How to Properly Disable Lazy Load in WordPress (Step by Step)

Do you want to disable lazy loading in WordPress?

By default, WordPress comes with a lazy load feature, which delays downloads for images and other media to improve page load speed.

However, for some websites, it may affect user experience by not displaying images and media right away.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily disable lazy load in WordPress both using a code method as well as a plugin method.

How to properly disable lazy load in WordPress

What is Lazy Loading?

WordPress first introduced lazy loading images in WordPress 5.5. Later it extended the lazy load feature to iframes embeds (e.g. YouTube videos, Spotify, and other embeds).

This practice helps improve your website’s speed and performance by quickly loading content and the visible area first.

A faster website is not just good for users, but it is also good for SEO. Search engines like Google consider speed as an important ranking factor.

Apart from images and embeds, you can also easily lazy load comments and Gravatars to further improve page load speed.

Lazy loading can be seen in action by right-clicking on an image and selecting the Inspect tool in your browser.

Lazy loading images in WordPress

This will split your browser screen and show you the HTML source code. From here, you’ll be able to see the “loading=lazy” attribute added to the image.

Now normally, we don’t recommend disabling lazy load due to its overall benefits for your WordPress website. Turning it off can result in slower website speed, lower conversion rates, and lower SEO rankings.

However, sometimes lazy loading can affect the user experience for some websites.

For instance, if you run a photography website where images are the most significant aspect of your content, then lazy loading them may ruin the user experience for your customers.

In other cases, you might be using a different lazy loading solution and just want to turn off the default WordPress lazy load.

That being said, let’s see how you can easily disable lazy load in WordPress.

You can simply disable the lazy load feature in WordPress by adding a custom code snippet to your theme’s functions.php file.

However, keep in mind that the smallest error while adding the code can result in breaking your website and making it inaccessible to your users.

This is why we recommend using the WPCode plugin to add custom code to your site.

It is the best custom code snippets plugin that makes it super easy for beginners to safely add custom code to their website.

First, you need to install and activate the WPCode plugin. See our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin for more instructions.

Upon activation, go to the Code Snippets » + Add Snippet page.

Add new snippet

This will take you to the ‘Add Snippets’ screen where you’ll see a bunch of ready-to-use code snippets that you can add to your website.

From here, you need to click the ‘Use Snippet’ button under the ‘Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ option.

Once you’re on the ‘Create Custom Snippet’ page, you can start by typing a name for your code snippet.

It can be anything that will help you identify the code snippet and what it does.

Snippet title and type

After that, select ‘PHP Snippet’ from the dropdown menu next to the ‘Code Type’ option.

Now, copy and paste the following PHP code in the ‘Code Preview’ box.

add_filter( 'wp_lazy_loading_enabled', '__return_false' );

This is how the code will look after it is pasted in the ‘Code Preview’ box.

Add code snippet

After adding the code, scroll down to the ‘Insertion’ section.

Here, simply choose ‘Auto Insert’ as the insertion mode. This will ensure that your custom code is automatically executed everywhere on your website once you activate the snippet.

Choose an insertion method

Next, you need to scroll to the top of the page and simply toggle the ‘Inactive’ switch to ‘Active’.

After that, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Snippet’ button to save and execute your custom snippet.

Save your code snippet

Once activated, this custom code snippet will disable the lazy loading feature on your WordPress website.

You can test by right-clicking on an image and selecting Inspect from the browser menu.

In the HTML code for the image, the loading=lazy attribute will now disappear.

Lazy loading disabled

Method 2. Disable Lazy Load in WordPress Using a Plugin

If you don’t want to add code to your site, then you can use the Disable Lazy Load plugin.

The only thing you need to do is install and activate the Disable Lazy Load plugin. For more instructions, check our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Activate plugin to disable lazy load

The plugin works out of the box and does not require any configuration. Once activated, it will automatically disable the lazy load feature on your site.

We hope this article helped you learn how to properly disable lazy load in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to optimize WordPress images for better page load times, or see our pick of the best WordPress image compression 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 Properly Disable Lazy Load in WordPress (Step by Step) first appeared on WPBeginner.

9 Best YouTube Video Gallery Plugins for WordPress

Do you want to add a YouTube video gallery on your WordPress website?

You can add YouTube videos to WordPress blog posts using the built-in Embed block. However, you can’t easily arrange these videos in a nice gallery layout.

In this article, we will share the best YouTube video gallery plugins for WordPress so you can show your videos in an organized and eye-catching way.

Best YouTube video gallery plugins for WordPress

1. Smash Balloon YouTube Feed Pro

The Smash Balloon YouTube gallery plugin

Smash Balloon YouTube Feed Pro is the best YouTube gallery plugin on the market.

This plugin allows you to hand-pick specific videos from your account, or automatically show all the latest videos from your YouTube channel. You can even combine multiple YouTube channels into a single feed.

A YouTube gallery, created using Smash Balloon

Smash Balloon has a ready-made gallery layout so you can organize your videos with the click of a button. After creating a gallery, you can control exactly how the videos look by choosing whether to show the YouTube description, title, comments, the total number of likes, and much more.

You can even encourage visitors to join your YouTube channel, by adding a ‘Subscribe’ button to the gallery.

By default, the gallery layout also has a ‘Load More’ button so visitors can scroll through your entire YouTube channel without leaving your website.

Customizing the YouTube gallery 'Load More' button

When a visitor clicks on a video, Smash Balloon will start playing it in an embedded video player. In this way, you can get more YouTube views and engagement without driving visitors away from your website.

By default, the player shows related videos when the playback finishes, or the visitor pauses the video. Smash Balloon lets you replace these suggested videos with a custom call to action, so you can promote a specific post, page, or even the most popular WooCommerce products from your online store.

You can also use Smash Balloon to embed YouTube playlists, favorites, and livestreams on your WordPress website.

The best part about Smash Balloon is that it doesn’t slow down your site. The plugin’s built-in YouTube caching feature will make sure your site always loads fast, which is great for SEO.

The other nice thing about Smash Balloon is that you can combine social content from Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube into a single social wall. If you’re serious about growing your online presence, then we highly recommend the Smash Balloon All Access Bundle, which gives you access to the social wall feature.

A social wall, created using Smash Balloon

Note: If you’re just getting started or have a limited budget, then there’s also a free version of the YouTube feed plugin. Although this plugin is missing the more advanced features, it still has everything you need to embed YouTube videos on your WordPress website.

Pricing: Smash Balloon YouTube Feed Pro licenses start at $49 per year. If you want to embed Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube content on your WordPress website, then you can grab the All Access Bundle for $299 per year.

2. Envira Gallery

The Envira Gallery YouTube plugin

Envira Gallery is generally known as the best WordPress photo gallery plugin.

However, there’s also an Envira Gallery Videos Addon that allows you to create a YouTube gallery. Simply enter the URL for each YouTube video and then specify the thumbnail that you want to show in the gallery. The Videos Addon will then fetch the video automatically.

After adding all your videos, Envira Gallery lets you fine-tune the playback experience. You can make the video autoplay, open it fullscreen by default, hide the playback controls, and much more.

Envira Gallery can also embed entire YouTube playlists, although you’ll need to get a YouTube API from the Google Cloud Console and then add it to the plugin’s settings first.

As well as YouTube, Envira Gallery supports other popular video hosting services such as Vimeo, Wistia, Twitch, VideoPress, and Dailymotion.

You can also embed Facebook videos in WordPress.

One major drawback is that Envira Gallery won’t automatically fetch new YouTube videos from your channel. If you want to update the gallery, then you’ll need to add each new video manually using its URL.

Pricing: To get Envira with the Video Gallery addon, you’ll need to either buy a Pro license ($89 per year) or a Lifetime license ($209).

3. YouTube Showcase

The YouTube Showcase gallery plugin

With the YouTube Showcase plugin, you can add a YouTube video gallery or grid to your WordPress website.

