One of the main benefits of WordPress is that you can use plugins to access new features, which can help your website do more. Your business website needs these tools to be effective in attracting and capturing new business for you. We get asked plugin suggestions and so in this article we will provide seven must have WordPress Plugins.
We’ve updated this list for 2022 because there are a number of new and notable plugins that you should be using. Proceed.
WPBakery Page Builder for WordPress (formerly Visual Composer)
This plugin is a page builder and it allows you design the layout of a page without writing code or using a bunch of shortcodes. As you may know the WordPress page editor is pretty much an empty text editor, like this:
The visual composer allows you to create columns and other elements nicely, like this:
Having control of how pages are laid out allows you to deliver your message more clearly, which could lead to more engagement with users.
NEW: Elementor Page Builder
The Elementor page plugin is a new addition to page builders in the WordPress and offers a fresh, lean design with a responsive intreface. One of the main compaints of the WPBakery page builder is that it’s too bloated and is slow when you’re editing. That’s why a lot of former WPBakery users have switched to Elementor page builder.
Elementor comes with a number of great features including:
- Revision history with undo and redo functions,
- The use of templates and blocks for reusing parts of your content,
- Better support for mobile screens including font, margin and padding customizations,
- Faster loading times especially when you’re crafting content
Yoast SEO Plugin
Being ranked high on search engines is a top priority for many website owners. Many site owners, however, don’t know where to begin. Yoast SEO plugin is great for this very reason. It’ll guide you through optimizing the various aspects of Search Engine Optimization so that search engine bots can effectively navigate your site. Yoast SEO plugin is a must-have WordPress plugin in 2019 because of it is packed with all the features you need to tweak your site for better search ranking.
Wordfence WordPress Plugin
Wordfence is an excellent plugin for site security and protection. Not only does it help limit login attempts, it alerts you to brute force attacks and helps blacklist repeat offender IPs. With Wordfence, you get scheduled scans and malware protection for the entire website. In a nutshell, here are all the benefits that Wordfence plugin brings:
- Secures your login pages and prevents brute force attacks,
- Scans your website files and checks for malware and other suspicious code,
- Builds a firewall on your WordPress install to prevent malicious traffic
Visual Form Builder
This plugin is great for web forms. Want contact forms or quote request forms? Then this is the plugin to use. It is simple and does everything you need it to capture simple form submissions. You can set an auto-response so that every time there’s a submission, the user gets a confirmation email. The best part about this plugin is that it stores form submission entries on your WordPress admin so that if you happen to lose emails, you can just log in to your dashboard and see the submissions there.
NEW: Smush Image Compression and Optimization
One of the top 3 reasons why WordPress websites load slowly is because of large, unoptimized images. Smush Image Compression plugin will run through your image library and optimize all the images, making your website load fast. This plugin will also optimize all images that you upload in the future so you can keep your site loading fast.
WP Mail SMTP
Sending emails within WordPress hasn’t quite worked well. The main reason for this is that many web hosts do not have dedicated email servers that prioritize email. WP Mail SMTP helps address that to make sure that emails are being sent on time. With this plugin, you can connect to external email services such as Gmail, SMTP etc that provide SMTP email delivery.
W3 Total Cache
This WordPress plugin is great for caching your website and speeding up load time. Your business website needs to load fast for visitors and this plugin helps achieve that. W3 Total Cache is a must-have plugin for every new website we build because it directly impacts search engine performance. Fast loading time also means that users have a positive experience when viewing the site and are likely to spend more time on it.
WP Fastest Cache Plugin
This is another caching plugin that has won the hearts of many WordPress users because it is very simple to configure. You basically set it and forget. WP Fastest Cache plugin generates static version of your pages which load much faster because they don’t require any processing.
UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin
Website backups are the most forgotten items when it comes to site planning. many times people remember them way late after something has happened. UpdraftPlus plugin is a must-have plugin for your WordPress site because it will save you the headache and cost of starting afresh when something goes wrong. Install it today. One feature we really like about this plugin is that it allows you to backup to a Google Drive or Dropbox so you’ll always have your backups ready whenever you need them.
New: Call Now Button
This plugin will make a fantastic addition to your website because it adds a floating call button to your mobile view making it much easier for users to call you. There’s no searching for your phone numbers or copying and pasting numbers. Just click to call. The settings for this plugin are equally simple: just enter your phone number and save.
Conclusion
I hope this list helps. Your website, just as your business, needs to work efficiently and perform well. These must have plugins will help you achieve that. Install them today and if you need help or have questions about implementation, please get in touch with us and we’ll assist you. Front2Back Studio helps business websites run efficiently so you can make the most out of your investment.
