Essential WordPress Plugins for Digital Products

The world of eCommerce is more competitive than ever. Running a successful online business requires you to invest in the right tools. For many sellers, that means choosing the best WordPress plugins for digital products.

From streamlining the checkout process and optimizing content to automating marketing campaigns and uncovering valuable data-driven insights, the right extensions can help take your online store to the next level.

But with so many options, how do you choose which ones to use? This guide makes it easier.

🔎 In this article, I’ll cover:

The Role of WordPress Plugins in eCommerce

WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) that powers millions of websites—over 43% of the internet, to be exact! It is also a powerful platform for selling digital products online.

But WordPress doesn’t come with eCommerce functionality out of the box.

There are many WordPress plugins available that can help you set up and manage your online store, including plugins for payment processing, product management, marketing, and more.

For instance, payment processing plugins allow you to accept payments from customers. Product management plugins help you manage your digital products. These plugins can help you create and edit products, add product images and descriptions, and organize your products into categories.

In addition to the plugins mentioned above, there are many other WordPress plugins for digital products and selling online. These plugins can help you with tasks such as security, SEO, and customer support.

What to Look for in WordPress Plugins

When searching, comparing, and selecting WordPress plugins for your eCommerce site, there are a few factors to consider. Some of the most important include:

• It is compatible with your theme and other plugins to ensure seamless functioning.
• The features and cost offer the functionality needed at a price point within your budget.
• There is support offered by the developer, which can be invaluable if you run into any issues.
• Positive ratings and reviews based on real peoples’ experience using the plugin.

To optimize plugin performance, follow best practices such as regularly updating plugins, using caching plugins, and minimizing the number of active plugins.

Regularly updating plugins keeps them secure and compatible with the latest WordPress versions. Caching plugins enhance website speed by storing frequently accessed data in memory, reducing the need for database queries. Limiting the number of active plugins reduces resource usage and potential conflicts.

Additionally, prioritize security by choosing plugins from trusted sources, regularly backing up your website, and implementing security measures such as firewalls and SSL certificates.

Top WordPress Plugins for Digital Products

Now it’s time to get into the best WordPress plugins for digital products and eCommerce sites. I’ll break them down by category.

eCommerce and Shopping Carts

To create your online store, you need an eCommerce solution. These plugins can help you create and edit products, add product images and descriptions, organize your products into categories, etc.

Easy Digital Downloads

Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is the best WordPress plugin for selling digital products.

This powerful and complete eCommerce solution is designed specifically to help businesses and individuals sell digital content such as eBooks, software, music, and more.

One of the key features of EDD is its user-friendly interface, making it easy for anyone to set up and manage an online store. You can add and optimize product pages, create download links, customize the checkout, and securely process payments.

Plus, you can use it for free. If you want more advanced features or access to the plethora of premium add-ons, you can choose from one of the EDD Pro plans.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the most popular WordPress plugin for eCommerce. While it does let you sell digital files, its primary focus is on sellers offering physical products.

If you plan to offer both, it can be a cost-effective solution and an EDD alternative. 

Like EDD, WooCommerce includes a full cart and checkout system, integrates with popular payment gateways, and has a ton of add-ons to choose from. One of its stand-out features is its order and inventory management tools. 

Payment Gateways and Checkout

Payment gateways are a critical aspect of running an online store. You need them to process payments from your customers.

Two of the most popular payment gateways are Stripe and PayPal. Both Easy Digital Downloads and WooCommerce come with built-in support for these gateways.

If you don’t need or want a full shopping cart system and therefore don’t need EDD or WooCommerce, you can use a payment plugin like WP Simple Pay. This lets you accept one-time payments, which can be helpful if you’re selling a single product.

Regardless of which eCommerce or payment plugin you use, to accept payments for your digital products, you’ll need to choose which payment gateway(s) to support.

Stripe

I always recommend Stripe to online sellers.

Stripe is a top-tier payment gateway for WordPress users due to its exceptional features and user-friendly interface. Stripe seamlessly integrates with popular WordPress plugins for digital products and selling, including WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.

Use it to accept payments from customers worldwide, with its support for over 100 currencies. Benefit from Stripe’s advanced fraud detection and prevention measures to protect your business and customers.  

With Stripe, you can offer a wide range of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and more. Through Stripe Link, users can save payment information for faster checkout on future purchases.

Learn more about selling digital downloads with Stripe.

