Carbonate 2.0 is better than ever with even more features! But the main focus of this theme has always been page speed. It’s not built on a slow framework or bloated plugins. It’s lightweight and easy to customize.
However, there are some plugins that work really well with Carbonate and I can’t do business without them. So here’s a list of the ONLY plugins you’ll ever need to use with Carbonate.
Yoast or Rank Math: SEO Like a Pro
Carbonate is built with SEO in mind. But you really need a good plugin like Yoast or RankMath to make it sing. Carbonate 2.0 now supports both Yoast and RankMath.
Each post description that’s displayed on Carbonate uses the Yoast or RankMath meta description. And if you don’t have a description entered, it defaults to the post excerpt or the first sentence of the post.
I’ve used both plugins. I like Yoast because it’s familiar. But RankMath is super powerful. So choose one and get down to business.
FYI: The embeds above are built into WordPress and made full-width and responsive by Carbonate.
WP Rocket: Lazy Loading and Page Speed Boosts
I believe this is a must-have plugin. It’s not free, but it’s cheap and well worth the money. It’s an all-in-one speed-boosting plugin that works with every hosting company. My favorite features include:
- Lazy loading images and video.
- Minimizing HTML and CSS.
- Deferring Javascript Loads.
- Cloudflare Integration.
- Preloading custom fonts.
- Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel integrations.
FYI: The button above can be added to any post with a simple shortcode only in Carbonate.
Download this cheat sheet and optimize the underperforming posts and pages on your website to increase your rank, link clicks, and leads.
Download The FREE Cheat SheetSVG Support: For Super Fast Images
SVG images are the fastest images you can add to your website including blog posts and your logo. Unfortunately, WordPress does not support uploading SVGs. They are snippets of code that render out an image, which is why they’re so fast. But they’re also risky to upload because assholes can sneak nasty code into SVGs and break your site.
Thankfully, there’s a plugin you can install that’ll check and strip SVG code so it’s safe for your site. I recommend adding this plugin if you’re going to upload an SVG logo. And I also recommend that you use an SVG logo because they’re slick and fast.
Admin Columns Pro: Stay Organize and Perform Quick Edits
This might be my favorite plugin because I like to make quick edits to my blog posts without having to click into each one. It also keeps me organized.
But the best part is I’m able to do some advanced tracking and SEO tricks with this plugin. Check out the video below to see what I mean.
FYI: The Loom video above can be added to any post with a simple shortcode only in Carbonate.
This plugin is $89 a year for a single site. I have 4 websites, so I pay $149 a year and it’s totally worth it. It’s not a must-have plugin for running a blog, but it’s nice to have.
Advanced Custom Fields: Add Cool Features to Carbonate
If you want to turn WordPress into the ultimate CMS, then this FREE plugin is a must. The possibilities are endless. In fact, I’ve created massive searchable databases using WordPress and plan to do it again with my new site. It works great with Admin Columns Pro too.
When you buy Carbonate, it comes with a mini-course that teaches you how to best use the theme. I also included some cool tricks you can do with ACF. Go check them out!
Imagify: Image Compression to Increase Page Speed
Carbonate is built for speed. It’s lightweight out of the box. But once you start adding a lot of images to the site, it can really slow things down.
Using WP Rocket’s lazy loading feature will help, but you still have to load those images, and that can take a while. So I suggest also investing in image compression software like Imagify.
It automatically compresses your images as you upload them to WordPress so you never have to think about it. It also has a bulk compression feature if you already uploaded a lot of images.
Lasso: The Best Affiliate Marketing Plugin Ever
This is a plugin I helped create. I use it on all my sites and it’s great for managing my large inventory of affiliate links. Plus, it displays them in beautiful boxes that help me to get more clicks.
Here’s an example of an affiliate link displayed with Lasso.
An all-in-one plugin for caching, lazy loading, and other page speed stuff that plays nice with WP Engine. Installing this alone improved my page speed drastically!
It keeps track of all your links across your whole site too.
Slash Edit: Quick Path To Edit Posts
This is just a cool little free plugin to help you quickly edit post. It’s simple. Just visit any one of your pages or posts in your favorite browser and just add “/edit” to the end of the URL. It will automatically take you to the post edit screen.
Try it to see what I mean. It’s totally free and super useful.
Matt Giovanisci
I own three websites across different niches, including pool care, homebrewing, and online business. I design and code all my own sites with the Carbonate WordPress theme. And I have a small team that helps too.
Download this cheat sheet and optimize the underperforming posts and pages on your website to increase your rank, link clicks, and leads.
Download The FREE Cheat Sheet
