After extensive search and research, I have created the below list of the most essential top wordpress plugins for your blog.

Best Free WordPress Plugins 2011-2012 !!

Whether you are using Word Press to gain traffic to your site, to create and maintain a blog, or because you love the program there are definitely some must have plug ins.  While people choose different plug ins for different reasons, these are just some of the more popular ones available.

We all know that Social Media is an every expanding industry. Facebook and Twitter allow you to connect. The “like” button from Facebook is more like a share option.  This enables new traffic to join your Facebook page and helps to spread the word about your product or service. Your page can display what specials you have to offer and well as upcoming events. It can be found here; http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/facebook-like-button/.

With Twitter it is the @Twitter anywhere plus, which can be found here;  http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-anywhere-plus/. The easiest way to have your information accessible on any of the sites is to use.

You can also choose BuddyPress to create some of your own social networking sites. Having your own social networking site will help to target specific audiences.

Another very important factor for both the page operator and the people viewing its content is security. You want to make sure that if your page crashes that you have it backed up, You can do this by using a plug in such as BackupWordpress http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/backupwordpress/

WP Super Cache is another plug in that you should install on your page. This is to make sure that your website does not get shut down in case of an alarming amount of traffic, which will overload the server. The viewers will see a static html page, which is smaller in comparison to wordpress files. This plug in can be found here; http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-super-cache/

Keep the spam off of your page with Akismet. This handy plug-in blocks unwanted spam from cluttering your page and it can be found here; http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/akismet/

Google Analytics is a must plug in for all businesses. This plug in will tell you where your traffic comes from as well as what pages they are reading the most. It will help you to improve your content, thus making it more user friendly. This plug in can be found here; http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-analyticator/

WP Touch is a must have plug in for those who are using mobile technology such as smart phones. This allows you to view your content from an iPhone application and also switch between this view or the regular view of your page. It can be found here; http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wptouch/

All in One SEO pack is essential for your business page. It is designed to optimize your webpage so you won’t have to and this enables it to be picked up by search engines. Get All in One SEO, here; http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/all-in-one-seo-pack/

Google XML Sitemaps helps the web crawlers to pick up your webpage quickly and efficiently. It notifies all the search engines when new content is present. You can get your plug in here; http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-sitemap-generator/