We’ve all been there; you set aside a few hours to research potential improvements to your WordPress site and suddenly you’ve installed fifteen new plugins and you’re not quite sure what half of them do but a marketing blog told you that you really, really need them, so who are you to argue?
It’s easy to get tempted by shiny new plugins and end up overloading your site with new functionality without stopping to think whether you really need three different social sharing plugins but there are a few reasons why we urge you to think carefully before installing that new plugin and take a moment to consider whether your site will really benefit from it.
A couple of things you should take into account before every new plugin installation are whether the plugin is resolving an issue you’ve identified with the website or if it’s adding real value to your current site’s functionality. If it doesn’t tick both of those boxes then move on.
It might seem like a harmless inconvenience to overload your site with plugins but there can be real consequences to being too liberal with the install button. Did you know plugins can leave you site open to security vulnerabilities if they aren’t kept updated? Plus, too many active plugins can potentially cause performance issues on your site, like slow loading times.
A great suggestion to keep your plugin habit in check is to keep a list of any new elements you’d like to see on your website and, as a first port of call, see if it can be added through your theme functionality and, if not, only then do your research to see if there’s an appropriate plugin.