PayPal

If Stripe isn’t offered in your country, PayPal is another solid option.

PayPal is a widely recognized and trusted online payment platform that allows individuals and businesses to send and receive money. It has been a popular choice for online transactions for many years due to its ease of use, security, and global reach.

PayPal Commerce, specifically, is an excellent choice for online sellers. It’s accepted in over 200 countries and territories, making it a great option for businesses with an international customer base.

PayPal supports a variety of payment methods, including credit cards, debit cards, bank transfers, and PayPal balance. PayPal Commerce integrates seamlessly with WordPress and EDD, making it easy to set up and use.

Learn how to set up PayPal in WordPress.

Recurring Payments

If you have a subscription-based business, EDD Recurring Payments is one of the must-have WordPress plugins for digital products. This add-on allows you to offer ongoing access to your products. Customers can automatically renew their purchases at regular intervals.

By using the Recurring Payments add-on, you can generate recurring revenue and build a loyal customer base. This add-on offers various features such as flexible billing cycles (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly), trial periods, and easy management of customer subscriptions.

Additionally, it integrates seamlessly with popular payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe, providing a convenient and secure payment experience for your customers.

Multi-Currency

If you’re looking for WordPress plugins for digital products being sold to a global audience, currency converters are a must. The EDD MultiCurrency add-on lets you accept payments in various currencies, making it easier for international customers to purchase your products.

Automatically convert prices from your base currency to the customer’s preferred currency. Display product prices in the customer’s preferred currency on your website.

The extension keeps exchange rates up-to-date using real-time data. It also automatically calculates taxes based on the customer’s location and the applicable tax rate.

Memberships and Subscriptions

If you want to offer exclusive content or access to premium features, a membership plugin can be helpful. Let’s explore some popular options.

MemberPress

MemberPress is a versatile WordPress plugin designed to help you create and manage membership sites, sell digital products, and control access to your content. It’s a popular choice among online sellers due to its robust features and ease of use.

One of the key benefits of MemberPress is its ability to create different membership levels. This allows you to offer varying levels of access to your content, from free trials to premium subscriptions. Each membership level can have its own set of privileges, such as access to exclusive content, forums, or discounts.

MemberPress also provides tools for user management and reporting. You can easily manage your members, track their activity, and generate reports on your sales and revenue. This information can be valuable for understanding your customer base and making data-driven decisions.

Software Licensing

The EDD Software Licensing extension is a valuable tool for online sellers using EDD to sell software products. This extension provides a robust system for managing software licenses, ensuring that your customers have the correct access to your products and preventing unauthorized use.

Key features include:

• License key generation
• License activation and deactivation
• Limit enforcement
• License expiration and recovery

Use the EDD Software Licensing extension to protect intellectual property, improve the customer experience, and increase revenue.

All Access

The EDD All Access add-on is a powerful tool for selling multiple digital products. It provides a convenient way for customers to purchase access to all or a selected group of your products at a discounted price.

You can use it to create:

• Bundles of related products and offer them at a discounted price.
• Different membership levels granting access to specific products or bundles.
• Access restrictions that control access to products based on membership levels or individual purchases.
• Discount codes.

The EDD All Access add-on helps to increase sales, improve customer satisfaction, and streamline the purchasing process.

Marketing and Lead Generation

Marketing WordPress plugins for digital products and their promotions can be incredibly helpful. These plugins can help you create email marketing campaigns, manage your social media presence, and track your sales and marketing data.

WPForms

WPForms is a powerful WordPress plugin that allows you to create beautiful and engaging forms for your website. With WPForms, you can easily collect leads, conduct surveys, process payments, and more.

Some of the key features of WPForms include:

• Drag-and-drop form builder
• Pre-built templates
• Conditional logic
• Payment integrations
• Email marketing integrations

WPForms is particularly useful for selling digital products because it allows you to create secure and customizable forms. You can use WPForms to collect customer information, such as their name, email address, and credit card number.

OptinMonster

OptinMonster is a powerful WordPress plugin that helps create high-converting opt-in forms and campaigns to grow your email lists, capture leads, and boost sales.

One of the key features of OptinMonster is its drag-and-drop form builder. This makes it easy to create beautiful and engaging opt-in forms without any coding required. OptinMonster also comes with a variety of pre-built templates that can be used to get started quickly.

