The Covid-19 pandemic has disrupted the lifestyles people were well-adjusted to. The 9-5 corporate workers have to now work from home on their laptops, probably for longer than 5 pm. The workload has clearly increased as communication is not straightforward and face to face anymore. Meetings and work calls are scheduled for every message that needs to be communicated. Interactions are now digitized, and we cannot meet people without a mask or a laptop screen in between.

In these stressful situations, entertainment is one of the things that can bring a smile to people’s faces. Adventure seekers who once used to visit escape room brands to quench their thirst for thrill and excitement are presently compelled to find virtual alternatives.

Online escape rooms are virtual escape rooms designed by brands that want to provide the same experience without risking the player’s health. Virtual escape rooms are the newest trends in the entertainment industry, where customers can easily visit the escape brand’s website and make an effortless booking.

Social media marketing and digital marketing has turned into one of the most efficient forms of marketing products and services to customers, so making a user-friendly escape room website has become a necessity. That is where compatible WP plugins play a major role.

What are WordPress plugins?

A plugin is a piece of software that provides a list of functions to make your work on WordPress easy and more productive. Similar to how apps on your smartphone help you get things done faster. They help you add features to your website without adding a single code and can be ‘plugged’ onto your website, hence the name.

Once you click on the ‘plugins’ option on your dashboard, you will notice WordPress offers tens of thousands of plugins. Some of them do not offer tech support, while some provide efficient functionality. Now the question arises: which plugin can be used to make your escape room website user-friendly without causing you any trouble? Find out by reading further!

Things to consider before choosing a plugin for an escape room website

• Reviews – Reviews usually hint at the company’s credibility and efficiency. As long as there are positive reviews, you are good to go!
• Regular updates – If the company regularly updates the plugin according to the website compatibility, they are more likely to be secure.

WordPress plugins for escape room websites

Here, we have compiled the plugins that will make your websites easy to access.

1. Chatbot by QuantumCloud

Usually, when you click on any customer-oriented website, you will see one new message pop-up at the bottom of the screen. If the site users have any doubts regarding the information on the website, they can just text the chatbot instead of going through an unnecessary phone call with customer service. These are called Chatbots.

This feature can display a set of FAQs about the escape rooms, events, or amenities with text answers you created from the WordPress backend.

Some additional features are:

• Chatbot full-screen options for phones
• Built-in facilities for users to drop a phone number
• Supports multiple languages for international fans

2. Foogallery by Fooplugins

Who would love going through an unattractive website that has only text-based information? Provide your potential customers with some eye candy before they pick the food for their souls!

Foogallery is a responsive photo gallery plugin that has a lightning-fast loading speed. It gives customers an insight into what they are getting themselves into and keeps them excited till the day of the game. Using this plugin, you can show them a glance of the party rooms, previous happy customers, and the amenities the escape room venue provides.

Some additional features are:

• Easy to customize options for the pictures
• Gallery widget
• Built-in media library

3. Online Booking System by Checkfront

Every customer that lands on your escape room website would want a fast and hassle-free booking experience. This plugin provides the required functions for this.

Guests can view the availability of the escape rooms and book their events at a time of their choice. They can submit the details about the number of players, if catering services are required, and sign digital waivers. Finally, the online transaction can be done smoothly through credit or suitable payment apps all on their smartphone or personal desktop.

Some additional features are:

• Multi-gateway payment processing with apps like Square and PayPal
• Creation of customer accounts to view booking history
• Mobile-friendly booking processes

4. Appointment Hour Booking by CodePeople

Appointment Hour Booking is another WordPress plugin that manages customer appointments with a defined duration and schedule. They provide customers with information like when the escape brand is open, how many appointments can be made, and swift online payments. They let the guest know about the number of available time slots for the team members they have.

The plugin also allows the client to choose multiple services like catering, drinks, decorations, numeral escape rooms, and provides automatic price calculation based on the services.

Some additional features are:

• Automatically managed schedules to avoid double-booking.
• Form validation and captcha protection
• Calendar with over 53 languages for foreign escape room fans

5. Social Media Widget by Noah Kagan

When customers are searching for a suitable escape room brand that can show their families and friends a good time, they tend to do a good amount of research. They would love to check user reviews and the company’s social media presence. After all, an escape room brand’s success is dependent on how much escape enthusiasts love it. You cannot add all your information on the website alone; providing links to your social media communities is a good idea.

This plugin supports several major social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Yelp, and Google+. It makes their experience on your website faster and simpler.

Some additional features are:

• Animated and eye-catching icons
• Widget text editor
• Widget Alignment

Conclusion

Some of the things that can make escape room customers stay on your website are attractive details, easy communication options, and express-quick booking options. You may design the most immersive escape rooms, but if you don’t market them right, all your efforts will go in vain.

Without a doubt, plugins can do those tasks for you, as long as you choose the right ones!

Plugins can make or break any website. They can make your website 10 times more efficient, or they can slow it down if they are poorly coded. Nevertheless, we have done the research to provide you the best plugins for your escape room websites. Incorporate these on your website, and you will have an eye-catching, user-friendly escape room website in no time!

If you are unsure then contact the WordPress experts at WP Tech Support for assistance. We can provide ongoing WordPress support for your WordPress website