A plugin is a software that contains a group of functions which you can add to your WordPress website. The plugins help to extend the functionality of your website, and in some cases add new features to the WordPress page.
Coding of the Plugins
WordPress plugins are usually written in PHP programming language.
Types of WordPress Plugins
There are thousands of WordPress plugins available. There is a saying among WordPress users: “there is a plugin for that”. You can find the plugins at the Official WordPress Plugin directory.
Must Use WordPress Plugins
With the huge amount of plugins available, it is easy to get overwhelmed. However, there are a few plugins that are must for every WordPress user:
- WPForms
- MonsterInsights
- All in One SEO
- Constant Contact
- Seed Prod
- Member Press
- UpdraftPlus
- WP Rocket
- Sucuri
- RafflePress
WPForms
The WPForms is one of the most user friendly plugins available on WordPress. It is a drag and drop online form builder lets you create contact forms, subscription forms and online order forms, among others. They are integrated with all the famous marketing and payment platforms, allowing you to build your form in less than five minutes.
The WPForms come with some really strong features which include conversational forms, form landing pages, journey tracking of the user, and geo location tracking etc. These features are not available easily in other plugins. These features have garnered the WPForms a user base of four million people.
MonsterInsights
MonsterInsights has over 3 million active installs, making is the most renowned Google Analytics plugin for WordPress. Developed by Google, the MonsterInsight plugin allows you to enable all the advanced Google Analytics tracking features.
You can use the plugin to optimize your WordPress webpage accordingly to increase the traffic, subscribers and eventually the revenue. It offers a free version, but you can also upgrade to premium version for increased features.
All in One SEO
Search Engine Optimization optimizes your website to get you more visitors through search engines. WordPress is an SEO friendly website. However, there is a lot you can still do to direct more traffic by using best practices of Search Engine Optimization.
The All in One SEO is a great WordPress plugin used by more than two million websites. The All in One SEO offers comprehensive solutions with a wide range of tools and features which can improve your on page SEO. You can add the SEO title, meta description. Connect your web page to Google Search Console, and even add keywords among many other options.
Constant Contact
I have discussed it several times the importance of emails in digital marketing. It is the best tool for any business owner as it allows you to remain intimate with your prospective clients and customers even after they have left the website. Constant Contact is a great popular email marketing plugin that lets you build an email list and send email newsletter in different templates to your subscribers.
You can also use HubSpot, SendinBlue and ConvertKit if you are looking for something advanced, but obviously, they will cost you more than Constant Contact plugin.
Seed Prod
SeedProd is a drag and drop page builder. It lets you customize your website and create page layouts without you having to write any code. It is great for people with no background in web design. You don’t even need to hire a developer, hence you get to save a fortune with SeedProd.
SeedProd has a smart design system which lets you save time by using the same elements again without repeating any steps. You can easily define color schemes, page templates and section blocks as per your need.
SeedProd comes with all the blocks, widgets and other features which you would expect from a strong page builder.
Member Press
The MemberPress plugin is amembership plugin which lets you instantly start charging the visitors for accessing your content. It lets you track and manage membership subscriptions and sell digital download products.
You can also restrict content access to users depending on their subscription plans. It works with almost all digital payment methods such as PayPal and Stripe etc. The MemberPress plugin is a premium one, but worth the price since it comes with some really strong features such as course management, drip content, and automation features etc.
UpdraftPlus
The UpdraftPlus plugin is great for backups. It lets you set up automatic backups and store your data safely on remote locations such as Dropbox, Google Drive, email and FTP, among many others. It is also super easy to restore data from the backup. The base plugin is free, but you can upgrade to premium to enjoy extra features and priority support.
WP Rocket
If you are worried about the speed of your WordPress page, then WP Rocket is the plugin you want to opt for. It will instantly improve your WordPress page speed even if you have no technical skills what so ever.
It also turns on recommended WordPress cache settings such as gzip compression, and cache pre-loading. There are optional features as well. Such as loading images, CDN support, minification and DNS prefetching.
Sucuri
Data privacy is of great concern for any business owner, especially the ones who have an online presence. Sucuri offers security and web application firewall. The plugin monitors and protects your site from malware threats, brute force attacks, spam comments, DDoS and many more.
There are many other added benefits of Sucuri as well such as automatically adding of CDN layer to improve the speed of your webpage. If this seems a bit out of your reach, you can also go for other plugins such as WordFence, WP Activity log etc. However, personally, I would prefer Sucuri to any other security plugin.
RafflePress
RafflePress is designed for contests and giveaways. The plugin lets you increase your webpage traffic and increase your social media followers through giveaways and competitions. Like WP Forms and SeedProd, the RafflePress plugin also comes with a drag and drop option, so that you can easily build your giveaway template to attract the visitor’s attention.
To enter the competition, the visitor needs to provide their email id. This way, you can also prepare a list for your email newsletter.
There is a free version of the plugin called RafflePress lite. But for more powerful features you need to opt for RafflePress pro. It is mobile friendly, and comes with fraud protection to eliminate any duped entries.
Another great feature of RafflePress is the ability to share it on social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Conclusion
WordPress is a great way to develop a strong online presence, without having to spend a fortune on web design. The wide range of plugins let you control your web page, and maneuver your business as you please. With the ability to protect, create subscription lists, and maintaining speed, even a layman can make the best use of WordPress plugins to enhance their Search Engine Optimization rankings and gain a competitive edge.
