One of the best perks of using WordPress for your business website is that this platform allows for straightforward setup and endless customization. If your plugins don’t give you what you need for your business, you could be missing out on revenue, traffic, and new customers. Take a look at these WordPress plugins you need now to make your website better than ever.

Yoast

Yoast SEO is one of the most popular WordPress plugin of all time.

There’s a reason this plugin is at the top of every good web designer’s list. It’s ideal for implementing search engine optimization (SEO) best practices on any website, and you’ll need it if you want to help your website rise to the top of the search page. Out of all the WordPress SEO plugins, Yoast offers the most comprehensive solution with all the features and tools that you need to improve your on-page SEO.

** Note that while Yoast SEO is easy to install and set up, you’ll need a mid-level understanding of SEO to make the most of it.

It helps you to:

• Add Meta Data
• Generate Sitemaps
• Noindex Pages
• Optimize your sitemaps to include the page-types, post-types, and archives that you want to be indexed by Google’s crawlers
• Connect your site to Google Search Console
• Optimize your website for social media
• Add Schema Code
• and more!

Gravity Forms

With more nearly two decades in the industry, we have tried all types of forms for our clients on WordPress, and Gravity Forms is BY FAR the best solution for form submission on a website.

With Gravity forms, you can create custom forms on WordPress, which is great because you can configure your form, set up thank you pages to use as goal completions in Analytics, and choose the fields you want based on your business needs – It’s the easiest-to-use, secure, and reliable WordPress form builder plugin for your website.

Schema Pro

Creating a schema markup is no longer a task! Using the Premium version of Schema Pro, with a simple click and select interface you can set up a markup in minutes. All the markup configurations you will set are automatically applied to all selected pages & posts.

• Reviews. Perfect if you review Products, Movies, Books, Music, etc on your website.
• Local Business. Are you a local business? This is a must have Schema on your website.
• Article. Perfect for news & blogs to get enhances appearance in Google search results.
• Service. Provide any services? Let Google specifically know by implementing this Schema.
• Product. Let Google provide detailed information about your products in rich Search results.
• Course. Let your prospective students find you by marking up your course lists with Schema.
• Recipe. Let your recipes appear as rich card in Google when someone is searching for it.
• Person. Let Google know specific information about person with this Schema.
• Job Postings. Add structured data to the Job Posting page to get more relevant applicants.
• Software Application. Show off your software applications with star ratings in search results.
• Book. Make books on your website more discoverable in Google search.
• Event. Let more people discover your events through Google Search and Maps with this Schema.
• Video Object. Mark up your video content with structured data to make better search result.
• FAQ. Let users quickly access your FAQs and their answers in Google search results.
• How-to. Markup your how-to pages to be eligible to have a rich result.

Securi

Security should be a top priority for all online business owners. Sucuri offers a WordPress security plugin and web application firewall that is probably one of the best protection you can get for your site.

They monitor and protect your site from DDoS, malware threats, XSS attacks, brute force attacks, and basically every other type of attack. If you don’t have a firewall on your website, then you need to add one today.

WooCommerce

In 2015, Automattic (the company that owns WordPress) acquired WooCommerce and continues to improve it for its customers. This makes it one of the best e-commerce plugins for WordPress sites. WooCommerce has inventory management, has support for popular payment options like PayPal, and works for digital or physical goods. It’s a great tool whether you’re a small local business or international seller.

Smush

Great for image optimization and compression!

We use Smush to optimize images, turn on lazy load, resize, compress and improve Google Page Speed with this incredibly powerful and 100% free WordPress image smusher tool.

Click to download here.

iThemes Exchange

Not only does iThemes Exchange work with physical and digital goods, but it also has a subscription option for companies that sell memberships. This plugin is known for its quick setup and usability, though it lacks the strong developer community that WooCommerce has. However, if you have a small operation and don’t have need for many bells and whistles, this option could be for you.

WP eCommerce

WP eCommerce has been helping businesses since 2006, though some users are moving toward other plugins like WooCommerce to manage their online orders. Like WooCommerce, WP eCommerce is free and adds a shopping cart features to your WordPress site. The main advantage of WP eCommerce is that it offers PayPal Standard and PayPal Pro for payment gateways, along with other options in its extensions.

Cart66 Cloud

Cart66 Cloud is the only paid plugin on this list (available for $95 per year), but its functionality makes it worth it for many business owners. Other plugins have free options but then charge the customer for premium features and extensions. Cart66 Cloud offers them all to customers who pay for their service. You might end up paying the same amount by the time you have the extension you want.

