Top WordPress Plugins for Local Businesses in 2024
With almost 60,000 free plugins to choose from, narrowing down your selection to the best WordPress plugins for businesses is no small task.
Even if you’ve already reviewed our local SEO resources and picked a few of our local SEO tools, there’s a whole host of handy plugins for WordPress to help enhance your website. From lead generation to analytics, contact forms to image galleries, keyword research to social sharing, there are a lot of plugins out there.
Unfortunately, the WordPress plugin library isn’t all that user-friendly and isn’t designed to help local businesses find the plugins they need. You can’t browse available plugins by category for example. So, if you only know that you want a plugin to block time-wasting spam form submissions, but don’t know what the best tool for the job is, it can feel like an impossible task.
Luckily, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve built a helpful list of the best WordPress plugins for local businesses, sorted by category.
What is a WordPress Plugin and why are they useful?
A WordPress plugin is an additional tool that adds further capability or functionality to your WordPress website. Plugins go beyond your basic theme and (as the name suggests) plug a gap.
Similar to how you might download an app to your mobile device to edit photos, record video, or manage your business expenses, a WordPress plugin enables your basic website to do more, without you needing to code in that functionality.
For example, if you wanted to add a contact form to your local business’ website but didn’t want to employ a web developer, you could download a WordPress plugin to do the job for you.
WordPress Plugins for SEO
Yoast
If you’re keen to grow your local search visibility, Yoast can help. Consistently rated one of the best SEO plugins around, it contains a whole range of tools to boost your rankings. These include content suggestions; keyword help and assistance in creating a good internal link structure.
Yoast will also automatically add structured data to your text, so you can target position zero in local search. The plugin can also help you to write optimized titles and meta descriptions by grading your text and keyword use and provides previews of your page results in search.
Yoast: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $99/year.
What makes it useful?
Yoast has lots of time-saving features and it’s easy to get to grips with. Its color-coded grading system and content suggestions mean you don’t need to have an advanced understanding of local search to begin optimizing your local business website.
Link: https://yoast.com/wordpress/plugins/seo/
All In One SEO
As the name suggests, All In One SEO comes fully loaded with all the features you need to take full control of your SEO. One of the best WordPress plugins for SEO, it helps you to ace your on-page optimization with dedicated improvement suggestions for each page.
There’s also an SEO audit that identifies critical issues which could be hampering your local visibility and a link manager for both internal and external links.
On the technical side, All In One SEO also comes with Schema and Knowledge Graph markup, a page redirection manager, and Google Map integration.
All In One SEO: Additional Information
Is it free?
No.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $49.60 – $299.60/year.
What makes it useful?
The SEO audit feature is a real time saver as it will automatically detect errors across the site and make suggestions for improvement.
Link: https://aioseo.com
Premium SEO Pack
Ideal for local business owners searching for a more advanced SEO tool, Premium SEO Pack is an award-winning choice. It’s series of modules put powerful capability at your fingertips. They include a CSS and Javascript optimizer which compresses the code to its smallest size to speed up page loading, with no technical know-how required.
Other functionality includes bulk optimization of posts, local shortcode insertion, slug optimizers, sitemap generation, image compression, and rank tracking. If your business depends heavily on its visuals, there’s also a handy tool to add SEO-friendly ALT and title attributes to pictures to aid in search visibility.
Premium SEO Pack: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $44 – $400.
What makes it useful?
Premium SEO Pack is loaded with tools and provides a lot of advanced functionality that many other SEO plugins lack.
Link: http://premiumseopack.com
Rankie
Source: Code Canyon
No list of the best WordPress plugins for business use would be complete without a rank tracker. Keeping close tabs on your search position is the only way to understand how much visibility you’re achieving in the search results and whether your SEO activity is paying off or needs a rethink.
Rankie goes beyond just tracking your keyword positions. You can use it to generate ranking reports and perform detailed keyword research. Its keyword lists incorporate phrases already being used by search users, so you can more easily spot gaps in your keyword strategy.
Rankie: Additional Information
Is it free?
No.
Does it have a premium option?
A regular license is the only current option, priced at $21.
What makes it useful?
If someone arrives on your site by searching a keyword that isn’t in your list already, Rankie will automatically add that term. This helpful feature means you can better understand how local consumers are finding your business and automatically plug keyword gaps.
