By: Mark Perterson at RSS

Did you know you can use the power of WordPress and plugins to increase your chances of showing up in search engine results? Well, you can. At the same time, the way you use plugins can hurt your chances of showing up on that coveted first page.

The First Thing to Know about Plugins
WordPress is a powerful website design tool and has very powerful tools right out of the box. But we find its true power in the great plugins that people have developed.

You can use plugins to add countless types of functionalities to your WordPress site. And that’s where people get into trouble.

What to NOT Do with Plugins
Actually, there are three things you should not do.

• Don’t use too many plugins. While plugins are powerful, they can also slow down your website. This hurts your site ranking and keeps customers from finding your site.
• Don’t leave disabled plugins on your site. This is a bit technical, but you may try a plugin on your site but then decide you don’t want it. You have two choices. Leave it installed and disable it or delete it. If you know you don’t want it, delete it. Leaving disabled plugins on your site can slow the site down. It can also create a security risk, especially if you never update it.
• That’s the last warning. Don’t let your plugins grow stale. If the publisher has an update, then install the update. The update may add functionality. More often it fixes bugs and closes security gaps.

A side note about updating plugins or anything else on your WordPress site. Back up your site first and confirm the plugin is compatible with your version of WordPress.