WP Super Cache

Most WordPress pages are created with PHP files and coding. While PHP files are incredibly effective when it comes to creating a blog or website they do have one drawback – their scripts (or instructions created by code) take a lot longer to process than standard HTML files.

The WP Super Cache plugin for WordPress solves the speed problem by generating an HTML file for every PHP file contained within your blog. When your webserver tries to view a file in order to run your site it will choose the HTML file over the PHP file, resulting in a page that loads much faster.

Why should you care about how fast your pages load? When people submit your posts to social networking sites (like digg.com, for example) the site will not only consider how many people have “Dugg” your work but how fast your page loads. The longer it takes for your page to load the less likely it is someone will actually stay on your page and read your information before moving on. Faster loading pages earn more attention from search engines, web crawlers, and social networking sites.

Why would you want to waste your time with blog writing if your page loads so slowly no one will ever see your work? All you have to do is install this plugin, activate it, and let it do its job.

For additional information and download instructions: WP Super Cache

EasyTube

Have you ever tried to imbed a YouTube or Google video on your blog only to find yourself lost in a maze of HTML coding? The EasyTube plugin for Wordpress was designed to make it easy for site owners and bloggers to imbed videos into their pages and posts with very little effort.

Once the plugin is installed you’ll activate it through your blog’s plugin menu. When it’s time to add a video to your post you’ll simply have to switch from the visual editor to the HTML editor, insert a set of brackets with the word ‘youtube’ and include the site address for the video between the code. The code will end up looking like this (with, of course, the link you want to use in place of the one shown):

Once you’ve finished, switch back to the visual editor in WordPress, continue editing your post, and publish or save it as usual. When the post publishes it you will see the video exactly where you placed the code. The code will automatically place a preview image of the video into your RSS feed as well.

You don’t need to know a ton about how to create a blog to get one up and running. With plugins like EasyTube your the learning curve is shortened even more.

For additional information and download instructions: EasyTube

Google Sitemap Generator

The Google Sitemap Generator plugin for WordPress allows bloggers to create XML-Sitemaps of their blogs. Sitemaps are important for search engine optimization because they automatically notify search engine web crawlers when new pages, posts, and other forms of information are added to a website. The sitemap will give the search engines valuable information regarding the last time each page on your site was updated, how often it is usually updated, and how important it is compared to other pages on your website.

Web crawlers usually learn about new website pages after finding links to them on other sites. Including a XML-Sitemap ensures you won’t have to rely on others linking back to individual pages on your site. While having an XML-Sitemap doesn’t guarantee your page will be indexed by search engines it significantly increases your chances of being listed by making the job of the web crawler easier.

The features of the Google Sitemap Generator plugin for WordPress include:

• The ability to customize all sitemap parameters
• Multi-language capabilities
• Automatic calculation of the priority each post should receive
• Automatic notification to Google, MSN Live Search, Ask.com, and YAHOO, and other search engines
• …and much more!

Every single time you add a new post or page, or update an existing one, your sitemap will automatically be updated and the search engines will be notified. Most webhosts who wish to create a blog include this plugin. It is compatible with WordPress versions 2.1 and over.

For additional information and download instructions: Google XML Sitemaps

All in One SEO Pack

The All in One SEO Pack plugin is one of the most popular WordPress plugins available today. The plugin allows you to easily optimize your blog so that it is search engine friendly from the start. It takes several complicated blogging tasks and simplifies them for you, making it easy for you to write your blog posts and go without wondering whether or not you’ve added extra code or written extra tags that will either help or hurt your search engine rankings.

The All in One SEO Pack includes a number of features. Some of those features are:

• The ability to support CMS-style WordPress installations;
• Automatic blog title optimization;
• Automatic META tag generation and the ability to edit any META tag or META keyword;
• Duplicate content solutions to help you avoid search engine penalties;
• Nonce security;
• Simple installation;
• and much more!

The All in One SEO Pack is designed to be compatible with the latest versions of WordPress and will allow you to manually fine-tune a number of different aspects of your blog. It’s easy to install and easy to use. There’s no reason for you to create a blog without installing this plugin.

For additional information and download instructions: All in One SEO Pack