Let we help you a bit with this! I’ll tell you  what are the main factors you should be looking at  when you choose WordPress plugins.  First, you will likely do  a search in the WordPress directory  looking for the functionality you need.

Let’s say, you are looking for a plugin  to help you “elementor addon“. This is addon for Elementor page builder.

Factors to Choose WordPress Plugins:

Once you open the plugin page,  you should look at these factors to Choose WordPress Plugins.

The number of active installations. In most cases,  if the plugin has the highest number here, it’s a  sign that people like it and it works properly. Last update.

The next thing you should check is how long ago was this plugin updated.  This factor is very important. Sometimes  you could find a plugin that has a high number of  installations that happened in the past years.

But  the latest version of the plugin is too old and  hasn’t been tested with the last few WordPress updates.

In some case case, plugin that shows up would not be tested with the latest major WordPress releases. This is a bad sign.  Most likely the developer of the plugin doesn’t  work on it actively.

When the plugin was tested  a long time ago, it can even crash your site if  it doesn’t work with the new WordPress version,  or it can be more vulnerable when it comes to  hacking attacks. So be careful with this factor. 

Check user reviews. There is no  special advice on this factor. The more positive reviews obviously the better. Customer support. You can see even in the WordPress directory under the rating if there were  any support questions answered by the plugin team.  

If you open a support forum for a particular  plugin, you can even read through the threads  and see whether or not the team  that created this plugin is helpful. 

On a side note, if you found a free plugin outside  of the official WordPress directory, be careful  with it as it could be harmful for your site.

Now let me know in the comments below which one you consider to be your must-have WordPress  plugin and check out my other blog on which blogging niches are the most profitable this year.