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Website Plugins We’re Obsessed With

Share the goods.

Red hearts with electrical plug-in adapters, hovering on a web browser screen, with the text "Website Plugins We're Obsessed With."

One of our more popular blogs (it really wasn’t) we’ve ever written was on website plugins and our recommended go-tos to improve your site’s functionality and usability. Since we wrote this uber-popular blog in 2019, it was time for a much needed update.

So…we present you with the single most riveting blog you will read this year.  

Yoast SEO

Where would we be without Yoast? It’s our go-to for user-friendly SEO tools. This little gadget can help you set up the cards for your pages and posts (the thing that shows when people post on social), define keyphrases for each page, optimize your SEO, and a whole lot more. We absolutely swear by it, and it’s a plugin that we install on every site we make.

Yoast Duplicate Post

Okay, we promise this whole blog won’t be about Yoast, but this tool is super useful, too. Yoast Duplicate Post lets you duplicate and republish any post or page on your site. That can save a lot of time in the long run, especially if you’re using a similar layout on another page. Install it now, thank us later.

HubSpot

Okay, so this is a little more than just a plugin, but hear us out. HubSpot is a marketing automation platform that focuses on lead generation, usable analytics, and way more. In order to integrate it with your site, all you need to do is install the HubSpot plugin and click through a few easy steps. Then your HubSpot account will start reporting on site traffic, user data, and a bunch more. 

Oh, did we mention that we offer HubSpot services? How convenient is that?

Hummingbird

This plugin does a lot. If you want to focus on site speed, we’d definitely recommend tossing Hummingbird onto your back end. This beast of a plugin will:

  • Minify CSS and JS (clean up your code)
  • Enable lazy loading (so images don’t load until people actually look at them)
  • Create a cache of your site (so browsers don’t need to start from scratch each time they open your pages)
  • Compress your files (so your images aren’t like 999 GBs, please and thank you)
  • A bunch of other site-speed-improving things

In short, it makes your site go faster. Like way faster. However, it’s not the easiest plugin for beginners to work with, so if all of what we said up there makes no sense to you at all, then…

Smush

Smush is like the beginner version of Hummingbird. It’s even made by the same team! Unlike Hummingbird, which is pretty much every tool in one, Smush focuses on making sure your images are usable sizes, which can really boost your site speed. It offers:

  • Lossless compression (so your new, sized-down images are still super clear)
  • Bulk optimization of up to 50 images at once
  • A lazy loader 
  • And a lot more

If you need a place to start with site speed, Smush is a great place to go. Plus, you can always add on Hummingbird later once you feel more comfortable.

Insert Headers and Footers

Seems pretty basic, we know. But if you’re not someone who’s used to playing around with code, this is a godsend. Normally, to add code into your global headers and footers (like the Google Analytics tracking tag…which you absolutely need if you don’t have it), you have to edit the base code of your entire theme. That can get pretty dicey, since one wrong step can mess up your entire website. 

Instead, Insert Headers and Footers lets you just copy and paste code into a little, isolated box. Then the plugin puts it where it needs to go. No breaking your theme, just sweet, sweet data.

Gosh, we’re such nerds. If most of this read like a foreign language, you know how to get a hold of us.

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FUN FACT FRIDAY: It’s only fitting for us to own a building where a trailblazing female operated her businesses in 1906. The Phillips family represented one of the longest-running retail tenures in Grand Rapids history; L.E. Phillips Jewelry in the 1365 Plainfield Ave. building from 1906 until 1973.
Dr. Eva Phillips, a certified and licensed optometrist ran her practice out of the jewelry store’s secondary parlor and was an equal partner in the jewelry store.

Together, they offered a unique one-stop shot which expanded to include appliances, record players, and more. The couple operated the shop through two World Wars and the Great Depression, acting as the neighborhood matriarch and patriarch.

@crestongr @crestoncorridor @crestongrandrapids @citygrandrapids @grandrapidspubliclibrary

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Open post by 8thirtyfour with ID 17898983202545176
FUN FACT FRIDAY: It’s only fitting for us to own a building where a trailblazing female operated her businesses in 1906. The Phillips family represented one of the longest-running retail tenures in Grand Rapids history; L.E. Phillips Jewelry in the 1365 Plainfield Ave. building from 1906 until 1973. Dr. Eva Phillips, a certified and licensed optometrist ran her practice out of the jewelry store’s secondary parlor and was an equal partner in the jewelry store. Together, they offered a unique one-stop shot which expanded to include appliances, record players, and more. The couple operated the shop through two World Wars and the Great Depression, acting as the neighborhood matriarch and patriarch. @crestongr @crestoncorridor @crestongrandrapids @citygrandrapids @grandrapidspubliclibrary

Have you tuned into The Happy Hour Hustle Podcast yet?
If not, a) you’re missing out and b) you need to follow immediately. Hosted by @bodespeaks, episodes drop every other week, and feature some pretty bada$$ guests if we do say so ourselves.

