Finding the correct set of plugins for your WordPress website can be a very tricky thing, as there are almost 55,000 officially registered WordPress plugins. Furthermore, the list exceeds this limit once we count third-party plugins offered by different companies. It becomes challenging to choose the right set of plugins in such a crowded inventory, and most of the time, this confusion leads to the wrong plugins in the wrong spots. WordPress plugins provide you with enhanced security, speed, and an SEO-friendly interface to boost your website’s quality.
Importance of WordPress plugins
The WordPress directory of plugins is the foundation of your site. These plugins are designed to provide vital capabilities to your site, whether you need to add form fields, speed up your site, set up an online store, enhance SEO, or provide email opt-ins. A plugin will provide you with a much-needed pathway to manage your website more professionally with minimum technical knowledge and coding experience. Choosing the right plugins in current times can be a tiresome task and entails a lot of trial and error – Here are the most useful WordPress plugins to have in 2022 based on professional recommendation.
1. WPForms
Adding forms to your website can be a tricky task if you are not familiar with coding, but WPForms makes this job simple and easier for you. This plugin is the first choice for builders to have when it comes to adding different types of forms to your website. Its user-friendliness and easy-to-use interface make it possible for newcomers to handle the task of adding forms in a professional capacity. There are two versions of this app that anyone can add to their website with a few clicks. The first version is completely free and lets users access some basic features like adding submission forms, enabling email notifications, embedding CAPTCHA, and much more. The paid version of this plugin takes it a few steps further by offering your premium services, such as adding multi-page forms throughout your website.
2. WooCommerce
The growing trend of e-commerce has created new challenges for website builders to find suitable plugins to go along with that can provide suitable e-commerce solutions to website owners and help them manage their online business. WooCommerce is a leading figure when it comes to selecting e-commerce plugins for your WordPress website. This allows builders to convert a simple WordPress website into a fully functioning e-store. This plugin is a must-have for online businesses operating on WordPress CMS as it enables site owners to sell their desired product, manage currencies, highlight reviews to attract customers and provide filtering functionality for visitors to comb through all the products on the website. Woocommerce has the same core developer as WordPress CMS, which highlights this to be a quality product that can be relied upon.
3. Borderless When it comes to adding your favourite elements and widgets to your WordPress website, the Borderless plugin is the go-to choice of professional builders. Bordless opens up new avenues for you when it comes to adding widgets of your choice. You can add widgets that highlight total daily views, testimonials, related posts, sliders, and much more. This plugin works with a wide variety of builders and makes your website stand out in a competitive environment. This plugin lets you add contact and social media icons to your sidebar and footer, so you can make them look just the way you want.
4. Smush
Site speed is an important factor in SEO-Strategy and images are the key elements that can slow down your website. Smush is an optimization solution for all the image files on your WordPress website. This plugin works with an automated system to compress and optimise all your uploaded images to suitable sizes, enabling your site to load images more quickly with minimum data use.
5. XML Sitemaps
Indexing your website on major search engines is the key to getting it registered in their ranking systems. XML Sitemaps developed by Auctollo are a must-have plugin for WordPress websites as it enables search engine crawlers to find all the sections of your website and list them in their search results. The most fascinating part is its automated notification system that lets search engines know whenever a new link is generated or a page is added to your website. This free tool enables complete automated handling of XML sitemaps of your websites and is fully adaptable.