If you’re familiar with WordPress, then you definitely know about plugins. Plugins are bolt-on CMS solutions that quickly unlock functionality with little to no effort on your website for your web design and development team. Want a data table for your site? Install a plugin. Want basic Google Analytics? Install a plugin. With the right plugins, life is easier for website management and enhancements, especially for content contributors, developers, and business owners. However, there are a few pitfalls to be aware of when building and managing your WordPress site with plugins.
Less WordPress Plugins is More for Your Web Design
When your website is essentially a giant conglomerate of WordPress plugins, you’re definitely going to have a bad time. Excessive plugins can slow down the overall navigation across your website. At some point, this may prevent customers from converting on your website. Plugins can be multipurpose and may share functionality with other plugins. As a result, you have duplication, which degrades your overall site performance and negatively impacts your SEO and web ranking. When managing your website, make sure your web designer doesn’t go overboard with plugins.
Conflicting WordPress Plugins
Without a proper implementation strategy for plugins, you may experience plugin conflicts. What can happen is by installing Plugin A, you overwrite parts of your website that Plugin B needs to function. In other words, Plugin A can disable Plugin B or, even worse, crash your website. That’s why extreme caution must be taken when installing plugins. The last thing you want to happen is for your contact form submissions to fail and lose contact details. Check for conflicts before installing your next plugin.
When in Doubt, Use Custom Code
Certain plugins are worth their weight in gold. Contact form database and migration plugins are among a few of them. However, there are times when you’ll realize that some plugins are overly designed and can negatively impact your customer’s website experience.
Therefore, make sure you understand the full scope of your plugin. Test your website after implementing a new plugin to identify any shortcomings. Custom code may be the way to go if there are serious issues. Custom code can be as simple as one line of code or as complex as hundreds of lines of code, granting you full control without another plugin. You may want your web design team to build a custom plugin if you’re maintaining multiple websites at once. When faced with a buy/build decision, consult with a web developer team like Uplancer for a deep dive into your custom code requirements.
Cost Benefits of Web Design Using Plugins
It’s not easy to determine whether a plugin is worth installing. According to WordPress, tens of thousands of plugins are available. Many offer a freemium model, where a free or paid version is exactly what you need for your website. However, you may find that there isn’t a plugin for the job, and customer code is the only option.
A good set of website requirements should identify problems you must address. With these requirements, connect with your web design team for help identifying plugins that meet your business needs. Only then can you allocate resources for plugins or custom code. Additionally, tools like PageSpeed can confirm whether a newly installed plugin negatively impacts your website performance.
The Bottom Line / TLDR
Plugins are the way to go for most modern websites. However, care must be taken when implementing them. If you’ve got a few in mind, ensure that you’re not overloading your website with them and that they don’t conflict. Also, thoroughly review prospective plugins to understand your options better and if plugins aren’t an option, consider custom code.
Contact Uplancer for a free web design consultation on optimizing your WordPress site and/or plugins. We can also help identify and install plugin solutions, and build custom code for your website.
