Scan of 140K Sites Reveals Best WordPress Plugins via @sejournal, @martinibuster

An investigation of 140,000 sites hosted connected managed WordPress big Kinsta revealed the WordPress plugins that users justice to beryllium the best. These findings item however publishers prioritize performance, SEO, and idiosyncratic experience.

10. Schema.org Structured Data – Schema Pro – 1.75%

Adding structured information is captious for SEO and successful wide for making it wide for hunt engines and AI what the contented is about. Only 1.75% of the 140,000 sites scanned by Kinsta usage a standalone Schema plugin. The crushed whitethorn beryllium that users are satisfied with the structured information functionalities offered by SEO Plugins.

The Schema Pro WordPress plugin offers a wider enactment of structured information types than astir SEO plugins and it besides offers the capableness to adhd customized structured information automatically crossed the full tract targeted to circumstantial kinds of posts oregon astatine the idiosyncratic leafage level.

9. XML Sitemap Generator for Google Plugin – 2.17%

Sitemaps are adjuvant for encouraging hunt engines to crawl web pages efficiently successful a timely manner. But lone 2% of sites usage it, apt due to the fact that a basal mentation of this functionality is autochthonal to the WordPress halfway and it’s provided by each WordPress SEO Plugins.

Like the dedicated Schema Pro Structured Data plugin, the XML Sitemap Generator for Google Plugin offers greater flexibility than built-in XML tract generators recovered successful astir SEO plugins but with lone 2.17% usage it’s wide that SEO plugins are a cleanable acceptable for astir WordPress users. The vantage of utilizing Schema Pro Structured Data plugin is that it offers greater flexibility but that mightiness beryllium conscionable for borderline cases.

8. Broken Link Checker – 3.27%

The Broken Link Checker is simply a plugin that checks for breached links but is not commonly utilized successful this illustration of sites. Google Search Console offers a study of 404 errors discovered by Googlebot which indicates breached interior and outer links. The breached nexus cheque tin besides beryllium accomplished with a bundle app similar Screaming Frog.

The Broken Link Checker plugin offers a cloud-based scanner and a section checker that uses website server resources to show the full website for breached links.

7. SEOPress – 4.81%

SEOPress is the seventh astir fashionable plugin successful the illustration of 140,000 sites that are hosted connected Kinsta. It’s a reasonably fashionable plugin with 300,000+ installations. all-in-one SEO plugin that facilitates contented optimization, schema implementation, and redirection management.

6. All successful One SEO – 5.11%

The sixth astir fashionable plugin is highly fashionable online, with 3+ cardinal installations. On Kinsta it’s installed connected 5.11% of sites successful this sample.

5. Imagify – 11.62%

Imagify is americium representation optimizer that reduces representation record sizes to amended website loading time. The popularity of these kinds of plugins whitethorn bespeak the deficiency of representation optimizing skills of the mean WordPress idiosyncratic arsenic it’s an casual happening to optimize an representation earlier uploading it. Less than 12% of sites connected Kinsta person installed it.

4. Rank Math – 18.32%

Rank Math is simply a highly fashionable SEO plugin with implicit 3 cardinal installations worldwide. So it’s not astonishing to spot that astir 20% of sites hosted connected Kinsta usage it.

3. WP Rocket – 19.10%

The #3 astir fashionable plugin is for show optimization, demonstrating however important website show is for publishers. WP Rocket performs record minification (makes codification smaller but removing blank spaces), lazy loading and database optimization. WP Rocket made their plugin compatible with Kinsta truthful that caching is handled astatine the server level by Kinsta alternatively of astatine the PHP level by the plugin. Handling caching astatine the server level is faster and uses little server resources. Caching astatine the server level is 1 of the benefits of a managed WordPress server.

2. Redirection – 26.85%

The Redirection plugin is utilized by astir 27% of users, which is funny due to the fact that redirection is thing that tin beryllium handled successful the built-in redirection manager instrumentality successful Kinsta’s dashboard. I usage the Redirection plugin connected immoderate of my sites and it does a batch much than redirects. The plugin features 404 mistake reporting which alerts users to a occupation similar a typo successful the URL of an outer oregon interior link, which tin beryllium fixed by redirecting the typo to the close URL. The plugin tin besides acceptable information headers, which is utile for strengthening tract security.

1. Yoast – 57.95%

Yoast is the astir fashionable plugin installed connected sites according to the scan Kinsta performed connected 140,000 sites. In a mode it’s not astonishing due to the fact that Yoast is installed connected implicit 10+ cardinal websites and is simply a trusted brand.

Takeaways:

The prime of plugins suggest what concerns WordPress users the most,  SEO, website performance, and due tract functioning.

Search Optimization

SEO is simply a beardown interest to WordPress users, with a combined full of 86.19% of users employing an SEO plugin. The tiny percent of users that instal a dedicated structured information plugin (1.75%) oregon XML sitemap generator (2.17%) indicates that astir users are satisfied with the built-in features of their SEO plugins.

Website Performance

Over 30% of managed WordPress big users successful the surveyed illustration of 140,000 sites are acrophobic capable astir show optimization to instal plugins (WP Rocket 19.10% and Imagify 11.62%).

Site Health Maintenance

Over 30% of sites are acrophobic that their sites are moving properly, arsenic evidenced by the magnitude of users that instal the Redirection and Broken Link Checker plugins.

Brand Trustworthiness

Over 95% of WordPress users crook to a sanction marque plugin:

• Yoast 57.95%
• WP Rocket 19.10%
• Rank Math 18.32%

These findings suggest that spot and reliability, broad functionality, and easiness of usage are important factors guiding the prime of WordPress plugins. It’s imaginable that trustworthy connection of rima recommendations and marque consciousness besides play a relation successful plugin choices.

Notable successful this survey of plugins that users see the champion is that information plugins did not marque the list. This is apt due to the fact that Kinsta provides built-in WordPress security, including 2 firewalls and enterprise-level DDoS protection.

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Asier Romero