Link: https://codecanyon.net/item/rankie-wordpress-rank-tracker-plugin/7605032
Ahrefs
If you’ve ever been tasked with handling local SEO for your local business, you’re almost certain to have come across Ahrefs. The WordPress plugin brings some of that functionality to your WordPress website but is accessible directly from your admin dashboard.
You can pair this plugin with your existing Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts to make it even more useful. Once that’s done, it can audit the content on your website in line with your target keywords. The plugin will give you suggestions for targeted improvement.
The page grader makes it easy to prioritize changes, with each page audited classed as well-performing, underperforming or non-performing.
Ahrefs: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes – but the free code only lasts a few weeks so you’ll need to manually generate another code to keep using it.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $99-$999/mo.
What makes it useful?
In Ahrefs’ own words, this plugin complements your other SEO plugins as it primarily focuses on auditing your content, so it can be used alongside other tools on this list.
Link: https://ahrefs.com
MonsterInsights
We’re including MonsterInsights as one of our best WordPress plugins for SEO, but this tool could just as easily have been featured in the lead generation category. Why? Simple. MonsterInsights powers data-led decision-making, which is essential when it comes to refining your SEO strategy and making more sales.
With just a click or two, you can enable Google Analytics 4 on your site with no coding required. Information appears in real-time on your WordPress dashboard, along with actionable insights to help you make sense of what may be a large amount of data. The page-level analytics are especially useful, as they help you understand which pages and posts are performing well, and where a rethink may be required.
MonsterInsights: Additional Information
Is it free?
No.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $99.50 – $399.50/year.
What makes it useful?
Google Analytics can feel like a bit of a minefield but this plugin brings in Analytics data easily, with no coding needed. It also adds context and insight to the data, along with user-friendly dashboards.
Link: https://www.monsterinsights.com
WordPress Plugins for Customer Service
Zendesk Support
Delivering a great customer service experience can make the difference when it comes to growing your local business, even if things have gone wrong elsewhere.
Without a proper system in place, it can be difficult to keep track of customer issues submitted across multiple channels. Zendesk creates a centralized help desk so you can easily keep track of support requests from chat, email, messaging, your blog, and the web, and answer questions and solve issues promptly.
You can also use Zendesk to create powerful customer service resources, such as a central help center and community forums to provide fast responses to common questions. Prepared answers to help customer service agents work quickly, AI bots, and the ability to escalate queries all elevate your customer support function.
Zendesk: Additional Information
Is it free?
There is a free 30-day trial.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $49 – $99/mo per agent.
What makes it useful?
Packed with features from ticketing systems to live chat, Zendesk is also easily scalable so your customer service function can grow along with your business.
Link: https://www.zendesk.com
Awesome Support
Similar to Zendesk, Awesome Support is a complete customer support solution. Once downloaded, it’s ready to go right out of the box and can be live within five minutes.
This plugin enables customers to submit a support ticket via your website. You can customize the fields users complete on the ticket so it’s tailored to the needs of your own customers.
One of the nice features about Awesome Support is that it will automatically assign new tickets to a customer service agent with the least number of open tickets. It will also track the time each agent spends on each ticket, so you can monitor how efficiently your team is working.
Awesome Support: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $149 – $409/year.
What makes it useful?
Even the free version is full of useful features. It’s also quick and easy to set up. Expect to be up and running in around five minutes.
Link: https://getawesomesupport.com
Tidio
Without a doubt, one of the best WordPress plugins for businesses is a chatbot tool. Tidio couples live chat and an automated chatbot function with ticketing. Use the live chat tool to speak to customers in real-time to answer questions and make product recommendations.
The chatbot can be used to automatically open a chat window and greet site visitors, as well as answer standard questions and provide offers or codes to increase conversion.
The ticketing desk will turn messages sent to your support email into tickets automatically, so you can see the status of all requests and who’s dealing with that query.
Tidio: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $15.83 – $240.83/mo.
What makes it useful?
The combination of live chat, customizable chatbot, and ticketing system makes this a hardworking plugin for any local business.
Link: https://www.tidio.com
WordPress Plugins for Leads & Conversions
Smartsupp
Describing itself as a personal shopping assistant, Smartsupp is a live chat, chatbot, and video plugin. You can use it to speak directly with website visitors, helping them to navigate your site. The chatbot assists visitors with their shopping queries, collects leads, and provides automated answers to questions around the clock.
