So, over the last couple of weeks, I've been busy updating the privacy policy and cookie consent information pages for Magnet4Blogging. Yep, it's pretty boring stuff but it's got to be done, right?

Anyhow, in just a few weeks time, data protection rules across Europe is going to change drastically with the new GDPR coming into force on the 25th of May 2018.

Oh, wait! We're now in 2019 and all that has already happened, as of updating this post in February of 2019.

Hopefully, if you run a website or blog of any kind, you will have already made changes, as for the most part, GDPR affects every website that serves users/consumers within the EU in some shape or form.

GDPR is a European Regulation being that has been brought into force to help strengthen data protection for EU citizens, just in case you were wondering what all the fuss is about.

If you'd like to learn more about GDPR, then check out this page.

If you want to get the full low-down on how GDPR will affect your online business and what you can do to help make your website more compliant, check out the video below by Chris Ducker.

OK, so below I've compiled a list of some of the best cookie consent, Privacy Policy, and GDPR plugins for WordPress you might want to consider using if you don't already.

What is important for you to remember here is 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.

Cookie Consent Plugins To Check Cout

1. UK Cookie Consent by Catapult Themes

I was using this particular plugin for a long while until I ran into some technical problems with it NOT displaying correctly on Thrive Architect custom landing pages. (Page builder.)

If you don't use Thrive Architect page builder on your WordPress site, then you should have any problems using this plugin.

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

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 - Sadly, like I said at the start, I've found that 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.

2. GDPR Cookie Compliance by Moove Agency

If you're looking for a plugin that will help you make your website more compliant to GDPR, then check out Moove Agency's awesome plugin.

This plugin provides a lot of options for GDPR, but again, using it alone will not make your website or blog completely compliant, as each individual website needs to put in place its own policy.

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

I'm sorry if I sound like a broken record with this.

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 a few more cookies than usually, i.e advertising cookies, behavior tracking cookies, Geographic tracking, etc. Then this plugin could be useful.

Cons of using this plugin - My argument with GDPR is that I'm not 100% sure that users will have the time to spend reading privacy policy overviews and making selections as to what's acceptable or what's not, especially when you consider that website users, in general, have a limited amount of time and 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.

3. Cookie Notice by dFactory

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

Before that, I was using the EU Cookie Consent plugin mentioned above, which I really loved. Anyhow, since I use a custom homepage created with Thrive Architect, the cookie notification bar doesn't appear correctly.

If you're interested in this one, the plugin is simple to set up and while it doesn't look as clean and elegant as Catapult Theme's plugin, you do get a few extra useful configuration options.

Here's what you can do with this plugin -

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 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

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, once again, 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

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 and feel.

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!

Wrapping up

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

Now, as I said, you should NOT install any of these plugins and expect your site to be fully compliant. Especially when it comes to GDPR.

Your cookie and privacy pages

You have to ensure that 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 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 will not do you any favors. If you haven't yet taken the necessary steps towards making your WordPress website or blog compliant, you'd better make a start now.

Best of luck.

Psst, need help with customizing your WordPress website? Click here to see how I can help you.