All posts by Editorial Staff

Wix vs WordPress – Which One is Better? (Pros and Cons)

Opinion, squarespace, weebly, wix

Are you trying to decide between Wix vs WordPress to build your website? While WordPress is the most popular website builder in the world, it is not the only option. Wix is another popular builder that allows you to easily create a website. In this article, we will compare Wix vs WordPress and highlight the pros and cons. Our hope is that with this Wix review and comparison, you will be able to decide which platform is right for you.

Wix vs WordPress - Which one is a better platform

Note: This article compares Wix vs Self Hosted WordPress.org NOT WordPress.com. See the difference between self-hosted WordPress.org vs WordPress.com sites.

We have broken down this comparison into 5 categories:

  1. Costs
  2. Ease of Use
  3. Design
  4. Flexibility
  5. Ecommerce

Let’s see how Wix and WordPress stack up into each of these categories.

1. Pricing and Costs

The cost of building a website is an important factor when choosing your platform. The total costs of developing and maintaining your site will entirely depend on your needs. Our goal is to make sure that you can do whatever you need within your budget.

Let’s compare the pricing of Wix and WordPress to find out which one gives you more bang for the buck.

Wix:

Wix offers a basic website builder for free. However, there are two major downsides to it. First, it adds Wix branded advertisements on the top and bottom of your website. Second, you cannot use a custom domain name for your site, so your site address will be: username.wix.com/sitename

Apart from that, the basic plan does not offer necessary add-ons such as Google Analytics, Favicons, eCommerce, etc. To remove ads and get additional features, you’ll have to upgrade to one of the premium plans they offer.

Each Wix premium plan has different storage and bandwidth limitations. You can pay monthly or choose a yearly plan.

Wix premium plans

The best value plans on Wix is the Unlimited plan ($12.50 / month), and if you want an eCommerce store, then you need the eCommerce plan ($16.50 / month).

This cost does not include any apps that you later choose to use on your website.

WordPress:

The WordPress software is available for free for anyone to use. We often get asked about why is WordPress free and what’s the catch?

Well, the biggest catch is that you need your own domain name and web hosting to install it. There are several WordPress hosting providers that you can choose from. See our guide on how to choose the best WordPress hosting.

Depending on your budget, you can start with a basic plan with a WordPress hosting provider like Bluehost that will cost you $2.75 per month and includes a free custom domain name. If your budget permits, then you can use a managed WordPress hosting provider like WPEngine which costs $29 per month.

The cost of a WordPress site will increase if you decide to use premium WordPress themes or plugins. However, there are thousands of free WordPress themes and plugins available that you can use to reduce costs. You can add any feature to your WordPress site using a plugin without upgrading your hosting plan.

For more information, see our guide on how much does it cost to build a WordPress site.

Conclusion:

WordPress beats Wix with flexible plans available from a variety of web hosting companies. The cost depends on how much resources you use, and you are free to use your WordPress site in any way you want.

Ease of Use

Most beginners don’t want to spend too much time learning new skills. Both Wix and WordPress allow you to create websites without learning to code.

Wix:

Wix comes with powerful and easy to use tools to build your own website. It offers a simple drag and drop interface where you can select any element on your site and start editing it in a WYSIWYG interface.

Wix Editor

You can drag and drop items anywhere on your site, rearrange things on your pages, write content, and add media in a user-friendly environment. Many beginners would find this feature a blessing as it saves them from dealing with code.

WordPress:

WordPress comes with a visual editor to write your content and theme customizer which allows you to edit your theme properties in a WYSIWYG environment. However, by default WordPress does not come with a built-in drag and drop page builder.

WordPress post editor

To get the full control of the appearance, users will have to familiarize themselves with different sections like navigation menus, customizer, visual post editor, etc. This means that WordPress requires a small learning curve for beginners.

On the other hand, there are thousands of themes that make customization really easy.

Conclusion:

Wix is clearly the winner here. Users don’t need to spend much time to learn the platform or install any plugins before they can start building their website. On the other hand, they will need to understand WordPress basics and may need to install plugins to build their site.

However you can use powerful WordPress page builders like BeaverBuilder or Divi that offers a lot more power than standalone Wix builder.

Deisgn and Layout

Your site’s design and layout play an important role in your success. Every site owner needs a design that’s not only good looking, but also user-friendly and makes their brand stand-out.

Wix:

Wix comes with more than 500+ pre-made templates to choose from. All Wix designs are fully responsive and written in HTML5. Using the built-in tools, you can further customize your site design, change the layout, and rearrange items as you see fit.

Wix Templates

There are designs available for every kind of site. Templates are divided into categories like business, eCommerce, hobbies, arts & crafts, personal, etc.

One big disadvantage is that once you have selected a template, you cannot change it. You can modify it and customize it as much as you want using only the built-in tools, but you cannot switch to another template.

WordPress:

There are thousands of free and paid themes available for WordPress. Free themes come with limited support, but they also go through a strict review process. Paid themes generally offer more features and come with premium support options.

WordPress themes

WordPress themes range from small personal sites to full-fledged eCommerce sites. Most themes come with built-in customization options of their own. You are also free to further customize them using your own child themes and plugins.

Users can download free themes from WordPess.org directory. For paid themes, there are several WordPress theme shops like Themify, CSSIgniter, StudioPress, and more. See our list of the best commercial WordPress theme shops.

Furthermore, you can hire a developer or learn to create a completely custom theme for your company.

Conclusion:

WordPress has a much larger range of themes and design layouts than Wix. WordPress users can also easily switch themes or customize them as much as they want without any restrictions.

Plugins and Apps

Plugins and Apps are third-party extensions that you can use with your platform to add more features. Wix calls them apps, and in WordPress ecosystem, they are called plugins.

Let’s compare apps and plugins available on both platforms and what you can do with them.

Wix:

Wix comes with nearly 200+ apps that you can add to your site. These apps offer a wide range of features like adding contact forms, gallery, comments, email list and so on.

Wix App Marketplace

Most apps are free or have a lite version. Other apps require monthly payments and vary in prices. Even though there is a limited collection of apps, they cover most commonly requested features by site owners.

WordPress:

At the time of writing this article, there are more than 55,000+ free plugins available in the WordPress.org plugin directory alone. Not to mention, premium plugins available on other marketplaces.

WordPress plugins

The saying goes: if you can think of it, there’s probably a WordPress plugin that makes it happen.

Whether you want to create a contact form, install Google Analytics, build a membership website, or sell online courses, there’s a plugin for that.

