WordPress allows you to easily customize your site layout through widgets types. Many WordPress plugins allow you to add different types of widgets in the sidebar, like popular posts, email signatures, etc. In this article, we have handpicked the best WordPress widgets for your website that are extremely useful.
Proper widgets can help you to make your sidebar work for you. But the problem is finding the right widgets from thousands of WordPress widgets is difficult. So, to make things easier, I will share a list of different types of widgets for the WordPress sidebar. This list will help you to find and add the right widgets types for your WordPress blog.
Before going further, I’d recommend you check your existing widgets because WordPress Installation has some default widgets. And if you use a premium theme, it might add some widgets too. You should check if there is the same kind of widget before adding new widgets. Just go to WordPress Admin Panel > Appearance > Widgets.
WordPress Widgets Types To Add on Sidebar
Posts Widget
You can showcase your recent or popular posts on the sidebar. And also, visitors can easily find your best posts or recently published posts. By default, WordPress has a widget for recent posts. However, some plugins allow you to show posts with thumbnails or posts arranged by tabs.
- WordPress Popular Posts: It’s a highly customizable widget that lets you display the most popular posts on the sidebar,
- Recent Post Widget: It allows you to show recent posts with thumbnails.
Subscription Widgets
The Sidebar is one of the best places to add an opt-in form. It converts well. And it gives a professional look to the blog, as most pro bloggers use it. Whether offering freebies or asking your readers to subscribe, you should add an opt-in form in the sidebar. Here are some plugins to add an opt-in form in the sidebar.
- Thrive Leads: Thrive Leads is all in one solution for list building. It has everything to build an email list quickly. I am using this plugin on my blog.
- OptinMonster: This is another popular plugin for list building. It is created by the popular blogger Syed Balkhi.
Author Boxes
Visitors always want to know who’s behind the blog. That’s why the About page is one of the most visited pages of your blog. We add the Author bio box under the blog posts or footer. But it gets more attention when you add it to the sidebar. While you can add Author Bio using the text editor, you can consider using a plugin to make the box more attractive.
- WP – Author Box: It’s another cool plugin for Author Box. It offers 6 predefined skins.
Logins
If running a multi-author WordPress site, you should add a Login widget on the sidebar to make login easier for your authors. Especially some special WordPress plugins allow you to add a simple and attractive Login/Registration Form in the sidebar.
- Social Login: This plugin allows your visitors to log in with social networks like Facebook, Twitter, PayPal, LinkedIn, Google, etc.
Types of WordPress Search Widget to Add in Sidebar
Adding a Search widget depends on the number of posts you have on your blog. For example, there is no reason to add a search box widget to a new blog. It will disappoint the visitors who search. Therefore if you have a decent amount of blog posts on your blog, you can consider adding a search box. WordPress has a default widget for a search box. But it doesn’t show an accurate result. Here are some alternatives you can try.
- Google Search Box: It shows more relevant results than the default search. And it does not have any impact on server resources.
- SearchWP: It’s a premium plugin with more relevant results than the default WordPress Search.
- Relevanssi – A Better Search: This plugin replaces the default search with a better search that shows relevant results.
Testimonials
One of the easiest ways to increase the credibility of your blog is to add testimonials. Having testimonials is a must when you are offering services/products. It will increase your conversion rates. You can easily add testimonials by using a text widget. But if you want more functionalities like collecting testimonials, you must use a plugin.
- Easy Testimonials: It’s an easy-to-use plugin for adding testimonials to your WordPress sidebar.
Types of Social Media Widget From WordPress to Add in the Sidebar
Social Media is the best way to connect with your readers. Having social media widget in the sidebar means your visitors are just one click away from connecting with you. However, there are several social networking sites. You need to figure out which networks suit your blog. You can add a single network or many network widgets in the sidebar.
- Instagram Slider Widget: If you want to show your latest Instagram images on the sidebar, use this plugin.
Rating Widget
Rating-Widget is a must-have widget for product/review-based blogs. Even if you are not running a review-based blog but write many reviews on your blog, you can showcase your reviews on the sidebar. Another important widget is the Poll widget. It’s the best way to run quick surveys on your visitors.
- Rating-Widget: Star Review System: A “Top-Rated” widget will allow you to place the widget in your sidebar. The widget will show the top-rated posts, pages, and comments.
- TotalPoll Pro: lets you create and add polls easily to your sidebar. It’s very easy to use.
- Polldaddy Polls & Ratings: You can create and manage polls from the WordPress dashboard.
Bonus Widgets Types
There are some others widgets you can consider adding to your sidebar. But it depends on your needs. So that way, there’s is no reason to slow down your blog by adding unnecessary widgets.
- Google Calendar Events: It has a widget to display your Google calendar in the sidebar. Then it will beautifully highlight your events in the calendar.
- Google Maps Widget: It lets you add Google Maps to your WordPress sidebar.
Final Words About WordPress Widgets Types Sidebar
To conclude this, remember that using unnecessary widgets can slow down your blog. We hope this article helped you find WordPress plugins that allow you to add widgets types to your sidebar. So let us know which widgets you use on your blog right now.