If you’re planning to become a WordPress developer, you’ll come across something called ‘REST API.’ This is an interface that expands the functionality of WordPress and enables you to connect the platform with other applications. Some developers find it really helpful as part of their process — especially if they’re looking to implement advanced functionality. 

Fortunately, you don’t need to be an experienced developer to gain expertise with the WordPress REST API. Once you have a solid understanding of the interface and how it works, you can easily implement it into your web-building projects.

In this post, we’ll provide an in-depth guide to the WordPress REST API. We’ll discuss what it is, how to use it, and how to protect it against threats. We’ll also show you how to fix common REST API errors, how to use the interface with other frameworks, and how it compares to other WordPress API solutions.

What is the WordPress REST API?

To understand the WordPress REST API, we’ll need to break down its various components. Let’s start with an introduction to APIs.

What is an API?

An application programming interface (API) is a program that enables two applications to communicate with one another. It serves as an intermediary between two pieces of software, facilitating a seamless collaboration. 

For example, if you wanted to display a Google product on your site, like maps, you’d need to use the Google Maps API.

This enables your WordPress site to communicate with Google Maps, so it can pull all the relevant data and features needed to display those maps. 

Like Google, other companies have APIs and provide them to web developers. These products can be very appealing, as they eliminate the need to code a feature (like a map) from scratch. Instead, you can use third-party software and connect it to your site via API.

What is REST?

Representational State Transfer (REST) is a set of guidelines that developers must follow when creating APIs. Therefore, a REST API is an interface that was built with these standards in mind.

Typically, a REST API follows these principles:

• Client-server separation: The API should enable the client (or website) and the server to remain separate from one another and continue functioning independently of each other.
• Caching: REST APIs should use cacheable data, when possible, to improve performance and let the website know which information can be cached.
• Statelessness: REST APIs can’t store any information about the website they’re connected to on their server, and only the information needed to process a request should be provided.
• A uniform interface: Requests for resources should be processed in the same way, regardless of their origin. 
• Layered architecture: REST APIs are built around a layered system, with each layer fulfilling a specific role and working separately from others. This makes the API more secure and easier to update.

Since a REST API meets these standards, it can provide more security and efficiency. 

What does the WordPress REST API do?

WordPress has its own REST API. This enables the platform to communicate with almost every other web application and website, regardless of the programming language they use.  

With this API, a third-party app will be able to access your WordPress database and pull data from it. In fact, most WordPress plugins and themes use the platform’s REST API to function properly. 

The WordPress REST API was released as part of the core software in version 4.7. Before then, it was only available as a plugin.

While the WordPress software is built with PHP, the REST API sends and receives data as JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) objects, which opens up new possibilities for developers.

What are the most common REST API commands?

REST APIs are designed to receive and respond to particular requests via HTML commands. 

The most common commands you’ll use are:

• GET: You can use this command to fetch a particular resource from the server, like a post or piece of data. 
• POST: This command lets you modify a resource on the server by adding code.
• PUT: With this command, you can edit a resource that’s already on the server.
• DELETE: This command removes a resource from the server.

These commands are followed by a line that gives more information about the request. These are known as endpoints.

For instance, if you wanted to retrieve a list of published posts on your site, you would use the following endpoint:

GET http://mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/?status=published

Let’s look at another example. If you want to add a new page, you would use the following command:

POST http://mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/page

There are many things you can do with these four commands. You can find a list of endpoints on the WordPress Developer Resources page. 

Real-world examples of the WordPress REST API

Now that you have a basic understanding of how the WordPress REST API works, let’s look at some real-life examples, starting with WordPress.com.

The WordPress.com admin dashboard (called “Calypso”) is built entirely in JavaScript through the REST API.

Calypso is a web and desktop app that enables users to add new content, edit existing posts, and more. It uses the REST API to access the data on your WordPress.com site. 

Another example is the Block Editor. In self-hosted WordPress, the Block Editor uses the REST API to interact with your database and create blocks.

Many online publications like USA Today also use the WordPress REST API. This enables them to automatically publish articles on other news apps, like Apple News. 

How to enable and disable the REST API in WordPress

You don’t need to do anything to enable the REST API — it comes built into WordPress. Later in the post, we’ll show you how to access it.

While the REST API is a powerful tool for building apps with WordPress, it can make your site susceptible to Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks and malware. Plus, hackers might be able to access your data through the connection with other apps. 

Disabling the WordPress REST API is not recommended. That’s because doing so can lead to issues with the Block Editor and any plugins on your site.

If you still want to go ahead and disable it, the easiest way to do this is with a plugin like WPCode.

Once you install and activate the plugin on your site, navigate to Code Snippets → Library in your WordPress dashboard.

Here, look for an option called Disable WordPress REST API. When you find it, hover over it and select Use snippet.

This will launch a page with a preview of the code.

If you scroll down to the Insertion box, you can select the Auto-Insert option so that the plugin will automatically apply this code to your site.

Then, scroll back to the top and move the toggle switch from Inactive to Active. Finally, click on Update to make these changes live. 

How to use the WordPress REST API

Now, let’s look at how to use the WordPress REST API. We’ve already covered some examples above, but in this section we’ll show you exactly how to access and fetch data. 

Step 1: Access the REST API

If you want to fetch data from a live WordPress site, you can access the REST API straight from your browser. All you have to do is enter the following address into the search bar (substituting in your own domain name and extension):

mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2

This will bring up the JSON file of your WordPress site.

You can then add elements to this URL to access specific data, as we’ll show you in the next step.

Step 2: Make requests to the REST API

As we mentioned earlier, you can use endpoints to access particular data on your site. If you want to retrieve a list of all your posts, simply add the endpoint /posts to your address:

mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts 

If you want to retrieve a specific post, you can just add its ID (you’ll find this on the Posts page in your WordPress dashboard):

mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4567

Meanwhile, if you want to fetch data about your users, you would use the following request:

mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/users

These are just simple examples, but there’s a lot more you can do. For instance, you can fetch posts that contain specific terms, change a post’s status from “draft” to “publish,” and more. 

Step 3: Authenticate your requests

The WordPress REST API enables you to fetch any type of data on your website, but not all of it is publicly available. In some cases, you’ll need to authenticate your request. 

To make authenticated requests to the WordPress REST API, you’ll first need to obtain an API key. To do this, navigate to Users → Profile in your WordPress dashboard.

Then, scroll down to the Application Passwords section. Here, you’ll need to enter a name for your password (for reference) and click on Add New Application Password.

This will generate an API key for you, which you’ll need to use in your requests. For instance, if your API key is “1234567890,” you can include it in an Authorization header like this:

https://mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts?Authorization=Bearer1234567890

Remember to replace the code 1234567890 with the API key you’ve copied and remove any spaces. 

You can also retrieve a list of posts written by a particular author, with their user ID. You can find their ID by going to the Users section in your WordPress dashboard and clicking on the author’s name. The ID will be displayed in the URL of their author page.

Let’s say an author’s name is “Joe” and their ID is “123.” In this scenario, you can use the following URL to retrieve a list of all posts written by Joe:

https://mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts?author=123&Authorization=Bearer1234567890

If you can’t find the user’s ID, their profile might have been modified in such a way that the ID is no longer displayed. In this case, you can retrieve a list of all posts written by the user using their login name or email address instead of the ID.

To do this, you’ll have to use the “slug” parameter instead of the “author” parameter in your request:

https://mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts?slug=joe&Authorization=Bearer1234567890

The “slug” parameter enables you to specify the user’s login name or email address. The WordPress REST API will return a list of all posts written by the user.

When to use the WordPress REST API

The WordPress REST API can be used for a wide range of projects. Here are a few examples:

• Integrating a WordPress site with a mobile app. If you’re a developer, you can use the REST API to retrieve and edit data on a WordPress site from a mobile app. This enables you to build custom apps that interact with your site.
• Creating custom integrations. Using the WordPress REST API, you can create custom integrations with other software like CRM tools.
• Building custom scripts. You can use the REST API to automate certain tasks on your WordPress site, like scheduling posts or updating user profiles.

As you can see, the REST API enables you to integrate WordPress with apps or sites built on other platforms. 

When not to use the WordPress REST API

While the WordPress REST API can be a powerful tool, it may not always be the right one for your project. Let’s look at a few reasons why you might not want to use it. 

As you may recall, the WordPress REST API is built with JavaScript. Therefore, if you’re developing an app that doesn’t support JavaScript, it won’t function properly if you’re using the REST API. 

Additionally, apps built on JavaScript may not be very accessible. For instance, the way it renders dynamic content may be incompatible with screen readers. As a result, it could make your content inaccessible to users with visual impairments.

How to secure the WordPress REST API from exploits

As mentioned earlier, using the WordPress REST API can make your site vulnerable to threats. The API acts as a bridge between two platforms, and hackers may find a way into your website through this connection.

As such, before you start using the WordPress REST API, it’s important to create a backup of your WordPress site. This way, if something goes wrong, you can restore a recent version of your content. 

Additionally, you’ll want to make sure that you have sufficient security measures in place. This means using a tool like Jetpack Protect.

This plugin comes packed with security features, including malware scanning, vulnerability scanning, and a web application firewall (WAF).

Furthermore, it’s a good idea to use the REST API on a WordPress staging site before making your changes live. This way, if you accidentally break your website, it won’t affect the user experience on the front end. 

How to fix common REST API errors and issues

You may run into some errors when using the WordPress REST API. So, let’s look at some of the most common issues and the steps you can take to resolve them.

Slow response times and timeouts

When calling the WordPress REST API, you may encounter slow response times and timeouts. These issues are usually caused by the following factors:

• Insufficient server resources. Your server might not have enough resources to handle requests made through the REST API. In this case, you’ll need to upgrade to a more powerful WordPress hosting plan.
• Plugin or theme conflicts. WordPress plugins and themes can sometimes conflict with the REST API. When this happens, try disabling all plugins and switching to a default theme to see if this resolves the issue. If it does, you can reactivate your plugins one at a time to identify the culprit.
• Size of data. Large data transfers during API calls can cause timeouts. To prevent this, you can try reducing the number of items displayed per page (we’ll show you how to do this later in the post).
• Database issues. If your WordPress database is not optimized, it can lead to slow response times and timeouts when calling the REST API. You can optimize it by removing unnecessary data and installing an optimization plugin.

Additionally, you may want to track the performance of your API with a tool like Google Cloud’s operations suite (formerly Stackdriver) and Microsoft’s Application Insights. These tools can provide insight into the performance of the WordPress REST API and help you identify the causes of slow response times.

403 Forbidden error when calling the REST API

The 403 Forbidden error is an HTTP status code indicating that the client is not authorized to access the requested resource. Let’s look at some common causes of this error and potential solutions:

• Incorrect API Key. If the request requires an API key, make sure that the key you’re using is valid and that it’s being passed in the request headers correctly.
• Invalid nonce. A ‘nonce’ is a random number used once to prevent request forgery. If it’s invalid, it may result in a 403 forbidden error.
• User permissions. You’ll also want to make sure that you have the necessary permissions to access a specific API endpoint. If you’re not the owner of the website, you may need to ask the administrator to give you the right permissions. 
• Security plugins. Security plugins can block an API call because it sees it as a security threat. You can whitelist the API endpoint in your plugin settings to resolve this type of issue.
• Firewall. You might be using a firewall that’s blocking the API request. Make sure that the firewall is set up correctly, or try to disable it while using the API.
• Server configuration. Some servers are not configured to handle certain API calls, so you might want to reach out to your hosting provider for assistance.

You can also use your browser’s developer tools to inspect the network requests and request headers. If you use Chrome, simply press Ctrl+Shift+C to open DevTools.  

Additionally, you can check your server logs for more information about the error. You should be able to access them through your hosting account. If not, you can ask your hosting provider for help. 

REST API encountered an unexpected result

The “REST API encountered an unexpected result” error is a common issue. It’s typically caused by the following factors:

• Permissions. You might not have the right permissions to access the requested resource. If that’s the case, you’ll need to contact the site’s administrator. 
• URL configuration issue. This error can occur if the API endpoint URL is configured incorrectly. Double-check the URL to ensure that it is correct and that all necessary query parameters are included.
• Incorrect command. You may be using the wrong command (e.g. GET, POST, PUT, DELETE) for the request. Check the API documentation to make sure that you’re using the correct command for the specific endpoint.
• Incorrect request format. Make sure that you’re using the right format in your request. In the WordPress REST API, data must be sent as JSON.
• Wrong endpoint. You might be trying to call an endpoint that doesn’t exist. In this scenario, double-check the endpoint URL to make sure it’s correct.
• Server-side issues. Your server might be experiencing issues. This is more common with shared hosting plans. If this happens to you, it may be time to upgrade to a server with more resources.

You may also want to disable your plugins to see if the issue is resolved. As mentioned earlier, some tools may cause compatibility issues with the WordPress REST API. 

rest_api_init not working

The “rest_api_init not working” error is another common WordPress REST API error. It’s usually caused by plugin and theme conflicts, as well as limited server resources.

Still, there are other factors that can lead to the WordPress REST API not working, like:

• Custom REST API endpoints. If you’re making requests with custom endpoints, make sure that you’re using the correct hooks and functions.
• .htaccess file. You may need to check your .htaccess file to ensure that it’s set up correctly.
• CORS error. If you’re trying to make Cross-Origin Requests (CORS) and the WordPress REST API is not working, it might be that the server is not configured to accept them. You may want to contact your hosting provider to see if the server accepts CORS.

Additionally, you could be using an old WordPress installation that doesn’t support the API. If so, it’s important that you upgrade to the latest version.

Basic authentication not working

The “Basic authentication not working” error may occur when trying to call the WordPress REST API using Basic Authentication. Basic Authentication is a simple authentication scheme built into the HTTP protocol. It utilizes a username and password to authenticate someone. 

Here are some common causes of this error (and how to resolve them):

• Incorrect credentials. Check the username and password in the request headers to ensure that they’re correct.
• Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) issue. Make sure that you have a valid SSL certificate installed and that it’s configured correctly. If it isn’t, take a look at our step-by-step guide on how to get a free and valid SSL certificate.
• HTTP to HTTPS redirects. Some websites are configured to redirect HTTP requests to HTTPS. If the browser is trying to authenticate on HTTP, you might run into this error. Therefore, you’ll want to make sure that you’re running a request on an HTTPS endpoint.

Like other REST API issues, this error can also be caused by theme and plugin conflicts. Once again, you’ll want to switch to a default theme and deactivate your plugins to troubleshoot the issue.

If that doesn’t help, you might want to disable your firewall temporarily. This could be blocking your authentication request. 

If you’re making a CORS, your server may not be configured to accept them. It’s worth checking with your hosting provider to see if there’s anything they can do on their end. 

Finally, if you’re not the admin of the site, you may not have the correct permissions or role to complete the request. In this case, you’ll need to reach out to the owner of the website. 

Advanced use cases of the REST API

Thanks to the WordPress REST API, you can retrieve data from your site using popular frameworks and other programming languages. Let’s take a look at a few examples. 

How to use the WordPress REST API with React

React is a popular JavaScript library for building user interfaces. You can use the Node-WPAPI client to make HTTP requests to the WordPress REST API. 

For instance, to retrieve a list of posts on your WordPress site, you would need to enter the following into Node-WPAPI:

import WPAPI from 'wpapi';

const wp = new WPAPI({ endpoint: 'http://example.com/wp-json' });

wp.posts().then(posts => {

  console.log(posts);

});

For more information on using the WordPress REST API with React, you can check out the Node-WPAPI documentation.

How to use the WP REST API with Angular

Angular is a JavaScript framework for developing web applications. To use it with the WordPress REST API, you’ll need to use the @angular/common/http module.

For instance, you can input the following code to retrieve a list of posts:

import { HttpClient } from '@angular/common/http';

@Injectable()

export class PostService {

  constructor(private http: HttpClient) {}

  getPosts(): Observable<any> {

    return this.http.get('http://mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts');

  }

}

You can check out the Angular documentation for more information on using its HttpClient to make requests to the WordPress REST API. 

How to use the WordPress REST API with Python

You can also use the WordPress REST API with Python. This is a popular programming language that can be used to build web applications and other software. 

To get started, you’ll need to use the Requests library. If you wanted to fetch a list of your WordPress posts, you would enter the following:

import requests

response = requests.get('http://example.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts')

posts = response.json()

print(posts)

You can read the Requests library documentation for more detailed instructions.  

How does the REST API compare to other WordPress API solutions?

You may be wondering how the REST API differs from other WordPress API solutions. To give you an idea, we’re going to compare it to some of the most popular alternatives. 

WordPress REST API vs. AJAX

The WordPress REST API provides an efficient way to access WordPress data. It enables developers to build custom applications and integrations with WordPress.

Meanwhile, the WordPress AJAX API is an older method of accessing WordPress data. It was introduced in WordPress 2.0 and enables developers to make asynchronous requests from the front end of the site, using JavaScript. 

The WordPress AJAX API can be a bit restrictive in terms of functionality, so it’s not recommended for use in complex projects.

WordPress REST API vs. WPGraphQL

WPGraphQL is a GraphQL implementation for WordPress that provides an alternate way to access WordPress data. GraphQL is a query language for your API. It enables clients to request exactly the data they need, and nothing more. 

Unlike the WordPress REST API, WPGraphQL requires a separate application password to be generated for each user who needs access. Plus, it can be a bit slow in delivering content because it uses a more complex query language.

WordPress REST API vs. XML-RPC

Introduced in WordPress 1.5, the WordPress XML-RPC API enables you to make remote requests to WordPress using the XML-RPC protocol. 

XML-RPC is simple and lightweight, and can therefore deliver results faster. The problem is, that like Ajax, it has limited functionality compared to the WordPress REST API. 

Frequently asked questions about the WordPress REST API

In this guide, we’ve covered most of the essentials when it comes to the WordPress REST API. But, just in case, let’s look at a few frequently asked questions regarding this powerful tool. 

Does the WordPress REST API have a return limit?

By default, the WordPress REST API has a maximum return limit of 100 items per page. That means, if you make a request to an endpoint that returns a list of items (like posts, pages, or users), the API will only display a maximum of 100 items in the response. 

Fortunately, you can use the “per_page” parameter to increase the limit to a maximum of 500 items per page.

For example, if you want 200 items per page, you can use the following:

https://mysite.com/wp-json/wp/v2/posts?per_page=200

Keep in mind that you can also decrease the number of items displayed per page.

Can I use the REST API with WooCommerce?

WooCommerce has its own REST API. The WooCommerce REST API enables you to access and modify data from your WooCommerce store. This includes information on products, orders, and customers. Plus, you can use the WooCommerce REST API to integrate WooCommerce with other ecommerce platforms.

Get started with the WordPress REST API

The WordPress REST API enables you to integrate your site with other apps and third-party tools. Web developers can use it to fetch data for single-page applications, connect WordPress to a mobile app, and much more.

Additionally, you can use the WordPress REST API with other frameworks and programming languages, including React, Angular, and Python. Although the WordPress REST API is a powerful and dependable tool, it’s still important to back up your site and use a security tool to prevent attacks through these connections.

With Jetpack Protect, you can secure your WordPress site against malware and hackers, and use the WordPress REST API in a safer environment. 

Interactive page elements like dynamic search bars, advanced product filters, and sliders can make your site more user-friendly and engaging. But it’s impossible to create any of these features without using JavaScript or installing WordPress plugins.

Luckily, you can easily create JavaScript design elements by using jQuery in WordPress. You can do this manually or use a plugin to speed up the process.

In this post, we’ll introduce you to jQuery and discuss why you may want to use it. Then, we’ll show you two ways to add custom jQuery scripts to your WordPress site and review some frequently asked questions. 

What is jQuery? (and why you may want to use it)

Before you learn how to add jQuery scripts in WordPress, you’ll need a baseline understanding of jQuery itself. 

In a nutshell, jQuery is a lightweight, open-source JavaScript library that simplifies the way you can write and use this coding language.

It enables you to easily modify and enhance WordPress themes and plugins using JavaScript. This feature can be extremely helpful since JavaScript is essential for many features. 

For example, you need JavaScript for Ajax, event handling, and DOM transversal/manipulation. Ajax functionality, in particular, is practical and popular. Web developers use it to create instant search loading and advanced ecommerce product filtering.

An action from the user, like a click or a search, often triggers these JavaScript features. You also need jQuery to create additional client-side features like sliders, lightbox pop-ups, and more.

Is jQuery included in WordPress by default?

jQuery is such a useful and popular resource that comes included in your WordPress installation by default. You just need to know how to use it! In the next sections, we’ll teach you how to do this. 

What to do before adding jQuery scripts to WordPress

We’ll soon explain how you can add jQuery scripts in WordPress. But first, you should do a few things to safeguard your website before attempting to modify its core files.

Most importantly, it’s always recommended to create a backup of your site. That’s because even the slightest coding error to critical website files can do serious harm. When you make backups, you can easily restore your site to its previous state in an emergency.

If you’re not sure how to back up your WordPress site, or you’re just looking for a tool to streamline the process, Jetpack VaultPress Backup is an excellent option.

Jetpack VaultPress Backup automatically saves every change on your site. Then you can use one-click restores to recover your content quickly. Jetpack even allows you to restore your site from the Jetpack mobile app. Furthermore, if you run into any issues, you can get assistance from the best-in-class customer support — Happiness Engineers! 

To further protect your website, it’s also worth creating a WordPress staging site. Then, you can test your changes before pushing them live.

How to add custom jQuery scripts to WordPress

Now that you know more about jQuery and preparing your site for major changes, let’s discuss two ways to add custom jQuery scripts to WordPress!

Method 1: Add jQuery manually

First, we’ll show you how to add jQuery to WordPress manually. This method might be for you if you have some development experience and want full control over the process. 

It’s worth using a child theme so that any changes you make won’t be overridden when you update your theme. 

Step 1: Go into Compatibility Mode

One of the great things about jQuery is that it allows you to use some familiar shortcuts when coding. Most notably, you can use the $ symbol to represent jQuery. This can save you a lot of time, but some other libraries use this shortcut to represent something different.

Therefore, you’ll want to go into Compatibility Mode and create a unique alias for jQuery. This way, you will avoid conflicts with other libraries. 

You can do this using the following code:

<!-- Putting jQuery into no-conflict mode. -->

http://prototype.js

http://jquery.js

<script>

var $j = jQuery.noConflict();

// $j is now an alias to the jQuery function; creating the new alias is optional.

$j(document).ready(function() {

    $j( "div" ).hide();

});

// The $ variable now has the prototype meaning, which is a shortcut for

// document.getElementById(). mainDiv below is a DOM element, not a jQuery object.

window.onload = function() {

    var mainDiv = $( "main" );

}

</script>

When you action the above script, you’ll be able to use $j as a shortcut instead of $. Alternatively, you could use the following:

<!-- Loading jQuery before other libraries. -->

http://jquery.js

http://prototype.js

<script>

// Use full jQuery function name to reference jQuery.

jQuery( document ).ready(function() {

    jQuery( "div" ).hide();

});

// Use the $ variable as defined in prototype.js

window.onload = function() {

    var mainDiv = $( "main" );

};

</script>

This code snippet will simply prevent any conflicts. Still, you’ll need to use the full name, jQuery, instead of a shortcut.

Step 2: Make a script file

Now that you have the code you need, you’re ready to make a script file. Create a file and give it a descriptive name like “my_new_script_file.js”. Make sure to use the .js extension and add your preferred compatibility code snippet at the top.

At this point, you’ll need to access and edit your theme files, which have their unique folders within your website files. 

Start by connecting to your website using your file manager or a free File Transfer Protocol (FTP) client like FileZilla.

Then, open your root directory. This should be named something like public_html or simply public. Alternatively, it could just be your website’s name.

Next, locate your active theme’s folder and create a new subfolder. Call it /js/. 

Finally, add your new script file to this subfolder. Its contents will differ depending on the feature you’re trying to implement. 

Step 3: Add a jQuery script to your functions.php file

Next, you’ll need to locate your theme’s functions.php file. Both parent and child themes should have one. This is where all manual customizations happen.

Since JavaScript requires enqueuing, you’ll need to use the wp_enqueue_script() function. Your code might look something like this:

function my_theme_scripts() {

    wp_enqueue_script( 'my_new_script_file', get_template_directory_uri() . '/js/my_new_script_file.js', array( 'jquery' ), '1.0.0', true );

}

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', 'my_theme_scripts' );

Make sure to substitute the name of your unique script file and add it to functions.php. This will tell your theme file to use the script file you created in the previous step.

Method 2: Add jQuery with a WordPress plugin

As we have just seen, adding jQuery manually can be time-consuming and a bit risky, especially if you’re not familiar with editing code in WordPress. So, now we’ll show you how to add jQuery with a WordPress plugin.

Step 1: Install a jQuery plugin

First, you’ll need to choose a jQuery plugin. Two of the most popular options are Simple Custom CSS and JS and Advanced Custom Fields.

For this tutorial, we’ll use Advanced Custom Fields. This tool helps you create engaging, interactive features with custom block types. 

The free version has plenty of useful block types for adding elements like button groups, Google Maps, color pickers, oEmbed, and much more. If you want all 30 custom blocks, though, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid version of Advanced Custom Fields. 

Once you’ve selected your preferred plan, simply install and activate the plugin as you usually would. Add any license keys under your plugin settings.

Step 2: Create a new custom field

After you’ve installed and activated the plugin, go to Custom Fields → Add New.

Here, you’ll need to create your first field group. Give it a title next to Add New Field Group. Then, click on Save Changes.

Now, you can start editing the new field. You can expand the options by clicking on Edit below the label.

First, open up the dropdown menu for Field Type, and select one.

Then, fill in the Field Label, Field Name, etc. If you continue to scroll down, you can modify additional settings like Location Rules and Presentation.

Depending on the location you select, you’ll be able to view your new custom block there. In the Block Editor, you can identify the block by the label you designated under Field Label.

When you’re finished, click on Save Changes. You can select the + Add Field button and repeat this process. After that, simply go to one of the locations you chose for your field and start customizing it! 

