Unveiling the 3 best WordPress plugins of the decade

It’s time to celebrate WordPress’s 21st birthday on May 27th by exploring the always-popular topic of plugins. We’re spotlighting your top three best WordPress plugins of the decade: Yoast SEO, Elementor, and WooCommerce. These plugins have widespread acclaim in web development circles, making adding functionality to your site super easy.

Our awesome EasyWP Telegram channel members voted on these top picks, so a big thank you to everyone who participated. Even if you are already familiar with these famous plugins, stick around as we unpack what makes each one a game-changer (and watch for the honorable mentions at the end). 

Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO is well known as one of the best WordPress plugins, offering a comprehensive suite of features designed to optimize your website’s search engine visibility and improve content quality.

Content optimization tools

From SEO title and meta description templates to informative content and readability reports, Yoast SEO ensures your content is friendly for search engines and readers alike. Content optimization makes your web pages easier to find and often easier to understand. A well-organized page benefits everyone, and Yoast SEO is the go-to option for over 5 million WordPress users.

Premium features for enhanced SEO

Yoast SEO Premium elevates your SEO game with AI-generated titles and meta descriptions, more schema integrations, inclusive language analysis, and integrations with leading tools like Semrush, Wincher, and Elementor. Additional perks include SEO workouts, estimated reading time, and a redirect manager to streamline your site’s navigation.

Educational resources and global support

Beyond its technical capabilities, Yoast SEO is committed to user education and support. It offers free and premium SEO training through the Yoast SEO Academy, alongside webinars, blogs, and comprehensive help resources. The plugin supports multiple languages, ensuring all WordPress users can optimize their sites effectively.

Elementor

Elementor, a trailblazing platform for website design and development, seamlessly integrates with WordPress, offering a drag-and-drop editor that revolutionizes content creation. The platform boasts over 100 widgets, enabling a wide array of design possibilities for web developers. 

Comprehensive design solutions 

From global colors and font management for a consistent web experience to an extensive library of full website Kits, Elementor equips users with everything needed for website creation. Although it wasn’t the first plugin to introduce drag-and-drop style editing to WordPress, with over 5 million active installations, it’s arguably the most popular. 

Advanced capabilities with Elementor Pro 

Purchasing a license for Elementor Pro offers access to additional widgets and advanced design features such as visual form builders, dynamic content support, and pre-built templates, enhancing the potential for professional and engaging websites.

Innovative technology at the head of its class

Elementor is built on industry-leading technologies that work with any hosting platform, including EasyWP and Namecheap shared hosting. This aspect gives you more flexibility than other WordPress design tools and closed-system web builders. The platform also fosters a strong community with resources like the Elementor Academy and a vibrant Facebook Community, providing users with extensive support and learning opportunities.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is a landmark of e-commerce flexibility and scalability on the WordPress platform. It is renowned for its comprehensive features that cater to businesses of all sizes. Even with Shopify’s estimated 4.4 million active stores, WooCommerce takes the crown with over 5 million active installations in WordPress. 

Product management and customization 

Quickly add, edit, and categorize all of your products with multiple variations and attributes. The huge library of themes and plugins allows for unrivaled customization to reflect your brand identity and respond to customer shopping patterns.

Seamless transactions and shipping

The WooCommerce plugin supports numerous secure payment gateways and offers flexible shipping options, ensuring a professional checkout experience for your customers. Its open-source nature allows for endless WordPress, so growing your store over time won’t require you to start from scratch.

Amazing analytics

Building an online business requires full access to traffic and purchase patterns from real customers on your website. WooCommerce gives you all this, with standard and customizable reports that give you insights about the real people who visit your store. So, when you have questions about why a particular page or product isn’t performing, you don’t have to jump through hoops to find the answer. 

Honorable mentions: WPForms and Contact Forms 7

While Yoast SEO, Elementor, and WooCommerce were the clear winners in our poll, two other plugins—WPForms and Contact Form 7 — were close behind. For this reason, these two form plugins deserve honorable mentions for turning a conventional WordPress site feature into an advanced lead-generation asset. 

WPForms

• With over 6,000,000 users, WPForms offers unlimited forms, payment fields, a drag-and-drop builder, a live preview, and over 1,600 form templates.
• This plugin simplifies form addition with an Embed button for automatic shortcode insertion.
• WPForms supports various spam protection features and offers form revisions, setting it apart from its competitors.

Contact Form 7

• While a newbie might ask, “What about Contact Forms 1 through 6,” experienced WordPress users know that Contact Form 7 is a household name in some circles.
• With millions of active installations, it remains a popular choice for its basic and reliable functionality.
• While this plugin only supports basic integrations, the appeal comes from its one-click setup process and easy-to-use interface. Sometimes, your site just needs a simple contact form you can depend on.

What are the best WordPress plugins of the future?

As we celebrate WordPress’s 21st birthday, it’s clear that plugins like Yoast SEO, Elementor, and WooCommerce have been absolute powerhouses. But will these remain the top choices in the decade to come? As websites become even more complex, will new plugins rise to meet evolving needs? Only time will tell. One thing’s for sure: WordPress and its incredible community will keep finding new ways to make building amazing websites easier than ever. The future of WordPress plugins is in your hands, and we can’t wait to see what you’ll create. For even more plugin inspiration and power-up tips, head over to our WordPress plugin resource page.