After activating the plugin, you can add any YouTube video to your site using the 11-digit alphanumeric video key shown at the end of the video’s URL.

To help visitors find what they’re looking for, YouTube Showcase lets you add categories and tags to your videos. These work in exactly the same way as the built-in WordPress categories and tags, so they’re very easy to use.

Once you’ve done that, you just need to add the plugin’s shortcode to any page, post, or widget-ready area. YouTube Showcase will then show all your videos in a nice gallery layout.

YouTube Showcase automatically adds a row of video thumbnails below the gallery, so visitors can easily move between the different videos. For visitors who are using a smartphone or tablet, YouTube Showcase replaces these thumbnails with more mobile-friendly ‘Prev’ and ‘Next’ icons.

The plugin uses pagination by default, so your gallery should load quickly no matter how many videos you add.

The default gallery layout should be a good fit for most websites. However, if you want to make changes then the plugin has a straightforward settings page.

While it isn’t as customizable as some of the other gallery plugins, YouTube Showcase does have a section where more advanced users can add custom CSS and custom JavaScript.

If you don’t like the gallery layout, then YouTube Showcase also has a video grid shortcode. This shows all your YouTube videos in a 4-column grid layout.

Pricing: You can download YouTube Showcase for free from the official WordPress repository.

4. YourChannel

The YourChannel WordPress gallery plugin for YouTube

YourChannel is one of the easiest ways to create a YouTube gallery. It allows visitors to look through your entire YouTube channel feed and watch any video without leaving your website.

YourChannel also comes with a built-in WordPress caching system, to help keep your website running smoothly.

To set up YourChannel, simply enter your YouTube username or channel ID. After that, the plugin will automatically fetch banner images, video thumbnails, your subscriber count, and your total number of views.

The plugin’s settings are straightforward and user-friendly, so you can create a beautiful-looking gallery simply by checking a few boxes and typing some numbers.

You can change how many videos YourChannel shows when the gallery page first loads, and set a maximum number of videos that visitors can scroll through. This is particularly useful for creating a mobile-friendly video gallery.

YourChannel also helps you stay GDPR compliant by showing an ‘Allow Cookies’ message when a visitor first clicks the ‘Play’ button. This message includes a link to your privacy policy.

When you’re happy with how the gallery looks, you can add it to any page, post, or widget-ready area using a shortcode provided by the plugin.

Pricing: Simply visit the WordPress repository and download the YourChannel plugin for free.

5. Photo Gallery by 10Web

The Photo Gallery for 10Web plugin for WordPress

According to our marketing statistics research, 70% of people visit YouTube on a smartphone or tablet. If you run an online store using a plugin such as WooCommerce, then you’ll be interested to learn that 90% of consumers watch videos on a mobile device.

With that in mind, you’ll want to make sure your YouTube gallery looks just as good on mobile, as it does on desktop. With Photo Gallery by 10Web, you can create a mobile responsive image and video gallery within minutes.

Despite the name, Photo Gallery supports all the best video hosting sites including Vimeo, Dailymotion, and YouTube. Simply copy the video’s URL, and Photo Gallery will add that video to your website.

After that, you can fine-tune how the gallery looks by choosing different layouts, switching between dark and light themes, adding pagination, and more. You’ll also have complete control over the content that appears in your gallery, including adding or removing the video title, description, tag box, and more.

Visitors can watch each video directly on your website, using the Photo Gallery lightbox popup. The lightbox comes with built-in social share buttons, which make it easy for visitors to share your videos on Facebook and Twitter. This can help you create a buzz on social media, get more engagement, and grow your social media following.

Pricing: You can download Photo Gallery for free from the official WordPress repository. If you need more advanced features, then there’s also a premium version of Photo Gallery.

6. Embed Plus for YouTube

The EmbedPlus gallery plugin for YouTube

Embed Plus for YouTube allows you to create a YouTube gallery using videos, playlists, shorts, and livestreams.

This plugin has a few unusual features, such as ‘Modest Branding’ which reduces the amount of YouTube branding in your video gallery.

Another unique feature is ‘facade mode,’ which aims to make your WordPress website faster by loading a lighter version of the video player initially, and then downloading the rest of the player when the visitor clicks a video.

To make your pages load even faster, Embed Plus can defer JavaScript while serving minified CSS and JavaScript.

Embed Plus can even convert non-HTTPs videos to HTTPS. Since Google uses HTTPS/SSL as a ranking factor in its search results, this can improve your search engine rankings.

For more on this topic, please see our complete guide on how to move WordPress from HTTP to HTTPS.

To keep people on your website for longer, Embed Plus can automatically play the next video in the gallery, which is particularly useful if you’re adding playlists to your WordPress blog.

This plugin has in-depth and detailed settings that cover several tabs. This gives you complete control over how the YouTube gallery looks and acts, but it can be confusing when you first activate the plugin.

Thankfully, Embed Plus has a built-in setup wizard that asks questions about the kind of gallery you want to create and then changes the default settings based on your answers.

Pricing: You can download Embed Plus YouTube for free from the official WordPress repository. If you need more advanced features then there’s also a Pro YouTube plugin.

7. Automatic YouTube Gallery

The Automatic YouTube Gallery plugin for WordPress

Automatic YouTube Gallery lets you create unlimited video galleries on your site. As the name suggests, this plugin automates most of the setup process so you can create a YouTube video gallery in minutes.

With this plugin, you can create a YouTube gallery using a channel ID, username, playlist, search terms, or even by entering specific video URLs. You can also embed live streams on your WordPress website.

After choosing your videos, Automatic YouTube Gallery lets you fine-tune how the gallery looks. This includes changing the number of columns in the gallery layout, changing the ratio, adding or removing the video titles, and more.

Automatic YouTube Gallery also has some settings to help keep visitors on your website for longer, such as autoplaying the next video and looping a single video. To make your YouTube gallery more accessible, you can also activate closed captions by default or change the language used by the video player’s interface.

With Automatic YouTube Gallery, you don’t have to worry about videos slowing down your site. The plugin has a caching feature that can reduce page loading times and boost your WordPress speed and performance.

This plugin is also fully compatible with WordPress multisite.

Pricing: You can download the Automatic YouTube Gallery plugin for free from the official WordPress repository.

8. All-in-One Video Gallery

The All in One Video Gallery WordPress plugin

You can use All-in-One Video Gallery to show videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, Rumble, and more in an HTML5 video player.

Unlike other plugins that have their own editors, All-in-One Video Gallery integrates with the familiar WordPress page and post editor. It also has video categories and tags that work exactly the same as the built-in WordPress categories and tags.

With this in mind, it’s very easy to get started with the All-in-One Video Gallery.

After adding your videos, All-in-One Video Gallery lets you customize the player controls, playback options, and video quality levels. This plugin also aims to make your videos more accessible by supporting WebVTT subtitles and showing the subtitles automatically.

The plugin is GDPR compliant and will get the visitor’s consent before loading YouTube, Vimeo, or embedded videos from third-party websites. If you prefer, then you can also disable the plugin’s cookies for added privacy.

When you’re ready, you can either show all your videos in a single gallery or create different galleries using the plugin’s categories feature. This allows you to create lots of different galleries, with different content.

Another option is embedding the built-in All-in-One Video Gallery search form. This allows visitors to search through all your videos, to find exactly the content they’re looking for.

Pricing: You can download All-in-One Video Gallery for free from the WordPress repository.

9. Video Gallery – Total Soft

The Video Gallery WordPress plugin

Video Gallery by Total Soft can add an unlimited number of professionally-designed video galleries to your website. This plugin supports YouTube plus other major video platforms such as Vimeo and Wistia.

When building a gallery, you can choose between 16 different themes and 9 layouts. If your YouTube channel has lots of videos, then you can use pagination to spread the content across multiple pages.

