EDITS.WS

Author: Christopher Morris

  • Sendinblue Review: Best Affordable Email Marketing Solution?

    Email is still one of the most effective marketing channels available, with a return on investment of $36 for every $1 spent. Using the right tools can greatly enhance the success of your email marketing campaigns. One such tool is SendinBlue, one of the most cost-effective email marketing platforms with powerful features. In this SendinBlue review, we’ll dive into the features and pricing of SendinBlue to help you make the right decision.

    What is Sendinblue?

    Sendinblue is an all-in-one email marketing and marketing automation platform that helps businesses reach their customers through email, SMS, and chat. It is surprisingly easy to use and has a wide range of features like email templates, automation, list management, analytics, and more. It also offers a pricing model based on the number of emails sent each month, making it an affordable choice for businesses of all sizes.

    Sendinblue Homepage

    Review of Sendinblue Features

    Sendinblue has a lot of features that help businesses and brands manage their email marketing. But sending emails is just the beginning. Additional features include:

    • Drag-and-drop visual email builder
    • SMS messaging
    • CRM
    • Forms and Landing pages
    • Automation
    • Web Chat
    • Transactional emails

    While Sendinblue isn’t the best email marketing provider in each of these individual categories, their feature mix and price point give them a right to be considered in many marketers’ tech stack.

    Sendinblue Email Marketing Campaigns

    The Sendinblue visual email editor makes creating beautiful emails easy. With its drag-and-drop interface, you can add all the email elements you may need to create your email and use the inline text editor for an intuitive visual editing experience. This allows anyone to create stunning emails in minutes.

    Sendinblue Email Template Preview

    In addition to the drag-and-drop editor, you can use a rich text editor or create your campaign using custom HTML (if you need that sort of functionality).

    Sendinblue CRM

    If you’re looking for a Customer CRM to manage contacts and notes, Sendinblue is definitely worth consideration. With Sendinblue, you can easily add and update contact information, as well as add notes, see email activity, and create reminders.

    SIB CRM Company Profile with Tasks

    There is even a deal desk with a Kanban view of active deals and the stages that they are in.

    SIB CRM Pipeline Kanban

    Plus, the CRM fully integrates with your Sendinblue email marketing and automation to make marketing a breeze. This helps you create useful segments for your email marketing campaigns. Find out why email segments are very important.

    Sendinblue Automation

    Sendinblue provides a marketing automation creator that lets you build workflows based on your contacts’ website behavior, purchase/store behaviors, and email opens/clicks. You can use these workflows to send automated emails and SMS messages that are tailored to your contacts’ needs and interests.

    Here are a few automation ideas to consider:

    • Send a welcome series of emails based on the list they sign up for
    • Set priority pages that when visited trigger a targeted email about the page’s subject (since they are interested)
    • Send abandoned cart email or up-sell recommendations based on products they view in your eCommerce store or add to cart
    • Create lead scoring that gives and removes points from contacts based on actions they take within your web and marketing properties

    SIB Lead Scoring Visual

    Sendinblue offers a high level of automation at an affordable price, making it a standout feature among other platforms. There are plenty of other more expensive automation platforms (ActiveCampaign) that have more automation capabilities.

    Automation Pricing Feature Chart

    The fact that Sendinblue includes automation in the free plan is astounding. This makes it a strong contender for businesses and websites that have some marketing chops that can fully utilize medium-tiered automation tools.

    Sendinblue Transactional Email

    Transactional emails are automated email messages that are sent to customers/visitors after they take a specific action. For example, a customer might receive a transactional email after they make a purchase, sign up for an appointment, or change their password on your website. They deliver necessary information to customers based on particular actions taken with your business.

    Creating a transaction email can be done using the drag-and-drop editor using a template or from scratch.

    Sendinblue Transactional Purchase Confirmation Email Example

    Sendinblue has a robust transactional email platform that is outfitted with webhooks and an API that lets you meld your website and operational systems with Sendinblue.

    Sendinblue Review of Webhooks

    Sendinblue is particularly good with transactional emails because you can easily manage transactional and marketing emails all in one place. This could streamline a lot of the email functions for many businesses. Instead of learning two different platforms, site owners can focus on mastering one platform that can do almost it all.

    Sendinblue WordPress Plugin Marketing Automation and SMTP

    Sendinblue also works nicely with WordPress. Their SMPT WordPress plugin lets Sendinblue handle the SMTP marketing, transactional emails, and more for your WordPress websites. This makes your system-generated email deliverability more reliable.

    Check out a step-by-step guide on how to use SMPT to send email with WordPress and Sendinblue.

    Social Sharing and Ads with Sendinblue

    Next, we are taking a look at how Sendinblue handles social posting and advertising.

    Social Media Sharing

    Sendinblue lets you easily connect your social accounts so that you can easily share your email campaigns with your social audiences. It’s a nice way to give audiences on other channels the ability to see what’s going on in your email campaigns. Sendinblue lets you share your campaigns on your Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts.

    Email Campaign Share on Social

    Social Chat Integrations

    Sendinblue’s chat features also integrate with a few compelling social channels. Sendinblue offers a standalone chat widget that you can deploy to your website (by adding the chat script or by connecting to Shopify, WooCommerce, and other integrations). The chat functionality can also integrate with your business page’s Facebook Messenger or with your Instagram account’s inbox.

    Sendinblue Review of Chat Integrations

    Social Advertising

    Sendinblue allows customers to create advertising on Facebook. If you’ve ever delved into ads on Meta Ads Manager (formerly Facebook Ads Manager) you’ll know how difficult this can be to do manually.

    Sendinblue simplifies the process by creating an easier ad creation process and by connecting your CRM to your Ads Manager account. This creates undeniable efficiencies. It also limits the workload customers have to put in to be successful with both types of marketing. Lastly, with this all being on one platform, you can better use lead ads with CRM and Automation.

    Social Ads are made easy by Sendinblue’s audience creation.

    Create Audience for FB Ad

    You can set the timing and budget of your ads easily in Sendinblue.

    Set Budget for FB Ad

    Designing an Ad on Facebook or Instagram is very easy and Sendinblue gives you a preview of your work. Certain ad types are not available in Sendinblue.

    Create Facebook Ad Content

    Sendinblue Ease of Use

    One of the first things we noticed when we logged into our test account is how intuitive the dashboard is. There are a limited number of menu items in the top navigation which made it feel much less daunting. In the new account creation, we answered questions that created a custom onboarding experience tailored to our initial stated goals. This made it so that we only saw the features we said we wanted when we first logged in.

    Sendinblue Onboarding

    Jumping into the settings, you’ll see more options under the hood. Each feature is well-organized in a grid format and each feature listed has an on-off toggle. This allows you to control what features are active and visible in the dashboard with a simple click.

    Sendinblue Review of Addons

    For example, if you are just doing marketing emails, you can turn off transactional emails and not see them in your dashboard. This is a brilliant way to improve user experience. Sendinblue gets an “A+” for modular feature toggles.

    Powerful Automation

    Sendinblue sports an attractive and easy-to-use automation workflow builder. The nice thing is that Sendinblue has pre-built recipes or workflow templates for you to choose from.

    These pre-made workflows include:

    • Most Popular Workflows
    • Increase Engagement
    • Increase Traffic
    • Increase Revenue (eCommerce)
    • Build Relationships

    Prebuilt workflows are a great time saver, especially for those new to marketing automation. They can choose a workflow that fits their business needs and create email/SMS campaigns based on where they land in the workflow.

    This mid-level automation could not be easier and gives marketers enough power to push business forward.

    Email Creation

    As an email marketing campaign, how Sendinblue handles creating emails is very important. We’ll start with Sendinblue’s email templates. Their premade email starters are separated into layouts and templates.

    • Layouts – Paired down templates without images and design elements. Just the visual layout
    • Templates – Full-fledged starter emails. Pick a template based on the design elements

    There are 41 templates available but the real value is the ability to create your own templates that you can reuse and stay on brand.

    Sendinblue Email Visual Editor

    Their visual editor is powerful, simple, and attractive.

    Sendinblue Email Visual Editor

    Standout visual editor features include:

    • Drag and drop blocks
    • Simple Block settings (colors, spacing, alignment
    • HTML block
    • Reusable content blocks
    • Block Visibility Toggle – to hide blocks but not delete
    • Duplicate Block
    • Repeat Block for Dynamic Content Varaitations

    Sendinblue’s email editor is, in some ways, more powerful than the likes of Constant Contact and Mailchimp. But, a lot of that comes down to familiarity. Power users will enjoy the HTML block that allows for a visual editor plus some additional HTML.

    Sendinblue Pricing

    Sendinblue’s Pricing is where it really sets itself apart. Their pricing structure is proving to be a uniquely effective marketing strategy, attracting users that want more bang for their buck.

    Sendinblue Pricing Chart Review

    A Generous Free Plan

    They have a generous free plan for email marketing with nearly all necessary features included. The free plan is limited to 300 emails per day ( 9,000 per month) with a cap of 2,000 contacts for email automation. That’s a great deal for small businesses with less than 500 contacts and could reasonably be all they need.

    Scalable Paid Plans

    Sendinblue bases its prices on the number of emails sent instead of the number of contacts you have. That means you can have as many contacts as you want and Sendinblue won’t charge extra. This is a huge value for companies that send fewer emails and have a large audience.

    The Starter plan ($25/m) includes reporting, email support, and no daily email limit. The Business plan ($65/m) offers full automation, A/B testing, advanced reporting, and multiple user access. The Enterprise plan ($1000/m) provides white-glove onboarding, flexible pricing, advanced integrations, and top security.

    SendinBlue vs Mailchimp

    Sendinblue seems to have made significant strides to compete with Mailchimp. They’ve changed their pricing structure and feature mix (especially in the free tier) to truly offer a better product for small businesses. The below figure shows what sending 1 email per contact would cost you as compared to Mailchimp.

    Sendinblue vs Mailchimp Pricing

    Mailchimp’s free plan has some notable limitations compared to Sendinblue including limited number of monthly sends (9,000 vs 2,500) and no live chat, CRM, or transactional email options. Plus, Sendinblue allows unlimited contacts (excluding automation) while Mailchimp does not.

    Sendinblue vs Mailchimp Free Features Comparison

    Digging deeper into Mailchimp vs. Sendinblue feature comparisons, Sendinblue offers a few features that would be add-ons with Mailchimp. The cost savings could be quite large if you need these features.

    Sendinblue vs Mailchimp All Features Comparison

    Notably, the Business Plan with Sendinblue (at $65 per month currently) comes with phone support but phone support is only available with Mailchimp with their $300 per month plan. Mailchimp also charges by the contact so Sendinblue’s unlimited contacts (especially if you are using CRM and Automation) are quite appealing.

    One of the Best Free Email Marketing Platforms with Affordable Upgrades

    Sendinblue is proving to be one of the best affordable email marketing platforms. If you’re looking for a powerful email marketing tool that won’t break the bank, SendinBlue is the perfect solution.

    With a free account, you can send up to 300 emails per day. And if you need more, you can upgrade anytime with scalable plans that charge by the number of emails rather than the number of contacts. Plus, their free plan includes most of the features of their paid plans, so you can give it a try and see how fits with your marketing strategy.

    Have you tried Sendinblue within the last year? How was it? How did it help you with your marketing goals? What else would you add to this Sendinblue Review?

    Featured Image via TMvectorart / shutterstock.com

    The post Sendinblue Review: Best Affordable Email Marketing Solution? appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • Constant Contact Email Marketing: A Detailed Review

    When most people think of Constant Contact they think of “Email Marketing”. Over the years, Constant Contact has grown from a reliable email marketing solution to an all-in-one digital marketing platform for small businesses. But is it still a good choice for email marketing today? This article provides the information needed to decide if Constant Contact is the right email marketing system for your business.

    What is Constant Contact?

    Constant Contact Branded Logo White

    Constant Contact is an all-in-one digital marketing platform that has been a consumer favorite for decades as one of the best email marketing services. Although it is known to be incredibly stable for email marketing, in recent years, it has kicked up innovation to create a suite of performance tools for its small business customers.

    Constant Contact Email Marketing Homepage

    Constant Contact surpasses what is typically expected of email marketing with features such as email automation, social media handling, texting, eCommerce, and AI. So, whatever industry you are in, it seems that Constant Contact has the tools any small business would need to implement a successful marketing strategy.

    Pros and Cons of Using Constant Contact

    Any email marketing platform will have to make trade-offs with what it offers its customers. Overall, Constant Contact is a reliable platform that is investing heavily in innovation. Here is a brief look at some of the pros and cons of the platform:

    Pros Cons
    • Free Trial
    • Simplest Interface
    • Scalable Platform
    • Great Customer Service
    • High Deliverability Rate
    • Native SMS Marketing
    • No Free Plan ($9.99)
    • Low number of 3rd Party Integrations
    • Surveys & Event Solutions are pretty dated
    • No In-built CRM (Except in the $449 tier)

    To fully understand what Constant Contact offers, we need to quickly dive into their tiered pricing structure and what features belong to each.

    Constant Contact Pricing

    With Constant Contact, plans start at $9.99. For Digital Marketing, it offers a Core Plan and a Plus plan. But it also offers an all-in-one Marketing Automation+ plan as well (though technically that is a separate product suite).

    • Core: Starting at $9.99/mo
    • Plus: Starting at $45/mo
    • Marketing Automation+: Starting at $449/mo

    Constant Contact Core and Plus Pricing 2022

    Each subsequent plan has more and more features offered to deliver exactly the solutions particular use cases need. The plans and their general use case are:

    • Core – Email Newsletters and Social Media Management
    • Plus – Mid-ranged Email Automations and eCommerce Insights/Segmentation
    • Marketing Automation+ – Advanced Automation, Lead Scoring, Opportunity Management, and CRM
    • *SMS – SMS can be added to Core and Plus plans

    Currently, with the Core plan, you are allowed up to 500 contacts for $9.99/mo. The number of emails you can send per month is limited to 24 times your total contact count. You can upgrade for more contacts and email sends with their tiered pricing.

    constant contact priced tier

    See the Current Constant Contact Pricing.

    It isn’t a hidden secret that Constant Contact’s Marketing Automation+ plan is technically outside of Constant Contact itself. In late 2021, SharpSpring was acquired by the email marketing giant to add a professional suite of tools to the company’s portfolio. Time will tell if the two platforms are merged or continue to operate as two separate tools.

    Sharpspring Marketing Automation+ Homepage

    Regardless of the business details, Constant Contact has developed a strong set of tools for marketers and business owners at every stage of sophistication. Next, we’ll take a deeper dive into the features of each of these plans that can be taken advantage of.

    Constant Contact Email Marketing Features

    Constant Contact is one of the most popular email marketing platforms available. It’s known for its easy-to-use automation features and excellent customer support. We’ll take a deep dive into several feature categories so you can understand what Constant Contact fully has to offer.

    At the end of the day, managing contacts and sending email blasts is the basic job of an email marketing service. Some platforms offer more complex tools and services catered to professional marketers rather than to DIY small business owners who are juggling multiple tasks. Constant Contact allows users to easily create emails and manage their contact lists seamlessly. While it may not be perfect for everyone, the company has made great strides, providing various levels of complexity in its features.

    Email Templates

    To get into it, the cornerstone of the Constant Contact experience is in the email creation flow. For most, they start with one of the hundreds of email templates that are pre-built and ready to be customized.

    Constant Contact Pre-made Email Templates

    Constant Contact has also been slowly developing a brand template creator that works with a simple URL. For businesses just beginning, you can even use your Facebook business page instead of a website.