How to defer jQuery in WordPress

As we’ve discussed, there are plenty of reasons to use JavaScript and jQuery in WordPress. In fact, they’re crucial for certain interactive features that many users take for granted.

But the downside is that these sophisticated client-side elements might slow down your website. So, you may want to automatically defer JavaScript (and, by extension, jQuery) when your WordPress site loads. 

By deferring JavaScript, all the main elements on your site will load before the less critical JavaScript features. Of course, your site visitors probably won’t notice this happening, but it will likely improve their user experience (UX) because the page will appear to load faster.

If you want to automatically defer jQuery on your website, you can use Jetpack Boost to do so.

This plugin can drastically improve your website’s performance overall. As a result, you’ll be able to maintain all your preferred JavaScript features without compromising page speed.

In addition to deferring non-essential JavaScript, Jetpack Boost can optimize CSS loading and apply lazy image loading (among other performance optimizations). Using this tool, you can improve your Core Web Vitals scores and boost your site’s visibility in search results.

Frequently asked questions about jQuery in WordPress

Hopefully, we’ve clarified most of your doubts about jQuery in WordPress. Still, if we missed something, here are some frequently asked questions!

Can you change the jQuery version used in WordPress?

Sometimes themes and plugins can replace or add jQuery versions to your site. Therefore, it’s important to ensure that your version is always up-to-date. You can easily do this using a plugin like jQuery Updater or Version Control for jQuery.

Where can I check the jQuery version on my WordPress site?

You can usually check your jQuery version in a browser. In Google Chrome, simply navigate to your website on the front end. Then, go to View → Developer → JavaScript Console.

Enter jQuery.fn.jquery, and the console should return your site’s current version. 

Can you completely remove jQuery from WordPress?

The short answer is: yes. If you discover that using JavaScript on your site negatively impacts its performance, you may want to remove or ‘deregister’ jQuery. 

To do this, simply add the following code to your functions.php file:

// Remove jQuery

function vpsb_remove_jquery() {

    if (!is_admin()) {

        wp_deregister_script('jquery');

        wp_register_script('jquery', false);

    }

}

add_action('init', 'vpsb_remove_jquery');

Keep in mind you should only completely remove jQuery from your site if it’s drastically slowing down your pages. This likely won’t happen, though, since jQuery already optimizes heavier JavaScript code.

If your site’s speed has deteriorated after adding jQuery, a better alternative would be to use a solution like Jetpack Boost. It can defer non-essential JavaScript.

Can you replace jQuery with vanilla JavaScript?

It is possible to replace jQuery with vanilla JavaScript. But, it might prove challenging if you don’t have much development experience. So, you should consider hiring a developer if you need to do this.

Once again, it’s worth noting that replacing jQuery with vanilla JavaScript is probably unnecessary because jQuery already provides optimal JavaScript code. Most of the time, the minor performance effects of jQuery are usually worth the trouble, and deferring is typically a better option.

If you decide to go this route, it’s worth checking out this guide to adding JavaScript to WordPress. It can help you with the process.

Using jQuery in WordPress

Using complex JavaScript for engaging features on your site can drastically improve the UX and advance your goals. Unfortunately, you may not have the time or development skills to create these interactive elements from scratch. The good news is that you can use jQuery scripts to make this process easier.

To recap, there are two ways you can add jQuery to WordPress. First, you’re able to do this manually by going into Compatibility Mode and creating a script file. Then, add your new script to your functions.php file. Alternatively, you could use a plugin like Advanced Custom Fields to speed up the process and eliminate the need for manual coding.

When you use jQuery to add sophisticated design elements to your website, you can improve the UX and impress your visitors. But multiple interactive features could harm the performance of your web pages. Fortunately, Jetpack Boost can help optimize your site’s speed.

WooCommerce is a plugin that adds a store to your WordPress website. Owned by Automattic, the people behind WordPress.com, and supported by more than 300 employees, it’s considered the top option for aspiring ecommerce store owners and existing enterprise-level ecommerce operations alike. 

Building your site with WordPress and WooCommerce gives you complete ownership over your store, with a flexible framework for building a system and design that’s as unique as your dream. 

Today we’re going to talk about the WooCommerce Shop page, why you may want to build one, and how to customize it. 

New to ecommerce? Learn more about WooCommerce. 

What is a WooCommerce Shop page?

The WooCommerce Shop page is included by default, and is the archive page for the product post type. This simply means that it will show all of your published products for visitors to scroll through. It’s essentially your online showroom, where visitors view your catalog. You can display items individually, by category, or both, with categories and products on a single page. 

Why build a custom WooCommerce Shop page?

The default WooCommerce Shop page is a good option for many stores, and helps you get up and running quickly. But customizing this page provides a curated experience for buyers that can lead to more sales for you and a more streamlined journey for your shoppers.

So let’s begin with reasons you may want to customize your Shop page.

1. Make it quick and easy for shoppers

The faster your visitors can find what they’re looking for — and get the information they need to feel comfortable making a purchase — the better. A well-organized store keeps shoppers from feeling overwhelmed.

In this example from The Hidden Grounds, there’s a category filter list on their sidebar so shoppers can quickly jump to any category. The Quick View and Select Options buttons make it easy to learn more, choose variations, and add to cart without leaving the Shop page.

Greene King lets shoppers choose quantities and add items to their cart directly from the Shop page. They also added content sections to the Shop page that promote their personalization options.

2. Provide an experience tailored to your products and audience

What you’re selling — and who you’re selling to — affects the amount and type of product information your customers need to make a decision. The approaches below let you provide an experience tailored to your audiences and their needs.

For well-known brands and products, shoppers may not need to know anything more than item availability and price. In this case, the faster someone can find and add items to their cart, the better. A customer may want to add multiple products to their cart without leaving the Shop page, then proceed directly to checkout. 

For new and unfamiliar items — or product categories where shoppers need detailed information like food ingredients or accessory specifications — you may want to display information right there on the Shop page. 

Here are some examples of how you might modify your shop page based on the products you sell or your audience:

• Add filters for large catalogs of products, or items that get very granular. Perhaps you sell replacement parts that shoppers need to find based on their size, color, SKU, etc.
• Focus on images if you sell items that are more visual. Clothing stores, for example, might want to showcase larger photos or allow people to scroll through an image carousel directly on the Shop page.
• Present products in a table. If you sell items that aren’t reliant on visuals, you may want to take images out of the equation entirely. Instead of a more traditional product grid, use a table presenting key information. This is a particularly good setup for service-based businesses or wholesale stores with customers who add a lot of items to their cart at once.
• Include badges specific to your products. For example, if you sell food, you might have badges for “vegan” or “nut-free.” This helps shoppers immediately see what fits their needs (and what doesn’t.)

This example from My LAB BOX uses a mix of tables categorized by type of test so visitors can quickly scan options and add them to their cart. Bonus: They also use badges to highlight special attributes (“new”, “popular”).

3. Highlight featured products and promotions

Editing your WooCommerce Shop page lets you grab your customers’ attention and direct their interest towards featured products and categories, promotional offers, and things like free shipping or satisfaction guarantees.

Block themes really shine in this case. Use the Top Rated Products block to put your best foot forward, the On Sale Products block to highlight discounted options, or the Hand Picked Products block to have a section of items you can quickly swap out based on the season, current events, or other situation. 

4. Reflect your brand and personality

The default Shop page template has a clean and professional appearance, so many site owners choose to use it without any personalization. 

That’s fine, but customizing your Shop page can help you stand out from competitors, present a unified look across your site and other company profiles, and build confidence by featuring reviews and other trust symbols.

Daelmans’ Shop page is an excellent reflection of their brand design. Every detail — even the red bar that appears when someone hovers over a product — perfectly fits the style of their entire site.

And The Kind Pen added stars below each product to show how well-reviewed they are. Plus, there’s a slick little callout to the left where curious shoppers can click to read even more reviews to ease any hesitation they may have. 

See more examples of what WooCommerce store owners have done with their Shop pages on the WooCommerce Showcase.

How to customize your WooCommerce Shop page

Okay, so how do you make changes to your Shop page? There are several options that you can choose from, depending on how your site is built and your experience level.

1. Customize your Shop page using the WooCommerce Customizer

The WooCommerce section of the Customizer includes tabs for Store Notice, Product Catalog, Product Images, and Checkout. This is the simplest way to make basic changes to your Shop page.

To find it, go to Appearance → Customize → WooCommerce.

Customize the WooCommerce Store Notice

The Store Notice appears to site visitors in an overlay bar at the very bottom of your site (some themes may place it at the top). The bar appears sitewide with an option to dismiss it. The feature is a great way to let visitors know about a current promotion, a featured product category, an upcoming event, or a storewide policy like free shipping for orders over a certain amount.

The Store Notice tab has a field for you to enter text and HTML tags for formatting and linking. Click the Enable Store Notice checkbox to activate the feature.

Customize the WooCommerce Product Catalog

The Product Catalog tab has dropdown menus for managing aspects of your Shop and Product Category pages.

If you have a large number of items in your store, a single Shop page can be overwhelming to visitors. Use the Shop Page Display menu to select what should appear on the page — categories, products, or both. The Category option will display a grid of thumbnails representing the categories available on your store. 

Use the Default Product Sorting menu to manage the display of items on the Shop page. It defaults to Custom ordering + name, but you can also sort by:

• Popularity (sales)
• Average Rating
• Most Recent
• Price (ascending)
• Price (descending)

To set a custom order for the default option, go to Products → All Products. Then, click the Sorting tab at the top.

Next, select a category, product type, stock status, or any combination of the three. Click Filter. Now you can drag and drop products however you’d like.

Customize the WooCommerce Shop page product images

The Product Images tab lets you customize the size and display of product images on the Shop page. There are three options:

• 1:1 (cropped to a square)
• Custom aspect ratio
• Uncropped (displayed using the aspect ratio in which images were uploaded)

When you publish your changes, thumbnails in the new image sizes are generated automatically.

2. Customize your Shop page using the Gutenberg Block Editor

If you’re using a block theme, you can edit and customize your WooCommerce Shop page with the Site Editor. Always back up your WordPress site before making edits to your Shop page template.

To customize your page, go to Appearance → Editor and choose Browse all templates from the dropdown menu at the top center of the page. 

Click to edit the Product Catalog template.

The Product Catalog template consists of the header, the footer, and the body area. Click into the header or footer areas to edit their contents and add new blocks as desired, like an image or paragraph block.

By default, the body of the page simply has the Product Grid block, which will display the product image, title, price, etc. 

Add blocks above and below the Product Grid block to customize your shop page template. You can use any block type, including 20+ WooCommerce Blocks, located in a dedicated section of the Block Inserter for easier browsing.  

Use the Best Selling Products and Top Rated Products blocks to promote your most popular items. Use the All Reviews block to include customer testimonials on the page.

The custom Shop page below uses a Columns block to create the content area and sidebar layout. An All Products block loads the catalog into the main area, while filter blocks in the sidebar let the customer quickly find what they’re looking for.

The All Products block settings — accessed via the gear icon at the top right — include tools for adjusting the grid layout, hiding the sorting dropdown, and setting the default product ordering.

You can edit the All Products block to customize your WooCommerce Shop page further. Click on the block, then on the Edit icon. 

To manage their settings, you can then click on elements within the example product — like Product Image and Product Title.

You can rearrange the contents displayed for items in the grid. For example, you can move the Add to Cart button above the product ratings. Click to select an element, then use the up/down arrows to move its placement in the layout.

Learn more about WooCommerce Blocks.

3. Customize your shop page using WooCommerce extensions

Extensions are types of plugins created specifically for WooCommerce stores. You can use them to improve the shopping experience and enhance your Shop page’s content and features. 

We’re going to go through a few examples. For more extensions, visit the extension library.

Product Filters for WooCommerce

With Product Filters for WooCommerce, you can allow customers to filter your products based on several criteria, including the category, price, average rating, and stock status. 

Filters make a catalog of thousands of items accessible, since shoppers can use them to get relevant results quickly and easily. The extension uses AJAX to update results without the need for visitors to refresh the page. 

Filtering options can display in multiple ways — checkboxes, radio buttons, price sliders, size charts, and color lists. They can be based on tags, allowing you to create custom filters like “Staff favorites.”

Learn more about Product Filters for WooCommerce. 

WooCommerce Quick View

WooCommerce Quick View lets your shoppers learn more about products, choose between variations, and add items to their cart without leaving the main Shop page. 

The extension adds Quick View buttons to your Shop page that will trigger a pop up window when clicked. The window contains essential product information, plus the ability to choose between variations and add items to their cart. This speeds up the shopping experience, as visitors can compare products and make selections without having to load multiple new pages. 

Learn more about WooCommerce Quick View. 

WooCommerce Advanced Product Labels

WooCommerce Advanced Product Labels adds visual flair to your shop page to catch customers’ attention. You create custom labels to showcase new products, sale items, bestsellers, and more.

Labels can be applied globally, to a specific product, or a group of items based on conditions.

You can set a wide variety of conditions for each label. Add a “New” label for all items added within the last two weeks. Display a “Sale” label for discounted items. Or showcase the items that shoppers purchase the most with a “Bestseller” label.

Conditions include product category, type, price, stock status, popularity, shipping class, featured status, and more. You can even create conditions based on tags for flexible custom groups.

There are six label graphics to help your shoppers browse visually, or you can upload your own label images. Select from a predefined color palette or apply custom colors to match your brand. A live preview option lets you see how labels will look to shoppers.

Learn more about WooCommerce Advanced Product Labels.

Product Tables for WooCommerce

Product Tables for WooCommerce lets you display your catalog in a table format for easy reference and comparison on a single page. The column titles are customizable, and you can select a default sort order.

The extension supports variable products, with dropdown menus to select variations. Each row has an Add to Cart button and a checkbox for adding multiple items to cart simultaneously. 

Shoppers can use the fields above the table to filter their results based on category and price range. They can also filter by variation attributes like size or color. The filtering is done via AJAX, so it’s quick, with no page refresh required.

You can create as many customized product tables as you want, and use shortcodes to add them to your Shop page. Choose how much product data to display and configure options down to each individual table. 

This extension is excellent for any store where customers choose multiple items from a list — like a B2B wholesaler or restaurant displaying menu items for online ordering.

Learn more about Product Tables for WooCommerce.

4. Customize your Shop page manually (using code and hooks)

Hooks allow you to customize templates — like the Shop page — without any of the risks that come with editing core files. WooCommerce uses the template file archive-product.php for the Shop page. You can find a list of available hooks on the WooCommerce Action and Filter Hook reference page.

Always back up your site before making any changes — when you modify site code, even one mistake can cause major problems. Jetpack VaultPress Backup is an excellent option, because it saves your site each time a change is made. Then, if your site is down, you can quickly and easily restore a version from right before you made your edits. 

Also, never edit the plugin files directly, since future updates will overwrite your work. Instead, add your custom code to your child theme’s functions.php file or use a plugin like Code Snippets. 

Here are some customizations you can make to your Shop page using hooks and code:

Hide the shop page result count and default sorting dropdown menu

These page elements are convenient for shoppers but aren’t very useful for stores with only a few items. Add this code to hide them from your Shop page. 

// Hide the shop page result count

remove_action( 'woocommerce_before_shop_loop', 'woocommerce_result_count', 20 );

// Hide the shop page default sorting menu     

remove_action( 'woocommerce_before_shop_loop', 'woocommerce_catalog_ordering', 30 );

You can also hide these elements using CSS code. Go to Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS and add the following code:

.woocommerce-result-count {

display: none;

}

.woocommerce-ordering select {

display: none;

}

Change the number of products per row on your Shop page.

Use this code to override the default number of products per row. Set a higher number to increase the number of products visible on the page without scrolling. Set a lower number, and each product’s image will appear larger for a more detailed view. 

In this example, we set the number to two items per row:

// Change the number of products per row on the shop page

add_filter('loop_shop_columns', 'loop_columns', 999);

if (!function_exists('loop_columns')) {

    function loop_columns() {

        return 2; // 2 products per row

    }

}

Move the product titles above the product images on your Shop page.

Use this code to move your product titles from below each row of product images to above them. This layout change gives you a design option to stand out from other stores and puts your titles higher on the page, so shoppers see them without scrolling.

// Move the product title above the product image

add_action( 'woocommerce_before_shop_loop_item', 'woocommerce_template_loop_product_title', 10 );

remove_action( 'woocommerce_shop_loop_item_title', 'woocommerce_template_loop_product_title', 10 );

Make your prices stand out. 

Make your prices stand out to shoppers by adding the following code to the Additional CSS field in the Customizer. This style change is helpful if the price point is important to your customers. In this example, the price is bolded and set to the color blue.  

.wc-block-grid__product {

font-weight: bold;

color: blue;

}

Add some color to your product image borders.

This code adds a colored border to your product image. Here the border is set to 2px wide and the color is orange.  

.wc-block-grid__products .wc-block-grid__product-image img {

border: 2px solid #f27c21;

}

Frequently asked questions about customizing the WooCommerce Shop page

What is the WooCommerce shop page?

When you install WooCommerce, it creates several pages by default, including Shop. The default URL is /shop/, but you can choose a different option via WooCommerce → Settings → Product → General. For example, if you’re selling memberships, you could change the default Shop page to one titled “Memberships.”

WooCommerce uses your Shop page name in the URL path for your products: yoursite.com/shop/product-category/product-name/. Go to Settings → Permalinks to customize the URL structure for your Shop and products. 

What is the best way to customize a WooCommerce Shop page?

The best way for you to customize your Shop page depends on considerations like your budget for extensions, your comfort level with coding, and your familiarity with blocks and the Site Editor. 

You can use the WooCommerce documentation library and blog to enhance your knowledge of WooCommerce and how to customize it.

Should I back up my site before editing the Shop page template?

WordPress does not store a revision history of templates like it does pages and posts. For this reason, you should always back up your site before editing the WooCommerce Shop page template.

Jetpack VaultPress Backup is a real-time, automatic backup solution for WordPress that lets you restore your site without losing crucial customer and order data. It saves to the cloud every time you make a change to your site, so you can restore it even if your dashboard becomes inaccessible. 

Learn more about how to back up your WooCommerce store.

How do I boost my Shop page’s loading speed?

Jetpack Boost is the speed optimization plugin for WordPress that beat five top performance plugins in a head-to-head test. 

It specifically targets key areas related to the user experience. These are some of the same things measured by Google when determining site rankings, so an improvement in this area might also help you attract more traffic. 

Jetpack Boost can defer the parsing of JavaScript that’s not essential, optimize CSS delivery, and implement lazy loading on your site.

Simply install and activate the plugin, then go to Jetpack → Boost. You can see your performance scores and toggle acceleration features for debugging and speed-testing purposes from one convenient screen.

For more ways to speed up your Shop page, check out Nine Ways to Speed Up a WooCommerce Store.

What else can I do to enhance my WooCommerce Shop page?

Below are more ways you can enhance and optimize your WooCommerce Shop page. 

Customize your Shop page’s “Add to Cart” behavior

Speed up the shopping process for your customers by allowing them to add items to their cart directly from the Shop page and then immediately redirecting them to the cart page. You’ll do this through the options found by going to WooCommerce Settings → Products → General.

Check Enable AJAX add to cart buttons to display on archives to display Add to Cart buttons on the main Shop page. 

Check Redirect to the cart page after successful addition, and shoppers will go directly to the Cart page after adding an item. This option is great for stores where customers generally don’t need to stay on the Shop page to add more items. 

Set a custom product placeholder image 

If WooCommerce doesn’t have a photo for one of your SKUs, it will use a default placeholder image.

You can update the Placeholder image to use a custom graphic like your logo. This way, if there’s ever a product without a picture in your store, WooCommerce will show your branded image vs. the default placeholder.

Go to WooCommerce Settings → Products → General and enter the image URL or attachment ID into the Placeholder image field. Save your changes to update the default image.

Improve the speed of your WooCommerce store

A one-second delay in mobile loading times can reduce conversion rates by 20%. So improving your site speed can have an immediate impact on sales. 

Jetpack Boost is the fastest and most convenient WordPress speed solution, with a simple dashboard for monitoring your site’s performance and enabling speed tools. Install the plugin, review your mobile and desktop speed reports, then measure the difference after activating the one-click optimization features.

Making custom stylistic changes to your WordPress site generally means editing multiple files manually. Plus, if you switch themes, you’ll have to reconfigure all these settings from scratch. This can be a time-consuming process. 

Fortunately, when WordPress launched version 5.8, it introduced a new theme.json file. This is a dedicated space for styling the block editor (and individual blocks) on the front and back end. As a result, it’s much easier to manage styles for your website.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at the theme.json file. Then, we’ll run through some key considerations before we show you how to edit your theme.json file. 

What is theme.json in WordPress?

The theme.json file is a mechanism that enables you to configure the Block Editor with greater control. It’s useful for making site-wide stylistic changes, since you can assign default styles to all (or some) of your blocks.

Essentially, theme.json is a solution that enhances the capabilities of the Block Editor API. For instance, with theme.json, you’ll gain the ability to control the editor programmatically. Plus, you can integrate a block style system. This facilitates how you manage user, theme, and core preferences.

The theme.json file was introduced at the same time as the Site Editor. In conjunction, theme.json is one of the first major steps to managing styles for future WordPress releases. It’s a great way to gain more control over your theme (and site) so that you can make changes to your menus, headers, and footers.

In short, the Site Editor enables you to make tons of global stylistic changes while theme.json is the mechanism that lets you configure custom options for your blocks.

For example, you can redefine the settings of the Block Editor to hide or show customization options for certain users. Additionally, you can define default colors and font sizes for your blocks while configuring a new width or alignment for the editor.

Where is the theme.json file located?

You can find your theme.json file inside the root of your theme directory. If you’re using the Site Editor, and you’ve activated a block-based theme like Twenty Twenty-Three, then you’ll definitely have access to a theme.json file.

But, if your chosen theme doesn’t come with a theme.json file, you can either switch themes or create your own file. It’s important to note that some themes come with very specific CSS or style blocks that might be incompatible with changes that you make in theme.json. For instance, the dark mode in Twenty Twenty-One cannot be overridden by stylistic changes added in theme.json.  

What to do before editing your theme.json file

Now that you know a bit more about the theme.json file, let’s take a look at some important factors to consider before making your edits.

1. Back up your site

Before making any significant change, it’s important to make a backup of your site. That way, if something goes wrong, you can recover your website and start over again. 

Using the Jetpack VaultPress Backup plugin is one of the easiest ways to back up your site.

This Jetpack tool creates real-time, cloud-based backups and stores them on WordPress.com’s secure server network. Plus, the restoration process is quick and simple. 

You’re able to take advantage of one-click restores from the mobile app, even if your site is completely down.

2. Consider using a staging site

A staging site is a great way to test out changes you want to make without affecting your live website. Essentially, a staging site is a copy of your website that isn’t made available to the general public. Therefore, you’ll gain privacy to test out new features or update your site. 

This way, you won’t need to worry about things going wrong when you edit the theme.json file. Furthermore, if there’s a problem, you’ll still be able to access your live site. It also means that when you finally push any changes to your live site, you can rest assured that they won’t harm the functionality of your pages. 

There are a variety of ways that you can set up a staging site. You can ask your web host, set up different subdomains for your site manually, or install a plugin. But it can be easier to opt for a local WordPress development tool.

How to edit your theme.json file 

At this point, you’re ready to access and edit your theme.json file! In this section, we’ll show you some useful ways to edit theme.json like creating a color palette and overriding the default font size for your blocks. 

To get started, you’ll need to reach the root directory of your website. You can do this by using an SFTP client like FileZilla or visiting your File Manager. Then, simply head to the public_html directory. Within that, locate your wp-content folder.

Next, go to themes and select the active theme for your site. This is where you’ll find theme.json if your theme has one. 

1. Create a default color palette 

You might want to establish a set color palette for the Editor. That way, you can access your colors quickly and ensure a consistent visual brand across your pages. 

Plus, it can be helpful if you have other users who create posts and pages on your site, since they’ll only be able to access the colors that you include within your color repository. Additionally, they won’t have the ability to create their own hues and gradients.

To get started, locate theme.json following the steps we outlined earlier. There are three factors to take into account to enable this setting:

1. You’ll need to disable custom gradients
2. You’ll need to disable custom color options
3. You’ll need to add a custom palette with your brand colors

After you’ve connected to your theme files using SFTP or your File Manager, you’ll need to copy the following code and save it in the root directory of your theme: 

{
“version”: 1,
“settings”: {
“color”: {
“custom”: false,
“customGradient”: false,
“gradients”:[],
“link”: false,
“palette”:[
{
“slug”: “vivadcyanblue”,
“color”: “#0693E3”
},
{
“slug”: “vividgreencyan”,
“color”: “#00D084”,
},
{
“slug”: “white”,
“color”: “#ffffff”
}
]
}

Keep in mind, you’ll need to tweak the above code to reflect your preferences. Here, we’ve disabled the custom gradient and custom color options. 

Plus, we’ve determined a set color palette of three different shades. Therefore, when users create posts and pages on the site, they’ll only be able to access these shades. 

What’s great about creating a custom palette in theme.json is that WordPress will also rewrite all the required CSS. This way, any color changes made in the Block Editor will also be reflected on the front end.

2. Configure custom font sizes

It can also be useful to configure certain font sizes for the Paragraph block. Of course, the block provides a set of default font sizes, but you can use theme.json to override it with your preferences. 

Again, you’ll need to find the root directory of your theme by visiting the themes folder in wp-content. Then, locate theme.json. Font sizes are added to theme.json under settings → typography → fontSizes. 

Then, you’ll need to input your values. You’ll use size to add a valid CSS font size value. Meanwhile, slug is the identifier that WordPress uses in the CSS custom property. You can also add a name, but this is just for your own use since it’s what you’ll see in the editor.

