Seems like everyone is using wordpress to run their blogs and some use it to run websites built on the wordpress platform. I have both, I have this blog and a few others that I run and I also have some eBay sites that I run that are built on wordpress using the phpBay plugin. One of the cooler things about wordpress is the handy plugins that are available. Most of the plugins I use help SEO since my eBay sites all rely on organic traffic.

I have a list of plugins I install on every blog/site that I create using wordpress. Of the almost 30 sites I run, only three of them are not built on the wordpress platform. So here is my list of handy dandy wordpress plugins to help increase productivity.

All in One SEO Pack
This plugin allows you to setup your Meta data on each and every page/post that you create. You can set the title, the description and the keywords that are related to your post/page. This is the first plugin I install on my all wordpress sites.

Evermore
While this plugin doesn’t necessarily provide any SEO value that I know of, it is handy in the fact it will only show a brief of the post on your front page to save some space. You can see it in motion on skeever.com.

Exclude pages from Navigation
Not wanting a certain page to show up in the main navigation of your blog or site? Well then this is a kick in the pants. Once activated you will be able to check or uncheck any page you don’ want to show up in said navigation.

Google XML Sitemaps
Activate this plugin and it will create a XML sitemap of your site that you can submit to the search engines. It will also update it automatically as you create pages and posts.

Ozh’ Admin Drop Down Menu
Ever thought it was a pain to navigate through the backend of your wordpress? For me it was just impatience, having to click 3 links to get there I wanted. I saw this plugin and added it to my arsenal immediately. Once activated it will make the dashboard options appear as dropdown menus. Snootch!

PhpBay
This has to be one of the coolest plugins I use, I don’t use it on this site but I have 3 eBay sites that use this awesome little plugin to make me money. Since first starting to use this plugin, I have increased my monthly eBay commission every month. This won’t make you rich by any means but if you are like me and think on a ridiculously large scale then having 25 or 50 eBay sites could just possibly pay your monthly salary, easily. This is the only plugin I use that I had to pay for and it was sooo worth it!

Wordpress Auto Upgrade
I hate upgrading to the latest and greatest version of wordpress, absolutely hate it. That is only because when I first started with wordpress I ended up losing mysql database and lost about 5 months worth of 3-4 weekly posts. Then I found this little gem, it will alert you as to when to upgrade wordpress and takes you step by step in upgrading. It backups it all up for you and then updates the wordpress files. A definite must have!

Flexi Pages Widget
Now if you have lots and lots of pages or categories or run a online stores like eBay sites then this is super neat. It will make drop down menus for you. When you visitors click on a category lets say Cell Phone then in the drop down it will list all the cell phone categories that you have. Check it out!!

WPSB – Opt in
Now this isn’t a plugin, it’s a widget that you setup in your sidebar. I use it for newsletter signups to certain sites of mine. While it’s not active on all my sites, it is handy to have on tap for when you build a site that needs it. I definitely include this on all my phpBay sites if only to create customer interaction.

Vipers Video Quicktags
Adding video to your wordpress blog has never been easier. Posting video to your blog/site can get more visitors, plus everyone loves video…right?

Privacy Policy
I was excited when I found this plugin, as it will create a privacy policy page for you. You just input some information and bam, you have a privacy policy. The site I originally downloaded this from is down so you can download the plugin right here from this site.

Dagon Design Sitemap Generator
What the eff? We already covered sitemaps earlier, right? Well this is a cool plugin as it will create a page with links to all your posts and pages if a visitor of your decides they want to see what kind of content you are providing. I use this in conjunction with the XML sitemaps plugin on every site of mine.

Robots Meta
Ever searched on goog and found that your wordpress login page has been indexed? That sucks for sure! Well this handy little tool allows you to setup what you want the robots to index.

SEO Smart Links
You should be linking to other posts and pages on your site within almost every post or page you create. It helps with the SEO structure of your site. This plugin will help you in that aspect. Word…

SEO Friendly Images
Another wonderful tool for your SEO, this plugin will take care of SEO behind your images on your blog. As you know you should be naming your images accordingly to your niche and filling in the alt text. This could lead to visitors through google images or the like.

Google Positioner
Analytics are the lifeblood of any online business. Knowing what keywords brought visitors in is a big deal. I love analytics so this plugin is super cool. It will help you keep track of your keywords performance. A+++

SEO Slugs
A good practice in SEO is to setup the url structure of your site. When you create a post title that is rather long, it doesn’t necessarily help your SEO. So this nifty little plugin will take a post title like – /what-you-can-do-immediately-for-better-business-leads to /immediately-better-business-leads.

Now go out and make your wordpress site all it can be! Have fun..

Snootch!