    Branded Template URL Insertion

    It works by quickly pulling in your website’s logo and brand colors, and gives you a quick choice of layout preference for your template. Many drag-and-drop interfaces are great for building emails but can be difficult to when it comes to styling. The branded template option gives a headstart on those settings so that business owners can get to the meat of their email building.

    Branded Template Editor

    One downside to Constant Contact templates is that they save as “Campaigns”. These campaigns are merely copied for reuse. Mailchimp, for instance, allows you to create a template that is altogether different from campaigns. This helps to differentiate between their use cases. In Constant Contact, you might find yourself editing a template without realizing it.

    Creating Emails

    Constant Contact has a strong drag-and-drop editor. There are several “blocks” that you can drag into the email to visually place them where you want. This is dead simple and lets you get right into creating your content.

    Constant Contact Email Marketing Drag and Drop Editor

    Constant Contact’s emails are reliable in rendering fidelity to a myriad of email clients (new and old). It has solid industry relationships with email service providers (ESPs) that allow them to quickly troubleshoot new issues. In addition, Constant Contact emails are mobile responsive. And, the editor gives you a chance to see both desktop and mobile views of your email while you are creating it.

    Pre-made Email Template Responsive

    Contacts and List Management

    Contacts and Contact Lists are a vital part of sending emails. Usually, it is contact lists that hold most of the strategy behind email marketing.

    Constant Contact lets you create contacts, add them to lists, add tags to individual contacts, and assign notes to each contact. This basic functionality is present in every pricing plan.

    Individual Contact Management

    For the Plus plan, you can unlock more powerful email segmentation functionality. You can create segments using conditional for activity, engagement, dates, and tags. These segments may refresh with the latest data at any point.

    Contact Segmentation

    We won’t cover segmentation for Marketing Automation+ since, as we mentioned above, that plan is actually with Constant Contact’s acquired brand, SharpSpring.

    Constant Contact Email Marketing Reports

    Reporting is essential to any effective email strategy. Being able to see progress over time as your lists grow and mature is the only way to tell if you are doing everything correctly. Your contacts will be the first to tell you if your emails are off-base or uninteresting (unsubscribes).

    Constant Contact gives detailed, real-time reporting on your sent email campaigns. Reported data includes:

    • Successful Sends
    • Bounces (Various Types)
    • Opens
    • Did Not Open
    • Clicks
    • Spam Reports
    • Unsubscribes
    • Comparisons of Vital Metrics to Industry Averages and List Averages

    It also shows trends in audience responses to marketing emails by providing an overview of campaigns in certain timespans.

    Email Campaign Reporting

    For eCommerce stores (such as WooCommerce or Shopify) Constant Contact’s reporting can go a little further for you. Connecting the integration will pull eligible subscribers into your Constant Contact account and will do so automatically every day. One less list upload on your hands.

    More than that, Constant Contact can automatically segment your customer data into powerful yet easy-to-use segments. Want to send an email to your best customers? What about people who haven’t purchased in a while?

    WooCommerce Customer Auto Segmentation

    Constant Contact can analyze store sales data to determine if an email campaign had an impact. Email attribution reports give you a glimpse into what is working and where you can improve.

    Email Marketing Attributed Sales

    List Growth and Lead Generation Tools

    Constant Contact’s email marketing tools are more than sufficient, to be sure. Its lead generation tools are a weakness for them but it does have some working tools to help out its customers.

    Constant Contact Lead Generation Options

    Signup Forms

    Constant Contact signup forms are bare and offer very little nuance. For website owners who want the easiest possible solution and then never think about it again, Constant Contact forms are the right bet.

    It offers these types of forms:

    • Pop-up
    • Flyout
    • Banner
    • Inline
    • Hosted Landing Pages

    Constant Contact’s forms offer very few styling options outside of background, font colors, and button colors. It does the minimum in that regard.

    Build Constant Contact Opt-in Form

    Their landing pages use the same editing interface as the form builders. Yet instead of outputting a Javascript embed code, it gives you a Constant Contact-hosted URL to link to. The URL can be partially branded but not as much as a self-hosted landing page URL.

    If your website is on WordPress, using a dedicated WordPress contact form plugin or a newsletter opt-in form plugin would be a huge asset. Those tools usually have all the missing features of Constant Contact native sign-up forms.

    Facebook Lead Ads Integration

    We know that email marketing has matured into a complex marketing strategy best used when intermixed with other marketing channels. Thus, an omnichannel marketing approach is a tide that elevates all singular marketing strategies with it.

    As far as straight lead generation goes, Constant Contact has a Facebook Lead Ads integration that allows marketers to create Lead Ads on Facebook and Instagram. Those who signup on those lead ads are automatically added to Constant Contact in a dedicated list succinctly named “Facebook Lead Ads”. This makes it a cinch to create an automated series that fires based on a newly added contact.

    Design Facebook Lead Ad

    This feature is a very nice touch that makes the process much easier for first-time advertisers. And the integration means no manual list uploads or time spent with additional Zapier automation to port those contacts over in real time.

    Email Automation

    Constant Contact makes it easy to automate your simple email marketing campaigns.

    Constant Contact Email Marketing Automation Options

    Though, for most of the automation features, you’ll have to be in their Plus plan. The Core package enables sending “Welcome Emails” when a contact first subscribes to a list. This gets the job done for downloadable lead magnets.

    Setup Automated Welcome Email

    With the Plus plan, more automation features are at your fingertips. You can set up automatic email series (multiple emails strung together), birthday messages, yearly anniversary emails, and several eCommerce automation emails based on store interactions.

    “Automated Customer Journeys” is the newest feature on the platform that allows marketers to create advanced automation based on visual decision trees. This is especially helpful for eCommerce stores since common store interactions are common conditional triggers.

    Automated Customer Journey Builder

    All these automated features can save you a lot of time and help ensure that your customers always receive timely and relevant information.

    For more, check out our list of the best marketing automation platforms for your business.

    SMS Marketing

    In 2022, Constant Contact announced support for sending SMS messages as part of its marketing platform. This new feature allows businesses to send multi-channel campaigns and track results with detailed reporting.

    Constant Contact SMS Pricing 2022

    With SMS, businesses can reach customers where they are—on their mobile devices. SMS messages are easy to see and are often read, making them a great way to send customers urgent information or deals.

    Constant Contact SMS Marketing

    Constant Contact’s easy-to-use platform makes it simple to create and send SMS campaigns. And with detailed reporting, businesses can track who opens and clicks on links in their messages, so they can adjust future campaigns accordingly.

    Integrations

    Connected systems are growing more and more important for digital marketers. This is especially so when using tailored technologies and platforms for specialized tasks.

    For most website integrations, all you need is an email opt-in form that easily integrates with Constant Contact. With advanced email opt-in forms like Bloom, you can integrate Constant Contact to your site and start growing your audience with ease.

    However, Constant Contact does offer more integrations with Zapier.

    Zapier Homepage - Automation and Integrations

    Zapier is a data-connecting platform that connects APIs from thousands of serves so that data doesn’t remain siloed. More than that, Zapier can create highly customized automation using conditional logic from each connected platform.

    This means that an end user can get data from one platform and (under certain conditions and rules) send that data to be used on another platform.

    Constant Contact has a searchable list of integrations (3rd party and native) but the list is only found inside an active account.

    Constant Contact Email Marketing Integrations

    Other Third-Party Constant Contact Integrations

    Of the listed integrations for Constant Contact, you can also see a healthy spread of other marketing and business essential services.

    • Canva – Imports Canva designs into the email creation flow
    • Vimeo – Imports Vimeo videos into the email creation flow
    • Shopify – Easily adds products into emails and collects customer interaction data for automations
    • WooCommerce – Easily adds products into emails and collects customer interaction data for automations
    • Stripe – Syncs Stripe contact data and pulls email data into Stripe’s dashboard
    • Facebook & Instagram – Allows for posting to these platforms as well as creating Ads
    • Twitter – Schedule or immediately publish Tweets
    • WordPress – Brings over subscriber data into Constant Contact contact lists
    • Salesforce – Contacts from CRM are automatically brought over so you can have a single source of truth
    • Eventbrite – Easily promote your events by adding event details into the email creation flow
    • Gmail – Sync Gmail contacts with Constant Contact as you transition to professional email marketing

    If you are concerned about particular services that you use, you can see if those individual services have created their own integrations using Constant Contact’s API.

    Constant Contact Ease of Use

    Constant Contact has always been a favorite among small businesses because it is user-friendly. Most small businesses need the most streamlined experience possible. Balancing that with features is a tall order but Constant Contact has done that well.

    For starters, the pricing plans by Constant Contact are strategically selective. The available features for each tier cater to particular use cases. This ensures that beginning email marketers are not getting lost in the Core Constant Contact email marketing plan with unneeded and overly complicated features.

    Its Plus plan adds complicated features that dedicated marketers crave. The addition of Automated Customer Journeys brings a lot more power to the automation suite.

    The email creation flow is also one of the best there is. It sports a nice integration with Canva so that you can bring in your designs without downloading them from Canva and reuploading them in Constant Contact. Your Downloads folder can be happy about that. Plus, AI can create and analyze email subject lines that will perform well, based on the content of the email and data from related campaigns.

    Canva Constant Contact Email Integration

    Its forms are easy-to-use, but that is particularly because the forms lack styling, A/B testing, and conditional logic. The social posting / social ads feature makes creating posts and ads easy. For advanced marketers, these tools may be limiting, but for the average small business owner, the ease of use is liberating.

    Overall, Constant Contact is one of the easiest-to-use email marketing platforms.

    Constant Contact vs Other Email Marketing Services

    Let’s dive into the key difference between Constant Contact and a few rival platforms to see how they stack up.

    Mailchimp vs Constant Contact

    Mailchimp small business email marketing

    It’s no secret that many use Mailchimp for email marketing. Constant Contact and Mailchimp are email marketing platforms that offer similar features. However, there are some key differences between the two.

    Constant Contact offers less customizable signup forms and landing pages. Mailchimp’s brand template creation tool is also more sophisticated. Mailchimp offers a free plan, which is why it has many more third-party integrations to its name.

    Constant Contact, on the other hand, offers a simpler interface that helps new customers get started easier. Its verbiage describing “contact lists” and how they work are easier to grasp than Mailchimp’s use of “audiences”.

    It is worth knowing that all Constant Contact plans (even the free trial) include unlimited access to customer support through phone, live chat, or email interactions. Mailchimp has no support for its free plan and limited support for most of its plans.

    ActiveCampaign vs Constant Contact

    ActiveCampaign Customer Experience Platform

    When looking at Constant Contact’s Automation+ plan, both platforms offer lead scoring, website tracking, and a variety of other features to help businesses manage their customer relationships. However, there are some key differences between the two platforms.

    Most people thinking about Constant Contact won’t go for that suite of tools. They’ll likely stay with Constant Contact’s Core and Plus plans which don’t compete with what ActiveCampaign brings to the table. ActiveCampaign offers a comprehensive CRM solution while Constant Contact mostly handles list management. It includes features such as deal management, website tracking, and pipeline processes that Constant Contact does not offer. ActiveCampaign also has a more robust lead-scoring system, which can be helpful for businesses that generate a lot of leads.

    Constant Contact is less expensive than ActiveCampaign, making it a better option for small businesses or businesses on a tight budget. It focuses mostly on external email and digital marketing activities since it doesn’t focus as much on CRM as ActiveCampaign.

    ActiveCampaign is a more advanced tool than Constant Contact. A better comparison if you are looking for advanced features would be SharpSpring by Constant Contact and ActiveCampaign.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, Constant Contact is a great platform for any small business or website owner needing email marketing. Its simple UI and reasonable price make it a great choice for anyone looking to get started in email marketing.

    For you WordPress users, here are some of the best marketing plugins you may find helpful.

    Featured Image via Net Vector / shutterstock.com

    The post Constant Contact Email Marketing: A Detailed Review appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • 12 Website Marketing Strategies for Growing Your Business in 2023

    Business owners know that having a website is table stakes in today’s economy. But what good is a website if it is never seen by your target audience? That’s why developing strategies for website marketing is so important. From optimizing your website for search engines to using social media to drive traffic, we have a list of the most effective website marketing strategies that can help you reach your goals.

    This article will explore 12 marketing strategies that you can use to give your website a leg up.

    How Important is Website Marketing?

    In the world of online marketing, a website is a digital display room or storefront. It’s the first place potential customers go to learn about your product or service, and it’s where they’ll naturally go to make a purchase. Nobody in your showroom means no sales are happening in that showroom. That’s why an effective website marketing strategy is essential to growing your business.

    There are several ways to increase the effectiveness of your website and convert visitors into customers. But all marketing strategies boil down to increased traffic on your website. And not just more traffic—targeted traffic.

    Investing in website marketing is a key strategy for the growth of your business.

    12 Website Marketing Strategies to Help Grow Your Business

    While your business or website might not be able to use (or need) all of these, this list will give you ideas about website marketing strategies that you should be considering.

    1. Email Marketing

    Our first website marketing strategy is a staple. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to grow brand loyalty and keep your readership coming back to your website. Email marketing allows you to reach a large audience with simple and low-maintenance technology.

    Many marketers think that email marketing is an effort that happens after someone visits your website. And it is true that email list growth happens after a visitor converts into an email subscriber. But the power of email marketing is the ability to continuously bring that person back to your website. This creates higher value conversions, improves your win rate, and increases the average customer Lifetime Value (LTV).

    To get started with email marketing, find a good email marketing service that is the right fit for you needs. These services make it easy to manage your email lists and build/send emails to your subscribers.

    Once you have an email service, you can start building your list of email addresses on your website through email opt-in form plugins (like Bloom) that integrate with your platform. With your email marketing platform, you can use that email list to create an email blast or create email campaigns to send out targeted marketing emails.

    For the best results, use automation and email list segmentation to target your audience more effectively.

    ActiveCampaign Workflow Automation Builder

    2. Organic Social Media Marketing

    Organic social media is social media marketing that focuses on building community and creating sharable content. It is the non-advertisement side of social media channels. This includes anything that website owners do to create or share content on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

    Organic social media help website owners connect with potential customers and build community relationships. When website owners create content that is interesting and useful, they are more likely to get followers who are interested in exactly what they do. This helps create a connection between the website owner and potential customers, which leads to increased sales or at the very least better brand reputation and awareness.

    Elegant Themes is a great example of a company that has successfully used social media to build a large community of Divi users.

    Divi Theme Users and Community

    It’s not every day you see a Facebook Group of 73,000+ members! We’ve created a place where our customers love to come for answers and find people who are ahead of them in their journey. This is just one way Divi uses organic social to help market our products and website.

    3. SEM / Search Advertising

    SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, is a digital marketing strategy used to improve a website’s visibility in organic search results on Google and other global search engines. Search engine marketing (SEM) is the other side of organic search engine optimization (SEO).

    Search advertising is the most common form of SEM. It allows website owners to pay for their website to appear as a sponsored result at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs). This placement is determined by an auction in which advertisers compete against one another to have their website shown when certain keywords are searched.

    SEM Website Marketing Strategy Example

    SEM is an effective way for website owners to share and market their sites as it improves visibility above organic search results. It’s a great tool as you wait to build organic SEO for your website. When done correctly, SEM can help website owners attract more visitors, leads, and customers making it a really effective website marketing strategy.

    4. Paid Social Ads

    Many website owners truly fear running paid social ads. The fact that it is a paid platform and that advertising dashboards are not easy to learn keeps many business owners away from it. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

    Social Ads Website Marketing Strategy Example

    Paid social ads are simply ads that you pay to have placed on social media sites. This can range from promoting existing posts all the way to creating detailed campaigns based on advanced audiences. There are plenty of strategies and platforms to experiment with. Getting started on Facebook paid advertising isn’t that difficult. And that is true for other platforms as well. But, the fact is, using paid social ads is an excellent marketing strategy to drive targeted traffic to your website.