In WordPress, the default “small” font size has the value 13px, so you can base your values around this. All in all, your theme.json file will look something like this once you’ve added this code to the file:

add_theme_support( 'editor-font-sizes', array(

    array(

        'name' => esc_attr__( 'Small', 'themeLangDomain' ),

        'size' => 12,

        'slug' => 'small'

    ),

    array(

        'name' => esc_attr__( 'Regular', 'themeLangDomain' ),

        'size' => 16,

        'slug' => 'regular'

    ),

    array(

        'name' => esc_attr__( 'Large', 'themeLangDomain' ),

        'size' => 36,

        'slug' => 'large'

    ),

    array(

        'name' => esc_attr__( 'Huge', 'themeLangDomain' ),

        'size' => 50,

        'slug' => 'huge'

    )

) );

Simply save the changes to update your WordPress block settings.

3. Create custom templates and template parts

Another way to edit theme.json is to create custom templates and template parts. Since themes can list the custom templates that are present in the templates folder, you can declare the post types that can use it and the title you show your users. 

To get started, open theme.json. You’ll need to think of a name, title, and post type, although the last setting is optional. Then, add the following code to the file:

{

“version”: 1,

“customTemplates”: [

{

“name”: “custom-template-example”,

“title”: “The Custom Template Title”,

“postTypes”: [

“page”,

“post”,

“my-cpt”

]

}

]

}

At this point, you’ve created a template for your pages, posts, and custom post types. You can go one step further and create template parts for your theme. 

This way, you can configure theme.json to declare the area term for a template part, like a header or footer block. By defining this in theme.json, you can ensure that the setting is applied across all uses of that template part entity rather than just a single block. 

Before you get started, you’ll need to consider the name, title, and area of your template part. It’s important to note that if you don’t specify an area, it will be set to “uncategorized” and trigger no block variation. 

To create a template part for your theme, add the following code to theme.json: 

{

“version”: 1,

“templateParts”: [

{

“name: “my-template-part”,

“title”: “Footer”,

“area”: “footer”

}

]

}

Then, be sure to save your changes before exiting theme.json. 

Frequently asked questions about theme.json in WordPress

Now you know how to edit theme.json, but you may still have a few doubts about it. That’s why we’ve answered some of the most common theme.json questions below!

When was theme.json first introduced in WordPress? 

The theme.json file was first introduced with the release of WordPress 5.8. This is when Full Site Editing (FSE) was launched, along with the ability to use block-based themes. 

This release indicated a huge shift for the platform, since users gained the ability to make site-wide changes and got more control over stylistic settings. Later, with WordPress 5.9, theme.json evolved to a second version. 

What can you do with the theme.json file? 

In short, theme.json enables you to change and apply new style-related settings to all of your WordPress blocks. Therefore, you gain a finer level of control over stylistic changes. Plus, it means you can avoid the need to configure these changes individually at the block level. 

For example, you can edit theme.json to disable/enable features like drop cap, padding, margin, and custom line-height. Additionally, you’re able to add multiple color palettes, duotones, and gradients to make it faster to apply your brand colors to elements on your page.

What’s more, you can specify exact font sizes and apply this across your site. Or add default widths for your content and assign template parts to template part areas.

What are the prerequisites to using the theme.json file? 

Editing theme.json is an easy way to make site-wide stylistic changes. But, unfortunately, it isn’t an option for all users.

First off, you’ll need to use the Block Editor. If you prefer to use page builders, you won’t be able to take advantage of this functionality. On top of that, you’ll need to have some understanding of CSS and feel comfortable editing your site files. 

Lastly, you’ll need to be able to access theme.json. As we discussed earlier, not every theme has a theme.json file. Plus, the settings of some themes will override any changes that you make in theme.json. 

If your theme does have theme.json, you’ll be able to find it in the root directory of your site. You can locate this using SFTP or visiting your File Manager. Then, find the themes folder within wp-content. This is where theme.json resides. If your theme does not have theme.json, you can either switch themes or create a theme.json file yourself.

Use the WordPress theme.json file for streamlined web design

Making custom, site-wide changes often means editing numerous files or completing lots of manual tasks. But, with theme.json, you’ll get a dedicated space for controlling and managing all the stylistic settings for your site.

The theme.json file is located in the root directory of your site from WordPress 5.8 onwards. You can edit the file to make sweeping changes like apply a custom color palette to your site and override the WordPress default font sizes. 

Before you edit your theme.json file, it’s important to make a backup of your site. Jetpack VaultPress Backup is an easy-to-use plugin that enables you to restore your site even when you’re offline. Plus, it backs up all your files, WooCommerce data, and your database!

Do you ever feel like you’re just waiting for the phone to ring? Or, these days, waiting for your next order notification? You hear stories about store owners who are so overwhelmed with orders that they can barely keep up. And… you want to be overwhelmed, too. 

Well, if you want to increase sales, revenue, and profits, it’s time to get moving. There are very specific, proven steps you can take to increase sales in your WooCommerce store, and we’re going to show you the 12 that will make the greatest impact.

Whether you sell physical products, digital products, or both, the ecommerce strategies in this article apply to almost every WooCommerce store. 

And the best news is, you can start working on all of these right now. Even better, since there are twelve, you’ve got a plan you can use as a roadmap for improvement over the next year. Focus on one strategy per month, and this time next year you might just be one of those store owners overwhelmed with orders. 

Let’s get to it.

1. Boost your page loading speed

There’s a direct link between page loading speed and sales. Why? Because if your pages take too long to load, potential customers will abandon your site before they interact with your content. If they don’t use your site, they can’t buy anything. 

So it’s in your interest to make sure your site is running quickly. If your pages take more than three seconds to load, 40% or more of visitors will simply give up. 

But how do you boost your site’s speed? Even if you’re a relatively new store owner or aren’t familiar with the technical aspects of WordPress, there are some simple steps you can take to help your site’s performance.  

First, you can test your current site speed using a variety of free online tools like GTmetrix and Google PageSpeed. These tools will not only tell you how quickly your site loads, they’ll also show you specific ways you can improve.

Your next step is to install Jetpack Boost, a free plugin you can use to optimize your core web vitals. These metrics are a good indication of the experience that people have with your store, measuring things like loading performance, visual stability, and interactivity. Additionally, Google factors them in when determining where to rank your sites on search engine results pages. 

Jetpack Boost will allow you to optimize your CSS loading, defer non-essential Javascript, and implement lazy image loading. And you can turn on each of these features with a simple toggle.

Then, give Jetpack CDN a try. This is a free content delivery network that loads your website from super-fast servers located around the world. This means that every individual visitor will get the best possible experience based on their location.

Jetpack CDN also has extra speed-boosting powers like image optimization based on the device each visitor is using to access your website. You can get both things in one place, along with additional security, performance, and marketing tools through Jetpack Complete. 

Looking for more tips? See 9 Ways to Speed Up Your WooCommerce Store.

Pro tip: Hosting isn’t the best place to try and save a few dollars per month. Even a perfectly-optimized site will run slowly if its hosting service is subpar. Your host provides the foundation for everything else needed to run and deliver your site to visitors. Learn how to choose a host for your WooCommerce store, or look through our recommended WordPress hosts. 

2. Improve the checkout process

No matter how many ads you run, blog posts you write, or referrals you receive, the checkout page remains one of the single most important points in the sales process. Despite getting so close to the finish line, many potential customers abandon their cart during these final steps. 

So improving this single point in the process could have an immediate, profound impact on your sales. 

Think about it: Every abandoned cart represents someone who found your site, chose one or more products, and at least began the process of making a purchase. But something held them back from completing it. And this happens way more often than any of us like to admit — about 69% of shopping carts are abandoned. 

So how do you improve your checkout process?

Start with the easy stuff — remove unnecessary fields. Only keep the ones you need in order to complete the sale. If you want, you can provide opt-ins for joining your email list and other incentives and optional items, but don’t overdo it and be sure they don’t interfere with simply completing the purchase. 

Also, don’t require customers to log in or register just to buy something. In most cases, you won’t need to do this, and customers can always return later to create an account if they want to make another purchase. If creating an account is absolutely necessary, you should at least allow people to log in using their social media accounts to offer a more frictionless experience.

Next, allow multiple forms of payment. Credit cards are the baseline, but many people also expect to be able to pay using things like Venmo, Paypal, and Apple Pay. And, for many stores, the time is right to start offering the ability to pay with cryptocurrencies.  

WooCommerce Payments makes it easy to accept payment in multiple forms and in many different currencies. The best part? It’s completely free.

3. Consider offering free shipping

While consumers always love free shipping, you can’t afford to simply give everything away. For most merchants, fulfilling and delivering orders is a major expense. But, if done correctly, it might just turn into an advantage. Here are a few factors to consider about free shipping on your ecommerce store:

• The weight of your products
• The shipping providers you’re using
• Packaging
• Distance to customer
• Speed of shipping
• Cost of the product or order
• Profit margins

If offering free shipping eats up all your profits, it’s a bad deal. Some businesses include shipping in their prices. This means they charge higher prices up front, but then there’s no shipping charge added on the checkout page. 

You can also offer free shipping if the order size is above a certain amount. And you can hold special free shipping for particular days, events, or promotions. 

4. Improve the user experience

Website usability matters no matter what type of site you run. But for ecommerce stores, its importance magnifies. A WooCommerce store that’s hard to navigate will make fewer sales because shoppers will get frustrated and give up. 

And, the more products you have, the more complicated it becomes to maintain a store that’s easy to use. You need clear product categories, a logical navigation menu, a responsive design, and a functional search feature.

Jetpack Search makes it easy to add a search feature to your WooCommerce store that allows your customers to find what they’re looking for with minimal hassle. It offers advanced filters, spelling correction, and live results to make the process fast and simple.

For more options, check out the best WordPress search plugins. 

5. Give the information your customers need

If all your product pages are looking pretty bare — maybe just a photo, a title, and price — you can increase your WooCommerce sales by making these pages more robust. 

People have questions. They want to know certain facts about products before buying. If your store has been around very long, you probably already know what people ask. You’ve answered the same questions dozens of times. Don’t make them come to you or your FAQ page — get out ahead of them so they can make a purchase decision right then and there. 

If you’re not sure what information your visitors might be looking for, go back and look at your customer service communications and make notes. If you get any product returns, find out why. 

If it’s food, list the ingredients. If it’s clothing, specify the sizes. Describe the materials. Explain the care procedures. If it’s a more complicated product, give some information about how to use it, what it’s made of, things to know, and even directions for use. Include high-quality photos. 

And another note about clothing. Sizes are not standardized, especially if you’re selling children’s clothes. If possible, include a size chart with measurements so there’s no room for error.

Anticipate what a customer might want to know, and put that on the product page.

6. Use email more effectively

Once you’ve won a customer or gotten someone to opt into your email list, start sending emails! There are a number of smart ways for WooCommerce stores to increase sales using email, such as:

• New product announcements
• First-time customer discounts and rewards
• Referral rewards
• Abandoned cart emails 
• Holiday campaigns
• Birthday and anniversary specials
• Segmented emails based upon prior purchases

Email is an excellent method for following up with potential customers. They cost very little to send and the subscriber list data is yours. You have more control and ownership over this kind of marketing when compared to advertising on social media or search engines. 

WooCommerce store owners who are new to email marketing should look into MailPoet. It has automations that are built specifically for WooCommerce stores, so it works seamlessly. Plus, you can manage everything directly from the WordPress dashboard. Create promotions for those who ordered from a particular product category. Follow up with people who’ve abandoned a cart, announce your newest product launch, or reward your most loyal customers. 

There’s a lot you can do, and improving your email marketing is almost guaranteed to help grow your store.

7. Be available to online store visitors

When potential customers have questions, they want answers. At the bare minimum, every WooCommerce store should have a phone number and contact page. 

If you want to increase sales from your WooCommerce store, respond within minutes, if possible, but certainly on the same day. If you wait too long, a shopper might buy from somewhere else or just give up.

Live chat is even better than contact forms! Customers can get answers more quickly. You can designate an employee to handle requests based on their availability, or if it’s just you, connect a chat program to your phone so you can respond to notifications right away. 

WooCommerce has a number of chat extensions that are simple to use. LiveChat and Facebook’s chat integration are both popular options. 

8. Use coupons strategically

Coupons make great sales boosters, as long as you’re not giving up too much revenue. Look at it this way:

Suppose you sell a product for $30, and your profit margin is $10. If you give a 20% off coupon that a customer uses on that item, they’re now buying it for $24. That reduces your profits by 60%! 

So while coupons can sometimes seem like an appealing strategy for convincing more customers to buy from you instead of the competition, you need to be careful. Here are few ways to use coupons strategically:

• Offer one-time coupons to encourage new or returning customers
• Use coupons on specific holidays when competition is more fierce
• Offer coupons for new or specific products that have a higher dollar value
• Use dollar-off coupons rather than percentages

That last one could appeal to customers, increase your order size, and reduce your profit losses. 

Suppose you offer a deal where the customer saves $20 off a purchase of $100 or more, and $40 off a purchase of $200 or more. Seems like the same thing right? 20% off. But it’s not, because the discount doesn’t increase with the price. How many people will spend exactly $100 or $200 dollars?

A customer who spends $200 saves $40. But a customer who spends $280 also saves $40. Your profits increase the more they spend. And anyone who spends $180 or more in that scenario will probably try to bump up their order to get over $200. This approach increases order size and doesn’t cut into profits as much as a percentage discount. 

If you offer a 20% off coupon and a customer spends $280, your profits go down $56 instead of $40, because the percentage increases the amount saved no matter how much is spent.

Another coupon strategy is to offer an upsell. 

Suppose the customer is about to spend $50 on an item. Offer them the chance to buy two for $89 before they check out. It saves them $11, but it increases your order size without much effect on profits since shipping one order costs less than shipping two separate ones. Here are more creative ways to use coupons. 

9. Nurture your leads

One of the most effective ways to use email marketing is with segmented and personalized emails. But what does that mean? 

A large part of it revolves around knowing what your customers have purchased, and communicating with them based on that knowledge. 

As a simple example, suppose a WooCommerce store sells T-shirts, sweatshirts, and jackets, and also has a business line where companies can create branded versions of those same products. Any business customer should be communicated with as a business, not a person. They’re not going to be ordering a couple shirts here and there. 

On the other hand, another customer may be ordering kids’ shirts and sweatshirts every couple years. Clearly, this customer is a parent buying for their kids, and their kids are getting older, as kids tend to do. So you would communicate with that customer very differently from a business. 

How do you keep track of customer purchases at this level? With a CRM (customer relationship management) tool.

Jetpack CRM enables you to keep track of customer purchases, order sizes, dollars spent, and other information that will help you to nurture and follow up with your customers and leads in ways that are relevant and timely to them. 

For the family buying ever enlarging kids’ clothes, the best time to send special deals and new product announcements would probably be before school starts, and in the months leading up to the holidays.

A CRM plugin or tool allows you to keep track of this information and make your marketing more effective. And the best thing about JetpackCRM is that it connects seamlessly with WooCommerce. See how it works. 

10. Offer social proof

One of the greatest barriers to online sales is trust. Can I trust this company and their products? One of the best ways to overcome that is with testimonials and reviews. 

As you acquire more reviews, post them all over your site. You can integrate reviews from well-known sites like Google, and put them on your own product pages to increase authenticity. 

And don’t just put all your testimonials on one page, or on the homepage. When you get reviews that mention specific products, put those on that exact product page. If you get a review commending your customer service, put that on your contact page, checkout page, or other relevant page. 

If you have any reviews on social media, connect people so they can see the reviews on your site. 

You can’t have too many customer reviews and testimonials. And the more detail you include, the better. Full names are better than first names. Cities are better than states or provinces. For business customers, include company names and the job title of the person leaving the review. Photos are better than just names. Video testimonials are gold.

See more ways to use reviews to generate sales.

11. Harness the power of upsells and cross-sells

One of the most powerful ways to increase WooCommerce sales is with upsells and cross-sells. 

An upsell could be like the example given earlier, where a customer bought an item for $50, and you offer them the chance to buy two for $89 before they finish checking out. You’re getting them to spend more, but it’s a good deal for them, too. 

Another common upsell strategy is to offer a bonus item or some other perk such as an event ticket or contest entry. You can also upsell by offering larger quantities. This works great for food and consumable products. 

Cross-selling, on the other hand, involves recommending other products that relate in some way to the first one. Using the clothing example again, if someone orders a couple t-shirts, you can mention sweatshirts and jackets of a similar color or style as a product recommendation. 

This is also another place you can use coupons strategically. You could combine the product recommendation with a one-time-only coupon to buy two items and get a third one free. Or, if you have a minimum threshold for free shipping, mention how close the shopper is to reaching that when you recommend other products. 

Here are five more strategies for upselling and cross-selling.

12. Increase your marketing efforts

Even though this is the last tip on this list, if you’re using this article to help plan out your next twelve months, don’t wait until the 12^th month to start this one. Marketing is a continuous process and many of these methods begin with a slow build. So start early, and keep building on it as you implement other strategies on this list.

Online marketing requires online traffic. How do you get traffic? In general, there are two ways:

1. Attract the traffic organically
2. Pay for the traffic

You can attract online traffic from social media and from search engine optimization (SEO). Social media sites such as Facebook and Pinterest offer ways to showcase products, post comments and updates, get feedback, and interact with customers. You can also use social media to send people to your site. 

For many WooCommerce stores, Pinterest can be particularly helpful because it’s a visual showcase. With the free Pinterest for WooCommerce extension, you can link your online store to your Pinterest page and put your entire product catalog on display. 

SEO is how you attract online traffic organically, through search engines like Yahoo, Bing, and Google. SEO relies on having high quality content on your website that uses keyword terms that your ideal customers might be searching for. This is another reason why having quality product pages with lots of helpful information should be a high priority. Your SEO also improves with well-organized and clearly-defined product categories and site architecture that’s easy to navigate. 

And you can greatly improve your SEO by writing helpful high-quality blog posts, which offer a natural way to answer questions often asked by customers, and provide solutions to common problems. 

With paid online ads, you can more directly attract people who are searching for your products, and leapfrog ahead of the organic listings in search engines. The downside is that you’ll pay for every click and, if you stop paying, the traffic stops flowing. That said, it can still be a great way to generate profitable traffic and learn what terms your audience uses most. 

The Google Listings & Ads extension, another free download for WooCommerce, makes it easier to run ads that sync with your specific product pages. 

Frequently asked questions about increasing sales on WooCommerce

1. How can I analyze my WooCommerce sales performance?

The simplest way to begin is with the site stats you can see through Jetpack. This is a free feature that shows where your traffic is coming from, and your most popular pages. Next, review the built-in stats that come with WooCommerce. You’ll see which products are most popular along with everything from gross and net sales to average order size, taxes, shipping, refunds and more with WooCommerce Analytics. 

And if you want more data, you can use Jetpack to connect WordPress with Google Analytics for an advanced view of site stats and marketing performance.

2. Which metrics or KPIs should I focus on, in priority? 

For most WooCommerce stores, your key metrics will include total sales, average order size, returns, and discounts. There’s a lot more depth within each of these such as date ranges, categories, coupons redeemed, and more. All of these metrics and much more can be found within WooCommerce Analytics. See what else WooCommerce Analytics can show you. 

3. How can I see where my sales come from?

The best way to see which of your marketing sources are producing the most sales is to connect Jetpack with Google Analytics. Here’s how to set it up. This will show you geographical data, but also which paid ads, blogs, social media sites, emails, and other marketing channels are producing your sales and converting your customers. 

When you’re ready to get more detailed, you can learn about advanced analytics and marketing performance tracking for WooCommerce. 

Managing multiple WordPress sites can be stressful. With the average WordPress site running 22 plugins, it’s crucial that every vulnerability is accounted for. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with MainWP, bringing you two new Jetpack extensions in the MainWP marketplace. With this new agreement in place, managing multiple WordPress sites has never been easier.

Jetpack has a full suite of single-purpose plugins designed to protect websites. MainWP has now integrated two Jetpack extensions into their marketplace:

• Jetpack Protect – a free plugin for malware prevention.
• Jetpack Scan – a premium plugin that includes automated daily scanning, one-click fixes for most issues, and a WAF (web application firewall).

Jetpack Scan will review all the files on your site, looking for any plugin or theme that our research team has flagged for vulnerabilities, so you can take action immediately. Jetpack Scan will further fix issues for you with your one-click approval.

Why MainWP?

The MainWP WordPress Manager Dashboard plugin allows you to control multiple WordPress websites (including sites on different hosting platforms) from your own private, self-hosted WordPress website. MainWP is free with the option to upgrade to a premium version.

Privacy is what differentiates MainWP from other options on the market. The MainWP plugins come with their own privacy policies to ensure that any personally identifiable information (PII) is not collected.

MainWP Customers Can Access a Jetpack Scan Discount with a Coupon

To make it even more affordable for agencies to protect their sites, MainWP has enabled couponing, which allows clients to enable Jetpack Scan at a discount. 

They can then claim and apply the coupon:

Why MainWP + Jetpack?

MainWP provides a WordPress management dashboard that is self-hosted, open source and used by more than 10,000 agencies and builders to manage over 600,000 WordPress sites. 

For agencies and builders, there is nothing more mission-critical than steering your sites to safety past WordPress vulnerabilities. Jetpack’s Protect and Scan plugins are built on WPScan, the most trusted WordPress vulnerability service. The MainWP team is thrilled to partner with Automattic’s Jetpack to make it simple for MainWP clients to protect their sites.

Dennis Dornon, Co-Founder of MainWP

We hear from agency clients over and again that MainWP is critical for their business. This is an exciting launch for us as we are confident that almost every MainWP client can benefit from protecting their sites with Jetpack Protect or Jetpack Scan.

Mike Bray, Head of Partnerships and Business Development at Jetpack

Check out the two new Jetpack extensions in the MainWP marketplace for yourself!

• Jetpack Protect Extension
• Jetpack Scan Extension
• Jetpack Documentation

This month we have worked on several improvements to enhance your Jetpack experience, including further enhancements to the Social Sharing Buttons and Form Block.

Share your blog posts on Mastodon with improved Jetpack Social Sharing Buttons

We made some design and performance updates on our Social Sharing Buttons for a better user experience, including a new sharing button for Mastodon.

You can customize your Social Sharing Buttons by following these steps:

• Go to the Jetpack dashboard in WP Admin.
• View the Settings menu and click on Sharing page.
• Enable Add sharing buttons to your posts and page option.
• Click on Configure your sharing buttons.

Once you’ve activated the Sharing feature, you can also go to  Settings > Sharing to enable a sharing button:

As you can see in the video above, the button does a few things:

1. You can pick between just the icon, icon + text, text only, or a button with a colorful logo and the text.
2. When sharing, your visitors will first have to enter the Mastodon instance where they’d like to share the post.
3. You can edit the message, but by default, the message will include the post title and URL, and tags will be added as hashtags at the end.

Field style syncing for the Form Block

We introduced a new Sync Fields Style option for the Form Block to provide you greater flexibility in customizing your forms’ designs. You can enable this option from the block settings in your editor:

Updated Stats dashboard design

We are now defaulting to an updated modern design for the Jetpack Stats dashboard to help provide valuable insights and grow your site.

If you have feedback on the updated design, please share your thoughts on this survey. And if you prefer to continue using the traditional stats for now, there is a toggle in the Traffic section of the Jetpack settings.

Automattic Certified as a Most Loved Workplace

Our parent company Automattic has been certified as a Most Loved Workplace by Best Practice Institute research and analysis. The Most Loved Workplace validation provides the most comprehensive look at workplace sentiment for organizations today. To learn more about Automattic’s certification and read why folks love working here, visit our page on Most Loved Workplace.  

We continue to grow and have some exciting open positions at Automattic, including in Engineering, Product, Marketing, Business Development, HR, Customer Support, and more. Work for us, from anywhere: https://automattic.com/work-with-us/.

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this release:

Adnan Haque, Adrian Moldovan, André Kallehauge, Antony Agrios, Artur Piszek, Bogdan Nikolic, Brad Jorsch, Brandon Kraft, Christian Gastrell, Clemen, Damián Suárez, Daniel Bachhuber, Daniel Post, Dave Martin, Douglas Henri, Dylan Munson, Fernando Fernandes, Francesco Bigiarini, Gergely Márk Juhász, Grant Kinney, Ian Ramos, Igor Zinovyev, Jason Johnston, Jason Moon, Jasper Kang, Jeremy Herve, Jeremy Yip, John Caruso, Karen Attfield, Kevin L, Kosta, Kuba Birecki, Linas Valiukas, MILLER/F, Matias Ventura, Matthew Reishus, Miguel Torres, Nate Weller, Nauris Pūķis, Osk, Peter Petrov, Piotr Stankowski, Rafael Agostini, Renato Augusto Gama dos Santos, Robert Felty, Rustam Shaikh, Samiff, Sergey Mitroshin, Sérgio Gomes, Siobhan Bamber, Steve D, Tom Rhodes, Vishnu Gopal, bindlegirl, dkmyta, gogdzl, jcheringer, nunyvega, ouikhuan, simonktnga8c, thingalon, vikneshwar

If you manage a site with lots of content or information, it’s crucial to organize it all in a way that makes sense to visitors. A well-thought-out navigation menu and intuitive design is a good start, but it’s not always enough. 

To go the extra mile, you can turn to the WordPress search function to increase your site’s user-friendliness and navigation. You can add this feature to almost any design, or create a dedicated page for it. Then, you can customize it to meet your unique needs, and use tools like Jetpack Search to enhance its functionality.

In this in-depth guide, we’ll talk more about WordPress search and discuss how you can add this vital function to your website. We’ll also explore some troubleshooting tips and frequently-asked questions. Let’s get started!

What is WordPress search?

Before we can discuss how to leverage WordPress search on your website, it’s best to have a basic understanding of what this feature is and how it works. Of course, you’ve probably used plenty of search engines before, like Google. 

This type of search engine enables you to look for specific content anywhere on the web, using sophisticated algorithms and vast databases.

WordPress search lets you conduct the same type of inquiry, but it targets the content on a single website. 

Typically, the search function is represented by the familiar magnifying glass symbol and is often found in the sidebar or website header. But it’s important to note that you can add a search bar virtually anywhere on your WordPress site.

How does WordPress search work?

