Gathering user feedback is an essential part of the ongoing improvement process every website should be subject to.
Any business of any size has to commit to providing prospective and existing customers with a quality site, across desktop and mobile. Yes, it can seem like another time-consuming responsibility for yourself and your team when you already have so many plates to spin.
But with more than half of customers refusing to recommend a company with a poorly designed mobile website, complacency can be a dangerous risk.
Nobody can tell you where your website is going right or wrong like your users
Their feedback can help you improve the overall functionality, enhance the user experience, and make buying products/services more pleasant.
Fortunately, making changes to your website is simple with WordPress: that’s why it’s one of the biggest, most popular content management systems (CMS) in the world. And there are plenty of WordPress plugins for gathering user feedback and transforming your site into a lean, mean, converting machine.
But navigating the variety of plugins can be tough if you’re new to actively sourcing and managing user feedback.
In this guide, we’ll explore the 11 best WordPress feedback plugins to help you find the right one for your site. And before we do that, let’s just clarify what we mean when we refer to “user feedback”.
Defining user feedback: What it is, how it works
We’ve all heard that tiresome cliche “the customer is always right”, right? Well, there’s a kernel of truth to it — especially when it comes to the quality of your website.
We live in an age where most consumers (87%) start product searches online, with almost 30% hitting eBay and Amazon.
If your business site isn’t up to scratch, and is bare-bones at best, you’re missing out on a valuable opportunity to grab customers and demonstrate that your company is the only one they need.
Your users will be the best judge of whether your website does that or not. You can study your site, or get your designers to do the same, but you can’t experience it with the same fresh eyes as your customers.
If they can’t find the products, blog posts, delivery information or answer they’re looking for, they might give up and go elsewhere. Goodbye revenue!
But gathering feedback is the simplest, most effective way to understand how well your site serves user needs. This is any information that visitors give you about the quality of experience you provide, and it may come through email, contact forms, questionnaires, or (ideally) feedback buttons directly on your website.
Browsing this data will open your eyes to the elements your customers like, dislike, and vehemently hate about your website. You can then implement changes to build a better, more satisfying website for consumers over time.
Different types of user feedback are available, including:
- Feature requests: find out what features, functions, and improvements users would like to see on your site to inform future updates
- NPS (Net Promoter Score): discover how many users would recommend your site/business to others (friends, colleagues, etc.) through a simple rating system
- CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Survey): learn how satisfied users are with their experience of visiting your site via a number, emoji, or text-based system
You can take advantage of these insights to make necessary changes and cultivate a deeper understanding of your target audience.
But it’s crucial that you keep providing users with the tools to offer their thoughts on the quality of your website: feedback and related improvements should be an ongoing process. You can’t just make one or two tweaks and call it a day.
Now that we’ve explored what user feedback is, how it works, and why it matters, let’s look at the top 11 WordPress feedback plugins you should start using right now.
1. Saber Feedback Button
Saber Feedback is a flexible feedback button that gives users a simple way to share their ideas and frustrations with you. This may be customised in detail, and you can choose from multiple templates (Net Promoter Score, Feedback Category, etc.) or make your own.
Users may capture screenshots to save them the time and frustration of trying to articulate technical issues. Saber Feedback is easy to integrate with numerous tools for added convenience, such as Slack, Jira, Trello, and more.
2. Feedback Fish
Feedback Fish empowers you with the freedom to gather feedback from your WordPress site directly. All submissions sent via the plugin will be available in your Feedback Fish dashboard, ready for you to browse and start generating ideas. You can also receive these requests via email.
When you install the plugin, you’ll see a “send feedback” button added to the primary navigation. Clicking this will open the widget and present users with the flexibility to report an issue, submit an idea, or draw your attention to something else.
Feedback buttons are a terrific way to improve your user experience and empower customers with the means to submit their thoughts/gripes/suggestions with maximum convenience.
3. BugHerd
The BugHerd WordPress plugin helps you to collect, manage, and take action on feedback more easily. Any bugs that a user comes across can be reported quickly and simply. All they need to do is point and click to highlight issues.
BugHerd gives you information on the user’s browser, OS, screen resolution, and more. This makes identifying the cause of bugs and resolving browser-specific or device-specific problems easier.
All feedback and bug reports are delivered to the BugHerd task management board. Assign fixes and feature improvements to the right people all in one place.
4. Usersnap Classic
Usersnap Classic is a hugely popular option. This handy plugin sends screenshots and visual reports of bugs, with key browser details, with an option to annotate them for enhanced detail.
Users can submit feedback and visual evidence with a click: no complex forms required! Just add the code snippet to your site to create the feedback button.
Users can highlight and add sticky notes to make feedback visual for an at-a-glance understanding of any bug.
