Most Popular WordPress Website Plugins

As a Houston WordPress web development company, we know the many ways that your website can utilize WordPress plugins to increase website functionality. At Buer Interactive, we create custom software for our clients per their unique needs, however we don’t believe in charging our customers unnecessarily. If a WordPress plugin that will serve our customer’s needs is readily available and can be implemented after only simple customizations, we will recommend the use of those plugins. Below is a list of some of the best WordPress plugins for your business website. If you have any questions about installing or customizing WordPress plugins or would like to speak to one of our design professionals, we would be glad to help. Our contact information is at the bottom of this article.

Let’s begin with what a WordPress plugin actually is and does. A WordPress plugin is a piece of software that integrates with WordPress and allows you to customize your website to your unique needs.

Overall,  Wordpress plugins:

• Extend the functionality of your WordPress site
• Add new features to your website
• Allow your web developers to further customize your site
• Save you money (many WordPress plugins are free)

WordPress is currently powering over 24% of the web, meaning nearly one in every four sites is utilizing their services. WordPress’ goal of doubling that number to 50% makes it clear to see why they have garnered so much attention and buzz. With the amount of people looking to construct a more sustainable and more functionable site, increasing amounts of users are searching for the easiest ways to handle their website’s essentials, which is the core reason for WordPress Plugins. The addition of these plugins can make operating a WordPress site easier and more manageable, which is why many have downloads in the millions. Here is of a compilation of the 10 most popular WordPress plugins currently available through the WordPress Plugins Directory. All listed plugins have over one million active installs and can do wonders for your business website. Our Houston web developer team has reviewed each one of these WordPress Plugins for functionality and aesthetic as well as customizability and we agree that these plugins deserve the accolades they have received.

• Google XML Sitemaps You’ve done everything in your power to optimize the SEO for your company, but your site itself may be holding you back from your potential highest ranking on Google and other search engines. A sitemap is one solution. A sitemap allows search engines to read and crawl through your site with more efficiency, which will ultimately affect your site’s position. Google XML Sitemaps is one of the most popular and can make a huge difference. If you need help constructing a Google Sitemap, your Houston web development team can be contacted using the information provided at the bottom of this page.
• Akismet Spam has (and most likely will always) be a pesky nuisance that any website administrator will have to deal with. Although it cannot simply be avoided, it can be made easier to deal with. Akismet helps to block out comment spam, with the added feature of deleting junk comments by itself so that you don’t need to pay them any mind at all.
• WooCommerce WordPress’ ecommerce revolution was driven by the steam engine that is WooCommerce. A favorite among Houston WordPress web developers because of it’s highly customizable nature, the plugin focuses on taking the most difficult parts of creating and maintaining an online marketplace with WordPress and making them as easy and simple as possible. The user does have to put in some time to learn how to manipulate the plugin. But most would say it’s worth the time and effort, as WooCommerce is easy to use and so many other companies and plugins also support it, adding to its popularity.
• Wordfence Security If a password is like a locked door for your site, then Wordfence Security is like a full alarm system. A growing number of people have began to recognize the necessity of added measures to secure their websites and that’s why Wordfence has become so popular. This plugin is geared toward security with features to block malicious networks, vulnerability scanning, metrics monitoring to decrease how open your site is to attack, and much more. At Buer Interactive, our Houston WordPress web development team understands the importance of security and this app is highly recommended.
• Yoast SEO It has become common knowledge that SEO is an absolute huge deal today. Although SEO is constantly changing and evolving, some constants like content that is optimized for Google and their search engine have stayed the same. Knowing how to optimize your content isn’t always easy if you don’t know what’s correct and incorrect. This is the exact reason for Yoast SEO. This plugin takes the guess work out of optimizing your content, by helping in a step by step manner. And an added feature is that XML sitemap plugins are also taken care of by the Yoast SEO plugin. For additional help with your search engine optimization, contact of the members of our Houston web development team.
• Contact Form 7 This handy WordPress plugin allows users to create contact forms of all different varieties. With Contact Form 7, you are given the ability to give separate forms and attach them according names. It also cuts out the need for CSS coding, by allowing certain fields to be labeled as “required.” This way you can get the particular information that is important to your needs. Integration of this plugin by use of shortcodes, makes customization of drop down menus and input forms easy to manipulate. Although a straightforward plugin, feel free to ask your Houston web developer about configuring this plugin if you have any questions.Regenerate Thumbnails In an age of high definition and super speed internet, blurry images will make your website unprofessional and will damage your credibility. That’s where the Regenerate Thumbnails plugin comes into play. Sometimes a simple tweak to the format of your site will downgrade the look of your thumbnails and featured images, which reflects poorly on a site and on your brand overall. By simply running this plugin you media is regenerated as needed.
• WP Super Cache With today’s average consumer having a shorter attention span and used to on-demand information, having a fast website is paramount to gaining new business.
• Any experienced online entrepreneur has come to understand the necessity of a reliable and fast website. WordPress site caching helps with reliability and speed. A main reason for WP Super Cache being more popular than others stems from its ease of use and setup. Simply install and activate the plugin, check the right boxes to configure plugins and it’s basically ready to go.
• Simple Social Share Sharing links on social media sites has become the new word of mouth form of advertising. This plugin helps to simplify the addition of social buttons and multitude of sharing options to your site. Just one simple click can let a user share to Facebook,Twitter, or Pinterest, which will help with your website’s search engine optimization.
• Google Analytics by Yoast The Google Analytics plugin by Yoast makes your Google analytics easy to access directly on your website’s dashboard, allowing you to save time (and browser windows) by opening the plugin directly on the backend of your site. It may seem like a small help, but every simplification helps a site’s overall functionality.
• Simple Social Share Sharing links on social media sites has become the new word of mouth form of advertising. This plugin helps to simplify the addition of social buttons and multitude of sharing options to your site. Just one simple click can let a user share to Facebook,Twitter, or Pinterest, which will help with your website’s search engine optimization.

WordPress plugins have much to offer the WordPress user. Houston web developers and developers across the world (WordPress is available in almost seventy languages, after all) utilize WordPress plugins for their clients to save time, money, and to create an overall more customized website. If you have any questions on using WordPress plugins, please contact one of our Houston web designers for a consultation. We are available to answer any questions and to help you grow your business online, no matter where you are in your business evolution.

Buer Interactive – Houston Website Design, Web Development, and Search Engine Optimization

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