    For more, check out our essential guide to social media advertising

    5. SEO and Content Marketing

    SEO is a process by which website owners can improve the visibility and ranking of their site in the SERPs. They do this by closely following the rules and guidelines for website content that is set out by search engines. Content marketing is a related process where website owners create and share valuable content with the goal of attracting and engaging potential customers.

    When used together, SEO and content marketing can be powerful tools for website owners looking to share and market their websites. By optimizing their site for search engines and creating high-quality SEO content driven by keyword research and search intent, website owners can attract more visitors to their sites and improve their chances of conversion.

    SEO and Content Marketing Strategy Example

    Hubspot is an example of a major company that has gone all in on content marketing and SEO. So much so that most of their new customers are brought in from their well-written and well-optimized content and courses.

    If you are serious about creating SEO content, here is our checklist for on-page SEO and some free tools to get you started.

    6. Guest Posts and Guest Blogging

    Guest posting is a method used by website owners to share and market their websites. By writing articles for other websites, guest posting allows website owners to get their name and website out to new audiences. Not only does guest posting help with brand awareness, but it can also directly lead to increased website traffic.

    When done correctly, guest posting can be a great way to improve your website’s visibility and traffic. However, it’s important to make sure that you only guest post on high-quality websites that are relevant to your business category or niche. Make sure that your articles are well-written and provide value to the readers of the website you’re guest posting on.

    You can guest post on leading industry websites, in the newsletters of related thought leaders, and within think tank communities. You can extend the concept past written content to joining podcasts and interviews for exposure in new media resources as well.

    There is also room to allow others to guest post on your website. This allows you the chance to have more relevant content on your website that can rank. It also opens you up to receive a spike of traffic as that other author promotes their new post. However, it can be tricky figuring out when and how to accept guest posters to your website.

    Guest posting is also one of the best ways to get backlinks for SEO. If other sites with domain authority link to yours, your site will climb in the rankings organically.

    7. Press Releases

    A press release is a formal statement for media outlets to generate publicity for a business or individual. It is usually written by a public relations specialist and can be an extremely effective marketing tool.

    There are many different ways to use a press release, but one of the most common is to share news about your business’s accomplishments and truly exciting news. This could include new products, awards, or funding rounds. By sharing exciting information with the press, you can generate interest and traffic to your site. This is especially true if the release gets picked up by an industry publisher or local news outlets for featured stories.

    PR Marketing Strategy Example

    Press releases can be a great marketing tool, but they need to be used carefully. If you over-hype your story or make false claims, you could damage your reputation. Make sure that you only share accurate information and send out press releases only when your business truly warrants one. Here’s a free template for writing a press release.

    8. Create Affiliate Marketing or Referral Program

    Creating a referral program or an affiliate program for your business could be a huge boon for your growing business. Affiliate programs are usually designed around products with one-time or recurring payments. Referral programs are usually created around services.

    Both affiliate marketing and referral marketing can be beneficial for businesses looking to increase the exposure of their products and services. How these programs work is that a business will open up the ability for other companies and individuals to promote their products. The affiliates or referrers get compensated based on the number of people they bring in and who made a purchase.

    Affiliate Marketing Strategy Example

    When done correctly, affiliate marketing and referral marketing can be effective ways to increase sales and boost revenue. However, it is important to carefully select the websites and people you allow to promote your products and services. You want to ensure that they are reputable and don’t drag your brand’s name through the mud with less than savory practices.

    Here are some helpful WordPress plugins for affiliate marketing you can use for your own website.

    9. Encourage Online Reviews

    As a business owner, it’s important to receive online reviews for your products and services. Not only does this give you valuable feedback to iterate business practices on, but it also helps potential customers find and trust you.

    You can encourage customers to leave reviews using an automated email/messaging system or by simply asking them directly. It’s best to ask your raving fans to leave reviews for you so that you are putting your best foot forward. If possible, when you come off a good conversation or are able to track positive interactions on your website you should be sending your customers messages explaining how to leave reviews. This done over time will be a game changer.

    Online Reviews Marketing Strategy Example

    The importance of online reviews can not be overstated. They provide social proof that others have found your business to be valuable, which can help increase conversion rates. Additionally, positive reviews can help improve your ranking on search engine results pages, making it more likely that potential customers will find you. If you are a local business you can encourage reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, and industry-specific directories. If you are an online business, you can ask for reviews on G2, Trustpilot, and review websites pertaining to your niche/industry.

    10. Influencer Marketing

    From the glory days of Instagram up until now, influencer marketing has evolved as a widespread form of business promotion. Influencer marketing involves working with people who have large followings on social channels to help promote your product. This is usually done through sponsoring creators, giving them free gear or perks, or outright paying them to post for you.

    There are many benefits of using influencer marketing to promote your website or product. First, it can help you reach a larger audience than you would be able to reach on your own. Additionally, people who see an influencer promoting your product are more likely to trust the recommendation and be interested in what you have to offer. This is especially true of small to mid-sized nano influencers with really committed fan bases. Finally, working with influencers can help build relationships with other businesses and individuals in your industry. A solid partnership is always something to relish. More on that marketing strategy next.

    11. Brand Partnerships

    In a rapidly developing digital world, website owners are looking for new ways to increase their audience and exposure. One method that is becoming increasingly popular is partnering with other brands, also known as developing strategic partnerships or co-branding.

    Brand partnerships can take many different forms, but the basic idea is that two or more brands come together to promote each other. You could have different options for running partnerships such as joint marketing campaigns, running and online sale, social media collaborations, or even simply cross-promoting each other’s content.

    Elegant Themes does this through co-branded special offerings. You can see this with our Divi Hosting partners.

    Divi Hosting - Brand Partnership Example

    Not only do we partner with these other companies for marketing, but they’ve also created specially crafted hosting environments for Divi Theme users. This is co-branding at its best!

    12. Utilize Omnichannel Marketing

    As the internet continues to grow and evolve, so too does the way businesses market themselves. One of the gold standards in marketing is “omnichannel marketing.” But what is it? And how can website owners use it to increase website visitors and customer lifetime value (LTV)?

    Omnichannel marketing is a multi-channel approach to marketing that seeks to provide a seamless customer experience no matter how or where they interact with your brand. This includes your website, social media, email, brick-and-mortar store, mobile app, etc.

    The goal of omnichannel marketing is to create a cohesive brand experience that will keep customers coming back for more. More than that, you can centralize data from each platform so that all data from all platforms are usable on each individual one.

    For more, take a deeper dive into Omnichannel Marketing and the platforms that make it a reality.

    Website Marketing Tools

    Given the myriad of marketing strategies and approaches that you can employ to promote your website, it shouldn’t be any wonder that there are tons of platforms out there that support them. Here are a few platforms, services, and marketplaces that could be of help to you as your market your website.

    Google Analytics and Search Console

    Google Analytics is a free web analytics service that tracks and creates reports based on website traffic. It helps website owners market their website by providing data on how past users have interacted with the site, such as:

    • what pages users visit
    • how long they stay on each page
    • what actions they take(conversions)
    • and how many people come back

    Demographic data in Google Analytics.

    This information can be interpreted to improve the website’s design and content to better meet the needs of users. Google Analytics is pretty much the staple of website analytics but there are other analytics platforms out there. Learn more about what’s changed in GA4.

    A tandem tool by Google that most website owners use is Google Search Console.

    Google Search Console

    The Search Console is like Google Analytics except that it shows you the data from Google about how your website is performing in Search Results. It will list keywords and SERP avg. position your pages are ranking for. It is a great tool and Search Console is easily set up.

    Semrush

    As a website owner, you always want to be one step ahead of your competition. But how can you do that? How can you find out what keywords they are targeting? What strategies are they using to improve their website ranking? The answer is Semrush.

    Semrush Homepage

    Semrush is a powerful tool that provides in-depth insights into your competitor’s SEO strategy. With Semrush, you can see what keywords they are targeting, what backlinks they are building, and what type of content is working for them. Armed with this knowledge, you can develop your own SEO strategy to help improve your website ranking and get ahead of your competition.

    Moz Local

    If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably spent quite a bit of time managing your online business listings.

    Moz Local is a listing management tool that helps you manage all those online listings. It helps you stay on top of local SEO best practices by maintaining quality citations.

    Moz Local for Local Listing Management

    Moz Local also allows you to track and manage your listing from one dashboard. This saves you a lot of time and hassle and helps you make sure that all your listings are accurate and up-to-date. Moz Local can delete duplicate listings to remove confusing listings. All this lets your local SEO truly shine and keeps you from worrying about if your Google My Business listing has your new address on it or not.

    Google Ads

    Google Ads is a tool that allows website owners to market their website through ads that appear in search results. By creating an ad, website owners can specify what keywords they want their ad to show up for, and when someone searches for that keyword, their ad can appear in the search results. Google Ads also has a free keyword planner for website owners to use as they figure out their keyword strategy.

    Google ads keyword research

    Display Ads are another ad type on the Google Ads platform. Display ads are graphic ads that appear on websites and in apps. They can be used to promote a brand or product or to drive traffic to a website. Display ads can be effective in reaching potential customers who may not be aware of a company or its products. They can also be used to target specific demographics, such as people who live in a certain area or who have visited a website before.

    Meta Business Manager for Facebook and Instagram Ads

    If you’re looking for a way to get into Facebook and Instagram advertising, then you should definitely consider using Meta Business Manager. With Meta Business Manager, you can manage all of your Facebook pages and Instagram accounts as well as all their ads in one place. It is a robust platform worth learning if you are going to be marketing for a long time to come.

    Meta Business Manager

    Meta Business Manager Ads Manager also makes it easy to track your results and see how your ads are performing. This is valuable information that can help you optimize your ad campaigns for better results. By installing the Meta Pixel on your website you can monitor traffic. The pixel can be set up to track specific conversion events too, giving you crystal-clear conversion data amidst your ad performance metrics.

    Overall, using Meta Business Ads Manager is a great way to improve your Facebook and Instagram advertising efforts. If you’re not currently using this tool, then you should definitely start.

    Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or Active Campaign

    As we’ve learned, email can be an excellent website marketing strategy. There are a number of different email marketing platforms to choose from, including Constant Contact, ActiveCampaign, and Mailchimp. Each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to select the one that best fits your business’s needs.

    • ActiveCampaign is excellent for businesses that need to build out a lot of automation using advanced triggers from website interactions and lead scoring criteria.
    • Constant Contact is an excellent choice for small businesses who need all the basic features plus world-class customer support.
    • Mailchimp is the go-to for DIY business owners who need a cheap and easy solution that can help them get past the beginning phases

    Fiverr, Upwork and MarketerHire

    Sometimes you need to look beyond yourself to get new jobs and ideas rolling. Small business owners wear many hats but there is a case for hiring other people to take on nuanced marketing work. A single marketing campaign by a professional may take 2-4 hours but could take an untrained DIYer 10-15 hours. Thus, if the economics call for it, you may want to look into hiring freelancers to grease your marketing wheels.

    Fiverr is a great option if you’re on a budget. You can find a variety of productized services to help promote your website, starting at just $5. Fiverr is best for very well-defined jobs. The more defined, usually the cheaper the gig.

    Upwork is another option that can be great for those on a budget. You can find people to help with everything from social media marketing to search engine optimization. Upwork is similar to Fiverr except that you post jobs with your requirements and bids or proposals come to you. From there, you can choose the one you feel understands your needs the best and fire away.

    MarketerHire is a great option if you’re looking for someone with more experience. You can find experts in various fields to help you promote your website and reach your target audience. With MarketerHire, they choose a consultative approach to how they provide services. Once matched with a marketer that fits your needs, they’ll connect with you to determine the best path forward for your budget and goals.

    FAQs

    What is the difference between website marketing strategies and marketing tactics?

    Marketing strategies are the long-term plans that a company uses to achieve its marketing objectives. And marketing tactics are the short-term actions that a company takes to implement its marketing strategy.

    Is there a difference between website marketing strategies and physical location marketing strategies?

    Yes, there is a difference between marketing a website and a physical store. A website can be marketed to a global audience, while a physical store is typically only marketed to those in the local area. Additionally, website marketing usually seeks conversion events that happen on a website. Though you may use your website in marketing a local store, you have additional options at your disposal since you ultimately want to bring in foot traffic to your locations. This means map listings (Google, Yelp, Waze) are helpful even though people may not get to your website from these.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, these 12 website marketing strategies can help you grow your business. Implement a few of them and see how they work for you. Then, keep refining your strategy as you go. The most important thing is to keep track of your progress and keep moving ahead.

    What have you been working on that is working for your website and business? Let us know in the comments!

    Featured Image via Lauritta / shutterstock.com

    The post 12 Website Marketing Strategies for Growing Your Business in 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • 26 Best WordPress Marketing Plugins for 2023

    Capturing demand and making sales is an uphill battle. Just because you have a website does not mean people will see it or respond to it favorably. Because of this, you should bring in effective tools to better market your website. Thankfully, there are many WordPress Marketing Plugins at your disposal.

    This article will uncover essential plugins that improve both marketing output and quality. We have 26 of the absolute best plugin solutions for you to explore in this 2023 marketing plugin review.

    We’ll look into marketing plugins for:

    WordPress Marketing Plugins for Content Marketing

    Content marketing is the process of creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

    It’s an ongoing process that helps you create long-term relationships with your customers by delivering value at every touchpoint. And it requires a strategic approach that aligns your content with your business goals.

    Content marketing feeds so much of your marketing strategy. SEO optimizes your content so that it ranks in search engines. Email and SMS marketing uses content to drive traffic to high-value landing pages. Social media marketing uses social content to increase customer touchpoints and stay top of mind. Brand marketing uses content to convey brand value and differentiation in the market. Content marketing simply touches every aspect of your marketing apparatus.

    Here are the top WordPress plugins that can either expand your content marketing or make it easier.

    1. Seriously Simple Podcasting Plugin

    Seriously Simple Podcasting by Castos

    Seriously Simple Podcasting is a podcasting solution that is native to WordPress. It’s a top-rated plugin for beginners and power users. The completely free version is a self-hosted podcasting platform that uses your WordPress installation to host files so you can be sure your podcasts are always available. With Seriously Simple Podcasting, you get an RSS feed, a web player, and links to all your episodes on major podcast platforms.

    The paid versions of Seriously Simple Podcasting let you store your podcast episode off of your website. This allows your site to speed back up to pre-podcast days as it offloads the files and serving of your podcast to reliable servers that are optimized for just that.

    Podcasters and marketers love this simple solution that gives them a podcasting interface that they are used to with WordPress.

    Price: The plugin is free to use on all your websites | More Information

    2. PublishPress Planner

    PublishPress Editorial Calendar Plugin

    PublishPress Planner is a powerful WordPress plugin that takes care of all your content planning needs for marketing your content. It has helpful tools like an content calendar which is a vital tool for any content creator, whether you’re a solo blogger or a team lead managing an entire content operation. Creating an editorial calendar is an effect content marketing strategy that helps you plan and schedule your content so you can stay organized and on track.

    The PublishPress editorial calendar makes it easy to plan and publish your content. With our drag-and-drop interface, you can easily move your content to different post days. You can also create checklists for posts so that you never forget a step in your editorial and publishing processes. Plus, they offer an editorial revision history feature that ensures you always have a record of your changes and who approved what.

