Using a photo gallery plugin for WordPress is a great way to spice up your website. You will be able to easily display all your images for your visitors to enjoy. Of course, you want to make sure you are using the best photo gallery plugin for your specific needs.

You can use the built-in gallery feature from WordPress, if you don’t want to use a plugin. However, this feature doesn’t have the same functionality as some of the plugins found out there. Choosing the best WordPress photo gallery plugin isn’t always easy, however.

What’s the Problem With Most Photo Gallery Plugins for WordPress?

Most of the plugins you will find for your photo gallery will often be very slot or they won’t be well-coded. This can cause many issues, even if you have the best WordPress hosting for your site.

When a plugin causes your site to load slowly, it hurts both your SEO and your conversions. Visitors won’t see what they are hoping to see and they may leave your site quickly.

Along with the fact that many photo gallery plugins load slow, they are often complicated for beginners, as well. They come with so many features you simply cannot figure out how to make them work for you.

Another huge issue with many WordPress photo gallery plugins, they are not responsive. If you don’t use a responsive plugin, those using mobile devices will struggle to view your photo gallery.

The right photo gallery plugin for WordPress will be user-friendly, load fast, provide the right features and give you a responsive option. Here’s a look a three great choices for your photo gallery plugin.

NextGEN Gallery

The NextGEN Gallery (https://wordpress.org/plugins/nextgen-gallery/) plugin for WordPress provides a fast loading choice with the right design for your needs. It won’t utilize the built-in features of WordPress to create your gallery. Instead, it uses its own interface, folders and database tables. It’s not the easiest plugin in the world to use, but it’s not complicated, either.

With the NextGEN Gallery plugin, you can easily add images with the button added to the visual editor. The plugin makes it easy to get everything you need done for your gallery and it’s responsive.

Foo Gallery

The Foo Gallery (ooplugins.com/plugins/foogallery) plugin loads just about as fast as the NextGEN Gallery plugin. It’s very easy to use and provides a very simple user interface. You will get a button within the visual editor to add your images to any post or page. This photo gallery plugin provides a great choice for anybody looking to add a professional looking gallery to their WordPress website.

Envira Gallery

When you choose the Envira Gallery (https://enviragallery.com/) plugin for WordPress, you will get the fastest loading plugin for photo galleries available. It’s so fast because the code is very lightweight. The user interface is very easy to use and blends well with the WordPress admin area, as well.

Creating a new gallery is very easy with this plugin and very similar to creating a new post. You will easily be able to sue shortcode to add your gallery into any post or page on your site. Envira Gallery also gives you a button to make it easy to add any gallery to a post or page.

Along with the easy-to-use design and the speed, Envira Gallery also provides a template tag making it easy to edit your WordPress templates. This is great for those developing sites for clients.

All three of these photo gallery plugins are great choices for WordPress users. Envira Gallery is the fastest and easiest to use. However, both of the other choices will work well for many users, as well.