This plugin puts a strong focus on gallery thumbnails. Every time you add a video to a gallery, you can replace the default YouTube thumbnail with an image of your choice.

After that, Video Gallery will play different hover effects when the visitor moves their mouse over the thumbnail. This includes some advanced hover effects that animate the video’s title, description, and other elements. In this way, your gallery can catch the visitor’s attention before it starts playing videos.

Video Gallery allows you to show videos from different online platforms, and even self-hosted videos, in the same gallery.

After building a gallery, you can add it to any page, post, or widget-ready area using a shortcode. Video Gallery also provides a code snippet that adds the gallery to your WordPress theme. For more information, please see our guide on how to easily add custom code in WordPress.

Pricing: You can download Video Gallery for free from the official WordPress repository.

What is the Best YouTube Video Gallery Plugin for WordPress?

If you’re looking for the easiest way to add a gallery to WordPress, then Smash Balloon Youtube Feed Pro is our top pick.

This plugin guides you through the process of connecting YouTube and WordPress and then makes it easy to build a professionally-designed gallery. It also lets you fine-tune every part of the gallery so it perfectly suits your WordPress theme.

When you’re happy with how the gallery looks, you can add it to any page, post, or widget-ready area using either a shortcode or the plugin’s Feeds for YouTube block.

Unlike some other plugins on the list, your Smash Balloon gallery will update automatically as you publish new videos to YouTube. This means visitors will always see the latest videos, and you don’t have to worry about updating your gallery manually.

While Smash Balloon YouTube Feed Pro is our top choice, it is a premium plugin. If you’re looking for a free YouTube gallery plugin, then you may want to take a look at Feeds for YouTube instead.

While this plugin is missing some of Smash Balloon’s advanced features, it still has everything you need to create a YouTube video gallery for your WordPress website.

This makes Feeds for YouTube our top pick for anyone who is just getting started, has a limited budget, or just wants to embed a small number of videos in their WordPress website.

We hope this article helped you choose the best YouTube gallery plugins for WordPress. You may also want to see our list of best drag-and-drop WordPress page builders to create custom designs and our tutorial on how to create an email newsletter to keep your visitors updated with your new videos.

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 9 Best YouTube Video Gallery Plugins for WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Fix DNS Server Not Responding Error in WordPress (5 Ways)

Are you looking for the easiest way to fix the ‘DNS server not responding’ error in WordPress?

You can get the DNS not responding error on your own WordPress website, or third-party sites for a large number of reasons.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily troubleshoot and fix the ‘DNS server not responding’ error in WordPress.

How to fix the DNS server not responding error in WordPress

What is the ‘DNS Server Not Responding’ Error in WordPress?

The ‘DNS server not responding’ error is one of the most common WordPress errors that users can come across.

This error prevents you from visiting your own website which makes it difficult to troubleshoot. Many beginners aren’t sure if it is just them or everyone else seeing this error.

Preview of the DNS server not responding error

The ‘DNS server not responding’ error means that your browser was unable to establish a connection with the servers that are hosting the website.

This error usually occurs when there is an unavailable DNS provider, firewall issues, network connectivity problems, or when there is an issue in your internet modem or router.

That being said, let’s take a look at multiple ways to easily troubleshoot and fix the ‘DNS server not responding’ error on your website.

1. Check Your Internet Connection

You might get the ‘DNS server not responding’ error because your internet connection has been disconnected. So to start, you need to make sure that you’re currently connected to the internet.

If your internet is connected, but the error is still present, then you can restart your internet connection by switching your computer on and off.

Or you can simply disconnect your router from its power supply and then wait at least a minute before reconnecting it.

After that, try visiting your WordPress blog to see if the error’s gone.

2. Try Switching to Another Web Browser or Incognito Mode

Sometimes this error occurs because there is an issue in your default web browser.

You can simply try to solve the ‘DNS server not responding’ error by visiting your WordPress site using another browser like Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Edge.

For example, if you use Google Chrome and the browser is showing the ‘DNS server not responding’ error, try accessing your website using Mozilla Firefox.

You could also try opening the page in a private tab, such as using Chrome’s Incognito mode.

If you are able to access the website in the other browser that means the problem is with your default web browser.

In that case, you can clear the browser cache to see if that fixes the issue. If that doesn’t solve the problem, then you can try reinstalling the browser.

3. Disable Your Firewall or Antivirus

Firewall and Antivirus programs protect your computer from malicious software.

However, sometimes these programs can also block trustworthy sites due to strict settings or an issue within the program itself.

To check if you’re getting the ‘DNS server not responding’ error due to these software, you need to temporarily deactivate your firewall and antivirus programs.

If you’re using Windows, then you can easily disable firewall and antivirus programs by selecting the Settings app from the Start menu.

Go to Settings from the Start menu

Once you’re on the ‘Settings’ app, click the ‘Privacy and Security’ option from the sidebar.

Now simply choose the ‘Windows Security’ option in the ‘Privacy and Security’ tab.

Go to Privacy and Security and select Windows Security

On the ‘Windows Security’ page, you need to select the ‘Virus and Threat Protection’ option from the list.

After that, you need to toggle the switch below the ‘Microsoft Defender Firewall’ option and set it to Off.

Switch the firewall toggle off

If you’re using a Mac, then simply go to System Preferences » Security and Privacy from the Apple toolbar.

This will take you to the ‘Security and Privacy’ window.

Go to System Preferences and select Privacy and Security

Here simply click the ‘Firewall’ tab and then turn off the firewall.

You have now disabled the antivirus and firewall programs.

Turn off Firewall in Mac

After disabling the firewall, visit your site to see if the error has been resolved.

4. Change the DNS Server Address

Sometimes the ‘DNS server not responding’ error is caused when the DNS server assigned to you by your internet service provider is unavailable or has incorrect information.

In that case, you can solve the problem by switching to a different public DNS server, such as Cloudflare or Google Public DNS which offer DNS address for free.

If you use Windows, go to the Windows Search Box from the taskbar and type ‘ncpa.cpl‘ to access the Network Connections page.

Go to ncpa.cpl for network connections

Once you’re on the ‘Network Connections’ page, right-click on the internet connection that you’re currently using.

Next, simply select the ‘Properties’ option from the prompt that opens up.

At this point, you may need to provide an administrator password. If you don’t have those permissions, contact your IT department or computer admin.

Select the Properties option after right clicking

After that, you will see the ‘Properties’ window.

Here you have to locate and double-click the ‘Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)’ option from the list which will open up a new window.

Double click the Internet Protocol Version option

Once here, simply check the ‘Obtain an IP address automatically’ box and then check the ‘Use the following DNS server addresses’ box.

After that, you need to type the DNS address you obtained from the public DNS servers and click the ‘OK’ button at the bottom.

For example: Cloudflare public DNS is 1.1.1.1 vs Google public DNS is 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

Type your preferred DNS

Now restart your computer and visit your site to see if the error is resolved.

If you’re a Mac user, simply select the Apple icon in the toolbar and click the ‘System Preferences option.

Go to System Preferences

In the popup that appears, select ‘Network’ and then click on the ‘Advanced’ button.

After that, simply open the ‘DNS’ tab. Here you will find a ‘+’ button at the bottom-left corner.

Choose DNS option and click the + button

Clicking it will add a new DNS server with the address 0.0.0.0.

Now go ahead and type the numbers for the public DNS server you want to use.

For example: Cloudflare public DNS is 1.1.1.1 vs Google public DNS is 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

Write your DNS

After that, simply click on the ‘OK’ button which will take you back to the previous popup.

Here, simply click the ‘Apply’ button to save your changes.

Apply DNS change

Now, you need to visit your site to check if the error has been removed.

5. Flush Your DNS Cache

Just like your browser, the computer also stores all the IP addresses of the websites that you visit so it won’t have to look up the same IP address twice.