Smartsupp will also collect details of all users on your site at any time, so you can see which products they are browsing. Use this information to strike up a conversation, helping to grow your leads and boost your conversions. To further assist, video recordings track user behavior on-site, so you can see where shoppers drop out of the funnel.
Smartsupp: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $19.50 – $48.00/mo.
What makes it useful?
The real-time visitor list and video recording provide lots of useful insights, while the chatbot and live chat feature can be used to make sales.
Link: https://www.smartsupp.com
Popup Maker
If you’re looking to grow your leads, encouraging local consumers to opt into your mailing list for news and offers is a great place to start. Popup Maker simplifies the process of adding pop-ups, banners, and slide-ins to your site with no coding required.
You can control how the pop-up appears and what triggers it. Options include an immediate pop-up when a visitor arrives on your website or when they take an action, such as clicking a button or completing a form.
This plugin can also be used to create mobile-responsive pop-ups.
Popup Maker: Additional Information
Is it free?
No.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $87 – $247/year.
What makes it useful?
The fully customizable pop-ups can be used for many lead generation and conversion purposes. You can also control the look, size, and position of each pop-up with no coding required.
Link: https://wppopupmaker.com
Mailchimp
Mailchimp has a library of plugins to integrate its email marketing capability with platforms that you may already be using on WordPress (for example WooCommerce or Shopify). It connects directly with your eCommerce and subscriber lists. Use it to create automated, personalized marketing campaigns which nurture new subscribers and funnel leads through to conversions.
The Mailchimp plugin can be used to deliver helpful content to your site visitors. For example, you can send abandoned cart reminders, personalized recommendations, or after-sales messaging.
As well as automatically updating your mailing lists, Mailchimp will help you create customer segments for more targeted marketing. Plus, performance tracking means you can measure the impact of your emails.
Mailchimp: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes.
Does it have a premium option?
No.
What makes it useful?
You can sync subscriber and customer data automatically to save time. Tracking and customer segmentation enables you to better target your sales and marketing to boost conversions.
Link: https://mailchimp.com/integrations
WordPress Plugins for Social Media
Ultimate Social Media
Ultimate Social Media is one of the best WordPress plugins for local businesses looking for a quick, no-fuss way to add social share buttons. The plug-in covers more than 200 social media platforms plus RSS and email. Choose as many or as few social icons as needed.
While simple, Ultimate Social Media allows you to personalize your share buttons to fit your site. You can choose to animate the icons, have them float, or stay in a set position on the page. Some buttons allow multiple actions such as liking a page and sharing content. The premium option includes additional themes and styles, so you can further tailor the button appearance.
Ultimate Social Media: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $39.98.
What makes it useful?
This plugin contains share icons for more than 200 different social media platforms, so you can tailor your network selections in line with your niche.
Link: https://www.ultimatelysocial.com
Smash Balloon
If you’ve been using any of our top social media tools to elevate your socials, you’ll undoubtedly want to show off your feeds on your website. Smash Balloon (formerly called Instagram Feed) simplifies that process. It makes light work of pulling your social media feeds into your WordPress website, so you can display your latest posts to website visitors.
You can choose to embed content from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Shoppable feeds can also be displayed. Quick and easy to set up, Smash Balloon helps to keep your site looking fresh with an influx of new imagery, helps you to grow your social following, and can act as social proof.
Smash Balloon: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $49 – $299/year.
What makes it useful?
Smash Balloon uses the fonts and styles set by your WordPress theme, so the feed integrates seamlessly onto the page.
Link: https://smashballoon.com
Nextend Social Login
Nextend social login could have just as easily appeared on our list of top CRO tools. It allows users to register and log in to your local business website with one click, using their preferred social media account.
This means someone wanting to register or buy doesn’t have to waste valuable time filling in a new registration form before they can subscribe or check out. It also means they don’t have to remember yet another username and password. One-click registration is available using any existing Facebook, Twitter, or Google account as well as services such as Apple, Amazon, and PayPal.
Nextend Social Login: Additional Information
Is it free?
Yes.
Does it have a premium option?
Yes. $70 – $140 CAD.
What makes it useful?
Nextend Social Login is easy to integrate with existing forms and can be configured to match your site design.