This week, Kim sits down with @kelsey_orchard , VP of Marketing and Communications at @fifthwheelfreight to chat building a personal brand, Gen Z entering the workforce, misconceptions about logistics, spotting fake LinkedIn profiles – oh and why your GPA doesn’t matter anymore.

Grab a watermelon margarita, sit back and enjoy for lots of laughs and real talk.

Listen now at the link in bio.

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Open post by 8thirtyfour with ID 18112263326023209
Have you tuned into The Happy Hour Hustle Podcast yet? If not, a) you’re missing out and b) you need to follow immediately. Hosted by @bodespeaks, episodes drop every other week, and feature some pretty bada$$ guests if we do say so ourselves. This week, Kim sits down with @kelsey_orchard , VP of Marketing and Communications at @fifthwheelfreight to chat building a personal brand, Gen Z entering the workforce, misconceptions about logistics, spotting fake LinkedIn profiles – oh and why your GPA doesn’t matter anymore. Grab a watermelon margarita, sit back and enjoy for lots of laughs and real talk. Listen now at the link in bio.

National Perimenopause Month starts today. We have a LOT to say, and we’re not going to be quiet about it, especially this month, so buckle up.

We were not prepared for perimenopause, much like our periods, sex, or anything else to do with our bodies. God forbid we talk about it openly.

We were taught to be ashamed, keep quiet, and to accept that it is just part of being a woman. We reject that narrative. In fact, like @bodespeaks, we want to bring it up in every conversation.

When we normalize perimenopause and the conversation around it, we stop isolating, and we’re all more prepared.
Join us for Uncomfortable Conversations: The Pause on September 24th — a powerful conversation hosted alongside the @smallbusinessassocofmichigan
Women’s Business Council, featuring some kicka$$ experts who will give you the real talk on perimenopause (more to come on them later).

Register at the link in bio.

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Open post by 8thirtyfour with ID 18132641716644887
National Perimenopause Month starts today. We have a LOT to say, and we’re not going to be quiet about it, especially this month, so buckle up. We were not prepared for perimenopause, much like our periods, sex, or anything else to do with our bodies. God forbid we talk about it openly. We were taught to be ashamed, keep quiet, and to accept that it is just part of being a woman. We reject that narrative. In fact, like @bodespeaks, we want to bring it up in every conversation. When we normalize perimenopause and the conversation around it, we stop isolating, and we’re all more prepared. Join us for Uncomfortable Conversations: The Pause on September 24th — a powerful conversation hosted alongside the @smallbusinessassocofmichigan Women’s Business Council, featuring some kicka$$ experts who will give you the real talk on perimenopause (more to come on them later). Register at the link in bio.

You asked, we delivered.

Introducing the Women`s Owners Network - a new program built for what comes first, joining our proven Fellowship model to support Michigan women at every stage of business ownership.

Whether you`ve got a team of 10 or it`s just you and your laptop, you deserve a room full of women who get it.

Six months of leadership, finance, operations, capital access, paired with real support for the isolation, emotional volatility, and decision fatigue that come with owning your own business.

You`ll have your own board of directors in your corner, including @bodespeaks plus a group of mentors, instructors, and coaches who`ve been exactly where you are.

Applications due October 1. Apply now at the link in bio.

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Open post by 8thirtyfour with ID 18089775152664042
You asked, we delivered. Introducing the Women's Owners Network - a new program built for what comes first, joining our proven Fellowship model to support Michigan women at every stage of business ownership. Whether you've got a team of 10 or it's just you and your laptop, you deserve a room full of women who get it. Six months of leadership, finance, operations, capital access, paired with real support for the isolation, emotional volatility, and decision fatigue that come with owning your own business. You'll have your own board of directors in your corner, including @bodespeaks plus a group of mentors, instructors, and coaches who've been exactly where you are. Applications due October 1. Apply now at the link in bio.
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