Which plugins an online shop really needs, and which to leave out

Search for “best WooCommerce plugins” and you get lists of thirty. A real shop needs few, and every extra plugin is one more thing to update, one more door for security holes and more weight on every page. What follows is a list by function, not by brand, so you can see what you lack and leave the rest.

The functions a shop has to cover

Function Plugin needed? Note
Page cache Yes, just one On our servers LiteSpeed is the server's own, with its plugin. See the first settings.
Payment Yes, your provider's The plugin comes from the operator or aggregator you signed with. See connecting a payment method.
Reliable e-mail Usually yes A plugin that sends over SMTP, with a mailbox on your domain. See sending e-mail with SMTP.
Security Yes, one To protect the login and report changes. See protecting the login.
Data for Google (SEO) Yes, one See the best SEO plugins and how to choose one.
PDF invoices Depends If you need to issue invoices from orders. See invoices for your shop customers.
Backups Often not Accounts already have a daily backup in the panel; a plugin is only needed for a copy outside the server.
Anti-spam Yes, if you allow sign-ups A captcha or equivalent on registration and checkout. See fake orders and spam sign-ups.

How to choose a plugin without regretting it

1 Check the date of the last update on the plugin page. A plugin that has not been updated for a long time is a risk, however well it does what you want.
2 Check which WordPress and WooCommerce versions it was tested with. The page says so. Outside those, it is a gamble.
3 Read the bad reviews. The good ones all look alike; the bad ones say what the plugin does wrong.
4 Install it on a test site first, never on the shop that is selling. See a test site before touching what is live.
5 Measure before and after. If the shop got slower, the plugin is the first suspect. See how to measure speed.
A “free” plugin downloaded from a strange site is one of the commonest ways a shop gets infected. Install only from the official WordPress directory or the author's own site, and delete the ones you do not use: deactivated is not enough, it has to be removed.
Fewer functions to cover, not more plugins. Before installing, check whether the theme or WooCommerce already does it. And remember that we neither sell nor install third-party plugins: what a plugin does is for its author to answer. See where, which ones and how many.

Did the shop slow down or throw an error after you installed a plugin? Tell us which one and the time, and we will see what the server logged.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Installing WordPress plugins: where, which and how many

A shop that holds up: before you open

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