8 Should-Haves for Constructing a WordPress Weblog in 2021 • The Dumb Passive Earnings Weblog

It’s humorous how my life as an web marketer has advanced through the years. I’ve been running a blog and creating web sites and making an attempt to determine tips on how to strike it wealthy on-line for about 10 years now! I’m nonetheless not an web millionaire – however I certain am having enjoyable alongside the way in which, whereas I attempt to obtain that elusive purpose.

I like creating WordPress web sites. A lot has modified with WordPress and running a blog within the 10 years that I’ve been at it. Right this moment, the choices and instruments that we have now obtainable have made it simpler than ever earlier than to create wonderful blogs and web sites. I’ve used so many different instruments and plugins through the years. I made a decision to create this revealing submit itemizing out my prime 8 must-haves for constructing a WordPress weblog in 2021.

Listed beneath are the instruments that I take advantage of (or have used) on my present web sites. I do know there are good alternate options to many of those and I might embrace these as properly. However for simplicity’s sake, I made a decision to solely embrace the instruments that I truly use on this submit.

1) WordPress Internet hosting

An excellent host is the place all of it begins. In case you have crappy internet hosting – it’s only a matter of time earlier than you could have complications that you simply want you didn’t need to cope with.

My prime advice for internet hosting is what I’m utilizing on this weblog proper now!

WP Engine – Managed WordPress Internet hosting

WP Engine is definitely my prime advice for internet hosting. They aren’t low-cost – however like I at all times say – you get what you pay for. I’ve been with WP Engine for 7 or 8 years now and I’ve by no means appeared again. I’ve been extraordinarily happy with WP Engine as my internet hosting supplier, for a lot of causes.

CLICK HERE to take a look at WP Engine internet hosting

SiteGround – Internet hosting

SiteGround is my 2nd alternative for internet hosting – if you happen to don’t wish to pay WP Engine costs. I used SiteGround for a number of of my websites for about 3 years and had no complaints. I’d nonetheless have websites on SiteGround internet hosting if I didn’t resolve to downsize my web site portfolio and consolidate every little thing over to my WP Engine account. SiteGround is a unbelievable host with cheap pricing.

CLICK HERE to take a look at SiteGround internet hosting

Bluehost – Internet hosting

Bluehost will not be a nasty internet hosting platform for a model new blogger. For those who’re on the lookout for extraordinarily low-cost internet hosting, simply to get began, Bluehost is likely to be a great possibility for you. I’ve identified numerous bloggers through the years who began on Bluehost and caught with them and by no means had any points. I used Bluehost myself after I began out – certainly one of their low-cost shared internet hosting plans. Customer support and assist was nice. I ended up shifting away after I upgraded to a a lot better host at WP Engine. However – if you happen to’re on a finances, Bluehost is a superb host for newbie bloggers!

CLICK HERE to take a look at Bluehost internet hosting

2) A Good WordPress Theme

After internet hosting, the subsequent most necessary facet of beginning a WordPress weblog is choosing a great theme. After making an attempt many, many themes during the last decade – I’ve settled on only one WordPress theme that I now use on all of my WordPress websites. Prior to now, I’d select totally different themes primarily based on their options and what I needed to perform for every website. Now – I take advantage of only one extremely customizable and light-weight theme that will get the job performed for each single certainly one of my websites!

GeneratePress – WordPress Theme

GeneratePress is definitely a FREE theme you can obtain within the WordPress repository! The free model is ample – particularly for freshmen! They do have a Premium improve obtainable that provides you a LOT extra customization choices and performance. GeneratePress’s Premium improve is cheap and price each single penny! You possibly can actually change each final facet of your website, from colours & fonts, to layouts & sizes, and each different primary perform of WordPress.

After utilizing GeneratePress for a number of years now – I can’t see why I’d ever want to contemplate a unique theme. GeneratePress is blazing quick, light-weight on the again finish, 100% customizable, and very straightforward to grasp and use.

CLICK HERE to take a look at GeneratePress

3) Straightforward-to-Use Web page Builder

Including a web page builder instrument to your WordPress weblog will not be obligatory – relying on what you wish to accomplish and what your theme already provides. However – if you’d like to have the ability to create 100% customizable touchdown pages and different parts on your website – a great web page builder simply is likely to be the way in which to go.

Elementor – Web page Builder

Elementor might be THE #1 web page builder for WordPress proper now. Elementor is a FREE plugin within the WordPress repository with an obtainable paid improve so as to add a great deal of performance. One nice facet about Elementor – they’re open supply, that means different builders can create add-ons and plugins that work with Elementor so as to add much more performance!

I’ve been utilizing Elementor fairly a bit over the previous few years. I’ve Elementor Professional (their paid premium improve) and I now set up Elementor on each single website that I run. It’s simply SO straightforward to make use of and I can simply create pages with superior parts that I previously would have paid an expert WordPress developer to create for me.

