Website Translation and Bilingual Marketing

The first step in your bilingual marketing campaign is translating your website. So, it is worth allocating a marketing budget if you’re going after more business in the Latinx market. Opening your customer base to a second language gives you a competitive advantage, and your company is stronger for it.

“Offering more than one language means you are less fragile than companies that don’t. You are more agile to changes in the market. If your English website fails, your Spanish website is still running.”

Warren Laine-Naida

Translating your online store into Spanish in domestic markets with high percentages of Spanish speakers – for example, Los Angeles, CA, San Antonio, TX, or Phoenix, AZ  – is a smart business move. In that regard, website translation is a priority and makes a lot of sense for an eCommerce site, but what if you’re a real estate agent, hair stylist, or mechanic? Sí, your small business website should be en español also.

“It’s not only online stores that can benefit from going multilingual, though. A translated blog, for example, has the potential to gain new followers and generate more revenue from ads.”

WP Buffs

What is Bilingual Marketing? 

Before going beyond website translation and bilingual marketing, we need to agree on a simplified definition of marketing. Marketing is communication. You’re communicating a message to your audience, and – more importantly – that message is being received by your audience. 

So, if a portion of your customer base prefers to engage with brands in their native language – Spanish – then the best way to reach them is with a bilingual marketing campaign. But is that only in Spanish or a mix?

You have two obvious choices: create a totally different campaign in Spanish or translate the current marketing campaign into Spanish. The latter is an extension of your current marketing strategy, serving as a parallel campaign with a similar goal. That makes the marketing campaign bilingual. One of the best strategies, especially for the Hispanic market, is a hybrid approach –  where the campaign has Spanish and English.

“Before you tailor a bilingual marketing campaign, it is necessary to re-evaluate your business marketing objectives and then create content that positions it under the end-user requirement.”

Alpha Co. Marketing & Media

The important thing to remember with bilingual campaigns is that word-for-word translations aren’t always effective – or accurate. Always make an effort to translate colloquialisms thought for thought. So, be careful, but go ahead and start that bilingual campaign.

Does Bilingual Marketing Work? 

Of course, bilingual marketing works. And if you’re following along with our article, you get it. In fact, bilingual and Hispanic-centered marketing campaigns win awards. Casanova//McCann, who has worked with Denny’s, The California Lottery, and more, has won 2 years in a row at Cannes.

Bilingual marketing works because it honors your customers. It works because it speaks to customers where they are and because people speak more than just English. International companies know this. American companies who both recognize this fact and incorporate it into their business strategy win – all the way to the bank.

“Hispanics and Latinos are more likely to stick with a brand they like, which means strong customer lifetime value.”

SASSO

What Companies Excel at Bilingual Marketing in Spanish? 

McDonald’s is one of the first companies that dedicated social accounts to Spanish speakers. Netflix does well in the Hispanic market, IKEA has had success with Spanish-based marketing, and Ford Motor Company resonates well.

One great example of going beyond just translation in bilingual marketing is from Target. Their #SinTraducción (Without Translation) culture-based campaign won hearts and brought shoppers in the door. How’s that for más negocios?

Target had a spike in Hispanic Share of Voice by over 500%, outperformed metrics on ad recall and persuasion scores, but most importantly for our Target client-partners, it increased foot traffic in key Hispanic markets.”

Third Ear

How Do You Find Developers To Help with Bilingual Marketing?

One of the first places to ask for referrals for bilingual developers is your local Hispanic Chamber of Commerce if “bilingual” refers to Spanish. They’ll be able to source local Spanish speakers who understand local colloquialisms. Another great place to find developers is at local WordPress Meetups. You can always reach out on social media to find experts. But that’s all quite a bit of work. We have a suggestion, though.

Our partners at Codeable have a directory of elite WordPress developers – many of whom are not only bilingual but polyglots (fluent in many languages). When you’re looking for a WordPress developer who can build your WordPress website, help with your bilingual marketing campaigns, y habla espanol, then we have your back.

Featured Photo by Brett Zeck on Unsplash

WP Buffs – Your Best Friends

Have a multilingual site? No problemo. Our “Perform” and “Custom” Care Plans include support for multiple languages. We love WPML for WordPress translation, but there are other plugins and platforms available, such as Weglot and Lokalise to name a few.

According to a survey conducted by CSA Research, 40% of online consumers won’t even consider completing a purchase in a language other than their native one. In Europe alone, 90% of internet users prefer to browse the web in their own language.

If you want to attract global consumers, developing a multilingual website should be at the top of your priority list. 

And since most consumers use websites as the first point of contact with your business, it’s important you give your users a consistent multilingual experience. This means finding a flexible, quality translation solution that is simple to set up and manage. 

In this article, we’ll walk you through some factors you should consider before you start building your multilingual WordPress website. Then, we’ll show you why WPML is the right multilingual plugin for your WordPress site.

Why Consider Going Multilingual 

No matter the type of WordPress website you have, multilingual content can maximize your chances of succeeding in the global marketplace. Let’s explore the main benefits of website translation.

Tap into new marketplaces

If you want to break into new markets or do business globally, a multilingual website is the way to go. By providing your website’s content in multiple languages, you can break language barriers and reach new audiences interested in your products and services.

Build consumer trust

Consumers who can see you’ve taken the time to tailor your products or services to their needs are more likely to stay loyal to your brand, recommend your business to others, and leave positive reviews.

Increase online sales

A translated website doesn’t just let you reach a global audience – it also lets you convert them into customers. In turn, you can expect a significant increase in sales. It’s not only online stores that can benefit from going multilingual, though. A translated blog, for example, has the potential to gain new followers and generate more revenue from ads.

Choosing the Right WordPress Multilingual Plugin 

Translation is only a part of the multilingual journey. If you want your multilingual website to be successful, you need to go with a multilingual solution that is as easy to maintain as it is to use.

As a WordPress user, you have a major advantage – plugins. You can choose from a number of multilingual plugins, most of which come with similar features. This includes the option to add multiple languages to your website and the ability to translate posts and pages.

Premium translation plugins such as WPML come with additional benefits, like different translation methods, full control over the translation process, and the option to integrate with leading automatic translation engines.

Here are a few other factors to consider during the WordPress translation plugin selection process.

Running a Woo store? You’ll want to translate it too 

A multilingual WooCommerce store can help you showcase your products globally and reach new audiences in their native languages. But from a business perspective, there’s a lot more you can do than just translate your products.

With the right WordPress multilingual plugin, you can:

• Rank higher on various search engine platforms and in different languages
• Offer localized shipping methods
• Allow customers to pay in their own currencies
• Translate Cart and Checkout pages
• Automatically translate every element of your WooCommerce store as you add or edit it

Ideally, all these features should be available within one plugin.

Automatic translation: A quick and budget-friendly translation option  

Before you decide on a translation tool, consider how you’ll go about maintaining your multilingual website. 

Once in a while, websites require a content refresh. After taking the time to create a multilingual website, it’s only natural you’d expect the content across all your languages to be up-to-date. 

Outsourcing the translations to a professional translator is an option, and in some cases, the best choice. If you have a website with industry-specific terminology, you want to go with a professional translator who understands the nuances of your business.

However, there’s no hiding how time-consuming human translation is. It can take weeks before your translations are ready. Not to mention the impact of professional translations on your budget. Depending on the type of website you have, you can consider using a second option – automatic translation.

With automatic translation, you can have your WordPress site’s content translated in minutes – and at a friendly cost. Certain WordPress translation plugins, like WPML, also let you review the automatic translations after they’re generated. If you’re not fluent in all the languages on your site, you can hire a professional automatic translation reviewer. This way, you can enjoy high-quality translations at a lower cost than human translations from scratch.

The benefits of a powerful translation management system

Ultimately, the plugin you choose shouldn’t just translate your content. It should also simplify the translation process, enhance the quality of your translations, and make it easy to maintain your multilingual content.  

Some WordPress multilingual plugins come with more efficient translation management systems than others. Key factors that can help you manage the translation process include:

• Translation memory, which speeds up the translation process and helps keep costs down
• Automated workflows that eliminate the need to import and export content for translation
• Centralized project management, making it easier to monitor the progress of translations
• Term bases, which provide translators with guidelines on the best words and phrases to use for specific types of content

Why WPML is the Right Multilingual Plugin for WordPress Websites

WPML is the market-leading multilingual plugin for WordPress. It comes with all the features and tools you need to create and maintain a fully-functioning multilingual website. WPML is an equally great solution for freelancers or agencies creating multilingual websites for clients and WordPress users building sites for themselves.

To illustrate the point, we’ll go over 6 key features that make WPML stand out amongst other WordPress translation plugins.

1. Flexible Automatic Translation Methods

Translating your whole WordPress site automatically is a breeze with WPML. The multilingual plugin is integrated with DeepL, Google, and Microsoft, allowing you to translate your site with only the best and most accurate machine translation engines. You can choose from two different translation methods, depending on which one best fits your needs. 

WPML’s Translate Everything mode handles the translation of your content on the fly. After you create a new post or page, all you need to do is hit the “Publish” button. WPML then automatically translates the content into your site’s secondary languages in the background. The same goes for any existing posts or pages you update. This mode is optimal if you’re looking for a cost-effective and simple solution for maintaining and updating multilingual content as it is added or changed over time.

With the Translate Some mode, you can combine human and machine translation and have full control over what you translate, and how you translate it. Translate content by yourself, enlist the help of local translators, or work with a professional translation agency – the choice is yours. This mode is a great solution if you want the best of both worlds – the efficiency of automatic translation and the accuracy of human review. 

2. WPML’s Advanced Translation Editor

You or your translators can translate posts and pages using WPML’s built-in CAT (Computer-aided Translation) tool, the Advanced Translation Editor. 

Apart from providing you with a side-by-side look that makes translation easy, the Advanced Translation Editor lets you:

• Automatically translate posts, pages, or specific sentences on a case-to-case basis
• Increase the speed of translations and cut costs thanks to translation memory
• Save terms and phrases in the glossary so you and your translators can produce consistent translations

3. An All-In-One Translation Management System

To help you manage all your site’s translations, WPML’s Translation Management brings all the tools and features together in one place. 

From the Translation Management Dashboard, you can:

• Select which content you want to translate
• Add individual translators and assign language pairs
• Outsource the translations to professional translation agencies
• Leave notes for translators and track the progress of translation jobs

Additionally, WPML lets you create dedicated translator accounts. You can then send content to your translators directly from your WordPress dashboard. This way, you don’t need to waste time and resources creating PO files, spreadsheets, or switching between different interfaces. 

It’s also worth noting that while your translators can edit your site’s translations, they won’t be able to access or make changes to any other parts of your WordPress website.  

Once a translator completes the job, the translations are automatically imported to your site. So, you don’t have to worry about manually uploading translations and making a mistake that could break your website.

4. WooCommerce Multilingual: A Comprehensive E-Commerce Translation Solution

WooCommerce Multilingual & Multicurrency (WCML) is a free add-on plugin that comes with the WPML CMS and Agency account types. It comes with all the features you need to start selling internationally.

With WooCommerce Multilingual, you can:

• Automatically translate your entire WooCommerce site
• Translate products, product variations, and product attributes
• Translate Cart and Checkout pages as well as store emails
• Translate URLs and endpoints
• Set prices and collect payments in different currencies depending on the location or language of your clients
• Set up automatic exchange rates

More importantly, getting started with WooCommerce Multilingual is easy and intuitive. Once you install and activate the plugin, you simply need to follow the steps in the setup wizard.

