One of the best things about running your website on a platform such as WordPress is that you have the full ability to customise and enhance your website with the endless number of plugins that are available and at your disposal. When it comes to marketing and growing your small business, choosing the right plugins to run on your site is essential. To help you get going, here is our list of the 8 must have WordPress plugins that you need to download today to grow your small business.
1. Simple Share Buttons Adder
Simple Share Buttons Adder is a fantastic plugin that easily allows you to add social media share buttons to your website. Want your service, product or post to go viral? This is where is starts – by people sharing your content on their own social media pages. The great thing about this plugin is that you can customise what your share buttons look like, so that they fit in perfectly with the design of your website.
2. Facebook Comments
Have you ever wondered why you can sometimes leave comments on blogs or websites with your Facebook profile? This is because a plugin such as Facebook Comments integrates your personal Facebook profile into the actual commenting system, making it a much less tedious task when people would like to leave feedback on your posts or products. There is a much higher chance of people leaving feedback if they do not have to fumble around with inputting their details into a comment box, so don’t forget to download this plugin today.
3. Smush
Large images that take ages to load are a great way to chase viewers to your website away. No one enjoys having to wait for what seems like eons for the images on any website to load. This is why installing a plugin such as Smush is one of the best things you can do for your website, and in turn for the success of your business. Smush will compress all your imagery, making your website load a lot faster and easier. The faster your website is, the higher chance of people actually exploring it or even making a purchase off it.
4. Broken Link Checker
There is no bigger turn off to your audience than broken links on your website. Broken links give the impression of an un-maintained and unprofessional website, and can also affect your SEO negatively. Avoid all of this by downloading Broken Link Checker today – this plugin will go through all of your content and will let you know if any broken links are found.
5. Business Directory Plugin
Would you like to have a Yelp-like review system on your website? Or perhaps you are just looking for a simple resource list for your audience? If this is the case, the Business Directory Plugin is what you need. This plugin Plugin allows you to easily create an interactive directory on your site. There is even a premium module available that allows you to accept Paypal payment – a fantastic add on if you want to charge businesses for getting themselves listed on your site.
6. WP Popup Plugin
Whether you love them or hate them, pop up opt-in forms WORK. This elegantly designed plugin provides you with subscriber forms that allow people to sign up to your newsletters and updates. This way, you can always keep everyone in the loop with your monthly or fortnightly newsletters – a great way to ensure that you are reminding people of your brand and services from time to time.
7. Zopim Live Chat
Talking to your customers in real time is a truly fantastic add on that you can utilise on your website. Real-time customer service serves as a great tool to your customers as they can get their queries answered in real time, and by a real person on the other side of the screen. This will gain your customers trust, and make their overall experience on your website a great one. Zopim offers both free and paid packages to suit your business needs.
8. W3 Total Cache
Should your site be under-performing, a plugin such as W3 Total Cache can help you by increasing your server performance, making your website load quicker and improving overall user experience on your website. Again, an under-performing website drives traffic and customers away, so you always want your website to be in tip top condition – W3 Total Cache can help you there.