You can do just about anything you like with WordPress. There are plenty of plugins both free and paid which you can utilize on your site immediately.

Conclusion:

WordPress easily beats Wix in this area as well. Even though Wix’s app library is growing, it is still limited in comparison to the huge choice available to WordPress users.

Ecommerce

Selling things online is another important feature that most beginners look for. Let’s see how WordPress and Wix compare in eCommerce.

Wix:

Wix offers eCommerce with their paid plans. This means users with the free plan cannot run their eCommerce store on Wix without upgrading to a paid plan. With the WixStores, you can only accept payments using PayPal or Authorize.net.

There are a few third-party apps that you can use for selling things online, but those apps would cost you even more money with their monthly fees. Not to mention you have limited payment gateways and limited functionality.

WordPress:

WordPress makes it super easy to create your online store using WooCommerce, which powers more than 42% of all ecommerce websites in the world. There are also plenty of other eCommerce plugins available for WordPress that you can use to sell physical or digital goods, services, events, subscriptions, and more.

Most eCommerce plugins for WordPress even have their own dedicated themes and have plenty of themes designed specifically to work with those plugins. See our list of best WooCommerce themes for some excellent examples.

Conclusion:

If you want to build a proper online store and be ready for growth, then WordPress offers much more flexibility, freedom, and choices when compared to Wix.

Summary

WordPress is far superior to Wix as a web publishing platform for any kind of website. While Wix offers an easy to use website builder, you can accomplish a lot more with WordPress over the long run. See our guide on how to make a website using WordPress for step by step instructions.

We hope this article helped you compare Wix vs WordPress and learn their pros and cons. You may also want to see our actionable tips on driving traffic to your new WordPress site.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Wix vs WordPress – Which One is Better? (Pros and Cons) appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Do Keyword Research for Your WordPress Blog

Beginners Guide, keyword research, keyword research tips, keyword research tools, keyword research tools for wordpress

We are often asked by our users how to do keyword research for their WordPress blogs. Keyword research helps you find betters content ideas that will help you grow traffic and create highly engaging content that users will love. In this article, we will show you how to properly do keyword research for your WordPress blog.

How to do keyword research for your WordPress blog

What is Keyword Research and Why You Need it?

Keyword research is a research technique used by content creators and SEO experts. It helps you discover words users enter into search engines to find content, products, and services in your industry.

You can then use those words and phrases into your website to get more search traffic.

Many beginners assume that they have a clear idea of what their users are looking for. However, you don’t need to make educated guesses when there are powerful tools available that can help you make data-driven decisions.

Properly using keyword research as a part of your content strategy can help you achieve the following:

  • Find the popular keywords your users are actually looking for
  • Find content ideas that are easy to rank for and have decent search volume
  • Find out what your competitors are doing and then beat them to it with a better content strategy
  • Get more search traffic and grow your audience with each new article

That being said, let’s take a look at how to properly do keyword research for your WordPress blog and boost your search traffic.

We have hand-picked the best keyword research tools that we have personally used for our own projects. We will show you each one of them and how to properly use them to do your own keyword research like a pro.

1. SEMRush

SEMRush

SEMRush is one of the best SEO Tools on the market. It is the complete SEO suite with tools to perform organic research, paid advertising research, keyword research, and in-depth competition analysis.

To get started, simply go to SEMRush website and enter a keyword or your website URL.

SEMRush keyword research overview

You will see an overview of the keyword you entered showing search volume (number of average searches), CPC for paid advertising, and number of search results.

Scroll down a little and you will see an overview of keywords matches and related keywords. You can click on the view full report button to explore the complete lists or export them to a CSV file.

Related keywords

Scroll down further and you will see the list of top search results for the keyword you entered. You can click on each of these links to view full report which will help you understand why these pages rank for these keywords.

You can also use their new ‘Keyword Magic Tool’ which gives you faster access to broader keyword research on related terms. You can click on the add button next to a keyword to add them into keyword analyzer.

Keyword magic tool

Once you have figured out the best keywords with highest search volume, the next step would be to analyze competition for those keywords. Click on the links already ranking for those keywords to see a detailed analysis.

Keyword competition analysis

You will be able to see the backlinks for that particular URL, other keywords that page rank for, and how much search traffic it gets.

Overall, SEMRush is the best keyword research tool on the market. It not only gives you keyword ideas, it also helps you find out how you can rank for those keywords.

2. Ahrefs

Ahrefs

Ahrefs is one of the most powerful keyword research tools on the market. It helps you learn why your competitors are ranking so high, and what you need to do to outrank them in search results.

Ahrefs crawls more than 6 billion pages every day, with over 12 trillion links in their index from 200+ million domain names. That’s a lot of data, but the real beauty is how their platform helps you use this data to your advantage.

It has an intuitive user interface which breaks down all the data into different sections. Simply enter a domain name in the search field and Ahrefs will pull a wealth of information in an easy to understand format.

Ahrefs reporting overview

It will show you an overview of the results with the total number of backlinks, referring domains, organic keywords, and content review. You can click on any of these sections to drill down further.

Click on ‘Organic Keywords’ report and Ahrefs will show you a list of keywords for the domain name with search volume, search rank, URL, and more.

Ahrefs organic keywords report

You can also generate keyword ideas by entering keywords in the search box. Ahrefs’ keyword explorer tool will generate a list of keyword suggestions with search volume, difficulty score, and clicks.

Ahrefs also comes with powerful tools for content analysis, rank tracking, web monitoring, and more. You can export all reports in CSV or PDF format and then work on them in your favorite spreadsheet software.

3. AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic is a free visual keyword research and content ideas tool. It utilizes Google and Bing’s auto-suggest feature and presents the data in a more understandable visual format.

Simply visit the website and enter a keyword or phrase. The tool will then load keywords and present them into visual maps. Reports are divided into questions, prepositions, comparisons, alphabetical, and related keywords.

Keyword visualization

You can click on any keyword and it will show Google search results in a new browser tab. This allows you to quickly view the questions people are searching for, and how you can answer them with relevant content.

All keyword research is presented on a single page. You can download the data in visual format as images or export them to a CSV file and use with your preferred spreadsheet software.

Download keyword research data

More Keyword Research Tips

All the above-mentioned tools will provide you a treasure trove of data. Here are some more tips on how to narrow down your keyword research and find the most profitable ideas.

  • Start your keyword research with broader keywords and then narrow it down to find keywords with low competition and more search volume.
  • Enter your own URL in SEMRush or Ahrefs to see your own keyword performance and then compare it with your competitors.
  • Focus on finding keywords that answer your customer’s questions and help them make a buying decision.
  • Don’t limit your keyword research to most searched keywords. You can easily rank for longer keywords and build upon that.

