![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/nextgen-gallery-2-1024x323.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nYou have the ability to manage uploads, metadata, gallery albums, and much more. What\u2019s more, you don\u2019t have to work with shortcodes as the Insert Gallery Window works under the hood to do the heavy lifting. Though, there is the option to use shortcodes if they\u2019re essential to your workflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the front end, NextGEN Gallery provides a number of different gallery styles to choose from, along with album styles, and more. You can customize almost any aspect of your gallery directly from the WordPress dashboard \u2013 without the need for even a single \u2018byte\u2019 of code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The core plugin is free to download and use forever. Though, NextGEN Pro<\/a> provides proofing functionality, automated print fulfillment, a wealth of payment options, automatic tax calculations, and much more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another top-notch gallery WordPress plugin from Imagely is Envira Gallery<\/a>. This tool is also perfect for building galleries and offers a different \u2018flavor\u2019 to NextGEN Pro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The standout feature here is the drag-and-drop page builder. This lets you create and design an image gallery to your exact specifications without the need for code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The developer-friendly features don\u2019t stop there either. There are lots of hooks and filters to let you develop Envira Gallery into your own custom plugin, complete with its own features and functionality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though, you don\u2019t have to use them. Envira Gallery offers a wealth of features out of the box, such as gallery templates, social sharing<\/a>, watermarks, and more than we have room to note!<\/p>\n\n\n\n While there is a free version of Envira Gallery, the best value is from a premium subscription<\/a>. If you\u2019re a WooCommerce user<\/a>, the Pro tier is the best option for you, as it includes integration with the top e-commerce platform for WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of course, with lots of images on your site, you\u2019ll need to make sure they are optimized and light. This is where Imagify comes in<\/a>. For the unaware, it\u2019s an online compression tool for JPG, PNG, GIFs, and PDFs. What\u2019s more, it can convert your images to WebP<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The free version lets you upload images up to 2MB in size \u2013 plenty for the majority of images. You can also resize images using our interface, whether that\u2019s through the online Graphical User Interface (GUI) or the WordPress plugin<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, the plugin represents a helpful and valuable addition to your site. You can get an overview of your optimization statistics from the dashboard, and optimize images on the fly. If you decide that a specific image does better without optimization (although the compression algorithm<\/a> is high quality), you can revert any image back to the original.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagify also offers a free online optimization tool<\/a> to help give you a taste of what Imagify can do. From there, take out a subscription to optimize more images across every site you run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No essential plugin list would be complete without the most popular Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plugin on the market \u2013 Yoast SEO<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This gives you almost complete access to how your site is presented within search engines<\/a>, and has a treasure trove of options at your disposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, you can work with the display of your metadata, and customize how it looks and reads. You\u2019re also able to work with your sitemap, to make sure site crawlers get an accurate picture of your site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While you don\u2019t need<\/em> an SEO plugin to see success, having a solution such as Yoast SEO means there\u2019s no guesswork when it comes to what works. The interface includes a \u2018traffic light\u2019 system to show you how your SEO shapes up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether you want to get to the top of the search engine rankings or make your writing more readable, Yoast SEO is the perfect free WordPress plugin to help you get the job done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you don\u2019t know how traffic interacts with your site, you can\u2019t use those insights to optimize it further. While there are a lot of WordPress plugins that can help, Site Kit by Google<\/a> is the \u2018official\u2019 way to view your website analytics within WordPress:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It provides a bundle of six different tools within your WordPress dashboard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you use a lot of Google products, this plugin is going to offer you immense value. It\u2019s fantastic that a six-tool bundle comes without cost, and the functionality within is top-notch (as you\u2019d expect from Google).<\/p>\n\n\n\n A photography site will often have a lot of images to showcase. Of course, there is only so much space to do so. A slider could be an option, as you\u2019re able to create carousels to offer an infinite loop of your best work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While there are lots of dedicated slider plugins on the market, we like Soliloquy<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a free plugin at its core, with a drag-and-drop builder to help you create a carousel to your exact requirements. Images will look great on all devices, and the developers claim the plugin is fast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are lots of pre-built templates for you to use out of the box, and you could also create and display WooCommerce product sliders too. In fact, there\u2019s lots more functionality that we aren\u2019t able to feature here, including what comes with the premium version of Soliloquy<\/a> too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Form plugins for WordPress are ten-a-penny, so it takes something to stand out from the pack. Gravity Forms<\/a> is a long-standing quality way to build interactive and dynamic forms within WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You use a visual builder to piece your forms together from a number of different modules. From there, you can customize those fields and set things up the way you\u2019d like without the need for code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n What\u2019s more, Gravity Forms offers \u2018conditional logic\u2019 functionality. This is ideal for creating a form that reacts and adapts to user input. If you want to pre-screen clients or customers before having a one-to-one, conditional logic will be your friend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pricing<\/a> for Gravity Forms is reasonable too. You\u2019ll pay around $60 per year for one site, and look to a higher tier if you need more sites. It could be that the Elite license represents good value if you have a lot of sites with a need for forms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If \u2018caching\u2019 is a new term for you, know that it\u2019s a way to take the files your site uses often, and store them away for next time. This decreases loading times and gives you a performance boost. The consequence for your users is that your site loads faster. Plus, the plugin improves crucial performance metrics, such as Core Web Vitals<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As with forms, there is a supply of great caching WordPress plugins, and each has a fervent fanbase. Though, WP Rocket<\/a> represents a top premium caching solution that often outguns the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One reason for this is how it doesn\u2019t need further tweaking once you activate the plugin. This is fantastic if you have experience with other feature-rich caching plugins that expect you to be an expert. WP Rocket assumes nothing of the sort and does its best to give you the most performance for the least effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plugin activates page and browser caching upon install, along with a few ways to glean a bit of extra performance out of your server.