Top 10 Wordpress Plugins 2011
John Wright 
Wordpress is the most popular Content Management System (CMS) and here is our top 10 Wordpress plugins for 2011 we recommend for our webmasters and affiliates. Get these free plugins like HeadSpace 2, Google XML Sitemaps and WP Super Cache.
Wordpress is the number one Content Management System (CMS) out there and this article focuses on just the Top 10 Wordpress Plugins we recommend that you should have.
Wordpress facts: has around 7 million downloads with over 14,000 plugins that have been downloaded around 175 million times!
All of these plugins are not only free but are commonly used by top-ranking webmasters.
These tools range from SEO plugins to social media automation like Twitter Tools.
Each plugin is listed below and explained in detail especially why you need it.
HeadSpace2 - SEO plugin
HeadSpace2 is our recommended SEO plugin which helps your pages and posts to easier define everything from tags, keywords, descriptions and page titles.
All webmasters that want or need search engine traffic should have some type of all in one seo plugin.
HeadSpace2 is one of many SEO plugins but others more or less do the same thing but only use one plugin only.
The most popular one is All in One SEO Pack.
Plugin Downloads: 400,000 HeadSpace2 SEO PluginGoogle XML Sitemaps
This plugin will automatically create an XML sitemap for your website which will make it easier to get your pages and posts indexed in Google, Yahoo and Bing search engines.
What this sitemap will do for you is notify the most important search engines when new content is created.
Plugin Downloads: 5,153,000 Google XML Sitemaps PluginYoast Breadcrumbs
Before explaining this tool, breadcrumbs is a name that refers to a trail of links that usually appears at the top of a page and aims to help the user understand and navigate the part of the directory they are in.
There are a few breadcrumbs plugins you can use but other similar plugins as well. This plugin just automates the process of creating these links on your pages.
Plugin Downloads: 107,000 Yoast Breadcrumbs PluginGoogle Analytics for Wordpress
Google Analytics is almost a must have webmaster tool you should use.
If you don't know how to install the GA code manually then this plugin makes it even easier to install.
If you prefer to use an analytics tool that doesn't belong to Google then you can try WP-Piwik or Piwik Analytics.
Plugin Downloads: 79,000
Google Analytics Plugin
Contact Form 7
Contact Form is a very basic plugin that allows you to create and manage multiple contact forms and saves you from publishing your email on your website, which can get you more unwanted spam.
This form also supports CAPTCHA and Akismet spam filtering.
Plugin Downloads: 3,736,000 Contact Form 7 PluginRedirection
The Redirection plugin helps you redirect pages and is helpful in migrating pages from an older site to make sure you are making the most of your traffic.
As you add 301 redirects you can keep track of how many visitors have been redirected.
Plugin Downloads: 574,000 Redirection PluginTwitter Tools
This tool simply integrates Twitter with your wordpress website such that your blog posts can automatically generate twitter posts.
Plugin Downloads: 804,000 Twitter Tools PluginFD Feedburner Plugin
Redirects all your feeds to Feedburner.com
Plugin Downloads: 258,000 FD Feedburner PluginDigg Digg
Although the social network Digg.com has taken a beating the past year this plugin is still very useful as it lets you integrate many social buttons onto your pages or posts.
You can get Digg, LinkedIn, Reddit, TweetMeme, Yahoo Buzz, Facebook, Google Buzz, Twitter and a lot more.
Plugin Downloads: 195,000
Digg Digg Plugin
WP Super Cache
This plugin is used to cache your website such that most of your visitors will get static html files and save on your server load.
If you can reduce the load on your servers then you'll ensure your webpages load fast and we know that faster loading pages are good for your users and it is something that might help your search engine results by reducing your bounce rate.
Plugin Downloads: 2, 248,000 WP Super Cache Plugin
Closing Comments
Over time some of these plugins may degrade or be replaced by something far superior.
If you find something that is better or you strongly feel should be added to this article please send us some feedback and email us.