However, DNS cache information can get outdated which can cause the ‘DNS server not responding’ error on your site.

This can happen when you have moved your site to a new domain name or when you’ve moved your site to a new WordPress host.

Flushing your DNS cache can remove the ‘DNS server not responding’ error. All you need to do is check out our guide on how to clear your DNS cache on Mac, Windows, and Google Chrome for more instructions.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily fix the ‘DNS server not responding error’ in WordPress. You may also want to check out our ultimate security guide for WordPress and the best email marketing for small businesses.

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 Fix DNS Server Not Responding Error in WordPress (5 Ways) first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Add a PDF Viewer in WordPress

Do you want to add a PDF viewer in WordPress?

By embedding PDF files in your website, you can make sure those files always have the same layout, no matter what device the visitor is using. These files can also keep people on your website for longer and add value for your uses.

In this article, we will show you how to add a PDF viewer in WordPress.

How to add a PDF viewer in WordPress

Why Do You Need a PDF Viewer in WordPress?

Many websites use PDF files to share information about their services and products. For example, restaurant owners often publish their menu as an online PDF.

You can always upload a PDF to your website and then add a download link in WordPress.

However, this isn’t the best user experience for people who want to quickly look at a PDF document. For example, someone who is planning to visit your restaurant may prefer to read the PDF menu on your website rather than downloading a copy to their computer.

Instead, you can add a PDF viewer in WordPress and then show the PDFs directly on your website. This allows visitors to see the document without downloading it to their computer, which is often quicker and easier. This is particularly true for visitors who are using smartphones or tablets.

It also keeps visitors on your website, which may increase your pageviews and reduce your bounce rate.

With that being said, let’s see how you can easily add a PDF viewer to WordPress. Simply use the quick links to jump straight to the method you want to use.

Method 1. Add a PDF Viewer Using the Block Editor (Easy)

The easiest way to show PDFs on your WordPress website is by using the built-in File block.

This method doesn’t require a special plugin, but you can only customize the viewer in a few ways. If you want more advanced customizations and features, then we recommend using a plugin instead.

To get started, simply open the page or post where you want to add the PDF viewer in the content editor and then click on the ‘+’ button to add a new block.

After that, start typing in ‘File’ and select the right block when it appears.

The WordPress built-in File block

If you’ve already uploaded your PDF to the WordPress media library, then click on the ‘Media Library’ button. You can then select the PDF that you want to embed.

If you haven’t already uploaded the PDF, then click on ‘Upload’ and then choose a file from your computer.

Uploading a PDF file to WordPress

WordPress will automatically choose a size for the embedded PDF.

Note that the default view may not show the full document, but the ‘File’ block includes a toolbar that allows visitors to zoom in and out of the document. They can also scroll through the PDF to see more content.

How to add a PDF viewer in WordPress

If you prefer, then you can change the PDF viewer’s height to show more or less of the embedded document.

To do this, simply use the ‘Height in pixels’ slider in the right-hand menu.

Changing the height of an embedded PDF

Sometimes, visitors may want to download a PDF so they always have it close by. For example, customers may want to download the user manual for your most popular product or the programming schedule for an upcoming event or conference.

By default, WordPress shows a ‘Download’ icon in the toolbar and a button below the PDF.

How to allow visitors to download a PDF in WordPress

The ‘Download’ button beneath the PDF is useful for visitors who are unfamiliar with the different PDF toolbar icons. By showing a ‘Download’ button, visitors will immediately understand that this file is not tied to your site alone.

With that in mind, you may want to leave the ‘Download’ button enabled. However, if you don’t want to include this duplicate content then you can click to disable the ‘Show Download Button’ toggle.

Hiding the Download button in a PDF viewer

When you’re happy with how the PDF is set up, either click on ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ to make your changes live.

Now if you visit your WordPress website you’ll see the PDF viewer in action.

A PDF viewer, created with the built-in WordPress File block

Method 2. Add a PDF Viewer in WordPress Using a Plugin (More Customizable)

The built-in WordPress File block should be a good fit for websites that simply want to embed a few PDFs. However, if you want more control over the viewer then it often makes sense to use a plugin instead.

PDF.js Viewer is one of the best PDF plugins for WordPress. It allows you to change the height and width of the PDF viewer, and remove buttons from the PDF toolbar.

It also comes with a fullscreen mode, which is perfect for showing longer documents such as ebooks and user manuals.

A PDF viewed in fullscreen mode

First, you’ll need to install and activate PDF.js Viewer. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to Settings » PDFjs Viewer to configure the plugin’s settings.

The PDF.js Viewer plugin settings

Most of the time, you can override these default settings when embedding each PDF. For example, you can change an individual PDF’s settings for size or scale.

However, we still recommend changing the default settings to better match your own requirements, as this can save you a lot of time and effort.

By default, the plugin includes Download, Print, and Search buttons in the PDF toolbar. If you want to remove any of these buttons, then simply uncheck the box next to it.

Hiding buttons from the PDF viewer toolbar

You can also change the default embed height and width, and the ‘Viewer Scale.’

Out-of-the-box, PDF.js Viewer shows the PDF without any sidebar so visitors can see the full document when they arrive on the page. They can open the sidebar at any point by clicking on the ‘Toggle Sidebar’ button, as you can see in the following image.

Adding a sidebar to the PDF viewer in WordPress

If you plan to include longer documents or multi-page PDFs then it may be helpful to show the sidebar by default.

To do this, simply open the ‘Page Mode’ dropdown menu and select either Thumbs, Bookmarks, or Attachments.

Changing the mode in a PDF viewer

PDF.js Viewer allows visitors to open the PDF in fullscreen mode. By default, visitors can open this mode by clicking on a ‘View Fullscreen’ link above the embedded PDF.

To replace the text with your own custom messaging simply type into the ‘Fullscreen Link Text’ field.

Customizing the PDF's fullscreen mode

You can also choose whether the link opens in a new tab using the ‘Fullscreen Links in New Tabs’ box.

Launching a new tab will help to keep visitors on your website, but it can be annoying for mobile and tablet users.

Customizing the PDF viewer's fullscreen mode

Fullscreen mode makes it easier to read long documents so we recommend leaving this feature enabled. However, if you don’t want to use it then you can uncheck the box next to ‘Show Fullscreen Link.’

When you’re happy with how the plugin is set up, click on ‘Save Changes.’

You’re now ready to add a PDF viewer in WordPress. Simply open the page or post where you want to show the PDF and then click on the ‘+’ button.

You can now start typing in ‘Embed PDF.js Viewer’ and select the right block when it appears.

Adding a PDF to your WordPress website using a plugin

After that, click on ‘Choose PDF’ to open the WordPress media library.

You can now either choose a PDF from the library or upload a file from your computer.

Embedding a PDF on your WordPress website using a block

The plugin will use your default settings, but you can fine-tune how this PDF looks and acts using the settings in the right-hand menu.

Here, you can change the PDF’s height, width, and scale. You can also remove or customize the ‘View Fullscreen’ link.

Customizing the PDF embed block using a WordPress plugin

Finally, you can choose to remove or show the ‘Download’ and ‘Print’ buttons.

When you’re happy with how the PDF is set up, simply click on ‘Update’ or ‘Publish.’ You can now visit your WordPress blog or website to see the embedded PDF viewer.

A PDF, embedded directly on a WordPress blog or website

Bonus: How To Make Money From Your Embedded PDFs

If you have quality, useful PDFs then you can use them to make money online with WordPress.

After embedding a PDF document in your website, you can turn that page or post into exclusive members-only content. Visitors will then need to buy a membership to access that page or post, and see the embedded PDF.

The easiest way to turn WordPress into a membership site is by using MemberPress. It is the best WordPress membership plugin and allows you to turn any page or post into exclusive subscriber-only content, including embedded PDFs.

