However, it is not the number of plug-ins that can cause the problem, but their quality.
Determining how many WordPress plug-ins to install can be a challenge because it depends on a variety of factors. This includes the type of website you are running, the server performance of your web hosting provider, and the size of your site.
In this article, we discussed possible problems with installing too many WordPress plug-ins and provided some best practices for optimizing your site with premium plug-ins.
- Why do WordPress sites need plug-ins
- How many WordPress plug-ins are appropriate?
- The problem of too many plug-ins
- Best practices for choosing the right plug-in
- How to prevent plug-in problems
Why do WordPress sites need plug-ins
Using WordPress plug-ins is a great way to enhance the features and functionality of your site without having to write any code yourself. With more than 58000 free plug-ins, WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems (CMS) today.
Plug-ins can be built on existing functionality in the WordPress core, or new features can be introduced entirely. Therefore, there are many benefits to using plug-ins on your WordPress site. Great plug-ins can:
Strengthen security. Just as a computer needs antivirus software to protect it from malicious attacks, sites need security plug-ins to protect it. In addition to choosing secure hosting, security plug-ins can also make websites less vulnerable to data leaks and malware.
Improve the function. The WordPress plug-in improves site functionality by, for example, periodically clearing caches, databases, and reducing HTTP requests to optimize site performance.
Optimize availability. From blogs to e-commerce sites, WordPress plug-ins help improve the user experience. For example, the contact form plug-in makes it easier for visitors to contact you directly. If your business provides services, please consider using the booking plug-in so that customers can make an appointment on the spot.
Improve marketing performance. Various WordPress plug-ins can support your business’s digital marketing strategy and provide valuable suggestions to improve performance. These include SEO plug-ins, social media sharing plug-ins and Google Analytics plug-ins.
How many WordPress plug-ins are appropriate?
When deciding how many WordPress plug-ins to install, the general rule is that quality trumps quantity. That’s because poorly coded plug-ins can damage the performance of the entire site.
Another key factor to keep in mind is that having a large number of WordPress plug-ins puts additional pressure on server resources. Therefore, more plug-ins do not necessarily lead to better performance.
When deciding how many plug-ins to install, consider the type of website you are running. For example, recommended plug-ins for e-commerce sites are not necessarily useful for blogs.
The problem of too many plug-ins
Having too many active plug-ins can affect the performance, SEO strategy, and conversion rate of WordPress sites.
If the site loads for more than three seconds, about 40% of people will leave, resulting in a high bounce rate. More importantly, no one wants to face frequent website crashes or mistakes.
Before deciding which WordPress plug-ins to install on your site, consider the following problems that may occur due to too many plug-ins.
Poor speed and performance
Installing too many plug-ins on a website can slow down its response time and affect overall performance. In addition to the quality of plug-ins, plug-in incompatibility issues may also slow down the speed of the site.
The speed of the site is critical to its success, which means it’s important to consider whether you really need that extra plug-in.
Poor website performance can even promote or disrupt sales. Studies have shown that an one-second delay in page response may reduce sales conversion by 7%.
In addition, Google punishes slower sites by ranking lower on the search engine results page (SERP).
Sites with high bounce rates also perform worse in SERP because they don’t meet users’ search intentions. This means that any search engine optimization (SEO) work becomes redundant.
Plug-in quality and compatibility
WordPress and its plug-ins are written in the PHP programming language, an open source scripting language. This means that any WordPress user with coding knowledge can contribute to the development of plug-ins.
Each time a new plug-in is installed, its code runs on the site’s managed server and extends the functionality of the WordPress core.
Too many plug-ins will slow down your website because:
- Bloated storage space. This can be caused by too many database queries and additional HTTP requests that occur every time a visitor’s browser tries to load a web page.
- Compatibility issues due to plug-in quality. Not all plug-ins have the same coding. Usually, the slow speed of a website is caused by a bad plug-in and its incompatibility with other plug-ins.
Plug-in type
The WordPress plug-in mainly runs at the front end or the back end of the site will also affect the overall speed of the site.
