The 5 plugins your site does not need

I already shared my favorite plugins for the average WordPress site, but now it’s time to cover the other end of the spectrum — plugins that folks have installed when they really don’t need them. Whether it’s because it’s slowing your site down without you knowing, adding way more code than necessary or doing more harm than good, you’ll want to scan your plugin list for these offenders.

Favicon Adder

I get that not everyone knows how to add a favicon to their site, but trust me when I say that it’s as easy as uploading an image to your hosting company. You just have to name the image correctly + put it in the right folder.

Ditch these plugins that will clutter up your site files for no reason + follow this tutorial to add your own custom website favicon.

Quick Redirects

This is another example of a plugin that adds a bunch of unnecessary files to your site to do something your hosting login can do. If you have a cPanel style hosting account, head to domains > redirects to set these up without adding another plugin you’ll need to maintain.

Now, I will say that adding redirects in your WordPress dashboard can feel pretty handy. So hey, if that convenience is important to you, use one of these plugins! There’s no shame in that.

I prefer using the hosting option because it’s one less plugin to update, one less possible plugin conflict with other plugins or themes + the redirects are configured where my domain was purchased.

Broken Link Checker

Here’s the deal, I love the broken link checker plugin for making sure that a client’s site doesn’t have tens (or hundreds) of broken links. It’s a super valuable tool.

But, the catch is that having a plugin scan every page, post, sidebar widget + beyond of your site takes up a lot of server resources, which means it’s going to impact your site performance.

So use this plugin, but when you are done checking your links, deactivate + remove it right away. I’d say checking your links 1-3 times a year is sufficient, depending on how much content you add in that timeframe.

Hello Dolly

This plugin is installed on WordPress by default — and the only purpose it serves is displaying a song lyric on your WP dashboard.

It’s no surprise that I love personality in business. But when it comes to your site speed + organization, there’s no reason to have this plugin taking up space. Unless you really love it.

Google Analytics

I saved this one for last because there are 3 instances where you could make the argument for wanting any type of Google analytics plugin on your site.

1. Adding the tracking code into your theme files scares the living daylights out of you. (but if that’s the case, I’d recommend getting a nerd to help you out.)
2. You change themes an awful lot + want a plugin to apply the tracking code so you don’t have to keep adding it.
3. You’re using a plugin that has a GA dashboard component built into the WP dashboard so you don’t have to log into GA to view your data. (Consider how this impacts your site speed compared to the time saved by opening google.com/analytics.)

Otherwise, grab the analytics tracking code + paste it into your theme file, then ditch these types of plugins. Like a boss!