Make money by selling PDFs online

We have a complete guide on making a WordPress membership website with step-by-step instructions to help you get started.

We also suggest using Easy Digital Downloads to manage and sell PDFs on your website. You can sell all kinds of digital goods easily and embed PDFs in the product pages as previews, too.

We hope this article helped you add a PDF Viewer in WordPress. You may also want to take a look at our guide on how to create and sell online courses with WordPress or check out our list of the best email marketing services for small businesses.

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 PDF Viewer in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Add Multilingual Search in WordPress (2 Ways)

Do you want to add a multilingual search in WordPress?

If you have a multilingual WordPress site, then adding a multilingual search feature can help users find information more quickly by searching in their own language.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily add multilingual search in WordPress and delight your users with a better user experience.

How to add multilingual search in WordPress

Why Should You Add Multilingual Search in WordPress?

Often users have trouble finding information on multilingual websites because either there is no search feature that they can use, or the search feature shows them content in the wrong language.

Adding a multilingual search feature helps users easily find the content they are looking for. This improves user experience which means users will stay longer on your website.

Research shows that engaged users are more likely to convert, subscribe, or make a buying decision.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily add a multilingual search in WordPress without breaking your website or writing any code.

Method 1: Adding Multilingual Search Using TranslatePress

If you haven’t made your multilingual website yet, or already using TranslatePress, then this method is for you.

TranslatePress is the best WordPress translation plugin on the market. It allows you to easily create a multilingual website using a live editor for quick and easier translation.

It works out of the box and allows default WordPress search to display multilingual results.

The disadvantage of this method is that it uses the default WordPress feature which is not very good at fetching the right results.

If you haven’t used TranslatePress before or need help, then see our tutorial on how to easily create a multilingual WordPress website.

Note: Keep in mind that the free version of TranslatePress only allows you to translate your website into one other language. So if you want to add multilingual search in WordPress for more than two languages, then you’d need to buy the TranslatePress Premium version.

Once you have translated some content on your WordPress website. It is time to add the search form.

Add a Search Block to your WordPress Site

WordPress comes with a built-in search block that you can add anywhere on your website.

If you’re using a block-based theme like Ultra, then you’ll be using the full site editor to add the search block.

Simply visit the Appearance » Editor page from the WordPress dashboard.

This will launch the full site editor which looks a lot like the block editor you use for writing posts and pages.

Now, click on the add block button (+) to add the Search block.

Adding search block in site editor

You can move the search block up and down to display it anywhere on the page.

Search block also comes with a few style options that you can choose from the block toolbar or settings.

Search block settings

Once you are finished, don’t forget to click on the Save button to save your changes.

You can now visit your website to see the search form in action.

Search form preview

On the other hand, if you’re using a theme that does not support the full-site editor, then you can add a search form as a widget.

Simply go to the Appearance » Widgets page from the WordPress admin dashboard.

Here, click the Add widget block button (+) and add the Search block to your widget area.

Search widget

Once the ‘Widget Block Menu’ opens up, locate the ‘Search’ block and add it to your WordPress sidebar.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Update’ button at the top to save your changes.

Once you’ve saved the changes, visit your site and see the search box in action.

Website preview

Method 2: Adding Multilingual Search Using SearchWP (Recommended)

The default WordPress search feature used by TranslatePress is not very good. It is quite basic and only looks for search terms in certain places.

This is where SearchWP comes in.

It is the best WordPress search plugin on the market and allows you to easily replace the default WordPress search with a more powerful search feature.

SearchWP

SearchWP automatically builds a search index and matches search keywords in content, title, categories, tags, shortcodes, documents, products, and more.

Plus, it automatically replaces the default search form upon activation so you don’t need to replace it if you were already using it on your site.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily add a better multilingual search to your WordPress site.

First, you need to install and activate the SearchWP plugin. For more information, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

After that, go to the SearchWP » Settings page and then click on the ‘License’ menu option to enter your license key.

You can get the license key from your ‘SearchWP Accounts’ page. Simply copy the license key from there.

After that, paste it into the ‘License Key’ field and then click on the Activate button.

SearcWP license

Now, you are ready to create your first custom search engine.

Simply go to the SearchWP » Settings page from the dashboard.

From here, you will see SearchWP’s first default search engine for you. It is pre-configured to work for most websites including multilingual websites.

You’ll see all your post types with different attributes. Next to each attribute there will be a slide that you can move to assign weight for that attribute.

SearchWP settings

You can also click on the Add/Remove Attributes button to include more areas in the search.

For instance, you can add custom fields and taxonomies to the attributes as well.

Add more attributes to search

If you are unsure about a setting, you can leave it as it is. The default options would work for more use cases.

Finally, click on the Save Engines button to store your settings.

SearchWP will now start building your search index in the background.

Now, all you need to do is add the search form to your site.

Add a Search Block to your WordPress Site

SearchWP replaces the built-in search feature, which means you can use the default WordPress search form and it would still use SearchWP to show the results.

If you haven’t already added a search form to your website, then here is how you would add it.

If you’re using a block-based theme, then you’ll be adding a search block using a full-site editor.

Simply go to the Appearance » Editor page from the admin dashboard.

On the edit screen, click on the add block button (+) at the top and add the search block.

You can move the search block to the area where you want to display the search form by moving it up or down.

Adding search block in site editor

Finally, don’t forget to click on the Save button to save your changes.

If you’re using a theme that doesn’t support the full-site editor, then you’ll need to add a search widget to your website’s sidebar or widget-ready area.

For that, head over to the Appearance » Widgets page from the dashboard.

Now click on the add block button (+) at the top to open up the ‘Widget Block Menu’.

From here, locate and add the Search widget to your preferred widget area.

Search widget

Don’t forget to click the ‘Update’ button at the top to save your changes.

Next, simply visit your website and use your improved search box.

Website preview

For more information and detailed instructions, take a look at our guide on how to improve WordPress search using SearchWP.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add multilingual search in WordPress. You may also want to check out our tutorial on how to fix WordPress search errors, and our article on how to create a multilingual sitemap in 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 How to Add Multilingual Search in WordPress (2 Ways) first appeared on WPBeginner.

14-Step Technical WordPress SEO Framework (Proven Checklist)

Do you need a technical search engine optimization (SEO) checklist?

Optimizing your site for search engines can be a challenge if you’re not sure what to look for. Many website owners will ensure basic SEO practices but overlook technical elements.

In this article, we will show a WordPress technical SEO framework and share a checklist you can use for your business.

WordPress technical SEO framework checklist

Why Do You Need a WordPress Technical SEO Framework?

Technical SEO is a key component of your WordPress SEO strategy. You could be creating the world’s best content, but if search engines can’t find and understand your content, then all your efforts are wasted.

That’s why it is important to have a WordPress technical SEO framework.

Our WordPress SEO framework checklist will ensure that search engines can easily crawl and index your content. Plus, you can also evaluate other technical aspects of your WordPress website that might be preventing you from achieving higher rankings.

For example, your website might be taking a long time to load. This would result in poor rankings since the page load time is a ranking factor.

Similarly, you might have mistakenly added nofollow tags and prevented search engines from crawling and indexing your content.

How to Evaluate Technical SEO in WordPress

There are many SEO tools that let you conduct SEO audits and find out if your site is technically optimized. However, not all tools will show details inside your WordPress dashboard.

The easiest way to evaluate technical SEO for your WordPress site is by using All in One SEO (AIOSEO). It is the best WordPress SEO plugin that helps you optimize your website for search engines.

It offers a free SEO Analysis tool that you can use to conduct a technical SEO audit. The tool is available in the AIOSEO Lite version, which you can use for free. There are also premium AIOSEO plans that offer more features like schema markups, sitemaps, redirection manager, and more.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the AIOSEO plugin. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can go to All in One SEO » SEO Analysis from your WordPress admin panel. Under the ‘SEO Audit Checklist’, you’ll see an overall score for your website.

