30+ best WordPress plugins

Plugins can extend WordPress to do almost anything you can imagine. They can help you track visitors. They can allow readers to rate your posts. They can protect you from spam. They can allow visitors to easily like your content on Facebook. They can help you create photo galleries.

And there are thousands of them. Find them all here. Here are step-by-step instructions on how to install WordPress plugins.

Below are some recommended WordPress plugins. I put my favorites in bold.

• Akismet - blocks spam comments from your site
• Google Analytics for WordPress - tracks your page views, visits and more using your Google Analtyics account.
• Addthis - lets readers share your content on social sites/email
• Wibiya - Adds a social toolbar to the bottom of your site
• WPTouch - creates a mobile-friendly version of your site
• HelloBar - Adds a promo bar across the top of your site
• Snow, balloons and more - adds snow and balloons to your page
• Greetbox - suggests to your new visitors that they follow your RSS feed
• WordPress SEO - give you more control over the SEO on your site
• Shareaholic - give you stylish social sharing buttons
• Digg Digg - add a floating bar of sharing buttons
• Social Sharing Toolkit - add social buttons to your site
• All in one video pack - helps you put videos on your site
• WordPress audio player - lets you embed audio file on your site
• NextGEN Gallery - creates photo galleries
• Photo Galleria - create a slideshow
• Portfolio Slideshow - create a slideshow of photos or your portfolio items
• GD Star Rating - lets readers rate your posts
• FD Feedburner - Converts your RSS feed to a Feedburner feed (which give you analytics)
• Search and replace - find code and replace with something else. Useful when moving your site.
• Relevanssi - better WordPress search
• Quick Page/Post Redirect - redirect one URL to another
• Maintenance mode - take your site offline to work on something
• Social Metrics - track how much your content is shared on social media
• Social profiles - link to our social sites in your sidebar
• Simple Social Icons - Display your social networks in a widget
• Plugin Performance Profiler - find out which plugins are slowing down your site
• Pinterest-related plugins - for your pinning pleasure
• Simplereach slide - recommends related posts on your page
• Simple Facebook Comments - add comments via Facebook to your site
• SocialBox - display your social follower numbers via a widget
• Livefrye - advanced commenting functionality
• Simply Instagram - display your Instagram feed