    Price: The plugin is free to use with additional features in their Pro Plan for $69 LTD | More Information

    3. Internal Link Juicer Plugin

    Internal Link Juicer WordPress SEM Plugin

    Internal Link Juicer is a WordPress plugin that aims to take some of the manual work out of creating and maintaining internal links. It even made our dedicated list of the best WordPress SEO plugins (#4). It gives you the ability to create automatic links in your content based on anchor text. Internal Link Juicer simply matches anchor text with your linking preferences as defined by your setup configurations. Assign words/phrases to a particular link and Internal Link Juicer will do the heavy lifting for you.

    Having internal links throughout your content is the lifeblood of on-page SEO optimization. Without the connections made across your content, search engines have a really hard time categorizing (and thus ranking) your content.

    Internal links give Google and other search engines an idea of what your content is about and the authority of that content. As you know, Internal linking is a necessary component of SEO link strategies.

    Price: Free version of Plugin available with a Pro upgrade at $69.99/year | More Information

    4. Imajinn Image Generator

    Imajinn Block Based AI Image Generator

    Imajinn is a block element that allows users to input prompts for AI image generation. Outside of it being a cool new technology in the WordPress space, it is also a unique addition to the content marketer’s toolkit.

    Feature images and post images that help convey the meaning of the written content on a given page have always been important. That is why even this post has a clear featured image and supporting images throughout the post. It keeps readers’ attention while also communicating beyond words.

    Gathering images for these purposes is sometimes easier said than done. Sourcing images can be time-consuming and expensive. And if you are creating content in a saturated niche, it isn’t uncommon to see the same images on different blogs.

    Can you count the number of blogs you’ve seen a similar SEO image on?

    Example of Common SEO Stock Image

    Example of Common SEO Stock Image – Image by Rawpixel.com / shutterstock.com

    Too many …

    With AI-generated images, you can use dialed-in prompts to create your own custom images that are fit for editorial. AI can provide a never-ending source of images and visual aids for your own blog that is uniquely yours. You can even experiment by adding brand aspects to your images (tone, colors, and point of view). Content marketing is only benefited from better-quality images.

    Price: First 40 images Free and monthly plans starting at $9/mo | More Information

    NOTE: AI can do more than generate images these days. Check out more AI marketing tools to boost your business.

    Ecommerce Marketing Plugins

    More and more businesses are going online, which means fierce competition. In order to succeed, businesses need to have a strong marketing strategy. Marketing is important for ecommerce websites and brands because it helps businesses to reach their target audience, stand out from the competition, and increase sales. With the right mix of WordPress plugins and tools, businesses can reach a wide range of consumers and promote their products effectively.

    5. WP Mail SMTP

    WP Mail STMP WordPress Plugin

    WordPress has traditionally been quite poor at handling system emails. They are often flagged as spam in email clients because of outdated protocols for sending mail. With WP Mail SMTP, you can be sure that your marketing and transactional emails are delivered correctly and efficiently. This plugin provides a hassle-free solution for managing your email communications so that you can focus on more important things.

    Since Ecommerce businesses rely on effective emails that must be sent from the website, figuring out an SMTP solution is vital for keeping customers in the know.

    Price: The plugin comes free with upgradable Pro plans starting at $49/yr | More Information

    6. FunnelKit

    FunnelKit for WooCommerce Plugin

    The FunnelKit Funnel Builder for WordPress and WooCommerce is the perfect solution for businesses looking to capture maximum ROI with their ecommerce stores. With pre-made funnel templates, a smart rules engine, and powerful store analytics, the FunnelKit Funnel Builder makes it easy to create and optimize marketing campaigns that drive conversions and especially sales.

    Key Features:

    • Frictionless Checkouts
    • Cross Selling Smart Rules
    • A/B Tests for Entire Funnel
    • Opt-in Landing Pages
    • Analytics Dashboard

    Price: FunnelKit sports a free yet limited plugin with Pro Features starting at $99.50/yr | More Information

    7. Google Ads & Marketing by Kliken

    WooCommerce Google Ads Marketing by Kliken

    Google Ads is the easiest way to promote your products on Google and get them in front of millions of potential shoppers. You can create ad campaigns that target interested shoppers across Google, so you can get discovered on any budget. Google Ads by Kliken for WooCommerce stores makes it easy to set up your campaigns and track your results, so you can focus on growing your business.

    Key Features:

    • Connect Your Store to Google Merchant Center
    • Create Smart Product Feeds that Sync Your Inventory
    • Show up in Search Results with Free Product Listings
    • Run and Manage Paid Ad Campaigns to Promote Across Google Products

    Price: Kliken has a free WooCommerce Extension but the service costs $10/mo | More Information

    8. TikTok for WooCommerce

    WooCommerce TikTok Marketing Extension

    If you’re looking to take your online sales to the next level, TikTok for WooCommerce is the perfect solution. By syncing your store catalog and installing the TikTok pixel, you can easily track campaign performance and set up ads for your target audience. With TikTok for WooCommerce, you can reach a wider audience and boost your sales like never before.

    Key Features:

    • Setup TikTok Tracking Pixel with No Code Installation
    • Sync Your Store’s Catalog with TikTok’s Ad Platform to Create Shopping Ads
    • Create Ad Campaigns from Your Website (Conversion Campaign Types Only)
    • Track Campaign and Sales Performance

    If TikTok Advertising has you dancing, checkout the basics of advertising on TikTok. Or, see our list of top TikTok plugins.

    Price: Free Woo Extension but TikTok Ads cost | More Information

    9. Mailchimp for WooCommerce

    Mailchimp WooCommerce Marketing Plugin

    Mailchimp for WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that connects your online store to mailchimp, giving you access to powerful sales-driving marketing tools that leverage the best of Mailchimp and WooCommerce. With these features, you can engage and build relationships with your customers, increase customer loyalty and repeat purchases, and manage SMS/Email notifications for your store—seamlessly.

    Key Features:

    • Setup Ecommerce Specific Email and SMS Automations (like Abandoned Cart, Welcome, and Re-engagement emails)
    • Use Mailchimp’s Social Advertising Platform to Retarget Customers
    • Leverage AI and Predictive Insights to Serve Product Recommendations to Customers
    • Sync Your Store with Mailchimp’s CRM Tools

    Price: Free Woo Extension and Mailchimp comes with a free email marketing tier | More Information

    WordPress Marketing Plugins for SEO

    SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of optimizing a website for certain keywords so that it appears higher on search engine results pages. This can be done through various means, such as optimizing the website’s title and meta tags, creating quality content, making your website run quickly, and building backlinks.

    SEO is one of the most important factors in online marketing for websites. This list of WordPress plugins will help you achieve SEO marketing success. If you want more, check out this list of the best SEO Plugins for WordPress.

    10. Rank Math SEO Plugin

    Rank Math WordPress SEO Plugin

    Rank Math is a WordPress SEO plugin that can help you with your website’s on-page SEO content. If you’re a marketer who is responsible for website SEO, then you know how important it is to have a plugin that can help you with your ranking.

    It helps move you along in the right direction with on-page optimization giving top-tier suggestions. Rank Math has features that allow you to optimize your title tags and meta descriptions. It also has a keyword research tool that can help you find the right keywords to use on your pages and posts.

    Something we’re particularly excited about is that they’ve been introducing AI capabilities to help with content creation and other SEO tasks.

    For more, check out how to optimize your Divi website with Rank Math.

    Price: RankMath is a free plugin with excellent Pro features that start out at $129/year | More Information

    11. SiteGround Optimizer Plugin

    SiteGround WordPress Optimizer Plugin

    The SiteGround Optimizer free plugin makes it easier for marketers to manage their website’s speed and performance. This is extremely helpful in improving your website’s ranking in search engines or simply making your site more user-friendly. Site speed and user experience are factors in search ranking factors.

    The plugin is easy to use and can make a significant difference in a matter of minutes. The plugin works especially well with Siteground hosting as it taps into the hosting infrastructure to squeeze out extra performance. If you have or are considering Siteground hosting through Divi Hosting, this is a must-have feature.

    Price: The Plugin is free but works best when integrated with SiteGround hosting | More Information

    12. Broken Link Checker

    Broken Link Checker Plugin

    Keeping your site up and running smoothly is a challenge that time only worsens. One way to mitigate poor website and SEO health is by regularly checking for broken links. Broken links can not only be frustrating for your visitors, but they can also negatively impact your site’s search engine rankings.

    The Broken Link Checker plugin is a great tool for helping you find and fix broken links on your WordPress site. This plugin will scan your entire website for broken links and then report them back to you. You can then choose to either ignore or fix the broken links.

    Content Marketers who are already maxed out on marketing tasks can find a little bit of solace with a plugin that automates some broken link maintenance.

    Price: Broken Link Checker is a completely free plugin, so, enjoy! | More Information

    13. Sirv Image CDN & Optimization

    Sirv WordPress Image SEO Plugin

    The Sirv Image CDN and Image Optimization plugin for WordPress is the perfect way to ensure your images are always served in the right size and format. Sirv dynamically serves the perfect-sized image and optimizes all images for any web or social platform. The WordPress plugin makes it easy to upload your images to Sirv and get started with image optimization.

    Key Features

    • File-size Optimization including JPEG, PNG, and WebP images.
    • Dynamic Imaging
    • Lightening fast Image CDN
    • Advertised 100% Up-time

    Sirv’s Image CDN is the perfect solution for website owners who want to ensure their images are always served quickly and efficiently. By optimizing your images for performance, you can speed up your website and improve your users’ experience. Sirv offers a free plan which allows for 500MB of storage and variable pricing to suit larger websites.

    For more, check out these best practices for optimizing Images for SEO.

    Price: Free for up to .5 GB of storage with more usage starting at $19/mo | More Information

    14. WEGLOT Multi-Language Plugin

    WEGLOT WordPress Translation Plugin

    Weglot is a WordPress plugin that offers automatic translations for your entire website. It even allows for after-the-fact, manual insertion of your own translations. This is particularly useful for content marketing in multiple languages. Website owners can have a rough translation of their entire website in multiple languages and methodically go through the entire website and update the automatic translations with human-edited translations.

    Content marketing teams looking into the new horizons of multi-language content sites need not fret. Also, check out our 8 tips for improving multilingual SEO.

    Price: Free for 1 language and 2,000 words and paid plans starting at $15/mo | More Information

    Email and SMS Marketing WordPress Plugins

    Email and SMS marketing are powerful tools for website owners who want to convert their visitors into subscribers and customers. By segmenting their audience and tailoring their email/SMS campaigns, website owners can increase their chances of success.

    Marketing plugins help automate the SMS and email marketing process by integrating with CRMs and feeding segmentation efforts from the beginning. Most traditional email marketing has added the ability to send SMS messages through the same interface. Incorporating both is a good tactic on your way towards a proper omnichannel marketing push.

    15. Bloom

    Bloom-call-to-action-plugin

    Bloom is a powerful email marketing tool that generates leads and grows online businesses.

    With advanced display rules, you can control when and where your popups are shown, ensuring that they’re always relevant to your visitors. This means that your email marketing segmentation efforts are starting off on their best footing. Bloom also integrates with popular marketing and CRM platforms, making it easy to manage your leads and customers.

    And since Bloom is made by the developers behind the Divi Theme, you can trust that you’ll have unlimited potential to design powerful opt-in forms. Marketers can leverage the best design features and segmentation strategies with Bloom.

    Price: Free plugin with Purchase of the Divi Theme | See Divi Pricing Information

    16. ActiveCampaign

    ActiveCampaign Omnichannel Customer Experience Platform

    ActiveCampaign’s WordPress plugin extends the platform’s functionality to any WordPress website. The plugins provide features such as email opt-ins, contact forms, and integration with ActiveCampaign‘s email marketing and automation tools.

    ActiveCampaign is an all-in-one marketing platform that helps businesses attract, engage, and retain customers. The platform includes email marketing, lead generation, marketing automation, and CRM tools.

    The WordPress plugin brings in these ActiveCampaign features:

    • Embed ActiveCampaign Forms anywhere on your site
    • Install ActiveCampaign Site Tracking for lead scoring and segmentation
    • Deploy ActiveCampaign’s Live Chat for accounts with that feature set

    Price: Free plugin for use with their email/automation services | More Information

    17. RafflePress

    RafflePress WordPress Giveaway Marketing Plugin

    If you’re looking for a powerful and user-friendly WordPress contest plugin, look no further than RafflePress. With its easy-to-use interface and wide range of features, RafflePress is the perfect tool for running giveaways and competitions on your WordPress site.

    Key Features:

    • Drag & Drop Giveaway Builder
    • 1 Click Entry + Fraud Protection
    • Marketing & CRM Integrations
    • Viral Sharing (Refer-a-Friend)
    • Tracking and Retargeting

    Price: Free lite version of the plugin and Pro features starting at $79/year | More Information

    18. OptinMonster

    OptinMonster WordPress Marketing Plugin

    OptinMonster is one of those plugins that gets lots of attention. That’s because it is a multi-faceted marketing plugin that is worth its price tag many times over.

    With OptinMonster, you can power contextualized opt-in forms based on exit intent, geolocation targeting, and page-level targeting. It comes standard with 100+ templates to make your popup, floating bar, and gamified giveaway wheel creation an absolute breeze. With over a million websites running OptinMonster, you’re going to fit right in with some good company. If you’re wanting to get every last lead that you can from your existing site traffic, you could do much worse than OptinMonster.

    Price: Plugin with limited features free and Pro plans starting at $16/mo | More Information

    Social Media and Search Engine Marketing Plugins

    Search engine marketing (SEM) and social media marketing (SMM) share a lot of common ground. Both can include paid forms of advertising that use ad networks to reach their target audiences. And both can be highly effective in promoting your business or website.

    We’ve grouped these together because many full-suite marketing platforms cater to both types of paid advertising. There are tools that only focus on SMM or SEM respectively but it is still worth grouping the plugins together. If you’re curious, read about the difference between SEO and SEM.

    Which mix of these plugins is right for you?

    19. WPCode

    WPCode Install Marketing Pixels Plugin

    WPCode (formerly Insert Headers and Footers) is a custom code installation tool for WordPress websites. For marketers, WPCode lets you add Marketing Pixel scripts into the header, body, and footer of your web pages. This makes the installation and firing of these pixels as easy as possible.

    It is also a strong way of implementing Google Tag Manager into WordPress websites or replacing it altogether—regardless of theme choice.

    Price: Free lite version of the plugin and Pro features starting at $99/year | More Information

    20. Google Site Kit

    Google Site Kit WordPress Plugin

    Google Site Kit is a WordPress plugin that helps make installing Google services and products on your WordPress website easier. Site Kit makes it easy to install with no code implementation. Site Kit connects to your Google Account to automatically install the desired services.

    Google Services that Site Kit Helps Install:

    • AdSense
    • Google Analytics
    • Google Optimize
    • Search Console Site Verification Tag

    These are all powerful tools built by Google that marketers everywhere use.

    Price: Free plugin offered by Google | More Information

    21. Monarch

    Monarch Social Sharing

    Monarch is a WordPress plugin that allows website creators to add beautiful and functional social sharing to their sites.

    The Monarch WordPress plugin is a well-coded social sharing tool that won’t slow your website down. It gives website visitors the option to share a post or page on their preferred social networks. Monarch comes with design flexibility to make social sharing a natural part of your website and design. It also comes with more standard locations than other options.

    Marketers looking for viral sharing of their high-quality content can trust Monarch to give their sites that functionality.

    Price: Free plugin with Purchase of the Divi Theme | See Divi Pricing Information

    22. Better Click to Tweet

    Better Click to Tweet Marketing Plugin

    Better Click to Tweet is another social sharing option that marketers can use on their WordPress websites to increase the virality of website content. The principle behind click-to-tweet plugins is that some of your content is going to be catchy and even Tweet-able. These plugins allow your readers to share exact quotes on Twitter.