You can then create and edit the translations of products, categories, store URLs, and even set up the multicurrency features from one intuitive interface. Of course, the WooCommerce Multilingual plugin also lets you automatically translate your WooCommerce site. You can then quickly fine tune the translations and have your store taking global orders in no time. 

5. Transparent Automatic Translation Pricing 

You already know that automatic translation is the most cost-efficient way to translate your website, but the question remains – how much does it actually cost?

With WPML, there are no hidden costs. You can choose between two automatic translation pricing options: pay-as-you-go and prepaid credit packages.

With pay-as-you-go, you get 2,000 free translation credits every month. If you use more than that, you pay for exactly what you used at the end of the month. And if you’re not quite sure how many credits you need to translate your site’s content, you can use WPML’s automatic translation pricing calculator to estimate the costs.

Setting up multilingual sites for clients? You may prefer to go with prepaid credit packages. This option allows you to buy credits and manually assign a specific number of them to any of your registered sites. The credits never expire, so you don’t have to worry about using them in a specific timeframe. 

6. Easily Transfer Account Renewals to Clients 

If you build multilingual sites for clients, you know how big of a challenge the account renewal process can pose. Without the right renewal strategy, you may find yourself paying for the maintenance of a client’s multilingual website, but not getting reimbursed for it by your client. 

The costs can add up, but abandoning the multilingual sites you built isn’t exactly an option. After all, you want to remain credible and maintain strong relationships with your customers.

Account renewals should be a transparent process for both you and your clients. That’s why with WPML, you don’t have to deal with the headache of managing renewal fees and sending invoices to your clients. Instead, you can transfer renewal payments directly to your clients. 

This solution comes with a number of benefits for both sides:

• Your clients will receive updates to the WPML plugin, even if your account is no longer valid or has expired
• Your clients will have full access to WPML’s downloads and support 
• Once your clients follow your invitation to take over renewal payments, WPML credits you $20 per renewal and adds one bonus site to your account

Find WPML in the WP Buffs Partners Hub

WPML features in the public WP Buffs White Label Preparation Hub. If you are an Agency client, you can find WPML in your exclusive Partners Hub too! This shows the trust that WP Buffs have put into using WPML on various projects for a wide range of clients. For easy access to a wide range of useful WPML information and documentation, check out the ‘Translate With WPML’ section in your hub.

Wrapping Up

A multilingual website is the best way to reach audiences across the globe. However, to create a successful multilingual website, you need to choose the right WordPress translation plugin. Factors such as the type of website you have, the way you want to translate it, and your budget may play a part in the decision.

WPML comes with all the features and tools you need to both create and maintain any type of multilingual website. It’s straightforward to set up and lets you translate your site’s content using automatic translation, human translation, or a combination of both. 

What’s more, WPML centralizes the translation process in one place, making it possible for you to create, send, and receive translations directly from your WordPress site’s dashboard. 

Best of all, it’s a friendly solution for everyone. No matter if you’re building a multilingual WordPress website by yourself or setting one up for a client, WPML makes it possible for you to have a multi-language website up and running in just a few steps.

Get Started with WPML Today

Join over a million WPML-powered WordPress sites and start using WPML to meet your multilingual needs. You can learn everything there is to know about the plugin by checking out the comprehensive guide to getting started with WPML.

In case you’re not 100% happy with the WordPress multilingual plugin, WPML offers a no-hassle, 30 day money-back guarantee.

This article was produced by Kathy Banach. She is a Writer for OnTheGoSystems, the company behind the popular WPML and Toolset plugins for WordPress. She has a strong interest in cross-cultural communication and improving user experience with well-crafted content.  

If you’ve been paying attention to the WP Buffs blog, then you’ve seen MailChimp for WordPress (MC4WP) mentioned as one of our top WordPress email plugins. We will walk you through how to use Mailchimp with WordPress using the Mailchimp for WordPress Plugin and traditional code.

MC4WP: MailChimp for WordPress

Mailchimp for WordPress is a plugin that can be added to your WordPress website to connect with Mailchimp, better manage your marketing campaigns, and add users from your websites straight to Mailchimp’s lists.

MC4WP allows users to add forms and custom signup methods for Mailchimp to your WordPress site. Users will need controlling access to a Mailchimp account to get started.

Set Up a Mailchimp Account

To use Mailchimp for WordPress, you must sign up for a Mailchimp account. New users can register on the Mailchimp website, opting for a free or paid version.

If you’ve already got a Mailchimp account confirmed and ready to go, you can log in and skip ahead to the next section.

Before Signing Up for Mailchimp

What you will need for the signup process:

• A browser that meets minimum requirements for Mailchimp to work correctly.
• An email address to be used as the primary communication method with your account.
• A unique Mailchimp username.
• A physical mailing address to be in all emails (can be a P.O. Box).
• Though not required to sign up, a credit card is the only payment accepted for subscription plans and add-ons.

Using Mailchimp to spam end users is against their regulations, and suspicion of spam activities will result in account suspension.

Sign Up for a Mailchimp Account

Creating a Mailchimp account is very simple:

1. Visit Mailchimp to sign up for an account.
2. Enter your email, a unique username, and password, and then click “Sign Up.”

Note: Emails that start with role-based names like “admin” or “security” get automatically blocked from signing up with Mailchimp.

1. Successful registration will display a confirmation message and send an activation email to the email you entered.
2. Check your email for the account activation message from Mailchimp.

Note: check your spam folder and review Mailchimp’s activation email troubleshooting tips for more ideas.

Confirm Your Mailchimp Account

Before Mailchimp allows you to use all its features, you must confirm your email address and complete account activation.

1. Locate the account activation email from Mailchimp and open it
2. Click the “Activate Account” link in the email and allow it to open your browser
3. Mailchimp will require you to prove your humanity with a button click to complete the setup.

Suppose you use the Mailchimp application or integrate with WordPress without confirming your email. In that case, you may run into functionality issues that are not explained clearly, including the inability to connect Mailchimp for WordPress to your Mailchimp account.

Mailchimp Account Setup

The first time logging in to Mailchimp, a prompt will have you answer basic questions to complete the setup. The information Mailchimp requires includes:

• Name (for your profile that can access multiple Mailchimp accounts)
• Email Address to contact you at
• Company or Organization Details for content assistance (and targeted ads)
• Website URL
• A physical address is legally necessary for any email sent (can be a P.O. Box)

Take a peek at their signup process to learn more about how Mailchimp uses your information.

Confirm Your Mailchimp Plan

Mailchimp automatically starts everyone off on the Free version, and a free plan is all you need to connect your Mailchimp account to your Mailchimp for WordPress Plugin. If you seek a specific functionality from Mailchimp not available in the Free option, you may need to consider a Mailchimp paid plan.

Create an Email List in Mailchimp

If you did not create or import an email list during setup, you need to create new email lists for your marketing campaigns.

How to Use MailChimp with WordPress Plugin

Before you can use the MC4WP plugin, it needs to connect to your Mailchimp account. Like many plugins, a connection to an external application like Mailchimp uses an API key.

An admin account can set up a Mailchimp account with your WordPress site several ways, but every method requires the use of a Mailchimp API Key.

Create a Mailchimp API Key

You will need to log in to your Mailchimp account to access the area where you create and manage your API Keys.

1. With a successful log-in, go to Account > Extras > API Keys.
2. Create a New API Key or copy an existing API Key.
3. Copy the API Key for your WordPress site or keep this information handy.

Once connected, the API Keys area of Mailchimp will also be where you confirm your connection status to your WordPress site. You can also toggle off the API Key or create other types of Keys for development.

Use the API Key to Connect Mailchimp to WordPress

There are two ways to add the Mailchimp API Key to your WordPress website. If you are not a developer or still getting comfortable with editing code, it is easier to use the Mailchimp for WordPress plugin to set the API.

Add the Mailchimp API Key to the Mailchimp for WordPress Plugin

To configure the plugin on your website to communicate with Mailchimp, you must access the WordPress admin control panel.

1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard.
2. If you haven’t already done so, add the Mailchimp for WordPress plugin MC4WP and activate it.
3. Open MC4WP and enter your API key in the input field.

Adding the Mailchimp API Key add a PHP Constant

If you are comfortable altering the code of your website, you also have the option to define a Mailchimp API through the definition of the MC4WP_API_KEY PHP Constant.

define(‘MC4WP_API_KEY’, ‘your-api-key-here’);

The PHP Constant needs defining in a loaded area like your functions.php file. If you’re unfamiliar with editing a functions.php file, see our Beginner’s Guide on how to Edit Functions.php in WordPress.

Create or Add Signup Forms to Your WordPress Website

There are essentially three types of Mailchimp signups to create and add to your WordPress site, and those include a popup, an inline-block, and sidebar signup. The signup form style best for your site will depend on your marketing and user experience goals.

Without a paid subscription, you get limited to using the Mailchimp block or custom code. Code Snippets can be accessed using HTML blocks in the visual builder. Mailchimp offers the opportunity to create a form on their site and copy and paste the form code into your WordPress blocks for use.

Mailchimp Forms

Before you can sign users up for marketing communications, a form is required to collect their information. Mailchimp comes with some mobile-optimized default forms, and admins can update form fields to match your preferred labels.

Mailchimp forms are single opt-in by default. People who subscribe using your forms get immediately added to the Mailchimp list.

Double opt-in signup through Mailchimp requires email verification before users get automatically added to a list. The double opt-in is especially handy for websites with many unsubscribes, complaints, or bounces.

Add a Mailchimp Signup in a Popup

Mailchimp has the functionality to be used in a popup window. If you want your guests to get a popup invitation related to a Mailchimp campaign,

Where to Paste MailChimp Popup Code

Mailchimp offers additional functionality through the use of code snippets. For code snippets to work correctly, they will need to be in a file that gets loaded, like a theme’s functions.php file or a specified code block.

Add an Inline Mailchimp Signup

WordPress.com offers a free Mailchimp block in the default visual block editor. You can add the Mailchimp block to any post or page by selecting it from the list of available blocks.

Some plugins also have a built-in Mailchimp visual block, such as Jetpack version 7.1 or higher. Any plugin that offers integration with Mailchimp through WordPress is accessing your Mailchimp API Key to help build your pages and run your campaigns.

Add a Mailchimp Sidebar or Footer Signup

The sidebar and footer can house various widgets for custom work in a standard WordPress theme. To use a custom Mailchimp signup in one of these areas, create a dedicated “Mailchimp for WP Form” widget.

A developer can build a custom widget using the Mailchimp API Key created, or developers can save time using the “Mailchimp for WordPress” plugin.

1. Log in to your WordPress Admin dashboard and ensure the MC4WP plugin is active.
2. Navigate to Appearance > Widgets and select Mailchimp for WP Form widget.
3. Drag the widget into the desired widget area.
4. Select the form you would like to use from your Mailchimp options and give it a unique Title.
5. Save your changes

Your form should be visible in the sidebar where it is present. If you want to customize or create a unique format, you can edit the signup forms in the MailChimp For WordPress form settings.

Creating Custom Style for Mailchimp Signup Forms

If you want to customize your Mailchimp forms in WordPress, Mailchimp provides a reference table of CSS Selectors to call. If your visual builder has issues overwriting the form code, you may need to add custom code to your site that calls the CSS Hooks.

