By teknet on Thursday 17th May 2018, 9:44am
Websites. They’re a little complicated if you don’t speak fluent code. Not only that, but there are so many different kinds of code, especially nowadays with all the new technologies – it’s seems like every week there’s a new language to learn. But if you’re already using the WordPress platform, and want to expand on what your business can offer online, you can still improve your site by using plugins – essentially things you can add to your site so it works the way you want.
Alright, you might be saying, there is something I’d like to add to my website. But isn’t this still a little vague? You might ask. Fair enough.
First things first – how can you install them onto your website? Well, find the plugin you want on the WordPress Plugin Directory and click to add the plugin to your site. So it’s not too hard.
We’ve covered how to add a plugin, but still not really what kinds of plugins exist. There are a lot as well, so you could be browsing for a very long time. Luckily there’s a search bar, so you can find what you need. But still, if you don’t know what you’re looking for….
We’ve had a look anyway, and found some categories which might be useful for your business. There are multiple plugins for each category, but it’s up to you which you choose. If you’re already using these then great! If not, maybe you should have a read and consider if any of these are right for you.
Search Engine Optimisation. It seems like things about it are everywhere – and with good reason too. But if you’re stuck trying to work out how to make your website rank a little higher on Google (or another search engine), then a plugin for SEO could help. It can help you work out what needs improving to rank your site higher, which might be just what you need. After all, it’s probably not changing text that’s the problem, it’s knowing which text to change. An SEO plugin could help with that.
How many times has reading a review or two influenced your online purchasing? It’s no wonder so many websites are now featuring reviews – let’s face it, if people weren’t bothered about them, TripAdvisor wouldn’t be a thing. But given that there are over 500 million reviews on the site and 3.7 million followers on their Twitter account, I’d guess they’re important to a lot of people. So if you’re not already, maybe it’s time to feature some reviews on your website – of products or even your site as a whole. If people see great reviews of your service, they’ll be more likely to trust you and purchase.
This one might sound a little basic at first – putting a contact form on your website is hardly unheard of. But if you haven’t got one, maybe have a look at the offerings WordPress have on the subject. Even if you have, there are still more types of form on the Plugin Directory. For example, there’s one for MailChimp, which lets you have a signup form for your mailing list on your website. That’s always useful, given how important email marketing is right now.
You may have heard that Data Protection laws are changing on May 25th. We’ve even written this blog post on the subject. There are plenty of different ways in which this is happening, and it might be a little confusing. It’s all to make data collection more transparent, and there are a few plugins on WordPress to help your website comply. If you don’t there can be a rather large fine, so it’s definitely worth a look!
Who’s visiting your website, where they’re looking, where they are, plenty of other things…it’s definitely important for monitoring your website traffic. It also helps to grow it as well – for example, by seeing which pages are popular, or where a lot of your traffic is coming from you can build on this to increase audiences. Analytics can really help your business, and a WordPress plugin can help monitor your site’s traffic.
There are a lot of WordPress plugins – these are just some of the basics which could help your business. There are plenty more if you look – especially if you know specifically what you’re searching for. They can help your website run a little better – or add features onto it which can help your customers. Really, it’s just a case of working out what you want on your website and adding them. Hopefully this, along with a marketing strategy, might help to increase your customer base over time.
WordPress has plenty, but maybe it doesn’t have the specific one you’re after – or the offering currently available might not be for you. No worries – Teknet Software can build a WordPress plugin to suit you. Visit our Bespoke WordPress Plugins page for more information. Alternatively, you can fill out the form on our Contact page, email hello@teknet.io or phone 0800 488 0400.