CLICK HERE to take a look at Elementor

4) Amazon Affiliate WordPress Plugin

For those who plan to earn money together with your weblog as an Amazon affiliate (and why wouldn’t you?) – then you’ll positively desire a good WordPress plugin that connects your weblog to Amazon through their API. Amazon offers just a few free choices so that you can add affiliate hyperlinks to your weblog – however they aren’t superb. An excellent WordPress plugin will robotically pull in photos and knowledge from Amazon which can preserve you compliant with Amazon’s insurance policies and make it THAT a lot simpler to insert affiliate hyperlinks.

AmaLinks Professional – Premium WordPress Plugin for Amazon Associates

AmaLinks Professional is a PAID WordPress plugin that does every little thing I discussed within the earlier paragraph, and extra! Most often, I’d solely advocate spending cash on a instrument (like a WordPress plugin) if you happen to suppose it’s going that can assist you earn more cash than it prices. That is precisely the case with AmaLinks Professional. If used accurately on a weblog that will get visitors – AmaLinks Professional pays for itself over and again and again!

In case you didn’t know – I’m truly the co-founder of AmaLinks Professional. I beforehand used and liked and promoted a unique plugin for Amazon associates – however that plugin fell by the wayside. I searched for an additional good resolution and couldn’t discover one – so I teamed up with a WordPress developer and we created AmaLinks Professional! Right this moment – AmaLinks Professional is THE main WordPress plugin for Amazon associates. It’s the simplest to make use of, by far – and the performance it offers is second to none.

CLICK HERE to take a look at AmaLinks Professional

5) WordPress search engine marketing Plugin

If you need free visitors from search engines like google (and who doesn’t?) – a great search engine marketing plugin for WordPress is important. An excellent one will just about stroll you thru all the on-page search engine marketing issues that you should do for every submit or web page. Along with this primary stuff – a great WordPress search engine marketing plugin can even do the backend search engine marketing stuff robotically – like making a sitemap for the various search engines.

RankMath search engine marketing

For a few years, Yoast search engine marketing was the go-to WordPress search engine marketing plugin that just about all people used and most of the people beneficial. Nothing else even got here shut. However that isn’t the case anymore. There’s a new sheriff on the town and it is named RankMath search engine marketing.

You see – when Yoast first began, it was fully free and it had a great deal of helpful performance. Over time, the free performance appeared to dwindle and among the finest options for Yoast have been now hidden behind a paywall for his or her Premium model.

RankMath additionally has a FREE and a paid model – however their free model is greater than ample for MOST bloggers who simply want some primary search engine marketing performance. RankMath at this time is what Yoast was a few years in the past… the BEST (free) search engine marketing WordPress plugin that exists.

For those who’re already utilizing Yoast in your website – RankMath has a easy one-click import instrument. It’s tremendous straightforward to modify over to RankMath! For those who’re simply beginning out with a model new website – I HIGHLY advocate utilizing RankMath from the very starting. RankMath could be discovered and put in straight from the WordPress repository, or you possibly can…

CLICK HERE to take a look at RankMath

6) Inside Linking Device

In case you are severe about search engine marketing, one factor that you’ll study (if you happen to don’t comprehend it already) is that inside linking is essential. That means, try to be linking to different posts/pages in your weblog from every of your posts/pages. That is enormously useful for search engine marketing for a lot of causes. You can do that manually – through the use of your head to recollect what posts you printed up to now and ensuring you hyperlink to them out of your new content material. Likewise, you possibly can add hyperlinks out of your outdated (current) posts pointing to your new content material. Doing this manually is ineffective and actually difficult! Fortunately, there’s a useful gizmo to assist with this course of.

Hyperlink Whisper

Hyperlink Whisper is a premium WordPress plugin (that means it’s not free) that works phenomenally properly to help you together with your inside linking. You possibly can run a report in your complete website and it offers you hyperlinks ideas. Then, you merely examine just a few bins and click on a button and it robotically provides all the hyperlinks to your current posts!

Moreover, Hyperlink Whisper provides inside linking performance to your Publish or Web page edit screens. As you might be writing an article – hyperlink ideas seem straight on the edit display screen!

If I’m beginning a model new web site in 2021 and I wish to optimize for search engine visitors – Hyperlinks Whisper is completely one of many must-have instruments that I recommend anyone add to their WordPress web site.

CLICK HERE to take a look at Hyperlink Whisper

7) WordPress Types Plugin

Most WordPress web sites will probably want a kind someplace or one other. On the very least, on the Contact web page. All through the years, I’ve used many various plugins to simply create and embed types on my websites. There are a number of free choices within the WordPress repository – and for many bloggers, certainly one of these free choices is greater than ample. Two of the extra in style ones off the highest of my head are Contact Type 7 and WP Types. They’re each good. However my WordPress wants have advanced from getting by with ‘adequate’ and I wanted to maneuver as much as the easiest.

