In this article, we'll go over the 5 best WordPress audience plugins that will help you better understand your website users, get information from them, and keep your website more secure.
Google Analytics by Yoast
Most website owners probably already use Google Analytics (GA). It is the leader in free website analytics and tells you a lot about your users, what they do on your website, and how you can get them to convert easier and more often.
The Google Analytics plugin by Yoast doesn't just track pageviews like most other GA plugins. It will also track outbound links and file downloads as well.
In addition, you can also view helpful metrics on your WordPress dashboards so that you do not have to login to GA every time.
If you promote affiliate products on your website, this plugin will also help you keep track of those links better.
GetSiteControl
GetSiteControl is a fairly new service that allows you to easily create surveys, contact forms, promo boxes, subscription forms, social media follow buttons, share buttons and chat functionality.
The basic service is free but they also offer premium version which adds some additional features. The best part about it is that it actually makes your website look good and modern.
Implementation on your website is very easy. All the setup is done on their website in a user-friendly interface, and then when you're done, you will just need to add a small JavaScript code to your website. That's all there is to it.
That one JavaScript code will need to be implemented only once, no matter how many changes you make or widgets you add to your website.
One awesome feature of GetSiteControl is the ability to select when and how often the popup will trigger. This ensures that the popup doesn't annoy your audience and if they decline to take action, they can simply be left alone.
Asking your users to subscribe to your newsletter has never looked better!
CallRail Phone Call Tracking
If you're a big marketer and analytics person, you will understand and appreciate the ability to track each and every phone call you receive from your website.
That's what CallRail enables you to do. In a nut shell, it assigns a unique phone number to each of your visitors which keeps track of visitor source, keyword, campaign, and so on. That way when the user calls the unique phone number they were assigned, you know everything about how they discovered your website and where they came from.
It features some of the most advanced call features such as call recording, dynamic number swapping, and whispered messages.
Unfortunately, the service is not free as it starts at around $30 per month. However you do have a couple of weeks to try it out before you commit to it fully, so I highly recommend giving it a shot to see if it can help your business.
Contact Form DB
One major issue I've seen over the years is websites utilizing WordPress Contact form plugins such as Contact Form 7. There is nothing wrong with Contact Form 7 except the fact that if you do not receive the form submissions to your email, they are basically lost forever.
That's where Contact Form DB comes in handy. Not only does it track Contact Form 7 submissions, but it also supports 8 other contact form plugins.
The way it works is very simple and does not require any user configuration. It will simply record every form submission into the database and allow you to view it anytime you want. No more lost form submissions due to misconfigured email services and spam filters.
If you've used contact forms on your website before, you probably know that email delivery can be very unreliable and it highly varies from one web host to another. Don't put your business' success in the hands of your web host. There is absolutely no reason why you should lose valuable form submissions due to the fault of others.
Login LockDown
And finally we have the Login LockDown. This is not something you want to have, it's something you NEED to have.
Login LockDown tracks IP addresses and timestamps of every failed login attempt to your website. That means you can see if and when someone is trying to break in.
This plugin will also disable login functionality for all offending IP ranges if they fail the login attempt specific number of times. You can change this number to whatever will work best for your website.
About the Author: Haris Bacic
