The menu bar on a website not only functions as a navigation tool for browsing content, but can also be used to grab the attention of visitors. In other words, displaying a fully functional menu often is not sufficient. You may need to make it more interesting. Fortunately, you can do this with a WordPress menu plugin.
There are numerous menu plugins you can choose from. Many of them offer excellent customization options and beautiful screens without sacrificing their main function, which is to be the roadmap of your site.
In this article, we have selected the 8 best menu plugins for WordPress.
Although the menu looks like a mere list of texts or icons with links, they actually play an important role in optimizing your website.
Like a roadmap, the menu should present clear navigation and absolute precision for your users. The more complicated the menus are, the more likely users will find it confusing and irritating. This bad precedent will prevent users from sticking around and exploring your website.
For those wondering about the “real” impact of a bad menu on a website, here’s the answer: it will badly affect your bounce rate and conversion rate!
Bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave your website after opening just one page. For example, a visitor found your website through the search engine, opens the main page of the website, and then “returns” to the search engine or goes to another website.
A higher bounce rate means there are tons of people who can’t find what they’re looking for on your website.
This trend could lead to disaster, especially if you rely on the conversion rate for .
In a nutshell, conversion rate is the percentage of website visitors who make paid transactions on your website.
Having a bad conversion rate is just as bad as losing money.
While the reason for this issue could vary, a poorly organized menu could be the root cause. Therefore, you should always make sure that your website has a beautiful and fully functional navigation by using the correct WordPress menu plugin.
Most, if not all, are equipped with a handy default menu. But unfortunately, its features and customization options usually only contain generic basic functions that are not that interesting or practical.
But, a WordPress menu plugin provides more convenient features and better screen customization options. Some of these plugins can even be optimized for !
How to Install a WordPress Menu Plugin Using the Official Plugin Directory
Basically. Exist . However, we will only explain how to install it using the official plugin directory, as that is the easiest way to do it.
Other methods, like using the client or File Manager, can be too intimidating, especially if you’re a beginner.
Here are the steps to install a WordPress menu plugin:
- Go to the WordPress dashboard, then choose the Plugins option.
- Choose add new
- Now you can browse all WordPress plugins. Be sure to search for “Menu plugin” to get the relevant search results (you can also search , just enter the relevant keyword in the search box).
- click on Install Now in your preferred plugin. The plugin will be installed automatically. You just need to wait a couple of seconds.
- Now you need to activate the plugin. All new plugins are set to be inactive after installation. So you need to click Activate.
As we have mentioned before, there are currently tons of WordPress menu plugins that you can use. The comparison or detail of each of them would require god knows how many hours of your precious time.
Here is a list of 8 of the best WordPress menu plugins based on functionality and features.
Max Mega Menu will automatically replace the default menu of your WordPress theme. This WordPress menu plugin offers a variety of customization options and allows you to add various interactive elements to the theme you are using, such as embedding Google maps or advertising sales forms.
It provides a fast and responsive menu that uses less than 2kb of JavaScript. Setup is super easy, all you need to do is click a few options and everything is ready to go!
The Max Mega Menu is available for free. However, you can buy its paid version from $26 a $99 by year.
The paid version gives you the flexibility to use Google fonts, custom icons, and Woocommerce integration. You will also receive regular updates and priority support to ensure plugins are optimized when used on your website.
Responsive Menu offers more than 150 customization options that can be combined to create a function that suits what you are looking for. This plugin uses a lightweight and simple interface that is easy to use, even for WordPress beginners.
The premium version of this plugin allows you to enhance the look of the menu by providing text, background, and border color customization. You can also choose the animation used to display the menu, as well as upload your own logo for each menu icon.
Responsive Menu offers two different lifetime plans: single license ($14.99) and multiple license ($49.99). The latter option provides lifetime priority support and allows you to use the plugin on 100 sites simultaneously.
QuadMenu provides quick integration to help you create various types of menus you use. This WordPress plugin does not change many things, but it can improve the default menu settings in WordPress.
QuadMenu is packed with tons of features and filters that allow you to customize the behavior and appearance of your .
It has automatic core integration, hundreds of free menu themes, and customizable animation for menu display. It also supports Font Awesome Icons, and visual composer drag and drop.
QuadMenu is available for free. However, you can upgrade to the premium plan by paying $15 a $60 for a lifetime license. The premium plan will grant you lots of extra features like carousel menu builder, personalized developer support and lifetime free updates.
For those who want to optimize their website menu for mobile devices, WP Mobile Menu Plugin is the best solution. This plugin offers a fast, simple and responsive menu designed specifically to improve the experience of your site on mobile devices.
WP Mobile Menu plugin is a great tool for blogs, eCommerce sites, and business websites. It has multiple support features such as free customization style for menus, text or brand logo, and 3 menu depth levels.
Although it is available for free, we recommend that you buy one of the premium plans that cost between $4.99 Y $29.99 per month. These plans offer a great deal that takes plugin usability to the next level.
Some of the premium features you would get are full support (including menu cart icon, checkout page, and chart buttons), live search, and thousands of free fonts and animated icons.
Also, you can use the 14-day trial for the premium version first to see if this plugin is worth your money.
Building an impressive and fully functional mega menu is much easier with the WP Mega Menu plugin. This tool has everything you need to improve any boring and lifeless WordPress default menu.
WP Mega Plugin features many customization options, including logo branding, social icons, and free WordPress themes. It also supports Dashicons and Font Awesome Icon which give you unlimited icon styles.
WP Mega Menu can be used for free, but it also has a professional version with tons of extra features and professional support. The pro version costs only $19 by year.
The advanced sidebar menu will make sure that your website menu is well organized. It is capable of creating, replacing and managing your main and secondary menu while offering many useful options to help you customize the look of your sidebar menus.
Some of its main features are the ability to separate categories or pages by embedding a comma between them, displaying a single post category in a widget, and quick integration of child categories.
The plugin also offers customizable widget styling. However, the features are very limited for the free version. You must purchase Advance Sidebar Menu Pro for $54 to be able to use advanced customization options such as custom background style, bullet style section, and accordion menu optimizations.
Furthermore, the pro version will also grant you priority support and free updates.
UberMenu is an easy to use menu plugin for WordPress 3.0 and above. With this tool, you can fully customize your menu including background, icons, layout, and categories. You can even add your own images to the menu subcategory.
Furthermore, UberMenu is equipped with a smart styling generator that will help you enter your preferred custom CSS3 codes.
You can also use or modify one of your templates to create a unique and fully functional design that enhances the overall appearance of your website.
UberMenu is not available for free. It is a premium plugin that costs $20 by year. Your subscription will provide you with support for six months that you can extend for another six months by paying $5 additional.
Slick Menu offers multi-level push menus: a set of fixed options that will automatically slide in from the page edges of your website by clicking on a specific icon or text.
This plugin offers you tons of beautiful animation effects and icons. However, it is not available for free. You must choose a plan: regular ($39) or extended ($99).
Slick Menu has many amazing features. One of the most notable features is the Live Customizer which allows you to monitor any changes you have made in real time.
This tool will save you a lot of time as you don’t need to go back and forth every time you make a small change to your WordPress menu.
We suggest you try the free live demo before deciding if this plugin is the one for you…
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