WordPress works on page builders, themes, and…..Plugins.
If you are reading this, then my guess is you have a WordPress website or are considering creating a new website for your small business.
Plugins are code snippets that help you add functionality to your website. With WordPress plugins, you can optimize your website for Google searches, protect it against spammers, and accept online payments.
But which plugins do you need? I mean must-have WordPress plugins.
However, there are more than 54,000 existing WP plugins, and it can be a daunting task to choose the perfect ones for your site. Every business has a different need. But there are WordPress plugins that are mandatory for every website, regardless of the industry.
I have found the best 6 WordPress plugins for websites that are a must even after years of building sites. So, let’s start with it.
Primary Factors Involved in a Website Design
Certain features of a website can make it an attractive one if implemented correctly. Here are some suggestions for developing an effective website.
- Images: You might want to present several eye-catchy images on your website. However, large sizes and a considerable amount of them might slow your site down. Thus, decreasing the site’s performance on search engine rankings. Image size optimization is a must in such a case.
- Forms: Forms are like a lifeline to any digital site. They should accept leads, make payments, avoid spammy hacks, and many other things to do. Proper formation of forms can contribute to building up a sustainable business website.
- Website Security: First things first, you need to secure your website from cyber threats before setting long-term goals for your online business. Using security solutions thus becomes a mandate to detect and remove such threats.
- Caching: Caching helps speed up site performance by effectively decreasing the server’s load, lowering bandwidth usage, and reducing time consumption in relaying information to site visitors.
- Data Analytics: Once your website is running, start studying your site’s performance data. By analyzing your website data, visitors, and their behaviors, you can chalk out what is working for your business and what is not.
- On-Page Content Updates for SEO: The purpose of on-page SEOs is to help search engine crawlers to find your content smoothly and rank your site higher on the search page results page. Content optimization is thus an essential factor for a site’s growth.
What are WP Plugins, and Why To Use Them?
WordPress plugins are codes in PHP offered by the content management platform for various requirements of your business site. WordPress plugins used in a website can be seamlessly integrated with your primary WordPress site. We can say that plugins are software applications on a small scale that you can integrate with your existing WordPress website adding a myriad of features to it without even knowing a single line of code.
WordPress is a versatile platform where you can build a high revenue-generating business website.
I have busted the theory of WordPress haters in my blog. So, do not worry about the WordPress website myths.
Your website can import the plugin features integrated with it with just a few clicks. Different websites have different requirements for plugins.
Here are some of the best plugins for WordPress static websites that I have chosen for every business website to scale up.
6 plugins to boost your WordPress site performance
The WordPress Content Management Platform has a repository of more than 50,000 plugins. If your website is a new one, you need to first integrate the most essential plugins, and to help you with it, here are a few of them.
1. WordFence
You would surely want your site to be protected from cyber-attack. WordFence Security is one of the must-have free plugins for a new WordPress site. Though WordPress.com provides its customers with essential security measures such as encryption, security monitoring, and others, WordFence is that extra security measure to keep your site safe.
Just install and activate this plugin on your site, and you will never have to worry about preventing internet attacks. It has an inbuilt firewall and malware scanner that runs in the background, scanning for any suspicious activity. It will notify you of any possible digital threats.
2. WPForms
A business falls out effortlessly when it fails to establish a customer-friendly relationship. If your customers cannot get back to you, your business will not mature a loyal customer base. And, what would happen if your customers were unable to use payment forms? That would undoubtedly be a total disaster.
WPForms is one of the WordPress plugins used on the website to solve forms related issues.
It serves all form requirements, from payment forms and online eCommerce forms to contact email and newsletters to other subscription forms. These forms are a fundamental requirement for any website. The plugin WPForms works with simple drag and drop functionality and serves for all form types, including various templates required in the process.
3. Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is considered one of the best SEO plugins for WordPress static websites. You can call it a search engine optimization tool that helps WordPress websites rank higher in search engine results pages by drawing in organic traffic.
Optimizing a website for search engines can be a tough job. Especially if you and your website are new to digital platforms. This plugin provides a comprehensive solution for every SEO need. It optimizes the words and pages on a static website, improving its performance in search engines.
It adds meta descriptions and keywords from the admin creating snippets and XML sitemaps rich in content. Yoast also comes with in-built features such as social media optimization, a content analysis system, and others.
4. ShortPixel Image Optimizer
If your website is running slow, it might require an image optimizer. ShortPixel is an image optimizer WordPress plugin designed to improve site performance. It is a lightweight plugin, easy to install and use. It optimizes by resizing and compressing existing images and PDF documents with a single click and providing pictures from the content delivery network or CDN.
Any new image uploaded to the website is automatically resized or rescaled and optimized in the run. Visually optimized images give the same impression as the original ones. ShortPixel image optimizer plugin is used to increase the speed of a website and SEO ranking.
5. W3 Total Cache
W3TC comes with several features, including page caching, asset minification, Cloudflare integration, etcetera.
Being one of the oldest caching plugins, it has gained massive popularity among WordPress users. W3TC does several things to improve your site’s performance once installed and activated. It helps SEO improvement and core web vitals. Moreover, it contributes to enhancing the overall website user experience. Reduced load time through CDN integration and updated best practices contributing to enhanced user experience.
6. MonsterInsights
When it is about growing a static website, analyzing the site performance is one of the most critical jobs for any online business. There are many analytics software. However, it can be challenging to choose from them for a beginner. Data analytics is one critical question if you want to target sales for your site’s growth.
MonsterInsights is a WordPress plugin used on the website that is there to help you with data analytics. MonsterInsights does not require any coding expertise to integrate it with the website. Anyone can connect with Google Analytics through MonsterInsights without dealing with any code.
The plugin also supports advanced tracking features. It includes ads tracking, forms tracking, tracking related to eCommerce, and a wide array of other features. Your WordPress dashboard will reflect all this data minimizing your need to put much time and effort into your site’s analytics.
Conclusion
Designing a website and getting it running is not the end of the story. Your business website requires apt support to survive in this competitive market. I believe the list WP plugins help your website get started smoothly. If you fee that I have missed any important plugin, do share with me.
CMS like WordPress comes with several plugins to help you with it. By integrating the must-have free plugins for a new WordPress site, you can smoothly scale up the site’s performance in search engines like Google, Bing, Yandex, and others and thus contribute largely to business growth.