If there is an absolute need to use custom style code, it may be best to code your forms from scratch or have a professional from WP Buffs do it for you.

MailChimp WordPress Plugins

In addition to Mailchimp integrating with WordPress directly, several plugins are available to automate your marketing with your website.

The MC4WP plugin has base forms available for use, but WordPress also allows the environment to integrate with the following plugins:

• Default WordPress Forms
• Contact Form 7
• WooCommerce
• Gravity Forms
• Ninja Forms 3
• WPForms
• BuddyPress
• MemberPress
• Events Manager
• Easy Digital Downloads
• Give
• UltimateMember

It also offers the following add-ons and integrations:

• Google reCAPTCHA
• WPBruiser anti-spam
• Mailchimp for WordPress Premium
• Mailchimp Top Bar
• Mailchimp ACtivity
• Boxzilla Pop-ups

More on Managing Email Campaigns from WP Buffs

Mailchimp can go even further with automation programs like Zapier or in the hands of a quality WordPress developer. Access to an API Key will give a good developer the ability to automate a large portion of your marketing campaigns.

Developers and programs can access that API to integrate your favorite plugins and programs.

If you would like to hear more from our experts about email deliverability, open rates, and personalization from the WP Buffs, listen to our Podcast with special guest Rene Morozowich to do just that. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to keep updated on the latest from WP Buggs.

If WP Buffs has caught your attention and you’re interested in finding out more about our WordPress services, contact us. Our team of skilled professionals can decrease the stress around growing your online presence.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a Favicon?

A favicon is an icon that shows up in the browser tab or window and on the list of bookmarks or favorites specifically associated with a particular site. If a browser does not find a custom favicon, it shows a default favicon instead.

A WordPress favicon is often a tiny version of the site’s logo. You may be able to shrink the logo to favicon size, but it is usually necessary to create one related to the original logo.

Why should I use a Favicon?

Businesses should have a favicon to improve familiarity and encourage trust from potential customers. Branding allows visitors to recognize a site instantly. It adds continuity and legitimacy.

Individuals can also use a favicon for similar reasons, though the goal is repeat visitors rather than purchases in most situations.

Favicon Specifications

The favicon size in WordPress is 16×16 pixels. However, some other browsers and applications use a larger size, ranging from 16 to 195 pixels square.

If you stick with the 16×16 size, the applications that use larger sizes will generally enlarge it, often causing pixelation. Because of this, WordPress’ Site Identity requires 512×512 instead.

Some common alternate sizes are:

• 24 pixels – the icon for a pinned site in Internet Explorer 9
• 72 pixels – the icon on an iPad home screen
• 128 pixels – the icon used on the Chrome Web Store
• 195 pixels – the icon shown on Opera Speed Dial

Favicon Formats

A favicon will not display correctly if it is saved in an incorrect format. The most common format is Windows ICO, which was the original requirement. It can hold a variety of sizes and resolutions for use over multiple platforms. It is the only format used by Internet Explorer.

PNG is the most user-friendly option since nearly any graphics program will save in this format, and it provides a small file size and allows the favicon to be transparent if desired.

Opera supports using SVG for favicons, though it is the only browser that does.

GIF, JPG, and APNG are options but are less useful because their resolution is worse, and they can be distracting. Distraction is especially likely with animated GIF files and APNG files, which are also animated.

Creating a Favicon

Designing a WordPress favicon to add recognition to your site is a great idea. You can design one on a graphics program on your computer or use a free website online, such as favicon-generator.org or favicon.cc.

Consider the following factors to improve the value of your favicon.

Identity

The most important reason to have a favicon is to be recognized. Create a design that represents the product or service you offer or a design that matches your brand logo. An image that directly relates to your brand, such as a smaller version of the logo or the main letter or letters of the company name, is ideal.

Simplicity

Because of its small size, simple is best. Basic shapes or letters are a good choice for visibility. When visitors recognize it at a glance, it is most effective. The more detail you attempt to include, the more difficult it is for the visitor to recognize what the icon is. Precision, boldness, and clarity are essential.

Colors

High contrast will improve readability and increase recognition. Consider the favicons of such sites as NBC and Netflix. Their sites are instantly obvious. Sites that have a clear color identity should include that color in their WordPress favicon. Again, keep it simple. Too many colors can cause an unclear image.

How to Add a Favicon to WordPress

Add a WordPress favicon using one of the following methods:

1) Use the built-in Site Icon option in WordPress.

Hover over Appearance and choose Customize, then choose the Site Identity tab. Site Icon is at the bottom of the left panel and allows you to choose any 512 pixels or larger square image, which it then resizes as needed.

If the file you choose is not a square, WordPress provides an interface to crop the image to a square.

2) Edit the header.php

Edit header.php file in your current theme and add this code:

<link rel=”icon” href=”https://www.yourdomain.com/favicon.ico” type=”image/x-icon” >
 <link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”https://www.yourdomain.com/favicon.ico” type=”image/x-icon” />

Replace “yourdomain” with your site’s domain name, and make sure to upload the favicon to the webspace.

If you want to prevent WordPress from undoing the change in an update, create a child theme before editing and edit the child theme file instead of the main theme file.

3) Use a WordPress plugin.

Use one of the plugins we list below.

How to Change a Favicon in WordPress

Changing the WordPress favicon is similar to adding one. The same methods work to upload a new favicon. It is also possible to upload a new one and overwrite the old one, which will change it when visitors clear their cache or do a hard refresh.

Let WP Buffs handle your upgrades and changes if you find the process confusing. The team is available 24/7 to provide service and assistance.

Simplify with a WordPress Favicon Plugin

Ease the process of adding or changing the WordPress favicon by installing a plugin.

• You can use the plugin Insert Headers and Footers to add the code above easily. Paste the code into the header section and save it.
• The plugin All in One Favicon adds the functionality to ease the process of adding a favicon.
• RealFaviconGenerator is a plugin that generates icons based on the browser’s requirements.
• Another popular plugin is Heroic Favicon Generator, which generates a favicon from an uploaded image or one already in your media library. It uses drag-and-drop for uploading image files.

Why is my WordPress Favicon not Showing up?

There are several possible reasons for favicon errors, from user error to browser idiosyncrasies.

Cache

When your website is cached, changes to elements like the favicon take time to show up. You can speed up the process by doing a hard refresh (Ctrl + F5) or by clearing the browser cache. If that does not fix the problem, check the favicon file type. If it is not an .ico file, then it may be incompatible with the browser.

Typos

If you have a typographical error in the code, the favicon is likely to error out rather than display. Simple errors such as a missing quote, slash, or bracket cause errors that mess up the image and possibly the entire web page. Check the code carefully.

WordPress Favicon Location

The file reference is very specific, as well. If the link (the part within the href quotes) points to an image that does not exist, the favicon will not display. Be careful to upload the favicon file and copy the exact link. The best way to do this is to use the Media Library inside WordPress.

Local View

If you are checking the display on a local computer rather than loading up the internet page, the WordPress favicon will not show because most browsers do not look locally for the favicon. Check the page on the internet to be certain it is showing to visitors.

Wrong Image Type

The default file type for the favicon image is .ico (“image/ico”). When another file type is used, such as PNG or SVG, that must be adjusted in the code when using the edit theme method. The file type must match the file type of the image. For example, a PNG file should say “image/png” instead of “image/ico.”

For more information about all sorts of WordPress-related topics, subscribe to the WPBuffs newsletter.

People Also Ask

One of the best ways to increase revenue or traffic to your website is to rebrand yourself. Not only can rebranding yourself and your website draw in more website visitors, but it can also help you stand out on various platforms.

Rebranding your style to better fit with the times starts with rebranding your website. Although the idea of revamping yourself may sound complicated, it doesn’t have to be.

If you use a site hosted by WordPress and want to try to revitalize your image, you’ve come to the right place. The steps outlined here can help you learn how to rebrand a WordPress website in a way that will best suit your business.

How to Rebrand a WordPress Website: Seven Essential Steps

In order to rebrand a website in WordPress seamlessly, there are seven steps you should follow. These steps will help you rebrand a WordPress theme, define your image, and create a website experience that makes your business stand out.

Develop Your Brand Voice

First and foremost, you have to know your brand voice. Your brand voice is the best way to convey your authority on your topic. Conveying your authority could come in the form of written content, physical products, or other delivery methods, such as podcasts.

For example, if you run a political website, using political jargon and confident verbiage will tell your target audience that you’re well-versed on your topic. Or, if you have a pop-culture podcast, there should be no question that you know the who’s who of the pop culture world.

If you’re looking to expand your voice, you could consider adding a blog. Many articles are available to get you started if you’ve never created a blog before, but it can be a great way to get noticed for something brand-specific, like witty one-liners or great storytelling.

This should be in line with your business industry, objectives, and the audience you are speaking to. If you need help with defining your brand voice, which is key to any rebrand or design project, you may want to seek out a consultation with a branding consultant. You can find plenty of great consultants on Clarity FM.

Define Your Style

The next step to learning how to rebrand a WordPress website is to figure out your style. This is the part of your website that conveys who you are. It should be apparent in your logo, theme, and writing.

Essentially, your style is the “you” part of your site. It’s how site visitors learn about your business and understand who you are. Perhaps your business style is an offshoot of your own personality, or it might be the complete opposite of who you are. The only thing that matters is that it’s clearcut.

For example, if you’re an author of romantic comedies, you may want to portray yourself as funny and personable using bright colors and witty text. Or, if you’re the owner of a clothing store, a style that conveys the casual vibe of your clothing would be more appropriate.

When defining your style, take time to look at competitors’ websites and examine the styles of the more successful ones to get some great insight into what consumers are looking for. Once you have an idea of what your target audience is used to, you’ll have a great starting point.

Align Your Brand Voice and Style with Your Offerings

This may seem obvious, but it is vital to create your new style, voice, and overall branding to resemble and reflect the industry your business is in and the products or services you offer.

You will not be recognizable or memorable (in a good way, at least) to your audience if you have a new branding and style that has zero characteristics of the market your business is in.

An example of this being done poorly would be a pediatric doctor’s office using a “car” in their logo or branding. Sure, kids usually like cars, or toy cars at least, and maybe the doctor is even a car geek. However, it’s obvious that a “car” doesn’t speak to what a pediatric doctor has to offer.

The better example of the pediatric doctor’s office having a good alignment of their brand and style with their offerings would be using a classic toy from their culture, the traditional baby blue and pink colors, or even a fun and energetic font for a wordmark logo.

Additionally, you will want to consider how the design will flow with the purpose and function of your website. If your website is intended to be a showcase of your creative work, you will want to have that creative touch with your branding too. If your site is more for information only purposes, then you will want to focus on presenting that information in a clear and distinguished way.

This step may seem easy, or again, obvious, but when working through new designs and branding, it can be easy to get “caught in the current” of making something new and exciting. Remember your objectives when rebranding, and stay focused on creating something that represents what you have to offer your audience.

Create Your Logo

Your logo is the most outward and immediate expression of your style and brand. It should appear on every page, on every platform, and on every piece of digital marketing material. That way, when someone visits your site, they’ll know they’ve come to the right place.

Creating a logo can take quite a bit of trial and error, especially if you’ve never done it before. You can create a logo yourself using a free service such as Canva, or, if you’re handy with Photoshop, you could also create a logo using that.

