There’s no denying that Wordpress is THE web platform for building affordable, fully customizable websites. The open source Wordpress.org platform is constantly upgraded to offer a clean, user-friendly solution for everyone – from the most inexperienced newbie, to advanced professional web developers. The secret to success with Wordpress, is the plugins.

Wordpress plugins enhance your site’s functionality without the need to know much about coding or HTML. For a business user who is just starting out with his own Wordpress site, plugins can help save time on your site while enhancing your functionality and helping search engines to bring users to your website.

Here are some of the best Wordpress plugins available today.

1. WordPress SEO by Yoast (Free)

SEO, or search engine optimization uses keywords to help users find your site and WordPress SEO by Yoast takes care of all the meta descriptions, titles and other SEO factors for you. It has a 301 redirection function and it allows you to set up rules on how search engines should handle your content.

2. 404 Redirected (Free)

Whether you have a big or small site, you’re bound to have have broken links and pages from time to time when you change things around. Unfortunately, broken pages pose a problem for your business and your SEO. If potential clients see a “Page Not Found” result on your page, they may leave and head over to your competitor. However, with 404 Redirected, you can see which pages return 404 errors, and help you 301 redirect it to the correct pages.

3. Google XML Sitemaps (Free)

A Google XML Sitemap is crucial for your site, and if you built your site, you didn’t have a developer to include it for you. Google XML Sitemaps allows you to easily and quickly create the XML map, which will help your site rank higher in Google’s search engine rankings.

4. Google Analytics (Free)

The Google Analytics plugin allows you to measure your site’s results without messing with your Wordpress theme’s code. All you have to do is to copy the code onto your site and inserting your Analytics ID. It is simple and it is very important.

5. Hello Bar

If you’ve been online for a while now, you know the importance of calls to action. The Hello Bar plugin allows you to add a top-bar to the top of your page, where you can add a customizable call-to-action and a clickable link to direct traffic to your sales pages.

6. Social Content Locker for WordPress

Get some more social exposure and engagement by installing Social Content Locker for WordPress. This plugin will only allow people who Like, Tweet or +1 on your social buttons to access certain areas of your content. The content becomes instantly available when they click on the social buttons.

7. Thrive Content Builder

You’ve heard the phrase a million times, and I’m going to repeat it: Content IS King.

With a basic DIY Wordpress install, you don’t have the benefit of beautiful product pages with fancy testimonials, calls-to-action and pricing tables. Until Thrive Content Builder came along, you had to know code, or pay premium development costs to create beautiful pages.

However, Thrive Content Builder is a fantastic little plugin that integrates seamlessly with your theme. It replaces the Wordpress editor, allowing you to easily drag and drop page elements onto your pages. Best of all – you see your changes in real time!

As you can see, the possibilities are truly endless with these and other amazing Wordpress Plugins for your business.