SEO analysis

Next, you can scroll down to the Advanced SEO and Performance sections.

Here, the plugin will evaluate the technical SEO aspects of your website based on different parameters and ranking signals. It will then highlight missing elements and critical issues that could stop your site from ranking higher.

View advanced SEO and performance

You can use AIOSEO to continuously monitor your site’s technical SEO and fix issues. Similarly, you can also perform a competitor analysis and see what they’re doing differently for their technical SEO optimization.

That said, let’s look at our WordPress SEO framework checklist that you can use to ensure higher rankings and organic traffic. You can click the links below to jump ahead to any section:

1. Ensure Your Website is Visible to Search Engines

The first thing you need to check is whether search engines are able to find your WordPress site.

You can simply enter site:example.com in the search engine and see if your website appears in the search results. Just replace ‘example.com’ with your own domain.

Perform site search

If your site isn’t showing up, then you can check the visibility settings in WordPress.

Go ahead and visit the Settings » Reading page from your WordPress admin panel. Next, scroll down to the Search engine visibility setting and be sure the ‘Discourage search engines from indexing this site’ option is unchecked.

Search Engine Visibility Setting in WordPress

This option is usually enabled if your website is under construction or is put in maintenance mode.

2. Uncover Crawling and Indexing Issues

If your website is visible to search engines, then it is important to check that your content is crawled and indexed.

Crawling is the process where Google, Bing, and other search engines discover and understand your website. Indexing is the process where search engines collect and store information about your website.

A simple way of checking crawling and indexing issues is using webmaster tools. For example, Google Search Console is a free tool by Google that shows your site’s performance on search results, helps uncover bugs, and allows you to submit your site to Google.

If you haven’t connected to the webmaster tool, then see our guide on how to add a WordPress site to Google Search Console.

In Google Search Console, you can head to the ‘Pages’ report. Here, you’ll see pages that are indexed and not indexed.

Page indexing in search console

Next, you can scroll down to the ‘Why pages aren’t indexed’ report.

Google Search Console will show you crawling and indexing errors on your website and which pages are affected by them. You can then resolve these issues, so your web pages can appear in Google search results.

Why pages are not indexed

Besides that, you can also check indexing and crawling issues for individual URLs.

Simply enter the page link in the URL inspection tool at the top. Google Search Console will then show you a report on whether the URL is indexed and on Google.

URL inspection tool

If it is not, then you’ll see a ‘URL is not on Google’ message. To fix this, you can click the ‘Request Indexing’ button so Google can crawl and index your page.

3. Make Sure Your Website is Secure with HTTPS

Another important thing to check from a technical SEO framework standpoint is whether your website is secure or not.

Google and other search engines will give preference to sites that use HTTPS over those that use HTTP. To secure your site, you will need an SSL certificate to encrypt the connection between your website server and the user’s browser.

You can check this by looking for the padlock sign in your browser’s search bar at the top.

Look for padlock sign

Most WordPress hosting companies now offer free SSL with all their plans. You can ask your host to see if they offer that.

For more details, please see our guide on how to move your WordPress site from HTTP to HTTPS.

Broken links are bad for your website’s SEO framework, and it negatively impacts your user experience. These are links that no longer exist and will return a 404 error.

Since search engine crawlers find different pages on your website by following internal links. A broken link can stop them from discovering new content. As a result, your page might not get indexed in the search results.

Similarly, if a visitor clicks on a link and is unable to find a page they’re looking for, then they might exit your website.

The MonsterInsights custom 404 error design

With All in One SEO (AIOSEO), you can easily find and fix broken links on your WordPress website.

It offers a powerful redirection manager that helps track 404 errors on your website and lets you set up permanent 301 redirects to fix broken links.

404 error logs in AIOSEO

To learn more, you can follow our detailed guide on how to find and fix broken links in WordPress.

5. Look for Duplicate Versions of Your Site

It is important that Google and other search engines only index one version of your website.

Your website can have different versions, but they should all point to one version. For example, you can have a site that has www and non-www version or HTTP and HTTPS version:

https://www.example.com
https://example.com
http://www.example.com
http://example.com

Whether you choose a www or non-www version, all the URLs should redirect to the primary WordPress URL. Otherwise, Google will consider each version as a different website.

This can negatively impact your overall SEO rankings. Search engines won’t know which version to index, and it could cause duplicate content issues.

You can check the primary URL for your site by going to Settings » General from the WordPress dashboard. Next, look at the web address in the ‘WordPress Address (URL)’ and ‘Site Address (URL)’ fields.

Look for primary URL

With AIOSEO, you can automatically set the proper canonical URL in your site header, so search engines will know your preference.

6. Use SEO-Friendly URL Structures

After setting a primary URL for search engines to index, you can now check the URL structure of your website.

URL structure plays an important role in your SEO. Having an SEO-friendly URL structure will help Google, Bing, and other search engines easily crawl your pages and understand your content.

Here’s an example of a bad URL structure:

https://www.example.com/category.php?id=42012

Instead, you should be using URLs that describe the content, like:

https://www.example.com/blog/how-to-start-a-wordpress-website

You can create SEO-friendly URLs by making sure that they are short and descriptive. Besides that, don’t forget to include a keyword in the permalinks, use hyphens to separate words, keep all the words in lowercase, and don’t use stop words.

Pro Tip: Don’t include numbers in your URL slugs, either. That way, you can update your content in the future

7. Ensure Your Site is Mobile Friendly

The next item in the technical SEO framework checklist is to ensure your WordPress site is mobile responsive.

With Google now going mobile-first, it will now index your site’s mobile version instead of the desktop version.

You can check your site’s mobile responsiveness by using the free Google Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

Mobile friendly test

Simply enter your website URL and click the ‘Test URL’ button.

The tool will then show results for your website. You can see if it is mobile-ready or not.

See mobile friendly test tool results

If your site is not mobile-friendly, then you can start by changing to a responsive WordPress theme.

You can also follow our guide on how to change your WordPress theme without losing any data or traffic.

8. Check Your Website Speed and Improve Performance

Your website speed is also a critical part of your WordPress technical SEO framework. Google uses page load speed as a ranking factor and will rank fast-loading sites higher compared to slow-performing websites.

You can check website load time by running a site speed test. For instance, you can use MonsterInsights, which is the best Google Analytics plugin that shows a site speed report inside your WordPress dashboard.

You’ll first need to install Google Analytics to your WordPress site using MonsterInsights.

After that, you can head to the Insights » Reports page from your WordPress admin panel. Next, you can go to the ‘Site Speed’ tab. Here, you’ll see an overall score for your website speed for desktop and mobile.

Site speed report

The report will also show other metrics that are important for measuring your website speed.

If you scroll down, then MonsterInsights offers recommendations and benchmark goals for each metric you should target.

Recommendations for improving speed

To improve website load time, you can see our ultimate guide to boost WordPress speed and performance.

A quick tip that you can use to improve your website speed is minifying your CSS and JavaScript files.

The term minified means reducing the size of website files by removing white spaces, lines, and unnecessary characters. When a user visits your website, different files are sent to the user’s browser, which includes CSS, HTML, and JavaScript files.

By reducing the file size, you can significantly improve website speed and performance. There are many WordPress plugins and hosting services that allow you to minify CSS and JavaScript files, like WP Rocket and SiteGround.

For more details, you can check out our guide on how to minify CSS and JavaScript files in WordPress.

9. Improve Your Internal Linking Structure and Remove Orphaned Pages

Internal links play an important role in your website’s technical SEO framework. Search engines reward websites that have a proper internal linking structure without too many orphaned pages.

AIOSEO has a powerful SEO Link Assistant feature that makes it easy for you to discover link opportunities and even automate the process for you.

