All right, so tools and efficiency for your website.
So we're gonna look at two main things here. We will start with plugins.
So plugins are basically just really cool little widgets that will install on
your website to add different features or functions that you might want to have.
There are a ton of them, and a lot of them are very, very similar.
So make sure you're reading the features list in detail before you pick one.
A lot of times they will give you even screenshots of what the administrative
side looks like. So you can see what kind of customization options you have.
It'll give you the user side if there's something like that visually you can
see, so you can see what it looks like your customer,
and you can compare and contrast those to see which ones are gonna work well.
So I mean, just below for example,
I picked out three kind of common plugin types. As you can see,
there is anywhere from, you know,
200 to over a thousand for just those three items.
The next thing when we're trying to decide, can't just check the rating.
So the other things you're gonna wanna look at are the number of installations,
reviews, and compatibility. So number of views,
obviously just like an Amazon product,
if it has five stars and only one review versus something that has four stars
and 10,000 reviews,
probably gonna have a little more confidence in that four star product.
So here's an example of two, uh, plugins that do the exact same thing, um,
which kind of really illustrates all three of these points. So five stars,
but only two reviews and about 4,000 people have it installed compared
to four stars,
almost 2000 reviews and over 5 million people are currently using it on
their website. Next we look at when was it updated? Well,
the five star one was updated a year ago, this one was updated two weeks ago.
And then our compatibility untested versus verified as compatible.
So the clear choice here, even though we're looking at, you know, one less star,
clear choice is that second option. So pretty straightforward stuff.
Just make sure you're checking those four items. In addition to, you know,
your visual look through of the previews and things. A lot of these, um,
before you have to pay with them, before you pay with them,
or they have a free version that you can test out. Give that a shot.
Um,
do some testing with it before you decide that's when you're gonna go with or
pay for the pro version, et cetera. Next one.
Going back to our kind of efficiency that we talked about in getting started.
Only get the essentials. There's a ton of super cool plugins that like, oh,
this is a really cool feature. Oh, that would be nice to have.
But when you start adding all these things,
it adds complexity and it can slow down your website.
It's cool to have a bunch of awesome little features,
but if there's too many for the customer or client to use or know how to work,
it doesn't really add much value. Your iPhone is a perfect example.
There's probably
Two dozen features on there that you don't even know exist and you never use.
So they don't add value to you. You just have those core,
the things that you use every single day,
and those are the ones you really care about. A lot of the more advanced,
uh, te uh, advanced plugins may require some actual like,
technical expertise to set up. Um, so that may be, uh,
worth outsourcing to someone or just finding one that you know how to manage if
you're the one that's gonna be managing the site. So
the next one is integrations. Now these are a little bit different.
Oftentimes they can add some functions that plugins can't because they're
specifically working off of another, um, software or service.
They are really great for speed time because they put less burden on the server
because the software and things that are actually running to do its work are not
hosted on your webpage. They're not hosted on your server,
they're hosted usually on a third party server. You're paying for their service.
Um, an example would be like an email management, uh, platform. For example,
they will often integrate with, you know,
your WooCommerce or your e-commerce platform on your website,
but you're not hosting all of the email service software on your website, right?
But when the pur customer makes a purchase,
it sends their info to the email management software and then it can do its
thing, right? So that's the difference between integration,
whereas the plugin is all hosted and installed and running on your server,
on your website.
So these integrations can automate stuff to increase customer experience and
make things faster. Uh, for example,
email follow up campaigns are a really easy one, um,
that you can basically set up outside. Once customer purchases,
they get an automated email, maybe there's a follow up sequence.
All those kind of fun, uh, marketing things that you can add in.
There's a lot of options for these. Um, but again,
choose the ones that are gonna suit your need and your budget.
So just recapping the difference really quick.
A plugin is usually required to connect the service within your website.
For example, you might have to, if you're connecting Facebook to your uh,
website, you might have to download Facebook's plugin,
but then it integrates with Facebook.
You're not hosting all of the Facebook software on your website.
It's just the plugin that allows it to communicate. So that would be one thing.
It would be, I would consider that whole thing an integration,
not really gonna slow things down. Um,
so the integrated services, like I said,
can really help the customer experience without slowing down your webpage.
So that is the major benefit to those email providers,
like I talked about, sending follow-up sequences, scheduled emails.
You can tag customers so you can keep track of who bought what in one place.
You can send them emails based on what they bought when they bought it, a whole.
Basically, you know, the sky's the limit when it comes down to your creativity.
And then, you know,
Whatever limitations the email provider has.
Other integrations you can use are things like calend, Calendly,
or scheduling services where they can book calls, um, building forms, quizzes,
those are all things that are going to have integrations. Um,
then you have things that are plugins. Uh,
so like Gravity Form is a plugin,
but Jo Form and Typeform have integrations, so they're slightly different.
So again, compare and weigh out which ones are gonna work better for you.
Recap plugins,
tool widget specific software integration connects outside software and
runs on your website without slowing things down.
The plugins are installed locally.
Integrated services hosted elsewhere and communicate via through an api,
which just means application programming interface, um,
and can often be used regardless of the website builder, right?
So the integration isn't usually dependent on the platform you're using.
Plugins have to be specifically designed for the platform you're using.
So that's one of the advantages of something like WordPress.
There are tons and tons and tons of plugins for WordPress that are
specific to WordPress.
Those same plugins might not be available on Square or uh,
on Squarespace or Wick, for example. They might have their own plugin,
uh, database, so to speak. So quick comparison here for you,
just as recapping this module to kind of sum things up,
plugins install locally, higher site burden.
They're typically gonna have a little bit more load lower security.
So that's the kind of the main trade off, I think. Um,
because the APIs for integration services can be set so that
their read only,
which means you can control what data is shared with that service.
They don't actually control anything on your site.
They only get what you send to them. Um, and it's easily disconnected.
You just turn it off or delete the key, uh,
off your website and that's the end of it.
Plugins are installed and can typically access more data.
They can read and write information in your website,
and they must be completely installed, uh, and deleted to be turned off.
Um, they are also typically more subject to things like, um, updates,
bugs hacks, compatibility issues,
because literally anyone can with the know-how can create a plug-in.
Whereas these integration services are typically from well known, reputable, um,
type of things. Um, so security's the big concern there,
but they can be more expensive because you are paying usually for that third
party service, um, compared to a plug-in, which might be free, or maybe you pay,
you know, $20 a year for a license.
So those are the things you want to consider when looking at how you're going to
add functionality to your website.