Over the last couple of weeks, we've been busy updating the privacy policy and cookie information pages for Magnet4Blogging. Yep, it's been pretty boring and tedious, but it's important stuff that needed to be done.

Anyhow, in just a few week's time, data protection rules across Europe are going to change dramatically with the new GDPR coming into force on the 25th of May 2018.

Oh, wait! We're now in 2020 and all that has already happened! With that said, hopefully, you will have already made preparations and changes for your website or blog.

Remember: For the most part, GDPR affects every website that serves an audience, users/consumers within the EU in some shape or form. To be safe, please don't assume that GDPR doesn't apply to your site or online business.

If you're at all wondering what this GDPR means, it's a European Regulation that has been brought into force to help strengthen data protection for EU citizens. If you'd like to learn more about this regulation, check out this detailed post.

Right then, below you will find that I've compiled a list of some of the best cookie consent, Privacy Policy, and GDPR plugins for WordPress. If you're not using a cookie plugin and need a simple enough solution to help make your site compliant, one of these should do the trick.

I want to reiterate the importance of remembering that using any of these plugins will NOT make your WordPress website or blog fully compliant with GDPR, but certainly help towards it.

Let's take a look.

Best Cookie Consent Plugins To Check Cout

1. UK Cookie Consent by Catapult Themes

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First on our list is the UK Cookie Consent Plugin by Catapult Themes.

Originally, I was using this plugin for quite some time, up until I ran into some problems with the banner NOT displaying correctly on landing pages built with Thrive Architect.

If you don't use Thrive Architect page builder, then you should have NO problems using this plugin.

The best part about the UK Cookie Consent plugin is that it's incredibly simple to install and configure.

Plugin configuration options include -

1. Cookie bar close options (On-click, on-scroll, timed).
2. Option to display on first-page visitors lands on only.
3. Exclude pages you don't want the notification to appear on.
4. Exclude zones.
5. Notification duration.
6. Scroll height.
7. Cookie version and expiry (How long should the cookie last).
8. Option to opt-out of tracking.
9. Content settings (Heading text, a customizable cookie notification message, CTA text, privacy page settings).
10. Styles options (Position of the notification bar, text, background, link colors, and more).

Benefits of using this plugin - Quick and simple to set up and forget about. If you don't use very many cookies on your website, other than the ones you use to track website traffic, visitor behavior, and for doing simple statistical analysis, then this plugin should be fine.

Cons of using this plugin - As I said at the start, I've found this plugin doesn't display the cookie notice bar properly on landing pages built using Thrive Architect page builder. Other than that, there are no other cons to mention.

2. GDPR Cookie Compliance by Moove Agency

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Another plugin worth checking out is Moove Agency's GDPR Cookie Compliance plugin.

This plugin comes with a lot of options for GDPR, but again, using it alone will not make your website or blog completely compliant. The reason behind this is because each website needs to put in place its own policy.

Using this plugin, or any of the other plugins in this post is just a step towards making your website compliant.

I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record with this, but it's really important info.

Plugin options include -

1. Branding and positioning (Upload your own logo).
2. Cookie info-bar settings.
3. Floating button.
4. Privacy overview textbox and settings.
5. Options for customizing information about necessary cookies, third-party cookies, and any other additional cookies.
6. Cookie policy settings, and more.

Benefits of using this plugin - This is one of the best plugin's I've seen for GDPR. It's clean, attractive, and can help you to take a big step towards making your website more GDPR compliant. Ideally, if you have a website that uses more cookies, i.e advertising cookies, behavior tracking cookies, Geographic tracking, etc. Then this plugin could be a little more useful with the additional options.

Cons of using this plugin - My concern with GDPR is that I'm not entirely convinced that all users will make the time to read every website's privacy policy. Website users, generally, have short attention spans and limited patience. It may cause some visitors to just hit the back button because they simply can't be bothered with all the rigmaroles of saying yes to this, and no to that, etc. If that makes senes.

3. Cookie Notice by dFactory

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This is the plugin I'm currently using on Magnet4Blogging.

Before this, I was using the EU Cookie Consent plugin which I mentioned above, which I really loved. But, some of my landing pages are built with Thrive Architect, so the plugin doesn't work for me.

If you're interested in using this Cookie Notice plugin, it is simple to set up and forget about. You do get a few extra useful configuration options too, see below.

1. Add a customized cookie message.
2. Customize buttons CTA text.
3. Enable or disable read more link. You can also change the link text.
4. Use a custom link or page link to your privacy page.
5. Link target option to open in a new tab or same page.
6. Feature to give users the option to refuse third-party non-functional cookies.
7. Script blocking.
8. Reloading and on-scroll cookie acceptance options.
9. Cookie expiry time.
10. Script placement (Header or footer).
11. Placement options (Top or bottom).

You can also customize the design of your cookie notice with some cool animation, style, and colors.

Benefits of using this plugin - Quick and simple to set up and forget about.

Cons of using this plugin - Doesn't look at attractive as the first two. Uses either WordPress or Bootstrap CSS.

4. EU Cookie Law Plugin

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Next up is the EU cookie law plugin which to date has had over 100,000 downloads and plenty of positive reviews.

If you're looking for something plain and simple with no frills, then this plugin could be for you.

Options include the following -

1. Block iFrames, embeds, and scripts on your blog/website.
2. Cookie acceptance duration.
3. Scroll and navigation consent.
4. Subdomains and multisite cookie share.
5. Appearance customization options.
6. Message bar content options.
7. Pop-up box custom content.
8. Shortcode (Cookie control, cookie disabled message).

Benefits of using this plugin - Incredibly simple to install and configure. Popular and widely used plugin.

Cons of using this plugin - Notification bar and pop-up looks dull and boring and doesn't provide many options for users in the pop-up.

5. GDPR Cookie Consent

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Last but not least on our list is the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin by WebToffee, currently with over 400,000 downloads, so this one's a pretty popular one too.

This plugin is simple to install and set up and will add a none-intrusive banner in your website's header or footer, it's entirely up to you.

In addition, you can customize and style your banner to match your website's look.

Options include:

1. Customizable banners to match your website.
2. Optional cookie acceptance on scrolling.
3. Auto closing for delayed cookie bars.
4. Support for WPML and qTranslate, and more.

Pros of using this plugin? Quick and simple setup, simple customization.

Cons of using this plugin? None!

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Wrapping up

So, there you have it. Five incredibly useful plugins to help you make your website more transparent about its use of cookies and user privacy.

Now, one last time, you should NOT install any of these plugins and expect your site to be fully compliant with GDPR.

Your cookie and privacy pages

Ensure your Privacy Policy and Cookies information pages are also updated to reflect the settings you make when you use any of these plugins.

There are plugins you can use for creating a Privacy Policy page within your WordPress website, such as the Auto-Terms Privacy Policy plugin, however, I highly recommend creating your own custom privacy info, because each website is unique and will require a specific set of privacy terms.

Getting ready for GDPR doesn't have to be a minefield, and avoiding it just isn't worth it. If it's your business, why would you not make your website GDPR friendly?

Best of luck.