    Better Click to Tweet is best suited for marketers who have a large Twitter presence and with audiences that use Twitter themselves. It’s a powerful way to extend thought leadership in your category both on your website and on Twitter.

    Price: Free plugin with additional addons and styles starting at $71/yr | More Information

    WordPress Marketing Plugins for Conversion Rate Optimization

    Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) helps website managers get the best results out of steady streams of website traffic. These plugins and services can help you reach ever higher conversion rates on your most important pages.

    23. TrustPulse Social Proof Notifications

    TrustPulse Conversion Rate Optimizer Plugin

    If you’re looking to increase your website’s conversion rate, TrustPulse is an excellent WordPress plugin to consider.

    TrustPulse uses social proof to show potential customers what other people are doing on your website—whether it’s buying a product, signing up for a membership, or completing an opt-in form for a newsletter. This creates a sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out), which encourages visitors to take the desired action.

    Overall, TrustPulse is an effective tool for increasing conversion rates and generating more sales. It is a premium plugin with pricing based on features and unique monthly visitors.

    Price: Free plugin with premium features starting at $9/mo | More Information

    24. WPForms

    WPForms WordPress Plugin

    I know what you’re thinking, “Really a forms plugin makes the list of top marketing plugins for 2023?”. Yea, it does, and here’s why.

    WPForms is a powerhouse form plugin that fulfills all sorts of operational needs that connect directly with your marketing initiatives. It handles surveys effortlessly so you can continuously pulse your customers and prospects so every move you make is backed up with cold hard data. You can use WPforms for event registration or plain old opt-in mailing registration. WPForms sports a measily an incredible 500+ form templates so you will never look at a blank screen again.

    It also does the normal stuff really well too, like Contact Forms, payment collection, and a drag-and-drop visual building. From simple forms to powering your Conversion Rate Optimization, WPForms can really handle what you need it to.

    Price: The Lite version is a free plugin but the Pro features kick in at $99/yr | More Information

    25. Crisp Live Chat

    Crisp Live Chat WordPress Plugin

    If you’re looking for a free and beautiful chat for your website, Crisp Live Chat is the perfect solution. With its easy-to-use chatbot builder, you can easily create a chatbot to help grow your email list, generate leads, and enhance your customer relationship. Plus, Crisp Live Chate integrates seamlessly with WordPress, making it the perfect choice for your website.

    Super-charge your customer support and sales operations with Live Chat. New contacts can be added to your CRM or email marketing software for continued marketing or sales outreach. Crisp Live Chat has a free tier of their platform but also paid tiers for scaling businesses with diverse needs for their live chat implementation.

    Price: Free plugin with advanced chat functions starting at $25/mo | More Information

    26. Divi

    Divi Page Builder Plugin

    Divi provides a powerful marketing platform for your website that provides an effective way to create landing pages quickly using a no-code visual builder and optimize them for lead generation and conversion using a suite of tools and design options. Most everyone knows about the Divi Theme, but Divi also exists as a plugin. This means that you can bring the powerful, visual page-building experience of Divi into any website—regardless of theme. It comes full of features that your standard page builder can’t compete with such as:

    • Divi Form builder without needing a separate plugin
    • A/B Testing of Modules for expert CRO built right into your page builder
    • Uncompromising design control so your marketing can look as good as it is planned
    • Comes with your Divi Membership—if you bought the theme, you have the plugin

    If you’re needing more from your page builder in 2023—and not less—the Divi page builder plugin (or theme for that matter!) is something you need to check out.

    Price: Comes free with your Divi Memebership | Get Divi Today

    Conclusion

    WordPress marketing plugins are a great way to keep your marketing efforts on track. The best ones will not only save you time but open up a world of possibilities for your website and business marketing.

    WordPress offers a wide variety of plugins to connect various marketing services together into a cohesive system. We like systems because they help you cover every base and iterate on your marketing operation as time goes on. We hope you these marketing plugins will serve you well.

    Which plugins are your reliable go-to’s? Any possible new additions to this list that you are now considering? We want to know!

    Featured Image Assets via Soifer and Vector Stock Pro / shutterstock.com

    The post 26 Best WordPress Marketing Plugins for 2023 appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • How to Use Mailchimp for Email Marketing

    Email marketing has been a constant staple for over 20 years. Its success is because of steady consumer email behaviors and the continuous development of exceptional email marketing platforms. These platforms make it easy to send emails that get results. Mailchimp has been a leading email marketing platform used by millions to grow their audience and business. In this post, we’ll show you how to start using Mailchimp for Email Marketing step by step.

    Why Use Email Marketing?

    Marketing your website or business is an interesting challenge. Technology, strategies, and platforms constantly change, making it hard to stay on top. The fact is, email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to reach customers. It has a high return on investment (ROI), with an average of $36 for every $1 spent. Many marketers are investing a lot of time in and money building their lists and cultivating email campaigns with segmentation and automation tools to help streamline the growth of their business.

    If you’re not already using email marketing, now is the time to start.

    What is Mailchimp?

    Mailchimp Email and Marketing Platform

    Mailchimp is primarily known as an email marketing service provider. Mailchimp had its founding in Atlanta circa 2001. It now enjoys over 11 million account users who send more than 18 billion monthly emails through the platform. The service includes features like contact segmentation, opt-in forms, automation, and a digital marketing platform. Mailchimp is clearly one of the most popular email marketing platforms used by businesses of all sizes.

    WordPress users love Mailchimp because it offers easy integration with their sites with a free tier much like many plugins they use in the Repo—which allows them to scale at will. Divi even sports a built-in MailChimp integration.

    How to Use Mailchimp for Email Marketing – 8 Steps

    In order to string together a successful email marketing campaign, you need to establish a few things between Mailchimp’s marketing platform and your website. We’ll look into how to use Mailchimp for email marketing with a WordPress website.

    Get Started with Mailchimp Email Marketing Account

    The obvious first step, if you’ve not already done this, is to sign-up for a Mailchimp account. It takes less than 2 minutes to get into the actual account.

    Step 1 - Create Free Mailchimp Account

    If you have a particular pricing tier in mind, you can select that. Of course, they offer a free plan with all the basic needs included (for up to 500 contacts).

    Step 2 - Select Free Mailchimp Email Marketing Tier

    Then, you need to set up your account by providing your email, username, and password preferences for Mailchimp.

    Step 3 - Signup Mailchimp

    Mailchimp offers a smooth onboarding experience. It’ll ask you several stages of questions that will populate your account with the correct settings. Very important among these are your business information, physical business address, and the type of business/how you plan to use Mailchimp. Each of your answers creates a customized onboarding experience where they show you what they’d recommend you set up to achieve success.

    Step 4 - Account Setup Mailchimp

    Once you’ve set up your accounts, there are 2 very nice WordPress-focused integrations you can set up between Mailchimp and your website. They are:

    • WooCommerce Integartion
    • WordPress Subscriber Integration

    The WooCommerce integration connects your store information (buyers, purchases, and inventory) to your Mailchimp accounts which gives you ecommerce marketing abilities within Mailchimp (subject to Mailchimp’s pricing tiers).

    The general WordPress integration with Mailchimp brings your site’s subscriber information into Mailchimp. It essentially creates an easy import of those contacts into Mailchimp so you don’t have to export your WordPress subscribers into an Excel file and import it into Mailchimp.

    Step 5-6 - Mailchimp Optional Integrations

    At this point, your account is created and you can start diving into the depths. Next, we’ll quickly show you how to add contacts not found in WordPress or WooCommerce.

    How to Create a Contact List

    Mailchimp’s email marketing platform has multiple terms used for creating mailing lists. The big bucket term for Mailchimp is “Audiences”. Mailchimp recommends most businesses use 1 audience though you are allowed to use multiple should your needs be more advanced.

    You can categorize and separate your audience into smaller chunks using “Groups”, “Tags”, and “Segments”. Each helps organize and filter audiences with specific criteria allowing you to send specific messages/emails to the exact people you want to.

    • Mailchimp Groups: From Mailchimp, “Groups are specialized audience fields that let contacts self-categorize based on interests or preferences using uniform responses you set.” You can think of groups as Custom Fields that you can insert into contact forms for user-generated data.
    • Mailchimp Tags: From Mailchimp, “Tags are labels you create to help organize your contacts. Tagging lets you bring your own contact structure into Mailchimp and label contacts based on data you know about them.” Tags are not seen on signup forms or by your contacts. They are an internal designation that you can set up to create a customized organization structure based on your business processes and data collection practices.
    • Mailchimp Segments: From Mailchimp, “Your audience contains a lot of information about your contacts, like when they were added, where they live, and how they interact with your marketing. You can use this information to filter contacts into segments, and then target them with email, postcards, or ad campaigns.” Segments are groups of filtered contacts based on available data. These segments routinely update so you can send automated campaigns based on the platform’s conditional logic.

    So, creating a contact list involves data management. To get started, however, we can easily add contacts to our audience. If you are starting a new venture and have no contacts to add you can skip down to creating a sign-up form to use on your website to start getting contacts.

    How to Add/Import Contacts into Mailchimp

    To start, click under “Audience” in the Mailchimp sidebar or select the “Audience dashboard” sub-item. This will show an “Add Your Contacts” button that you can click on.

    Step 1 - Add Contacts to Audience

    This will bring you to a few import options you have at your disposal. You can import from:

    • Another Service
    • Contact File
    • Copy and Paste (Manual Entry)

    Step 2 - Choose Contact Import Method

    Import Contacts from another service

    Mailchimp allows you to import contacts from the following services:

    Import Contacts from File

    Mailchimp uses CSV files to import contacts into an audience. If you have a past website, CRM, or accounting software that allows contact export, you can usually bring that into Mailchimp. The only required piece of data is a unique email address for each contact.

    Once exported from your program, you can edit or clean up the contact list in a program like Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. Simply save the list as a CSV file format and import it into Mailchimp. It should let you know if there are errors or invalid formatting of your file.

    Manually Enter Contacts

    Mailchimp also allows for a manual entry of contacts where you can copy and paste data from your various programs and files. This is a great way to collect data from random and disparate places (like email threads, text messages, and sticky notes) and add them to your account. This isn’t recommended for entering large amounts of data. You should compile large amounts of contact data into CSV files when possible.

    Create a Signup Form

    Whether or not you are starting out with contacts, adding a Signup form is very important to the continued growth and health of your email lists.

    To get started creating a signup form, under the “Audience” sidebar section, click “Signup forms”. To create a form in your account for use on your website select the “Embedded forms” option which gives you an HTML code for installation on your site.

    Step 3 - Create Mailchimp Embed Form

    There is also an option to create a Pop-up form right under the Embedded form option. Note, that popups can harm your SEO by affecting website UX which in some cases is taken into consideration for ranking by Google. Other than that, they are typically pretty effective at gathering new subscribers (up to 11% conversion rate) from frequent website visitors.

    Step 2 - Choose Contact Import Method

    Next, you will see the Embedded Form Builder page. You will have the option of editing displayed form fields (and required fields) and various form settings. At all times, you will see a live preview of your visual changes in the center of your screen.

    Step 4 - 7 - Create Mailchimp Embed Form

    Once you’re happy with your form, you can click “Copy Code” to save the form HTML code to your clipboard.

    Step 8 - Create Mailchimp Embed Form

    Add the Signup form to your WordPress Website

    You can now add the form to your website. There are a few ways of doing this that we’ll briefly go over with links out to specific instructions for deploying custom inline code on your website.

    Add Mailchimp Embeddable Form Code Using Custom HTML Block

    On your preferred WordPress Page or Post, open the Block Editor. Add an HTML Block where you want it, and paste the HTML code.

    Mailchimp Embeddable Form in WP Block Editor

    For more information, learn how to use the WordPress Custom HTML Block.

    Create Opt-in Forms and Popups with Bloom that Connect to Mailchimp

    Bloom is an advanced email opt-in form builder for WordPress websites that integrates with Mailchimp. It is built by the developers of the Divi Theme so you can trust that it allows for maximum design freedom.

    Design Beautiful and Functional Email Opt-in Forms with Bloom

    To set up the Mailchimp Integration with Bloom, install the Bloom Plugin. After that, you’ll want to follow the steps in this video to set up your Mailchimp API in the Bloom plugin settings. Mailchimp set-up instruction ends at 5 minutes and 17 seconds.

    Once you’ve set up your Mailchimp account integration, you can create opt-in forms in Bloom that feed new contacts to your Mailchimp account.

    Create a Mailchimp Email Marketing Template

    Email templates can save a lot of time in your email campaign workflow. Being able to reuse or repurpose an email template means that you don’t have to start from a blank screen while creating your emails. Templates also keep your email uniform which helps build brand recognition and trust over time.

    To create a template, on the “Campaigns” section of the sidebar, select “Templates”.

    Steps 1 -2 - Create Email Template

    This will open up your first options. There are pre-made templates that you can choose from. You can choose between basic layouts and fully built templates that Mailchimp calls “themes”.

    The layouts are nice if you know what you want to build but don’t want to undo a bunch of design settings when you insert your branding into an email. The themes are nice when you are unsure of how to use the email editor and want a quick start. Sometimes you can also find something really close to your business’ branding. Either way, the time savings are massive.

    It is worth knowing that with the free tier of Mailchimp, there are limitations to which templates you are able to use.

    From there, you can go on designing your template email. If you are having trouble with the email builder or just want a quick primer, see the support doc for using the email builder.

    Once your template is designed, you can go ahead and save it and give it a name that you’ll remember.

    Steps 5 - 7 - Create Email Template

    We can now use the Mailchimp template that we created for a campaign we’ll send to our lists.

    Create a Mailchimp Email Marketing Campaign

    After you’ve created a template in Mailchimp, we can use that to create an email campaign. To do that, on the template window, find your template, click the dropdown arrow and select “Create campaign”. This will create a new campaign based on the template without altering the template.

    Steps 8 - Use Email Template

    To create a campaign, there are a few pieces of information that have to be in place before sending it to your contacts.

    1. Campaign Name
    2. To Field: Who is it that you are sending this campaign to?
    3. From Field: What display name and email address will this email look like it is coming from?
    4. Subject: What is the email subject line that your contacts will see in their email client?
    5. Campaign Design: Iterating off your template to create a campaign that is ready to send

    Steps 9 - 13 - Use Email Template

    Once you’ve completed each of these steps and have a green checkmark next to them you are allowed to schedule or send your email.

    Sending and Scheduling a Campaign

    Scheduling lets you schedule a send into the future to try and send at the perfect time. Mailchimp also has tools that can help you find your best email sending times.

    You also have the ability to send the email right away. This will let the email send to your contacts when Mailchimp servers are ready to handle the request. This usually does not take much time at all but may be longer for first-time senders.

    Steps 14 - 15 - Use Email Template

    From template to campaign, Mailchimp makes it easy to send business newsletters and marketing emails.

    Following Up On Campaign Reports

    The last thing for you to do is analyze the results of your campaign. Don’t stare at the campaign report dashboard for too long after sending your campaign because it could be hours or even upwards of 2 days for the final results of your email to come in.

    When the dust has settled, here’s what to look for:

    • Opens: Opens correspond with how many people opened your campaign. This number is growing more unreliable because of the transition away from cookies
    • Clicks: This is how many link and image clicks happened in your email.
    • Bounces: Bounces are an email delivery term indicating how many times your email went to email addresses that could not receive it. There are different types of bounces but this number reflects your overall list health.
    • Unsubscribes: This is how many times this campaign was used to unsubscribe from all your future emails. This number indicates good list growth practices, consistent branding, and content that is relevant to your audience.

    Steps 16 - Analyze mailchimp email marketing campaignCampaign

    If you have the WooCommerce integration for Mailchimp, you may see ecommerce stats populate at the bottom of the report. These numbers are those that Mailchimp can prove that this campaign helped achieve. It shows the number of orders and revenue figures for that specific campaign.

