Given that there are tens of millions of sites running on WordPress, there might be some reason why so many people flock to the platform, right?
From a whole slew of apps and plugins to being optimized and intuitive out-of-the-box, WordPress is an attractive option for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
And on a related note, it there some particular types of on-site tools that you should look into for the sake of giving your business’ web presence a much-needed head start.
The good news? There are tons of free and cost-effective options out there that can be rolled out on-site in a matter of minutes. To help you build an awesome stack of WordPress apps and plugins, we’ve highlighted four types to focus off as soon as your site launches.
Social Sharing
Making your site as social-friendly as possible is a top priority, especially as businesses try to funnel their traffic to their various profiles and vice-versa. Beyond social logo tools like Flashmarks, businesses need to make sure that their on-site content is both share and tap-friendly for visitors.
There are tons of social sharing options out there, but AddThis is one of the most popular among big-name blogs. Allowing visitors to share and follow with a mere click, the plugin also boasts the added bonus of showing how many times your pieces of content have been passed around the social sphere.
Search Engine Optimization
Part of the beauty of WordPress is that its infrastructure makes it incredibly easy to optimize your posts and site architecture to be Google-friendly.
When it comes to SEO, though, it always helps to have an extra set of eyes to make sure that you’re ticking all the boxes that’ll put you in Google’s good graces. That’s where plugins like Yoast come into play, analyzing your on-site content for…
- Focus keywords and keyword density
- SEO-optimized title tags and headers
- Readability
- Internal and external links
- Optimized alt-tags for images
While the debate over keyword density may still be ongoing, there’s no denying that having a bird’s eye view of your SEO terms from page to page is a huge plus.
Form Submissions
For the sake of taking your contact page to the next level, a form plug-in is a must-have for giving your visitors more flexibility in terms of how they get in touch with you. After all, relying on little more than an email address doesn’t exactly signal professionalism, you know?
Plugins such as WPForms and Ninja Forms allow you to create and customize attractive forms that highlight as much (or little) information you might need from your prospects before they reach out
Spam Blocker
An all-too-common problem with WordPress site owners is the phenomenon of comment spam. Not only are such comments annoying, but they can also hurt your search rankings and are otherwise a bad look for your brand online.
To make these comments an afterthought and for the sake of keeping your site clean, plugins like Akismet makes clean-up a breeze and can help you sort out spam comments in a jiffy.
If you want to take your site to the next level ASAP, look no further than these plugins and tools! Considering how painless setup is, there’s no reason not to have these baseline features as part of your website in 2018 and beyond.