WordPress search works like a search engine, only on a smaller scale. It’s included in WordPress core by default, and some themes may style it to match the rest of your theme settings. You can add it to your site using a Search block or widget, depending on the theme you’re using.

When it was first introduced, the standard search tool simply returned results based on the terms users input. Users could then click on the links in those results, and go directly to the pages that contained the specific content they were looking for.

Similar to the larger-scale search engines, though, WordPress has evolved its search function over the years. Initially, it could only return results that contained specific search terms, and in chronological order. Now, it can do a better job of understanding what users are looking for, and return results based on their relevance.

Furthermore, these days, adding a WordPress search bar to your website is easier than ever. You can add one to your pages and posts using the Search Block and the Site Editor. We’ll show you how to do that shortly.

What are the limitations of WordPress search?

While the default WordPress search option is very useful, it does have its shortcomings. First of all, it can only scan content from “the titles and the bodies of your posts and pages.” This includes:

• Page titles
• Media titles (images, videos, GIFs, etc.)
• Alternative text (alt text)
• File names
• Single image captions
• Paragraph text

This may seem like a lot, especially since it includes some elements that aren’t even visible to most users (like alt text and file names). But the fact is that this search still excludes lots of important information, including content contained in the following page and post elements:

• Widgets
• Comments
• Categories
• Gallery captions
• Tags 

As you can see, a portion of your site is entirely ignored when you’re using the default functionality. In particular, if you run an ecommerce store, this means that some information from product pages could be completely left out.

Additionally, if your website contains a lot of content, it could take longer for search results to display. This may lead to a poor user experience (UX) for the searcher.

Fortunately, there are many ways you can customize and improve the WordPress search function. But first, let’s talk a little more about why this feature is so important.

Why should I use the WordPress search feature?

If you’re not familiar with web design or development, you may want to keep your website as simple as possible. So you might be wondering if using the WordPress search feature is really worth it.

The answer will depend on a few factors that are unique to your audience and content. But in most cases, you’ll likely benefit from using the WordPress search function. In particular, it can be very useful for sites with a lot of content that’s difficult to navigate, like blogs with extensive archives.

Ecommerce sites with lots of product pages and categories can also benefit from adding a search feature. This will likely result in an improved UX, and can even lead to a boost in conversions. 

Alternatively, if your website features an extensive customer support or knowledge base page, it might be useful to add a search element there.

This way, you can provide answers more quickly, and reduce the number of customers reaching out directly to your support team. As a result, customer support representatives will have more time to work on trickier cases and improve satisfaction overall.

It’s important to note that there are some cases when you may not need to add an internal search feature to your site. For example, it might not be necessary for one-page websites and other sites with very limited content. For most websites, though, this particular function is essential.

How to add search functionality to your WordPress site

Now that you know a bit more about how WordPress search works and why you may want to take advantage of this feature, we’re going to show you how to add it to your site!

1. Start by adding the default search functionality

If you don’t need premium search capabilities, you can use the default WordPress search functionality. As we discussed, this might not be ideal since it excludes key information from elements like comments, widgets, and more. Plus, if you have a lot of content to search, it might return results rather slowly.

However, even if you do plan to use the amazing benefits of Jetpack Search, you’ll start with this step as Jetpack Search essentially builds upon the default capabilities. 

For this tutorial, we’ll be adding a search bar to the navigation menu in our global header. But keep in mind that the process is similar, no matter where you add your search bar, as long as you’re using WordPress blocks.

To begin, navigate to your WordPress dashboard. Go to Appearance → Editor, and select the page element you’d like to modify. In our example, it’s the menu within the header.

Then, click on the plus symbol (+) to find and add the Search block.

In this example, since we’re adding it to our header, you’ll find it under the Transform submenu. After you’ve added the search bar, simply save your changes or publish your page. Here’s what the final result looks like:

As you can see, by default, the search block shows a brightly-colored magnifying glass and an empty field for inputting a query. These default appearance settings might not be ideal for your site’s color scheme or theme. But don’t worry; we’ll show you how to customize these elements later.

2. Now, install Jetpack Search for enhanced capabilities

As we discussed, the native WordPress search function comes with its limitations, so you may want a more powerful internal search option. If that’s the case, your best choice is Jetpack Search. 

This powerful tool will help you take your website’s search feature to the next level. It’s highly customizable and optimized for speed.

Jetpack Search uses “instant search” (a.k.a. AJAX search) to deliver results as fast as possible. Thanks to its real-time indexing, users can see results as they type. 

Plus, it allows for advanced filtering, so your visitors can find exactly what they’re looking for in record time. Jetpack Search comes in both free and premium versions. Or you can purchase it as a part of a package with other performance tools.

Before you get started, make sure your site meets the minimum requirements for installing Jetpack Search. These are pretty straightforward. For instance, you’ll need the latest version of WordPress, a WordPress.com account, and a publicly-accessible site.

Then, simply navigate to your WordPress dashboard. Go to Plugins → Add New and input “Jetpack Search.”

Click Install now → Activate. 

You’ll then be directed to a screen where you can select either a free or premium plan. 

Next, click Approve to connect your site to WordPress.com, then complete the checkout process. 

Another great thing about Jetpack Search is that it’s pre-configured. That means it will be ready to go after you choose your plan. You’ll be taken straight to the Customizer screen, so you can confirm that everything is working properly.

How to improve and customize WordPress search

After you’ve added the WordPress search function to your website, you can then customize it to your liking. Continue reading to learn how!

1. Editing the default search functionality

Earlier, we showed you how to add the default WordPress search function to your site. Now, here’s how you can customize your search bar using this standard feature.

Return to the Site Editor or the page or post you want to work with. Then, select the search bar element. Make sure to highlight the embedded Search block and not the parent block, which in our example is the Navigation element.

When you select the Search block, you should see its unique toolbar.

From left to right, you have a search tool, a drag feature, and arrows to move the search element. Then you have three more icons you can use to make adjustments. You can use the first icon to add a label to your search bar.

Alternatively, you can modify the location of your search button.

Finally, you can change the magnifying glass symbol to text if you prefer.

Next, you can explore additional settings in the Block menu on the right. For instance, you may want to change the background color of your button.

If you continue to scroll down, you can change other display settings like width, typography, and more. Just keep in mind that while you do get a decent level of control over your search bar’s appearance, you won’t have the ability to change how results are displayed.

2.  Advanced customizations with Jetpack Search

At this point, you’ve already modified the search bar to match the look of your site. Now, if you’re using Jetpack Search, you can take things a step further by customizing the user experience of search results.

Customizing the Jetpack Search experience for advanced design and functionality is pretty straightforward. There are a few ways you can go about this, but the easiest approach is to navigate to your WordPress dashboard and go to Jetpack → Settings → Performance.

Make sure that both of the toggle buttons are enabled (this is recommended), and then click on Customize your Search experience.

Under the Options tab, you’ll see that you can customize the Styling, Result Format, and Search settings. When it comes to Styling, you can opt for Light or Dark. You can also display images in results, modify the background color for your search field, and choose from different Overlay Trigger options.

Further down, in the Options menu, you can exclude post types and disable additional settings like infinite scroll and the “Powered by Jetpack” message. As you can see, Jetpack Search allows you to personalize almost every detail of your search bar.

If you want to offer your users the best search experience possible, you might consider creating a dedicated search page. Alternatively, you could include the search element on every page, as we did in our example by modifying our site-wide header. Even better, you may want to provide both options! 

What if WordPress search isn’t working as intended? 

Once you’ve added and customized your internal WordPress search bar, chances are you won’t have to worry about it any further. But occasionally, your WordPress search tool may not work as intended. 

In case this happens to you, let’s go over some common issues and how to resolve them. 

1. WordPress search is not returning any results

When you use the native WordPress search function, you may occasionally encounter a 404 error. That means your searches won’t return any results.

If this happens, you may need to regenerate your site’s permalink structure. Fortunately, this can be done in just a few steps within your WordPress permalink settings.

2. WordPress search is not showing all possible results

As we’ve discussed previously, when you add the default WordPress search bar to your site, it only scans certain types of content.

This means that some relevant content may not show up in the search results. You can avoid this by upgrading to Jetpack Search, so visitors can find what they need, no matter where it’s located.

3. WordPress search is very slow

Unfortunately, another common issue with WordPress search is results that take a long time to display. This most often affects larger websites with lots of content and pages, like blogs with lots of posts and sizable online stores. 

If this occurs, you can use a WordPress search plugin instead of the default functionality. Jetpack Search is designed for speed, and uses real-time search that allows users to view results as they type.

Frequently asked questions about WordPress search 

Hopefully, by now you have a good understanding of WordPress search. But just in case you still have lingering questions, we’re going to cover some frequently-asked questions about this feature.

Why is internal search important for a website?

As we discussed previously, internal search can greatly benefit most websites. This is particularly true for larger sites with lots of information. 

For example, blogs with extensive archives and ecommerce sites with many product pages will definitely need a search tool. Otherwise, visitors may wind up frustrated when they can’t find what they want quickly, and could abandon your website as a result.

While robust and user-friendly navigation menus can help organize larger sites, the WordPress search feature greatly enhances UX and ultimately boosts your business goals.

How can I make WordPress search faster?

While WordPress search can be a valuable tool, if your website houses lots of content and you’re using the default functionality, your users could end up waiting longer than they need to for results. 

To make WordPress search faster, you can install and customize a plugin specifically designed for this purpose, like Jetpack Search. Additionally, you may want to implement a caching solution.

Can I customize WordPress’ default search options?

The short answer is yes: you can customize WordPress’ default search options. There’s a lot you can do to alter the search bar’s appearance. If you want more advanced customization options, though, you’ll need to upgrade to a WordPress search plugin.

What is the best plugin to improve WordPress site search?

There are a handful of high-quality WordPress search plugins that you might want to consider. But if you’re looking for a trustworthy, all-in-one solution, Jetpack Search is hands-down the best option. 

It comes with advanced filtering, real-time search, and performance optimization. Plus, you can easily pair it with other Jetpack tools to ensure that your WordPress site is always functioning as it should.

Elevate your website with WordPress search

If you manage a large WordPress website with lots of valuable content, you may struggle to present it to visitors in an accessible way. While proper site structure and robust navigation can help with this, they might not be enough. That’s where the WordPress search function comes in handy.

You can easily add a WordPress search bar almost anywhere on your site. You can use the Search block to access the default functionality. But this basic feature may not be ideal for some sites, as it can’t scan certain page elements like widgets, comments, categories, and more. To ensure that your users get lightning-fast results, you can upgrade to Jetpack Search. This tool also unlocks advanced features like powerful filters to help people find what they’re looking for more easily.

Are you looking for additional ways to improve your site’s performance and security? Check out the rest of the Jetpack products!

During an internal audit of the Slimstat Analytics and Paid Memberships Pro plugins, we uncovered two SQL Injection vulnerabilities that could allow low-privileged users like subscribers to leak sensitive information from a site’s database.

If exploited, the vulnerability could grant attackers access to privileged information from affected sites’ databases (e.g., usernames and hashed passwords).

We reported the vulnerabilities to the plugin’s authors, and they recently released Slimstat Analytics version 4.9.3.3 and Paid Memberships Pro version 2.9.12 to address them. We strongly recommend that you update affected plugins to their respective latest version, and have an established security solution on your site, such as Jetpack Security.

Subscriber+ SQL Injection in Slimstat Analytics

// Init the database library with the appropriate filters
        if ( strpos ( $_content, 'WHERE:' ) !== false ) {
            $where = html_entity_decode( str_replace( 'WHERE:', '', $_content ), ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8' );
        }
        else{
            wp_slimstat_db::init( html_entity_decode( $_content, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8' ) );
        }

        switch( $f ) {
            case 'count':
            case 'count-all':
                $output = wp_slimstat_db::count_records( $w, $where, strpos( $f, 'all') === false ) + $o;
                break;

The slimstat shortcode allows users to add some filtering logic in the form of SQL WHERE statements by looking for a “WHERE:” token inside the shortcode’s content. This functionality is a problem since, as we’ve reported in another vulnerability advisory before, any users logged onto a site, like subscribers, can render shortcodes in WordPress.

A proof of concept exploit for this vulnerability will be available on this vulnerability’s WPScan entry.

Subscriber+ SQL Injection in Paid Memberships Pro

if($hasaccess && !empty($delay))
    {        
        //okay, this post requires membership. start by getting the user's startdate
        if(!empty($levels))
            $sqlQuery = "SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP(CONVERT_TZ(startdate, '+00:00', @@global.time_zone)) FROM $wpdb->pmpro_memberships_users WHERE status = 'active' AND membership_id IN(" . implode(",", array_map( 'esc_sql', $levels ) ) . ") AND user_id = '" . esc_sql( $current_user->ID ) . "' ORDER BY id LIMIT 1";
        else
            $sqlQuery = "SELECT UNIX_TIMESTAMP(CONVERT_TZ(startdate, '+00:00', @@global.time_zone)) FROM $wpdb->pmpro_memberships_users WHERE status = 'active' AND user_id = '" . esc_sql( $current_user->ID ) . "' ORDER BY id LIMIT 1";

While, at first sight, it may look like the `membership` shortcode properly escapes the $levels variable before concatenating it to an SQL query, the content it adds is not inserted in the context of a string. This effectively means an attacker can abuse that feature to inject SQL statements, so long as they don’t contain any quotes.

Since shortcodes can be rendered by any logged-in users, like subscribers, this enables low-privileged attackers to leak sensitive information from the database, like usernames and hashed passwords.

A proof of concept exploit for this vulnerability will be made available on this vulnerability’s WPScan entry.

Conclusion

We recommend that you check which version of the plugins your site is using, and if they are within the affected ranges, update them as soon as possible! 

At Jetpack, we work hard to make sure your websites are protected from these types of vulnerabilities. We recommend that you have a security plan for your site that includes malicious file scanning and backups. Jetpack Security is one great WordPress security option to ensure your site and visitors are safe.

Credits

Original researcher: Marc Montpas

Thanks to the rest of the WPScan team for feedback, help, and corrections.

Social media has become an integral part of modern business. It provides an unprecedented opportunity for businesses to connect with their customers and build a loyal following. However, with so many competing voices on social media, it’s harder than ever to stand out.

In this article, we’ll share 23 social media post ideas that can help your business stand out on social media. First, we’ll cover some basics by defining the different types of social media posts. Then, we’ll highlight the importance of automation before sharing two dozen social media post ideas you can use right away!

The different types of social media posts

There are a variety of types of social media posts that businesses can use to engage their audience and stand out on social media. These include text, image, video, live video, and more. Each type of post has its own unique strengths and can be used in different ways to stand out on social media:

• Text posts are a great way to share information and updates with your audience. They’re quick and easy to create, and you can use them to share news, updates, and other important information.
• Image posts allow you to share visual content with your audience. They can be used for product images, infographics, and other types of visual content.
• Video posts can be used to share product demos, tutorials, and other types of promotional content.
• Live video posts let you connect with your audience in real time. They can be used to host live Q&A sessions, product demos, and other types of live content.

The importance of automation in a social media posting strategy

Managing and maintaining a consistent presence across multiple platforms can be a daunting task. This is where automation comes in. Automating certain aspects of your social media strategy can not only save you time and energy, but also help you reach a wider audience and increase engagement.

One of the best ways to automate your social media strategy is through the use of social media sharing plugins. Jetpack Social is a great option for businesses running their sites on WordPress.

With Jetpack Social, you can easily share your content across multiple platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn with just one click. Additionally, Jetpack Social allows you to schedule posts in advance, so you can create a content calendar and ensure that your accounts are always active, even when you’re not. This allows you to focus on other important tasks while still maintaining a strong social media presence.

Overall, automation is a key component of any successful social media strategy. By using a plugin like Jetpack Social, businesses running their sites on WordPress can easily automate their social media efforts, save time, and increase engagement. To learn more about Jetpack Social, visit Jetpack.com/social/

Stand out on social media with these 23 post ideas

1. Share your blog’s content on autopilot

One of the easiest ways to keep your social media accounts active and engaging is by maintaining an active blog. By consistently creating valuable and relevant content on your blog, you’ll have a steady stream of new material to share across your social media channels.

Each time you publish a new blog post, you can share it on your social media accounts, along with a brief summary and a call-to-action to encourage readers to visit your website.

By using a solution like Jetpack Social, you can automatically share your blog content across multiple social media platforms, saving you time and effort.

2. Show your product in an unexpected situation

Showing your product in an unexpected situation can help to create a sense of intrigue and interest around your brand. For example, showcasing your outdoor gear in an urban setting or your fashion brand on a hiking trail can be a great way to stand out.

3. Launch a recurring series (daily, weekly, etc.)

Launching a recurring series can be a great way to build an audience and keep them engaged. This can be a daily or weekly series of posts that provide valuable information, tips, or entertainment, such as a “Tip of the Day” or “Throwback Thursday.”

4. Make a meme your audience will relate to

Memes are a great way to connect with your audience and build a feeling of community. By creating a meme that your audience can connect with, you can create a sense of connection and engagement.

When crafting your meme, however, make sure to consider your audience. Are they likely to understand the joke? Could it be offensive in any way? Memes tend to have a short shelf life. So jumping on a trend that’s several years old may not get you the attention you anticipate. 

Pro-tip: You don’t need a background in graphic design to create this kind of post. Use an online meme generator like this one to save time!

5. Share customer interviews and testimonials

Sharing customer interviews and testimonials is a great way to showcase your brand’s value. It helps to build trust and credibility with your audience and can be a powerful way to stand out on social media.

6. Answer commonly-asked questions

Posting frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answering them is a great way to provide value to your audience. This can help overcome sales objections and customer service questions before potential people even reach out, saving staff and employee time and bolstering the confidence followers have in your brand.

But what questions do you ask? If you have a customer service or support team, find out what they encounter most often. Check your contact form submissions, social media comments, and direct messages. You can even send out a survey via email or ask social media followers what they’d like you to answer. 

7. Share behind-the-scenes content

Sharing behind-the-scenes content can help to give your audience a glimpse into the inner workings of your business. It’s a clever way to highlight the processes, ingredients, and quality of care that set you apart. It also humanizes your brand when people get to know the team behind the products or services you offer. This is particularly helpful for premium brands who may need to justify why their offerings cost more than competitors. 

8. Post product demos and tutorials

Product demos are an excellent way to show all the different use cases for your items. Perhaps they can be used in unexpected ways, opening the possibilities up to a whole new audience! 

They also provide valuable content for those who have already purchased. Perhaps someone bought your espresso maker and can’t quite figure out how to use one specific feature. If you share a video walking them through the steps, it might keep them from returning it while simultaneously showing potential customers how easy your product is to work with. Plus, it provides opportunities to present new options — like espresso beans — to existing customers for recurring business. 

There’s a reason there are so many late-night infomercials with product demos — they work! And social media is a great place for the modern day equivalent without the need to purchase expensive air time. 

9. Showcase user-generated content

User-generated content (UGC) is a great way to relate to a variety of potential customers. These days, people are hyper-vigilant, and even resistant to advertising. They know about stock footage and aren’t as impressed by models. 

Instead, when you highlight content created by real users, authentic fans of your brand, people are often much more receptive. Plus, you can save significantly on production costs and potentially turn the contributor whose content you used into a super-fan or brand ambassador for life. 

Here are some ways to encourage UGC for your brand. 

10. Align yourself with a cause that’s important to your audience

Supporting a cause that your audience can identify with helps you connect with them and build a sense of community.  You can contribute to a fundraiser and ask others to do the same. Highlight the work your staff is doing as volunteers. Organize a fundraiser or open your doors or resources for use by like-minded members of your audience. There are all kinds of ways to contribute positively to the world, help or encourage others to do the same, and improve your brand positioning. 

Pro-tip: Find something you and members of your team are truly passionate about. Don’t come across as braggadocious and don’t only support causes for the publicity. Followers can tell, and it can do more harm than good. 

11. Run exclusive promotions (only for your social media audience)

Exclusive promotions act as a reward for your social media followers, letting them know that you appreciate them and building engagement at the same time. You might offer free shipping, throw a freebie or sample into orders placed by followers, or share a special discount code for a percent off their next order. And setting a time limit for promotions harnesses the power of urgency to drive sales quickly. 

12. Host a contest or giveaway

Hosting a contest or giveaway can be an exciting way to encourage comments and shares on your posts (some of the most important forms of engagement) without appearing desperate. In fact, it’s usually a super-fun process for both you and your followers. This often works best when the giveaway is something from your brand (not an unrelated, random prize) so that it serves as an advertisement for one of your most popular products. Those who don’t win might actually end up purchasing it for themselves, or as a gift, later on.

Make sure to check with any rules for the social media platform you choose, but many contests involve having followers like, comment, tag a few friends, and share your post as a method of entry. You can then use an app or even a random number generator to select the winner. 

13. Conduct polls and surveys

Polls and surveys help you accomplish two things: increase engagement and learn what your followers are interested in. While you can publish polls on any platform, you’ll often see quick polls in Instagram stories. Sometimes these are fun — Pineapple on pizza: yes or no? — and other times they more directly ask for feedback — What flavors do you want to see on our Spring menu? 

Regardless, these are excellent opportunities to find out what your followers want to see more (or less!) of on your account or in your products or services.

14. Create infographics and data visualizations

There are a number of programs with pre-built templates you can use to create fun graphics out of almost any fact or stat about your brand. One idea is to do a year in review. How many customers did you serve last year? How many different recipes did you try to find the perfect one? How many miles did your delivery trucks accrue? How many customer service requests did your team respond to?

Quickly browse your site to find any numbers or facts. Even if they’re kind of random or simple, it’ll look more interesting in graphic form and can be a fun way to fill in gaps on your content calendar.

15. Publish holiday-themed content

People love the holidays! And we don’t just mean Christmas and New Years. You can also create fun and relevant content around Arbor Day and even National Pancake Day. 

There are lots of ways to be creative here. Share how kids can create holiday crafts using your items. Showcase your products in holiday-themed decor. Or tie the holidays into a promotion or giveaway. 

16. Share event and conference coverage

Conferences and events bring together people from all over to learn about an industry or topic and connect with like-minded individuals. But not everyone can attend every conference! 

So if you’re attending an event that you think your audience would find valuable, share what you’re learning with them. Live Tweet valuable quotes, take pictures, and post quick videos, as long as you stick to the recording/publishing rules of the convention. This will provide value, establish you as an expert, and show customers and clients that you’re investing in your growth.

17. Virtual tours and 360-degree videos

Virtual tours and 360-degree videos are a powerful way to showcase the features and benefits of your products. Of course, this will be somewhat industry-dependent. 

Are you a realtor? Do you sell renovated camper vans? Do you offer staging services? Virtual tours are perfect. 

If you sell complicated or custom products, 360-degree videos might also be an excellent option. Or, you could even share virtual tours of your workspace or warehouse.

18. Podcasts and audio content

​​If you host a podcast — or were a guest on one — share intriguing clips on social media! You can also turn these into videos by simply overlaying the audio on top of a brand-related image or even just your logo. 

The goal here is to reuse content in as many ways as possible. Yes, you want to encourage people to download and listen to your podcast, but pulling short clips for social media posts gives you another way to take advantage of the work you’ve already done.

19. How-to guides that demonstrate expertise

How-to guides help you share information, updates, and tutorials with your audience. Typically, you’d want to create guides on your website first, either as a blog post or as a digital download like a PDF. 

What would make the most sense for your business? Perhaps it’s a digital cookbook of recipes that use your handcrafted spice blends. Maybe it’s an eBook about creating a household budget. Or perhaps it’s simply an instruction manual for assembling your product.

Then, share these resources on social media and encourage followers to read them. You can also tie this into an email marketing strategy by asking for an email address to access the guide.

20. Live video content (live streaming)

With live video, you can connect with your followers in real time, making yourself and your business much more relatable. Host live Q&A sessions, demonstrate your products, or show a behind-the-scenes look at your process. When possible, announce your upcoming livestream ahead of time so that people can add it to their calendar.

21. Employee spotlights

Employee spotlights put a face and name behind your brand. Depending on the number of employees you have, you could turn this into a series, highlighting a different one every week or month. Share pictures and videos, ask questions, and even conduct a full interview if it makes sense for your business.

22. Company milestones and updates

You know those little celebrations you have in the office? The literal bulletin boards with media placements you’re proud of? The announcement at your founders meeting that you finally broke a huge sales goal? 

Many of the things that are exciting to you, will be exciting to followers — especially those who are most connecting with and truly championing your brands. 

No, you may not want to share that, “It’s been 4 days without an accident!” But did you just hit order number 1,000? Shout it out! 

23. Breaking industry news

This is, perhaps, one of the easiest ways to fill a content calendar. Since it’s not original content, it likely won’t have as far of a reach as other kinds of posts, but it keeps you on the minds of followers and maintains an active account. Set up Google Alerts with keywords related to your company (put your company name itself in there, too, so you can find out how folks are talking about you). Then, as particularly compelling stories come out, share them to your feed with a sentence or two about your thoughts.

Frequently asked questions about posting on social media

How can I make my social media posts stand out?

To make your social media posts stand out, you can:

• Use high-quality images and videos
• Use engaging captions and calls-to-action
• Use relevant hashtags and keywords
• Engage with your followers and respond to comments
• Use a consistent brand voice and aesthetic
• Use different types of content, such as images, videos, and GIFs
• Use interactive features, such as polls and quizzes
• Use social media tools like Jetpack Social for scheduling, analytics, and tracking

How often should a business post on social media?

The frequency of social media posts will vary for each business depending on the industry and target audience.

However, it’s generally recommended to post at least once a day on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and more frequently on platforms like Twitter and TikTok. It’s also important to consider the engagement level, and adjust your posting frequency accordingly.

Jetpack Social: the well-known secret to automating social media posts on WordPress

Jetpack Social is a powerful plugin that enables businesses to share their website content on all of their social media channels from one place, through an automated “set it and forget it” system that’s easy to set up.

Jetpack Social saves you time and effort by automating your social media sharing, so you can focus on creating high-quality content.

Whether you’re a blogger, a merchant, or a small business owner, Jetpack Social is the perfect solution for automating your social media posting on WordPress.