It is the best internal linking plugin for WordPress that crawls the links on your WordPress website and provides a detailed report. You can see the number of internal links, outbound links, and affiliate links for each post and page.

AIOSEO Link assistant dashboard

You can see all the link suggestions in one place, and it can even automatically go back and add internal links in your older posts with a single click.

Find internal link opportunities and orphaned pages

10. Generate XML Sitemaps and Submit Them to Search Engines

Another important part of technical SEO framework is making it easier for search engines to find your content. One of the ways you can do that is by creating an XML sitemap.

It tells search engines about the important pages on your website. This way, search engine bots can crawl your site faster and index your content. While a sitemap won’t boost your rankings, it will improve the overall crawling and indexing process.

You can create and customize the sitemap using AIOSEO. The plugin will automatically generate a sitemap upon activation. Besides, it also lets you create a video sitemap, a news sitemap, an HTML sitemap, and an RSS sitemap.

AIOSEO sitemap options

Once you’ve created a sitemap, you can then submit it to different search engines using their webmaster tools.

For instance, Google Search Console gives the option to enter the sitemap URL and submit it to the search engine. To learn more, you can see our guide on how to submit your site to search engines.

Submit sitemap to Google

Similarly, you can also add your site to Bing Webmaster Tool and then submit an XML sitemap to improve crawling and indexing.

11. Use Schema Markup for Rich Snippets

The next technical SEO framework item you should check is schema markup. It helps search engines understand your content better and how it will appear on the search results.

You can use schema markup for recipes, reviews, events, organizations, FAQs, blog posts, product pages, multiple locations for local businesses, and more.

Search engines can use this information and display rich results. It also helps capture Google featured snippets, which can increase organic clicks and traffic.

For example, here’s how Google shows recipes, ingredients, ratings, cooking time, and other information for blog posts that use a recipe schema markup.

Recipe schema markup

You can easily add a schema markup in WordPress and WooCommerce using AIOSEO.

The plugin lets you choose the schema type depending on your content, and it takes care of the rest.

Schema markup settings in AIOSEO

With AIOSEO, you can also add completely custom schema markups based on your needs using the WordPress custom schema generator feature. This can help you get star ratings, and other rich snippets in Google.

AIOSEO Custom Schema Generator for WordPress

12. Optimize Your Robots.txt File for SEO

Robots.txt is a text file that specifies instructions for search engine bots on how to crawl your website. You can tell which pages to crawl and which pages to skip while crawling.

Here’s what a robots.txt file would look like for a WordPress site:

User-Agent: *
Allow: /wp-content/uploads/
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /readme.html
Disallow: /refer/
 
Sitemap: http://www.example.com/post-sitemap.xml
Sitemap: http://www.example.com/page-sitemap.xml

Adding a robots.txt file helps save the crawl quota. A search engine crawler will crawl a certain number of pages during a session. If they don’t finish crawling all the pages on your site, they will resume crawling in the next session.

This can slow down the indexing of your content, and it will appear in search results after some delay. That’s why optimizing the robots.txt file is an important component of the technical SEO framework.

You can disallow pages unnecessary pages like the WordPress admin area, theme folder, plugin files, and more. This way, you get to save the crawl quota and allow search engine bots to crawl even more pages.

On the other hand, you can add sitemaps and other important pages to robots.txt. This way, search engines will crawl and index them as quickly as possible.

A simple way of optimizing the robots.txt file is by using AIOSEO. You can enable custom robots.txt using the plugin and add rules to allow or disallow search engines to crawl.

Optimize robots txt file

To learn more, please see our guide on how to optimize your WordPress robots.txt for SEO.

13. Make Sure Google Doesn’t Flag Your Site for Malware

Another important technical SEO checklist item is to ensure your site isn’t flagged by Google for malware or unwanted software.

If your website is a security risk for users, then Google will show the following warning message:

Google safe browsing malware warning

This can be really bad for your WordPress SEO. It will keep people away from visiting your website, and impact your rankings, and overall website traffic.

To scan for malicious files on your website, you can use a WordPress security scanner. At WPBeginner, we use Sucuri as it is the best WordPress firewall and security plugin. It checks for vulnerabilities like malware, spam injection, malicious code, and helps clean up the website.

You can also take a look at our guide on how to fix ‘this site ahead contains harmful programs’ error in WordPress, if Google flags your site for malware.

14. Use Server Side Rendering vs Client Side Rendering

Another technical SEO best practice is ensuring that your site’s JavaScript renders on the server side and not on the client side.

Server-side rendering is when the JavaScript files render on the website server. While client-side rendering is when the JavaScript files render in the user’s browser.

Client-side rendering is bad for your site’s user experience and SEO. All the burden of loading your site quickly falls on the visitor. Plus, search engine bots use JavaScript resources for crawling and indexing your content. This could result in JavaScript content being missed by crawlers and not included in the search engine index.

With server-side rendering, your website server ensures everything loads quickly. This way, you get a better user experience, faster page load speed, and reduce any risk of content being missed from indexing.

One way of ensuring that JavaScript is rendering on your site’s server is by running a site speed test. If your website speed is low, then it could be because of this issue. You can also look at crawled pages in Google Search Console and see if Google missed any content while crawling. If it did, then it could be because of JaveScript-related SEO issues.

That’s it. You’ve made it to the end of the list. You don’t need to go through each and every point in the technical SEO framework at once. Simply go one step at a time and work your way through the list.

We hope this article helped you learn about WordPress technical SEO framework. You may also want to see our comparison of the best keyword research tools, and our proven tips on how to increase your blog traffic.

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 14-Step Technical WordPress SEO Framework (Proven Checklist) first appeared on WPBeginner.

WPLift Officially Joins the UnlimitedWP Family

It’s been a fascinating time here with WPLift team, and now I can finally reveal the major news that has had our whole team buzzing.  Your favorite source for WordPress news, reviews, and how-tos is officially a proud member of the UnlimitedWP family. Who is UnlimitedWP? Launched in 2019, UnlimitedWP is an international WordPress development [...]

Read More...

The post WPLift Officially Joins the UnlimitedWP Family appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.

How to Remove the Powered by WordPress Footer Links

Do you want to remove the ‘powered by WordPress’ footer links on your site?

By default, most WordPress themes have a disclaimer in the footer, but this can make your site look unprofessional. It also leaves less space for your own links, copyright notice, and other content.

In this article, we will show you how to remove the powered by WordPress footer links.

How to remove the powered by WordPress footer links

Why Remove the WordPress Footer Credits?

The default WordPress themes use the footer area to show a ‘Proudly powered by WordPress’ disclaimer, which links to the official WordPress.org website.

The Powered by WordPress disclaimer

Many theme developers take this further and add their own credits to the footer.

In the following image, you can see the disclaimer added by the Astra WordPress Theme.

The Astra footer disclaimer

While great for the software developers, this ‘Powered by….’ footer can make your site seem less professional, especially if you’re running a business website.

It also lets hackers know that you’re using WordPress, which could help them break into your site.

For example, if you’re not using a custom login URL, then hackers can simply add /wp-admin to your site’s address and get to your login page.

This disclaimer also links to an external site, so it encourages people to leave your website. This can have a negative impact on your pageviews and bounce rate.

Is it legal to remove WordPress footer credit links?

It is perfectly legal to remove the footer credits link on your site because WordPress is free, and it is released under the GPL license.

Basically, this license gives you the freedom to use, modify, and even distribute WordPress to other people.

Any WordPress plugin or theme that you download from the official WordPress directory is released under the same GPL license. In fact, even most commercial plugins and themes are released under GPL.

This means you’re free to customize WordPress in any way you want, including removing the footer credits from your business website, online store, or blog.

With that in mind, let’s see how you can remove the powered by WordPress footer links.

Video Tutorial

If you don’t want the video or need more instructions, then simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.

