WordPress plug-ins for business websites
WordPress is a website content management system that close to half of all websites on the internet use. It’s known for its flexibility, and it includes a wide range of features for website development and design. Despite its packed menu of offerings, however, the standard WordPress product can’t address every use case.
In order to enhance the functionality of their WordPress sites, some users turn to WordPress plug-ins. Plug-ins extend a website’s capabilities, helping it run more effectively. They can also lend a sense of uniqueness to a site, helping it stand out.
From a developer’s perspective, plug-ins save time and energy because they don’t require you to develop new features and functionality from scratch. When you use a plug-in, a lot of the work is already done for you. Once you install it and customize it for your needs, you have additional functionality on your website you didn’t have before.
Currently, there are more than 60,000 WordPress plug-ins available that can help with everything from data gathering and security to marketing and business administration. It can be a bit overwhelming to determine which plug-ins to use, so in this article, we’ve narrowed down some of the leading WordPress plug-ins for business that can improve the efficacy and appeal of your website.
Data gathering WordPress plug-ins for business
1. Jotform
Every website needs an efficient way to collect data, whether it’s payment information, customer orders, email addresses for sales leads, or anything else.
Jotform is a form builder that’s ideal for any website that needs to capture data from website visitors. You can use it to create contact forms, event registration forms, intake questionnaires, and more. Jotform’s WordPress plug-in is easy to install and activate on a WordPress website.
Plus, Jotform offers over 10,000 form templates for every data-collecting scenario you can imagine. Every element of a template is fully customizable, from text to visuals to structure.
The Jotform WordPress plug-in is free to use with a Jotform account.
2. OptinMonster
The OptinMonster WordPress plug-in is an opt-in form creator. It’s great for growing your email list, generating leads, and reducing cart abandonment. It comes with different campaign types, such as popups and slide-ins, making it easy to gather the data you need from website visitors to turn them into leads.
OptinMonster also has an easy-to-use drag-and-drop form builder and integrates seamlessly with commonly used marketing tools like HubSpot.
The OptinMonster WordPress plug-in has four paid versions that offer increasing levels of functionality.
Marketing WordPress plug-ins for business
3. Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is one of the leading search engine optimization plug-ins available for WordPress. It enables you to increase the SEO ranking for your WordPress website by helping you write content that features important keywords for your industry. The plug-in helps you enhance meta descriptions, title tags, product descriptions, image descriptions, and more.
The Yoast SEO WordPress plug-in is available for free, but there are also paid plans with additional features and support.
4. SeedProd
SeedProd helps you build landing pages that convert, such as lead capture and sales pages. It offers beautiful themes that are ready to use and easy to customize. It also has a block and template library, which saves time when designing custom landing pages. Plus, SeedProd integrates with WooCommerce and email marketing providers.
The SeedProd WordPress plug-in is available for free. It also offers four paid tiers.
Automation WordPress plug-ins for business
5. Uncanny Automator
If you run an e-commerce site and want to find ways to operate more efficiently, the Uncanny Automator is a good plug-in candidate. It enables you to automate routine tasks like tracking purchases and sending notifications. Simply set up various workflows and if-then rules to ensure that nothing important gets forgotten. You can choose the task trigger as well as next-step actions for each task.
The Uncanny Automator can integrate with over 80 other WordPress plug-ins, and it’s available to use for free.
6. FunnelKit Automations
FunnelKit Automations is a self-hosted marketing automation tool that allows you to manage marketing campaigns and more through your WordPress dashboard. It offers automated follow-ups via SMS and email to reduce abandoned carts, increase conversion, and offer product education. Plus, it can help you connect different WordPress plug-ins together without coding experience.
The FunnelKit Automations Lite WordPress plug-in is free to use. FunnelKit Automations also offers a paid Pro plan with additional functionality.
Analytics WordPress plug-ins for business
7. MonsterInsights
MonsterInsights connects your website to Google Analytics so you can gain insights about your website visitors and their behavior. It displays analytics directly within your WordPress dashboard, saving you from having to use another application. With these insights on hand, you can make improvements to your site that will help you convert more visitors and meet your business goals.
The MonsterInsights WordPress plug-in is available for free; it also has a paid version with additional features.