So, why wait? Try Jetpack Social today and take the first step towards building a stronger, more engaged social media presence.

Most websites — including those using WordPress — deal with spam on a daily basis. Even if you just created your first site a few weeks ago, chances are you’re already facing the reality of spam comments, queries, account sign-ups, and more. 

CAPTCHAs can effectively mitigate unwanted spam, especially if it’s coming from your contact forms. But while one can help alleviate problems with spam, you’ll likely encounter the unintended consequence of a more difficult experience for your real visitors.  

That’s why many sites have chosen to use Akismet — a more streamlined anti-spam solution for WordPress — instead. 

So, which option is right for your site?

In this article, we’ll start by talking about the downsides and alternatives to using CAPTCHAs, so you get the full picture. Then, we’ll show you how to protect your WordPress contact forms both with and without CAPTCHAs.

What is a CAPTCHA? 

CAPTCHA stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart.” Phew!

The earliest versions presented users with distorted text they’d have to decipher. Because it was difficult to complete, it could fairly accurately tell humans and computers apart. 

What are the downsides of using a CAPTCHA?

To put it simply, people hate CAPTCHAs. That’s not a matter of opinion, either. A Stanford study shows that only 71 percent of users attempt to solve CAPTCHAs when they run into them. The rest of them outright leave the page. 

Another study from Moz confirms those numbers. It shows that, on average, 30 percent of users leave pages with CAPTCHAs, either while trying to solve them or before trying. The same study states that simply adding a CAPTCHA can lower your site’s conversion rates by 3.2 percent.

If you’re relatively tech-savvy, you probably don’t struggle at all with solving CAPTCHAs. But, a lot of the users that decide to leave a page when they see one do so because CAPTCHAs are designed to be difficult to solve.

According to Stanford, solving a video CAPTCHA can take up to ten seconds on average and audio CAPTCHAs have a staggering failure rate of 50 percent. Even regular image CAPTCHAs can be difficult to solve since they intentionally obfuscate letters and symbols. Some pages even ask you to resolve multiple CAPTCHAs before letting you proceed.

To be fair, CAPTCHAs work. They provide a functional solution to a problem that most websites struggle to deal with. 

The problem is, using a CAPTCHA shifts the responsibility to users. It’s like asking store customers to prove they’re not thieves before they can make a purchase. Furthermore, it’s not a good option when it comes to accessibility standards. That’s because it might alienate users with vision or hearing impairments. Since there are indeed alternatives to CAPTCHAs, you might want to consider which option to use before implementing them.

What are the different kinds of CAPTCHAs?

There are lots of types of CAPTCHAs. Most websites use reCAPTCHA, which is a free solution (for up to 1,000,000 assessments per month) from Google. When you run into a contact form that uses reCAPTCHA, you’ll need to check a box that says, “I am not a robot.”

If the service detects any suspicious movement or activity with your connection, you’ll need to solve an image puzzle. In most cases, the puzzle will ask you to identify multiple similar elements from a cluster of images. Depending on the case, you might need to solve multiple image puzzles before submitting a form.

Aside from reCAPTCHA, you might also run into audio or video CAPTCHAs. These tend to be worse (from a user standpoint) because you’re required to watch and/or listen in full before you can solve the puzzle. In a lot of cases, this might not even be possible if you’re somewhere where you can’t listen to audio, don’t have a pair of headphones on hand, or have an impairment.

The ideal CAPTCHA is one that requires very little work from users while still providing a solid level of protection from spam. It should also be accessible to as many people as possible. Some CAPTCHA alternatives, like Akismet, can provide this.

What’s the best CAPTCHA alternative?

If you want to eliminate spam from your WordPress site, but don’t want to push away visitors with complicated, annoying tests, the best CAPTCHA alternative is Akismet. 

Meet Akismet: The non-intrusive spam blocker

Akismet is one of the most popular WordPress tools on the market. It’s designed to help you prevent spam without adding complications for visitors, by identifying spam and malicious comments submitted through your site’s forms. 

It’s ‘non-intrusive’ because Akismet can protect your website from spam without using CAPTCHAs. The service analyzes every comment and form submission on your website to see if it matches known spam or malicious IP addresses, or if it follows patterns that raise red flags (like linking to unrelated third-party sites).

You can configure Akismet to automatically delete these submissions or let you review them to check if they’re from real visitors. In either case, visitors never see a CAPTCHA when you’re using Akismet. Your site remains protected, and the user experience improves drastically.

Everything happens in the background. There’s nothing special for visitors to fill out. No puzzle, no audio to listen to, no stop signs to identify. Real visitors can go on their way none-the-wiser. Spam submissions are then identified and deleted or sorted for you to review later. 

How to add Akismet to a WordPress contact form

Adding Akismet to WordPress contact forms is easy. You can do it in just a few steps. Still, the process can vary slightly depending on the type of contact form or plugin you’re using, so let’s discuss how it works!

Step 1: Install and activate Akismet

Non-commercial sites can use Akismet for free to stop spam comments and nefarious contact form submissions. To get started, you’ll need to install and activate the plugin. 

Go to the Plugins tab in your WordPress dashboard. Then, click on Add New and use the search tool to look for the Akismet plugin. In a lot of cases, it will be an option among the top ‘featured’ plugins.

When you find the plugin, click on Install → Activate. Once the plugin is active, go to Settings → Akismet Anti-Spam. Under the Settings section, you’ll see a field where you need to enter an API key.

To get this key, go to the Akismet website and sign up for an account. After you sign up, you’ll get access to the Akismet dashboard. Go to the My Account tab and select the Add Subscription option.

On the next page, you’ll be able to choose which plan you want to use. The Personal plan uses a pay-what-you-want model, so you can sign up for free and use it for a single website. Keep in mind that you can only sign up for this free plan if you don’t run ads, sell products, or promote a business through your website.

After confirming your subscription, you’ll get access to an API key, which you can see in the My Account tab. Copy the key and return to the Settings → Akismet Anti-Spam screen in the WordPress dashboard. Paste it in the API Key field.

Click on Save Changes and that’s it. By default, Akismet will block comment spam and send it to a queue where you can review submissions in the dashboard. There’s an extra step involved if you want to use Akismet with a contact form.

Step 2: Integrate Akismet with your contact form

WordPress doesn’t offer contact form functionality out-of-the-box. That means most users rely on plugins to implement these types of forms on their websites. This step will depend on what contact form plugin you’re using. 

Akismet works with most popular WordPress contact form plugins. Some plugins, like Formidable Forms and WPForms include built-in support for Akismet. With either plugin, you just need to enable the Akismet spam protection setting for each individual form.

Other plugins, like Gravity Forms, require you to set up Akismet add-ons to add spam protection to their forms. Finally, there are some tools, like Contact Form 7 and Ninja Forms which require you to add code snippets to your forms to enable support for Akismet. Fortunately, all three of these methods are pretty straightforward.

For the easiest solution, consider using Jetpack’s WordPress contact form functionality. 

Read more: How to use Akismet with WordPress contact forms. 

Step 3: Configure Akismet’s anti-spam settings

Akismet is pretty much a plug-and-play tool, which can be appealing if you’re looking for something quick and easy. In any case, it also gives you control over how you want to handle contact form spam. 

By default, the plugin sends comments it flags as spam to a special ‘queue’ where you can review them (in the Comments section of the dashboard). Alternatively, you can configure Akismet to discard spam completely, so you don’t have to deal with it. 

To do this, go to Settings → Akismet Anti-Spam and search for the Settings section. The option you’re looking for appears under Strictness.

Akismet does a great job of separating spam messages from real ones. That means you can choose to discard contact form spam without worrying too much about it. If you want to preserve every message to play it safe, opt for the Always put spam in the Spam folder for review setting.

Keep in mind that Akismet only stores spam comments for 15 days. After that, it deletes them automatically. This means you’ll want to review the queue every week or every two weeks at the most.

How to add CAPTCHA to a WordPress contact form

The process of adding CAPTCHAs to WordPress contact forms will depend on what service you’re using. Since reCAPTCHA is the most popular CAPTCHA solution on the web, we’ll show you how to integrate it with a WordPress contact form.

Step 1: Sign up for a reCAPTCHA account

If you already have a Google account, you can access reCAPTCHA right away. Simply visit Google.com/reCAPTCHA and select the v3 Admin Console option in the primary navigation menu.

Click on the plus sign icon in the reCAPTCHA dashboard and enter a label for your website. This can be any unique identifier. Then, choose what type of reCAPTCHA you want to use for your site. 

The most common type of CAPTCHA is reCAPTCHA v2, which forces users to solve a challenge or a puzzle to make a submission.

Next up, look for the Domains field. Enter the domain of the website where you want to use reCAPTCHA.

After entering the domain, you’ll need to review reCAPTCHA’s terms of service, agree to them if you do, and submit the form. Then, reCAPTCHA will provide you with a site and a secret key. You’ll need both for the following steps, so keep the tab open or copy and paste them somewhere safe.

Step 2: Find a plugin that’s compatible with reCAPTCHA

There are a handful of WordPress contact form plugins that are compatible with reCAPTCHA. But, not all of them support it out-of-the-box. Some plugins will simply need an add-on, but a lot of them require you to add custom code directly to individual contact forms in order to display challenges.

What’s more, reCAPTCHA doesn’t offer documentation showing which WordPress plugins are compatible with it. However, the most popular contact form plugins will likely have an integration method.

If you’re not sure whether the plugin you’re using is compatible with reCAPTCHA, you should check its documentation. If you discover that it’s compatible, you should be able to find instructions on how to implement the anti-spam system with your contact forms.

Frequently asked questions about CAPTCHA and WordPress forms

If you have any questions left about CAPTCHAs and how they work, this section will answer them. Let’s start by reviewing what CAPTCHAs are.

What is CAPTCHA?

A CAPTCHA is a kind of test designed for users to prove that they’re humans and not bots. This is necessary because most websites with comment sections or contact forms have to deal with a lot of bots and spammers.

These bots tend to leave spam comments pointing toward other websites or try to find vulnerabilities in forms. CAPTCHAs help stop them since they require some level of human ingenuity to solve. Typically, CAPTCHAs involve image puzzles, but they can also use video or audio.

What is reCAPTCHA?

reCAPTCHA is a CAPTCHA tool offered by Google. It functions as a ‘freemium’ service that provides up to 1,000,000 assessments per month in as many forms as you need. 

If you implement reCAPTCHA, visitors need to check a box before submitting a form to confirm they are human. The service may request additional confirmation in the form of visual tests if it detects any anomalies.

What is contact form spam?

Spam is everywhere online, from comment sections to contact forms. Every time you create a form, you open another venue for spam. There are a lot of bots and people dedicated to using forms to submit spam, ranging from promoting their own content to sharing links to malicious sites.

Contact form spam is any submission that’s not designed to fulfill the purpose of the form but to bypass it or to trick you into taking an action with negative consequences. This type of spam is typically easy to spot, but dealing with it can take up a lot of time you could otherwise spend responding to legitimate queries.

Is CAPTCHA the best solution for contact form spam?

CAPTCHAs are an effective way to reduce contact form and other types of spam. But, research shows that users react very negatively to CAPTCHAs. On average, 30 percent of users leave a page when they see a CAPTCHA.

Although CAPTCHAs work, you need to decide whether they’re worth the loss of legitimate visitors and potential conversions. Moreover, there are alternatives to CAPTCHAs that are less intrusive, like Akismet. Alternative anti-spam tools that don’t force visitors to solve puzzles will offer a much better experience than CAPTCHAs.

Akismet vs CAPTCHA: Which one should I choose?

The answer to this question depends on what type of website you’re running and the user experience you want to offer. For ecommerce sites, the loss in visitors and conversions that CAPTCHAs often cause can result in a significant loss of revenue.

For contact forms specifically, using regular CAPTCHAs means you’ll lose out on some potential queries. Solutions like Akismet are less intrusive and just as effective. If you’re using WordPress, implementing Akismet is remarkably simple, which makes it a better solution than CAPTCHAs.

Will Akismet work with my contact form plugin?

Akismet works with most WordPress contact form plugins (at least the well-known options). Some plugins offer out-of-the-box compatibility with Akismet whereas others require you to install add-ons. For some plugins, you may need to add custom code to your forms, but the process is usually very simple.

How many WordPress websites trust Akismet?

Akismet is one of the most popular WordPress plugins in the world, bar none. There are over five million active installations of Akismet at the moment, and that number keeps rising.

In fact, many web hosts offer Akismet as one of a handful of plugins that come pre-installed with their WordPress setups. That’s because using Akismet from the get-go can help you reduce the level of spam you deal with and, thus, secure your website.

If you want to implement an anti-spam solution that doesn’t require you to force visitors to solve puzzles, Akismet is the way to go. Millions of users already trust Akismet to protect their sites, and it’s free for non-commercial sites. That’s why we listed it as one of the must-have plugins for WordPress sites.

Use Akismet to prevent spam in WordPress

If you have a website with forms, you probably need to implement some sort of spam protection. For a long time, CAPTCHAs have been the industry go-to. They’re relatively easy to implement, and they get the job done. Still, it’s unwise to ignore the negative effect they have on the user experience. Simply put, people do not like CAPTCHAs.

For the best spam protection without annoying site visitors, you should consider an alternative like Akismet. It’s cost-effective and simple to get started.

Want to keep your customers happy while also protecting your WordPress site from spammers and bots? Sign up for Akismet today!

These days, social media is an essential part of any successful business strategy. It’s not a luxury, but a necessity. With over 3.6 billion people using social media worldwide, it’s a digital playground for businesses to showcase their products and services, build brand awareness, and connect with customers.

But it’s not just all fun and games. It takes a well-planned strategy to succeed on social media. That’s where this guide comes in. It’s a complete playbook to help you navigate the world of social media marketing and advance your goals.

1. Identify and understand your audience

Before you start creating content and posting it on social media, it’s important to understand who your target audience is. This will help you tailor your content so that it’s engaging and effective, and determine the best platforms to invest your time and budget.  

How do you find your ideal audience? 

Talk to your current followers and customers or, if you’re just starting, seek out people who respond enthusiastically when you approach them with your idea. 

You’re looking for shared traits beyond a common interest in the category of products you sell (fitness, pet, culinary, etc.). What kinds of pain points, passions, and core values do you hear over and over again?

Spend some time digging through your analytics. What do your existing visitors have in common? Where are they from? What content are they reading on your site? Are they primarily in a certain age range?

You can also send out surveys to your email list or add polls to your social media accounts. But the absolute best option is to talk to people in your audience face-to-face or over the phone. This allows you to ask open-ended questions that get more to the root of their motivations. You may end up finding out things you never even thought to ask about!

Then, create buyer personas to help you better imagine your audience and how to relate to them. For example, if you sell hiking gear, you might have a persona named Jenny, who’s 35 years old, lives in the Pacific Northwest, has two kids, and is constantly looking for new ways to streamline her hikes. When you’re writing content in the future, you can think about ways that it can specifically help Jenny.

Learn more about finding your audience. 

2. Set clear goals and objectives

Once you have a clear understanding of your audience and competition, it’s time to set your goals and objectives. Your overall marketing goal may be to increase brand awareness or drive more sales, but it’s important to break that down into specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives.

For example, your objective may be to increase your social media following by 20% in the next quarter, or to achieve a certain amount of engagement on your posts. With clear goals and objectives in place, you can create a plan to achieve them.

3. Choose the right social media platform(s)

There are countless social media platforms available, but not all of them will work for your business. It’s important to identify the most popular and relevant ones for  your audience. Once you know which platforms to focus on, spend time learning the features and capabilities of each one. This will help you determine the kinds of content you’ll need to create.

For example, if your business specializes in products that are creative, artistic, or otherwise best represented by imagery, platforms like Instagram and Pinterest would be a great fit for you. Think food, home decor, artwork, and fashion! 

On the other hand, if you’re a B2B firm, LinkedIn would be a better fit. Understanding the features and capabilities of each platform will also help you make the most of its features.

Ecommerce store? Learn how to choose the right social media platforms. 

4. Create and curate engaging content

The key to a successful social media effort is creating and curating engaging content. Decide on the types of content you want to create, like blog posts, videos, infographics, or memes. A content calendar can help you stay organized and on schedule. 

But don’t just focus on creating your own content. Curating and sharing relevant posts from other sources can also be a great way to engage with your audience and alleviate the pressure for continuous development of original content.

It’s not always easy, but don’t get discouraged. It’s like trying to come up with a good joke — it’s hard but when it’s done right, it’s a hit.

How to determine the kind of social media to create

Start by researching your competitors. Which ones have the best engagement on their social profiles and what’s unique about their approach? You can pick up cues for the kinds of content to produce, when to post, and how to interact with followers. 

And you can do the same with competitors who aren’t having as much success — by learning from their mistakes, you can avoid making the same ones.

Get familiar with the successful influencers in your target genre. What kind of content do they post? On YouTube, for example, you can quickly scan popular creators from a variety of genres and look at the views for each video. What do the most popular ones have in common? In other words, what topics and style of content is really drawing attention? 

5. Leverage automation to streamline social media posts

Automation is a must for businesses looking to stay competitive on social media. It’s a powerful way to streamline your social media efforts and ensure that you’re reaching your audience at the right time.

Jetpack Social is the ideal social media tool for WordPress site owners. Instead of having to log in and out of social media accounts, you can post to multiple platforms at the same time, or automatically push new WordPress posts out as soon as they’re published on your site. 

It also allows you to work more efficiently. Schedule posts in advance so you can plan once a week and then spend the rest of your time working on other tasks. And you can rest easy, knowing that they’ll go out at the perfect time to reach your audience when they’re most engaged. 

Imagine you’re a business owner who just opened a new store, and you’re too busy to post on social media, but you know the importance of it. By using Jetpack Social, you can schedule your posts in advance and not have to worry about missing out on potential customers. It’s like having a personal assistant who knows how to use social media.

6. Build a community of followers and keep them engaged

Once you have a strong following on social media, it’s important to keep them engaged. So, be sure to make interacting with followers a regular part of your social media plan. This can include responding to comments, hosting giveaways, and creating polls. Measure and analyze community engagement to see what’s working and what’s not.

Think of your followers as a group of friends. You don’t want to only talk about yourself, or even the same topic over and over. Instead, switch things up to keep people interested, and take the time to let your followers do the talking.  Hosting giveaways and creating polls can feel like throwing a party — it’s fun and interactive. And just like a party, you want to make sure everyone’s having a good time. So keep tabs on engagement levels and if they start to drop, adjust your approach!

7. Advertise on social media

Advertising on social media is a great way to reach a targeted audience and drive more sales. There are a variety of options available, including sponsored posts, carousel ads, stories, messages, videos, and more. It’s important to understand the different types of advertising and how they can benefit your business. Create ad campaigns and target specific audiences, then measure and analyze the performance of your ads to see what’s working and what’s not.

Advertising on social media is like dating, you want to make sure you’re reaching the right person, and you want to make sure the relationship is worth it. By understanding the different types of advertising and targeting specific audiences, you’ll increase your chances of finding the perfect match. 

8. Consider influencer marketing

Influencer marketing has become an increasingly popular strategy for businesses looking to promote their products or services on social media. By collaborating with influencers in your industry, you can reach a wider audience and gain credibility with potential customers.

Influencer marketing can help you promote your products or services in a more authentic and relatable way. Influencers have built a following based on trust and credibility, and their endorsement can be a powerful tool for promoting your business.

When it comes to influencer marketing, it’s important to identify and reach out to the right influencers. Look for partners who align with your brand and target audience, and who have a strong engagement with their followers.

Once you’ve identified the right influencers, it’s important to establish clear and mutually beneficial objectives. This can help ensure that the collaboration is successful and beneficial for both parties.

The size of each influencer’s audience can vary dramatically, but even those with only a few thousand followers can provide a boost if their audience fits perfectly with your business’s target niche. Some influencers will post in exchange for free products, while others might command a high fee. You can get pretty creative with this kind of marketing, so give it a try. Learn more about influencer marketing for ecommerce. 

9. Measure and analyze the results

Measuring the success of your social media efforts is crucial. Identify key performance indicators (KPIs) to track, such as reach, engagement, and conversions. Analyze and interpret the data to see what’s working and what’s not, and make adjustments as needed.

Jetpack Stats is a great way to dive into the world of analytics. It provides essential information about your website’s performance, and allows you to easily sync your Google Analytics account for even more in-depth information about marketing campaigns and conversions.

10. Know how to manage and respond to negative feedback

No matter how well you plan and execute your social media strategy, it’s inevitable that you’ll receive negative feedback at some point. Whether it’s a snarky comment on a post or a bad review, it’s important to know how to handle it.

First and foremost, stay calm and professional when responding. Don’t take it personally, and avoid getting defensive or argumentative. Instead, take the time to understand the customer’s concern and address it in a thoughtful and respectful manner.

One effective way to handle negative feedback is to respond with humor or laugh at your own mistakes. If you did something wrong, acknowledge it. If it’s something you personally wrote or created, consider taking yourself out of the situation and having an employee or trusted friend respond. 

And, remember, not everything requires a response. It’s okay to remain silent sometimes. People have bad days and say mean things. Sometimes, they misspeak or misunderstand. It doesn’t change the value of what you’re building. Focus on the followers who love what you’re doing! 

Finally, if a legitimate issue is raised, be sure to make note of it and use it as an opportunity for improvement. Show your customers that you value their input.

Frequently asked questions about social media marketing

How can Jetpack Social help businesses with their social media efforts?

Jetpack Social is a powerful social media plugin for WordPress that can help businesses automate their social media, post to multiple profiles at once, and schedule posts in advance. It’s a great way to streamline social media efforts and make the most of your time.

Why is it important for a business to have a social media presence?

Having a social media presence allows businesses to reach a new audience, engage with customers, and drive more sales. It’s also a great way to build brand awareness and establish a relationship with customers.

What are the benefits of social media marketing for businesses?

The benefits of social media marketing for businesses include increased brand awareness, more sales, improved customer engagement, and more.

What are some common mistakes businesses make on social media?

Some common mistakes businesses make on social media include not understanding their audience, not setting clear goals and objectives, not choosing the right platforms, and not measuring and analyzing their results.

Jetpack Social: Social media automation for businesses using WordPress

As we’ve mentioned in this guide, automation is a crucial aspect of a successful social media marketing strategy. And for businesses using WordPress, Jetpack Social is the perfect solution.

This plugin offers a wide range of features to help you streamline your social media efforts, including automating your social media posts and scheduling posts in advance.

Visit the following page to learn more about Jetpack Social: https://jetpack.com/social/

When it comes to creating a successful social media content strategy, it can feel like there’s an endless amount of options and platforms to choose from. But don’t let that overwhelm you, because with a little bit of planning and a lot of creativity, you can build a strategy that will help boost your brand awareness, increase customer engagement, and drive sales.

Eight steps to define your social media recipe

Think of your social media content strategy like a recipe for success. Just like a recipe, if you don’t have all the right ingredients and a clear understanding of what you’re trying to achieve, your dish (or in this case, your content) will fall flat.

But with the right components in place, you’ll be able to whip up something that’s not only delicious, but will also leave your customers craving more.

1. Understand your audience’s platform & content preferences

The first step in this journey is to understand your audience’s platform and content preferences. Think about it: you wouldn’t serve a steak to a vegetarian, so why would you create content that’s not relevant to your audience?

By identifying your target audience demographics, researching their interests and behaviors, and creating buyer personas, you’ll be able to create content that resonates with your audience.

So how do you do this? You may already have an idea of who your target audience is. Perhaps it’s busy professionals who are looking for a way to save time. Maybe it’s families within a 50-mile radius of Boston who are looking for outdoor activities. Or it could be coffee lovers who want the highest-quality beans to brew in their French press.

If you don’t know who makes up your audience, dive into your analytics. See who resonates with your content, products, or services. Or think about who might have the problems that your business solves.

Then, get to know that audience. Talk to them in person. Send out surveys via email. Conduct social media polls. Find out information about where they spend their time online, what types of content they like to consume on social media — livestreams, image-based posts, audio, links to long-form blog content, etc. — and what piques their interest.

Finally, turn that information into buyer personas, which are essentially made-up characters who are similar to the average member of your target audience. For example, you could have a persona named Josh, who is a 35-year-old father of two, makes a middle-class income, lives in the Boston area, and goes on hikes every weekend.

In the future, when you make decisions about social media, you can reference these personas to ensure that every move you make meets their needs.

Learn more: this article is specifically tailored to ecommerce, but can help any business choose which social media platforms are right for them. 

2. Define your success metrics and goals

Once you have a clear understanding of your audience, it’s time to define your success metrics and goals. Just like cooking, having a clear finished product in mind will help you navigate the recipe.

Identifying overall business goals and setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) steps along the way is crucial for success on social media. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are metrics you can use to objectively measure results. These can help you understand if your efforts are truly working or if you need to make adjustments.

Common KPIs for social media include: 

• Impressions
• Likes
• Comments
• Audience growth
• Engagement rate
• Conversion rate
• Click-through-rate 
• Return on ad spend (ROAS)
• Add to carts

3. Develop a content theme that sets you apart

In today’s crowded social media landscape, it’s essential to have a content theme that sets you apart. Think of it like a fashion statement — to work, it has to be unique and memorable.

To be successful, your company needs a unique selling proposition like a new material, service style, or ingredient that competitors don’t have. Maybe you have several. You can lean into this key difference to form the basis of the subject matter for your posts. Just like creating buyer personas, you may want to map our personas for competitors that also serve your target audience. Include your own company and see what makes you different. 

Regular brainstorming sessions — where anything goes — can help get ideas flowing. Then simply pick the best and leave the rest. 

Finally, don’t forget to listen to your followers. Ask them for their ideas and award prizes for the top ones. Explore trending ideas that other companies are using and see if you can adapt them to your unique selling proposition and target audience.

4. Establish a publishing frequency and content calendar

Establishing a publishing frequency and content calendar is crucial for keeping your content strategy on track. 

Your frequency might be dictated, in large part, by the platforms you choose to use. For example, Twitter lends itself to multiple updates every day. On Facebook, you might not want to post more than once every day or two. 

