Every WordPress site can benefit from plugins, but having too many can hurt the website’s functionality. However, it is not the quantity that may lead to problems, but rather their quality.
Since it relies on several factors, figuring out just how many WordPress plugins to install can take time and effort. These include the kind of website you run, your web host’s server performance, and your website’s size.
The article covers potential problems with having too many WordPress plugins installed and offers some best practices for employing high-quality plugins to optimize websites.
Let’s get started.
Why Is There Debate Around Too Many Plugins?
If you’ve been using WordPress for some time, you’ve undoubtedly tried a lot of plugins (maybe even on several different websites). Plugins are one of WordPress’s essential selling qualities. Both expensive options and countless free options are readily available. It’s no minor feat that many of those tools can radically change how WordPress functions.
There is no drawback when utilizing a variety of WordPress plugins. However, there are rare circumstances where using the incorrect extension can harm your website.
WordPress core receives a new code once a plugin is installed and turned on. The new additions will introduce errors if you work with the code and modify it. It also holds for WordPress plugins.
Theoretically, the more plugins you add, the more likely some won’t work well together (resulting in a “compatibility error”). These issues appear in various ways, such as malfunctioning plugins or improperly loading websites. Until you find a solution, plugin compatibility issues may, in certain situations, render your website completely unusable.
In addition to compatibility problems, there are performance-related issues, which we’ll discuss in the section after this. For the time being, we’ll argue that using numerous plugins sometimes results in sluggish loading times.
Furthermore, you should utilize fewer plugins than you require if you know how to choose the appropriate plugins and maintain your website.
How Many Plugins Are Ideal For Your Site?
One common rule when choosing how many WordPress plugins to install is that quality always matters over number. That’s because a plugin with poor coding can affect the functionality of an entire website.
Many WordPress plugins can put additional demand on the server resources, which is another crucial point to bear. Therefore, improved performance isn’t always the result of adding more plugins.
To determine how many plugins are too numerous to install, consider the type of website you operate. For instance, suggested plugins for eCommerce sites won’t always be beneficial for blogs.
Issues With Having Too Many Plugins
Too many active plugins can impact the WordPress website’s performance, SEO tactics, and conversion rates.
About 40% of people will leave the website if it takes longer than 3 seconds, leading to high bounce rates. Additionally, nobody wants to frequently experience site issues or crashes.
Before choosing which WordPress plugins to add to your website, be aware that having too many plugins may lead to the following problems.
Poor Speed And Performance
A website’s response time might be slowed down, and its overall performance can be hampered by installing too many plugins. In addition to a plugin’s quality, compatibility problems may also hamper the website’s performance.
Because site performance is essential to its success, you should think carefully about whether you need that extra plugin. Even a sale can be made or lost due to poor website performance. According to research, a one-second delay in page response might result in a 7% decrease in sales conversions.
Google also penalizes sluggish websites by placing them lower on their search engine results pages (SERPs). Because they need to satisfy users’ search intent, websites with high bounce rates likewise do poorly in SERPs. Any attempts for search engine optimization (SEO) are, therefore, no longer necessary.
Errors And Crashes
The likelihood of website faults and crashes also rises with a large plugin density.
For instance, a 500 internal server error is frequently brought on by subpar plugins. A website may encounter similar problems with an update or a new installation if a plugin has dangerous scripts in its code or cannot handle additional HTTP requests.
The same is true for plugins and errors 503 (service unavailable). It can be a problem if it appears after installing or updating a new WordPress plugin.
Lack Of Reliability
It might be challenging to distinguish which free WordPress plugins are trustworthy and which are not, given the abundance of options. Due to the developers’ lack of support and plugin upgrades, many produce unaddressed problems.
Therefore, installing too many WordPress plugins on a website raises the possibility that you’ll run upon unreliable or poorly written ones.
Security Threats
Security vulnerabilities are made more likely by installing an excessive number of plugins. These could cause malware infections, cyberattacks, or data breaches.
Inadvertently installing a shoddy-coded or out-of-date plugin on your website can jeopardize the whole site’s integrity and its beneficial plugins.
Picking Right Plugins For Your Website
You need to decide how many plugins are too many for your WordPress website in order to avoid concerns about security, speed, and cross-functional incompatibilities. Similarly, you must choose the appropriate WordPress plugins to keep your website operating quickly and effectively.
So, you must adhere to the many WordPress plugin recommendations.
- Select a WordPress plugin that doesn’t duplicate the functionality of another plugin you already use.
- Pick legitimate WordPress plugin development organizations while buying plugins.
- Before downloading one, browse the customer reviews and the company’s already installed plugins list.
- Regularly update WordPress plugins.
- Remove the plugins that aren’t active from your WordPress website.
Final Words
A successful website must be built and maintained with WordPress Development Services and plugins. On the other hand, it’s terrible news if your website has too many WordPress plugins. A website with too many plugins may experience security lapses, site crashes, poor performance, sluggish loading times, and other issues. Never using more than 20 plugins is a decent general rule of thumb. Try to use up to five plugins if your website is hosted on shared or inexpensive cloud hosting.
Use just the plugins you are certain you require and update them frequently to close any security gaps. Removing inactive plugins from your website and replacing them with just those from trustworthy developers and businesses. Finally, if you require plugin management assistance or advice, see a WordPress plugin specialist or Hire WordPress Developers.