For example, plug-ins that run mainly in the backend or administrative area do not have much impact on performance. These include backup plug-ins and editing plug-ins.
On the other hand, plug-ins that run mainly at the front end of the site are more likely to affect performance due to additional database and HTTP requests. These may include contact forms and booking plug-ins.
Errors and crashes
Having a large number of plug-ins also increases the risk of website errors and crashes.
For example, 500 internal server errors are usually caused by bad plug-ins. If the plug-in contains malicious scripts in its code or is unable to handle additional HTTP requests, the Web site may encounter these problems after an update or new installation.
Similarly, plug-ins may cause 503 service unavailability errors. If this happens after installing or updating a new WordPress plug-in, it could be the culprit.
Lack of reliability
With so many free WordPress plug-ins available, it’s hard to determine which ones are reliable and which are not. Due to the lack of developer support and plug-in updates, many problems cannot be solved.
As a result, installing too many WordPress plug-ins on your site will increase your chances of encountering unreliable or poorly coded plug-ins.
Security threat
Installing too many plug-ins increases the risk of security vulnerabilities. These can lead to data leaks, network attacks, or malware infections.
If you are unlucky and end up installing poorly coded or outdated plug-ins on your site, it may threaten the integrity of the entire site and its good plug-ins.
Best practices for choosing the right plug-in
We know how daunting it is to determine which plug-ins are necessary and which ones are best avoided. To ensure that you only install reliable and secure plug-ins, it is helpful to follow these best practices.
Check the comments and reputation of the plug-in
One of the most reliable strategies for installing WordPress plug-ins is to select only reputable plug-ins.
Of course, you can check out many articles and lists that outline some of the best WordPress plug-ins. These articles are usually reliable, but be sure to cross-check the data and make sure that the plug-in is actually recommended by multiple sources.
You can also take some simple steps to determine whether the WordPress plug-in is reputable and does not damage your site. To do this, check the plug-in’s
- Last update. Plug-ins that are updated regularly are more secure than those that have not been updated for more than six months.
- Total downloads. More than 100000 active installations are usually the security benchmark for determining reputable plug-ins.
- Comments. Select plug-ins with an average score of 4 stars or higher.
- Tabs are supported. A reputable plugin has an active support forum. You can also view the number of issues that have been resolved to measure the reliability of the plug-in.
- The code. If possible, check the plug-in’s code before installing and make sure it doesn’t have any malicious scripts.
- Developer. Check to see if the plug-in is produced by well-known and well-known developers by looking at their other WordPress plug-in contributions.
Install only the necessary plug-ins
Before installing more plug-ins, you must consider the size, scope, and requirements of the site to ensure optimal performance. Keep in mind that sites that perform poorly can also be affected in terms of SEO. This means that it is important to be highly selective about the plug-ins to be installed.
For example, most WordPress sites can benefit from security plug-ins that prevent network attacks, scan for malware, or block suspicious users.
However, specific plug-ins that offer multiple payment methods are of the same value to blogs as they are to e-commerce sites.
A good way to avoid unnecessary plug-ins is to study the best plug-ins recommended for specific site types. Enter your site type or niche market in the WordPress plug-in search bar, such as “e-commerce” for recommendations.
Pre-installation test
Many WordPress plug-ins provide demo versions to try them out before installing them on a Web site. Unless you are sure that the free plug-in is reliable and practical, we recommend that you do not immediately install the plug-in on the real-time site.
This may be inconvenient for you and visitors to your site, especially if the new plug-in changes page speed and performance.
On WordPress, new plug-ins can be tested in a pre-release environment. It allows you to simulate any updates or new features before implementing them on a real-time website. In this way, you don’t have to worry about site crashes, performance delays, or compatibility issues.
Give priority to multi-function plug-ins
A good way to reduce the risk associated with having too many specific plug-ins is to install multi-functional plug-ins.
For example, choose a plug-in that provides both a contact form and marketing analysis, such as HubSpot, instead of installing two separate plug-ins.
