Summit Ghimire is the founder of Outpace, an SEO company. He helps national and enterprise businesses exceed their revenue goals.
In a constant search for the tools and resources that can take a company’s operations to a higher level of efficiency and accuracy, business leaders know the importance of minor or subtle tweaks to systems or workflows. Added up over time, many small changes can have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line.
For entrepreneurs creating and maintaining their business’ website through a web content management system, such as WordPress, the impact of individual changes is evident. These types of development platforms can make creating and maintaining a website far more manageable than it would be; this is especially true for small-business owners, already navigating a steady stream of pressure and responsibility.
Plugins represent the true power of systems like WordPress. They take a solid, simple platform and transform its capabilities, giving website developers an opportunity to build a striking, visitor-friendly, easy-to-maintain online presence. And much like anything in life of significant value, plugins can be misused. They are most valuable when carefully chosen for their ability to work together and their fit for a website’s needs and purpose.
There is a natural temptation to find the most popular or trending options and to get overwhelmed with the thousands of possibilities provided. Understanding the unique impact each plugin could have and how it will likely change or improve a website’s functionality and visitor experience is an essential step toward making the best use of the platform.
What questions should you ask to determine if a plugin is a good fit?
Determining which plugins are a good fit depends on several factors. Here are a few questions to consider.
What are the functionality needs of your website?
Identify the essential functionality required for your business’s website, including e-commerce, contact forms, SEO optimization, analytics, security or social media integration. Choose plugins that fulfill these needs without excessive duplication.
How does each plugin impact overall performance?
Each plugin adds code and potentially consumes server resources, impacting a website’s performance. Keeping the number of plugins utilized to a minimum can help maintain optimal website speed and overall performance.
Does a plugin boost user experience?
The best practice is to aim for a streamlined user experience by selecting plugins that enhance functionality without overwhelming visitors. Excessive plugins can clutter the interface, lead to longer loading times and introduce unnecessary complexity.
Are you weighing risk vs. reward when it comes to security implications?
Keep security in mind when selecting plugins. The more plugins you have, the more potential entry points for vulnerabilities, so choose those with a solid reputation for security and regular updates. Implement a plugin maintenance process to stay updated with security patches and new versions to maximize security measures.
Can you have too many plugins?
With the vast inventory available and the relative ease of implementation, it can be easy to lose track of the primary intention behind any website: a visually engaging, easy-to-navigate and optimally responsive website that balances the visitor’s desires with the business needs.
Individually, all plugins can provide outstanding features and functionality. If, however, any two plugins fail to interact properly, all potential benefits are made moot. Incompatible plugins can lead to significant conflicts, causing errors, broken functionality and even site crashes. Ensuring plugin compatibility is essential to achieving effective website design.
Ultimately, less is more when it comes to plugins. The greater the number of plugins in use, the higher the chances of compatibility issues arising with any future plugin updates or newly installed plugins. Unless a plugin has a pronounced impact on either visitor experience or the design and maintenance of a website, the best practice is to pass on installing it.
How do you choose the right plugins?
While popular plugins may offer a range of features and a large user base, they might not necessarily align with the specific needs of a particular business. It’s crucial to choose plugins based on research rather than popularity alone.
Performance
Popular plugins may work well for many websites but can also be resource-intensive and conflict with other plugins or themes. Selecting plugins that are known for their performance and compatibility can help ensure a smoother, more stable website experience.
Functionality
Quality research can help identify plugins that match the specific functionality needed for a business, such as e-commerce, contact forms, SEO optimization or social media integration.
Security
While popular plugins often receive frequent updates and may feature larger user bases reporting security vulnerabilities, lesser-known options can feature similarly robust security features. Choosing plugins with a solid track record in terms of security can minimize the risk of vulnerabilities that could compromise data or functionality.
Support And Documentation
When issues arise, or you need assistance, reliable and responsive support and comprehensive documentation for plugins become vital. Thorough research helps you find plugins that empower users to make the most of their features.
In conclusion, a practical and informed perspective is key when optimally utilizing plugins. Specifically, it’s important to approach plugins with a clear understanding of your business’s specific needs and goals. There is no magic number of plugins to use relative to the size of a business. Plugin popularity is a similarly ineffective guide. Rather, what matters most is how effectively each plugin benefits a website and whether or not they can seamlessly interact.
For small-to-midsize businesses, choosing plugins that cater to their specific needs can naturally enhance their website’s effectiveness and user experience. Though their particular requirements may vary in size and scope from large enterprises with significant resources, SMBs nevertheless have the power to find the lineup of plugins perfectly suited to ensuring their website’s success.
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