WordPress is the best and most popular website platform available right now . I will try to keep the introduction short, because some of you might only be interested in the list.

List of best SEO and SM plugins for WordPress

1. WP SEO by Yoast

2. All in one SEO pack

3. Google Analytics for WordPress by Yoast

4. Google XML Sitemap

5. SEO smart link

6. Author hReview

7. Sharebar

8. Permalinks

9. W3 Total Cache

10. Thank me later

11. WordPress Meta Robots

12. Breadcrumb NAVXT

13. HelloBar

14. Pingback Optimizer

15. Social metrics

16. Pippity

17. Optinskin

*  The plugins from the list, are randomly arranged.

** There are many other important plugins that i haven’t listed here. Please write your most important plugins into the comments section.

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About the best SEO plugins

Now that you have seen the list, let’s talk a bit more about each plugin.

1. WP SEO by Yoast – FREE

Yoast de Valk has created the best “MUST HAVE” SEO plugin for any WordPress website.  I am always surprised how such impressive plugins are free to everybody.  The most important features are:

• Snippet Preview
• Connect your G+ rel author
• Add SEO title, meta description for each page
• Find related keywords
• XML Sitemap
• Breadcrumbs

2.  All in one SEO pack – FREE

With over 12 million downloads, I think the All in one SEO pack, has won the right to be in the top of this list. The plugin has so many features, you can basically do all the on-page SEO with it.

3. Google Analytics for WordPress by Yoast

This is not just the regular google analytics where you throw your code, and you start tracking results.

 4. Google XML Sitemap – FREE

Having a sitemap it’s very important for any website. As all books must have summaries, sites must have sitemaps. The Google XML sitemap plugin helps you generate your website summary with just a few clicks.

 5. SEO smart links – FREE

This plugin automatically links your internal pages based on the keywords you want. It can help you save a lot of time, and it really works well.

6. Author hReview – FREE

This awesome plugin can help you improve your CTR. You have probably seen already a lot of websites that have some rating stars shown in Google snippet. The plugin works for any type of site, not just those that host product reviews.

7. Sharebar – FREE

Improve your social signs using this plugin.  You can customize the buttons and the position of the share bar. Help your users to share your content on all major social networks.

8. Permalinks – FREE

Customize your URL’s and make them look SEO friendly.

9. W3 Total Cache plugin – FREE

This plugin can improve your website loading time. Google give more value to sites that load under 2 seconds. Considering that, this plugin is gold.

10.  Thank me later – FREE

The plugin automatically send an email to those who write a comment on your posts. It can help you build a solid relationship with your visitors.

11.  WordPress Meta Robots – FREE

Have under control the Meta robots tags without the need to search for robots.txt.

12.  Breadcrumb NavXT – Free 

The plugin automatically generates a navigation menu that can help your users find they current location on your site. If your template doesn’t have this as default, you should consider installing this plugin.

13.  HelloBar – Free / Paid

This simple plugin can help you grab the attention of your users on anything you want. It has a free version, that will include the HelloBar logo on it, but for 5$ / month, you can grab the personalized version.

14.  PingBack Optimizer – Paid

Even though it’s not so popular, I love this plugin. This is how it works:

–        You own Site A

–        Site B links to Site A

–        You get an instant email notification that somebody has linked to your website. You can immediately check if that link can harm your website or not.
This plugin can help you protect from Negative SEO, and always know who’s linking to you. It also helps any post your write get indexed by Google in minutes. These are just some of the most important features the plugin has. It costs 47$ for a single license and 97$ for multiple domain license.

15.  Social Metrics – Free

Now that SM has become so important, you really need to own this plugin. You can easily track how your content is being shared on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, StumbleUpon, Digg and LinkedIn. Definitely a MUST HAVE.

 16.  Pippty – Paid

Increase the sing-ups on your website, with some very nice popups. This plugin has so many cool features, you should definitely check. Pricing for this plugin starts at 49$ / 1 domain license.

 17.  OptinSkin – Paid

A brilliant plugin that can help you improve your newsletter list, and the number of shares you get from a post. You can easily customize the module according to your needs.

What are the most important WordPress plugins for you? Please write your comments in the section bellow!