Author: Editorial Staff

Is WordPress Dying? The State of WordPress 2023 Edition
Have you seen claims and rumors that WordPress is dying or about to be replaced by some newer website builder or software?

You may be wondering if the rumors are true. Maybe you are even questioning whether it’s worth using WordPress at all.

In this article, we will take a look at the state of WordPress to show you there’s absolutely no truth to the rumors that WordPress is dying.

Why Are There Rumors About WordPress Dying?

Some people are spreading rumors to discourage you from building a WordPress website. They may make claims on Twitter or Reddit that WordPress is dying or even write full blog posts about it.

It’s hard to know why. Maybe when they see the huge success of WordPress, they wonder how long it can continue. Or maybe they are using an alternative to WordPress that they are convinced is about to take over the world.

Whatever their motives, when you look at the facts, these rumors are simply not true. There is absolutely no indication that WordPress is dying or its loyal users are about to abandon it.

With that being said, let’s take a careful look at the state of WordPress to see if there is any reason to believe that WordPress is dying. You can use the quick links below to jump to different parts of our article:
WordPress in Google Trends

We will start by looking at WordPress search volume. We will start here because these figures are often used as evidence that interest in WordPress is declining.

Here is a graph from Google Trends showing search interest in WordPress since 2004.

This graph shows that there was an astonishing level of search interest in WordPress around 2014. However, there is still a lot of interest in WordPress today.

You can’t easily see that by looking at the graph above. So let’s add some context. Here is the same graph, but this time we have added some of the top WordPress alternatives.

You can see that there is more search interest in WordPress than in any other content management system (CMS).

Recently, you can see that searches for alternatives like Wix and Shopify have been increasing. These platforms may be easier for beginners to get started with.

However, over time, many users become frustrated with their lack of customization or that they can’t run these websites on their own servers. You can learn more in our comparisons of Wix vs. WordPress and Shopify vs. WooCommerce.

WordPress Market Share

Now that we have looked at search volume, you may be wondering how many websites are actually using WordPress and how that compares with other web platforms.

In short, WordPress dominates the market. No other platform comes close.

Currently, more than 43% of all websites are using WordPress as their content management system. That’s 810 million websites in total. And WordPress holds nearly 65% of the global CMS market share.

Also, WordPress is being used by the most successful companies. 38% of the top 10,000 websites are powered by WordPress. WordPress powers websites for big-name brands, including Disney, Sony, Facebook, and more.

This graph from Colorlib can help you visualize WordPress’s huge market share.

You can see that websites that don’t use a content management system (green line) have been steadily declining. Meanwhile, WordPress adoption (red line) has been steadily growing, and other content management systems barely register on the graph.

For example, Shopify is the second most popular, but it only powers about 4.4% of all sites, and Wix spends tens of millions in marketing, but it only powers 1.9%.

WordPress is alive and well, and it’s hard to believe that over 43% of website owners who have carefully chosen WordPress are all suddenly going to change their minds.

The State of WordPress Security

Having such a large market share, WordPress is a common target of hacking attempts, DDOS attacks, malware, and trojans.

The good news is that WordPress core goes through rigorous security audits, and it’s more secure than many other platforms.

However, you can never take website security for granted. Statistics from Sucuri, a leading website security company, show that about 97% of WordPress website hacks occur when their owners don’t follow safe security practices:
- 39% of hacked WordPress websites were using an outdated version of the software. That’s why you should always use the latest version of WordPress on your website.
- Nearly 50% of WordPress sites are affected by a security vulnerability caused by an outdated or poorly-coded WordPress plugin or theme.
- Around 8% of WordPress sites were hacked due to a weak password.
You can make your WordPress site as secure as possible by following some basic security best practices. To learn more, see our complete WordPress security guide for step-by-step instructions.

The State of WordPress Updates

WordPress has been around since 2004. However, the software is regularly updated to add new features and keep the user interface current.

WordPress is an open-source project and is driven by a global community of users. This means that anyone can contribute to the project in many different ways:
1. The WordPress translation community has fully translated the CMS into over 50 languages and partially translated more than 200.
2. WordPress communities around the world organize multiple WordCamps each year, as well as thousands of other meetups in various countries.
3. There are dozens of WordPress groups on Facebook, with WPBeginner Engage being the largest WordPress Facebook group with 95,000+ members.
The development team release updates several times a year, such as WordPress 6.3, which was released in August 2023. These can include bug fixes, security updates, and new features.

Past WordPress update highlights include the Gutenberg editor, which lets you easily add new elements to blog posts using blocks. The full site editor works in a similar way with customizing themes. And the command palette tool lets you be productive by quickly doing tasks from the keyboard.