How to apply keyword research in your business or blog?

The main goal of keyword research is to find out what your customers are looking for and then rank for those keywords in search results. There are multiple ways to do that depending on your content strategy.

  • Plan a proper content marketing strategy around your new keyword research
  • Create useful content articles, blog posts, infographics, videos, and more using those keywords.
  • Business websites can create landing pages, documentation, FAQs and other content targeting new keywords
  • If you run an online store, then you can use those keywords in your product titles, descriptions, product categories, and more.

Need help creating engaging content? Check out our expert pick of the best content marketing tools and plugins.

How do I track the performance of my keyword research?

First, you need to sign up for Google Search Console. It provides you insights into how Google views your website. You will also be able to see keywords you rank for, and average position in search results.

Google Search Console

You will also need Google Analytics to track the performance of your content. MonsterInsights is the easiest way to install Google Analytics in WordPress. It shows you top content in your WordPress dashboard and enables you to track user engagement on your website.

We hope this article helped you learn how to do keyword research for your WordPress blog. You may also want to see ultimate step by step WordPress SEO guide for beginners.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Do Keyword Research for Your WordPress Blog appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Allow Users to Upload Images in WordPress Comments

media in wordpress comments, wordpress comment form, wordpress comment images, wordpress comments, WordPress Plugins

Images and comments are both powerful tools to boost user engagement on your site. This is one of the reasons why Facebook allow users to upload images with their comments. What if we tell you that you can add the same functionality to WordPress comments? Depending on your site’s niche and target audience, this can significantly increase user engagement on your site. In this article, we will show you how to allow users to upload images in WordPress comments.

How to Allow Users to Upload Images in WordPress

Allow Users to Upload Images in WordPress Comments

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Comment Attachment plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to go to Settings » Discussion page in your WordPress admin area and scroll down to Comment Attachment section.

Comment Settings

On this page, you can manage the settings to display image attachment field in the comments section of your WordPress posts and pages. These settings include the position of comment field, field title, required option, file types, image attachment size, and more.

You can also allow your users to attach a document, PDF, powerpoint presentation, excel spreadsheet, and more. Simply check the file type options in the comment attachment settings.

Allowed File Types

Once you are done, click on the Save Changes button to store your settings.

After that head over to any post page on your WordPress site, and you will see an image upload field in the comments area like the screenshot below:

Add Attachment in Comment

All images uploaded by users are stored in your WordPress media library. If you want to delete an image uploaded by a user, then you need to go to Media » Library, locate the image, and then delete it.

Note: This will delete the image from the comment without affecting the comment text.

It will be good to add some comment posting guidelines on your site to let users know what kind of attachments they can upload. You can check WPBeginner’s comment policy page for an example. You can then add a link to your comment policy text in the WordPress comment form.

Due to the nature of images, you may want to moderate all comments before they appear on your site. You can do this by enabling comment moderation and notify users when their comment is approved on your site.

You can also display the total number of comments to engage more users on the WordPress posts or pages.

To further boost media capabilities in your comments, you can enable oEmbed support for comments in WordPress. This will allow your users to embed YouTube videos, tweets, flickr photos, and more alongside with the images they upload.

We hope this article helped you learn how to allow users to upload images in WordPress comments. You may also want to see our tips on getting more comments on your WordPress blog posts .

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Allow Users to Upload Images in WordPress Comments appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Create an Event Registration Page in WordPress

create an event registration page, create an event registration page in wordpress, event registration page, how to create an event registration page in wordpress, WordPress Plugins, wpforms

Do you want to add an event registration page on your WordPress site? Recently one of our readers asked if they can allow users to sign up and buy tickets online for their events. In this article, we will show you how to easily create an event registration page in WordPress and sell tickets online.

Creating an event registration page in WordPress

Why Create an Event Registration Page in WordPress?

There are plenty of third-party event registration and ticketing tools available in the market. You can also add Facebook events to your WordPress site.

However, many third-party event registration and ticketing services will charge a small fee for each ticket you sell. This quickly adds up, and you could end up paying a lot more than expected.

You will have limited options to promote your event on social media and even on your own website. Some event management services will insist on displaying their branding in your event emails, widgets, and tickets.

You can avoid some of these issues by creating your own event registration page in WordPress. This will allow you to collect online payments directly, store attendee information on your website, and use your own brand name when promoting the event.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily create an event registration page in WordPress.

Creating an Event Registration Page in WordPress

First thing you need to do is install and activate the WPForms plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

WPForms is a paid plugin, and you will need at least their PRO plan to access the PayPal add-on, which we will be using in this tutorial.

Upon activation, you need to visit the WPForms page in your WordPress admin area and click on the Add New button.

Add New Form

On the form builder, first you need to enter a title for your event registration form. Below that, you will see a list of ready-to-use form templates that you can select. Click on the Billing / Order Form template to continue.

New Event Registration Form

This template will set up a basic online order form asking users for their information like name, email, phone, address, available items, and more.

You can point and click on any field to edit or delete it. You can also add new form fields from the column on your left.

Billing / Order form template

To add tickets, click on the available items field and change it to attendees or tickets.

Add Tickets / Attendees Details

Your users will see the calculated price in the Total Amount field. Next, you need to set up the payment method.

Let’s go ahead and connect your event registration form to a payment service provider.

You need to click on the Payments tab in the left column and then click on the ‘Addons page’ link.

Note: You can also visit the addons page from your WordPress admin area by going to WPForms » Addons.

Install Payment Addon Service

This will take you to the addons page. WPForms comes with addons for PayPal and Stripe. You can install either or both of them.

Note: In order to use Stripe, your website must have HTTPS / SSL enabled.

Click on the install button below the addon and then click on the activate button.

Once activated, you need to go back to Payments section to configure payment services on your form. Select your payment service and enable it.

You need to add the details like PayPal email address, mode, payment type, cancel URL, and more.

Edit Payment Service

If you are using Stripe, then you will need to enter the API keys. For detailed instructions see how to use the Stripe addon with WPForms.

You will also need to enter a credit card field to your form before you can set up Stripe. Simply switch to the ‘Fields’ section and add a credit card field.

Add a credit card field to the form

After setting up payments, let’s set up notification emails for both you and your users.

Simply go to Settings » Notifications and click on the Add New Notification button.

Add New Email Notification

In the Send To Email Address section, you need to select user’s email from Smart Tags to send the ticket receipt.

