follow
Assess your blogging needs now.
List your preferences.
Lay out reader needs.
Create a watch list of plug ins satiating all requirements.
Proceed to ask yourself:
“Do I really need this one for me and my readers? Or is it not worth the memory drag on my blog server?”
Even lightweight plug ins consume memory simply because plug ins require storage.
Think in terms of a trade.
Akismet consumes some resources but becomes a necessary plug-in for blogs receiving 1,000 spam comments daily.
For me, I trashed my SEO plug in after I began ranking posts on page 1 without using the SEO plug in.
Why waste server space when the answers for Google traffic are in:
- the problems of my readers?
- my detailed, targeted content?
At least that was my thinking combined with careful observation and a helluva lot of blogging experience to call upon.
But other bloggers might drive heavy Google traffic by satiating requirements from a particular SEO plug in. This crowd would be wise to keep it because the trade-off works fabulously in their favor.
Are Plug Ins Critical to Your Success?
Creating detailed, targeted content onsite (as blog posts) and offsite (via guest posts, social media, etc) drives quality traffic and blogging business.
Since plug ins do not play a prime role in creating content onsite and certainly not offsite the answer is: no.
As is wont to happen in a largely upside-down thinking world, some bloggers mistakenly believe plug ins to be mission critical tools for becoming a successful blogger. Forgive yourself for making this mental error for it will pull you away from developing the skills required to publish in-depth, targeted content.
If plug ins were really that important you’d not be here reading this blog post, would you?
I use only 3 plug ins and things appear to be coming together A-OK at Blogging From Paradise.
My content is the foundation.
Your content will be the foundation.
Using plug ins may offer increased functionality but on a case-by-case basis.
At that, these tools may enhance but never make up for a lack of long-form, targeted blog posts and targeted, detailed content published off-site.
Conclusion
Determine your needs, preferences and reader wants.
Add plug ins which meet these requirements while keeping your user experience seamless.
No blogger needs specific plug ins to succeed.
Content handles that job.