This guide breaks down how often to post per platform. 

You also want to vary the kinds of posts you make (quotes vs stats vs photos, etc.) and you don’t want to just start thinking of ideas 15 minutes before you’re supposed to post. This is where having a three-month content calendar planned in advance can help you stay organized and ahead of the game. Then you can create similar posts in bulk and spread them out on your calendar for efficiency.

Jetpack Social can help you schedule social media posts from WordPress in advance so that, once you know what you want to post and when, you can automate publishing. This is how professional social media managers consistently release new content — even while they’re on vacation. 

5. Create content that resonates and connects with your audience

Remember that audience research you did earlier? Here’s where it will really come in handy! Create social media content around the topics that your audience will find helpful and interesting.

This, of course, will look different for each individual business or blog. But here are just a few ideas to get you started:

• Answers to questions commonly asked by your customers or followers
• Behind-the-scenes glimpses into your life, business, or processes
• Tips and tricks for using your products
• A live Q&A with your audience members
• Gift ideas that incorporate your products alongside related items from other companies
• Giveaways and contests that reward loyal followers
• Fun ways to celebrate quirky holidays
• User-generated content that showcases how your audience uses your products and services in their everyday lives
• Articles from similar websites that relate to your business or industry

Interesting, eye-catching graphics can go a long way toward improving engagement. You should set aside some of your social media budget with the help of a professional designer. For efficiency, they might be able to create unique templates you can modify yourself. These are great for quotes, stats, and quick text-based statements. Choose your professionally-designed background, add your text, and go! 

You can also use tools like Canva to help you make your own designs without expensive software. 

6. Leverage automation to save time and increase efficiency

Automation is crucial to making the most of your social media content efforts. Think of it as a personal assistant — it can help you save time and increase efficiency, allowing you to focus on the most important tasks.

Jetpack Social is a convenient and powerful way to automate your social media posting on WordPress, enabling you to automatically post your site’s content on social media and schedule posts in advance, all with just a few clicks.

With Jetpack Social, you can write once, and post everywhere, making it easier than ever to increase efficiency and save time.

7. Promote and distribute your content

Promoting and distributing content is an essential step in a successful social media strategy. 

Utilizing paid promotion for maximum reach, partnering with influencers and other brands, using the appropriate hashtags and keywords, reposting and repurposing content on different platforms, and measuring and analyzing the success of your content promotion efforts for adjustments are all key parts of this process.

8. Measure success and make data-driven decisions

Measuring success and making data-driven decisions is crucial to any successful social media content strategy. It’s like a report card — it helps you understand what’s working and what’s not, and allows you to make adjustments and improvements accordingly.

Utilizing analytics tools set up to track your KPIs so you can make data-driven decisions for future content is all part of this process. 

Before you add your next set of posts to the social media content calendar, analyze your KPIs by type of post and don’t be afraid to mix things up, re-evaluate results, and continue to make changes.

Common social media content mistakes to avoid

• Not having a clear content strategy. Establishing a direction for your strategy maximizes the effectiveness of your posts.
• Not understanding your audience. The more you tailor your social media content to the needs of your audience, the more effective it will be.
• Not being consistent. Post regularly so your followers know what to expect, and so you stay on top of the social media algorithms.
• Not using visuals. Images, graphics, and videos help your content stand out in followers’ social media feeds and often help present information better than words alone.
• Not measuring and analyzing performance. Learn what’s working and what isn’t so you can make the most of your time and money.

Nine tips to elevate your social media content strategy

1. Bulk create your content 

Creating content in batches can save you time and ensure consistency in your messaging and branding. Set aside specific time slots to brainstorm and create content — this way you can focus on the creative process without the pressure of a deadline looming. It also helps you mix up different types of content — images, videos, Q&As, promotions, etc. — to keep things interesting.

2. Prepare and schedule social media posts in advance

By scheduling your social media posts in advance, you can ensure that your content is being published at optimal times and avoid the scramble of trying to come up with something at the last minute.

3. Use automation tools

Utilize tools like Jetpack Social to automate your social media posting and schedule posts in advance. 

4. Build personas 

Creating personas allows you to gain a deeper understanding of your audience and create content that resonates with them on a personal level. 

Instead of seeing your followers as numbers, you can imagine them as friends and community members. This can help you create more empathetic, memorable, and effective posts.

5. Take note of your best-performing social media posts

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! By identifying your best-performing social media posts, you can replicate the approach and format for future content, leading to increased engagement and performance.

6. Use A/B testing

A/B testing allows you to compare different variations of headlines, images, and other aspects of your posts to see which ones resonate best with your audience. By doing so, you can amplify the most effective version for more efficient ad spend. Plus, you’ll have empirical data to inform your future post creation.

7. Use hashtags strategically

Hashtags help increase discoverability and reach. Use them strategically to increase the visibility of your content and reach new audiences. For example, Instagram will provide several uses next to hashtag suggestions as you start to type. This gives you an idea of what people are already searching for. Including branded hashtags that your audience never uses might look cute in the post, but it won’t help anyone discover your content.

Learn more: How to use hashtags on social media. 

8. Prioritize engaging content formats

Polls, quizzes, and live streams are particularly engaging because they require participation and allow people to contribute — often anonymously — in real-time and see results. 

Videos are still as powerful as ever. Though they’re usually more expensive to produce, they’ve become the go-to for the masses over things like radio and books for a reason. The same goes for social media.  

9. Be consistent with your brand’s voice and visual identity

Consistency is like a signature — it increases recognition and trust. You can create a list of phrases and words that your brand should both try to use often or never use at all. You can also create a brand book with example voices or compare your preferred brand voice to well-known characters in pop culture. If there’s more than one person on your team, these things can help your team speak with one consistent tone. 

By implementing these tips and utilizing the right tools, such as Jetpack Social, you can make the most of your social media content strategy and achieve your business goals. 

Frequently asked questions

What are the benefits of having a clear social media strategy?

A clear social media strategy can help you work with consistency and more effectively boost brand awareness, increase customer engagement, and drive sales.

How can you determine which social media channels to use?

Determining which social media channels to use can be done by researching your target audience’s demographics and platform preferences, as well as identifying which channels align best with your overall business goals.

Learn more: Choosing social media platforms for ecommerce marketing. 

What makes good social media content?

Good social media content is engaging, visually appealing, relatable, and relevant to your target audience. It should also contribute to your overall business goals and align with your brand’s tone of voice.

Jetpack Social: The #1 social media automation plugin for WordPress

Jetpack Social is a WordPress social media plugin that makes it easy to plan, schedule, and automatically publish your posts. With Jetpack Social, you can write once and post everywhere, saving you time and increasing efficiency.

It’s a simple yet powerful tool that can help you automate your social media content strategy and take your content to the next level. With over one million posts shared every day, Jetpack Social is a tried and tested tool that can help you make the most of your social media efforts.

To learn more about Jetpack Social and start using it today, visit https://jetpack.com/social/

The product page is crucial to the sales process. It’s where the shopper decides to proceed and purchase the item or leave with no guarantee of return. Your goal as an online store owner is to get site visitors to your product pages, then have them take the final steps of Add to Cart and Checkout. 

To that end, it’s essential that your product pages do the best possible job of promoting the item being sold. The WooCommerce default product template is clean and professional, giving you a solid foundation for your page that you can build upon using the methods below.

How to optimize your WooCommerce product page template

There are a number of ways you can customize your WooCommerce product pages or template. Some methods are included within WooCommerce. For others, you’ll need an extension. You can also use the Site Editor or make customizations manually. Let’s take a closer look at each option. 

How to customize your WooCommerce product page using built-in features

Many product page optimizations can be done without any add-ons or coding. High-quality photos, informative descriptions, and key product info make it easier for the visitor to feel comfortable buying the product. 

Enable reviews and ratings to build confidence. Set up related products, cross-sells, and upsells to increase average order size and make it easier for customers to discover new items. Include customer testimonials in your product descriptions or tabs for social proof.

Once you’ve optimized your page content, you can further enhance your product pages by using WooCommerce extensions, editing your product page template with the Site Editor, and manually customizing them with code and hooks.

How to customize your product page using WooCommerce extensions

An extension is a WordPress plugin built specifically to provide additional functionality to WooCommerce stores. Below are some WooCommerce extensions that you can use to provide extra product information, upgrade the shopping experience, and extend your page beyond its default features. You can find even more extensions for further customization in the official WooCommerce extension library.

1. Advanced Product Variation for WooCommerce

Variable products are items with options like size and color — choices that the shopper makes before checking out. On the front end, WooCommerce displays a dropdown for each attribute (like size or color) with a list of available variations below (like Small, Medium, or Large).

For a more visual approach, Advanced Product Variation for WooCommerce lets you showcase product variations with swatches (colors, images, and text), galleries, and tables. You can even include videos in your swatches.  

Variation swatches show on the Product page or the main Shop page, based on the settings you configure. You can create swatches by leveraging existing product images and featured images. 

You can also customize the product gallery layout, moving it from its default position below the featured image over to the left side.

Learn more about Advanced Product Variation for WooCommerce.

2. WooCommerce Tab Manager

WooCommerce product page tabs appear beneath the Add to cart button, and allow you to showcase additional information while keeping key elements like title and price above the fold.

This additional information can include product materials and ingredients, weights and dimensions, size charts, pricing tables, delivery times, shipping fees, how-to videos — anything that will help the customer feel confident making their purchase.

With WooCommerce Tab Manager, you can rename, reorder and remove the default tabs  — Long Description, Additional Info, and Reviews — and customize this section by creating your own global, category-wide, and product-specific tabs. 

Use the plugin to set a default tab order that can be overridden at the product level. With a drag-and-drop interface, there’s no need for you to modify theme files or get into the code.

If you already have custom tabs through other plugins, WooCommerce Tab Manager detects them, giving you the option to show or hide them. A major benefit of this plugin is that the content in your tabs is included in your site search results.

Learn more about WooCommerce Tab Manager.

3. Product FAQs

Frequently asked questions, or FAQs, are a user-friendly way to organize and present product information to your visitors. With the Product FAQs extension, you can add a dedicated FAQ tab for each product with unlimited questions and answers. 

The plugin works with all product types, and adds an FAQ section when you’re creating or editing a product page. 

On the front end, the FAQs are displayed in accordion style with animation. 

Learn more about Product FAQs.

4. Composite Products

With Composite Products, your customers can build kits or configurable products.

For each composite product, you’ll allow customers to choose between pre-determined selections from existing inventory. You can assign extra fees to specific selections and allow certain categories to be optional. 

For example, a necklace might contain options for the chain (silver, gold), the stone (ruby, garnet, emerald), and an optional charm (multiple shape choices).

For each of the kit’s building blocks — chain, stone, and charm — you can select SKUs the customer may choose from or let them pick any option from an entire product category.

Conditional logic lets you show or hide options based on previous choices (e.g. the red shirt is not available in specific sizes), and component-level tracking supports advanced inventory management. If you have a massive number of options, you can create views with sorting, filtering, and pagination for easier shopping.

Learn more about Composite Products.

5. Product Add-Ons

The Product Add-Ons extension lets your shoppers customize and upgrade their purchases through free and paid extras. 

Add-ons could include warranties, higher-quality materials, priority shipping options, or personalizations like custom monogramming and engraving. If people often buy your products as gifts, you could add a wrapping option or gift message field.

Nonprofits could allow shoppers to include a donation with their purchase and make the donation in honor of someone by adding a name and message.

If you have WooCommerce Bookings, Product Add-Ons lets you create options for extra services (hair rinse after haircut), or VIP upgrades for special seating and access. It also works with WooCommerce Subscriptions so that you can offer add-ons to your subscription products.

Your add-ons can include custom fields displayed as text boxes, dropdowns, checkboxes, image-based selections, and custom price inputs for items like tips and donations. These fields can be applied to your entire catalog or assigned to specific products.  

Once you’ve set up your add-ons, they appear on product pages above the Add to Cart button in the order you choose.

Learn more about Product Add-ons.

Customize your product page using the Site Editor

With block themes, you can customize your product page’s appearance by editing the Single Product page template in the Site Editor. In the WordPress admin, go to Appearance → Editor. 

Choose “Browse all templates” from the dropdown menu at the top center of the page. Choose the Single Product template from the list that appears. 

The default page layout contains the header, footer, and WooCommerce Single Product block, which displays product info, price, and image elements. 

You should back up your site before making edits to your product page template. Certain changes — for example, accidentally deleting the Single Product block and saving — will make it impossible for your visitors to shop or buy.

How to edit the Single Product page header and footer templates 

The Template tab under Settings (the gear icon in the top right) contains links to manage the Header and Footer. Click either option to manage that part of the page template. You can also click into an area of the template directly to start editing. Remember that any changes made here will be applied to all products using the template. 

In the header, you can edit the Site Title and the links in your main navigation menu, and even add new blocks to customize your product page specifically. Use this space to add images, text, and more to enhance the selling power of your product page. You could add a promotional or policy note or banner to let shoppers know about a current sale or how to get free shipping on orders over a certain amount. 

You can do something similar with the product page footer. For instance, add a customer testimonial or information about a Satisfaction Guarantee policy.

How to customize the Single Product body

The Single Product block displays a bold warning at the top, “Do not remove this block! Removing this block will cause unintended effects on your store.” Take this message seriously!

However, you can add new blocks around the Single Product block to completely customize your product page design.

Use the + icon to add elements above or below the Single Product block, then include whatever blocks you’d like to customize the page. 

Use a Paragraph block to include current offers (“Spend $100 or more for free shipping”), a satisfaction guarantee, or anything that will help visitors make the decision to purchase. Add a Video block that gives a behind-the-scenes look at your processes. Or include specific recommended products that you’d like to promote. The sky’s the limit here!

And for each block, you can edit settings like background color, typography, and spacing to make it truly your own.

Customize your product page manually (using code and hooks)

For advanced options — without the cost or maintenance of plugins — you can edit and customize your product page manually using code and hooks.

Before you make any changes to your files, it’s important that you take the time to back up WooCommerce. If you’re using Jetpack VaultPress Backup, this is done for you automatically, in real time. So if any of your changes cause your site to go down, you can restore a backup in just a few clicks, even if you don’t have access to your WordPress dashboard.

And you’ll also want to use a child theme to make these changes. Otherwise, when you update your theme or WooCommerce down the road, you might lose all of your customizations. Another option is to use a plugin like Code Snippets, which lets you add custom code to your site in snippets that you can turn on and off as needed. 

Customize WooCommerce product pages using hooks 

Hooks allow site owners to add code and customize pages without the dangers associated with editing core files. There are two types of hooks: actions and filters. Actions allow you to insert code at specific points, while filters allow you to manipulate and return a variable. 

For example, you can use actions to add a new checkout field, then use filters to change the labels or placeholders of existing checkout fields. You can find the list of available WooCommerce hooks here.

Here are a few more examples of changes you can make to your product pages using hooks:

• Change the Add to Cart button text. For example, you could say “Donate Now,” instead.
• Customize WooCommerce breadcrumbs. Change the breadcrumb separator, remove breadcrumbs altogether, etc.
• Remove, rename and reorder product tabs. Add an Ingredients tab, for instance, or include a video in one of the tabs.

Customize WooCommerce product pages using CSS

CSS is a coding language used to control design elements (as opposed to JavaScript, which controls actions). You can use it to modify the design of your product pages. Once you’ve learned the basics of CSS, you can customize everything from colors and fonts to sizes of individual elements. 

You can easily add CSS code by going to Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS in your WordPress dashboard. For example, if you wanted to change the font color of your product titles, you would use the following code, replacing the color’s hex code with your own:

.woocommerce div.product .product_title {

color: #222222;

}

If you wanted to change the color of the Buy Now button, you would use this code, again replacing the hex code with your color of choice:

.woocommerce div.product .button {

   background: #000000;

}

You can see more examples in this article from WooCommerce.

How to boost your product page loading speeds

Fast loading sites are important to both visitors and search engines. People don’t want to wait around and search engines don’t want to send people to underperforming sites.

Literally every second counts — a one second delay in loading times can reduce conversion rates by 20%! 

Jetpack Boost is the top website speed and performance optimization solution for WordPress. It has a quick and easy setup process — no developer needed — and boasts results that beat the top five performance plugins in a head-to-head test.

After you install the free plugin, you can run an audit and get a report on your current site performance scores. These will serve as benchmarks you can use to measure improvements to your Core Web Vitals, metrics that Google uses to gauge your site’s user experience and technical performance.  

A simple dashboard makes it simple to configure optimization options via one-click activations. This gives you the flexibility to test the performance modules individually and configure Jetpack Boost to fit perfectly into any scenario.

For more ways to speed up your product pages, check out Nine Ways to Speed Up a WooCommerce Store.

Frequently asked questions about customizing product pages

Still have questions? Take a look at the answers to some common ones below.

What is the best way to customize a WooCommerce product page?

There is no single best way. The best way for you depends on your comfort level with the various approaches. 

The Site Editor puts all the power in your hands, letting you drag and drop elements to create your own, personalized product page without having to edit any code at all. This is an excellent solution for beginners and advanced users alike!

If you’re looking for specific additional functionality, WooCommerce extensions are a great option. They’re vetted and approved by WooCommerce, and give merchants advanced customization options without custom code. 

Manual customization and coding offer the greatest flexibility, but also require the most technical knowledge. Compared to using blocks or extensions, this method has the greatest chance of causing an issue or even breaking the site. 

Should I back up my site before editing the product page template?

Yes. Unlike pages and posts, site templates don’t have a revision history. Back up your site before making any updates to your product page template, so you can do a quick restore if there’s any issue. 

Jetpack VaultPress Backup is a real-time WordPress backup plugin, which means that your site isn’t just backed up on a daily schedule or when you make a manual copy. Instead, it’s saved automatically every time you make a change to your site, a customer places an order, or a visitor leaves a comment. Any time something important happens? It’s saved! 

Ecommerce stores can’t afford to lose data, especially when that data represents real-world customer orders. Don’t settle for solutions that only save your site occasionally or require a lengthy customer service interaction to restore things when there’s an issue.

With Jetpack VaultPress Backup, you can restore your site with one click and get back online quickly. With the Jetpack mobile app, you can restore any time, anywhere, even if the site is completely down. 

The best part for store owners? All of your customer data and orders are protected and stay current.

What are some best practices for customizing a WooCommerce product page?

Regardless of the method you use to edit and customize your WooCommerce product page, follow these best practices to protect yourself, your site, and your customers.

Back up your site first, every time. When you add or update site code, a single error can cause issues. You need to be ready to restore the site ASAP, without losing a single order. Jetpack VaultPress Backup is the best real-time, automatic backup solution for WordPress.

It’s done for you, so you don’t even have to worry about saving your site before experimenting with changes. 

Make your code changes outside of your parent theme files. When you edit a theme or  plugin file, those changes will be overwritten and undone the next time that the theme or plugin is updated. 

There are multiple ways to add code to your site without editing the theme or plugin files directly. You can use the Code Snippets plugin to add, edit or remove elements on a page, and style your site via the Additional CSS field in the Theme Customizer. You can also create a child theme. The important thing is to make your changes where they won’t be affected by theme or plugin updates.

Keep an eye on speed. No matter how you customize your product pages, you want to make sure that your site speed doesn’t suffer. With Jetpack Boost, you can instantly improve key areas that improve both user experience and Google’s perception of your site quality. A faster site means customers will be more likely to stay and Google will be more likely to recommend you in the search results. A quick boost can go a long way. 

Adding visual elements to your site is an easy way to make your pages more engaging. You might include marketing banners, product images, galleries, or video tutorials. Unfortunately, including a bunch of files can weigh your site down and result in slower performance.

Lazy loading is a great way to relieve pressure on your server while increasing the loading speed of your website. It delays images from rendering for visitors until they’ve scrolled down to their place on the screen. Better yet, some lazy load plugins are free, easy to use, and come with extra features for website optimization. 

In this post, we’ll explore some of the best lazy load plugins for WordPress. Then, we’ll show you how to choose the ideal tool for your needs. 

The seven best lazy load plugins for WordPress

Let’s take a look at seven of the best lazy load plugins for your WordPress website!

1. Jetpack Boost

Jetpack Boost is an all-in-one optimization plugin that increases your overall website loading speed. Not only will you have an efficient lazy loading tool, but you can also enjoy plenty of other features to improve your web performance. 

What’s more, Jetpack is one of the most beginner-friendly options on this list. With a clean, intuitive dashboard, it couldn’t be easier to navigate your way through. 

What really sets Jetpack Boost apart is that it’s built specifically to help you improve metrics like First Contentful Paint (FCP) and Largest Contentful Paint (LCP). Therefore, using Jetpack Boost can help you improve your Core Web Vitals, user experience, and search engine rankings.

Key features of Jetpack Boost

• Simple reports with an instant performance score across mobile and desktop devices
• An intuitive, clean dashboard to view your performance and adjust your settings
• Additional optimization tools that generate critical CSS, among other things

Pros of Jetpack Boost

• It provides SEO insights to enhance your search rankings and Core Web Vitals.
• It optimizes CSS loading and defers non-essential JavaScript.
• You can automate critical CSS with a premium plan.
• It’s made by Automattic — the people behind WordPress.com — so you can rest easy knowing it’s reliable and compatible with most popular themes and plugins.

Cons of Jetpack Boost

• While you can opt for Jetpack’s own CDN, you won’t be able to use a third-party CDN like Cloudflare. 

Ease of use

Jetpack Boost is incredibly easy to set up and maintain. You can install Jetpack Boost just as you would any other WordPress plugin. Then, simply head over to your dashboard and toggle on each of the settings individually.

Price

You can access many of its features through the free Jetpack Boost plugin. To use the automated Critical CSS feature, you’ll need to upgrade to a premium plan, starting at $20 per month.

2. Smush

Smush is a popular image optimization plugin, with over one million active installations. Besides lazy loading in WordPress, Smush also offers image optimization, compression, and resizing tools. 

Like Jetpack, Smush is very easy to use. In fact, once it’s installed, you can get it up and running in just a few seconds. Better yet, Smush is compatible with many themes, plugins, and browsers, so you can go about your business as usual. 

Key features of Smush

• Image optimization, compression, and resizing tools
• Automatic file compression as you upload images to WordPress
• The ability to view all Smush image data directly in your image blocks

Pros of Smush

• You can choose to optimize images individually or in bulk (up to 50 images at a time).
• You can limit the output locations of media like widgets, content areas, and thumbnails.
• Smush Pro comes with Smush CDN and WebP conversion, and it stores backups of your original images.

Cons of Smush

• Smush skips images over 5MB, which could be problematic for some websites like those with portfolios.
• The compression options with the free version may be too simplistic for some users.

Ease of use

Getting started with Smush is super simple. You can activate the features with just the click of a button. This instantly defers the loading of images below the fold. Simply head to the plugin’s settings, visit the Lazy Loading section, and hit Activate.

Price

You can use the free version of the plugin or opt for Smush Pro, starting at $7.50 per month. Additionally, you can test the tool first with a seven-day free trial.

3. Lazy Loader

Lazy Loader is a simple, straightforward plugin that does exactly what it says. You won’t get any fuss or frills with this tool. Instead, you can simply enable/disable lazy load on certain elements and add a spinner animation to loading content. 

Additionally, Lazy Loader can be applied to many types of content, including videos, iframes, audio content, images, and even backgrounds, scripts, and page styles. Therefore, while there are no fancy features to play around with, Lazy Loader is certainly a robust tool.

Key features of Lazy Loader

• The ability to lazy load background images and scripts with manual modifications
• A checkbox to enable/disable lazy loading for specific posts and pages 
• The ability to use the native lazy loading feature in browsers to modify iframes and images

Pros of Lazy Loader

• It defers the loading of all types of content, from page styling to iframes and scripts.
• You can disable lazy loading for images with specific CSS classes, and add filters for the plugin to process.
• It utilizes a “noscript” element as a fallback for disabled JavaScript.

Cons of Lazy Loader

• You’ll need to modify the markup to use it for background images not inserted with inline styles and scripts.

Ease of use

Lazy Loader requires a little more technical expertise if you plan on using it for background images not inserted with inline styles and scripts. But for any other elements, Lazy Loader is pretty easy to set up. Under Settings → Media, configure the exact options that you want, and the plugin gets to work immediately. 

Price

Free.

4. Optimole

Optimole is a full-service cloud-based system that offers lazy loading and resizing. It also enables you to optimize and compress images in WordPress. Plus, you can even take advantage of the Optimole CDN for faster content delivery. 

A unique feature of Optimole is that it replaces all image URLs with cloud-based URLs and compresses them on the fly. Moreover, you can enjoy extra features like format-based optimization, smart cropping, and watermarks.

The free version can handle 5K monthly visitors from over 200 locations. But if that’s not enough, you can always upgrade to the Pro version to accommodate 50K visitors per month. 

Key features of Optimole

• A global CDN at no extra cost
• Full support for page builders 
• Cloud image library support and AVIF support for lower image sizes

Pros of Optimole

• It doesn’t affect layouts, so you can improve your User Experience (UX).
• Optimole supports all image types including WebP and retina.
• It optimizes in real-time based on each visitor’s device.

Cons of Optimole

• Lazy loading isn’t as effective as other tools (sometimes the image is replaced with a blurred image momentarily).
• The Pro option is pricier than others on this list.

Ease of use

Optimole is a fully automated plugin. Therefore, you can “set and forget” the settings, and the tool works in the background of your site, requiring very little ongoing maintenance. Plus, you can uninstall Optimole just as easily, and your site will be left completely intact.

Price

There is a free version of the Optimole tool that is very functional. Alternatively, you can upgrade to accommodate more traffic, use the tool on unlimited sites, and access email support. Paid plans start at $19.08 per month.

5. LazyLoad by WP Rocket

LazyLoad is a powerful yet lightweight plugin with scripts weighing less than 10KB. We say powerful because LazyLoad takes care of all assets on your site, including avatars, thumbnails, iframes, background images, YouTube videos, and more.