    FAQs

    Got questions about Mailchimp, WordPress, and Divi? We’ve got answers.

    Is Mailchimp Free?

    Mailchimp is a popular email marketing platform that offers a free plan for up to 500 total contacts. This makes it an excellent option for small businesses and site owners just starting out with email marketing. While the free plan does have some limitations, it is still a great way to get started with Mailchimp email marketing.

    Does Mailchimp Work with WordPress?

    Do you have a WordPress website and want to use Mailchimp to create an email marketing campaign? You’re in luck! Mailchimp is compatible with WordPress websites. You can either use the Mailchimp WordPress plugin or embed a Mailchimp signup form on your website using an embed code. Or, if you use Divi Theme, Divi’s forms can connect with the Mailchimp API for effortless integration between WordPress and Mailchimp.

    Can I integrate my email opt-in form with Mailchimp?

    Chances are, yes, you can integrate your WordPress form plugin with Mailchimp. Mailchimp by far has the most integrations of all the email marketing platforms. Divi Forms, Bloom, WPForms, Gravity Forms, Ninja Forms, and others all have easy-to-use integrations with Mailchimp.

    Does Mailchimp integrate with Divi?

    Yes, Mailchimp integrates with the Divi Theme. Simply connect the Mailchimp marketing integration with Divi to seamlessly use native forms that connect with your Mailchimp contact lists. See what else Divi can connect with to make marketing your website and business easier.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, if you are looking for an easy way to get started with email marketing, Mailchimp is a great option. With its user-friendly interface and integrations with popular WordPress plugins, Mailchimp makes it simple to create and send newsletters, automated emails, and targeted campaigns. Plus, its affordable pricing makes it a good choice for small businesses and startups.

    Have you used MailChimp for Email Marketing? If so, share your experience in the comments below.

    Featured Image via premiumicon / shutterstock.com

    The post How to Use Mailchimp for Email Marketing appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • How to Use Bitrix24 CRM with WordPress

    Bitrix24 is an all-in-one business software (or Saas) with a suite of tools to help grow your company and manage customer relationships. Using Bitrix24 with WordPress could be an effective combination for streamlining your business. Your WordPress site can help capture sales and leads while Bitrix24’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) handles the rest. This article will discuss the features of Bitrix24 and how to use the Bitrix24 CRM with your WordPress website.

    What is Bitrix24 CRM?

    Bitrix24 is an enterprise collaboration and CRM platform that helps businesses improve communication and performance while lowering business costs. It consists of a number of integrated applications that cover every aspect of running and managing a company including project management, CRM, task management, document management, file sharing, and more.

    Bitrix24 is available in both cloud-based and self-hosted versions. It offers a wide range of features and pricing options to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes. The best part is that many of its features integrate with WordPress websites, especially form and WooCommerce, to make your business operate smoothly.

    Bitrix24 CRM Homepage View

    Who Uses Bitrix24?

    Bitrix24 has a CRM and collaboration platform used by millions of companies worldwide. The platform helps sales, marketing, and support teams work together more efficiently and improve customer relationships. So, both small businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises are able to find success with it.

    Customer service, marketing, and sales organizations use Bitrix24 by using a single source of truth for tracking and managing customer interactions alongside corresponding tasks and internal communications. Plus, the platform is robust and flexible allowing organizations to completely customize how it is used to fit the operations and strategy of each company.

    Why Connect Bitrix24 CRM with WordPress?

    WordPress enables business owners to create any type of website they need. And it is a popular CMS because it is flexible and easy to use, especially with front-end no-code page builders like Divi.

    Your website oftentimes acts as the frontline of service to your customers. Therefore, integrating your WordPress site with Bitrix24 can help improve your customer relationships and grow your business. A WordPress site connected to Bitrix24 can send customer data collected on the site straight to your Bitrix24 CRM. This allows you to connect sales and support organization tools and automation to increase the efficiency and quality of each function. When the technology is accessible and connected with helpful employees, businesses are able to deliver on their promises and improve customer value.

    Bitrix24’s Features

    Bitrix24 offers a full suite of applications that are interconnected to keep disparate parts of a company running in sync. There are quite a few features under the hood that are worth considering.

    Some of Bitrix24’s best features for WordPress website owners are:

    Bitrix24 CRM

    Bitrix24 is a powerful CRM tool that offers a variety of features and capabilities to help businesses streamline their customer relationships. Custom fields, records, reports, workflows, and kanban boards are just some of the ways that Bitrix24 can help businesses manage their customer data. There are also different user types that can be assigned to specific tasks. This ensures the right people have access to the right information.

    Kanban Workflows

    Bitrix24 Open Deals Kanban View

    The CRM can display customers, leads, and active deals in a Kanban view which lets you visualize where each is within your workflows. Users can click on any one of them to see your complete record for that object.

    You can view:

    • Contact Information
    • Background Information including previous notes
    • Previous Interactions including phone calls, web chat, and email

    Teams can stay on top of a full pipeline of new sales leads or customers who’ve reached out for a support inquiry. With collaboration tools built into the workflow views, entire teams can work together to move the needle. This makes Bitrix24 one of the most effective company communication applications.

    Business Process Automation

    Online Workflows for Business Processes

    Every business needs a good automation platform to make internal processes more efficient. With Bitrix24, you can customize internal automation to create tasks based on certain actions or move leads along a sale journey.

    Bitrix24 CRM for Customer Quotes and Invoicing

    Bitrix24 is a powerful platform for sending customer quotes and invoices and offers a wide range of features and capabilities. This allows businesses to create custom quotes and branded invoices for their customers, offer discounts and taxes, and email or print them in PDF format.

    Quotes and Invoices

    Businesses can also use Bitrix24 for creating custom quotes at scale to help sales teams and service providers. You can create, customize, and send quotes and track actions that potential customers take — keeping you in the know at each step.

    Bitrix24 Create Quote View

    Craft custom invoices for customers that are fully branded, accurately calculate taxes, and offer discounts.

    Bitrix24 Create Invoice

    Bitrix24 for Customer Support Call Centers

    The Bitrix24 call center solution provides a comprehensive set of features to help businesses manage their customer support ops. It includes a powerful workforce management system, an integrated softphone for making and receiving calls, and conversation recording for extended record keeping.

    Bitrix24 Instagram Messaging View

    Call center technology is fully integrated with website live chat functionality that you can add to your website. Along with that, connect social accounts like Instagram and Whatsapp to serve customers where they are ready and willing. Bitrix24 offers an omnichannel support experience that scales into marketing opportunities with CRM and Email Marketing capabilities built in.

    How to Integrate Bitrix24 CRM Forms with WordPress

    If you’re a WordPress user, you might be wondering how to integrate your site with Bitrix24 CRM. There are a couple of ways to do this using forms to collect and update customer/lead information. And you can also make deeper connections if you use WooCommerce or a WordPress plugin that supports Zapier integrations.

    In the rest of this article, we’ll run through how to complete each of these integrations and why each may be helpful.

    Note: Fully integrating any CRM with a website (and the operations of your business) is a tall order. There is no one-size-fits-all approach as each CRM configuration and website configuration is different. Your business needs will demand different levels of integration and software solutions. The following are basic solutions for you to explore.

    Using Bitrix24 CRM Embeddable Forms

    Bitrix24 comes with a feature full web form creator. Web forms are the engine of a growing and flowing CRM. New leads, updated contacts, and new business can all start out as a simple web form fill.

    Bitrix24 Build Custom Web Forms

    The web form creator allows you to create forms with custom fields that populate vital information necessary for your sales, support, and marketing teams. Collecting accurate and timely information on customers and prospects is imperative to increase business and customer satisfaction. These forms are built into the Bitrix24 CRM and are embeddable on your website or landing pages.

    To create an embeddable form in Bitrix 24, navigate to the “CRM” pane of the online platform. Then visit the “Add ons” tab and select “CRM Forms”.

    Bitrix24 Embed CRM Form - Steps 1-3

    Once there, you will have two options you can use. The first option allows you to use (and customize) premade contact forms that have basic settings that work well for most businesses.

    Bitrix24 Embed CRM Form - Step 4

    In addition to using premade forms, the second option allows you to create a new form from scratch. To do so, click the “Add” button near the top.

    Bitrix24 Embed CRM Form - Step 5

    There are multiple options that you can use to create a custom-tailored form. These options changes both how the form operates and how it can be designed to match your brand.

    Once your form is fully configured, click “Save”. Then, in the top right, click “Form Features” then “Share”.

    Bitrix24 Embed CRM Form - Steps 6-7

    This will open up a window with all of Bitrix24’s Form sharing options. For a simple embed code, select the “Webpage” sharing option. You’ll see a drop-down section to view the form’s code.

    Bitrix24 Embed CRM Form - Steps 8-9

    Copy this code and paste it into a Custom Code block or Divi’s Code Module on your WordPress website.

    Using Contact Form 7 Plugin to Capture Leads for Bitrix CRM

    Flamix has created a premium WordPress plugin for connecting Contact Form 7 forms with Bitrix24. If you are a power user of CF7 and are comfortable with the subscription pricing of the Flamix solution, this might just be for you.

    Connect Bitrix24 CRM to CF7 with Flamix

    This Bitrix24 Contact Form 7 premium plugin integration is a great way to get more from your contact forms. With custom fields, duplicate control, and UTM catching, you can make sure that your forms are as effective as possible. Use a form builder that you are comfortable using while still channeling lucrative customer data into your CRM.

    For full installation steps (both on WordPress and in Bitrix24) see Flamix’s installation documentation.

    You many also like our guides on how to customize your CF7 Form to match your site and how to connect Contact Form 7 with Zoho CRM.

    Other Ways to Integrate Bitrix24 with WordPress

    Non-form integrations are also vital for business websites. They can collect user interactions and gather that information to populate your CRM with accurate and actionable information. Here are few integrations to consider.

    WooCommerce

    If you’re running a WooCommerce store on WordPress, then you know how important it is to have a CRM system in place to manage your customer relationships. But what if you could integrate your WooCommerce store with a CRM system like Bitrix24? With the premium WooCommerce plugin by Flamix for Bitrix24, you can do just that.

    Connect Bitrix24 to WooCommerce with Flamix

    Note that this premium plugin has low installs and reviews so do what research you can before using it.

    For full instructions for Flamix’s WooCommerce and Bitrix24 plugin, see the installation documentation and help video.

    Zapier

    If you’re using Bitrix24 for your CRM needs, you can now integrate it with WordPress using Zapier. Zapier uses WordPress triggers to perform actions within Bitrix24, making it easy to keep your data synchronized between the two platforms. This integration is especially useful if you use WordPress for your website and want to keep your customer data centralized in Bitrix24.

    Connect Bitrix24 to WordPress with Zapier

    To see what’s possible with Zapier automations, visit the Bitrix24 and WordPress landing page.

    Bitrix24 to WordPress with Zapier - Actions and Triggers

    Example Actions and Triggers available between platfoms

    In order to set up the automation, allow Zapier access to both your Bitrix24 account and your WordPress installation. Then pick the combination of triggers/actions that are helpful for your CRM workflow in Bitrix24. Zapier gives you a lot of customization options. You may need a paid plan to achieve the level of automation that you are hoping for but a simple, lone automation may be doable on their free plan. Find out more if we piqued your interest in what’s possible with Zapier and WordPress.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, Bitrix24 CRM is a great tool for WordPress users. The software is easy to use and has a wide range of features. And, when combined with your WordPress site, it can help you manage your customers, sales, and marketing. If you are looking for a CRM for your WordPress site, Bitrix24 should be at the top of your list.

    Have you tried to integrate a CRM like Bitrix24 with WordPress? Let us know you experience in the comments below!

    The post How to Use Bitrix24 CRM with WordPress appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • What is an Email Blast? And How to Send an Email Blast for Best Results

    Email blasts have been a staple of email marketing and general-purpose newsletters since the advent of bulk email. They certainly aren’t going away either. But email recipients are growing more discerning and skeptical, especially with marketing emails, so it is important to know how to send an email blast the right way.

    In this article, we’ll explore what an email blast is, what you should be careful of, and how to send one to get the best results.

    What is an Email Blast?

    An email blast is a single email sent to a large list of contacts, all at once. It is a way to reach a lot of people at once without having to email each individual contact on the list. Email blasts can be called single emails, email campaigns, newsletters, or e-blasts. But no matter what you call them, when done well, they are an effective way to reach out to your audience and keep them in the know.

    Example of a Newsletter Blast

    Curtisoy of Teachable and Really Good Emails

    Email blasts are often used for promotional purposes, such as announcing a sale or new product. Still, they can also be used to send important information, like an announcement or an update.

    Using the term “blast” can easily turn people off from the idea. Nobody wants to be “blasted” with any kind of message. It sounds impersonal, promotional, and untrustworthy. It is important, instead, to make sure to provide value that is welcome by your contacts rather than only trying to exploit your readers to gain value for yourself. Businesses and marketing campaigns flourish when all parties leave with value.

    Email Blasts vs. Segmentation—Which Should You Use?

    If you are getting serious about email marketing, you’re going to need to be more strategic in your approach. That’s why most email marketers use list segmentation instead of relying on a simple email blast.

    Email segmentation is the process of separating your entire list of contacts into smaller groups based on certain criteria. This allows for more targeted (personalized) email campaigns, unlike email blasts which are more generic and impersonal. Segmentation increases revenue from email marketing by 720%. This is because segmented email campaigns tailor messages toward different groups, buyer personas, and needs that exist among your many contacts.

    Email Blasts vs. Segmentation

    Image Assets by Gazlast, iconohek and, magic pictures / shutterstock.com

    That doesn’t mean an email blast doesn’t still serve a purpose. There are times for blasting your entire list (or a large portion of it) and there are times for targeting only a segmented list. Both have a place.

    Here are some things to consider when deciding which one to use.

    When to Use an Email Blast

    Any company, non-profit organization, or person with contacts should utilize email blasts for informational updates that apply to their entire audience. The level of sophistication of your business’ marketing needs will dictate how much you can rely on e-blasts instead of automation, segmentation, and personalization.

    Those with small contact lists will mostly use email blasts. It’s not necessary to use segmentation on a list that will stay below a few hundred contacts indefinitely. They may need to build your list a bit more before looking into more advanced email marketing strategies. Also, businesses with one service or product also might not need segmentation since their customers share enough similarities with one another.

    When to Use Segmentation

    In most cases, it is a good idea to use email list segmentation whenever possible, even for smaller lists. But if you have a large list, you will definitely want to use segmentation. The beauty of segmentation is that it allows you to meet your customers where they are. A music service app might send very different email content based on contact age or music preferences. Segmentation can tailor messages to separate sub-groups that otherwise would go to your general list. And larger businesses with a sales team and/or multiple products/services should use segmentation to send targeted emails based on buyer personas and/or differentiated customer journeys.

    To learn more, view our article on getting started with email segmentation.

    How to Send an Email Blast for Best Results (7 Tips)

    There are common steps for sending out an email blast. Follow these steps and best practices to make sure you stay reputable among your contacts.

    1. Choose a Reputable Service Provider

    First, you need to choose an email marketing service provider. There are plenty of options. If you need the field narrowed down, consider these suggestions:

    • For basic and easy-to-use email marketing software you can rely on Constant Contact and Mailchimp to get the job done.
    • For advanced automation and omnichannel marketing features, consider ActiveCampaign, Hubspot, and Omnisend.
    • For an email marketing solution that is runs atop your WordPress installation, consider Sendinblue and Mailpoet.
    Search for Reputable Email Providers

    Image by eamesBot / shutterstock.com

    The primary features that you are looking for, at minimum, are:

    • High deliverability rates – Do emails reliably reach the inbox?
    • Easy contact management – Is uploading and syncing contacts from other platforms easy?
    • Deatiled reporting features – Will you be able to tell if your emails are a success or not?
    • Easy, visual email editor – Can you make design-forward emails easily?