If you aren’t sure if you’ll be able to create a logo on your own that really stands out, it’s a simple enough process to hire someone to do it for you. Graphic designers are available to create logos, advertisements, and other digital promotional materials and have the experience to do it well.

Create a Favicon

Once you’ve created a great logo, your next step is to create a Favicon.

A Favicon is a small icon on the tab of a browser that tells you what site is on the browser without switching to that tab. For example, the Favicon on the WordPress website is the WordPress logo.

When designing your site, you should include your logo as your Favicon. Choosing something other than your logo can confuse site visitors.

WordPress makes it incredibly easy to use your logo to create a Favicon when customizing your theme. Or, if you prefer, you can convert your logo to a Favicon using an online conversion tool.

Choose a Theme With Suitable Branding Options

WordPress provides you the option of either using a pre-designed theme or creating your site from scratch. If your goal is to remain consistent and recognizable, choosing a theme is your best bet because it allows your style to carry seamlessly through each page on your site.

Whether you’re choosing to rebrand a pre-existing WordPress theme, choosing a new theme altogether, or using a page builder like Elementor* or Beaver Builder*, be sure you select a theme that has suitable branding options for your needs. Some themes are more customizable than others, which gives you more flexibility when creating your site.

You want to make sure the theme allows you enough customization options to be able to implement your branding options on the site without a lot of custom development. Also, to keep things consistent, make sure the color scheme you choose for your theme reflects your style and complements your logo.

When considering your theme options, you need to remember that you’ll have to keep your site up to date. WordPress makes changes now and then, and one core update or theme update could conflict and change the look of your entire site. Make sure you go with a highly rated and supported theme that is kept up to date and checked for compatibilities, like the X theme or any of our other recommended themes, or a commonly used page builder and theme combination.

But, no matter what theme you have or choose to go with, you can always have help with maintaining theme updates, on top of all your other updates and maintenance tasks, with a WordPress care plan if you’re concerned about managing a theme and the WordPress system.

Lastly, you don’t have to have a custom theme built to have a great custom design for your site. We really don’t recommend using a custom theme for most websites. Many of the best, well-known themes now have plenty of flexibility to implement your design ideas, so don’t feel pressured into an expensive custom-built theme.

Consider Your Cross-Platform Branding Options.

Once you’ve figured out your style, brand, logo, and voice, there’s one more step in the rebranding process. Having a website is excellent for business, but only if you get the word out that it’s there. The best way to spread the word is to implement cross-platform branding.

Cross-platform branding is one of the most common ways to spread the word about your business, which you’d mainly do through social media. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are a few of the big platforms that successful content-creators and business owners use.

One example of cross-platform branding can be seen on our own WP Buff’s Instagram and Twitter pages. The first thing you see is the bright colors of WP Buff’s logo and theme, highlighting one of the most critical aspects of this type of branding: consistency.

The biggest thing to remember about using social media for cross-platform branding is that not all platforms are created equal. For example, Instagram is more about visual content, whereas Twitter requires you to be witty and concise when drawing in your target audience.

When choosing which platforms to focus on, always look at demographics regarding user behavior. For example, based on this Pew research data, 71% of women aged 18-29 use Instagram, but only 48% of women aged 30-49 use that platform.

This data indicates if your target audience is in their forties, you may want to spend more time getting the word out on Facebook, which is used by 77% of women in their thirties and forties.

So now that we’ve laid the basic foundation of how to rebrand a WordPress website, let’s talk about our own journey for the WP Buffs website rebrand we went through!

The WP Buffs Rebrand

Rather listen than read? Tune into the podcast where Christie and I review this whole blog post, or the episode where we do a full walk through of the new site!

As you’re probably already aware reading this blog post, wpbuffs.com has gotten a major update. Not only have we brought WP Buffs into the present with fantastic new branding, but we launched a new website to boot.

While our name and domain have stayed the same, just about everything else about WP Buffs has gotten a significant facelift.

And most of the work was done while I was on parental leave! So huge kudos to our whole team who got this mammoth project completed (and especially to Nick for leading the charge).

I wanted to write this section of the blog post to describe everything about the rebrand and new website. Our thought process, the whys, the different stages of design and development, the costs involved and much more.

So let’s dive in.

The whys

There were a few reasons we decided to do this. I think many of the reasons for the rebrand and the new website are overlapping, but some factor more into one than the other so I’m going to talk about them both separately here.

The rebrand

• Our old logo was done on Fiverr when I started WP Buffs ~6 years ago. That doesn’t automatically make it bad, but WP Buffs has changed a lot since then. Our white, male character didn’t describe our remote and extremely diverse team well (it never did, honestly). So…time for something fresh!
• We’ve raised our pricing 4 times over the past 6 years. We don’t cater to folks who are looking for the cheapest WordPress support anymore. With this new look, we can continue to instill confidence in potential customers and keep our higher price point while impressing with a new site.
• Handing over the keys to your website (or your clients’ websites) is a huge deal. So when you land on our website, you HAVE to think, “I can see myself trusting this team.” The new site does a much better job of presenting that wow factor that people want to feel when they land on the website of a company they’re thinking about working with.

When I showed the team the new branding, they were beyond pumped! That’s something I think will help continue to motivate our team to do great work and really continue to live up to the expectations set by the new wpbuffs.com.

And in the same vein, I hope the new site will help us to recruit more great talent onto our team. As we grow, our challenges become more complex and we need to bring in driven folks who can get the job done. Psssst…we’re hiring!

The website

So I’ve talked about why the rebrand. Why the new website with it?

• When was the last time you saw a company rebrand and not launch a new website? Never. It wasn’t an option to invest in brilliant new branding and then put lipstick on a pig when it came to our website. So we went gung ho and updated everything.
• A lot has changed here at WP Buffs over the past 6 years when it comes to the contents of the site. We’ve added things like webinars, case studies and customer stories since the site was originally built. Plus we started offering our most popular (and profitable) white-label support. While forcing all this into our old site was possible, it would have been like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It was easier to build out a new site that could work around our offerings than the other way around. Navigation and UI/UX was a bit of a mess so starting from scratch was a good way fix this core challenge of our website visitors and potential customers & partners.
• We manage websites. So folks have to think we take care of our own website. That means having a site that people think is super dope immediately when people land on it. Our new website (and branding) definitely does this!
• Most of the elite companies you know about in the WordPress space have a fantastic website. Our old templated site just wasn’t doing us justice and it was time for a change.
• Our old site was pretty bloated and not as fast as I would have liked. At least 1x per month, someone would message us that it was stupid that we do speed optimization and our site on a random online optimizer loaded in 12 seconds. The new site is leaner, faster and much quicker to load (the video you see in the bottom right corner on desktop is causing an extra ~2 seconds of loading time but we’re trying something new so give us a break!).
• One final reason I’ll give is that I wanted our website to make WP Buffs somewhere our team was really proud to work. As someone who works remotely, I know the importance of sending people to the website of my company and wanting them to be impressed.

The journey of our new brand

Once we decided to go for it, we went in search of designers with very specific objectives:

• We obviously needed folks who could deliver on our vision. That meant a jaw-dropping portfolio and excellent referrals.
• We needed a team who could walk us through the discovery processes. We’re WordPress experts, but not necessarily design pros! This meant a team that could take a lot of information in a discovery call and distill that conversation into fantastic designs that met our needs.
• We wanted folks who could deliver on our timeframe. We didn’t want to rush this project but our goal was to finish the design phase in 4-6 weeks so we could get started on dev.

We ended up going with our first choice all along. I used to be in a little monthly mastermind with Brad Touesnard from Delicious Brains. They rebranded all their plugins and he mentioned the company he worked with on all of them. I loved the work (and the blog post Brad wrote about it – thanks for motivating this one, dude!).

So it ended up being an easy decision to go with Dose.

Honestly, these guys made the rebranding process so, so easy. After a comprehensive discovery call, 3 unique art directions and a little emailing, they delivered 2 fantastic rebrand options for us.

And what you see on the website is almost exactly what we chose in that presentation.

Cost: Keep reading for full branding and web design cost.

Getting our new website designed

I spoke with a few people in the WordPress space about designing a new website for us from the bufftastic rebrand material. I even cornered Bill Erikson at PressNomics and just about forced him to introduce me to the designers he works with.

After shopping around for about a month, we decided to give the project to Dose! They’d done such a great job with the new branding, we thought letting them design our new website was the best option since they’re already had so many touch points with (and were the brains behind) all the design work they’d already done for us.

Plus, I was getting analysis paralysis. So I just pulled the trigger!

After another thorough discovery call and ~3 weeks, they delivered a new website design that really knocked our socks off.

Cost: $20K for new branding (logo, patterns, fonts, complete brand guide) AND new website design delivered via Adobe XD and original designs for every team member.

Dose Media was the perfect option for us. If you are looking for a partner to help you with a rebrand, we highly recommend Dose! Or, you can also get some highly vetted options by visiting Get Credo* – an amazing resource for finding branding, marketing, and content partners.

Building the new site

We did all the dev of the new wpbuffs.com in-house! Shout out to Nick for leading the effort and Jason & Honey for all your hard dev work.

The dev did take a bit longer than expected since dedicating internal developer time to this project meant less time spend on customer work. But Nick found a good balance and we put 90% of the site together in ~2 months.

We built the site on Elementor*. The pace at which they’ve released new features impressed us. That’s a huge reason we felt like they were the right technical choice and will continue to be so in the future.

We went with a page builder because we wanted to build a site us non-technical folks could make updates to ourselves without asking for someone technical to help. For example, Elementor will allow our marketing team to throw up new landing pages in just a few minutes using a pre-built template and pre-defined blocks. Dope!

I thought about putting together a super-fast headless site after chatting with Scott Bolinger about it, but it would have taken away the advantage I talked about above. Plus, we manage WordPress sites and it felt like our website should be pure WordPress.

Cost: ~$4K of time spent to build out the new site (including buying some premium plugins, etc).

If you are looking for a development partner to do build a new site, again we would recommend using the partner network at Get Credo*, or a well-known WordPress player such as Themeco.

Preparing for launch

Just building the new site was one thing, but preparing for the launch was a real beast. And being mostly on parental leave made it even more of a challenge!

SEO

First and foremost, we had to make sure we had a solid plan to launch the new site from an SEO perspective. 80%+ of our traffic, new sales calls and new customers find us through Google searches, so I can’t stress enough how important it was that we make this transition cleanly.

We worked directly with my friend Lindsay over at webShine. They supported our SEO efforts during this transition and they made sure things like URL structure, 301 redirects, internal linking, etc remained solid.

But avoiding a disastrous drop in traffic was only the start for us. We want the new site to actually enhance our SEO efforts. That’s why we revamped our tags & categories, redirected a significant amount of dead pages, cleaned up our XML sitemap, etc.

Software

And of course there were all the little logo changes we had to make in all the software we use. Logo in Stripe for invoices, HubSpot for sales emails, email signatures in Gmail, Teamwork Desk for support emails, Zoom for sales call waiting rooms, and a ton more places.

Here’s just part of the list of all the updates we’ll make immediately after launch. Hopefully they’ll all be updated by the time you read this article!