It injects JavaScript into your header and delays images without using any JavaScript library like jQuery. With fewer HTTP requests, LazyLoad provides another way to boost speed and improve your LCP score.

Key features of LazyLoad

• The ability to lazy load images in post content or widget text
• Filters that deactivate lazy loading on some pages
• Automatic (or manual) lazy loading for background images

Pros of LazyLoad

• It targets specific goals such as improving metrics on PageSpeed Insights or boosting First Input Delay scores.
• It uses a “transparent” placeholder for images (as opposed to blurring images).
• It replaces YouTube iframes with a preview thumbnail.

Cons of LazyLoad

• Reviews claim that LazyLoad can disrupt image placement, layouts, and other design elements on your site.
• It isn’t the most mobile-friendly plugin.
• It receives less frequent updates than other lazy load plugins.

Ease of use

LazyLoad is easy to install and configure if you stick with the basic options. But, if you want to achieve greater control, like excluding certain pages from lazy loading, you’ll need to manually edit your functions.php file. 

Price

LazyLoad is a free plugin by WP Rocket. Additionally, if you already have the WP Rocket Cache plugin, LazyLoad is included.

6. Lazy Load for Videos

Lazy Load for Videos is one of the best lazy load plugins for video-heavy websites like portfolios or sites with embedded content from YouTube or Vimeo. It works by substituting any embedded video with a clickable image preview, which defers JavaScript.

Better yet, YouTube videos are also loaded in a privacy-enhanced mode. Plus, you can enjoy plenty of customization options, like tweaking the Play button or hiding related video suggestions once the video ends. 

Key features of Lazy Load for Videos

• No vendor lock-in and no custom shortcodes, so your videos will still work if you decide to stop using the tool 
• GDPR compliance, enabling you to display a privacy disclaimer above preview images
• A custom color for your Vimeo player and progress bar

Pros of Lazy Load for Videos

• You can set your embeds to autoplay if you prefer.
• You can hide annotations and YouTube controls to create a clean, neat space.
• It includes extras like pre-roll/post-roll advertisements that you can apply to all videos.

Cons of Lazy Load for Videos

• There are some compatibility issues with the Jetpack “Shortcode Embeds” extension, BuddyPress, and the YouTube Embed WordPress plugin.

Ease of use

Like other plugins on this list, Lazy Load for Videos is super simple to install and manage. Plus, it’s easy to turn the plugin on and off at any time.

Price

Free.

7. a3 Lazy Load

Finally, a3 Lazy Load delivers an exclusive lazy loading service. It’s very easy to set up, even for beginners, and it’s mobile-friendly. 

While the plugin enables your pages to load faster, you can also toggle the setting for videos and iframes, thanks to a3 Lazy Load’s extensive customization options. Better yet, you’re able to include/exclude particular elements and even add some smooth transition effects like fade and spinner.

Key features of a3 Lazy Load

• The ability to use the plugin with content-heavy sites (it’s been tested with 1000 images)
• Lazy loading for thumbnails, avatars, widgets, custom post types, and more
• Full compatibility with WordPress embeds

Pros of a3 Lazy Load

• You can add fade and spinner effects to loading images.
• You can use the On/Off feature to include and exclude elements.
• It’s fully compatible with other useful plugins like WooCommerce, so you can integrate it easily with your online store.

Cons of a3 Lazy Load

• It only works with media that’s been added using core WordPress functions and won’t work with any custom written functions.

Ease of use

a3 Lazy Load is super easy to set up and customize for all user levels.

Price 

There’s a free version available, or you can upgrade to premium. Paid plans start at $24.99 per month for use on five sites. What’s more, you can try a3 Lazy Load free for 14 days and easily cancel the subscription if you decide against it.

The best lazy load plugin: comparison table

Verdict: what’s the best lazy load plugin for WordPress?

The best lazy load plugin depends on your website needs. For instance, if you have many high-quality images on your site, you might prefer a plugin that offers image optimization features like compression and resizing. 

Additionally, if most of your media files are videos or WebP formats, then it’s important to find a plugin with this capability since some tools will only work with JPEG/JPGs and PNGs. 

With Jetpack Boost, you can tick multiple checkboxes. While you’re able to enjoy extra features like Critical CSS and deferral of non-essential JavaScript, Jetpack Boost isn’t going to weigh your site down with a bunch of tools you don’t need. Instead, these features are used to enhance quick content delivery along with lazy loading.

Better yet, you couldn’t ask for an easier tool to set up and configure. Once it’s installed on your site, simply head to the dashboard, where you’ll use toggles to enable/disable each of the settings. Then, Jetpack Boost works in the background of your site, requiring little to no ongoing maintenance. 

How to choose a lazy load plugin

Now that you know the best lazy load plugins for WordPress, here are some ways to narrow down the right option for your site.

1. Make sure it matches your skill level

Some users might want a more hands-on tool with lots of control configurations and customization options. But for a beginner, all these settings can be intimidating. That’s why finding a lazy load plugin that matches your skill level is important.

If you don’t have a lot of tech experience, you’ll probably prefer a tool that’s easy to install and works automatically. There are plenty of options with “set and forget” options, so there’s no need to tinker around with complicated features and ongoing maintenance. 

2. Check for additional features

If you’re looking for a lazy load plugin, you might simply want a method to delay the loading of images below the fold. Some of these plugins, like LazyLoad and Lazy Loader, do just what they say on the box.

But, for more complex, content-heavy websites, you can benefit from tools that provide additional features to enhance your content delivery. For instance, if you have a portfolio, you might want optimization and compression tools. Meanwhile, photography websites could find a watermarking feature useful. 

3. Find out which image formats and sizes are supported

Typically, most plugins will accommodate popular image formats like JPEGs and PNGs. But not all tools offer lazy loading for animated images like GIFs or videos. Plus, some newer image formats like WebP and Retina might be ignored.

That’s why it’s important to ensure that the lazy load plugin you choose can support all the file types you intend to use on your website. Additionally, keep in mind that the free versions of some plugins are often a lot less powerful. Therefore, while a free lazy load plugin may seem like the best option in the short term, it might not work on large media files.

4. Make sure it’s compatible with other plugins on your website

The last thing you want to do is to get started with a lazy load plugin only to find that it isn’t compatible with other plugins essential to the running of your site. For example, if you own an online store, you probably rely on a platform like WooCommerce. Meanwhile, forum sites utilize specialized plugins like bbPress to gain functionality. 

If the plugin isn’t compatible with other software you’ve installed, you risk breaking your site. Therefore, it’s crucial to pay close attention to the integrations and compatibility of your preferred tool. A good example of this is the Lazy Load for Videos plugin, which doesn’t work with a specific extension of Jetpack.

In general, Jetpack Boost, because it’s made by the people behind WordPress.com, will work reliably with most themes and plugins.

Frequently asked questions about WordPress lazy load plugins

Now that you know how to choose the best lazy load plugin for your site, here are some of the most popular questions about lazy loading.

What makes a good lazy load plugin?

A good lazy load plugin can delay loading your images below the fold. Doing so speeds up the delivery of content that’s immediately visible to your users. While this is the default feature, you can also find lazy load plugins that offer additional features like image optimization, compression, and resizing tools.

On top of that, the best lazy load plugins are automated, easy to use, and compatible with popular plugins like WooCommerce. Plus, it’s vital to find a tool that doesn’t damage your UX or adjust the image quality too visibly since this can be frustrating for your visitors.

How much does a lazy load plugin cost on WordPress?

There are plenty of free lazy load WordPress plugins. But many providers also offer a paid option that might include extra features or handle larger file sizes. It’s important to note that some free tools can be very limited.

That’s why Jetpack Boost is a great option. There’s a completely free version that is super simple to configure. Once you’ve set it up on WordPress, you can lazy load images, defer non-essential JavaScript, and optimize Critical CSS. These settings enable you to speed up content delivery without spending a penny.

Is it easy to set up a lazy load plugin on WordPress?

Lazy load plugins vary in their ease of use. You’ll find more complex tools that require a more hands-on approach and configuration. But you can also opt for simple lazy load plugins that are easy to install and use. 

One of the best features of Jetpack Boost is that you can set it up with just a few clicks. Then, use toggles to enable or disable individual features. Plus, you can deactivate the plugin at any point without damaging your site.

What other features can I get with a lazy load plugin?

You can find lazy load plugins that offer a streamlined service. But if you want to access additional features, it’s worth choosing a tool that offers other features to improve the performance of your site.

Jetpack Boost is a great lazy load plugin because the lazy load service is simple but powerful. Better yet, you’re able to defer non-essential JavaScript, optimize Critical CSS, and with paid plans, you can even automate critical CSS. You can also pair Jetpack Boost with Jetpack’s CDN to further optimize and stabilize your web performance.

Boost your site’s performance with a lazy load plugin

While adding images is a great way to spruce up your site, too many photos can disrupt your UX with slow loading times. Fortunately, with the right lazy load plugin, you’re able to deliver content faster and keep your site running smoothly.

To recap, here are some of the top WordPress lazy load plugins:

1. Jetpack Boost: An easy-to-use plugin with additional features for speed optimization.
2. Smush: A popular image optimization plugin with compression and resizing tools.
3. Lazy Loader: A simple, fuss-free way to lazy load your images.
4. Optimole: A full-service cloud-based system that includes a CDN.
5. Lazy Load by WP Rocket: A lightweight but powerful plugin that helps you target specific goals.
6. Lazy Load for Videos: The best option for video lazy loading, with plenty of customization tools. 
7. A3 Lazy Load: A user-friendly plugin exclusively dedicated to lazy loading.

Overall, using Jetpack Boost is the best plugin to implement lazy loading on your site. Plus, with a bunch of extra features, you can optimize your entire web performance. Get started with Jetpack Boost today!

This month we have worked on several under-the-hood improvements to enhance your Jetpack experience, including further enhancements to the Form block.

New form element styling options

• You can now style individual form elements more easily in the Form block’s sidebar settings, including:
  • Adding a corner radius to input fields
  • Updating the border width
  • Editing the line height of an input field
  • Changing the color of the label text, input text, borders, and input fields

This release also includes other minor bug fixes and improvements — check the changelog for more

A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this release:

Adnan Haque, Adrian Moldovan, Ajay Kumar Jain, André Kallehauge, Artur Piszek, Biser Perchinkov, Bogdan Ungureanu, Bogomil Stoynov, Brad Jorsch, Brandon Kraft, Candy Tsai, Christian Gastrell, Clemen, Damián Suárez, Daniel Bachhuber, Daniel Post, Dean Sas, Derek Smart, Donncha Ó Caoimh, Douglas Henri, Dylan Munson, Eric Binnion, Foteini Giannaropoulou, Gergely Márk Juhász, Grant Kinney, Ian Ramos, Ivan Ottinger, James Kenneth Guidaven, Jason Johnston, Jason Moon, Jasper Kang, Jeremy Herve, Karen Attfield, Kuba Birecki, Luiz Kowalski, MILLER/F, Maciej Grabowski, Mikael Korpela, Nate Weller, Nauris Pūķis, Osk, Peter Petrov, Piotr Stankowski, Rafael Agostini, Renan Carvalho, Renato Augusto Gama dos Santos, Romario, Samiff, Sergey Mitroshin, Sérgio Gomes, Steve D, Vishnu Gopal, Wilmerson da Silva, Yaroslav Kukharuk, arthur791004, bindlegirl, daledupreez, jcheringer, nunyvega, ouikhuan, simonktnga8c, thingalon

You learned about the importance of the .htaccess file in our blog post How to Access and Edit the Default WordPress .htaccess File. As you can imagine, an important file such as .htaccess can be a target for bad actors. In this article, we’ll point out cases and indicators of compromise that affect this file.

Malicious redirects

Attackers can setup redirects on the .htaccess files that will redirect visitors based on specific conditions. The final destination can be a website containing other malicious content, spam, phishing campains, or other types of scam.

Those redirects will rely on the function RewriteRule and will sometimes be preceeded by the conditions set by RewriteCond, just as a default .htaccess file would do. This can make spotting those bad codes hard for users that aren’t familiar with the website’s configuration.

Examples of this type of malware are (URLs were invalid):

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} ^http://[w.]*([^/]+)
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST}/%1 !^[w.]*([^/]+)/$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^.*$ hxxp://celeirodoalgarvio[.]com/azzf.html?h=717013 [L,R]
</IfModule>

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^([A-Za-z0-9-]+).txt$ hxxps://getyourprizenow[.]life/?u=y2ykaew&o=2xup89r&m=1&t=m2rdhta [L]
RewriteRule ^([A-Za-z0-9-]+).htm$ hxxps://getyourprizenow[.]life/?u=y2ykaew&o=2xup89r&m=1&t=m2rdhta [L]
</IfModule>

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} "iPhone|android"[NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ hxxp://176[.]102[.]34[.]137/safezone [L,R=302]

SEO spam

Very similar to the malicious redirects case, this bad code will target search engines instead of the end user, redirecting their crawling attempts to malicious pages written to boost other websites, usually related to scams.

In the condition you’ll find it looking for the search engines on referrers and user-agents, as in the following example:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} (bing|google|yahoo|msn|aol) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} (yahoo|bing|google|msn|aol)
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ default.php [L,QSA]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} (bing|google|yahoo|msn|aol) [NC,OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} (yahoo|bing|google|msn|aol)
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ inc.php [L,QSA]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} (bing|google|yahoo|msn|aol) [OR,NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} (yahoo|bing|google|msn|aol)
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ inc.php [L,QSA] 
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} (bing|google|yahoo|msn|aol) [OR,NC] 
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} (bing|google|yahoo|msn|aol)
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ inc.php [L,QSA]

Allowing bad code

Sometimes the attacker wants to make sure to protect the malicious file they uploaded to the site from competitors or other people poking around. Or they want to make sure that their malicious file will be opened by overriding the parent directory configuration.

For those cases a FilesMatch condition will be created and specific files or extensions will be listed, as in the example below:

<FilesMatch ".(py|exe|php)$">
 Order allow,deny
 Deny from all
</FilesMatch>
<FilesMatch "^(about.php|radio.php|index.php|content.php|lock360.php)$">
 Order allow,deny
 Allow from all
</FilesMatch>

What to do if my site was infected?

If you find the .htaccess file on your website was compromised the first thing you should do is to restore it to a working version, which will preserve your site’s permalinks and redirects. Please refer again to How to Access and Edit the Default WordPress .htaccess File. And then follow these steps:

• Change all admin user’s passwords and make sure you’re using multi-factor authentication.
• Review all WordPress users and remove the ones you don’t recognize (especially the admin ones).
• Review for unused or unknown themes and plugins and remove anything unnecessary or unknown.
• Reinstall all your plugins since they may have been compromised.
• Review your theme for added or changed files that weren’t added or changed with your consent.
• Reinstall WordPress core files.

At Jetpack, we work hard to make sure your websites are protected from these types of vulnerabilities. We recommend that you have a security plan for your site that includes malicious file scanning and backups. The Jetpack Security bundle is one great WordPress security option to ensure your site and visitors are safe. This product includes real-time malware scanning, site backups, comment and form spam protection from Akismet, brute force attack protection, and more.

Search functionality is essential for most websites as it helps visitors locate the information, content, or products they need. WordPress comes with a native search system, but this can only perform basic lookups, and it can be slower than users expect, especially if your website contains a lot of content.

Luckily, there’s a wide range of advanced search plugins for WordPress that enable you to offer a speedy experience. These plugins often come with useful features such as instant search results, ecommerce product support, and spelling correction that help ensure your visitors can quickly find the information they’re looking for.  

There are a lot of WordPress search plugins out there, so to help you find the perfect one for your site, we’ve put together this handy guide. Read on to explore the features you should be looking for in a WordPress search plugin, and then see our reviews of five of the best options. 

Features to look for in a WordPress search plugin

Some of the top features to look out for in site search plugins include:

Accurate search results

Of course, the top thing to look for when choosing a WordPress search plugin is the accuracy of its search results. The accuracy of a WordPress search plugin largely depends on a combination of:

• The plugin’s index – While the default WordPress search function works by querying your database each time a user searches, most search plugins build their own index of your site, which it then searches against. Therefore, the accuracy of this index is essential. You should also ensure your WordPress search plugin automatically updates its index every time you add or change content and that it can index all the types of content you want your visitors to be able to discover.
• The plugin’s algorithm – The algorithm used by your search plugin influences how it determines which results to return for your visitors’ search queries. You should look for a WordPress search plugin that allows you to customize its algorithm to meet the needs of your site — for example, you may decide that the plugin should give a higher priority to products in your online store than to images in your site’s media library. 

Over 80% of search queries are made up of more than one word, so you should also make sure your WordPress search plugin can deliver accurate results if a phrase or question is entered. For example, Jetpack Search can instantly respond to complex, multi-faceted searches, which helps your visitors find the information they’re looking for without rephrasing their query. 

Speed

It’s vital that a WordPress search plugin quickly responds to queries.

Some WordPress plugins offer instant search, so your visitors start seeing results as soon as they enter their query, rather than waiting for a search results page to load.  

It’s also important to consider what resources the search plugin uses to index your site and process your visitors’ queries. Most WordPress search plugins use your website’s server, which can work well for small sites, but as your site grows, this can put a strain on your web server, and you may notice it takes longer to process search requests and index new content. But other plugins, such as Jetpack Search, take the strain away from your host by using powerful cloud servers to deliver lightning-fast results regardless of the size of your site. 

Powerful filtering

Filters can help your visitors narrow their search results to find exactly what they are looking for. You should look for a WordPress search plugin that allows your visitors to filter their search results based on tags, categories, or product attributes. It’s also important to consider how quickly the search plugin can apply those filters. Some can instantly filter results without reloading the page, while others need to refresh the page to apply filters. 

Jetpack’s WordPress search plugin, for example, supports more than 1,000 custom taxonomies.

Ecommerce support

Customers are two times more likely to make a purchase online after searching on a retailer’s website, so a great search function is essential for any ecommerce store. If you run an online store, your WordPress search plugin should offer full support for your ecommerce platform and allow your visitors to search and filter by product attributes so that they can find the product they are looking for.  

Jetpack’s WordPress search plugin, for example, has a special mode for ecommerce sites that can display results in a grid style.  

A review of the best site search plugins for WordPress

But how do you find the best search plugin for your WordPress site? To help, we’ve examined some of the top WordPress search plugins and compared them based on their features, pros and cons, ease of use, and pricing.

1. Jetpack Search

Jetpack Search is one of the best WordPress search plugins that offers a wide range of advanced tools to help your visitors instantly find the right content or product.

The plugin offers instant search and will start displaying results as soon as a visitor begins to type in your search box. This means that they don’t have to wait for search results to load. In addition, Jetpack Search is highly customizable and offers a wide range of features and options, enabling you to create an outstanding search experience that blends seamlessly with your site design. Plus, Jetpack Search offers instant spelling correction, so a typo won’t get in the way of your visitors finding what they’re looking for. 

Jetpack Search fully integrates with WooCommerce to help your customers find the perfect product for them. The plugin supports complex faceted search requests — for example, “A red and white men’s polo shirt in large for under $25.” In addition, Jetpack Search displays product pictures in search results and allows customers to instantly filter their results by product attributes, so they can quickly find the item they’re looking for.  

The plugin can deliver its lightning-fast speed without putting extra strain on your server as it uses Automattic’s powerful cloud servers to index your site and conduct searches. Jetpack Search was made by the experts at Automattic — the same people behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce. This means that Jetpack Search should integrate seamlessly with your WordPress website.

Features of Jetpack Search

• Instant search and filtering without reloading the page
• Advanced customization options, which allows you to create a bespoke search experience
• Advanced ranking algorithms that help you deliver highly-relevant results
• Integration with Jetpack Stats to help you see what visitors are searching for
• Prioritized results based on your site’s most popular pages
• Faceted searches and instant filtering (by tags, categories, dates, custom taxonomies, and post types)
• Real-time indexing, meaning your search index will update within minutes of changes to your site
• Support for multiple languages
• Highlighted search terms in comments and post content
• Spelling corrections

Pros of Jetpack Search

• Jetpack Search helps your visitors quickly find what they want by instantly providing search results as soon as they start typing.
• The plugin supports complex search queries and allows visitors to instantly filter their search results, including by product attributes.
• Unlike most of the other plugins in this list, Jetpack Search is a cloud-based service. This means it can deliver highly accurate search results without using your server resources.

Cons of Jetpack Search

• Jetpack Search doesn’t index the content of PDFs or documents that you’ve uploaded to your WordPress site. 

Who is Jetpack Search most suitable for?

Jetpack Search is a great search solution for any WordPress site. As it uses cloud servers to index and search your website, it can effortlessly deliver results regardless of the size of your site. Its deep integration with WooCommerce also makes it ideal for store owners. 

Ease of Use

Jetpack Search is easy to install and will automatically start indexing your site. While the plugin offers powerful customization options, these are easy to understand, and detailed documentation is available. Jetpack’s team of WordPress Happiness Engineers also provides email support to all users. 

Pricing

The free version of Jetpack Search allows you to index up to 5,000 records and process 500 search requests per month. The paid plan costs $8.25 per 10,000 records or search requests a month.

2. ElasticPress.io

ElasticPress.io is a powerful WordPress search service. To enable ElasticPress.io on your site, you must install and configure the ElasticPress WordPress search plugin. Then ElasticPress.io will use its servers to index your site and deliver results. This means your visitors get instant search results that are not limited by the speed or capacity of your website server. 

ElasticPress.io integrates with WooCommerce to allow your visitors to search for products using product attributes and filter their results so they can find the perfect item. Using ElasticPress.io, you can customize your search algorithms and control the results visitors receive for your most popular search terms. ElasticPress.io also offers auto suggestions based on common search terms, and automatically corrects spellings, so your visitors can easily find the content they’re looking for. 

Features of ElasticPress.io

• Hosted search, which takes the load off your servers 
• Instant search, which shows results as soon as users start typing
• WooCommerce integration
• Auto-suggest search terms 
• Spelling correction
• Search capabilities within documents and PDFs 
• Search filters that allow users to narrow down results 
• A custom results editor to help ensure popular search terms return pre-determined content or products
• Custom search weighting 

Pros of ElasticPress.io

• Like Jetpack Search, ElasticPress is a hosted service that offers a very fast WordPress search experience for your visitors, which doesn’t use your server storage or resources. 
• ElasticPress.io offers a wide range of advanced features that enable you to fully customize your visitors’ search experience.

Cons of ElasticPress.io

• Although there’s a 14-day free trial, there is no free version of ElasticPress.
• ElasticPress is more expensive than the other hosted, highly-customizable solution on this list: Jetpack Search. 

Who is ElasticPress.io most suitable for?

ElasticPress.io is best suited to large WooCommerce sites because it offers fast and accurate product searching, but has a significantly higher cost than the other plugins on this list. 

Ease of use

Enabling ElasticPress.io on your WordPress website requires some configuration, and the number of options available may be confusing for some users. However, documentation is provided, along with email support for all subscribers. 

Pricing

ElasticPress.io Essential costs $79 per month for up to 20,000 records and 100,000 requests. Additional requests and records are available with the ‘Extended’ plan, which costs $299 per month. 

3. Relevanssi

Relevanssi is a popular WordPress search plugin that orders results by relevance. A single WordPress developer, Mikko Saari, is responsible for developing Relevanssi. The plugin replaces WordPress’s built-in search functionality and indexes every part of your site to allow users to search pretty much anything. You can also configure Relevanssi Premium to work with WooCommerce and enable customers to easily search for products on your online store.  

Relevanssi uses a partial-relevance algorithm to deliver search results to your visitors, which means that if their complete search term doesn’t turn up an exact result, it will display the results that are the closest match. The plugin also offers ‘Did you mean?’ suggestions to your visitors to help them find the content they’re looking for.

Features of Relevanssi

• The ability to index any content on your WordPress site, including posts, pages, titles, and products
• The ability for visitors to search PDFs, documents, and taxonomy terms (premium plan only) 
• Search results ordered in terms of relevance
• Highlighted search terms in your posts and pages
• Customizable weighting for different types of content (premium plan only)
• Search logs to show the most popular queues and searches that returned no results
• Google-style “Did you mean?” suggestions based on user searches
• Spelling corrections (premium plan only) 
• Keyword stemming (premium plan only)

Pros of Relevanssi

• A free version of Relevanssi is available, including many core features, like relevance-based results. 
• Relvanssi’s premium version supports indexing a wide range of content types, including PDF documents, taxonomy terms, and shortcode-generated content.  

Cons of Relevanssi

• Relevanssi uses your own site’s storage and servers, meaning it could impact the speed of your site and take up space on your server. The plugin requires around three times the amount of space as the size of your wp_posts database table. 
• Taxonomy searching is only possible in the premium version, so if you run an ecommerce store, the free version won’t allow visitors to search by product category or attribute. 
• Live Ajax searching is only possible with the use of an additional plugin. 
• Relevanssi has compatibility issues with popular WordPress plugins, including BuddyPress and NextGen Gallery. 

Who is Relevanssi most suitable for?

Relevanssi uses your server space and bandwidth to store its index and perform searches, making it best suited for relatively small websites. The premium version is also suitable for ecommerce site owners. 

Ease of use

Relevanssi is easy to use and requires minimal setup. The plugin offers a comprehensive knowledge base, and the developer is active on the plugin’s support forum. In addition, email support is provided to premium subscribers. 

Pricing

The plugin is available for free. A premium version that includes additional features, like full WooCommerce support, costs $109 per year. 

4. Better Search

Better Search is a free WordPress search plugin that aims to provide your website visitors with more relevant search results. The plugin allows visitors to search most content on your WordPress site, including posts, pages, and custom post types. It also provides a wide range of options to allow you to customize its search outputs, including adjusting the weighting placed on different content types. Better Search logs the queries made by your visitors to generate a heat map to help you visualize the popular searches on your site. 

Features of Better Search

• An index of the titles and content of posts, pages, and custom post types 
• Relevance-based results 
• Customizable search outputs 
• Search term logs

Pros of Better Search

• The plugin offers relevance-based searching for WordPress at no cost.