Add Users Email

Now you need to scroll down to the Message section and add your custom message with the fields that you created for the registration from using Smart Tags.

Custom Message for Tickets

Once you are done, you can save your changes and close the form builder.

You can display this form on any page on your WordPress site. Let’s create a new event registration page in WordPress to display the form.

On the page edit screen, you will see a new button labeled ‘Add Form’ just above the editor.

Add form button

Clicking on it will bring up a popup where you will be able to select and insert the event registration form you created earlier.

Insert event registration form

The plugin will now add the required shortcode to your page editor. You can save your changes and click on the preview to see your event registration page in action.

Event registration form preview

We hope this article helped you learn how to create an event registration page in WordPress. You may also want to see our list of the best WordPress booking plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Create an Event Registration Page in WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.

Ultimate List of WordPress Stats, Facts, and Other Research

Beginners Guide, wordpress by numbers, wordpress facts, WordPress Stats, wordpress usage stats

Recently one of our readers asked us to provide some WordPress stats, facts, and research to help convince their boss on why they should use WordPress. Even though WordPress is the most popular website builder in the world, sometimes popularity alone is not enough for users to make up their mind. In this article, we have compiled an ultimate list of WordPress stats, facts, and other research that will help you convince others to start using WordPress.

List of WordPress stats, facts, and other research

The Basics: What is WordPress?

WordPress is an open source software that allows users to make a website. It is available for download as a free software and can be installed on any WordPress hosting company.

It’s important not to confuse WordPress (the software) with WordPress.com which is a hosted solution. To learn more, see the difference between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org in our side-by-side comparison.

WordPress basics

It all started when two users of a blogging software called b2/cafelog decided to take the software in a new direction. The idea was coined by Matt Mullenweg who was then joined by Mark Little and together they released the first version of WordPress on May 27, 2003.

First WordPress release

Since then, WordPress has evolved from a simple blogging software to a CMS, website builder, eCommerce platform, and more. To learn more, see our article about the history of WordPress.

WordPress is a community software and thousands of users from all over the world have contributed to it by submitting code, fixing bugs, translating, testing, and helping others use it.

Let’s take a look at some WordPress stats and facts to see how WordPress is helping people do great things on the internet.

How Popular is WordPress?

WordPress usage

WordPress is immensely popular and is used by millions of people all over the world. Here are some numbers to put things in perspective.

  1. WordPress powers more than 30% of all websites on the internet.
  2. It also holds nearly 60% of CMS market share. No other website builder software comes close.
  3. WordPress powers websites for big name brands including Disney, Sony, Facebook, and more.
  4. 14.7% of top 100 Websites are powered by WordPress.
  5. More than 22% of all new domain names in the United States are running WordPress.
  6. Each day more than 1014 WordPress sites and 496 WooCommerce stores join the top 10 million websites tracked by W3Techs.

WordPress Plugins

WordPress plugins

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress website. You can install them to add new features to your site and extend its functionality. To learn more, see our guide on what are WordPress plugins and how do they work?.

Here are some mind-blowing facts about WordPress plugins, which show just how massive the WordPress ecosystem is.

  1. There are more than 50,000 free WordPress plugins on WordPress.org plugin directory alone.
  2. 3 of those plugins are installed on 5 million+ websites.
  3. 19 top WordPress plugins are installed on more than 1 million websites.
  4. The most popular eCommerce plugin, WooCommerce is installed on more than 3 million websites with 43 million all time downloads.

These stats are from WordPress.org plugin directory alone. Many plugin developers sell premium versions of their plugins from their own websites.

With a healthy plugins ecosystem, it means that you can add custom functionality to your website at a fraction of the cost of custom development.

WordPress Themes

WordPress themes

Themes control the appearance of a WordPress website. These are WordPress specific website design templates that you can install on your website to change its look.

There are thousands of free and paid WordPress themes available offering WordPress users an endless combination of design, layout, color schemes, and features.

  1. Themes were first introduced with WordPress 1.5 back in 2005, with the first new default WordPress theme called Kubrick
  2. Just like plugins, there are both free and paid WordPress themes that you can install.
  3. WordPress.org’s free theme directory has more than 5,800 free WordPress themes.
  4. According to Builtwith, Genesis theme framework is the most popular theme used by 17% of websites analyzed by their service.
  5. Thousands of themes are sold by Commercial WordPress theme shops with an average price of $40 per theme.

WordPress Security

WordPress is the most commonly used CMS software in the world, which also makes it a common target of hacking attempts, DDOS attacks, malware, and trojans.

  1. According to Sucuri, a leading website security company, 83% of all CMS based websites that were hacked in 2017 were running WordPress. This number isn’t surprising considering that WordPress holds 60% of CMS market share.
  2. Sucuri also reported that 39% of hacked WordPress websites were using an outdated version of the software. That’s why you should always use the latest version of WordPress on your website.
  3. Nearly 50% WordPress sites are affected by a security vulnerability caused by an outdated or poorly coded WordPress plugin or theme
  4. Around 8% of WordPress sites were hacked due to a weak password.

You can make your WordPress site as secure as possible by following some basic security best practices. To learn more, see our complete WordPress security guide for step by step instructions.

Often the stats above cause WordPress to get a bad reputation, but the reality is that WordPress itself is not insecure. WordPress core goes through rigorous security audits, and it’s more secure than many other platforms out there.

The only fault WordPress has is that it’s popular which leads to stats like above.

WordPress Community

WordPress community

WordPress has a massive user base spread across all over the world. It is used by not just businesses, but also governments, schools and colleges, non-profits, and more.

As an open source project, WordPress is driven by a global community of users. This means that anyone can contribute to the project in many different ways.

  1. WordPress translation community has it fully translated into 56 languages, partially translated in dozens more.
  2. In 2017, WordPress communities around the world organized 128 WordCamp events, in 48 countries, and sold 39,625 tickets.
  3. In 2017, Local WordPress communities organized 4,379 meetups in 73 countries

If you want to contribute to WordPress, then see our guide on how to get involved with WordPress project.

The WordPress Economy

WordPress economy

WordPress has a thriving billion dollar ecosystem that creates thousands of jobs all over the world. This also includes freelancers, developers, and companies that sell WordPress related products and services.

