WordPress runs a huge share of the web, and the right plugins fill in whatever core WordPress doesn't do out of the box — speed, structured data, internal linking, and courses among them. Here's what we'd recommend in 2026.
1. WP Rocket
WP Rocket is a caching plugin that speeds up a WordPress site with minimal manual configuration — one of the more beginner-friendly ways to meaningfully improve page load times.
Read our full WP Rocket review →
2. Schema Pro
Schema Pro adds structured data (schema markup) to your site without touching code, helping search engines understand your content and potentially improving how your pages appear in search results.
Read our full Schema Pro review →
3. Pretty Links
Pretty Links lets you create clean, branded short links and cloak affiliate links — useful for tracking clicks and keeping long, ugly affiliate URLs off your site.
Read our full Pretty Links review →
4. LearnDash
LearnDash turns WordPress into a full course platform, letting you build and sell online courses directly from your own site rather than a third-party platform.
Read our full LearnDash review →
Building your WordPress toolkit
For most sites, WP Rocket (speed) and Schema Pro (structured data) are worth having from day one — they're foundational rather than optional. Pretty Links and LearnDash are worth adding once you're specifically doing affiliate marketing or selling courses.
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