10 Best WordPress Plugins for Business
WordPress is the most widely used content management system, which basically means it’s a platform for creating dynamic websites that anyone can learn to use. Whether you’re a seasoned web design pro or a newbie just trying to make a splash, WordPress is for you. Once you get started with WordPress, it won’t be long before you start exploring how “plugins” can empower and enhance your business’ website.
One reason for WordPress’ incredible popularity, in addition to its amazing ease of use, is the staggering amount of plugins available. What’s a plugin? Put simply, a plugin is a way of adding special features to your WordPress site. It’s like an app for your smartphone. Some of these will affect how the site looks and acts while others perform tasks “under the hood” that make a huge difference to how your website will function. Many WordPress plugins are free, although some will come with a (usually small) price.
We’ve compiled a list of 10 essential WordPress plugins to grow your business and make your website shine.
You can find any of these plugins by searching by name for them in the plugins section of your WordPress dashboard.
1. Simple Share Buttons Adder (free)
Part of growing your business involves ensuring you have a presence on social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc. As the name suggests, this plugin adds buttons that easily allow your site’s visitors to quickly share your website’s blog posts. If you’ve made your content relevant and engaging, then your readers will want to share it – and this plugin makes it a snap for them to do so.
2. Yoast (free)
Yoast is the king of SEO optimization plugins for WordPress. This SEO plugin ensures helps you target keywords, modify your posts, and optimize your content to rank well in the search engines. It’s a vital tool for any website that wants to be discovered organically through online search.
3. iThemes Security Pro ($80 – $150 per year, or $247 permanent license)
Although this plugin does come with a price tag, it is completely worth it. While WordPress is an incredible platform to use, like anything online it is vulnerable to hacks and malware. The last thing your business needs is a website that doesn’t work and iThemes Security Pro will protect your site from hackers.
4. Contact Form 7 (free)
Don’t let business slip away because customers couldn’t find your contact information! A prominently displayed “Contact Us” page is vital for any website. If your customers, or potential customers, visit your site with questions, Contact Form 7 will be ready and waiting to take their query and email it to you. You can literally get your contact page setup in minutes.
5. Mailchimp For WordPress (free for the plugin, cost to use Mailchimp may apply)
Mailchimp is an incredibly versatile email list management system. Used the world over by businesses and marketers, it’s an excellent way to not only keep your customers informed but to drive your sales. Mailchimp For WordPress will seamlessly integrate Mailchimp into your website, automatically adding new subscribers to your Mailchimp list when they sign up on your website.
6. Backup Buddy ($80 to $150 per year, or $247 permanent license)
Another essential plugin from iThemes, Backup Buddy does what the name suggests. Time is money for your business, and a broken website or lost data is something you simply can’t afford to have. Backup Buddy helps to easily and effectively automate the backup process for your WordPress site, ensuring that important information is never lost.
7. Visual Composer ($25)
While WordPress comes with a sophisticated text editor for creating web pages and posts, it can be limiting in many respects. While the built-in editor allows only for full-page display of text, Visual Composer will allow you to jazz up your pages by adding columns and other more dynamic layouts. This plugin will help give your business presence that extra bit of spark that will wow your visitors and make your site unique, without the headache or expense of custom coding.
8. The Events Calendar (free)
This plugin is a must-have for any business that hosts events of any kind. The Events Calendar enables you to put a calendar of events up on your site, showing exactly when they are scheduled in detail. Not only that, but the plugin will allow you to sell tickets to your event – all from your WordPress site!
9. WooCommerce (free)
Have an inventory to sell? WooCommerce is the ultimate online selling tool, and it’s completely free. This incredibly flexible plugin allows you to add shopping carts, checkout, online catalogs and integrates seamlessly with an online payment processor such as PayPal.
10. W3 Total Cache (free)
This is one of those “under the hood” plugins that is absolutely essential. It “caches” your website information, which means it stores the unchanged information so that it speeds up your website, sometimes to a dramatic effect. It’s a night-and-day difference for your website speed, and your customers will definitely notice how lightning fast your website operates.
Dominate Your Niche with These 10 Best WordPress Plugins for Business
Having the right plugins for your business’ WordPress site can mean the difference between a website that sells and informs versus one that merely takes up space. Grow your enterprise with these tools that will help educate and engage your visitors while ultimately adding to your business’ bottom line!
Midas Marketing is a digital marketing and web design agency in Portland, OR
