One of the greatest things about Magento is its flexibility and customization. While its out-of-the-box defaults are a good place to get started, you can truly make it your own via Magento Connect Extensions. There are literally thousands of extensions to choose from, so we have rounded up our top 10 picks that will make your Magento store all that much better. Keep in mind that a majority of these extensions will require the services of a Magento developer to install & configure.

1. MatrixRate

While calculating correct shipping costs is probably one of the biggest pains of running an ecommerce site, it doesn’t have to be. MatrixRate is a very useful shipping calculator that will determine the costs for any item, based on shipping location, weight, quantity, delivery method and additional parameters. It is free at the Magento store, has excellent documentation and has been widely used throughout all regions, having been the original shipping rate extension for Magento.

2. Olark

Olark is a live chat extension designed to help give your customers better support. Rather than rely on phone and email support which takes the customer away from the shopping cart, all questions and troubleshooting can be handled right from a chat window on the site – allowing your customers to keep shopping and making purchases.

3. Bronto

Bronto is a Magento Extension for targeted lifecycle marketing campaigns. Using customer data based on previous purchases from your store, it will help send emails to your customers that are most relevant to their purchases and interests. According to their statistics, emails sent through Bronto have a 99% delivery rate, average 21% open rate, and 2-3% click-through rate, for the last 90 days.

4. XML map creator

XML map creator is a paid extension that will allow you to easily create XML sitemaps for your website. Having an XML sitemap is extremely beneficial, as it will allow Google, Bing and other search engines to crawl your site more thoroughly, generally raising the number of your site’s pages that get indexed – ultimately leading to more traffic for your site.

5. Magento-WordPress Integration

With the Magento-WordPress Integration extension by FishPig, you can get the best of both worlds from both platforms – use WordPress to manage your site’s blog and Magento for your ecommerce store. It is totally free and includes support for a wide variety of WordPress plugins as well.

6. Optimizely

Optimizely is a highly regarded extension for A/B testing and analytic tracking. Track engagement, clicks, conversions, sign-ups, and more. Set goals using a near-endless amount of custom variables and measurable actions. It has an easy-to-use visual editor that makes the whole process of getting started quick and simple.

7. Blog

As the name implies, Blog is a simple extension for adding a blog to your Magento store. Containing all of the major must-have features of a blog, the extension will allow you to keep your customers up-to-date with the latest news, deals, and community info related to your ecommerce site.

8. Yotpo

Yotpo is a very handy extension for generating SEO content as well as creating email-based user review requests. Users of Yotpo generally see an increase of 9x more product & site reviews over other review generation methods. Other useful features of the extension include social media integration, submission of user-generated photos, and converting user reviews into paid ads on Facebook.

9. Fooman Google Analytics

If you want to take your analytics further, the Fooman Google Analytics extension is a great add-on. By having a better grasp on your analytics you can greatly improve your conversions, ultimately generating more sales. You can track Adwords conversions, track multiple profiles, filter reports by customer, and several more useful features.

10. Layered Navigation

The Layered Navigation extension is a great way to customize your navigation bar and make finding content much easier for your customer. Custom drop down menus, new filters, and breadcrumb displays are all-available through the extension. While it is a paid extension, Layered Navigation is a great choice for merchants looking to expand their navigation option

Conclusion

Magento extensions can help your business achieve everything from streamlining your checkout process to building and customizing a mobile application. There is really no limit when it comes to the scalability of extensions. There is literally hundreds of potential uses, which can improve sales, customer experience and overall usability. We hope you have discovered some new ideas and a suitable Magento extension in this blog post.