8. Burst Statistics
The Burst Statistics plug-in provides metrics on your visitors and their behavior — page views, visitor sessions, time on page, and more — and displays them on an analytics dashboard for easy viewing. With an emphasis on privacy, Burst Statistics is locally hosted and provides only anonymized data. You also have the option to customize how to measure certain metrics, such as bounce rate.
The Burst Statistics WordPress plug-in is available for free.
Speed and performance WordPress plug-ins for business
9. WP Rocket
Fast-loading pages have a direct influence on conversions. Performance plug-in WP Rocket uses caching to improve the speed of your WordPress website. It’s perfect for those who don’t have the technical skills required to optimize their website performance.
WP Rocket has features such as GZIP compression, page caching, minification, and much more. It also comes with an image optimization service.
The WP Rocket WordPress plug-in is available in three paid plan tiers starting at $59 per year.
10. EWWW Image Optimizer
EWWW Image Optimizer WordPress plug-in compresses, auto-scales, and lazy-loads images on your website in order to improve speed and performance. It has a bulk optimization tool, so it can optimize entire image libraries and folders at a time. Plus, it works automatically in the background, so you never need to remember to use it.
The EWWW Image Optimizer WordPress plug-in is available for free and also has paid plans with additional features.
E-commerce WordPress plug-ins for business
11. WooCommerce
WooCommerce supports websites that serve as digital storefronts. It’s intuitive and easy to set up, which is why over 20 percent of all e-commerce websites use it. With the plug-in, you can sell services and physical or digital products through your site, set shipping rates, accept different types of payments, control the design of your online store, and more.
The WooCommerce WordPress plug-in is free to use, though there are costs associated with setting up a WooCommerce store.
12. Easy Digital Downloads
Easy Digital Downloads is for businesses that sell or give away digital products such as e-books, PDFs, and even other plug-ins.
Easy Digital Downloads has a shopping cart that’s customized for digital products. It offers discount codes, data tracking, and customer management. It’s also available with plug-in extensions so you can further customize the shopping cart for your business.
The Easy Digital Downloads WordPress plug-in is available for free and also has paid plan options.
Security WordPress plug-ins for business
13. Wordfence Security
Wordfence Security is an open-source security software that uses a firewall to protect your WordPress site from any brute force attacks. Features include a security scanner that provides alerts whenever it encounters threats to your website. The plug-in constantly updates itself, so it’s always ready to handle new security issues that may arise.
The Wordfence Security WordPress plug-in has both free and paid plans.
14. Akismet
The Akismet Anti-Spam WordPress plug-in is for websites that have comments enabled. It uses a global database of known spam accounts to stop any spam comments from being published. It helps you monitor the engagement on your site and ensures that only the content you and your readers want to see is published, improving your site’s credibility.
You can use the Akismet Anti-Spam WordPress for free, and there are paid versions for additional protection.
Operations WordPress plug-ins for business
15. Pretty Links
The Pretty Links WordPress plug-in turns unsightly, long links into short, memorable ones. It’s ideal for websites that deal with affiliate links or links with Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) codes, which are typically long and difficult to remember. Pretty Links also offers customizable reports for the links you create, such as where the hit came from or which browser it was opened with.
The Pretty Links WordPress plug-in is available for free and also has a paid Pro version.
16. LiveChat
LiveChat gives you exactly what its name suggests — it supports businesses that want to include live chat functionality on their WordPress websites. It supports both AI and human-only chats. The plug-in integrates with many CRM and email marketing products for a seamless experience.
The LiveChat WordPress plug-in is available for free if you’re a LiveChat customer. There are multiple paid plans available.
Jotform: A powerful WordPress plug-in for every business
Jotform’s WordPress plug-in stands out among the tens of thousands of other WordPress plug-ins simply because every website needs to be able to effortlessly gather data from website visitors — whether it’s through lead capture forms, contact information forms, or newsletter signups. With Jotform’s WordPress plug-in, you can embed any Jotform form onto your WordPress site in minutes.
Not only that, but Jotform comes with over 100 integrations with apps like Mailchimp and Google Sheets, making it possible to streamline your operations. Jotform also connects to over 30 different payment gateways, such as Square, Stripe, and PayPal. Best of all, Jotform is easy to use — no coding experience required! With just one plug-in, you can provide nearly everything your site needs to succeed.
Photo by Daniel Fazio on Unsplash
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