Alternatively, install the rebate Alliance Management plug-in to help you manage affiliate marketing activities, monitor and scan them for broken links.
Using fewer plug-ins can reduce the risk of incompatibility, site errors, and security issues.
How to prevent plug-in problems
In addition to following the best practices for choosing the right plug-ins, there are other steps you can take to ensure that existing plug-ins do not cause problems on your WordPress site.
Use a reliable host
It can be said that the most critical step in ensuring that WordPress sites are not affected by plug-in issues is to choose a secure web host.
Your web hosting provider plays an important role in the security and performance of your website. 41% of WordPress websites have been attacked by hackers because of security vulnerabilities in their hosting accounts.
Therefore, it is important to ensure that security precautions are not wasted by the use of insecure network hosts.
When looking for a suitable hosting provider for your WordPress website, you need to consider the following factors:
- Update regularly. Reliable managed service providers regularly update their server software and hardware to protect users from cyber attacks and other problems.
- Powerful security features. This includes automatic backups and transparent server security fixes.
- 24-hour support. Responsive customer service is critical, especially if your site is unexpectedly lagged or data leaked due to plug-in errors.
- High website uptime. This refers to the availability of network hosting services without losing services within a specified period of time. Target network hosts with uptime of 99% or more.
- The type of managed plan available. Ensure that the provider provides a hosting plan that is compatible with your technical knowledge and site requirements.
- It’s worth it. Consider factors such as free SSL certificates, domain names, e-mail accounts, and bandwidth when deciding whether the WordPress hosting program provides the best price / performance. If the web hosting service provider offers a refund guarantee, so much the better.
Optimize your database
The more a site grows, the more content, database queries, and HTTP requests it accumulates. To ensure that the site is optimized, MySQL database cleanup must be performed on a regular basis.
It’s important! Before performing database tuning, make sure that you first have access to the site’s phpMyAdmin.
Clean up the website’s database by performing simple steps to ensure that you eliminate as much unnecessary data as possible:
- Delete deactivated plug-ins.
- Remove the remaining data from deleted plug-ins and articles.
- Delete spam comments.
- Delete unused tags and outdated articles.
- Consider installing a reliable database optimization plugin to clean up bloated data on a regular basis.
Perform a backup
It is important to back up your website regularly to ensure that it can be recovered in the event of data loss or corruption due to plug-in errors.
Web site backup is essentially about creating copies of all files, data, and databases on the site. Because each new plug-in carries risks, it is important to protect website information and separate it from its real-time version.
Depending on your network host, this can be done manually or through the control panel of your managed service provider. For example, in the pagoda panel, you can easily perform backup operations.
Delete inactive plug-ins
Whether you run a blog, a work show, or an e-commerce site, it’s important to narrow the plug-in options to the basics. This also means that it is important to uninstall plug-ins that have not been updated or are no longer needed for some time.
This process not only ensures that the site’s database remains optimized, but also removes inactive plug-ins to prevent your site from being exposed to avoidable security problems.
Update regularly
It is critical to update plug-ins regularly to minimize any functionality or compatibility issues. Regular updates are also useful for other reasons, such as fixing security vulnerabilities.
However, be sure to take some necessary precautions before making any updates to your website.
If you are unsure of this process, check out our tutorial on updating WordPress cores, topics, and plug-ins without the risk of data loss. These steps include creating a backup of the site database and temporarily disabling the plug-in when performing an update.
Summary
The WordPress plug-in is an essential tool when customizing and extending the functionality of a website. Just talking about free plug-ins, there are more than 58000 options to choose from.
However, when it comes to plug-ins, quality is more important than quantity. While it may be tempting to use active plug-ins to perform each different function on your WordPress site, installing too many plug-ins carries a lot of risks.
They include slow site performance, poor functionality, and inadequate security. To avoid such risks, we recommend following best practices before clicking the install button.
In addition to installing only the necessary plug-ins, it is also important to choose a reliable hosting service provider, maintain the website regularly, and conduct in-depth research.
We hope this article will help you understand how many plug-ins there are, thereby narrowing your list of WordPress plug-ins.