  1. At the time of writing this article, freelancer.com website alone had 564,010 WordPress jobs posted out of these 13,680 were open.
  2. Thousands of WordPress jobs are currently open on many popular freelancing websites.
  3. Average hourly rate for WordPress developers can be anywhere between $20-$100 per hour depending on their expertise and job at hand.
  4. A custom WordPress theme with its own unique design and plugins can cost $10,000 and it may increase depending on project’s requirements.
  5. There are hundreds of small and large businesses, agencies, and developers selling WordPress related products. See our list of the most influential WordPress businesses and companies and what they do.

We hope this article helped you discover some new WordPress stats, facts, and interesting research. You may also want to see our article + infograph on 25 interesting facts about WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Ultimate List of WordPress Stats, Facts, and Other Research appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Register a Domain Name (+ simple tip to get it for FREE)

Beginners Guide, domain name, domain names, how to buy domain name, register a domain name

Often when starting a blog, users ask us about how to register a custom domain name, and which are the best places to register a domain. In this article, we will show you how to easily register a domain name, and share a tip on how to register a domain name for free.

How to register a domain name

But before we get started, let’s cover the basics so we’re on the same page.

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name is the address of your website that people type in the browser to visit your website. For example, wpbeginner.com.

In simple term, if your website was a house, then your domain name will be its address.

The whole internet is a giant network of computers. Each computer is assigned a number which is called an IP address, and it looks like this:

66.249.66.1

Now, this is not an easy to remember address. Imagine if you had to use this kind of addresses to visit your favorite websites.

To fix this problem, domain names were invented. Domain names can have alphabets and numbers, which helps website owners create easy to remember brandable words for their website’s address.

How domains work?

To learn more about domain names, see our beginner’s guide on domain names and how do they work.

When Do You Need to Register a Domain Name?

Each day, over 44,000 new .com domain names were registered in the first quarter of 2018. Currently, there are over 134 million .com domain names already registered.

This means that all the good ones are being registered as we speak. Chances are that someone may register a domain name that you’re thinking of, so it’s smart to register a domain name as soon as you think of an idea.

This is why all tech-savvy entrepreneurs pro-actively register domain names even before launching a business. Domain names are cheap, and you can register them for a year. If you decide to not pursue the business, then you can let them expire.

If you are serious about building a business, then you should register a domain name right away. It will help you protect your brand identity, business name, and even future business ideas.

How much does a domain name cost?

Normally, a .com domain name costs $14.99 / year. Other domain name extensions cost varies based on each extension. Some are even more expensive than this. We don’t recommend using anything but .com domains because everybody remembers a .com domain, and your smartphone keyboards have a pre-built key for .com.

Do I Need a Website to Register a Domain Name?

No. You don’t need a website to register a domain name. You can register a domain name and make a website later. You can also register a domain name and set up a temporary website.

A lot of entrepreneurs treat domain names like digital real-estate, so they register a good domain name and hold it for the right buyer to purchase it from them.

How to Choose The Best Domain Name?

Domain names play a very important role in your website’s identity, and its success. You want to spend some time and do your research before registering a domain name. However, it’s also important to not overthink it otherwise you will never get past the research phase.

Here are some general tips to keep in mind.

  • Make sure that your domain name is easy to pronounce, spell, and as short as possible.
  • Stick with the .com extension, most users find them easier to remember than other domain extensions.
  • Use your keywords and brand name in the domain name. For example, stargardeninghouston.com is more search engine friendly, than stargardeningcompany.com
  • Do not use numbers or hyphens in your domain name. It makes them harder to pronounce and difficult to remember.

Need more advice? See our article on how to choose the best domain name for more tips.

How to Register a Domain Name (Step by Step)

There are multiple ways to register a domain name. You can choose from several top domain registrars that are authorized by ICANN to register domain names for you.

We will show you the most popular ways to register a domain name, and you can choose the one that best fits your needs.

1. How to Register a Domain Name for Free

If you want to register a domain name to start a blog or make a website, then this is the best option for you.

Normally, a domain name costs $14.99 / year and website hosting plans start from $7.99 / month. This is a lot of money if you are just starting out.

Luckily, Bluehost has agreed to offer our users a free domain name, SSL Certificate, and 60% discount on web hosting.

→ Click Here to Get Free Domain with Bluehost ←

Bluehost is one of the biggest hosting companies in the world. They are in business since 2003 and host more than 2 million websites. Not to mention, they’re officially recommended by WordPress.

To get started, you need to visit the Bluehost website and click on the Get Started button.

Getting free domain name with Bluehost

This will bring you to the pricing page. Their Basic and Plus plans are popular among our users.

Choose a plan

Click on the ‘Select’ button below a plan to continue.

On the next page, you will be asked to choose a domain name. Simply type the domain name in the “New Domain” box because that will get you a free domain name.

Select domain name

If the domain name you entered is available, then you will be taken to the signup page. From here you need to enter your account information like name, address, email, etc.

Below the account information, you will notice some hosting extras. We don’t recommend buying them, so you can safely uncheck them for now. If you feel that you need them, then you can always add them later.

Uncheck hosting extras

After that, you can enter your payment information to finish the purchase.

Bluehost will now register your domain name, setup your hosting account and send you an email with a link to your hosting control panel.

Since you need a web hosting to start a website, it makes no sense to purchase a domain name separately when you can get it for free with the Bluehost combo offer.

If for some reason you don’t want to use Bluehost to get a free domain name, then you can use InMotion Hosting or GreenGeeks, both are top WordPress hosting companies that are offering a free domain name with web hosting to WPBeginner readers.

Related: See the difference between domain and web hosting to understand why you need both to build a website.

2. How to Register a Domain Name with GoDaddy

If you only want to register a domain name at the moment without creating a website, then GoDaddy is your best option.

Godaddy is the largest and most popular domain name registrar in the word. They currently manage over 72 million domain names for 17 million users from around the globe.

GoDaddy offers an easy way to manage your domain name without creating a website. Once you are ready, you can just point the domain name to your preferred WordPress hosting company.

Here is how to register a domain name with GoDaddy (step by step).

First, you need to visit the GoDaddy website and enter the domain name you want to register in the search box.

Search domain name on GoDaddy

If your domain name is available, then you will see a success message with your domain name listed on top. You can now go ahead and add it to the cart.

Add domain name to the cart

Next, click on the continue to cart button to check out.

GoDaddy, will now show you some additional services that you can purchase with your domain name. You can skip those by selecting ‘No thanks’ and click on the continue button.

Continue to the cart

On the next page, you will see your domain name and its registration period. You can change the registration period to up to 10 years if you want.

However, we don’t recommend that. You can always renew your domain name before it expires, so if you want to save money, then you can select just 1 year registration period.

Domain name registration period and amount

You will need to create a Godaddy account to proceed.

