Are you looking for the best WordPress plugins for your website sidebar and widgets?
Most website owners use sidebars primarily for two purposes:
- Draw the user’s attention to something important, such as a “Sign Up” form.
- Include information on your website that would otherwise not fit.
That said, there are plenty of ways to get creative in these areas to improve user experience, add SEO elements, and make your website design more appealing.
See how WPBeginner uses their sidebar to draw user attention to lead magnets and social profiles.
Now, WordPress themes usually come with custom sidebar layouts and widgets. However, if you’re looking for more options, there are several WordPress plugins to help you with that.
We’ve been building successful websites for a long time, and we almost always include a sidebar. Over the years, we’ve tried and tested a long list of sidebar and widget plugins. In this guide, we’ll share with you the best ones that you really need for your website.
Let’s get started.
Choosing the Best WordPress Plugins for Sidebars and Widgets
Here are some common examples of WordPress sidebars and widgets that you might want to add to your site:
- Instant Navigation: Display links to important pages on your website, making it easier for users to navigate your content.
- Search Bar: Give users easy access to your search bar to help them quickly find what they’re looking for.
- Contact Form: A contact form widget allows users to quickly get in touch with you. You can add this widget to your sidebar, footer, or any widget-ready area on your WordPress site.
- Email Opt-in: Get users to sign up for your marketing emails.
- Contests and Giveaways: Make your website interactive and exciting by running a giveaway
- Banner Ads: Promote niche related brand ads and make money online .
- Maps: Show users where your stores or offices are located.
- User Testimonials: Build trust and earn customer confidence with testimonials and reviews.
Now that you know some of the ways you can use your sidebar, let’s dive into the list of the best WordPress plugins for sidebars and widgets.
We’ll show you two WordPress builders that let you add and customize sidebars and widgets. Then, we’ll show you the different WordPress plugins that are best suited for adding more elements to your sidebar and other widget areas of your site.
1st SeedProd
SeedProd is arguably the best WordPress sidebar and widget builder plugin. When you install the plugin on your site, you can activate a ready-made theme template kit or create your own design.
The kits come with widgets that are already responsive, so they will look great on all user devices. Plus, you can make all the necessary changes and customizations without coding (no CSS, PHP, or Javascript required).
Now, let’s take a look at what it looks like inside the SeedProd builder. Here’s the panel where you can access the sidebar as a separate design.
Clicking this option will open the dedicated sidebar manager with a drag-and-drop page builder where you can start designing your sidebar. On the left, there is a taskbar where you can add new widgets and other elements.
All you need to do is select it and drag it into your design, then drop it where you want it to appear. It really is that easy!
In the example above, we’ve added an opt-in form to our sidebar. You can explore more elements and blocks here, which include payment buttons, contact forms, countdown timers, social profiles, progress bar, testimonials, and more.
You can also add post and page blocks and then filter by category, author, tags, and taxonomies. This way, you can show specific posts or specific pages in the sidebar area.
If you scroll down the left menu, you’ll find a section dedicated to Widgets. Here, you can add widgets like pages, calendar, files, audio, gallery, search, text, recent posts, categories – the list goes on!
This plugin integrates with popular plugins like WPForms , RafflePress , OptinMonster , and others, so you can easily add widgets from third-party plugins. It’s also compatible with online store plugins like WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads , so it’s easy to add eCommerce options to your sidebar.
SeedProd is so feature-rich that it is the only sidebar plugin you need for your WordPress site.
Get started with SeedProd here »
2. Thrive Themes
Thrive Themes is the best theme builder for WordPress, but it also comes with a suite of conversion-focused tools that can help increase your website’s engagement, leads, and sales.
You can choose from theme designs and page templates that already have a sidebar. This makes it much easier to design your sidebar and customize it later if and when you need to make changes.
Next, you’ll see a navigation panel where you can customize different areas of your site. If you want to make changes to the footer, simply select it here and you’ll be able to start editing that area. You can also choose to show/hide a certain area, like the new sidebar. This is great for temporary changes, testing, and troubleshooting.
In Thrive Builder, you can change aspects like height and width, typography, layout and position, background, borders, and more.
What we love most about Thrive is that you benin phone number library can decide what happens on scroll, so you can make your sidebar elements static or dynamic. You can even add animation effects to these elements to give your site a more dramatic look.
If you’re using other Thrive tools like the Lead Generation Tool , Quiz Builder , and Online Course Builder , there’s a library of widgets for all of the tools.
Simply drag and drop it wherever you want it to appear on your website.
Now that you know how to create a stunning dynamic sidebar, let’s take a look at the best WordPress sidebar plugins and widgets.
3. WPForms
WPForms is the most beginner-friendly WordPress form builder plugin that comes with a custom form widget for your sidebar and other widget areas. First, you can create any form you want, such as contact , registration, login, subscription forms, and polls.
So, WPForms makes it easy to add these forms anywhere you need them. You can find the ready-made WPForms block in the Gutenberg editor (block) and other popular builders like SeedProd and Elementor .
So in the block editor, you can add a new block, search for “WPForms” and add it to any page or post in WordPress.
If you want to add a form created with WPForms to a sidebar, go to Appearance » Widgets . WordPress widgets now have the block editor interface as well. So, simply add a new block, search for WPForms, and add it wherever you want.
This plugin also comes with a drag-and-drop form builder and a Form Templates add-on to easily create any type of form. It allows you to customize the widget settings for your form separately.
Get the WPForms plugin here »
4. SearchWP
SearchWP is the best WordPress search plugin to make your site easier to navigate. You can help users find what they’re looking for faster with advanced features like :
- Search filters
- Advanced and keyword hoisting search
- Search engine control and customization
Once you’ve added a new search form , you can quickly embed it in your sidebar, header, or footer using the ready-made widget that’s available. SearchWP also supports shortcodes if needed.
You’ll also have access to search insights and statistics to help improve the user search experience.
Get Started with SearchWP »
5. RafflePress
RafflePress is the best giveaway and contest let the message convey a sense plugin for WordPress that offers a custom contest widget for your sidebar, footer, and other widget areas.
It helps you increase your website traffic and engage users to increase your page rankings . It works perfectly with popular page builders to add giveaways to your website pages.
Get the RafflePress plugin »
6. optinMonster
OptinMonster is the best lead generation and conversion optimization tool that is a must-have for every website. This is a professional tool that allows you to create all types of campaigns for your website, such as popups , floating bars , welcome mats , inline forms, scroll boxes, and more.
With its advanced targeting rules, you can grab user attention at the right time and place.
What we think you’ll love about OptinMonster is the floating bar feature, which lets you create a custom bar that appears at the top or bottom of your pages. Here’s one we created for a flash sale – we even added a countdown timer :
OptinMonster comes with its own custom blocks and widgets so you can easily add your campaigns to any area of your website.
Get Started with OptinMonster »
7. Balloon crus
Smash Balloon is a WordPress plugin b2b sale lead for importing feeds from social channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. It comes with several options to display the social feed on your website, including a sidebar widget, shortcode, and template tags.