    For more check out these top email service providers.

    2. Clean Contact Lists

    Once you have a reliable email marketing provider on your side, you need to ensure you have cleaned contact data. At a minimum, you should clean contacts twice a year (or more if you are a heavy sender).

    Cleaning contacts is a best practice for maintaining your lists. Contact cleaning involves looking at contact activity data, trying to re-engage unengaged contacts, and removing those proven to be a lost cause. You’re essentially looking for abandoned email addresses and people who’ve lost interest that they never open your emails.

    Keeping your lists clean boosts your sender reputation, makes your stats easier to interpret, and lowers your payment for total contacts.

    3. Choose the Right Content and Occasion

    Since random messages aren’t the best for your brand or marketing, be selective with what you send to your contacts. If every occasion is an occasion for sending out an email blast, your contacts might experience inbox fatigue and unsubscribe (or worse—mark it as spam).

    Be selective about what you choose to send to your entire list. Make sure it is relevant for a large group of people. Email blasts are excellent at getting out really important information but they lack nuance. This can make an email irrelevant to entire sub-groups on your list. Being selective avoids sending information that is only relevant to a few contacts.

    4. Define a Single Goal for the Email Blast

    Once you’ve determined a viable occasion to send an email blast, you need to craft it in an engaging and effective way.

    Create for a Single Goal

    Image by olesia_g / shutterstock.com

    An email blast should have one goal. That means all the text, images, and call-to-actions move readers toward one desired result. If you have too many CTAs, graphical elements, or even text, all of it will suffer. Narrowing down the major details is paramount.

    The only exception might be for contacts lists that truly expect a newsletter (in the traditional sense) for you. If you provide a newsletter that offers curated content, updates about news/events, and multiple types of content, this would be the exception to the rule. Still, it might make sense to find a way to harmonize your content in a way that makes your main push clear. Having a consistent CTA in each of these emails may prove to be beneficial even in a traditional newsletter. But, don’t assume that a newsletter is the best email marketing strategy that you should be employing.

    5. Personalize Email Blasts

    Personalization is a best practice for email marketing in general and no less with email blasts. As we’ve discovered, e-blasts often lack some of the elements of really effective email marketing—like segmentation and targeting. Leveraging the data you have about contacts is a great way to add elements that make emails effective. This is called “Personalization”.

    Personalize Email Blasts for Better Results

    Personalization can be as simple as adding a first name to a subject line or using tags to create sections of dynamic content. As long as personalization is tactful, it captures the attention of your recipients and benefits the message of your email blasts.

    Different platforms call their personalization tools different things. Mailchimp calls them “Merge Tags” but Constant Contact calls them “Greetings Tags” inside email content or “Personalization” in the subject line editor. These tools let you dynamically add personalized details based on the availability of that information on a contact-by-contact basis. If a particular contact entry does not have “First Name” listed, your personalization tag can still work. By setting up a fall-back entry you can have the contact without a first name read “Friend” or “Valued Customer” instead of the first name. This lets you personalize every email for contacts with a First Name and have a fallback to a more generic option for contacts without.

    The big thing is collecting personalization information and adding it to your email marketing software routinely. An opt-in form like Bloom can collect email addresses and important details that you wish to collect. From there, it can also push those contact details to your platform of choice with its 19+ email provider integrations.

    One other practical way to make your email blasts more personal and effective is to avoid using spam words. For a list of spam words to avoid along with tips for creating emails that stay out of the spam folder, check out our article on spam words to avoid.

    6. Send the Email Blast at the Best Time

    Sending the email blast is the part most people think about. They skip right to the step where they just shoot out a message to their contacts. Hopefully, following the previous steps, you’ve crafted a careful email that is sure to delight your readers.

    At this point, there is a need to consider the best time to send out an email blast. Many platforms will analyze past email data and let you know the average days of the week and times that work best for sending emails. They do this by analyzing when emails were opened by your contacts and tracking those averages over time.

    If you don’t have this ability or there is not yet enough data to determine this, you can find general best practices for your industry by Googling “best email marketing send times for _______ industry”. Just know that this data is getting fuzzier and fuzzier because of the sheer saturation of marketing emails being sent on a daily basis. It’s best to use your provider’s data on your own campaigns when you are able to.

    7. Analyze Email Blast Reporting and Stats

    Now is the time to determine if the email was a success.

    Did contacts open the email? Did contacts submit a large number of unsubscribes or spam reports? How about going to your website and converting in meaningful ways? What links were clicked on and which ones were largely ignored? Any surprises?

    Check Email Reports After Send

    Image by olesia_g / shutterstock.com

    This is the point where you really get to know your list. By looking at the data, you are completing a postmortem on your email blast. Did it serve the business purpose you intended for it and did your contacts receive it well? Over time, you’ll be able to dial in the messaging, graphics, and content that your contacts crave. If you see negative trends, change things and see what corrects course. Seeing strong, growing numbers? Find out what is contributing to that and double down.

    Reports are what will keep you investing in email marketing. Without them, you are flying blind. Here are some key email marketing metrics you should track and the tools to help you.

    Conclusion

    Email blasts are a contentious topic—but they can be done well. Some senders will only utilize email blasts while others will have more sophisticated needs and also sprinkle in segmentation and automation. Those who are serious about email marketing should never settle for generic email blasts that lack personalization or strategy. That is how you lose followers. Instead, it’s best to limit email blasts to those occasions where it makes sense and use a more targeted approach using segmentation for the bulk of your communication.

    Also, if you’re looking to grow your list, here are the best email opt-in plugins for WordPress. And, for Divi users, don’t forget that Bloom easily integrates with email marketing services.

    What’s your experience with email blasts? Have they worked well for you

    Featured Image via Gazlast / shutterstock.com

    The post What is an Email Blast? And How to Send an Email Blast for Best Results appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • How to Edit the Footer in WordPress (A Simple Guide)

    Website footers have always been one of the most difficult elements of web design to get right. And WordPress footers are no different. Whether you’re just hoping to figure out how to remove “Proudly Powered by WordPress” in the footer or trying to completely redesign your footer, knowing how to edit your footer in WordPress is essential.

    In this post, we’ll go over the most helpful ways of editing the WordPress footer so you can choose the right one for you.

    Here’s what we’ll cover:

    • How to Edit the Footer Using the WordPress Theme Customizer
    • How to Edit a Footer Using Full Site Editing (and Patterns) in WordPress
    • How to Edit a Footer with a WordPress Plugin
    • How to Edit a Footer with the Divi Theme Builder

    How to Edit the Footer in WordPress (4 Ways)

    Footer customization comes built-in to WordPress so every website will have some way of editing and designing it. With the new WordPress Block Editor and Full Site Editing capabilities of WordPress, editing a footer is getting easier for WordPress users (especially for WooCommerce sites). But not all themes are the same, and some of the classic themes will rely on older methods.

    With that in mind, here are 4 ways to edit your footer in WordPress.

    1. How to Edit the Footer in WordPress with Theme Customizer

    The WordPress Customizer is a great tool that allows you to change the look and feel of your WordPress site. With the Customizer, you can change footer (and theme) colors, fonts, and other styling options. You can also add custom widgets and menus to your footer.

    Just a note, the traditional customizer experience is being used less and less in themes as the Block Editor gains more and more features and adoption. If the “Customize” button takes you to a Block Editor, you’ll learn how to handle that in the next sections.

    In your Admin Dashboard view, click on “Appearance” and then “Customize”.

    WP Customize - Edit WordPress Footer Step 1

    This will open up one of WordPress’ visual site editing experiences. The options within this area will vary greatly depending on your theme. For this example, we are using the popular Twenty-Twenty Theme.

    How to Add New Blocks to Footer Area

    To edit the footer widgets in the customizer, click on Widgets and then scroll to the bottom of the page. Look for the Footer Widget areas to see the parts of the footer that are editable in the Customize View. To get there quicker, you can also click on the blue pencil icon to get there quicker.

    WP Customize - Edit WordPress Footer Step 2-3

    You can edit these widget areas with a paired-down Block Editor. You can add or remove blocks to that widget area. Keep in mind that the theme defines where the widget area ends up.

    To add a footer navigation menu, add the Navigation block to one of your footer widget areas. If you have multiple menus built on your site you can choose the one you want and also give the block a displayed title.

    Change Theme Colors in WordPress Customizer

    The Twenty Twenty WordPress default theme comes with the ability to change major theme colors. You can pick your header/footer background color, body background color, and a primary accent color for the site. This dynamically changes these colors everywhere they are used on the website.

    WP Customize - Edit WordPress Footer Step 7

    Setting the Primary color most notably changes the color of linked text.

    Add Custom CSS to Edit Footer Styles in the WordPress Customizer

    The customizer has a way of adding custom CSS to your website and preview how it looks.

    In the root pane of the Customizer, navigate to Additional CSS (the last option). For this example, we are going to change the background color of the footer with a simple snippet of CSS as follows: 

    .footer-top-visible .footer-nav-widgets-wrapper, .footer-top-hidden #site-footer {
background-color: aliceblue;
}

    Once we add the CSS we will see a preview of how it looks instantly.

    You can choose any predefined CSS color name or hex code. Publish your changes once you dial in your CSS to apply it to your website.

    Block Editor - Edit WordPress Footer Step 6

    Different Footer Customize Options by Theme

    Some themes take a completely different approach to editing footers (and other site sections) in the Customizer. There are too many such themes to show but they supply extra options in the customizer for editing styles, layouts, and general functionality.

    2. How to Edit a Footer Using Full Site Editing & Block Patterns in WordPress

    Editing the footer in the WordPress Block Editor is very easy if your theme is a Block Theme. To show you how easy this is, we’ll edit a footer using the Twenty Twenty-Two default theme.

    Click “Appearance” and then “Editor”. This will load the home page of your website in the block editor.

    Block Editor - Edit WordPress Footer Step 1

    Next, scroll all the way down the page until you see your site’s footer. Then, click on the footer section to start editing. You’ll be able to edit the footer just like you would with a page or post in the block editor.

    However, if you are not familiar with how this editor works, read this article explaining how to use the Block Editor.

    Block Editor - Edit WordPress Footer Step 2-3

    You can add block elements to your footer as well. Try adding a footer menu (called a Navigation block), an Image block for your logo, or even Custom HTML for an external email subscriber form.

    Block Editor - Edit WordPress Footer Step 4

    Additionally, if you want to edit the footer, distraction-free, you can do so with two clicks. Click the vertical Ellipsis (â‹®) menu icon and select “Edit Footer”.

    Block Editor - Edit WordPress Footer Step 5-6

    This opens a new editing view that takes away all other page elements except for the footer you are editing. The block editor in this view works the same—just with a little more focus.

    Block Editor - Edit WordPress Footer Step 7

    Copying Pre-made Footer Block Patterns

    Patterns are a newer addition to the block editor. Patterns give designers the ability to create wonderful block configurations and share them with other people. Public patterns can be found in the Block Pattern Directory.

    For our purposes, you can search for the patterns for “footers”. This will narrow down the list that you can choose from. Hover over any pattern that you like, click copy, and head back over to your website. The pattern code will be in your clipboard—ready to paste.

    Add WordPress Block Footer Pattern - 1-3

    Add a new Custom HTML block.

    Add WordPress Block Footer Pattern - 4-6

    In the HTML Block, paste the copied footer pattern code into it.

    Add WordPress Block Footer Pattern - 7

    After that, select Preview and then convert the custom HTML into Blocks. This will make each item editable via the block editor.

    Add WordPress Block Footer Pattern - 8-10

    In your editor, you’ll see that the pattern was successfully converted to blocks and you can edit them to fit your needs.

    Add WordPress Block Footer Pattern - Result

    These patterns are created by the general WordPress community expect them to vary in quality and design. Page builders like Divi take WordPress patterns to a whole new level, with hundreds of pre-made layouts and footer templates that are created by a professional design team and photographers.

    3. How to Remove “Powered by WordPress” with Plugin

    Sometimes all the editing in your footer that you need to do is remove some theme branding from your footer. Many theme developers make it very difficult to remove their company name and link from your footer (especially with free themes).

    Removing theme branding or the classic “Proudly Powered by WordPress” is easy enough with a plugin. Download the Remove Footer Credit plugin.

    Select the footer text that you don’t want to be displayed and copy it to your clipboard. In our case, we are trying to remove “Powered by WordPress” in our example footer.

    Remove Footer Credit - 1

    Go to “Tools” and “Remove Footer Credit”. Paste the text from your footer into the top field. You can choose a replacement text or keep the second field empty. Click save and enjoy your cleaner footer.

    Remove Footer Credit - 2-5

    View the footer on your live site.

    Remove Footer Credit - Result

    If the footer element is still there, try breaking up the text into separate lines. Just be careful about the text you add to this plugin. If you attempt to remove a very common word from your website, it may disappear elsewhere on your site, not just in the footer. Some themes really don’t want you to be able to remove footer credits so you may meet enthusiastic opposition to this plugin working out for you.

    4. How to Build and Edit a WordPress Footer Template with Divi

    The Divi Theme Builder gives you everything you need to create an entire theme design. This includes a perfectly dialed-in footer. Most themes restrict your design options in areas like the footer or header of your WordPress website. Divi gives you full creative control of both headers and footers with the tools to make it work.

    To get started creating your footer, open up the Divi Theme Builder and then select “Build Global Footer” on the default template.

    Divi Theme Builder - Custom Footer a 1-3

    This will pull up a few options. Select “Build from Scratch” to build the exact footer you have in mind. This will open the Divi Visual Editing interface and allow you to start building the footer.

    Since this is a “Global Footer” this will appear on all of your pages. Other content that belongs above the footer can be created on individual pages.

    Divi Theme Builder - Custom Footer a 4

    From there, you can design a footer that can be applied to all your website’s pages.

    If you are wanting an excellent tutorial on how to create a custom footer—from start to finish—check out this full-length tutorial for creating a custom footer. This is the end result that you’d make for yourself.

    Divi Theme Builder - Custom Footer Example Tutorial

    Of course, you are completely free to edit the footer to your needs and liking.

    Tips on What to Include in Your WordPress Footer

    Visitors expect certain information to be located on your website’s footer. Though there is room for creativity in footer design, it is always best to keep your footer content in step with what users are expecting to find. Aside from the header, the footer is probably the most visible space on your website. So, it should contain the information and links most important to your visitors and your company including:

    1. Social Profiles and Communities
    2. Relevant Pages (Services, Blog, Help, etc.)
    3. Specific Company/Website Information (Terms of Service, Careers, About, Contact info, etc.)
    4. Copyright Notice and Registered Trademark

    Elegant Themes - Divi Website Footer

    If you operate a local business with a physical location, we always recommend you add your NAP to your footer. NAP stands for:

    1. Name of Business
    2. Address of Business
    3. Phone Number of Business

    NAP SEO Footer Example

    It is important to keep these details formatted consistently across your website, Google My Business profile, and other local listings like Yelp and Facebook. Consistent NAP placement is vital because it benefits your business website’s SEO.

    At the end of the day, footers should reflect the “Go To” information that your customers expect from your business. Don’t include things that don’t make sense and make sure your most important pages are linked. For more, check out these 5 other Footer Tips to help you create a more user-friendly footer.

    Conclusion

    For most, the easiest way to edit your footer is to take advantage of the new full-site editing features in WordPress. This allows you to edit your global footer right inside the WordPress editor using WordPress blocks. For those who want complete design control when creating or editing your footer, Divi’s theme builder is the way to go. Not only does this give you a complete design and functional control over the footer but it also allows you to preload professionally designed templates onto your website.

