How To Publicize Your WordPress Plugin

Posted in: 14 Comments

WordPressThere are so many great WordPress plugins out there. Unfortunately, most of them get very little exposure and usage because they are not well publicized.

So here are three tips for getting the word out about your new plugin, and attract potential users.

1. Create An Informative, Well-Optimized Plugin Page

On your own website, create a page dedicated to the plugin. It should contain extensive documentation to aid users in learning about the plugin and instruct them on how to use it. At the very minimum, this page should include the following:

  • detailed explanation of what the plugin does
  • installation instructions
  • usage instructions, including code samples and screenshots if necessary
  • a list of frequently asked questions along with answers
  • information on obtaining support

2. Submit It To The Official WordPress Plugin Directory

When people look for a plugin for their WP websites, the first thing they do is consult the plugin directory. So if your plugin is there, it will have potential for the greatest exposure. But there is a trick to getting found in the directory.

The search feature for the directory is based on the description and tags that you define for your plugin. So for maximum visibility, be sure to include all possible keywords that users might think of when trying to find your plugin.

(Note: To include your plugin in the WordPress directory, it needs to be licensed according to the GPL license, or another compatible alternative.)

3. Tell Everyone About The New Plugin Release

The next step is to spread the word about your new plugin. And there are lots of great ways to do this.

First, you need to submit your plugin to Weblog Tools Collection (WTC) and BloggingPro’s WordPress Plugins, two great websites which announce new plugins. Each of these websites have a large following, and the WTC plugin feed is syndicated by hundreds of websites. So submitting to this site will get you lots of inlinks and an equally nice surge in traffic.

Second, submit your plugin to other supplementary plugin databases. There are a few on the web, but the most popular is WordPress Plugin Database.

Third, get out there and start talking about your plugin. A great place to start is the WordPress.org support forums. There is a forum just for this purpose called Plugins and Hacks. Also, feel free to mention your plugin in other forums and on blogs.

And finally, don’t pass up any opportunity to market your plugin. Take advantage of friendships with other developers or website owners to see if they will help you publicize your plugin. When blog-surfing, suggest that bloggers incorporate it in their websites. And also, remember to keep mentioning your plugin on your own website, to encourage your visitors to use it as well.

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14 Responses to “How To Publicize Your WordPress Plugin”

  • On February 1, 2009 at 6:08 am,Kurt Avish wrote:

    This post is very useful. Book marking it for future reference. I will hopefully be creating a plugin sooner or later lol and I might need these information. :-)

  • On February 1, 2009 at 9:01 am,Kim Woodbridge wrote:

    Great tips! I agree there are some great plugins our there that no one knows about. I don’t know if I’ll ever create on (probably not) but this is still really useful.

  • On February 1, 2009 at 9:45 am,Velvet Blues wrote:

    @Kurt: Oh yeh? I’ll be waiting for something super spectacular! :-)

    @Kim: Indeed. I am always surprised when I come across some super useful plugin that no one really knows about… I should start to mention more of them on my blog to help get the word out.

  • On February 1, 2009 at 10:13 am,Ben Pei wrote:

    Actually it depends on what kinda plugin it is right? Some plugins just publicizes itself!

  • On February 2, 2009 at 5:49 am,Velvet Blues wrote:

    @Ben: Hmmm. I don’t know about self-publicizing plugins… That’s like how people used to believe in: ‘Build it and they will come’.

    You always need to publicize anything you put on the web. Of course, you can wait forever and hope search engines to find it…

  • On February 2, 2009 at 5:02 pm,Dennis Edell wrote:

    He may be referring to plugins like commentluv…spread like wildfire with very little help lol.

  • On February 2, 2009 at 8:46 pm,Nihar wrote:

    Will definitely follow this when i come up with my own plugin. I have started it some days ago…

    Thanks for the info.

  • On February 4, 2009 at 5:24 am,Ben Barden – Blog Tips wrote:

    Great post, although I think you missed one really important point:

    Use the plugin on your own blog! Show it in action.

    It’s all very well talking about it, but you have to put your money where your mouth is :)

  • On February 4, 2009 at 2:35 pm,Ajith Edassery wrote:

    Need to go to the other directories than just WP one next time :) My very first plugin received cold shoulders due to lack of marketing, mainly :lol:

  • On February 11, 2009 at 12:08 am,Velvet Blues wrote:

    @Dennis: That may be, but that plugin did have to be promoted at its release.

    @Nihar: I’ll be waiting to see your release.

    @Ben: Very good tips. I do like it when plugin authors do use their plugin on their own blogs. Such as the developer over at lesterchan.net. He definitely showcases his plugins.

    @Ajith: Yes, it is hard to get a plugin out there. And your plugin is pretty good. So, get the word out. Tell the world. :-)

  • On October 23, 2010 at 8:50 pm,Jean Paul wrote:

    This is actually a great article! I am off for the weekend but I will definitely follow your advice on Monday.

    Just finished writing a really cool plugin so I’m glad to find new ways to get it out there.

    Thanks!

  • On October 26, 2010 at 12:41 pm,Jean Paul wrote:

    Hehe, I did everything on your list. My plugin is called Sexy Add Templates and it allows you to easily and quickly add new custom page templates directly from your admin menu.

    And it’s available right here:
    http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/sexy-add-template

    Thanks!
    Jean Paul

  • On August 5, 2011 at 1:21 am,Ales wrote:

    Hi,

    Thanks for this post. I did everything on your list for my plugins. Check my cloud tag and countdown plugins:
    http://premiumcoding.com/wordpress-count-down/
    http://premiumcoding.com/wordpress-fyling-tags-plugin/

    Thank you

  • On August 19, 2011 at 8:56 am,Velvet Blues wrote:

    @Ales: Thanks for your post. I am always excited about discovering new plugins.

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