Okay, first I have to start with a big caveat: I’m not currently using all of these plugins in www.wordimpressive.com. Whew, now that’s out of the way, one more cautionary note: Don’t go plugin crazy. Adding a plugin to your Wordpress site is like making a long-term commitment — it is not something to take lightly. Plugins can interact negatively with one another and can take hours to find out why something isn’t working right. Don’t ask me how I know.
Twitter for Wordpress: Maybe you’ve got a lot to say to your audience, but it comes in fits and starts. If you are a Twittermouth, try this one in a sidebar. It comes as a widget and will potentially drive your readers to your Twitter profile and potentially your Twitter followers will hop onto your site now and then. Likewise, regular updates tend to keep Googlebot happy with seeing changes to your site.
MultiFeedSnap: This one is more “Web 2.0″ than “social networking,” but what the hey. It is great for embedding RSS feeds right into your content post. What I like about it is that you can build a page that is essentially a dynamic directory of content. It will, of course, update based on the schedule of the remote feed. Neat, huh? I’m using it on a site I have built for my day job, you can check out an example of MultiFeedSnap here at ClarkVoices, where we’ve used it to pull in a podcast of Alumni interviews.
TubePress: Have video content from YouTube that you want to integrate with your Wordpress site? Learn a single line of Wordpress “shortcode” and you will be on your way to adding YouTube Galleries to your postings. Humor me again, and check out how these YouTube galleries display in ClarkVoices. Not just individual videos, but entire playlists can be referenced.
Smart Youtube: Maybe you just need the simple capability of adding a YouTube video now and then. If this is the need, then this little plugin is just great. No need to copy the YouTube embed code. Once this add-on is installed and activated, you just plunk in the URL to the YouTube video, with the little addition of a “v” in the address, after the “http” and voila’, you have an embedded video. Simple and nice: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWYi4_COZMU
I Love Social Bookmarking: I’ve reviewed a number of these, and they function in a pretty similar fashion, but this one presents very well. Getting “slashdotted” is really a good problem to have, and building inbound links is essential for gaining ground with your organic search placement. So you really MUST get social book marking, and this one is a good one to have, it installs easy, and requires no fiddling with PHP code, as some do.
Now is a good time for a housekeeping note: keep your plugins updated! As fabulous as they may seem, all software is constantly improved, and you don’t want to miss out on new features. Likewise, assuming you are keeping your Wordpress updated, you want to make sure your plugins are “keeping up” with the latest release that you are no doubt running. Also be sure and test and review functionality after each update. Did I mention this is a long-term commitment?
The add-on’s I’ve featured are great for adding dynamic content. They give an additional sense that your site is alive with changing content, and that is valuable, without a doubt. However, it is not really a substitute for presenting and sourcing original, quality content on your site. Now we all know that the Google-rithm is a mysterious proprietary thing and while Googlebot will index your new content, your site map won’t be updated. By the way, the Google XML Site Maps plugin is a must-have, but that’s a topic for another entry!