OptinMonster can help increase your conversion rates. By creating targeted opt-in forms, you can capture leads from your website visitors and turn them into paying customers. OptinMonster also offers a variety of features that can help users track the performance of their campaigns and optimize them for better results.

AIOSEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial for online stores and those selling digital products. It helps improve the visibility and ranking of your website in search engine results pages (SERPs), leading to increased organic traffic and potential customers.

The AIOSEO WordPress plugin is a powerful tool that can help you optimize your online store for search engines.

AIOSEO takes care of various technical SEO aspects that can impact your website’s ranking. It automatically generates XML sitemaps, enables SSL certificates, and helps you optimize your website’s speed.

The plugin also provides real-time content analysis and recommendations to help you create search engine-friendly content. AIOSEO checks your content’s readability, keyword density, and overall SEO score, guiding you toward creating content that ranks well in search results.

AffiliateWP

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where the affiliate earns a commission for promoting your products or services. When a customer clicks on the unique affiliate link and makes a purchase, they receive a percentage of the sale.

Affiliate marketing can be a lucrative way for online sellers to generate additional revenue streams and reach new customers. By partnering with influencers, bloggers, and other website owners, you can tap into their audience and promote your digital products to a wider audience.

AffiliateWP is a popular WordPress plugin that helps online sellers manage their affiliate marketing programs. It provides you with all the tools needed to track affiliate referrals, generate unique affiliate links, and pay commissions to your affiliates.

Social Proof and Trust

Social proof is a psychological phenomenon that influences people’s behavior based on the actions of others. In the context of eCommerce, social proof can play a crucial role in building trust and transparency for sites selling digital products.

When potential customers see that others have had positive experiences with a particular product or service, they are more likely to believe that it is trustworthy and valuable. This can lead to increased sales and improved customer satisfaction.

TrustPulse

TrustPulse is a WordPress plugin designed to increase conversions and sales by leveraging the power of social proof. It works by displaying real-time notifications of recent purchases, signups, and other website activity to your visitors. This creates a sense of urgency and encourages potential customers to take action by showing them that others are already buying and enjoying your product or service.

TrustPulse is particularly useful for people selling digital products because it can help build trust and credibility with potential customers. When visitors see that others have recently purchased and enjoyed a digital product, they are more likely to believe that it is a worthwhile investment. This can lead to increased sales and improved customer satisfaction.

EDD Reviews

Customer reviews play a crucial role in building trust and credibility for eCommerce sites selling digital products. Since digital products can’t be physically inspected before purchase, reviews provide potential customers with valuable insights and social proof.

Positive reviews can increase conversion rates, improve customer satisfaction, and enhance brand reputation.

The EDD Reviews add-on allows you to easily collect and display reviews for your digital products.

Reporting and Analytics

Tracking, analytics, and reporting are crucial to the success of any eCommerce business. By monitoring key metrics, online sellers can gain valuable insights into their customers’ behavior, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions to improve their marketing and sales strategies.

MonsterInsights

MonsterInsights is a powerful WordPress plugin that provides comprehensive tracking, analytics, and reporting solutions specifically tailored to the needs of online sellers. It seamlessly integrates with Google Analytics, making it easy for users to track website traffic, conversions, and other important metrics.

One of the key features of MonsterInsights is its ability to track eCommerce-specific data. This includes tracking product performance, revenue, and conversion rates. This information can help identify your best-selling products, optimize product pages, and target marketing efforts more effectively.

EDD Advanced Reports

Easy Digital Downloads includes basic reporting features in its free version, allowing you to track sales, earnings, and other essential metrics.

However, the EDD Advanced Reports extension offers enhanced reporting capabilities that can be particularly useful for selling digital products. This includes customizable reports, advanced metrics, and data export.

The EDD Advanced Reports extension can be a valuable tool for gaining deeper insights into sales performance, identifying trends, and making informed decisions to optimize your digital product business.

Learn more about eCommerce reporting.

FAQs on WordPress Plugins for Digital Products

Let’s wrap up with some frequently asked questions about using WordPress plugins for digital products and online selling.

Integrate EDD With Essential WordPress Plugins

By combining these essential WordPress plugins for digital products and eCommerce, you can create a robust and efficient system for selling online.

Want to unlock access to EDD’s extensive collection of premium add-ons that help boost eCommerce success? Grab your pass today.

Looking for more WordPress plugins for digital products? Check out the best plugins for eCommerce sites!

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