Gravity Types

I wanted the flexibility to create extra complicated types with heaps extra integration choices and kind options. I moved as much as Gravity Types and I’ve by no means appeared again! After utilizing Gravity Types on certainly one of my websites for my extra complicated wants – I began utilizing it on all of my websites simply because I like how straightforward it really works. It doesn’t damage that there are tons and tons of free WP plugin add-ons designed particularly to work along with Gravity Types for a lot of varied wants. Gravity Types will not be free – however to me, it’s now on my listing of ‘must-haves’ for all of my WordPress web sites.

CLICK HERE to take a look at Gravity Types

8) Hyperlink Shortening Plugin

A hyperlink shortening plugin is sort of important for any WordPress web site. What does it do? It lets you create shorter (better-looking) hyperlinks utilizing your individual area title for choose hyperlinks (inside or exterior). Listed here are 2 examples of shortened hyperlinks that I take advantage of on this weblog…

Inside Shortened Hyperlink (hyperlink to my Begin Right here web page)

• Precise URL: https://dumbpassiveincome.com/how-to-start-with-passive-income-online/
• Quick URL: https://dumbpassiveincome.com/begin

Exterior Shortened Hyperlink (affiliate hyperlink for SiteGround internet hosting)

• Precise URL: https://www.siteground.com/index.htm?afcode=49119b176b26f3d311fa6e30ea18b46f
• Quick URL: https://dumbpassiveincome.com/siteground

As you possibly can see, the shortened hyperlinks look higher and simply make every little thing simpler. I’ve been utilizing one instrument to create and handle most of these shortened hyperlinks for just about my complete time on WordPress.

Fairly Hyperlinks

Fairly Hyperlinks is a FREE WordPress plugin (within the WP repository) with a paid improve possibility if you’d like extra performance. I’ve used solely the free model on all of my websites for the previous 10 years! It does what I want it to do. It’s easy. It simply works!

The fantastic thing about utilizing a instrument like Fairly Hyperlinks for affiliate hyperlinks is you can simply change out the goal URL everytime you need. For instance… say I used that SiteGround brief URL (created with Fairly Hyperlinks) on 37 totally different posts on my weblog. Then someday SiteGround decides to alter up their associates program and my affiliate hyperlink URL for them adjustments. As a result of I used Fairly Hyperlinks to create this shortened URL, and I used the brief URL in all 37 posts, I solely want to alter my goal URL as soon as in Fairly Hyperlinks and it robotically adjustments for all 37 posts the place the brief URL already exists! It could be an absolute nightmare to attempt to discover and alter that hyperlink in 37 totally different posts.

This is the reason a plugin like Fairly Hyperlinks is completely important if you happen to plan to do any kind of internet online affiliate marketing out of your WordPress web site or weblog.

CLICK HERE to take a look at Fairly Hyperlinks

Honorable Mentions

Listed here are just a few different WordPress plugins or instruments that I take advantage of. These will not be essentially “must-haves” for ALL of my websites, however they’re actually helpful instruments which can be price mentioning.

• ManageWP – if you happen to run a number of WordPress web sites – this instrument helps you keep on prime of all of it. Replace ALL plugins on all your websites with only one click on! And it does a lot extra… Undoubtedly price testing
• Social Warfare – solely the most effective social sharing plugin for WordPress that exists! Tremendous quick, very slick consumer interface, and very straightforward to make use of.
• WP Affiliate Disclosure – for associates who want to stay compliant with FTC tips and/or Amazon Affiliate insurance policies – as defined right here on the AmaLinks Professional weblog
• Basic Editor – as a result of I simply don’t just like the default Block ‘Gutenberg’ Editor that WordPress determined to set because the default editor in 2019 – I ‘grew up’ on the Basic Editor and I nonetheless want it as a result of I can work SO a lot sooner with it. Writing a weblog submit within the Basic Editor is extra like typing in a phrase processor. The brand new Block Editor is like working with a web page builder instrument.

Constructing a WordPress Weblog in 2021

Given the circumstances that befell the planet in 2020… 2021 is shaping as much as be one of the vital phenomenal durations of time to be an web entrepreneur! Contactless buying is on the rise and it’s not going away anytime quickly. Persons are spending cash on-line anyway – so why not begin a weblog and direct individuals to on-line retailers so you possibly can earn some commissions alongside the way in which?!?

If you have already got a weblog – take into account making an attempt out among the instruments listed above. Take it from me, primarily based on years of expertise. Many of those instruments will vastly enhance your WordPress expertise. Now get to it. Good Day!

Picture Credit score: “The Artwork of WordPress” by mkhmarketing through Flickr