After you have created an account, you will be able to enter your billing address and make a payment for your domain name.

GoDaddy will now register your domain name, and they will send you an email with a link to your domain control panel.

Pro Tip: You should make sure that auto-renew on your domain is turned on, so Godaddy can automatically bill your account and renew your domain name. This way you won’t lose your domain if you forgot to renew it.

3. Other Ways to Register a Domain Name

There are plenty of other domain name registrars that you can choose from. Prices for domain name registrations are pretty much the same on all those registration services. However, their user interface and domain management tools can be lacking at times.

If you don’t want to use GoDaddy for some reason, then we recommend trying out either NameCheap as the best alternative.

If you want a free domain name with website hosting but don’t want to use Bluehost, then you can use InMotion Hosting or GreenGeeks, both are listed among the best WordPress hosting providers in our list.

Domain Registration FAQs

Since we have helped over 130,000 people start a website, we have gotten just about every question you can possibly think of. Below are the answers to some of the top domain name questions:

Which is the best domain name registrar?

We believe that Godaddy is the best domain name registrar given their long history. However it’s a smarter money decision to get a free domain with web hosting like Bluehost. You can always transfer your domain name if you decide to switch hosting provider.

How can I buy a domain name permanently?

You cannot buy a domain name permanently. Domain names registration is done on a yearly basis. However you can pre-pay for up to 10 years which guarantees that you will have a domain name for 10 years.

How can I reserve a domain name without buying it?

There is no way to reserve a domain name without purchasing it. You have to buy it if you want to reserve it. Considering the low cost of a domain name, it’s a small investment for a business.

Is there a way to buy an existing domain name?

Yes, you can use brokerage like Sedo.com to potentially acquire an existing domain name. However it’s not guaranteed that you will get the domain name that you want because the seller may not want to sell it or ask for an outrageous price.

We hope this article helped you learn how to register a domain name for your website. You may also want to see our tips on how to make money online with your new domain name and/or how to create a professional email address with your domain.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Register a Domain Name (+ simple tip to get it for FREE) appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Create GDPR Compliant Forms in WordPress

GDPR, gdpr compliant wordpress forms, internet privacy, wordpress gdpr compliance, WordPress Plugins, wpforms

Do you want to create GDPR-compliant forms in WordPress?

European Union’s new GDPR law requires explicit user consent to store personal information so that users can have more personal control over their data stored on websites.

In this article, we will show you how to easily create GDPR-compliant forms in WordPress.

How to Create GDPR compliant forms in WordPress

What is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union (EU) law that became effective on May 25th, 2018. This new law aims to give EU citizens control over their personal data and change how companies and businesses handle data privacy around the world.

For more details, see our ultimate guide to WordPress and GDPR compliance which will answer all your GDPR-related questions in plain English.

A typical WordPress site may collect users’ personal information in a number of ways. One of which is by adding forms to the site. Most forms collect personal information, and you may want to make sure that your WordPress forms comply with GDPR.

What is Required to Make a Form GDPR Compliant

In order to make your WordPress forms GDPR compliant, you will need to add the following features:

  • Ask users to give explicit consent for storing and using their personal information.
  • Allow users to request access to their own personal information stored on your website.
  • Allow users to request the deletion of their data from your website.

Having said that, let’s take a look at how to easily create GDPR-compliant WordPress forms. You can click the links below to jump ahead to any section:

How to Make a GDPR Compliant Form in WordPress

We recommend using WPForms to make GDPR-compliant WordPress forms. It is the best contact form plugin for WordPress and has built-in GDPR enhancement features.

For instance, you get a 1-click GDPR Agreement field for your forms, GDPR-compliant data retention best practices, easy entry management system to quickly find, export, or delete user data upon request.

First, you need to install and activate the WPForms plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

For this tutorial, we’ll use the WPForms Pro version because it includes the disable user cookies and user details options. However, you can also use the WPForms Lite version to create a GDPR-compliant form.

Upon activation, you need to visit WPForms » Settings page and enter your license key. You can find the license key in the WPForms account area.

Entering the WPForms license key

Next, you’ll need to scroll down to the GDPR section.

There, you need to check the box next to the GDPR Enhancements option.

Enable GDPR enhancement option

Enabling the GDPR Enhancements option will reveal two more GDPR-related settings.

The first option, ‘Disable User Cookies,’ will stop WPForms from storing user sessions. This cookie contains a random unique identifier that helps WPForms add features like related entries, form abandonment, and geolocation. Disabling it will also disable those features.

The second option, ‘Disable User Details,’ will stop WPForms from storing user IP addresses and browser information. Both of these settings are optional, and you can check them if you feel that you don’t need these features.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Settings’ button to store your changes.

Select Form Template and Add GDRP Agreement Field

WPForms is now ready to create GDPR-compliant forms in WordPress. You can now go to WPForms » Add New page to create a new form.

You will be asked to enter a title for your form and select a template. These templates are ready-made forms that you can use as a starting point. In this tutorial, we’ll use the ‘Simple Contact Form’ template.

Add a new form

This will launch the WPForms builder interface.

You will see your form preview in the right column, and on the left, you will see all the fields that you can add to your form.

Add the GDPR agreement field

Simply drag the ‘GDPR Agreement’ field and add it to your form.

You will now see it appear at the bottom of your form. If you click on it, more options will appear in the settings panel on the left.

Edit the GDPR agreement

You can change the title of the form field and agreement text, and then use the description box to add details like a link to your privacy policy or terms and conditions pages.

Note: The GDPR Agreement field is always a required field, and it cannot be pre-checked to comply with the GDPR law. You can only add one GDPR agreement field to each form.

Next, you can go to the Settings » Confirmations tab in the form builder. Here, you’ll get different options to select when a user submits a form. For instance, you can show a message, a page, or to redirect users to another URL.

Edit form confirmation settings

Once you are satisfied with the form, don’t forget to store your changes.

Adding GDPR Compliant Form to WordPress

WPForms allows you to easily add forms anywhere on your website.

You can simply click the ‘Embed’ button at the top of the form builder to get started.

Click the embed button

Next, a popup will open, which will ask you to create a new page or select an existing page.

We’ll use the ‘Create New Page’ option for this tutorial.

Embed a form in page

After that, you’ll need to enter a name for your page.

Once that’s done, simply click the ‘Let’s Go’ button.

Enter the name of the page

Your form will now appear in the WordPress content editor.

Another way to add forms to any page or post is using the WPForms block. Simply add the block to your content and select your form from the dropdown menu.