Elementor

Whether you’re selling products or services, landing pages are essential. With a plugin like Elementor, you can quickly and easily create landing pages that showcase your products and services, drive conversions, and generate sales. Use the plugin’s tried-and-true templates or get creative and make the ideal page for your audience. Since Elementor fits seamlessly with your WordPress theme, you don’t have to worry about changing designs or reconfiguring landing pages every time you update your site, either.

BackUpBreeze

When your website is the face of your business, you have to make sure it’s always on. Hacking problems and website fails can happen at any time, but if you back up your website regularly, you can get it up and running again in no time. BackUpBreeze makes website backups easy since you can quickly save essential files to your preferred cloud storage service.

Best Plugins for Lead Generation Websites

The best websites turn new visitors into returning customers. If your landings pages are making people bounce, check out these four WordPress plugins for improving lead generation.

OptinMonster

One of the main benefits of OptinMonster is its flexibility. You can easily create multiple lead generation forms for various campaigns and then organize them clearly for your sales team. If you’re unsure what type of call-to-action will work, use an A/B test to try out your forms against each other to see which ones work the best. You can also easily create forms with the drag and drop feature. OptinMonster isn’t free and has plans starting at $9 per month.

Sumo

More than 30,000 websites currently use Sumo including Airbnb, Canva, and BarkPost. When the top names trust a plugin to perform, you can too. No coding experience is needed to use this plugin, and its creators boast you can get its system running in 37 seconds. Sumo has tools to better capture leads and keep customers on your website longer.

HubSpot Marketing Free

The best way to market to your website visitors and turn them into customers is to learn who they are and what they want. To solve this, HubSpot created a free marketing suite with tools like lead generation forms, activity trackers, and analytics. This will give you more insight into how your audience ticks.

Scroll Triggered Boxes

Scroll Triggered Boxes has more than 9,000 active installs and has a five-star review on WordPress. The premise of this plugin is simple: after your customer has scrolled to a set point on the page, the plugin shares an opt-in banner to encourage them to sign up and receive more great content.

866-999-4736

The post Best SEO & Web Design WordPress Plugins for Your Website appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Why are customers choosing to purchase online rather than in stores?  Let’s take a look to find out more.

Convenience

Online shopping is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  There are no lines, cashiers, or crowds.  The best part?  You can purchase just about anything from the comfort of your home all while wearing your pajamas.  Not to mention, you can purchase things in seconds from your mobile device or computer.

Better Prices

Products online are coming to you directly from the seller or manufacturer, which means lower prices for customers because there is no middleman involved.  Many online sites offer coupons for first time or returning customers, which can eliminate shipping costs, tax, and ultimately save the customer money.

Greater Selection

You can almost always find any product you are looking for online.  Customers can shop from retailers in other parts of the country or even the world without leaving the comfort of their home.  You’re no longer limited to shopping in your local area.  Another bonus is that online stores typically have a higher volume of inventory, with more size and color options.

Simplified Price Comparison

Shopping online gives you the ability to research and compare multiple products at the same time.  Customers can research which is the best product on the market by having access to product reviews and ratings.  Rather than having to drive all over town going from store to store, customers can navigate from one website to another in seconds.

The internet has truly changed the way customers shop.  Many customers prefer to shop online from their mobile device or computer rather than making a purchase in person.  The growth of e-commerce continues to increase, and so does the desire for instant access and 24/7 accessibility.

The post Why Are Customers Choosing to Purchase Online Rather Than in Stores? appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Customer Service

The first place a disgruntled consumer will go is often the internet. Tweeting, for example, allows them to vent their aggravation and warn others about poor corporate responsibility, shoddy products, and other pitfalls. E-commerce companies and other businesses must monitor online activity carefully at all times by using hashtags and web searches around the clock.

Handling consumer issues in public via open social media platforms, viewable by anyone and everyone, shows an honesty and transparency that only the internet can provide. Many companies have turned a potential publicity disaster into a positive message via the social media platform. Some even seek out new customers by scouring the internet for angry posts to use lucratively.

Personalized Presence

Social media platforms allow faceless corporations to become real people online. While a company website is expected to be professional and static, social media allows businesses to post ever-changing lively and humorous content that wins both the hearts and minds of their customers.

Free Advertising

When a funny or clever post on social media goes viral, literally millions of people may see your message. They don’t care if the source is a company or an individual, so long as it’s an interesting message they want to share. Also, it’s easy to promote your brand and display corporate responsibility at the same time by offering donations for every Facebook repost or retweet.

Social media is more than a diversion for bored office workers — it’s a direct representation of your company that every customer can embrace. Modern marketing requires a social media presence. The professionals at Exults can help you determine the perfect strategy for your e-commerce business.

The post How Social Media Influences E-Commerce appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.