Ongoing design

We knew with our newly designed website and new branding that we had to step up our overall design game moving forward. That’s why we partnered with ManyPixels. We had cool images created for all the folks on our team, got new featured images created for all of our blog posts (some may be updated post-launch), redid our eBooks & case studies and took care of all our design needs with one monthly subscription.

You may have seen some sneak peeks of our new branding if you’re a listener of our WPMRR WordPress podcast. We’ve been giving our new branding nods in featured images there for months now!

Email & social

We also prepped emails to all our different customer segments in ConvertKit. Direct customers, white-label partners, affiliates and general subscribers.

We also did a full run through of our sequences and added our new super dope fire emoji logo to the top of every email we send out. This will be a nice, minimalist nod to our new stuff for our email subscribers.

Of course we planned to update our social pages (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google My Business, etc). We also plan to share some of our new stuff over on Twitter so check us out there if you want to stay updated.

Affiliate program

We also made a major change to our affiliate program which we had to get ready. Instead of one-time payouts, all our affiliates (who get signed up on ShareASale) will now earn 10% forever recurring monthly commissions.

We also relaunched our entire affiliate on ShareASale. If you’re already a WP Buffs affiliate (or want to be one), please make sure you get signed up for our new, more lucrative program.

In our old model of one-time payouts, a referral of 1x Perform Plan awarded $100.

In our new model, a referral of 1x Perform Plan awards $571 ($19.70 x 29, the current lifetime value of WP Buffs customers in months based on user churn).

So, clearly this is more lucrative for our affiliates!

And it’s great for us because the model will mean affiliates do well financially when they refer customers to WP Buffs who stay with us for a long time.

Shout out to Brian Jackson who said switching over to the referral model from one-time payouts has had a big impact in growing affiliate referrals over at his former company Kinsta.

Acquisitions

Another big step WP Buffs is taking in 2020 is into the world of acquisitions and buying other WordPress businesses.

We’ve set up a nice landing page that details the unit and the kinds of businesses we’re interesting in bringing into the Buffs family.

If you’re running a care plan business or a WordPress blog and are at that point of still loving your business even though you’re running out of steam, let’s chat.

Swag

Yep. We just couldn’t help ourselves.

Check out store.wpbuffs.com to grab some swag from our new WP Buffs store.

All store revenue goes to WHO’s COVID-19 response fund.

Mistakes made along the way

This process obviously didn’t go flawlessly. When does anything ever. Here are a few areas we definitely could have done better on.

• I spent too much time deciding if Dose was worth their price tag. They weren’t cheap but i should have thought about this as a 10-year investment instead of eating into our 2019 revenue for $20K. Lesson learned: find the right folks for the job and pull the trigger.
• I handed over the website build to Nick without really going through all the development details with him. He’s technical enough to push a team to get it done, but I did a pretty terrible job helping to PM everything. We never had a real due date and the organization around the entire build was a bit haphazard. Lesson learned: help build structure around a project before fully handing it off and going on parental leave.
• When I came back from parental leave, I pushed forward on the website without regularly communicating regularly or clearly enough. Every minute of the ~150 hours of dev time it took to launch this site took away from time we could have been spending on customer and partner work. This fine balance requires great communication between project leads. While I tried to make sure this went smoothly, there were definitely times where I stretched the team and made us sacrifice some desk hours for website hours.

My expectations for the future

So…the new site is launched!

What now?

The true goal of the new site and branding from a business perspective is to help our marketing team (Paraic and I) hit our KPIs.

Here are the areas I’m hoping the new site and branding will push us forwards. I’ll update this area monthly so folks can see the effects we’ve seen from all the updates.

• Increase website traffic: I’m hoping a faster site will help us rank better in search engines, plus the new, badass feel will improve things like time on page, pages per visit (and decrease bounce rate, pogo sticking, etc).
• Generate more leads: more traffic and higher trust factor in our site should translate directly to more people live chatting with us, joining our email list and scheduling calls.
• Schedule more sales calls: A professional website with high trust-factor will hopefully mean more folks will think, “hell yeah I want to work with them. Let’s get a call on the books.”

Will the new site help us improve in all of these areas?

Will it help us improve in any of these areas?

Honestly…I have nooooooo idea.

But I do know that all the feedback we’ve received up until now has been positive. Folks do seem to love what we’ve done and hopefully we can make it work for our team and business.

Our goal continues to be wanting to put ourselves in a position to be one of the leaders in the 24/7 WordPress support space. This big upgrade to WP Buffs has helped us take another big step in that direction and I’m confident it will keep helping us push forward for years to come.

Some actual results (10 days after launch)

Here are some of the positive results we’ve seen since the new website launched.

This is only ~10 days of data so the sample size is still small. Also this could just be the result of some excitement around launch. Who knows!

1. Monthly recurring revenue

In the 30 days of April, 2020, we brought on $3,628 of new monthly recurring revenue.

In the first 8 days of May, 2020, we brought on $4,662 of new monthly recurring revenue.

That’s a 482% increase in MRR we’re able to add to WP Buffs. Wow!

2. Sales calls

In the 30 days of April, 2020, we had 96 discovery calls scheduled with us.

In the first 8 days of May, 2020, we had 44 discovery calls booked with us.

That’s a 172% increase in discovery calls booked. Oh yeah!

3. Website traffic

We’ve also seen some great results for the folks coming to the site.

Let’s take a look at the most basic of Google Analytics dashboards.

• Overall traffic, users and sessions are slightly down. I’m not that worried about this since ~10 days is such a small sample size when it comes to general traffic. Over smaller time periods, it goes up and down so I’ll report back here when I can really look at initial month-over-month data.
• Pageviews are up 34% and pages / session are up 37%. That means with almost the same traffic as before launch, the same number of people are looking at more pages on wpbuffs.com. Score!
• Average session duration is up 31%. This could mean a lot of different things, but I know it means people are spending more time on the site and reading more. That’s a good thing.
• Bounce rate is down 30%. That probably means visitors are more attracted to the new site right when they land on their first page. Far fewer folks are thinking “this site isn’t for me” when they see it for the first time.

While this is only 10 days of post-launch data, it’s definitely an indicator that we’re moving in the right direction and the new wpbuffs.com is playing a significant role in that.

More actual results (30 days after launch)

Here are some results that are probably a little more indicative of how the new website is affecting sales, marketing and website traffic.

After 30 days, the sample size is significantly bigger than just 10 days post launch (when launch ferver could have been skewing results).

In the 30 days since launch…

• we brought on $7,171 of new monthly recurring revenue. That’s a 198% increase in MRR we’re able to add.
• we had 141 discovery calls. That’s a 147% increase in discovery calls booked.
• pages / session are up 17%.
• average session duration is up 13%.
• bounce rate is down 13%.

As expected, the increases were not as big as the 10-day post launch numbers. But they still show significant improvement and that our website is doing its job far better than the old one.

More work driving more traffic and improving conversion coming soon.

Onward and upward!

People Also Ask – FAQs

A 404 page is the technical expression describing situations when a page isn’t found. For example, it might be because the user mistypes an URL in the browser tab or that webpage is no longer online. 

In the following paragraphs, you will learn how to edit a 404 page in WordPress. An attractive 404 page is the best solution to overcome an embarrassing moment. Instead of disappointing site visitors, an excellent 404 page will contribute to a better image of your brand. 

What a 404 Page Is 

You click on a link or type in an URL address in the browser tab. Next, the browser starts requesting data from the server hosting the website you want to visit. This is a basic explanation of Internet browsing. The information exchange between browser and server implies, amongst many others, a few status codes. In addition, there are statuses to describe the webpage redirection, the client or server errors, or informational purposes. 

All the status codes with form 4XX regard client errors. For example, 403 Forbidden is when the server understands the browser’s request but refuses to provide the data. By far, the 404 page is the most famous status code. You get a 404 page when you click on a broken link, type in a wrong URL driving to an inexistent webpage, or if the resource you asked for hasn’t ever existed. 

Even essential sites, like huge magazine news or heavily visited stores, might contain a 404 Page error. Of course, it’s unavoidable, but you should know how to pass over the embarrassing situation. Hence, it would help if you did everything possible to create a good-looking 404 error page for your site. 

The Anatomy of a Good 404 Page 

Some websites earn a backlink and public recognition by mentioning in lists featuring cool 404 pages. Site visitors appreciate a good design or a humorous message on a 404 page. This should convince you that a good-looking 404 error page is a priority for your online businesses. Here is what a good 404 page should include: 

●     The error message – Users should realize an issue from the moment they land on a 404 page. Make it explicit so that everyone understands. 

●     Links to your content – You don’t want users to abandon your site. Provide them links to relevant content. Be it your best content or something related to the missing page, it’s totally up to you. What matters is keeping them on your site. 

●     Apologies – Let people know that you are sorry for their inconvenience. Use humor if possible – it’s the best method to encourage them to give your site a second chance. 

●     Good design – People are disappointed when they land on a 404 page and tend to overreact. A stunning piece of design, in addition to engaging content, may change their mind. Do your best to craft an excellent 404 page. 

How to Edit a 404 Page in WordPress 

Luckily, we have various options to edit a 404 page in WordPress. The most experienced users may go for editing the 404.php file. This is the file responsible for displaying the 404-error page. Web admins who prefer using a page builder like Elementor may create a 404 page. Finally, a few plugins to make 404 pages are available for those lacking coding skills. Let’s dissect all the ways to create and edit a 404 page in WordPress. 

Edit a 404 Page Through an FTP Client 

A good rule of thumb is to perform a backup copy of your site before editing the code. Don’t ever skip this step – in most cases, you won’t need a site backup, but bad things happen when unprepared. So do that backup to rest assured! 

Let’s suppose that you performed a complete site backup and you are ready to dive deeper into the matter. Use the FTP client of your choice and connect to the site localhost. Search for a file called 404.php file – it’s the file responsible for displaying the 404-error webpage. Usually, WordPress themes have a dedicated 404.php file, but some might miss this file. Double-check if your theme code includes a 404.php file. If your theme doesn’t have a 404.php file, you will have to build one. Create a new file and copy the following lines of code: 

404 Page template

<?php 
/** 
* The template for displaying 404 pages (Not Found) 
* 
* @package WordPress 
* @subpackage Twenty_Thirteen 
* @since Twenty Thirteen 1.0 
*/ 
get_header(); ?> 
<div id="primary" class="content-area"> 
<div id="content" class="site-content" role="main"> 
<header class="page-header"> 
<h1 class="page-title"><?php _e( 'Not Found', 'twentythirteen' ); ?></h1> 
</header> 
<div class="page-wrapper"> 
<div class="page-content"> 
<h2><?php _e( 'This is somewhat embarrassing, isn’t it?', 'twentythirteen' ); ?></h2> 
<p><?php _e( 'It looks like nothing was found at this location. Maybe try a search?', 'twentythirteen' ); ?></p> 
<?php get_search_form(); ?> 
</div><!-- .page-content --> 
</div><!-- .page-wrapper --> 
</div><!-- #content --> 
</div><!-- #primary --> 
<?php get_footer(); ?>

Source: Creating an Error 404 Page on WordPress Codex

This is the code behind the 404 Page of Twenty Thirteen theme – it’s a basic page suitable for editing and use for your project. Of course, you can take a look at other default WordPress themes and check their 404 pages. The 404 page of the Twenty Thirteen theme calls the header and the footer of your site, so the page is in line with the style of your site. No matter how your site looks, the 404-error page will have a similar design. However, you have to adapt the content displayed on this page. At this stage, the talent of your content creator steps in.  