Cons of Better Search

• Better Search cannot index taxonomies, meaning your visitors cannot search based on category or product attributes.
• Visitors can’t instantly see search results, as live searching isn’t supported. 
• Spelling correction and suggested searches are not offered.

Who is Better Search most suitable for?

Better Search is a good choice for site owners on a budget who want to provide more relevant search results but who don’t need the advanced features offered by premium plugins. However, as Better Search does not support taxonomy searching, it provides limited benefit to ecommerce store owners.

Ease of use

The plugin is easy to install, and will automatically replace the default WordPress search functionality. However, the advanced options offered by Better Search could be confusing for some users. Limited documentation is provided, but the developers are active on the plugin’s WordPress support forum.

Pricing

Better Search is available for free from the WordPress plugin repository. 

5. Ivory Search

Ivory Search is a WordPress search plugin that offers free and premium versions. The plugin replaces the default WordPress search functionality and allows visitors to scour most of your WordPress site, including posts, pages, titles, and taxonomies. Ivory Search also offers live search, so visitors can see search results as soon as they start typing their query.

Ivory Search also supports WooCommerce, so your customers can search and see results from your product names, descriptions, and attributes. The plugin’s Pro Plus plan includes deeper support for WooCommerce, allowing you to exclude out-of-stock products from search results and for customers to search by product SKU. 

Features of Ivory Search

• Indexing for posts, pages, titles, taxonomies, and WooCommerce products 
• Ajax-powered live searching
• The ability to create multiple search forms and place them anywhere on your site via shortcodes 
• Keyword stemming (premium only)
• Control over the order of search results (premium only)
• The ability to remove password-protected posts from search results (premium only)
• The ability to search by WooCommerce SKU (premium only)
• Search analytics via Google Analytics integration 

Pros of Ivory Search

• The ‘starter’ version of Ivory Search is free and includes many advanced features, including support for WooCommerce product attributes. 

Cons of Ivory Search

• While Ivory Search Pro Plus will allow you to index uploaded file names, it cannot index the content of PDFs or documents. 
• Some features that help your visitors receive the most accurate search results, such as keyword stemming, are only available in the premium versions of the plugin. 
• Ivory Search uses your server’s storage and resources to index your site and process requests, so its performance can be limited by the resources available within your hosting package.

Who is Ivory Search most suitable for?

Ivory Search’s free ‘starter’ plan would be a good choice for small to medium size WooCommerce store owners who want a free search plugin that improves their customers’ search experience. The plugin’s premium plans are most suited to site owners who want increased control over their visitors’ search experience but don’t want advanced features, such as native search analytics, instant filtering, spelling correction, and indexing of document content.

Ease of use

Ivory Search’s many options could confuse some users, and the search form and results pages have to be styled via CSS. However, the developer provides detailed documentation alongside support on the plugin’s support forum. Email support is also offered to users of Ivory Search’s paid plans. 

Pricing

The ‘starter’ version of Ivory Search is available for free in the WordPress plugin directory. Ivory Search also offers two paid plans. Its Pro plan offers additional features, including advanced ordering and post exclusion settings, for $19.99 a year. Its Pro Plus plan includes indexing of documents, PDFs, and WooCommerce SKUs for $49.99 a year.  

Comparison of the top WordPress search plugins

Factors to consider when choosing the best WordPress search plugin

Does it offer the features you need?

WordPress site search plugins offer a wide variety of features, and we’ve outlined some of the key features to consider at the start of this article. When choosing a search plugin, it’s important to ensure it has all the features you need to give your visitors a great experience. 

Is it easy to use?

You should consider how easy the WordPress site search plugin is to use and how easy it is to customize the plugin’s settings to meet your site’s needs. Some plugins, such as Jetpack Search, are simple to use with minimal setup but still offer high levels of customization so that you can create a bespoke search experience for your site. 

Could it slow down your site?

Most WordPress search plugins use your web server to index your site and carry out visitor search requests. Depending on the size of your site and your web hosting package, this could slow down your site. But, some plugins, such as Jetpack Search, use powerful cloud servers to index and search your site, meaning that you can consistently offer a lightning-fast experience to your visitors. 

Does it work with WooCommerce? 

If you run an online store using WooCommerce, you must ensure your WordPress search plugin allows your customers to find the products through search. Some search plugins only allow customers to search by product title. But other advanced search plugins, including Jetpack Search, allow your customers to perform faceted searches and filter by product attribute so they can quickly find the product they’re looking for. 

Conclusion: What is the best search plugin on WordPress?

The best WordPress search plugin will depend on several factors, including the size of your site, your experience with WordPress, and if you need the plugin to offer advanced features such as instant search. 

But it’s clear from the comparison table above that Jetpack Search is the best search plugin for WordPress. Jetpack Search is an affordable hosted search solution that offers a wide range of features, including instant search, powerful filtering, and full support for WooCommerce. It’s simple to set up, and works automatically to keep your site’s search index up to date. Plus, it delivers lightning-fast results to your visitors without using valuable server resources. As it’s made by the people behind WordPress.com and WooCommerce, it integrates seamlessly with your site to help your visitors instantly find content or products. 

Frequently asked questions about WordPress search plugins

How much does an advanced site search plugin cost on WordPress?

WordPress search plugins vary in price. Some plugins are free, but offer fewer features than their premium counterparts. The top plugin in this article, Jetpack Search, provides a powerful free version perfect for smaller sites, and its paid version offers advanced features at a much lower cost than other hosted search solutions in this review. 

Is it easy to configure a site search plugin on WordPress?

This varies by plugin and the amount of customizations made by the site owner. However, most can be set up and working in a few clicks and advanced customizations can be made over time. 

What makes a good WordPress site search plugin?

WordPress site search plugins should be quick to set up, easy to use, and offer lightning-fast results while minimizing strain on server resources. And that’s why cloud-based solutions like Jetpack Search are often the go-to option for site owners. 

Search plugins should also offer customization options that guide visitors along paths that help you meet your site goals. Finally, solutions are only helpful if they offer accurate results. Ideal plugins will provide automatic spelling corrections and work to constantly keep the results index up-to-date and relevant. 

If you build WordPress sites, you know the importance of keeping them up and running smoothly. But let’s face it, even the best-laid plans can go awry. That’s why having a reliable backup system in place is crucial — and that’s where Jetpack VaultPress Backup comes in. This powerful plugin is the ultimate solution for your client’s websites, providing peace of mind for everyone.

Picture this: you’ve just finished building a stunning website for your client, and everything is going great. But then, a hacker strikes out of nowhere, and the site goes down. With traditional website backups, it could take all day to restore the site to its previous state. 

You’ll have to work to find an uncompromised version that you can restore, which sometimes involves digging through files or working with the host’s support chat. Then, you’ll need to use a tool like FTP and phpMyAdmin to restore both the database and files. And if you don’t have an uncompromised backup on hand, then there’s even more work involved to get the site to its most recent version.

But with VaultPress Backup, you can restore the site in minutes, even if it’s completely down and you’re not near a computer. With real-time backups, everything that happens on the site is saved, and you can reference the activity log to determine the exact point to which you want to restore. This enables you to protect the site’s assets, even if you recently made changes or a client is constantly adding new posts. 

The benefits of VaultPress Backup don’t stop there. As an agency, you know that time is money. And with traditional website backups, you could be wasting a lot of both. Hosting providers often charge extra for backups, and backing up and then restoring a site can be a time-consuming process.

With VaultPress Backup, you get top-of-the-line backup services at a fraction of the cost, and one-click restores mean you can get your client’s website back up and running in no time.

And it’s not just your agency that benefits from Jetpack VaultPress Backup. Your clients will love the peace of mind that comes with knowing their website is protected and that their critical data — like orders from a WooCommerce website — is safe and sound.

Frequently asked questions

Now, let’s answer some FAQs about website backups and how Jetpack VaultPress Backup stacks up against traditional hosting provider backups.

What is a website backup?

A website backup is a copy of all the files and data on a website, including the database. This can be used to restore the website if something goes wrong, such as a hack or a coding error.

What does a typical hosting provider back up, and how often?

Many hosting providers only back up a website once a week or less frequently. Some only back up certain parts of a website, such as the database. This can mean that if something goes wrong, you’re unable to restore the site in full.

What does VaultPress Backup back up, and how often?

VaultPress Backup creates full copies of a website, including the database and all files, in real-time, so you always have the most recent version of the site. This means that every new comment, post, order, or other important change is secured safely as soon as it happens. 

What amount of control do you have over host backups vs. backups from VaultPress Backup?

With a traditional hosting provider backup, you often have limited control over when and how backups are created and restored. But with Jetpack VaultPress Backup, every change is saved in real-time, and you can choose which elements of the site you want to restore.

What are the chances of lost or corrupted data for each type of backup?

The chances of lost or corrupted data can be higher with traditional hosting provider backups, as they may not be created as often and may not include all parts of the website. With VaultPress Backup, real-time backups minimize the risk of lost or corrupted data. VaultPress Backup stores copies of your backups in the cloud, too, which means you’ll never lose any site or store data.

Jetpack VaultPress Backup is built and maintained by Automattic, the people behind WordPress.com, so it’s designed with WordPress sites as the sole focus. With this level of expertise, you can rest assured that it’s a stable, reliable solution for every site.

How long does a hosting provider usually keep backups vs. VaultPress Backup?

It depends on the hosting provider, but many only keep backups for a few weeks or even less. Jetpack VaultPress Backup retains a history only limited by the generous amount of storage included with your plan.

Become a partner agency today

Jetpack VaultPress Backup is a must-have for any WordPress developer. The plugin provides top-notch backup services and peace of mind for you and your clients. And most importantly, it saves your agency time and money.

The real-time backups and one-click restores make it a step above traditional hosting provider backups. And with available security scans, spam filtering, and malware protection provided by Jetpack’s suite of tools, Jetpack can become your all-in-one solution for website management.

Don’t wait any longer! Install VaultPress Backup on your client’s websites and experience the benefits for yourself. And when your client’s site goes down, you’ll be the hero who saved the day, just like Batman saving Gotham. VaultPress Backup is your trusty sidekick in the fight against website crashes and data loss. Protect your client’s websites, your agency’s reputation, and your peace of mind by using VaultPress Backup.

To get started today, join our Agency Program and unlock up to 60% off all our products: https://jetpack.com/for/agencies/

Using Google Analytics with WordPress provides some incredible insights. You can learn how people engage with your website, where traffic comes from, how visitors interact with content, and what elements and pages are popular with your audience. You can then use this to improve your site design, determine what types of content or products to create, and better target your advertising.  

The good news is that the information Google Analytics provides about your WordPress website is free. But adding it to WordPress can require some time and patience. 

As you’ll learn throughout this guide, manually adding Google Analytics to WordPress is certainly possible, but is often complicated for beginners. It also provides complex analytics and stats that might be way more than you need, especially if you own a small website and just want to discover more information about visitors and traffic sources. 

The focus of this guide is on how to add Google Analytics to WordPress, but we’ll also tell you a bit more about a tool called Jetpack Stats. This alternative generates simple data, charts, and graphs, can be easier to install, and also integrates with Google Analytics if you need. Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, is responsible for Jetpack Stats, so it’s a great choice for many WordPress site owners.   

How can you use Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a platform that anonymously tracks visitor behavior and aggregates that information so it’s useful to site owners and marketers. Google Analytics on a WooCommerce store, for example, can track the ultimate sources of sales revenue so marketers know which efforts provided the best return on investment. 

But Google Analytics can also tell site owners the pages and posts that are the most popular — in terms of number of visits, but also how long people stay on the page. You can figure out which traffic sources lead people to visit five pages instead of two pages on average (a measure of engagement). You can compare information over time to gauge the success of your site. Does your traffic increase? Are visitors coming back more than once? Have you improved your bounce rate by providing a better, more interesting experience for visitors? 

There are seemingly thousands of ways you can work with the data to get both basic and highly-advanced insights. Here are some of the things Google Analytics tracks: 

• Visitor demographic information, like location, devices used, and interests
• Customer behavior analytics
• Top sources of traffic
• User engagement trends
• Goal completions, like adding products to a cart or signing up for an email list
• The success of various marketing campaigns

Why connect Google Analytics to WordPress?

Using Google Analytics on WordPress is a good idea if you want to learn more about your website and how people interact with it.

Say you use WordPress for your small business site. Integrating Google Analytics with the platform helps you discover how long people stay on your site, where those visitors come from, what actions they take, what content they engage with, and other insightful statistics. 

WordPress doesn’t have any in-built statistics, so adding Google Analytics to the platform provides a whole new perspective on your website. You can uncover information that will make your site more successful and relevant to your audience.

The easiest way to add Google Analytics to WordPress is by using Jetpack. 

Can I see my WordPress analytics without Google?

WordPress doesn’t have a built-in way to view site analytics from your dashboard. Google Analytics is one of the most popular tools for collecting and viewing site stats, but it’s not necessarily the best choice for every site owner. 

While Google Analytics is free to use and provides valuable information, it can be complicated for beginners and hobbyists because it generates a massive amount of data. The platform displays statistics and analytics via complex reports, dashboards, charts, and graphs that can be difficult to interpret. 

Say you have a personal website and just want to analyze visitors, traffic sources, and other simple information. Google Analytics certainly delivers this data, but it can require scrolling through countless charts and graphs to find what you need. If this sounds more like a chore than a benefit, Google Analytics might not be right for you. 

Luckily, you can view analytical information about your WordPress site without Google. Jetpack Stats is the simplest and quickest way to access site analytics right in your WordPress dashboard. Use it to get a solid, reliable overview of site performance without a steep learning curve.

But you can also easily and quickly connect Google Analytics to your site with Jetpack. As you’ll see in a moment, this is a much simpler approach than manually adding tracking codes, especially for beginners. Combining these two gives you the absolute best of both worlds!

Requirements to add Google Analytics to WordPress 

Are you ready to add Google Analytics to WordPress? Here are a few things you need before you start:

• A Google Analytics account
• A Google Analytics tracking or measurement ID
• Access to your WordPress admin dashboard

Signing up for a Google Analytics account is a simple process. You can create a dedicated account just for your site, or if you already have a Google profile for tools like Gmail, you can sign in and visit analytics.Google.com to associate it with that existing account. Read on for more details.

How to sign up for a Google Analytics account and get your measurement ID

Registering for Google Analytics is free, and required whether you connect Google Analytics to WordPress with Jetpack or manually. All you need is a Google account. Follow this step-by-step guide to sign up for a Google Analytics account:

1. Head to Google Analytics on your desktop computer or mobile device.
2. Log in to an existing Google account or register for a new one.
3. Create a name for your Google Analytics account. 
4. Customize your data sharing settings. This gives you control over how much information you want to share with Google.
5. Click Next.

Now, you’ll need to choose a Google Analytics property — the WordPress website that Google will track. Google will end Universal Analytics in July 2023, so you should create a property in Google Analytics 4 (GA4).

1. Enter a property name, the name of your business or website.
2. Choose your reporting time zone and local currency.
3. Click Next.

The next screen is all about your business or site:

1. Select an industry category that best matches your business (or site).
2. Choose a business size from the available categories. 
3. Specify how you intend to use Google Analytics. For example, you might want to use the tool to measure customer engagement or increase conversions. You can select as many categories as you like.
4. Click Create.
5. Review, and if you agree to the terms, click I Accept in the Google Analytics Terms of Service Agreement popup. 
6. Choose how you want to receive email notifications from Google in the My Email Communications popup.

The following screen is about setting up data streams, which helps Google collect information from your WordPress site for analytics. Click Web under the Choose a Platform section.

On the next screen, you need to enter your WordPress site URL and stream name — the name of your website. You’ll notice that Google Analytics has Enhanced Measurement on by default. This option automatically measures content and interactions on your site. Toggle this feature off if you just want Google to track page views.

Click Create Stream.

Finally, Google Analytics will provide you with a measurement ID (known as a “tracking ID” in Universal Analytics) so you can connect this tool to WordPress.

Tip: Copy this measurement ID in your internet browser or leave the tab open. You’ll need this information later.

Now that you have an account and measurement ID, it’s time to add Google Analytics to your WordPress site!

There are two main ways to do this:

1. Using a plugin like Jetpack.
2. Adding Google Analytics to WordPress manually.

How to set up Google Analytics on WordPress with a plugin

Here’s a step-by-step guide to using Google Analytics on WordPress with Jetpack, the easiest way to make the most of this powerful tool.

Tip: If you’ve already installed and set up the Jetpack plugin for WordPress, scroll down to the ‘Find my Google Analytics measurement ID’ section!

1. Install Jetpack

You can install Jetpack directly from the WordPress Admin area. 

1. Click on Plugins → Add New.
2. Search for Jetpack.
3. Click Install Now → Activate.
4. Click Set up Jetpack.

You’ll now connect your website to WordPress.com, which will enable you to take advantage of Jetpack’s features, like site stats. All you need to do is click Approve, and Jetpack will take care of everything else.

2. Select a Jetpack plan

Jetpack Stats is free to use and includes key stats for your WordPress site. However, you’ll need to invest in a paid Jetpack Complete or Security plan to connect Google Analytics to your WordPress site. These plans include additional features like real-time backups, spam prevention, and malware scanning. 

1. Head to https://cloud.jetpack.com/pricing in a new browser tab. 
2. Select a Jetpack plan.
3. Enter the URL of your WordPress site and click Continue.
4. Enter the login credentials for the WordPress user account you want to connect. 
5. Complete the checkout process. At this point, Jetpack will prompt you to enable additional, helpful features. Choose the ones you want or manage them at a later date. Return to your WordPress Admin and click Jetpack → Settings. Then, navigate to the Traffic tab.
6. Click Activate Site Stats. 

At this point, you can already view important information about your site through Jetpack Stats. Learn more about that here. 

But let’s see how to enhance this already powerful tool by connecting Google Analytics.

3. Connect Google Analytics 

Unlike adding Google Analytics to WordPress manually, you don’t need to copy and paste complicated code. All you need is the measurement ID. If you saved it when you signed up for Google Analytics earlier in this tutorial, now’s the time to pull it out! 

If you need to find your Google Analytics measurement ID, here’s how to do so: 

1. Log in to Google Analytics and click Admin in the bottom left-hand corner of your main dashboard. 
2. Click Property in the left-hand menu. 
3. Click Setup Assistant in the right-hand menu.
4. Go to Tag Installation and click Web.
5. Click on your Google Analytics property.
6. Copy the measurement ID. It’s a combination of letters and numbers like G-12345.

Now, you can add that ID to your site by following these steps: 

1. Go to your WordPress dashboard.
2. Go to Jetpack → Settings → Traffic. 
3. Scroll to Google Analytics.
4. Click Configure Your Google Analytics Settings. Clicking this option will redirect you to your WordPress.com dashboard. 
5. Scroll to the Google Analytics section.
6. Paste your measurement ID in the Google Analytics Measurement ID section. 
7. Review and toggle any settings as desired. Learn more about your options here. 
8. Click Save Settings.

And that’s all it takes to gain access to a wealth of information about your site.

How to view Google Analytics on WordPress

Now that you’ve completed the setup process, you’re ready to view information from Google Analytics on WordPress. All you have to do is go to Insights → Reports in your WordPress dashboard.

How to add Google Analytics to WordPress manually

The manual method is definitely the most complicated one because it requires working with code — a skill you might not have. It can be easy to make a mistake that causes your entire WordPress site to stop working. So, if you want to go down this route, it’s a good idea to back up your website before going any further. Jetpack VaultPress Backup can help you do that.

By using this tool, you can easily restore a full version of your site to the exact state it was in before it went down, even if you can’t access your WordPress dashboard at all.

Before you start, you’ll also need the Google Tag provided to you after you created your Google Analytics account. Note that this is longer and more complex than the measurement ID referenced earlier.

To find this, log in to your Google Analytics account. Click Admin in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Click Data Streams → Web in the Property column. Choose the stream for your site. 

Now, select View tag instructions → Install Manually. Copy the entire selection of code that appears, starting with <!– Google tag (gtag.js) → and ending with </script>.

Add your Google tag to WordPress

You’ll need to insert this tag into the <head> of every page on your site, which you can do using the functions.php file. If at all possible, you’ll want to make sure you’re using a child theme, which is essentially a “copy” of your theme that prevents you from losing any customizations when you run a theme update.

The best and safest way to access your functions.php file is through file transfer protocol (FTP). You can do this by using a FTP software like FileZilla, along with the FTP login credentials for your site. Typically, these are found in your hosting provider’s cpanel or other dashboard.

In FileZilla, enter the host, username, password, and port you found from your host.

Then, you’ll see a list on the right side. This shows all of the files and folders on your server. 

Open public_html → wp-content → themes → yourtheme. Of course, if you’re using a child theme, open the child theme folder. Find the functions.php file and download it to your device.

Then, open the file in your text editing software of choice, like Notepad++ or TextEdit. At the bottom of the file, paste the following code:

<pre class="wp-block-syntaxhighlighter-code">

<?php

add_action('wp_head', 'wpb_add_googleanalytics');

function wpb_add_googleanalytics() { ?>

// Paste your Google tag here

<?php } ?>

</pre>

Remember to paste your Google tag where instructed above! Save the file once you’re done.

Remove the old functions.php file from your server and replace it with the updated version from your computer by dragging and dropping it to FileZilla. You should now be good to go! Navigate to your website and ensure that everything looks good and that you haven’t made an error when editing the file.

If, for any reason, there is a problem, you’ll need to restore a backup of your WordPress site.

But how do you know if the connection is working? It can actually take up to 24 to 48 hours to start showing site data within Google Analytics. But in the meantime, you can take these steps:

1. Head back to Google Analytics.
2. Click Reports → Realtime.
3. Pay a visit to your WordPress site. 

If your tag is working correctly, you’ll see the Google Analytics page update to reflect your visit.

Another option is to use Google’s Tag Assistant extension for Google Chrome. Simply install this tool in your browser and navigate to your website. Then, click the extension’s icon in your browser’s top toolbar, followed by the Enable button. Reload the page. 

This will show you any and all Google tags you have on your site, including one for Google Analytics, and will alert you to any problems. 

If you do run into issues, you can use this guide from Google to troubleshoot them.

Why install Google Analytics on WordPress with a plugin?

The problem with installing Google Analytics manually — apart from the complexity and risk — is that it only allows you to view WordPress data from within Google Analytics. You can’t see your site information directly inside of WordPress, so you’ll need to constantly switch between Google and WordPress.

There might also be an issue if you’ve used Google Analytics at some point previously, and now want to do so for your WordPress site. In the past, you probably used Google’s Universal Analytics system, which was the standard prior to 2020. 

Now, however, the standard is GA4, which uses a completely different interface than the one you might be familiar with. Of course, this can complicate things, especially if you just want to gain access to simple information.

Using a plugin like Jetpack will allow you to overcome those challenges and view Google Analytics on WordPress — the platform you already know how to use! Plus, it’s simple and easy to use, without requiring you to edit code.

Frequently asked questions about Google Analytics on WordPress

Here are answers to some common questions about Jetpack Stats and using Google Analytics with WordPress:

What is Jetpack Stats?

Jetpack Stats is a tool developed by the creators of WordPress.com to meet the needs of WordPress websites. It generates simple analytics and information about your website, like visitor data and traffic sources. You can use Jetpack Stats to learn more about the people who engage with your content, where visitors come from in the world, what pages and posts are the most popular with your audience, and other valuable insights. 

Do I need Google Analytics to use Jetpack Stats?

No! Jetpack Stats is a standalone tool that generates information about your WordPress site without any need for Google Analytics. View data within WordPress via simple graphs and charts, and learn more about your visitors and traffic sources.

Can Jetpack Stats and Google Analytics work side by side?

Yes! You can use data generated by Jetpack alongside Google Analytics information to get a 360-degree view of your WordPress website. 

Whether you’re a small business owner, developer, or anyone else who manages a WordPress site, Jetpack Stats provides access to helpful statistics and analytical information to advance your goals.

Is Jetpack Stats free to use?

Yes, Jetpack Stats is free to use, and gives you great WordPress site data and information. 

If you want even more advanced information, you can connect your WordPress site to Google Analytics using a paid Jetpack plan like Jetpack Security or Jetpack Complete.

What other complementary tools does Jetpack offer?

Depending on your plan, Jetpack also provides tools that help you manage and protect your WordPress site, including:

• Real-time, automatic backups that you can restore even if your site is completely down
• Malware scanning and other WordPress security tools that protect your site and alert you to any problems
• Instant site search that helps website visitors find your content quickly and easily
• Speed tools that help improve your user experience and search engine rankings
• Growth tools that help you turn leads into customers

Where can I obtain support for Google Analytics?

Google Analytics is a complicated tool that provides a lot of data that you might not need. If you run into problems, the Google Analytics support forum lets you share information with and get help from other users. 

Alternatively, you might decide to use Jetpack Stats. This is a simpler tool that is easier to navigate and understand. And it includes top-notch support from WordPress experts!

What about Do Not Track?

Do Not Track (DNT) is a feature in web browsers and websites that asks advertisers and other web software providers to not track individuals’ browsing habits. If you’ve enabled Google Analytics using Jetpack, you can force Google Analytics to honor any visitors with DNT enabled and not track their activity (i.e. post and page views) by adding the following code snippet to your site:

add_filter( 'jetpack_honor_dnt_header_for_wga', '__return_true' );

Learn more about adding code snippets to your site here.

What about WooCommerce analytics?

You can also use Jetpack Stats to view information about your WooCommerce store, including order data and trends. Google Analytics, which you can integrate using Jetpack, has additional ecommerce tracking capabilities. 

WooCommerce, however, also has ecommerce analytics that you can access by going to Analytics in your WordPress dashboard. From here, you can get information about revenue, orders, coupons, taxes, and more. 

Learn about your WordPress site visitors

Regardless of the kind of site you run, you probably want to learn more about who’s interacting with it and how. Jetpack Stats can provide you with essential information to measure the progress of your efforts and keep tabs on what’s working and what needs improvement. Plus, you can use Jetpack to quickly integrate Google Analytics when you’re ready for more detailed data.

Get started with Jetpack Stats.