WordPress is the most popular CMS in the world. According to W3Techs, 43% of all websites are built using WordPress1. WordPress is a free and open-source content management system. It is a popular choice among website design and development companies because it is stable, secure, has a lot of excellent themes and plugins.
Themes and plugins
Themes are designed for specific functions; hence you can easily find themes that suit your particular requirement. For example, there are portfolio themes that are designed for creative individuals to showcase their work. They are often used by photographers, graphic designers or architects. Then there are e-commerce themes that are designed to be used by businesses that want to sell products online. Your website services company will advise you on the best theme to select based on your needs.
Plugins are a great way to expand the functionalities of a WordPress website. In this article we will learn more about Plugins and which are the best ones to use.
What are Plugins?
As the name suggests, Plugins are software that ‘plug’ – ‘into’ your WordPress website and perform specific functions. Plugins can be used to add new functionalities to a website or to expand the existing functionalities of a site. A plugin can be used for something as specific as adding a WhatsApp share button to your website or to something more generic like integrating payment gateways. A common refrain among WordPress website designers is, if there is something you want to add to a WordPress website, someone somewhere has probably made a plugin for it.
Since WordPress is an open-source technology, anyone can make Plugins for it. Like with all open-source platforms, this means that the quality of the plugin will depend on the developer.
There are many high-quality plugins available for WordPress websites and mentioned below are three must have WordPress plugins that you should talk to your website development company about.
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Yoast SEO
Search engine optimization is essential for websites that want to rank well for relevant search queries. Yoast SEO is used to update your website’s on-page SEO components like title tags, meta description and alt tags. It makes it easy for you to ensure that all of your blogs and webpages are SEO friendly. Yoast SEO is the best choice for optimizing WordPress websites for search engines and used by many website development companies.
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WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a powerful plugin that can be used to sell products online. It is compatible with most premium themes and can effectively turn any WordPress website into a fully functioning online store. The plugin is easy to use and has a lot of features. Launched in 2011, WooCommerce can be used for both small as well as large merchants. WooCommerce has highly competitive pricing and integrates with several payment gateways.
Along with features like order tracking and inventory management, WooCommerce has excellent analytics. The analytics data and insights can be used to improve your business’s online marketing strategy.
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WP – Fastest Cache
A website’s page load speed is a crucial performance factor and has a significant impact on how well a website will rank on search engines like Google and Bing. Hence, it is essential to ensure that your website is fast and that pages load quickly. A great way to ensure this for a WordPress website is to strategically use caching. WP-Fastest Cache is a plugin that can be used to improve the page speed of your website and deliver a better user experience.
The plugin stores a static copy of your website’s pages and posts. This reduces the number of server requests that need to be fulfilled before your website loads. The amount of impact a cache will have for your website will vary depending on the theme being used, the number of plugins you have installed and your site’s content. Your website development company will be able advise you on how useful caching will be for your website.
If you are looking for a full-service WordPress website development company in Jamaica, contact us at Toucan. We provide complete website solutions to Jamaican business that include website design and development, mobile app design and development, and digital marketing services.
Source:
- n.d., “Usage statistics and market share of WordPress”, [available online], available from: https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/cm-wordpress [accessed Jan 2022]