Optionally, you may edit the 404.php file to display the content published on your site. The options are endless, so let’s see some potential modalities of enhancing the 404 Page error. 

• Display the titles of the latest seven posts- All you have to do is to paste this snippet of code into the 404.php file: 

<?php wp_get_archives( array( 'type' => 'postbypost', 'limit' => 7, 'format' => 'custom', 'before' => '<span class="my-post-title">', 'after' => '</span>, ' ) ); ?>

• Display the titles of random seven posts Paste the following code to display seven random posts: 

<ul> 
<?php 
$rand_posts = get_posts( array( 
'posts_per_page' => 5, 
'orderby' => 'rand' 
) ); 
if ( $rand_posts ) { 
foreach ( $rand_posts as $post ) : 
setup_postdata( $post ); 
?> 
<li><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li> 
<?php 
endforeach; 
wp_reset_postdata(); 
} 
?> 
</ul>

Add your logo or a funny image (cats and dogs always work) to make viewers smile and give you a second chance. Next, test the 404 page after you finish the editing work. To display your 404-page, type in your site address in the browser bar and add a random string of letters after it. It result should look something like this:

https://example.com/dfdfddfd

If it’s not working, it’s because the server can’t find your custom 404.php file. In this scenario, you should go to the site .htaccess file and paste the following line of code: 

ErrorDocument 404 /index.php?error=404

Important: If you edit a new or a recently launched website, it might not have the .htaccess file. It’s not a big problem -change your site’s permalinks and save your operation. Then, revert to your preferred permalinks format immediately after that. In this way, you will have generated the .htaccess file.  

Edit a 404 Page Through Theme Editor (Not Recommended) 

A significant number of articles related to editing a 404 page in WordPress mention the theme editor as a viable solution. It’s not! Although it is convenient and straightforward to edit the site code directly from the WordPress admin dashboard, it’s hazardous and may end up a fiasco. Not to mention, it’s not professional at all to edit the site while it’s online and accessible to everyone. Besides, your editing disappears once you update the theme (unless you use a child theme). 

Edit a 404 Page Through Page Builders 

This method is safe, simple, and effective. You are probably familiar with page builders like Elementor, Divi Builder, Beaver Builder, SeedProd, or Themify Builder. Which you choose isn’t relevant, as long as you have a good grasp on it. These builders let you create an excellent 404 page without writing a single line of code. This is the best solution if you are worried about pasting code snippets into your site files. 

Check the blog and the documentation of your favorite page builder, and, most likely, you will find a tutorial explaining how to create a 404 page. In addition, some page builders have dedicated templates for 404 pages. Choose a template and personalize it to match your brand. 

404 Page WordPress Plugins 

You don’t have many alternatives to create a 404 page with a dedicated plugin. However, a few plugins deserve your attention. Their capital advantage is that you don’t have to write code to create and edit 404 pages. The plugins are simple, effective, and lightweight. 

404page 

You may be tempted to believe that you have to be a coder to create a good 404 error page. Thanks to this plugin, everyone can conceive an attractive 404 error page. Besides, the 404page plugin isn’t as complex as page builders are. You focus on your final product – a good 404 error page. 

Install and activate the plugin. Next, create a 404 page the same as you do the rest of the pages on your site. From your WordPress admin dashboard, go to Appearance > 404 Error Page and choose the page you have just built to be your site custom 404 error page. 

This plugin doesn’t allow redirecting webpages; it just tells the search bots that the webpage is missing. 404page is a personal project of a developer, so there is no agency behind this plugin. Take into account that the plugin has 100,000 active installs and an almost perfect rating – 4.9 stars out of 5. Under these circumstances, the plugin developer deserves our appreciation! 

All 404 Redirect to Homepage & Broken Images Redirection 

The name of the plugin isn’t quite impressive, but it’s highly suggestive. The plugin handles the 404 Page errors differently than the previous alternative. Instead of delighting visitors with a well-designed 404 page, this plugin redirects all 404 errors to the homepage or other webpage. The biggest advantage of this plugin is that you have control over the broken links on your site. Additionally, you may use this plugin to redirect users. For example, instead of letting people visit an un-updated blog post, use this plugin to drive them to the updated version.     

Colorlib 404 Customizer  

This plugin is simple to use and genuinely helps you create engaging 404 pages. It comes with professionally crafted 404 templates that you can customize to suit your needs. Colorlib 404 Customizer plugin allows inserting social media buttons, changing the background color or image, and configuring the text headings. More advanced users can add custom CSS code. The plugin is open-source, so you can contribute to bettering the plugin. 

Use a page builder or do it through your theme.

If you use a page builder already, you’ll already have the option for customizing your 404 through it. Pretty much every page builder allows you to edit your 404 page. Here’s a list of plugins we’re confident that you can do it in:

● Breezy

● Elementor 

● Beaver Builder

● Divi Builder

● Site Origin

If you are using a theme such as OceanWP, GeneratePress, or Astra, you can do it through their theme options. You’ll get a finished excellent looking 404 page if you import demo content. The only downside of importing demo content and using pre-built designs is that your website will more or less look precisely like the Demo. Take, for example, this website and the Astra demo. Everybody who has looked through Astra’s library of starter sites will quickly recognize that the website owners haven’t created it themselves. This might harm how much users trust your site.

On the bright side, Astra, OceanWP, and the other themes with 500.000+ users extend their starter site library more every month. 

Over to You 

You now have a clear idea about how to edit a 404 page in WordPress. There are many solutions to do it, and you should select the one suitable for your skills and needs. What matters is having an exciting 404 error page to delight your viewers. The method and tools you use to design and implement that 404 page don’t concern your customers. You don’t have any excuse to lack an excellent 404 error page! Go to the drawing board and start building a custom error page! 

Regardless of the reason, how fast a website appears in front of the visitor’s face can impact the user experience and cause your business to miss out on client connections. The user’s website experience is mainly dependent on the critical rendering pathway and managing the scripts your website loads during the rendering process.

What Is Rendering?

All websites follow a pathway for the user to see and interact with its content. The pathway of loading the website is called the critical rendering pathway. This pathway describes each site’s steps to gather and build data for the visitor and their browser.

What Browsers Do Before Rendering

Entering a website URL triggers the following process:

1. Navigation is complete when a user requests a specific URL.
   1. A DNS lookup occurs, in which a server provides an IP address
   2. The browser and the website server perform a TCP Handshake to make a connection
   3. Secure connection requests get a TLS Negotiation or second handshake exchange
2. The browser receives a response, and it gets the website’s code
   1. The first packet of data is received in a TCP Slow Start to regulate network traffic
   2. The user sends acknowledgments (ACKs) to the server to establish the connection limitations and send rates.
3. The browser parses the information and turns the data into a CSS Object Model (CSSOM) and Document Object Model (DOM).
   1. The DOM tree gets built (site and page structure)
   2. A preload scanner gathers external resources, such as scripts and images.
   3. The CSSOM gets built (style tree)
   4. JavaScript gets compiled while the CSSOM builds
   5. The Accessibility Object Model (AOM) is built for assistive devices to interpret content.
4. Rendering occurs using the CSSOM and DOM trees previously created.

What Happens When You Render a Page?

Websites are rendered through code design to complete the layout, style, painting, and sometimes compositing on a website. The CSS Object Model (CSSOM) and Document Object Model (DOM)

Style

The DOM and CSSOM combine into a render tree, and construction starts. The render tree organizes the visible nodes, content, and computed styles for the site and each unique node.

Layout

The layout is the step where architecture meets construction, and a structure is created for the page to display the width, height, and location of all nodes in the render tree. Every object gets size and position determined.

Websites get laid out in a box structure. These boxes can adjust to an unlimited number of different viewport sizes. When the box structure changes for sizing, this is called a reflow.

Paint: First Paint and First Contentful Paint (FCP)

The moment a website browser does any rendering of a page is called the “First Paint.” First Paint could be a solid background color only depending on the page’s code.

First Contentful Paint (FCP) refers to the measurable moment when a website visitor can view content on your page (text, images, videos, etc.). The FCP measures from the beginning of your page load to the point that any content gets rendered.

First Paint and FCP are not the same as a fast loading page or fast performance, but user experience becomes measurably more positive when site visitors perceive a quick loading page. Fine-tuning your First Paints, load time, and site performance improve the user’s perception of load time.

Compositing

Web pages use layers where objects overlap to organize the structure. Compositing is where the page computes the order of things to render them correctly.

Reflows trigger a re-composite since object positioning often changes in a reflow.

What Are Render-Blocking Resources

Scripts, stylesheets, and HTML imports that slow, delay, or block the browser from rendering content on a website are render-blocking resources. When people refer to render-blocking resources, they are usually referring to:

• CSS
• JavaScript in the <head> section
• Fonts loaded from a server or content delivery network
• HTML imports (legacy pages)

There is plenty of CSS and JavaScript that is not render-blocking and is critical to load near the top. Prioritize style sheets to ensure that any site visitor sees the intended content instead of unstyled content or nothing.

What Is Render-Blocking JavaScript and CSS?

During the rendering process, your browser loads the website information by first running through the information in the <head>, including every script. The scripts all need to be run in order and fully processed before the page is visible in your browser.

Scripts build into a queue, so the script order in the <head> is essential during development. Depending on the code, it may slow or prevent your website from fully loading, and these are what we refer to as render-blocking CSS and JavaScript.

Scripts on your WordPress website may come from themes, custom work, or plugins added for various functionalities.

Are Images Render-Block Resources?

If you are wondering if images are render-blocking resources, they are not. The size of a picture can still cause load issues on your page, but it should not block the rendering.

Why Eliminate Render-Blocking Resources?

Render-blocking scripts can slow page load times and ruin a website experience for your visitors. The perception of a slow website can lead to a loss in visitors if your website experience is poor. Low visitor retention can affect your search engine results and lower your results list.

Lower Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rankings mean a reduction in visitors and loss of potential business. Losing rankings reduces your visitor count, and a poor site reduces your visitor retention; render-blocking resources can be a huge problem.

If your website has a goal of a high Google PageSpeed Score, understanding your render-blocking resources is key to achieving that goal.

How to Eliminate Render-Blocking Resources

Getting serious about your site’s SEO rankings and user experience means your site needs to have render-blocking resources dealt with or removed. If you aren’t building your site from scratch, start testing your website for render-blocking resources.

Once you have those render-blocking resources identified, you will choose your method to address the issue and improve your site functionality.

Test If Your Website Has Render-Blocking Resources

It never hurts to run an assessment on your website to discover any render-blocking resources (try Google PageSpeed Insights). If you’ve optimized to the best of your ability, are following best practices and are still experiencing issues, or don’t know where to start, page evaluators can be helpful guides.

Methods to Eliminate Render-Blocking JavaScript and CSS

WordPress allows you to manage any resources getting in the way of your site’s rendering in a few different ways. WordPress will enable you to organize your render-blocking scripts and links with code, tags, file organization and optimization, and plugins.

Professional developers can also create custom plugins or themes that build these processes into the code.

Remove Render-Blocking Javascript with Code

Three methods to address render-blocking resources through code are:

1. Move tags for <script> and <link> to the bottom of your HTML code
2. Add async or defer attributes to the tag for non-critical scripts.
3. Remove unused JavaScript code.

