Unit 10: WordPress SEO Plug-ins

Introduction:

As mentioned in Unit 9, WordPress’ native SEO abilities can be enhanced with the addition of plug-ins. There are many SEO plug-ins available with various ratings and reviews. Here is a link to the 8 Best WordPress SEO Plug-ins for 2024 (All Are Free) [1] so you can read up on this.

Note: In addition to SEO plug-ins, a list of the 40+ best WordPress plugins of 2024 can be found here [2]. We have tested and shortlisted the best plug-ins for enhancements, spam control, e-commerce, and more. Please bookmark these for future reference!

Admin and Site Enhancements (ASE) [3]: A lightweight plugin to easily enhance various admin aspects while replacing 20+ plugins, and here’s a video [4] that shows how to best configure it.
Solid Security [5]: Although ASE does provide some great basic security features as just part of their features, Solid Security provides more robust security with malware scanning and firewall protection.
WooCommerce [6]: Comprehensive e-commerce solution for product management and payments - only applicable if you are developing an e-commerce store.
UpdraftPlus [7]: Scheduled backups and easy restoration with cloud storage integration – only if your web host does not have automatic backups as part of your hosting plan.
WP Maintenance: [8] Although ASE does include a basic maintenance mode function, WP Maintenance is an easy-to-use plugin to create a more professional looking "maintenance mode" page.
WP Super Cache [9]: A completely free solution with flexible caching modes if you don't mind a more complex setup for advanced features.
WP Forms [10]: Drag-and-drop plugin interface to create contact, email, payment, subscription forms, and other types of forms. A great contact form builder for beginners!

Note: Although there are lots of plug-ins available, be sure to attend to installing those you are required to for this assignment.

Tip: It is always good idea to keep the installation of plugins and themes to a minimum so that your WordPress website runs smoothly. You should even delete inactive or unused themes. Unused themes could become outdated, and if they don’t receive updates, they could have security vulnerabilities. Please watch this video [11] for information on how to delete inactive themes.

The plug-ins you are required to install are listed in the Graded Assignments section below.

How to Choose a WordPress SEO Plug-in

A good SEO plug-in should have these qualities:

Clean and efficient code with multiple SEO features
Extensive documentation and good customer support with regular updates and compatibility

This video [12] walks you through the All in One SEO pack to demonstrate some of its more important features and settings.

Graded Assignments

Unit 10

Install these plug-ins:
1. All in One SEO [13], which easily improves SEO ranking and increases web traffic.
2. Pagination by BestWebSoft, [14] which is a simple and flexible pagination plug-in and provides users with better navigation on your WordPress site.
3. Smush [15], which optimizes and compresses images, so that your WordPress pages load faster.
Log in to Moodle [16] and post your blog link with username and password.
I will log in to the admin area of your blog to assess how well you have configured your plug-in settings. If applicable, please provide front-end links to demonstrate how the plug-in is being utilized there.

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