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you do need to set things up to your own liking, you can do so through the intuitive dashboard. Given the price of a one-site license<\/a>, WP Rocket represents immense value for money that could pay for itself if it nets you a few customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you’re looking for a single plugin that will give you tons of options for displaying your photos on your website, Qi Addons for Elementor<\/a> is a solid choice. Qi Addons is a huge collection of widgets for the Elementor site builder, packing over a hundred widgets that will do wonders for your photography blog, portfolio, or store.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a photographer, you’ll be especially interested in the sliders and gallery widgets. You can use the before\/after slider widgets to highlight your photo editing skills or hover-aware sliders to add an interesting type of interactivity to your images. The most compelling types of galleries included with the plugin are the masonry and Pinterest-style galleries. You’ll also be able to create image marquees and other interesting and dynamic image displays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Qi Addons for Elementor has plenty of other widgets that can come in handy when building a website for photographers. They cover anything from SEO to typography uses and are designed to look sleek and modern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The plugin comes in a free version, with a limited number of widgets, and the full version you can get at $49 per year. Either way, you’ll get access to video tutorials to help you find your way around the plugin and its many widgets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media rules a lot of promotional and marketing strategies, and for a good reason. This is where you\u2019re going to find the most eyes, and photography is almost made for the likes of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Auto Post to Social Media \u2013 WordPress to Buffer<\/a> (we\u2019ll call WordPress to Buffer here) does what it says on the tin. It automates posts from WordPress to Buffer without the need for your input.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The real value here is how Buffer helps you to manage your social media posting. Combine this with WordPress\u2019 scheduling functionality, and you have an almost hands-off process between your site and your social media channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a simple plugin that can save you lots of time on a day-to-day basis. What\u2019s more, the premium version<\/a> of WordPress to Buffer lets you post directly to Instagram too. For many photographers, this is going to make the upgrade a tempting proposition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s another straightforward WordPress plugin<\/a> that can give you more time to take pictures and less time on administration. Post to Google My Business<\/a> (again) does what it suggests. You get to work with the Google My Business interface from your WordPress dashboard:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This plugin is a good way to boost your SEO, as you can create posts within Google\u2019s platform from within WordPress. Also, you can automate WordPress to send published content to Google My Business, which (much like WordPress to Buffer) gives you a way to remain hands-off on the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also publish content to Google My Business from other apps too, such as Zapier, ManageWP, and more. The premium version<\/a> gives you more to get your teeth into also. If you want to use Google My Business to its full potential, this plugin is going to be one of the first you install.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re a photographer who wants to have an online presence, WordPress should be your platform of choice. One of the reasons is because there are lots of WordPress plugins dedicated to helping you achieve your goals. The fundamentals are a good gallery plugin (such as NextGEN Pro<\/a> and Envira Gallery<\/a>), and optimization using a plugin such as Imagify<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though, there are lots of other plugins to help you achieve your business goals too, such as Yoast SEO<\/a> and WP Rocket<\/a> \u2014 SEO and performance matter more than ever. You can use dedicated photography functionality, and enhance your site using typical business tools too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you feel as though your image galleries need more care and attention, NextGEN Gallery<\/a> has the functionality you need to succeed \u2013 no code required!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Image credit: <\/em>poverss<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n As a photographer, you should choose carefully which plugins to use on your WordPress site to make the most out of it. Read the blog post to find out the best plugins to use!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plugins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1785,"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions\/1785"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Envira Gallery<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/envira-gallery-1024x327.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Imagify<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/imagify-1024x131.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n4. Yoast SEO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/yoast-seo-1024x333.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n5. Site Kit by Google<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/sitekit-google-1024x350.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n6. Soliloquy<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/soliloquy-1024x327.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n7. Gravity Forms<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/gravity-forms-1024x385.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n8. WP Rocket<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wp-rocket-1024x640.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n9. Qi Addons for Elementor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Qi](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/Qi-Addons-for-Elementor.jpg\")
10. WordPress to Buffer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/wordpress-to-buffer-1024x331.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n11. Post to Google My Business<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/post-to-google-my-business-1024x326.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nIn Summary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Imagify,](\"https:\/\/imagify.io\/blog\/wp-content\/themes\/imagify\/assets\/img\/gwic-1.png\")
<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"