WordPress loads a jQuery Migrate file to provide compatibility with old versions of jQuery used by plugins and themes. You can use a piece of code or a plugin to stop WordPress from loading this jQuery Migrate file if nothing on your site needs it to function.

Eliminate Render-Blocking Stylesheets

The nature of stylesheets makes them render-blocking resources by nature. You can address this on your site in the following ways:

1. Split CSS up by media type (mobile, tablet, desktop, etc.)
2. Optimize the Critical Rendering Path
3. Combine CSS files

Using WordPress and a visual builder, you may not control how a page builds directly, but there are ways to work around any issue.

Address Render-Blocking Using a WordPress Plugin or Extension

WordPress plugins and extensions get used in organizing the scripts on a page. Plugins will go through your page’s <script> and <link> tags and apply the defer or async attributes based on specific guidelines.

We have gone through and tested a range of plugins for WordPress and continue to share useful things like our favorite plugins for speed optimization on the blog.

Have a WordPress Professional Eliminate Render-Blocking Resources for You

Some plugins require customization and, while appearing straightforward, can end up not working if set up incorrectly. There is no shame in asking a WordPress professional to help and WP Buffs has several specialists that can optimize your site.

Best Practices to Optimize Rendering

1. Bundle your render-blocking resources to decrease their impact on the page load.
2. Reduce the size of the resource, so the number of bytes to load is lowered.
3. Defer the download of non-render blocking resources.
4. Don’t add CSS with the @import rule as it is an external load.
5. Use a WordPress plugin designed to cache your scripts and optimize your JavaScript and CSS.
6. Load custom fonts locally.
7. Identify Critical and Non-Critical CSS and JavaScript.
8. Mark non-critical render-blocking code with async or defer attributes.
9. Code not used should be removed.

Eliminate the Headache and Let a WordPress Professional Help

WP Buffs are skilled at optimizing WordPress sites and improving page performance. We understand why performance matters to your business and what areas to focus on to make the most significant impact.

Improving your website’s performance and visitor experience can be more than just render-blocking resources. WP Buffs can take a look at your site and address:

• Image sizes
• Image quality and delivery format
• Page length and percentage of dynamic content
• Poorly built themes
• Unnecessary scripts that cause delays
• Plugins that are poorly built
• Unused external scripts
• Outdated software
• Limited web hosting plan unable to sufficiently support the site’s needs

WordPress can be a reasonably easy platform to build a website on, but maximizing the user experience can take a trained professional or often a great service provider.

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are new to WordPress, altering theme files might seem scary. No matter how good of a developer you become, that fear doesn’t go away, but you can reduce the risk of something going wrong by wisely deciding your method on altering the functions.php file of your website. Let’s start with discussing what the functions.php file does, then dive right into how to edit functions.php in WordPress and what you should be aware of when working on it.

What is the functions.php File?

There is a functions.php file located within each WordPress theme. That file is source code for defining one or more functions using blocks of code to be accessed and called for use in other areas of the programming.

In short, it stores action code for other sections of the programming to access and use. You may find your functions.php file converts specific post types into blog pages, adds Google Analytics, or houses code that makes your theme unique.

Reasons to Be Cautious When Editing functions.php

Before making any changes to your functions.php file, some essential things to understand include:

• Changes are theme-specific: each theme has a functions.php file.
• Theme updates or reinstalls may cause your changes to be lost, as it saves over the file.
• Coding errors in the functions.php file can lock you out of the site or lead to other errors.

The functions.php file is essential for your site to work correctly, and making changes may result in your website breaking. Being able to undo your last change(s) quickly can reduce downtime, especially for retail sites, so make sure you:

• Test your change on a staging site
• Backup the file before changing it
• Be ready to revert changes by making one change at a time (when possible)
• Do it only when necessary and typically just for a child theme
• Consider a site-specific plugin to manage a code snippet instead

Check out our article on WordPress Problems Solved for understanding ways to fix common WordPress issues that developers of all levels encounter.

How to Use a Plugin Instead of Editing functions.php Directly (Safest Method)

One of the safest ways to edit the functionality of the site is to use a plugin, such as Code Snippets, instead of editing the functions.php file. Using a plugin will ensure that your code will stay active with updates or changes, as it operates independently from the theme and, therefore, is not overwritten if the theme is updated or reinstalled.

Additionally, Most plugins that manage code snippets will also work with WordPress multisite. Instructions will vary with the plugin used.

How to Edit functions.php in WordPress Using the Admin Theme Editor

Editing the functions.php file through the Theme Editor is as easy as understanding how to edit source code in WordPress. WordPress’s design includes a built-in editor that enables modification of your theme files using the online admin portal.

Attention: This method should not be used on a live (production) website unless absolutely necessary, because any mistakes have the potential to take the site offline and you will not be able to access the Admin Theme Editor to fix the issue.

If your site is accessible through wp-admin, you can edit the files using the default WordPress menu options.

1. Log in to your site through wp-admin as an administrator.
2. Access your site’s source code under Appearance > Theme Editor.
3. Verify the theme or select a new one using the Select theme dropdown menu to edit and click select.
4. In the menu Theme Files, select the functions.php file by clicking on the corresponding title.
5. Make your edits and click Update File to save the changes.

Note: Each theme has a functions.php file, so it is essential to make sure you are working in the correct theme files, or your edits will be saved in the wrong place and will not appear on the website.

Access functions.php File Through an FTP Client

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is a fast way to access files related to your site. If you prefer to access your functions.php file through an FTP/SFTP client, there are many different programs to choose from for a range of costs.

To access your functions.php file through an FTP client, follow these steps:

1. Access your site using your preferred FTP program and your login credentials
2. You should see your local files and the websites files side by side: navigate to the desired theme’s files and locate the functions.php file. Note: You may need to navigate to a different folder to find the functions.php file.
3. Upload your new functions.php file to your WordPress Site

Note: Wait until the upload is complete, or you may create a corrupt file that breaks your site.

Use a Professional or Managed Services

There is no shame in knowing when to partner with a professional or utilize a managed service provider if the work you need to do goes beyond your comfort or skill level. If your time is valuable, have a WordPress managed service provider, like ourselves, handle your website for you.

We, at WP Buffs have a range of WordPress care plans and maintenance packages designed to make your website work stress-free, including making changes to your WordPress backend.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you assure your company’s website content is making the seven interactions with customers it truly deserves? Get the best social media plugin for WordPress to share content with potential clients around the world, simply and effectively!

One of the best ways to spotlight your business in multiple touch points is by using a plugin. Choosing the option, however, can feel like picking out a new car at the dealership. There are countless bells and whistles to consider, and sometimes, choosing the one you want boils down to deciding what you actually need.

Let’s help you walk away with a steal by taking a glance around the lot! We’ve done our homework and believe the following 12 free and premium WordPress social plugins are some of the best on the market! Buckle up, buttercup!

In this Article

Why do I need a WordPress social media plugin?

What should I look for when choosing the best social media plugin for WordPress?

Best Premium Social Sharing Plugins for WordPress

Free WordPress Social Share Plugins

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

As a WordPress company, we could easily point you to the plugins we use and recommend only. However, at WP Buffs, we believe you deserve evergreen advice, no matter what plugin comes and goes. The latter takes a bit of homework, and we’ve accepted the challenge!

We also believe you should be able to make bold decisions about your website without feeling overwhelmed by technical restraints or lack of knowledge about WordPress. Whether you are a tried and true expert, or on your first day and learning the ropes, here are a few things that may help you narrow down to the best social media plugins for WordPress websites like your own.

(However, if you are seasoned in WordPress, skip to our list, below!)

Why do I need a WordPress social media plugin?

Let’s keep it simple, first.

Simply put- WordPress social share plugins give extra leverage to quality content from your business’ site. For example, let’s say you’ve got great content, resources and products to share with a given audience. Why not add endless opportunities for others to share it, too?

Additionally, you may want to consider things from your audience’s perspective. As the owner, you’ve stayed up all night working on a new blog post you can’t wait to share with the world. As the reader, once the article goes live, it’s much easier for customers, users, and brand loyalists alike via Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any major channel of their choosing.

Now, let’s consider the same process for your brand’s biggest fans, this time without a social media plugin. If a WordPress social share plugin is not installed, the user is forced to

1. Copy the URL,
2. Click over to the social media platform of their choice
3. Paste the URL into the post/tweet bar
4. Cross their fingers that the preview open graph image and title tell the best story about your brand.

That would be a horrible experience for your blog’s fans! Using a reliable plugin would give the user full control over the post and how it is received to its audience, all without leaving your website in the first place.

What should I look for when choosing the best social media plugin for WordPress?

There are a few bare minimum things to know and expect from a plugin. Knowing the main characteristics of a good one can help you find the best WordPress sharing plugin in no time.

Choose the right features: Inline, Floating and Sticky Plugins

For most websites, there are three types of plugins to look for: in-line, floating or sticky button options. In-line plugins can disappear as you scroll, floating buttons will remain, and sticky side buttons will appear on the left or right side of the screen as you choose.

Decide between Native page builders vs. dedicated plugins

It’s also worth mentioning that some page builders include native social features, which do not require the use of a dedicated WordPress social share plugin. The Elementor native element, for instance, is an easy way to use what already exists for the everyday, on-the-go user through a WordPress interface.

On the other hand, if you are looking for a dedicated plugin with bells and whistles, it is certainly possible to find a great, free (or cost efficient) option with good support, GDPR compliance, custom features, and easy to navigate features to name a few!

Confirm Compatibility with Existing Features

Using WooCommerce or Google Analytics? The best WordPress social media plugins allow integration of social shares to other analytics platforms, making it easier to track referrals and leads to and from your site. More often than not, many premium options include this, so it’s safe to make this one a minimum requirement if you’re putting money behind a good plugin.

Support

Maybe you are a WordPress user with multiple sites to manage or many plugins to juggle. Having a readily available support team behind your social media plugin can give peace of mind and updates on key release features that may or may not affect your existing site (and again, if paying for a good plugin, make sure it’s got the support you’d like to have, too).

Pricing

Though options are endless and costs may vary, we recommend choosing a plugin based on how high social media sharing is as a priority for your WordPress site. Maybe the numbers/ROI is important to you; if garnering web traffic from social is extremely important to your business, splurging a bit on a premium WordPress social media plugin can be worth every penny.

User Interface

How comfortable are you with WordPress front and backend configuration? Considering your experience with general backend functionality is important in choosing the right social media plugins for WordPress, as some can require a bit of custom work to fit your needs.

Site speed

The right plugin can share your business with the world. The wrong plugin, however, can slow down your website with bloat and kill traffic before users have a chance to view it. Testing site speed before and after setting up a site is critical to ensuring your site isn’t locked down by the new plugin.

Best Premium Social Sharing Plugins for WordPress

Novashare.IO

Monarch

Social Snap

Social Warfare

Shareaholic

Revive Social Automation

From here, we’ll go in depth to discuss each plugin, based on their support, site speed, user interface, features, compatibility and pricing to name a few.

Novashare: $29+ annual contract

For those with a need for speed (but also, support and regular bug fixes)

Novashare is a lightweight sharing plugin that adds share counters, click to tweet and image hover pin options to your site (if you read our note about types of plugins above, know that Novashare.IO offers the major button types- inline, floating and sticky buttons, oh-my!). Optimized for speed, this small-but-mighty plugin was built for keeping site speeds down and social shares high for your WordPress site.