Usersnap Classic also integrates with all leading tools for project management and bug tracking, such as Asana, Trello, Pivotal Tracker, Desk, Evernote, Redmine, Github, and more.
5. JotForm Feedback Button
JorForm is described as the “first” web-based What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) form builder. It boasts a user-friendly user interface with drag-and-drop functionality, so putting forms together is simpler than ever. You can integrate any form you create into your site and collect user responses via email.
Feel free to customise the JotForm feedback button to better suit your website aesthetic: experiment with various colours, font hues, and placement.
And the related forms are also easy to personalise. Change titles, questions, and a thank-you page to show users you appreciate them taking the time to submit feedback.
6. CBX Feedback Button
The CBX Feedback Button WordPress plugin creates a vertical feedback button on your site. This is positioned in a fixed spot, and can be customised in depth: adjust the background colour, amend text, and even switch the hover colour to attract users’ attention.
The easier the button is to see, the more likely users may be to provide feedback and help you improve your WordPress site.
A paid version of CBX Feedback Button is available. The Pro CBX Feedback Button offers support for four contact forms:
- Contact Form 7
- Ninja Form
- CForms II
- Gravity Form
You can also take advantage of unlimited buttons with the paid version.
7. Userback
Userback provides you with feedback in the eye-pleasing form of screenshots with annotations. It’s designed to help designers, product managers, and developers precious time when determining what changes need to be made for a better website.
Userback can be connected with Basecamp, Slack, and other project management tools. Colleagues, team-members, and clients may be invited to view feedback, all in one space.
8. The Feedback Company
Gathering reviews is a terrific way to learn what customers think of your products, and to build trust in prospects.
Thanks to The Feedback Company, you can present verified store review widgets on your site and WooCommerce webshop. Automatically invite customers to write reviews, and configure the plugin to suit your goals.
9. User Feedback and Ratings by Social Intents
This WordPress plugin invites users to submit real-time feedback through pop-up forms (rather than taking visitors to separate pages or implementing a sidebar). Customise targeting rules, and add your own logo and messages to reinforce branding.
User Feedback and Ratings is available for free with a 14-day trial.
10. Feedback Modal for Website
Feedback Modal includes plenty of impressive features and is customisable, with a clean, clutter-free design. It’s fully responsive and compatible with multiple sites.
Keep track of past feedback with the submissions archive, learn about user behaviour with device visibility, present customisable messages, and receive email notifications. 24/7 support is available to address issues if and when they arise.
11. Simple Feature Requests
Okay, so you invited users to submit feature requests and now you’re overwhelmed by the sheer glut of ideas.
But don’t panic! Simple Feature Requests is here to help.
This plugin is designed to make gathering user feedback easier. Your users can submit their own requests and vote on those they want to see implemented, all within your current WordPress site.
You can choose from two versions of Simple Feature Requests for your WordPress website: Free and Pro.
Both are packed with features. In the free version, you can accept requests, allow users to vote on must-see features, and enable admins to approve/manage requests as they come in.
The paid version offers extra features, as you’ve probably already guessed. Sign up for Pro to categorise feature requests for a simpler organisation, change request statuses in bulk, create a roadmap to update users on upcoming changes, and more.
How to get the most out of your user feedback
So, now we know the 11 top WordPress feedback plugins. But how can you get the most out of yours?
Ask the right questions
You need to ask your users the right questions to prompt the most valuable answers. For example, ask:
- What could we do to make this page better for you?
- Why are you interested in this product/service?
- Where did you learn about our business/product/service first?
- What encouraged you to purchase/sign up today?
These insights will teach you about your users’ motivations, what’s leading them to your site, and what improvements you could make to deliver a better user experience.
Value users’ time
Would you want to spend hours filling in a form packed with long-winded questions and asking for in-depth details on your shopping habits? No. So there’s no reason to assume your users do.
Respect your users’ time as much as they do. Keep all feedback surveys and feedback plugins short and user-friendly.
Focus on the most important questions and phrase them as economically as you can.
Build an effective idea management system
Users may submit plenty of ideas to improve your website, whether as feature requests or as critical comments on specific pages. Some of them will be great. Some will be good. Some will be worthless.
But you can’t afford to let any feedback, regardless of its value, get lost in the cracks. That’s why an effective idea management system is crucial.
Set up instant notifications for submitted feedback, assign team-members to investigate ideas/feature requests carefully, and ensure all feedback can be managed in one space.
This will reduce the risk of even bad ideas slipping away — they could still spark winning concepts.
No business is too big to overlook user feedback
A bad website is, when all’s said and done, a bad website, no matter what logo is on it.
Saber Feedback is dedicated to helping you gather valuable feedback quickly and easily, through a user-friendly, customisable button. Find out more about our WordPress feedback plugin and start to improve your site today!
Try Saber Feedback on your website for FREE with our 30-day trial now!