Sometimes you just don’t know you need something until you SEE it – which is why, in this post, we’re bringing you a list of 8 fantastic, cleverly designed and wonderfully useful WordPress plugins you may not have stumbled across before.
Need to increase audience engagement? Up the ante on your online sales? Make your site navigation more beautiful and functional? Of course you do! Read on, fellow WP users, for some of the best WordPress plugins you didn’t know you needed.
1. Aftership
Running an online store via WordPress? Make your life easier, and provide your customers with a better shopping experience, with Aftership – a smart app that automatically adds tracking numbers and courier fields to your admin panel, and can automate delivery notifications.
Aftership supports more than 360 international courier services, including UPS, FedEx, USPS, and DHL. This plugin also allows you to insert an Aftership Track Button on your order history page, so your customers can track their latest order status in one click. Customize your tracking page by adding your brand logo, store URL and Instagram pictures to improve SEO and generate more sales.
Get the FREE Aftership plugin via the WordPress Plugins Directory, or upgrade to the Premium plugin for just $10 a month for added features such as automatic customer notifications.
2. YITH WooCommerce Wishlist
A wishlist is one of the most useful feature of an e-commerce website. First and foremost, it can encourage users to keep coming back to your store. Secondly, if users share their wishlist — to friends, or via social networks — this can enhance sales and increase brand awareness.
If you’re already using WooCommerce, this FREE plugin is definitely worth adding to your sales arsenal.
3. UberMenu
Dealing with a LOT of content? Looking for a plugin to simplify your menu and make your navigation as appealing and user friendly as possible? UberMenu is a powerful and responsive menu plugin, featuring flexible layout options and plenty of scope for customization.
Get it from CodeCanyon for just $19 on a regular license.
4. WP Smush
Created by the folks over at WPMU DEV, Smush is designed to allow WP users to resize, optimize and compress all of images – cutting all unnecessary data without slowing down your site. WP Smush meticulously scans every image you upload – or have already added to your site – and compresses and scales it for you before adding it to your media library.
WP Smush is available FREE via the WordPress Plugins Directory. A Premium version is available via WPMU DEV’s package of plugins for $49 a month.
5. BugMeBar
Increase engagement and promote calls to action with BugMeBar – self-described as a “simple little annoying notification bar plugin”. Don’t let the tag line put you off, though – BugMeBar is non-invasive and easy for users to dismiss once they’ve seen your message. Responsive and customizable BugMeBar is available from CodeCanyon for just $12 on a regular license.
6. Redirection
Avoid losing your audience thanks to broken links with Redirection – a FREE plugin designed to manage 301 redirections, keep track of 404 errors, and tidy up any loose ends.
Particularly useful for any WP users looking to migrate pages from an old website change the directory of your WordPress installation, Redirection includes custom ‘pass-through’ redirections (allowing you to pass a URL through to another page, file, or website) as well as 404 error monitoring. This captures a log of 404 errors and allows you to easily map these to 301 redirects.
Redirection is available FREE via the WordPress Plugins Directory.
7. Herd Effect
Looking for an effective way to push those stragglers through the sales funnel? Create the illusion of a busy site or online store even on your quietest days with Herd Effect: an ingenious plugin that creates and pushes fictitious notifications out to your users to encourage them to take action on your site. Simply create a set of desired notifications by mixing custom text with a range of variables, then sit back as Herd Effect generates and shows notifications to your users, based on your template.
Choose from order, registration, mention and comment notifications. You can also use Herd Effect to show real information, ads, and notify users of promotions and offers. Grab it from CodeCanyon for just $19 on a regular license.