A common feature in premium WordPress social share plugins, Novashare maintains share count for any website domain or URL changes you may experience (we’ve all been there). Changed your website URL? No worries. NovaShare offers auto recovery of previous social share data, as if nothing ever happened!

The premium plugin boasts four customizable options within its easy to maneuver interface: standard social sharing buttons, Click to Tweet and Pinterest hover options for pinning content from any page on your site.

(In case you’re Wondering, the WP Buffs team recently moved to Novashare.IO in support of its Click to Tweet option and speed enhancement for our developmental tasks and user experience needs.)

• Features: More than 17 network sharing options, color/size/shape customizations, Click to Tweet, Inline, Floating button options available
• Compatibility: Allows for multisite setup, Google Analytics configuration
• Support: Developer Support available, and regular new releases/bug fixes
• Size: 5KB
• Site Speed: Optimized to help decrease site speeds (meaning, this plugin is super small and won’t bog down your site)!
• User interface: Uses native WordPress styling for fast configuration; easy to navigate with beginner to moderate WordPress experience
• Pricing: $29 and up for 1 year of premium support and updates, with 30 day money back guarantee
• Ideal Use Case: A WordPress site with routinely added blog or routinely added resources; websites in between domain changes, beginner to intermediate WordPress user experience
• Things to Consider: This plugin may not be ideal for sites with multilingual social network needs, or WooCommerce web pages

Monarch: $89 + annual contract

For around the clock support and service!

As part of the Elegant Themes brand, the Monarch WordPress social media plugin provides offers more than 20 social networks to choose from.

Not only does Monarch offer the basic inline, floating and sticky button options, the plugin allows for automatic popups and hovers on visual content, too! Monarch is one of the best social media plugins for WordPress websites with videos, vlogs or websites with imagery as its key focus.

This plugin is ideal for websites with aesthetics and branding styles to maintain, as its customizable design offers many transition and orientation options for your WordPress website.

• Features: Popup and media elements, 20+ social network sharing options, pop-up triggers to opt readers into sharing after commenting on posts
• Compatibility: Mobile and desktop friendly design
• Support: Developer Support available, and regular new releases/bug fixes
• User interface: Ideal for beginner WordPress users, includes Divi Support Center interface for direct access to dev team
• Ideal Use Case: Vloggers, Photographers and Media based WordPress website users
• Things to Consider: Strong support team and highly reviewed by customers; Minimal options (+20) for social sharing in comparison

Social Snap: $27+ annual contract

Bright eyed and bushy tailed, but a solid contender as one of the best social media plugins for WordPress websites!

If you are looking for a jack-of-all-trades in a WordPress social media plugin, Social Snap offers a ton of features and options for the budding WordPress website owner.

This social sharing tool is a fairly new kid on the block, priding itself in four key, WordPress sharing elements: robust analytics and tracking, 100% customizable button placement, open graph support and boosting of old posts on social networks.

In addition to its major features, the plugin integrates with Bitly for URL link shortening. Got Gutenberg? Its short codes and widget control options help the plugin stand out among the rest.

Social Snap offers three plans with a 30 day money back guarantee, all ranging between $27-$209 per year. Its smallest package, Snap Plus includes plugin use usage for one site, with more than 30 social media sharing options. Not to mention, Social Snap offers support ticket creation and around the clock help desk support.

• Features: More than 30 network sharing options (wow!), Click to Tweet, Boosts for Old Posts, Social Content Locker (coming soon!), Sticky Bar option for mobile and tablet
• Compatibility: Allows for high level integration with Bitly and reporting platforms
• Support: Developer Support available all package plans
• Size: Unknown
• Site Speed: Optimized to help decrease site speeds (meaning, this social media plugin is super small and won’t bog down your site)!
• User interface: Clean, easy to use interface
• Pricing: $27+ for 1 year of premium support and updates, with 30 day money back guarantee
• Ideal Use Case: A WordPress site looking multilingual functionality and newer, trending social plugin
• Things to Consider: The plugin is newer to the market, but largely remains positively reviewed by customers.

Social Warfare: +$29 1 year licensing

A familiar, trusted resource with more than 5000 customizations

Social Warfare is a tried and true veteran in the WordPress sharing plugin space and offers simple, integrated, and customizable features into any WordPress website.

Though its options range between $29 and up for premium access, Social Warfare does include a free option. Its key features, like the Popular Post option, allow for highlighting content with higher views on any page, from any date range or theme.

Not to mention, the plugin also allows for content protection to keep your site from hijackers. When this often occurs, users embed their own advertisements into shared content from your page. Yikes!

What largely makes Social Warfare stand out is its Visual Options area, with more than 5,000 options for website style.

• Features: Social Share Inline Buttons, Click to Tweet, Popular Posts Widget (Hover to Pin, analytics and click tracking available in pro versions of the app)
• Compatibility: Unknown
• Support: Developer Support and bug fixes are only available in premium versions of the plugin
• Pricing: Free for basic use of the plugin, $29+ for annual use, support and updates
• Ideal Use Case: Gutenberg users, Sites with international audiences, sites with hacking concerns, beginner level WordPress experience required
• Things to Consider: Social Warfare support is not available to free download customers

Shareaholic

Lightweight but fierce tool with multi-lingual social sharing capabilities

Though Shareaholic provides several content marketing tools and data solutions, its social share and follow button are recommended by some of the biggest names in text such as Google and our partners, SiteGround.

Shareaholic’s marketing automation tool offers a collection of more than 100 social media share buttons to choose from and is optimized to comply with WCAG 2.0 AA Accessibility standards.

Shareaholic offers free social share follow buttons and counters, but also includes additional ad monetization functionality, branded URL options and additional extension under a low cost, easy to manage care plan.

• Features: Social Share Inline Buttons,
• Compatibility: Sharing options available for more than 100+ social media platforms
• Support: FAQ and help desk available to paid customers
• Pricing: $8-$31 per month for Professional and Team packages
• Ideal Use Case: Sites with international audiences, sites with analytics and/or ad control as a priority, beginner level WordPress experience required
• Things to Consider: free version does not include support

Revive Social Automation

Social sharing plugin with a knack for audience targeting and tagging

Revive Old Post is a useful social plugin since it can help you be more active on social media as well as keep your content relevant. With this plugin you can share your content to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Tumblr automatically.

What revive social automation appears to provide that sets it apart from other social WordPress sharing plugins is the ability to add optimized hashtags directly from the content you’ve created and embed them directly into the social platform of your choosing.

• Features: Social Share Inline Buttons, Click to Tweet, instant social media sharing
• Compatibility: Compatible with WooCommerce, BigCommerce Products
• Support: 30-day money back guarantee, and plans can be changed or cancelled at any time
• Pricing: $75 for base contract, annually
• Ideal Use Case: Sites with international audiences, WooCommerce/BigCommerce users
• Things to Consider: May not be an ideal social media plugin for WordPress websites needing multilingual site support

Revive Social’s free version, or premium for $75 annually

Free WordPress Social Share Plugins

Free plugin options are a dime a dozen, but may require you to install various options from developer teams with and without support. That may leave you wondering, ‘What is the best free social media plugin for WordPress?’ We’ve got your back on the ins and outs of each below.

Sassy Social Share

Jetpack

Simple Share

Social Media Share Buttons

AddToAny Share Buttons

Better Click to Tweet

Sassy Social Share

For WooCommerce users, and those who like a little support along the way

Whether you’re on day ten or 10,000 of your journey with WordPress social media plugins, Sassy Social Share meets any user with its both easy to use and equally customizable interface.

(We’re collectively renaming this one, “We Can’t Believe it’s Not Premium .”)

With more than 90 social sharing and bookmarking services, the in-line and floating styles option through sassy social Shear are a quick and simple setup and additionally are compatible with Gutenberg editor.

Both BuddyPress and Woocommerce users will enjoy its mobile responsiveness, multisite and 24 hour support.

Jetpack

A familiar friend in the WordPress space, perfect for multilingual and virtual event needs

Known largely for security, performance, and marketing solutions, Jetpack is a trusted resource in the WordPress community created by Automattic. Its social share option is an easy-to-use solution for any website owner.

Jetpack not only offers a social preview extension, it also includes various WordPress social media widgets optimized for Instagram, WhatsApp and EventBrite, making it an ideal solution for websites with key imagery, events and content to share around the globe.

Simple Share Buttons Adder

Keeping it simple for mobile friendly needs

Backed by USA Today Sports, Privy and other major brands, Simple Share could be the best free social media plugin for WordPress websites like your own. It makes adding inline buttons to your site a breeze!

Its Modern Share Buttons allow for a customizable CSS based control over button shape, color and hover.

Additionally, this easy to use plugin prioritizes mobile optimizations, meaning its buttons will adjust and align to any screen resolution whether desktop, tablet or mobile.

Social Media Share Buttons Popup & Pop Up Social Sharing Icons

For aesthetic inclined, blogging enthusiasts

Though many of Social Media Share Buttons Popup’s most robust features are in the premium, paid package, this plugin allows for 16 floating and sticky social media share icons for major platforms on the web. Unlike other free plugins, the animation feature (automatic shuffling, mouse-over effects) help call attention to other platforms, too!

We recommend the plugin to businesses and WordPress users where a newsletter or major blog may be present; its subscription toggle allows for sign-up in one click for anyone browsing your website.

If you are already interested, the premium plugin- available through Ultimately Social- Offers compatibility with popular themes and Page builders, such as beaver builder and Elementorand other common to WordPress brands.

AddToAny Share Buttons

For WooCommerce and ROI hunters alike

A competitor in the wordpress social media plugin game since 2006, AddToAny plugin offers floating in line Sharing capability with easy to set up Bitly and Google analytics Integration capability.

Add to Any supports commerce, multilingual sites, and does not require sign up or login to manage. While lack of login may lend itself to administrative issues-, we’ve done our homework- The plugin’s creator still troubleshoots via its WordPress support channel!

Better Click to Tweet

Simple, easy to follow interface for businesses with devoted Twitter following

The Better Click to Tweet WordPress social sharing plugin allows key blog post snippets to be readily shared to Twitter! The plugin is built for multilingual support and can translate in up to 12 languages.

Regular updates are made to the plugin, but issues and bug fixes can be requested via a GitHub support page for the tool.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bringing it All Home

If a more budget-friendly, free social media plugin option is priority for your business or growing website, we recommend AddtoAny and Sassy Social Share as free, straight to the point solutions. Its multilingual capabilities, WooCommerce integration, and general ease of access allow for fast and easy setup.

Wait Buffs, I need something with more bells and whistles. Okay, we hear you loud and clear! WP Buffs recommends Novashare.io, Monarch, and Social Snap as the best social media plugins for WordPress websites. Their well-rounded options offer site speed optimizations, support and easy to use interfaces as key priorities.

You’ve chosen your WordPress social media plugin, now what? We have some other useful resources to help you find a good chatbot for your website, or a helpful email newsletter plugin option.

Need to delegate these tasks to someone else? Leave it all up to the pros at WP Buffs! As part of our edits service, the WP Buffs team can provide around the clock assistance to your WordPress website, such as installing and configuring a social media plugin or providing optimization services as needed.

No matter the final call you make, be sure to look for updates on your WordPress social media plugin to ensure it is receiving bug fixes, and not impacting your site security, speed or general functionality.