    For more, check out our post on how to use the WordPress block editor.

    How have the global theme builder areas, such as global footers, improved the quality and speed of your website design process?

    Featured Image via Superstar / shutterstock.com

    The post How to Edit the Footer in WordPress (A Simple Guide) appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • How to Create a Table of Contents in WordPress

    A Table of Contents in WordPress can be an effective addition to your website pages or posts. They are great for boosting user experience and for navigating long-form copy. Plus, they provide a slight advantage in SEO.

    In this article, we’ll show you step-by-step how to add a table of contents to your WordPress site easily with a plugin. And, we’ll show you the simple steps needed to create one from scratch. So, if you’re here for a table of contents for WordPress, this post has what you need.

    Here’s what we’ll cover:

    What is a Table of Contents in WordPress?

    A WordPress table of contents is basically a list of the main headings or topics covered throughout the content of a page or post. They are great for giving users an overview of what’s to come. Typically, they are placed at the top of a page, just after the title or introductory paragraph.

    Examples

    Usually, a table of contents consists of a list of anchor links (or jump links) to the corresponding headings on the page. When clicked, anchor links jump or scroll down to the corresponding heading where the content will be found. This makes it easy for visitors to navigate the page.

    The Benefits of Creating a Table of Contents in WordPress?

    If you’re a business owner or blogger using WordPress, user experience and search engine optimization(SEO) are always going to be important. Using a WordPress table of contents on your site can help with both.

    User Experience

    A table of contents can be extremely beneficial to user experience. It allows visitors to quickly and easily orient themselves to the information available in the content.

    Plus, because they contain anchor links, visitors can easily jump to the information they are looking for without so much scrolling. This can save a lot of time when there is a lot of content. We even use them on our Elegant Themes Blog for long guides such as ultimate guide to Divi Speed Optimization.

    SEO Value

    Having a table of contents can give your page a boost on SERPs by giving you an enriched search result. This can include additional links to your most popular page sections featured directly on your search result.

    Google Search Result

    Plus, they help search engines understand the crawling context of your page which can lead to improved indexing or featured snippets. By creating well-organized content with a table of contents, you give Google and other search engines a clear understanding of your content.

    How to Automatically Add a Table of Contents in WordPress Using a Plugin

    Creating a table of contents in WordPress using a plugin is by far the easiest way to go. And there are no shortage of plugins in the WordPress repository that help create an site-wide Table of Contents for your posts and pages and generate anchor links automatically.

    Automatic TOC WordPress Plugins

    For this post, we’ll be using Easy Table of Contents WordPress plugin to create a our table of contents.

    1. Install and Activate the Plugin

    To get started, go to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugin > Add New. Search for the Easy Table of Contents plugin and click to install and activate it.

    install easy table of contents plugin

    2. Check a Post to See It Working

    Once you install and activate the plugin, Easy Table of Contents immediately creates a table of contents section on your posts. As soon as it is activated on your site, you can navigate to the front end and see the table it created on your posts.

    Live Post Example

    3. Customize Your Table of Contents Site-Wide Settings

    After seeing what the plugin does out of the box, you can visit the plugin’s settings and tailor them to your needs. To go to the settings, navigate to Settings > Table of Contents.

    Site-wide settings

    For most people, enabling the table of contents to show up on posts is probably all you’ll need. Pages are a different story. If you have landing pages that are specifically designed as top-level pages, you should uncheck showing a table of contents on your pages (keep posts checked).

    Easy Table of Contents Settings

    Further, you’ll see that Easy TOC recognizes all your custom post types and various templates which you can toggle on/off for.

    There are also a host of other options for you to try out, but that is all dependent on your website and needs. Most websites will only need to use H2, H3, or H4 headings in their table of contents. Too many items in a table of contents will clutter up your content and be less helpful than not having a table of contents at all.

    4. Override Site-Wide Settings for Individual Posts

    Aside from the site-wide settings, Easy Table of Contents gives you post-by-post control over the table of contents. However, to enable Easy Table of Contents individual post settings in the Block Editor, you have to enable Custom Fields in the block editor’s preferences section.

    To do this click on the Gear Icon in the top right to see Page Settings. Of those settings, click on “Preferences”.

    This will open up a modal in the center of your screen. Click on the “Panels” tab. Then, Toggle on the “Custom Fields” option. This will allow any plugin or theme setting that adds custom fields to your pages/posts to display those settings underneath the block editor.

    enable custom fields

    You can disable the table of contents from showing up on the posts page and adjust other settings that only affect that one page. This is perfect for special use cases that differ from your site-wide settings.

    To disable the Table of Contents section from a particular post/page, scroll down to the plugin settings (after you’ve enabled custom fields).

    Checkmark the box for “Disable the automatic insertion of the table of contents.”

    This removes the table of contents that would automatically be inserted via plugin settings.

    Disable TOC on Page or Post

    That’s it!

    Other Table of Contents Plugins for WordPress

    Aside from Easy Table of Contents, there are plenty of other Table of Contents plugins that could serve you well. There are some great free plugins like LuckyWP Table of Contents that work great with WordPress blocks and page builders like Divi. And there are premium plugins like Fixed TOC that have all the advanced features one would need. Do your research and test a few out to get the best features that fit your needs.

    In general, look for the ones that are easy to use out of the box, have built-in support for schema markup, and have decent styling options. Here are the best Table of Contents plugins for WordPress that we recommend.

    How to Create a Table of Contents in WordPress Manually

    Creating a table of contents from scratch using the WordPress Editor can be useful for users who only need one for a few posts or pages and don’t need the site-wide functionality of a plugin. And creating one is fairly simple (and kinda fun) once you understand the concept.

    A table of contents is basically a list of anchor links that jump to specified sections or headings of a page. So, if you’ve created an anchor link on a page or in a navigation menu before, you are already familiar with the basics of creating a table of contents. If your not familiar with anchor links (or jump links), we have a complete guide on how to create anchor links in WordPress.

    Here’s how to create a table of contents from scratch on a WordPress post:

    1. Create Your List of Headings for Your Table of Contents

    At the top of your page or post, create a list of all the headings for your table of contents using a paragraph block (or list block). To do this, create a new paragraph block (or list block) and add the heading text that corresponds to the headings on your page content below. Make sure there is a line break after each heading text.

    Create Table of Contents - Block Editor - Create Paragraph Block

    Once done, make sure to check that the heading text in the table of contents matches the heading text in the content for a better user experience.

    2. Add a Unique HTML Anchor ID to Each Heading on Your Page or Post

    Next, go through the content on your page (heading by heading) and assign each heading a unique HTML anchor ID.

    To do this, go to a heading block and click on its settings.

    Create Table of Contents - Block Editor - Steps 2-4

    After that, in the heading block settings (in the “Advanced” tab of the heading block), add an HTML Anchor ID to the field. For this example, the anchor HTML anchor is “heading-one”. This anchor ID will be used as the anchor link target.

    Create Table of Contents - Block Editor - Steps 5-6

    3. Convert Each Heading in Your Table of Contents Into an Anchor Link

    Once the ID for the heading element is set, we can go back up to our paragraph or list block that contains our table of contents. One by one, highlight each line and click the “Link” icon to add a link.

    Create Table of Contents - Block Editor - Steps 7-8

    Instead of a web address, add a pound sign or hashtag (#) plus our anchor ID. Press enter and the link will apply to that text.

    Create Table of Contents - Block Editor - Step 9

    For our example, we added “#heading-one” for our anchor link. Your anchor link text should be descriptive but concise. But it should also accurately summarize the content that is within that section so search engines can read it.

    Most importantly, your anchor link needs to be unique and not used elsewhere on the page. This is because using the same HTML Anchor ID will confuse the browser and not work as intended.

    Once you are done, save your changes and preview your page. Test your new Table of Contents by clicking the anchor links to make sure they are all jumping to the right places. If those links aren’t working, you may have left out or misplaced the “#” or your Anchor IDs and Anchor Link URLs aren’t an exact match.

    Creating a Table of Contents in Divi

    Divi Theme Builder is one of the most robust and easy-to-use tools for WordPress websites. It allows website creators, business owners, and marketers to create stunning websites that are feature rich.

    Using the default WordPress editor to create a table of contents is pretty limiting, especially when it comes to design. Divi makes it so much easier to create unique table of contents designs and add smooth scrolling anchor links to any element on the page or post without having to know HTML or CSS.

    Create a Table of Contents in Divi Theme Builder

    We have a full write-up for how to build out a Table of Contents section for your blog. Not only can you find the how-to steps, but there is also a free layout download for you. The layout is for you if you’re looking for a faster solution with the Divi Theme.

    The Best Divi Table of Contents Plugin

    If you are looking for a way to create a table of contents in Divi, check the Divi Table of Contents Maker plugin.

    divi table of contents maker plugin

    This plugin includes a unique Table of Contents Module for Divi that automatically generates your lists, anchor links, and all the functionality you need in a few clicks. You can use the module on a theme builder template to add table of contents automatically for all your blog posts! Plus the module has hundreds of customization settings and style options.

    Learn more about Divi Table of Contents Maker.

    Other Table of Contents Solutions to Consider

    If you are interested in other solutions for adding a table of contents in WordPress, here are some others that you may not be aware of that are worth considering.

    Wait for a Built-In Table of Contents Block in WordPress Core

    If you have time to wait for a table of Contents solution, it seems a Table of Contents WordPress block is in the works. And, there is a lot of recent traction on the project that you can view on the Github Pull and in an issues dialogue. It looks like a promising block that will bring table of contents natively into WordPress’ block editor.

    However, there are bumps in the roadmap so it is a toss-up whether or not it will make WordPress 6.1 or be in a later release.

    Check for a Table of Contents Feature in Plugins You May Already Use

    With all the robust plugins out there. Who knows? There is a decent chance that maybe you’re using a plugin currently that has a table of contents feature hidden in the details. Here are a couple of popular plugins you may already use that offer the ability to create a table of contents in WordPress.

    SEO Yoast Premium

    If you’re using the Yoast SEO plugin for WordPress, you may be wondering what the Table of Contents block is and how it can help you. The Table of Contents block is a premium feature that allows you to dynamically create a table of contents for your post or page. The best part is that if you already use Yoast SEO Premium, you have an easy TOC solution.

    Spectra

    Another plugin many people use is Spectra. Spectra has been gaining popularity as an enhancement of the built-in block editor for WordPress.

    One of the blocks included in Spectra is an easy to use Table of Contents block. The block has full design customizability and is deployable with no additional coding. As you can see, add the block to your post and adjust the settings. You’ll have a table of contents in a few seconds. Spectra does come in a free and premium version.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, creating a table of contents in WordPress is easy and can be done in a few steps. By using a plugin, you can automatically generate a table of contents for your pages and post. Or, you can manually create a table of contents in the default WordPress editor or in a page builder like Divi for more design settings. Either way, you have the power to customize your website to afford your site visitors a better user experience and be seen better in search results.

    Do you use a table of contents on your WordPress site? Do you have a favorite plugin you use? Let us know in the comments!

    Featured Image via IconArt / shutterstock.com

    The post How to Create a Table of Contents in WordPress appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.

  • How to Use the WordPress Imgur Embed Block

    If you’re a fan of the online image-sharing community, Imgur, you’re in luck! WordPress has an Imgur Embed Block that makes it easy to embed Imgur content in your posts and pages. This article will show you how to use the WordPress Imgur Embed Block.

    What is the Imgur Embed block?

    Imgur is a popular image-sharing site with a loyal community of users. It allows users to upload, share, and comment on images. The site has a user-friendly interface and is one of the most popular image-sharing websites on the internet.

    Homepage of Imgur - Sept 1st 2022

    Homepage of Imgur / Sept. 1st 2022

    If you’re a meme-loving human who uses Imgur you probably want to cross-pollinate your WordPress website with your Imgur posts. That is where WordPress’ Imgur Embed Block comes in.

    The WordPress Block Editor comes standard with a helpful directory of blocks that allow you to quickly build a page or post. There are other blocks that allow you to embed videos and embed Tumblr posts.

    In this article, we’ll cover the Imgur Embed block. This block allows you to pull images from your Imgur account onto a WordPress page. Here’s how it works!

    How to Add the Imgur Embed Block to your Post or Page

    If you’ve ever wanted to add an Imgur image post to your WordPress site but weren’t sure how this guide is for you. Adding an Imgur image using the embed block in the WordPress block editor is easy.

    First, inside your Imgur account, find the image you want to add and copy its URL.

    Embed Imgur WordPress - How to - Step 1

    Then, in WordPress, click on the “Add Block” button, find Imgur Embed, and select it.

    Embed Imgur WordPress - How to - Steps 2-3

    It will ask for a URL where you can paste the Imgur URL into the box that appears and hit enter.

    Embed Imgur WordPress - How to - Steps 4-5

    The image will automatically be added to your post. Preview the Imgur image post to see how it looks with your theme and other content.

    Embed Imgur WordPress - How to - Result

    That’s all there is to it! Next, we’ll explore the few settings and options of the Imgur embed block in WordPress.

    Imgur Embed Block Settings and Options

    The block toolbar for the Imgur Embed block has four options for alignment on a page. Each of these shifts the Imgur embed on the page in accordance with the chosen alignment. If None is chosen, then default settings take effect.

    • None – No alignment that is determined at the Block level
    • Align left – Make the block left-aligned.
    • Align center – Make the block alignment centered.
    • Align right – Make the block right-aligned.

    Embed Imgur WordPress - Settings - Align

    By clicking on the Tool Bar’s ellipsis icon, you’ll see universal Block commands and options. These are available for most every type of default block and not just for Imgur embeds.

    There are run-of-the-mill shortcuts like Copy and Duplicate on the block level. Additional options are the block editor specific commands to Insert Before, Insert After, Move To, and Edit as HTML.

    Lastly, there are the options to Lock the block in place, Add the Block to Reusable Blocks, and Group which groups multiple blocks together as a sort of unit.

    Embed Imgur WordPress - Settings - Block

    You can change the content’s behavior for viewing on a phone through the Imgur Block Settings on Media Settings. The Toggle switch turns responsive resizing on or off for smaller devices. The default setting is set to on, but if you notice it behaves poorly for you, you can turn the setting off.

    There is also the option to add a CSS Class to the block specifically. If you are editing this block’s styles via CSS, you’d assign the class in the Advanced settings section.

    Embed Imgur WordPress - Settings

    For more styling options, the Imgur Embed block can be converted to a Group.

    Embed Imgur WordPress - Transform Group

    This allows for spacing, typography, and background color settings to be applied to the whole block.

    Additionally, in the Group’s Advanced Settings, there is also the option to add an HTML Anchor ID for creating anchor links.

    Imgur Terms and Conditions

    It is worth mentioning that there are limitations on how you use Imgur on a website. Here is a word from Imgur:

    Please note that Imgur’s Terms of Service prohibit using Imgur as a content delivery network, hotlinking adult or illegal images, torrents, image hosting for commercial purposes, or sites that copy Imgur’s own functionality.

    But for most use cases, using the Imgur embed block is completely safe and a great way to share your images.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, the WordPress Imgur Embed Block is a great tool to use when you want to embed an Imgur image in your WordPress post or page. All you need is the URL of the Imgur image and the Imgur Embed Block will do the rest. Give it a shot!

    For more, check out all of our WordPress block editor tutorials.

    Do you have any questions about how to use this WordPress block? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!

    Featured Image via imgur / imgur.com

    The post How to Use the WordPress Imgur Embed Block appeared first on Elegant Themes Blog.