Add a WPForms block in wordpress

You can now save or publish your post or page.

Simply visit your website to see your GDPR-ready WordPress form in action.

GDPR form preview

Managing Data Access and Deletion Requirements with WPForms

One of the requirements for GDPR compliance is to give users access and allow them to request the deletion of their data.

To do that, you can create a ‘Data access/delete form’ and add it to your privacy policy page. Users who wish to access their stored data or want it to be deleted can use that form to send you a request.

WPForms has an excellent entry management system that allows you to quickly find any data submitted via your forms.

You can access all form entries by visiting WPForms » Entries page from your WordPress dashboard and selecting the form you wish to view.

View form entries in WPForms

WPForms will show you all entries submitted using that form. You can search for a form entry by entering a name, email address, IP address, or keyword.

From here, you can simply click the ‘Delete All’ option at the top to remove form entries.

Delete form entries

You can also delete individual entries or click the view button to see all data stored for that entry.

Disabling User Details for Specific Forms

With WPForms, you get full control over which forms can store user data. You can disable user details to be stored for each individual form.

First, you’ll need to go to WPForms » Settings from your WordPress dashboard and scroll down to the ‘GDPR’ section.

Here, ensure that the ‘Disable User Details’ option is unchecked.

Disable user details is unchecked

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Settings’ button when you’re done.

After that, you can change each form’s settings in the form builder.

All you have to do is head to Settings » General in the form builder. Next, click the ‘Advanced’ section to expand it. From here, simply click the toggle for the ‘Disable storing user details (IP address and user agent)’ option.

Disable storing user details-settings

This will prevent extra user information from being stored for individual forms.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily create GDPR-compliant forms in WordPress. You may also want to see our article on how to track user engagement in WordPress using Google Analytics and the ultimate WordPress SEO guide for beginners.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Create GDPR Compliant Forms in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Add a GDPR Comment Privacy Opt-in Checkbox in WordPress

comment privacy checkbox, GDPR, Themes, wordpress gdpr compliance

Do you want to add a comment privacy optin checkbox in WordPress? European Union’s new GDPR law requires explicit consent for storing user’s personal information. If you have comments enabled on your website, then you need to add a comment privacy checkbox to comply with the new law. In this article, we will show you how to add a GDPR comment privacy opt-in checkbox in WordPress.

How to add comment privacy optin checkbox in WordPress

When and Why Add a Comment Privacy Optin Checkbox in WordPress?

Recently, a new European Union law called GDPR (The General Data Protection Regulation) has become effective. The purpose of this law is to give EU citizens control over their personal data and change the data privacy approach of organizations across the world.

To learn more, see our ultimate guide to WordPress and GDPR compliance which answers all your questions in plain English.

WordPress recently addressed GDPR compliance in the latest 4.9.6 release. If you haven’t updated yet, then you need to immediately update to the latest WordPress version.

One of the ways WordPress stores and uses personal information is in the comment form. When a user leaves a comment on your website, their name, email address, and website information is stored in a browser cookie. This cookie allows WordPress to automatically fill in user’s information in the comment form on their next visit.

With WordPress 4.9.6, the default WordPress comment form will now show a comment privacy opt-in checkbox. All WordPress themes that use the default WordPress comment form will now automatically show this checkbox.

Comment privacy checkbox in default WordPress comment form

If your site is showing the comment privacy checkbox, then you don’t need to read further. However if the comment checkbox is not showing on your site, then you need to continue reading, and we will show you how to add comment privacy checkbox in WordPress.

Adding Comment Privacy Optin Checkbox in WordPress

First, you need to make sure that you are using the latest version of WordPress and your theme. Simply go to Dashboard » Updates page to check for updates.

Check for WordPress and theme updates

If an update is available for your current theme or WordPress, then go ahead and install it. Next, check your website’s comment form to see if the update added the comment privacy checkbox.

If both your theme and WordPress are up to date, and you still can’t see the comment privacy checkbox, then this means that your WordPress theme is overriding the default WordPress comment form.

You can ask your theme author to fix this issue by opening a support ticket. You can also try to fix it yourself until your theme author releases an update.

There are two ways you can add the comment privacy checkbox to your WordPress theme. We will show you both methods, and you can try the one that works for you.

Both methods require you to add code to your WordPress theme files. If you haven’t done this before, then see our guide on how to copy and paste code in WordPress.

Method 1. Add comment privacy checkbox to your theme’s comment form

This method is recommended because it tries to protect your theme’s comment form style and layout.

First, you will need to find the code used to override the default WordPress comment form. Normally, you can find it in the comments.php or functions.php file in your theme folder.

You will be looking for a code using the 'comment_form_default_fields' filter. This filter is used by themes to override the default WordPress comment form.

It will have lines for all of your comment form fields in a specific format. Here is an example code to give you an idea of what you would be looking for: 

$comments_args = array(
	        // change the title of send button 
	        'label_submit'=> esc_html(__('Post Comments','themename')),
	        // change the title of the reply section
	        'title_reply'=> esc_html(__('Leave a Comment','themename')),
	        // redefine your own textarea (the comment body)
	        'comment_field' => ' 
	        <div class="form-group"><div class="input-field"><textarea class="materialize-textarea" type="text" rows="10" id="textarea1" name="comment" aria-required="true"></textarea></div></div>',

	        'fields' => apply_filters( 'comment_form_default_fields', array(
			    'author' =>'' .
			      '<div><div class="input-field">' .
			      '<input class="validate" id="name" name="author" placeholder="'. esc_attr(__('Name','themename')) .'" type="text" value="' . esc_attr( $commenter['comment_author'] ) .
			      '" size="30"' . $aria_req . ' /></div></div>',

			    'email' =>'' .
			      '<div><div class="input-field">' .
			      '<input class="validate" id="email" name="email" placeholder="'. esc_attr(__('Email','themename')) .'" type="email" value="' . esc_attr(  $commenter['comment_author_email'] ) .
			      '" size="30"' . $aria_req . ' /></div></div>',

			    'url' =>'' .
			      '<div class="form-group">'.
			      '<div><div class="input-field"><input class="validate" placeholder="'. esc_attr(__('Website','themename')) .'" id="url" name="url" type="text" value="' . esc_attr( $commenter['comment_author_url'] ) .
			      '" size="30" /></div></div>',
			    )
		    ),
	    );

	comment_form($comments_args); 	?>

In this code, you can notice that comment_form_default_fields filter is used to modify the author, email, and URL fields. Inside the array, it uses the following format to display each field:

'fieldname' => 'HTML code to display the field', 
'anotherfield' => 'HTML code to display the field',

We will add the comment privacy optin checkbox field towards the end. Here is what our code will look like now:

$comments_args = array(
	        // change the title of send button 
	        'label_submit'=> esc_html(__('Post Comments','themename')),
	        // change the title of the reply section
	        'title_reply'=> esc_html(__('Leave a Comment','themename')),
	        // redefine your own textarea (the comment body)
	        'comment_field' => ' 
	        <div class="form-group"><div class="input-field"><textarea class="materialize-textarea" type="text" rows="10" id="textarea1" name="comment" aria-required="true"></textarea></div></div>',

	        'fields' => apply_filters( 'comment_form_default_fields', array(
			    'author' =>'' .
			      '<div><div class="input-field">' .
			      '<input class="validate" id="name" name="author" placeholder="'. esc_attr(__('Name','themename')) .'" type="text" value="' . esc_attr( $commenter['comment_author'] ) .
			      '" size="30"' . $aria_req . ' /></div></div>',

			    'email' =>'' .
			      '<div><div class="input-field">' .
			      '<input class="validate" id="email" name="email" placeholder="'. esc_attr(__('Email','themename')) .'" type="email" value="' . esc_attr(  $commenter['comment_author_email'] ) .
			      '" size="30"' . $aria_req . ' /></div></div>',

			    'url' =>'' .
			      '<div class="form-group">'.
			      '<div><div class="input-field"><input class="validate" placeholder="'. esc_attr(__('Website','themename')) .'" id="url" name="url" type="text" value="' . esc_attr( $commenter['comment_author_url'] ) .
			      '" size="30" /></div></div>',

// Now we will add our new privacy checkbox optin

				'cookies' => '<p class="comment-form-cookies-consent"><input id="wp-comment-cookies-consent" name="wp-comment-cookies-consent" type="checkbox" value="yes"' . $consent . ' />' .
	                                         '<label for="wp-comment-cookies-consent">' . __( 'Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.' ) . '</label></p>',
			    )
		    ),
	    );

	comment_form($comments_args); 	?>

Privacy checkbox in a custom WordPress comment form

Method 2. Replacing your theme’s comment form with WordPress default

This method simply replaces your theme’s comment form with the default WordPress comment form. Using this method can affect your comment form’s appearance, and you may have to use custom CSS to style your comment form.

Edit your theme’s comments.php file and look for the line with the comment_form() function. Your theme will have a defined arguments, function, or a template inside it to load your theme’s custom comment form. Your comment_form line will look something like this:

<?php comment_form( custom_comment_form_function() ); ?>


You will need to replace it with the following line:


<?php comment_form(); ?>

Don’t forget to save your changes and visit your website. You will now see the default WordPress comment form with the comment privacy optin checkbox.

Default WordPress comment form

We hope this article helped you learn how to add the GDPR comment privacy optin checkbox in WordPress. You may also want to see our tips on getting more comments on your WordPress blog posts.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add a GDPR Comment Privacy Opt-in Checkbox in WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.

How to Add Your Etsy Store in WordPress

add your etsy store in wordpress, etsy store, etsy store in wordpress site, how to add etsy store in wordpress, how to add your etsy store in wordpress, WordPress Plugins

Recently one of our readers asked if it’s possible to connect an Etsy store to WordPress. Having your Etsy shop integrated with your WordPress site can help you sell more products online. In this article, we will show you how to add your Etsy store in WordPress.

How to add your Etsy store in WordPress

Why Add Your Etsy Store in WordPress?

Etsy shops are somewhat limited in features when compared to other popular eCommerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce. Mainly because Etsy is an online marketplace for creative goods, while WooCommerce and Shopify are complete eCommerce platforms.

Etsy shops have strict product guidelines with limited payment options, which may not be available in many countries. You also don’t have the ability to add advanced features to your Etsy Shop like you can do with a WooCommerce online store.

However, Etsy offers you more exposure to a niche clientele looking for handcrafted, artistic, and unique products. It is very easy to use, and you don’t have to spend much time on finding customers because they are already there.

If you want to expand your business, then you may want to use WordPress to create a website to better showcase your Etsy shop products.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily add your Etsy store in WordPress.

Adding Your Etsy Store in WordPress

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Etsy Shop plugin. For more details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to go to Settings » Etsy Shop page and enter your Etsy API key to connect your shop with the plugin.

Note: If you don’t have an Etsy API key, then simply follow the link to get one from your Etsy store.

Add Etsy API key

Once you click on the link, it will ask you to create a new app. You need to add the name for your app, describe your app, and add your WordPress site URL. After that, you need to select the best choices for your application and click on the Create App button below.

Create a new app

You will now see a success message with your Etsy API key. Go ahead and copy the key from here.

Copy Etsi API key

Next, you need to go back to your WordPress admin area and paste the Etsy API key. Once done, click on the Save Changes button, and the plugin will validate your API key and connect to your Etsy shop.

Add valid Etsy API key

After connecting your Etsy store successfully, you can display and sell products from your Etsy shop right on your WordPress blog.

To add the Etsy store products in WordPress, you need to create a new page in WordPress or edit an existing page. On this page, you need to add the following shortcode to your page edit area.

[etsy-shop shop_name="MyShopUSDesign" section_id="55895579"]

Don’t forget to replace the shop name and section ID in this shortcode with your Etsy shop name and ID.

To get these two details, you need to go to your Etsy store and click on Shop Manager from top right corner of the screen.

Note: Make sure that you are already logged in to your Etsy account.

Open shop manager

On this page, you need to click the link in the left menu to access your shop.

Go to shop name

First, you need to copy the name of your shop and then click on the Edit Shop button to find the section ID.

Edit shop for section ID

From here, you need to click on Listings tab located in the left menu.

Go to listings

On this page, you will be asked to select the section in which you have added your products. You can select the Sections from the dropdown as displayed in the screenshot below.

Select the section

The section ID of your shop will be displayed in the page URL when your selected section is loaded. Go ahead and copy this section ID to replace in the shortcode.

Etsy section ID

After adding the shortcode with your shop name and section ID, you can visit the post/page to see your Etsy store in WordPress.

My Etsy Store

You can add the same shortcode to multiple posts or pages in WordPress to display your Etsy shop. To show different listings, you need to change the section ID in the shortcode. However, the shop name can remain same.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add your Etsy store in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to create an online marketplace using WordPress, so you can create your own Etsy like eCommerce marketplace.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post How to Add Your Etsy Store in WordPress appeared first on WPBeginner.