Remote start-ups have been the business trend of 2021. Working from home, the new normal for millions of office workers and entrepreneurs, has legitimized the option to run a business without investing in an office. While this opens many doors for entrepreneurs, remote work also comes with its own challenges. However, as with most modern-day challenges, there is usually a WordPress plugin that can help!
-
WPForms
Most business websites will need a contact form. Whether you are looking to recruit talented individuals from across the world to be a part of your business, or you want to drive leads to grow your company, if you don’t have coding experience, then WPForms could be the best form plugin for your website.
With WPForms, you can also let team members upload files, create polls and surveys and if you run a non-profit – you can also use the plugin to collect donations. The plugin can also integrate with most payment platforms such as Stripe and Authorize.
-
WP Remote
WP Remote is a great app for digital nomads and people who work on the road and manage one or more WordPress websites. One of the great things about this plugin and the associated phone app is that they are free – although you can upgrade for some premium features.
If you manage many sites because you run a marketing or web design business, for example, this app lets you manage and update them all in one place, which saves a lot of time.Another nice feature is that you don’t need the same WordPress account. So if you have ten different WordPress accounts for ten websites, you can still manage them all in the same place.
You can check all of your websites on any device that has access to the internet. You will get dashboard alerts when a plugin or theme update is available so that you can install the update within a click or two. This saves you from logging in to the backend of the website each time you want to check.
The dashboard notifies you with a specific color – usually orange when an update is available that hasn’t been installed. If there are several updates available for one site, you can update them all with one click. If you never want to update a plugin or stop getting notifications, you can “lock” it so that you won’t get any notifications.
You can also create backups of your WordPress websites, so if you are unlucky enough to get hacked or something goes terribly wrong with a plugin, you can easily revert to a saved version of your site.
If you want to stop using the plugin, you can just deactivate it, and it will no longer have access to your website. -
Sucuri
Whether you are working remotely or not, a plugin that improves security is always an excellent idea. The plugin creates a web application firewall that monitors HTTP traffic and creates a type of reverse proxy which protects the server from exposure. Sucuri will protect your site from malware threats, spam comment attacks and XSS attacks. As a nice side-benefits, it also creates a content delivery network (CDN) that should speed up your website.
-
Uncanny Automator
Often described as “Zapier for WordPress,” you can link plugins and create triggers and automated actions with Uncanny Automator. The plugin allows you to set up automated workflows or “recipes” in an “if this, then that” codeless interface. You can even link two websites together if you need to.
For example, with Uncanny Automator, when a user submits a specific form, you could enroll the user on a premium course that you sell.
You can have one trigger – for example, a form submission, and one action – for example, enrolment on a course, or multiple triggers combined with multiple actions.
A trigger is an event that will start the workflow you set. Actions are the tasks that you want to be performed once the workflow has been initiated.Another very common workflow that Uncanny Automator can be used for is when a user buys a product with WooCommerce, you can automatically send them an email with your CRM or email software.
-
Moneypenny Managed Live Chat
Live chat is an excellent tool for WordPress websites for several reasons. For example, it is a great tool for lead generation; it can be a great source of user insight feedback and used correctly, it enhances customer service and experience.
Live chat allows visitors to talk to users in real-time, helping visitors find what they need and answering questions almost instantly. Most users prefer live chat when it comes to asking questions, as it is much faster than email or telephone. Typically, if users cannot find what they need on your website, they’ll leave and go to a competitor. However, with live chat, it is often quicker and easier to ask a live chat agent than to leave the site. With this in mind, live chat is a highly effective tool for reducing bounce rates.
Moneypenny’s live chat app and service offer 24/7 live chat management with US or UK-based agents. If you are working remotely, this can be a great alternative to hiring in-house live chat agents.
In addition, while chat-bots have their place when it comes to website experience, it says something a lot different about your brand and company to have a polite and professional live chat agent available 24 hours a day on your site.
The plugin is easy to use, and the live chat window can be customized to use your company logo and color scheme. You can also set customized pro-active chats to activate with specific time settings on particular URLs. For example, if a visitor is on your homepage for longer than 40 seconds, you can set the live chat window to open up with a customized greeting such as “Can I help you find what you are looking for today?”. This level of control allows you to test different greetings and time settings on different pages.
Conclusion
Running a remote business does not mean that you have to compromise in any way when it comes to your WordPress website and user experience. With some outsourcing and automation, it is possible to create a beautiful WordPress website that is enjoyable to use. In addition, with plugins such as WP Remote and Uncanny Automator, you can easily manage your website and your sales process even if you are working on the road.