There are over 200 million active websites on the internet right now, and every day there are an estimated 3.5 billion Google searches, roughly 40 thousand a second. And for each one of those searches, there is a business looking to land the top spot on the results page.

To get noticed in a crowd that size, your business needs all the help it can get—step in Wordpress website development.

WordPress powers close to 40% of all websites on the internet, making it the most widely used website design platform out there. WordPress website development is the preferred choice for many businesses because it seamlessly combines all the tools and features necessary to create a stunning, versatile website, while making development simple enough that programming skills aren’t required to execute your vision.

But one area where WordPress website design really stands out from the competition is the plethora of SEO plugins available. SEO is an essential tool in crowded markets like Vancouver; without it, businesses have almost no chance of marking page one on SERPs. And since over 90% of traffic stays on the first page of search results, where you rank matters immensely.

With these six helpful plugins, WordPress website design can help your business land higher on SERPs.

Yoast SEO

The Yoast SEO plugin offers businesses of all sizes almost everything they need to optimize their websites. Not only does this plugin include page optimization features like meta tag description rating, automatic XML sitemap creation, and SERP previews, but it’s also free. No wonder Yoast is one of the most widely used WordPress SEO plugins.

Redirection

The dreaded 404 error. This is what people get if they are trying to access a web page URL that has been changed or removed. Users strongly dislike these types of error messages, and you can lose a lot of traffic this way. Implementing a 301 redirect is one way to tell Google to navigate to a different page; the WordPress Redirection plugin is another.

The Redirection plugin helps manage redirects and keep on top of 404 errors – it’s also another freebie.

W3 Total Cache

Every second matters when it comes to satisfying web browsers; never overestimate the patience of someone looking for a takeout menu online when they are hungry. According to Google research, bounce rates climb exponentially with load times, up to 123% for pages that take 10 seconds or more to load. Evidence suggests that pages should load within 2-3 seconds or risk losing customers.

W3 Total Cache improves site speed across your website, even on pages with lots of rich content such as images, GIFs, and videos, drastically improving user experience and reducing bounce rates.

All in One Schema Rich Snippets

Snippets are feature boxes with items like descriptions, directions, or images that often appear at the top of Google SERPs. When it comes to attracting more traffic, a little snippet goes a long way.

There is no option to buy or otherwise manipulate your way into getting a featured snippet. However, the All in One Schema Rich Snippets WordPress plugin can help improve your odds by implementing schema markup throughout your website. Schema is a form of microdata that makes it easier for search engines to understand your web page content; the easier it is for search engines to read your pages, the more likely you are to rank high on SERPs or even earn a rich snippet.

Rank Math

The Rank Math WordPress plugin makes it easier for anyone to SEO-optimize their content. The plugin provides valuable insight into your content and even allows titles and meta tags to be optimized for featured snippet SERP display, reducing the likelihood of errors or omissions. The best part – this plugin is lightning fast and won’t drag down your load speed.

MonsterInsights

Keep track of how all your hard work is paying off – and where it isn’t – with the MonsterInsights WordPress SEO plugin.

Many business owners find Google Analytics overly complex and difficult to use. The MonsterInsights plugin helps you keep track of your website’s performance and analytics, delivering crucial Google Analytics data directly to your dashboard in a more user-friendly format.

The post 6 Essential WordPress Website Plugins and Why You Want Them appeared first on Nirvana Canada.