During lockdown, many websites were inundated with the sort of traffic that was a struggle to cope with adequately. The statistics were mind-blowing. For example, some sites experienced a surge of growth of over one thousand percent. The increased demand was overwhelming, particularly for e-commerce websites. Fortunately, help was at hand courtesy of such Chris Hughes companies as mintWP.com.
The brainchild of tech entrepreneur Chris Hughes, mintWP.com, focuses solely on providing development and maintenance services for WordPress sites. The other arm to his business, RedLettuce, specializes in acquiring and launching new software to make millions of WordPress owners' lives a lot easier.
WordPress has long had an outstanding reputation for being the perfect platform for building your blog, portfolio, or e-commerce site. As you can probably gather, Hughes is something of an expert on all things WordPress related. So we decided to ask the man himself, to tell us about his five favorite WordPress plugins.
The Need for Speed
I've always had something of a love affair with WordPress. It comes with loads of tools to ensure you can create a professional-looking site whose performance can be monitored over time. The best thing about WordPress is how 'good' can be turned into 'great' through an extensive range of plugins.
When it comes to page load times, a lack of speed is a drag for any website. Slow and sluggish sites annoy the user and send them elsewhere. So obviously you will want yours to work as effortlessly and effectively as a finely-tuned race-car engine.
One of the best ways to do this is to invest in a little plugin called WP-Rocket. It does exactly what it advertises, and the good news is that installation and configuration are simple and can be done in a matter of minutes, giving you an instant speed boost to your site. Page load times will be improved, and your users will respond in kind.
WooCommerce
There's a reason why WooCommerce powers nearly a third of online stores, and that's because it's an invaluable little plugin. The free version allows your site to calculate the cost of shipping and taxes, as well as the ability to accept major credit cards, PayPal, and bank transfers. Meanwhile, the premium version comes with a lot of nifty extras, such as a one-page checkout. So what are you waiting for, check it out!
Yoast SEO
Yoast SEO is such a handy little plugin, the advantages of which are many. The main thing to bear in mind is it can make an incredible difference to your site's Google ranking, and here's how. This plugin allows you to analyze your pages in real-time and optimize their content, images, titles, keywords, and meta descriptions for optimum effect. You can also use it to improve your site's content and make it a lot more Google friendly.
Google Analytics Dashboard
Speaking of Google, another plugin you need if you're serious about your site's long-term health and future is Google Analytics Dashboard. Using this plugin, you can monitor your website's visitors as well as each visitor's geographical location. It also gauges how long they stay on the page and their viewing and buying habits. For any business, online or elsewhere, this is the sort of data that is priceless.
Adobe Fonts
First impressions count, so make sure your website gives off the right one and invest in a fantastic little plugin called Adobe Fonts. A well-designed website with top quality fonts can give you that all-important edge in a hugely competitive marketplace, and Adobe Fonts is capable of delivering the goods with a diverse and quality range of typography.
Appearance isn't everything, but it certainly counts for a lot online.