Method 1. Removing the ‘Powered by’ Link Using the Theme Settings

Most good theme authors know that users want to be able to edit the footer and remove the credit links, so many include it in their theme settings.

To see whether your theme has this option, go to Appearance » Customize in your WordPress admin dashboard.

Launching the WordPress Customizer

You can now look for any settings that let you customize your site’s footer, and then click on that option.

For example, the Astra theme has a section called ‘Footer Builder.’

Customizing the Astra theme disclaimer

If you’re using this theme, then simply click on the ‘Footer’ section and select ‘Copyright.’

Doing so will open a small editor where you can change the footer text, or even delete it completely.

How to remove the 'powered by WordPress' disclaimer

No matter how you remove the footer disclaimer, don’t forget to click on ‘Publish’ to make the change live on your site.

If you’re using a block theme, then you can remove the footer disclaimer using Full Site Editing (FSE) and the block editor.

This is a quick and easy way to remove the ‘Powered by’ credit across your entire site, although it won’t work with all themes.

To launch the editor, go to Appearance » Editor.

How to launch the FSE

Then, scroll to your website’s footer and click to select the ‘Powered by’ disclaimer.

You can now replace it with your own content, or you can even delete the disclaimer completely.

Editing the 'Proudly powered by WordPress' credit using the full site editor

When you’re happy with how the footer looks, simply click on ‘Save.’ Now if you visit your site, you’ll see the change live.

Method 3. How To Remove the ‘Powered by’ Disclaimer Using a Page Builder

Many WordPress websites use the footer to communicate important information, such as their email address or phone number. In fact, visitors might scroll to the bottom of your site looking specifically for this content.

With that in mind, you may want to go one step further and replace the ‘Powered by’ text with a custom footer. This footer could contain links to your social media profiles, links to your affiliate partners, a list of your products, or other important information and links.

You can see the WPBeginner footer in the following image:

An example of a WordPress footer

The best way to create a custom footer is by using SeedProd. It is the best page builder plugin and comes with over 180 professionally-designed templates, sections, and blocks that can help you customize every part of your WordPress blog or website.

It also has settings that allow you to create a global footer, sidebar, header, and more.

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

Note: There’s also a free version of SeedProd that allows you to create all kinds of pages using the drag-and-drop editor. However, we’ll be using the premium version of SeedProd since it comes with the advanced Theme Builder.

After activating the plugin, SeedProd will ask for your license key.

SeedProd license key

You can find this information under your account on the SeedProd website. After entering the key, click on the ‘Verify Key’ button.

Once you’ve done that, go to SeedProd » Theme Builder. Here, click on the ‘Add New Theme Template’ button.

The SeedProd theme builder

In the popup, type in a name for the new theme template.

Once you’ve done that, open the ‘Type’ dropdown and choose ‘Footer.’

Creating a custom footer with SeedProd

SeedProd will show the new footer template across your entire site by default. However, you can limit it to specific pages or posts using the ‘Conditions’ settings.

For example, you may want to exclude the new footer from your landing pages, so it doesn’t distract from your main call to action.

When you’re happy with the information you’ve entered, click on ‘Save.’

This will load the SeedProd page builder interface.

At first, your template will show a blank screen on the right and your settings on the left. To start, click on the ‘Add Columns’ icon.

The SeedProd theme builder editor

You can now choose the layout that you want to use for your footer. This allows you to organize your content into different columns.

You can use any layout you want, but for this guide, we’re using a three-column layout.

Choosing a layout for the WordPress footer

Next, you can edit the footer’s background so that it matches your WordPress theme, company branding, or logo.

To change the background color, simply click on the section next to ‘Background Color’ and then use the controls to choose a new color.

Changing the background color of a WordPress footer

Another option is to upload a background image.

To do this, either click on ‘Use Your Own Image’ and then choose an image from the WordPress media library, or click on ‘Use a stock image.’

Adding an image to a custom WordPress footer

When you’re happy with the background, it’s time to add some content to the footer.

Simply drag any block from the left-hand menu and drop it onto your footer.

Adding blocks to the WordPress footer

After adding a block, click to select that block in the main editor.

The left-hand menu will now show all of the settings for customizing the block.

The SeedProd advanced theme builder

Simply keep repeating these steps to add more blocks to your footer.

You can also change where each block appears by dragging them around your layout.

A custom footer, created using the SeedProd theme builder

When you’re happy with your design, click on the ‘Save’ button.

Then, you can select ‘Publish’ to complete your design.

Publishing the SeedProd template part

For your new footer to show up on your website, you’ll need to finish building your WordPress theme with SeedProd.

After building your theme, go to SeedProd » Theme Builder. Then, click on the ‘Enable SeedProd Theme’ switch.

Now, if you visit your website you’ll see the new footer live.

How to enable a custom WordPress theme

For a step-by-step guide, please see our guide on how to create a custom WordPress theme.

Method 4. Removing the WordPress Disclaimer Using Code

If you can’t see any way to remove or modify the footer credits in the WordPress customizer, then another option is to edit the footer.php code.

This isn’t the most beginner-friendly method, but it will let you remove the credit from any WordPress theme.

Before making changes to your website’s code, we recommend creating a backup so you can restore your site in case anything goes wrong.

Keep in mind that if you edit your WordPress theme files directly, then those changes will disappear when you update the theme. With that being said, we recommend creating a child theme as this allows you to update your WordPress theme without losing customization.

First, you need to connect to your WordPress site using an FTP client such as FileZilla, or you can use a file manager provided by your WordPress hosting company. 

If this is your first time using FTP, then you can see our complete guide on how to connect to your site using FTP

Once you’ve connected to your site, go to /wp-content/themes/ and then open the folder for your current theme or child theme.

The FileZilla FTP client

Inside this folder, find the footer.php file and open it in a text editor such as Notepad.

In the text editor, look for a section of code that includes the ‘powered by’ text. For example, in the Twenty Twenty-One theme for WordPress, the code looks like this:

<div class="powered-by">
				<?php
				printf(
					/* translators: %s: WordPress. */
					esc_html__( 'Proudly powered by %s.', 'twentytwentyone' ),
					'<a href="' . esc_attr__( 'https://wordpress.org/', 'twentytwentyone' ) . '">WordPress</a>'
				);
				?>
			</div><!-- .powered-by -->

You can either delete this code entirely or customize it to suit your needs. For example, you may want to replace the ‘Proudly powered…’ disclaimer with your own copyright notice.

A custom disclaimer, created using FSE

After making your changes, save the file and upload it to your server. If you check your site, then the footer credit will have disappeared.

Warning! Avoid the CSS Method at All Costs!

Some WordPress tutorial sites may show you a CSS method that uses display: none to hide the footer credit links.

While it looks simple, it’s very bad for your WordPress SEO.

Many spammers use this exact technique to hide links from visitors while still showing them to Google, in the hopes of getting higher rankings.

If you do hide the footer credit with CSS, then Google may flag you as a spammer and your site will lose search engine rankings. In the worst-case scenario, Google may even delete you from their index so you never appear in search results.

Instead, we strongly recommend using one of the four methods we showed above. If you can’t use any of these methods, then another option is hiring a WordPress developer to remove the footer credit for you, or you might change your WordPress theme.

We hope this article helped you remove the powered by WordPress footer links. You may also want to check out our expert pick of the best contact form plugins and proven ways to make money online blogging with 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 How to Remove the Powered by WordPress Footer Links first appeared on WPBeginner.

Weekly WordPress News: WordPress events updates

WordPress events updates The first WordCamp to be held in Africa in 2023, WordCamp Entebbe, is well underway and set to take place on March 10-11. Don’t miss these other upcoming WordCamps: WordCamp Asia 2023 in Bangkok, Thailand, is only two weeks away! Check out the livestream schedule if you are attending virtually. // Team WPLift WORDPRESS NEWS AND ARTICLES [...]

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