Every year the platform becomes more powerful and easier to use. If you take a look at our article on the evolution of the WordPress user interface, then you will see at a glance how modern the latest interface is.

Besides the new features in WordPress itself, you can also add new features using plugins.

The State of WordPress Plugins

The biggest reason behind WordPress’s popularity is its large plugin ecosystem. No other web platform has as many to choose from.

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

There are more than 60,000 free WordPress plugins in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory alone. Currently, the 61 top WordPress plugins are installed on more than 1 million websites, and 9 of those plugins are installed on 5 million+ websites.

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

There are free WordPress plugins available for just about every type of website functionality, including contact forms, selling memberships, landing page builders, and SEO optimization.

Whatever feature you wish to add to your WordPress website, you are sure to find a plugin that can do it.

The State of WordPress Themes

Themes control the appearance of a WordPress website. They are WordPress-specific website design templates that you can install on your website to change the way it looks.

The WordPress theme ecosystem is very rich. There are thousands of free and paid WordPress themes available, offering WordPress users an endless combination of design, layout, color schemes, and features.

WordPress.org’s free theme directory has more than 10,000 free WordPress themes.

Besides this, there are many excellent premium themes like Divi and Astra. You can even build your own custom theme with SeedProd. No other CMS offers the same level of customization as WordPress.

The WordPress Economy

While WordPress itself is free, it has inspired a thriving, multi-billion-dollar ecosystem that creates thousands of jobs all over the world. These include freelancers, developers, and companies that sell WordPress-related products and services.

Thousands of WordPress jobs are currently open on many popular freelancing websites and job boards. The average hourly rate for WordPress developers can be anywhere between $20-$100 per hour, depending on their expertise and the job at hand.

There are hundreds of small and large businesses, agencies, and developers selling WordPress-related products. You can see our list of the most influential WordPress businesses and companies and what they do.

These companies are highly invested in WordPress and strongly contribute to its success.

The State of WPBeginner and Awesome Motive

As you know, WPBeginner and our parent company, Awesome Motive, completely rely on WordPress for our success. We have no doubt that WordPress is alive and well and is the best choice for you to build your website.

That’s why we create WPBeginner tutorials, YouTube videos, and premium WordPress video tutorials to help small businesses grow and compete with the big guys.

We also create many plugins and tools like All in One SEO, SeedProd, MonsterInsights, and WPForms so that you can create a successful website that does everything you need.

Thanks to our awesome community, WPBeginner and Awesome Motive have continued to grow year after year.

In 2022, we reached a huge milestone. We were featured on the NASDAQ billboard in Time Square for passing 20 million active installs of our products.

That was huge, but we soon reached an even bigger milestone. In 2023, we were featured on the NASDAQ billboard again for passing 25 million active installs of our products.

As a result, our confidence in WordPress is bigger than ever. We have continued to invest more resources in WordPress and hire new staff, and now have over 300 team members in 50+ countries. We only see the success of WordPress growing and want to be part of it.

We hope this tutorial reassured you that the state of WordPress is alive and well. You may also want to see our guide on how much it costs to build a WordPress website or our expert pick of the best WordPress hosting to get started with your own website.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to ourÂ YouTube ChannelÂ for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us onÂ TwitterÂ and Facebook.

The post Is WordPress Dying? The State of WordPress 2023 Edition first appeared on WPBeginner.
24.08.2023
6 Best Places to Hire WordPress Developers (Expert Pick)
Are you looking to hire a WordPress developer?

WordPress is a great platform for creating a basic website. However, if you need something more specialized, then you will need to hire a developer for help.

In this article, we will show you some of the best places to hire WordPress developers with the right skills and experience for the job.

Why and When Do You Need to Hire a WordPress Developer?

WordPress is a popular website builder that is quite easy to use, so most people don’t need to hire anyone to create a WordPress website.

However, as your website grows, your costs can increase as well. For more details, you may want to see our beginner’s guide on how much it really costs to build a WordPress website.

Many small businesses can run successfully by applying the DIY approach. They can also keep the costs low by using as many free tools and plugins as possible.

But once your website starts making money, you may want to build a custom WordPress theme or plugin for better functionality.

This is where developers come in.

For example, if you have an online store and want to build a customized eCommerce theme for it, then you can hire a developer to easily do it for you.

Moreover, developers can also perform regular maintenance tasks to keep your site updated and improve WordPress security against hackers and malware.

However, once you decide to hire a developer, you will find thousands of people on the internet offering WordPress development services.

So how do you find the right platform to hire developers with the skill set that you need?

For this tutorial, we have hand-picked the best places to hire WordPress developers with the right skill set, experience, and expertise.

1. Codeable

Codeable is the best outsourcing platform for WordPress-related work. They only accept the top 2% of WordPress developers to ensure that their clients get high-quality work.

