From telegraphs to emails, and from radio to podcast, we’ve come a long way in the evolution of mass media. Thanks to the internet, there are now more ways to communicate than ever before: social media, blogs, email, instant messaging, forums, etc. By incorporating these types of communication tools to your website, you can engage with your visitors like never before. And for those using WordPress to build and run their website, this is super easy to do with some great WordPress plugins.
The internet is constantly providing us with new tools to help us stay connected and quickly share information with each other. These tools give us the ability to interact with anyone from virtually anywhere. By integrating these tools into your website, you create the capability for your site visitors to interact with you. From social media to thank you emails, there are many great ways for you to dialogue interactively with your visitors. WordPress has made integrating these great features easy with their large library of plugins. Through the list of popular communication plugins, we selected five plugins that can help make your website or blog more engaging.
Contact form It’s important to give your visitors a way to contact to you. We can all agree that there’s nothing more frustrating than visiting a website and not being able to find contact information. This plugin alleviates this frustration by providing your visitors with a clear, secure way to contact you. Fast Secure Contact Form has a easy to use interface, you can build a professional, secure contact form in seconds.
Thank Me Later Whether you’re thanking someone for their business or asking them to give you a second look, thank you cards are great way to leave an impression. This great plugin lets you do this. After your visitors leave a comment on your post, they’ll automatically be sent a ‘Thank You’ email, letting them know you appreciate their thoughts, comments, and ideas, or whatever you choose to write.
Maps Similar to the contact form, it’s not just important for your visitors to contact you but to also find you. Comprehensive Google Map Plugin has an intuitive, user-friendly interface with over 250 custom maker icons to choose from. It also provides Google-like directions for driving and walking. And while this plugin isn’t relevant for all websites, it’s crucial for businesses with a physical location. For example, if you’re a restaurant owner, having a Maps plugin on your website is effectively a requirement. After all, the first place that your customers will look for you is on your website.
Calendar Keep your visitors up-to-date with your upcoming events, webinars, podcasts, etc. with this All-in-One Event Calendar plugin from Then.ly. It provides a clean visual design, solid architectural patterns, and powerful features making it the most advanced calendar system available. Don’t forget, the most important element to encouraging others to use your calendar plugin is to keep it up to date. Visitors will then follow your calendar knowing they can rely on the information.
Social Media Incorporate Facebook, Twitter, Google+, StumbleUpon, Digg, etc. right to your site with this great plugin from Sociable. Sociable gives your visitors access to tools with which to connect with you and share information from your website or blog. The primary driver to web communications is social media. Facebook, for example, is now a pivotal part of many business marketing models because it gives businesses a new medium with which to interact with their customers. People can now see what their friends like, what they recommend, etc.
Whether your site lends itself to all these plugins, or just a few, remember that possibilities are endless with WordPress plugins. Similar the accelerating advancement of technology, there are always new WordPress Plugins designed to help make your website even better. Let us know what your favorite plugins are in the comments below!
Tiffany Bluehost
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