Recently I had a conversation with someone who aired his frustration with “choosing” the right WordPress plug-ins.”The right ones? I asked. Isn’t the right plug-in really a result of the overall goals and objectives you have for your site?” And after this statement/question – he had an ‘aha’ moment. Realizing the simplicity of what I had asked him, he easily moved on to identify which specific WordPress plug-ins he would need help installing on his traffic hungry blog.
At Nicasio Design we specialize in helping WordPress users make the right decisions, not based on our expertise, but based on the customer’s needs and long term objectives. In this article by PotPieGirl.com she highlights six of the ‘best’ plug-ins “for” profitable niche websites. I agree with her approach! See it’s about her niche client base. Not about the plug-ins she promotes because of some randomized personal quirk.
As of today there are 2.3 million Google search results for keyword ‘WordPress Plugins.’ Imagine that. Where would one even start? Here is our suggestion; Close your browser. Take out a piece of paper and pen/pencil. Right down your goals and objectives for your WordPress site/blog. What do you want to achieve? By when do you want to achieve it? Why are these goals important, and prioritize them from most to least important.
This is our approach. It’s a back to basics approach which is often helpful as it helps us focus on what is really important for our sites, and customer base – as apposed to what others are doing. Making sure you understand what you are trying to achieve will help you identify which WordPress plug-in(s) will work for you.
Disclaimer: Nicasio Design developers spend hours on discovery, development and customization of the ‘best’ plug-ins to help our customer’s sites perform the required functions. The funny thing is that despite the clear goals, hour of plug-in discovery and development – how well a plug-in performs is ultimately determined by it is users. I will write soon about how to collect and quantify your user’s feedback; via, nonetheless, a WordPress plug-in.