7 Essential WordPress Apps for Your Business Website
(Photo : 7 Essential WordPress Apps for Your Business Website)

WordPress is the world's most popular content management system. It powers a staggering 75 million websites. And it's easy to see why. WordPress provides individuals and businesses with a powerful, highly-customizable platform that doesn't require technical development expertise. 

Plugins are a big part of what's made WordPress so popular. Rather than having to code new features themselves, web developers can access the plugin library (which currently has over 50,000 entries), search for new functionality, and add it to their site with a few clicks.

Despite this, many companies aren't taking advantage of all the benefits that plugins offer. In some cases, these companies aren't even aware that certain types of plugins exist. That's why in this post, we're going to look at seven plugin categories that can dramatically improve your business website.

1. Appointment scheduling

Businesses waste a colossal amount of time scheduling, re-scheduling, and cancelling appointments. In many cases, we're talking about multiple hours for every employee every single day. 

So what's the alternative? Automated online scheduling provides a fast and straightforward way of overcoming this common problem. By adding an appointment scheduling app to your site, clients can log in to an online portal, check availability, and pick an appointment slot without any direct input from you or your employees. The app will also usually handle rescheduling, cancellations, and notifications which need to be sent in the run-up to an appointment.

This in-depth review of the best WordPress appointment plugins for 2020 may help you pick a specific solution. 

2. Search engine optimization

Search engine optimization is a tricky, technical process. Most small businesses don't have access to employees with dedicated SEO skill-sets. But this needn't be an issue. 

Plugins can take care of most on-site optimization tasks, from keywords to site architecture, with relatively little direct input from you. And even where input is required, a lack of specialist knowledge isn't a hurdle. 

It doesn't matter if your website is made up of hundreds of pages or only a few.  A properly-optimized site will generate more traffic and leads. It will also be easier for existing clients to find. 

3. Security

WordPress utilizes an open-source codebase that anyone can access and change. This is one of the reasons that it's such a popular and dynamic platform. But it also makes it a target for hackers. And many companies, from small independent firms to well-known brands, have become victims over the years. 

A number of plugins will add extra layers of security to your site and protect against common security threats. You can also use these plugins to run an "audit" and pinpoint any existing vulnerabilities. Furthermore, they'll provide you with access to a suite of optional tools, such as captcha verification, should you need them. 

4. Backups

In the unfortunate case that something goes wrong with your WordPress site, backups act as a safety switch. If your company gets hacked, your web host goes down, or you accidentally make a mistake, you can simply reinstall a previous version of your site along with any lost data. 

A good plugin regularly creates backups of your site, consisting of all site content and files, like your theme, plugins, images, etc. You'll also have the option to create a backup before you make any major changes. If for whatever reason you do need to reinstall an earlier version of your site, you'll be able to do so with only a few clicks.

5. Social sharing

Social sharing has a variety of benefits for businesses. Not only will shared content drive more traffic to your site, but Google also takes shares and likes into account when ranking pages. 

Social sharing plugins enable you to add share buttons to your site, thus letting visitors easily and quickly share content with the click of a button. These apps are customizable, so you can tailor buttons to fit with the existing layout and design of your site. 

What's more, apps usually come with a range of reporting and analytics tools, enabling you to track the performance of content and make improvements to encourage more sharing going forward. 

6. List building 

Businesses of all shapes and sizes should commit to building their email lists. Having fast access to your customer base is useful from both a marketing and a practical perspective. If you ever need to update your opening hours, advertise new products or services, or update customers about offers and promotions, your email list provides a fast and effective communication channel. 

List-building plugins integrate with mailing list clients like Aweber and MailChimp alternatives allow you to add opt-in forms to any area of your website. Many plugins also provide analytics tools for measuring impressions and conversions. 

7. Site building

Adding new pages and posts with WordPress is straightforward. Sometimes, however, you'll want to make more extensive changes to a page or your site's design. Hiring developers, if you don't already have an in-house team, is costly and time-consuming. 

Site builder plugins like Elementor and Themify, however, enable users to make extensive design changes through an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface. These plugins are designed to work seamlessly with WordPress, so you don't have to worry about any bugs code errors. 

Conclusion

Using plugins is a fast, inexpensive, and effective way of boosting the functionality of your business site. The right plugins can save hours of employee time and hundreds if not thousands of dollars in hefty development costs. 

Take some time to build out your site using plugins. Once you start to experience the benefits, you'll be glad you did. 

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