10 essential WordPress plugins for your online business..
WordPress 4.6 Release
August 17, 2016
If you’re looking to start an online business and are considering WordPress as a cost-effective solution, there are plenty of plugins that are worth installing, but there are also plenty that are not. Even though this is a guide, in our experience – these are the top 10 free essential WordPress plugins for your WordPress store, read on to find out why..
‘Must-haves’ for running a Business using WordPress
Just like having a brick and mortar store, marketing and selling tools, design and security all come into play. However the reason most opt for a 3rd party system like WordPress, is mainly down to how cost effective it can be.
A CMS system gives the owner the option to take control of their website themselves without knowing much code. This obviously is the ‘cherry on the cake’ when it comes to controling business assets out outgoings when you are just starting out.
But what do you NEED to really enhance your WordPress store?
Well – without all the fluff, here’s the list. We are not affiliates of any of the 10 suggestions below and the list is not exhaustive. Let us know your thoughts and if you think we’ve missed one or have another suggestion, please do comment!
Wordfence Security
Just like your bricks and mortar.. it is ESSENTIAL to have security covered. Our favourite is Wordfence – an out of the box plug in solution, including a firewall, Anti-virus, spam and ip monitoring and alerts from log ins.
Check it out and download here
Woo Commerce (Ecommerce Solution)
There is one ecommerce solution for WordPress that really trumps them all and that is Woo Commerce. Chances are, if you have purchased a theme, this plugin is already a request to download as it is widely used and hugely popular. It too has its own mini set of extensions such as next day shipping options, paypal , stripe, marketing tools and more.
Check it out and download here
Subscribe2
Now we don’t feel this little gem gets enough love! This free and simple auto newsletter plugin allows you to concentrate on your writing and your business rather than spending critical time setting up and creating a newsletter for your customers. With html and image support, you can automate newsletter mailings out on selected categories, posts and more. So as soon as you click publish your readers can catch up with what is new!
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Contact Form 7
One of the best contact form solutions, again it’s free, very easy to set up and extremely flexible when it comes to building contact forms!
YOAST SEO
Search engine optimisation is critical when it comes to creating site awareness. This plugin guides you into improving your search optimisation and assists you in improved your search authority with helpful tips and tools. We would say it is the lead runner when it comes to seo plugins and a must have for your store.
GZIP Ninja Speed
Speed and performance of your website is extremely important and can affect rankings a great deal. To stay on top of the game make sure you test your site speed regularly (we like to use Google Page Speed Insights ). If you are finding that site speed it becoming an issue it is always wise to GZIP compress files in order to improve performance. This plugin assists in compressing site files in order to improve load times and speed. When it comes to ‘image powered’ websites we also recommend a good wordpress cloud hosting solution and CDN to assist in the loading of your images.
Check it out and download here
Zopim Chat (WordPress Live Chat Plugin)
This nifty little plugin can really help you convert leads to sales online. Having a direct live chat function on site means that you can monitor the customer journey online and it is also used often to help improve the customer checkout process and improve the selling experience. Alot of wordpress live chat options are usually subscription bases and this can be slightly annoying when you just start out, with Zopim you can create a free account and it is very easy to set up and use – it gets our vote hands down!
Check it out and download here
WP Rocket
Make sure you are at the top of your game when it comes to speed and performance with a great caching plugin.
Imagify
Squish the size of your website images, but without compimising on quality and improve site speed and authority when it comes to ranking with this quick and easy little plugin.
Akismet
There is one issue when it comes to powerfully written content on posts and pages and that will the amount of comment spam you will receive as your website grows. Trust us – it can be fustrating if not dealt with. This is where Akismet comes in. This handy extension silently discards the most intrusive spam comments and filters through the rest so you don’t have to wade through the spam to dig out the gold!
Check it out and download here
Google Analytics Dashboard for WP
Auto inserts and connects your Google analytics account with your wordpress website. This is a great little plugin for those who would rather not delve into their website code. It also have a nice little reporting interface so you can keep up to date with the latest traffic and search terms that are bringing traffic to your site.
There are more but this is a good start – if you enjoyed this list please do leave us some love in the comments!
