10 Plugins that Showcase the Versatility of WordPress Website Design

Web design can take any number of shapes and forms. The beauty of this content management system is its versatility; you can use it for a small, single-page digital billboard for your future business or as a complex lead-generating machine that can even turn into a mobile app. Let’s explore the Versatility of WordPress Website Design.

There’s a reason we’ve embraced WordPress web design as the core of our business. Some of the world’s most beautiful websites have done the same. But we’re not here to sell you the basic benefits of WordPress. We’ve done that plenty of times. Instead, we’re here to get specific.

The versatility of WordPress, it turns out, is largely based on its plug-in system. The CMS itself is relatively simple, with limited functionality. But it’s open and easy to integrate one of the thousands of plugins that are available, sometimes free, in the software’s digital marketplace.

These add-ons, along with the help of an experienced web design firm, help you customise your website to fit your specific business goals. Below are just 10 of the countless examples of plugins that showcase the versatility of WordPress Web Design.

1. Build Comprehensive Lead Generation Forms With Gravity Forms

Your website’s purpose is to drive customers and revenue. For many industries, especially in the B2B realm, that means first gathering contact information for more targeted outreach. Gravity Forms helps you do that with a simple and user-friendly product that integrates complex lead generation forms on your website.

It’s about more than adding a few fields. Within this plugin, you can create multi-level forms, conditional fields, and more. its integration with most email systems allows you to trigger welcome emails to any new subscribers and leads, while polling options can spruce up your site and make it more interactive for your audience.

2. Integrate Live Chat On Your Site With Pure Chat

We love Pure Chat because of its interface. After installing this plugin, you’ll get a chat box on all or selected pages within your website, improving your customer service. That’s invaluable for businesses relying on personal interactions with their current and prospective customers.

You can customise the look of the box to fit your business and brand. You can even delay the box popping up until someone has spent a certain time on your page. And, you can set up automated responses for frequent questions. In the age of instant satisfaction and rapid response, it’s a great tool to add to your website.

3. Plug Into Google Analytics With MonsterInsights

Websites thrive when they’re driven by data-based decision-making. Knowing what your audience responds to can optimize your online presence to serve their needs better. There are many plugins available to gather those analytics, but MonsterInsights is undoubtedly among our favourites. Here’s why:

• A dashboard with actionable analytics, right within your WordPress interface.
• Real-time analytics, so you never have to wait for that report to be done.
• A/B testing capabilities allow you to measure what works and make instant improvements.

And that’s just the beginning. MonsterInsights integrates with your Google Analytics account but improves the user experience in the process. Perfect for anyone looking to leverage that data.

4. Improve Search Engine Rankings With Yoast SEO

Yoast is a classic, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. The standard WordPress setup is already optimised for search engines, but this plugin takes that setup to the next level.

On the strategic level, Yoast helps you generate your sitemap and connect your website to the Google Search Console. At the page level, it allows you to optimise your content for keywords in real-time, enhancing your on-page optimisation in the process.

With Yoast, you can even build 301 redirects to minimise page load errors and broken links. In other words, it’s a comprehensive solution if you’re looking to increase your Google rankings.

5. Ensure Your Site’s Security With Sucuri

WordPress sometimes gets (unjustly) blamed for security concerns. The world’s largest CMS is also a frequent target of hacks, but on the whole, it’s actually a secure solution for your website. If you want to be absolutely safe, use a security plugin like Sucuri as you build your site.

Getting into the details of what Sucuri does is beyond the scope of this post. It protects your website from all kinds of external attacks, thanks to a web application firewall that blocks them as they try to get into your code. It also provides helpful reports that allow you to reconcile what you’ve seen and make further adjustments in the future.

Just like you lock your car when you park it, Sucuri locks your site against suspicious activity so you don’t have to.

6. Create Your Own Social Network With PeepSo

If you have a strong base of customers and other members of your target audience, you’ll want them to interact with you and each other. That’s how they build loyalty to your business. So why not create a community that’s not unlike what Facebook can provide?

That’s what PeepSo does. Of course, it’s not quite at the same complexity level as a network like Facebook or Instagram. But the concept is similar: users create profiles, allowing them to showcase their photos and videos. They can send messages to you and each other, find friends, and more. Easy to instal, and with the potential to build a tight-knit community among your customer base.

7. Showcase Your Visual Business With NextGEN Gallery

Many industries rely on visuals to get their point across. WordPress on its own allows you to set up simple photo galleries, but you might want to go further. In that case, NextGEN Gallery by Imagely should be your perfect fit.

You don’t just upload photos here. You can upload photos and graphics in batches, import their metadata, and even sort them in multiple ways. Sorting photos into albums help you take care of larger amounts, while you can change the displays’ transitions, lightbox effects, and more.

In other words, you can dedicate at least a page on your website to stunning visuals. If you need those visuals to sell your business, it’s made for you.

8. Prompt Attendance at Events With The Events Calendar

Does your organisation rely on physical or virtual events as part of its business model? If so, your website should play a core role in getting both attention and attendance to the levels you need them to be. That’s what The Events Calendar can help you achieve.

Once you install this plugin, the event simply becomes a new type of post in your interface. You can create lists, generate calendar views, and even integrate maps within that post. Instead of having to custom-build every type of event, you can display them naturally and effortlessly for your audience.

9. Leverage Promotions and Giveaways With RafflePress

Depending on your business type, you might rely on giveaways to prompt your audience’s interest and conversion activities. RafflePress allows you to build these giveaways right within your site.

The building process is a simple drag-and-drop. Everything is responsive and optimised, even for the smallest of screens. And, of course, it integrates seamlessly with your email marketing, CRM, and social media platforms so that you can easily spread the word, collect contact information, and follow up with interested visitors.

10. Turn Your Website Into a Mobile App With AppPresser

Let’s save the best/most versatile example for last. Modern businesses often need a mobile app alongside their website to engage their audience and reach them on their devices of choice. With AppPresser, you don’t have to start that process from scratch. Instead, you can use your WordPress site as a template to get started.

This plugin takes your WordPress website and uses its content as the baseline for the new app. You can then customise the menus, layouts, and anything else you need to adjust for the medium. From ecommerce apps to community builders, the choices are (almost) endless.

The Benefits of Working With Experts in Building Your WordPress Website

Of course, none of the above plug-ins is magical solve-alls for your website design. You have to build an online presence that’s unique to and beneficial for your specific business, not based on general (and generic) best practices but on your own needs and strategic goals.

In other words, these are just examples that showcase just how much WordPress can do. To truly leverage the CMS, you need a partner by your side who can help you not just build the bones of your online presence but understand where to go deep and custom.

Plugins are a great advantage of WordPress. Too many plugins, though, inevitably slow down the site. So you need to find the right ones within your budget and your marketing objectives. For help in that process, why not trust experts who have worked in WordPress for years?

That’s where we come in. Our WordPress Websites make us perfect partners for businesses who are just beginning to uncover the extensive benefits of the platform. We can show you the incredible Versatility of WordPress Website Design. We’ve helped businesses like yours start from scratch or take an outdated website and turn it into a vital business asset. Contact us to start the conversation.

Speak to the WordPress experts and take your business to the next level with a Pixel Fish Website.

Check out some of our latest Website Design projects.

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