6 Types of WordPress Plugins Your Business Needs to Have

One of the best features of WordPress is the ability to use plugins. Plugins allow you to add additional features to your WordPress website, turning a basic site into a complex one with just a few clicks of your mouse. If you’re using WordPress for your business, there are a few essential types of plugins that you’ll want to look into.

Below are 6 of these types of plugins that are practically must-haves for any business running their website on WordPress

1. Security Plugins

First, you’ll want to look at some security plugins. Security plugins will help to keep your website safe from hackers, so that you don’t experience any disruption in your service. If you aren’t careful with the security around your website, you could quickly find yourself dealing with some significant problems that take a long time to fix. And while some optimized WordPress hosting plans come with security, it doesn’t hurt to add an extra layer with some plugins.

2. Search Engine Optimization Plugins

No matter what kind of business you’re running, you want people to find you through search engines. Search engines are the primary way we learn information these days, and if you’re not appearing at the top of the results, you’re missing out on customers. Search engine optimization is the process of tweaking your website to fit what search engines are looking for. With a good SEO plugin, you can do things like change your title tags, optimize your images, and create a sitemap. If you’re in need of a good SEO plugin, try Yoast, as it is one of the best around.

3. Social Media

After search engines, social media is the other popular way for discover websites. Even if you’re not appearing highly in search results, you can still drive a ton of traffic to your website just through social media shares. To make this easy, you’ll want a good social media plugin. Find a plugin that not only allows you to automatically share your latest posts across multiple platforms, but which makes it easy for others to share your posts. The more exposure you can get on social media, the better of your business will be.

4. Forms and Tables

One thing that WordPress sometimes struggles with is creating forms and tables. You may want more flexibility than the options WordPress initially provides. To get this, you’ll need some plugins. By downloading forms and tables plugins, you can quickly create forms that include all the desired fields, and format tables to look just how you want them. Don’t settle for the basic options when more advanced choices are only a quick plugin download away.

5. Email Marketing

While many people are finding websites through search engines and social media, that doesn’t mean email marketing is dead. In fact, when run properly, email marketing campaigns can be some of your most effective. To make managing this marketing strategy easier, you’ll want to get a good email marketing plugin. If you’re using a specific service for your campaign – such as MailChimp – be sure to get their provided plugin. Otherwise, look for one that helps you gather contact information, organize your subscribers, and send out emails.

6. Chat Apps

Finally, one tool that a lot of business are beginning to add is chat apps. Chat apps allow visitors to your website to quickly gain information they need without having to email you. Adding a simple WordPress plugin can add this feature to your website and quickly improve your customer service capabilities. If you’ve been looking for a way to better help your customers, or increase leads, consider using a web chat app on your site.

Try Out Different Plugins

Within all the categories above there are a ton of options to choose from. The best thing you can do is try out different plugins and see which ones work the best for you. The great thing about WordPress is that it’s easy to download and try out new plugins, then delete them if you’re unhappy. Not only that, but all the plugins in the WordPress directory come with reviews and star ratings, so you can get an idea if that specific plugin is worth downloading.

Hopefully this guide was able to help you improve your business WordPress site. Plugins are essential if you want an effective website, and the above list should help point you in the right direction of which types of plugins you need. So, take some time to explore what plugin options are out there for you, then give each one a tryout. Once you’ve started using some of these plugins, you’ll wonder how you ever got by without them.