The platform allows you to fill out a form detailing your vision for your WordPress blog, and then Codeable connects you with the right developer for the job within a day.

Pros:
- Unlike other outsourcing platforms, Codeable pre-screens each developer and makes sure that they pass a strict vetting process.
- It is 100% risk-free, and the platform provides a full refund if you are not satisfied with the results.
- The estimates are free of charge.
Cons
- The pricing at Codeable starts at $70-$150 per hour, which can be a bit steep for some beginners.
Why we recommend Codeable: Overall, Codeable makes it super easy to hire skilled developers to customize your website or create a plugin. These features make it our top recommendation for businesses who are looking for WordPress outsourcing help.

2. Toptal

Toptal is an exclusive network that only hires the top 3% of the freelancing talent.

With Toptal, you can hire software developers, designers, project managers, product managers, and finance experts to build a team for your small business website.

To hire a developer from this platform, you will simply need to fill out a form about the kind of work you need, your budget, and the duration of the project.

Once you have done that, Toptal easily matches you with an expert with the required skill set for your work.

Pros
- Toptal has a rigorous screening process to ensure that only the best developers can add their portfolios to the platform.
- You can pay a deposit for initiating a 14-day risk-free trial, after which you can either reject the candidate and ask for another or continue.
- Toptal’s pricing is based on the developer’s hourly rate, so you know the exact price of the service before hiring an expert.
- Toptal offers great customer support as they arrange a Skype or phone call with a representative at your convenience.
Cons
- Since Toptal only highlights the best talent, the rates for each expert are higher than other sites. However, we have found that several experts are also available for hire on other networks where their rates are a lot lower.
- You will have to pay an initial fee for the platform itself.
- The hiring process at Toptal can take several weeks, which can be a major drawback.
Why we recommend Toptal: Toptal allows you to hire the best developers for WordPress on the market super easily. They even have a risk-free trial to see if the developer you hired is the right choice for you.

If you are looking to create a team of developers, project managers, and designers, then Toptal is a great choice, as you can hire all the experts from one platform.

3. WordPress Jobs

WordPress Jobs is the official job listing website that is maintained by WordPress.org. It’s a completely free platform where you can easily fill out a ‘Post Job’ form and submit it for review.

Other than developers, you can also post job listings for writers, web designers, customer support, or website migration on this platform.

Pros
- Once your job listing is approved at WordPress Jobs, it remains active for 21 days, giving you plenty of time to find the right developer for your website.
- Freelancers on this platform usually offer competitive pricing, which can help save money on your project.
Cons
- There are many low-effort job postings on the WordPress Jobs board.
- The platform does not have a pre-screening process for developers, which means that you will have to do the vetting yourself.
- WordPress Jobs does not offer an escrow service, making you responsible for paying the freelancer directly.
- The freelancing developers on this platform range from beginners to experts, so you will have to determine the right developer by yourself.
Why we recommend WordPress Jobs: WordPress Jobs is a good choice if you are on a tight budget and need to hire a developer who can perform quality work at budget pricing. Moreover, the platform is super easy to use and offers a wider selection of freelancing developers than other platforms.

4. WPhired

WPhired is an exclusive WordPress jobs board that was launched back in 2010. This platform allows you to post job listings for WordPress-related projects for free.

WPhired offers a large selection of freelancers ranging from beginners to experts, making it easier for you to find the right fit for your WordPress site.

Pros
- Developers on this platform offer competitive pricing, helping you save money on your project.
- WPhired lets you post unlimited job listings for free.
- WPhired also offers an escrow service, which means that your payment is held in escrow until you are satisfied with the work.
- Freelancers on this platform have reviews and ratings, so you can get an idea about their experience and quality of work before you hire them.
Cons
- It can take some time to find the right developer for your project on WPhired.
- The platform does not have any pre-screening for developers, leaving the vetting to you.
- You can only run the free job posts for 30 days. After that, you have to pay to post your job listing for 60 days or more.
Why we recommend WPhired: WPhired is a great choice if you are on a tight budget or want to post multiple job listings for developers. The platform offers everything you will need, including an escrow service, ratings, competitive pricing, and more.

5. Upwork

Upwork is one of the largest job marketplaces on the internet. With this platform, you can easily post a job for developers by providing a detailed description, and then prospective candidates can bid for it.

Upwork usually has all levels of developers with varying skills and experience, meaning you can easily find the balance between your budget and the skill set you need.

Pros
- Each developer on the platform has a detailed profile that shows their past experience, jobs completed, ratings, skill tests, and more.
- Upwork offers an escrow service.
- It does not cost anything to post a job.
- It offers competitive pricing, which can help you save money.
Cons
- It can be a bit time-consuming to find the right developer for the job, especially if you are looking for a specific skill set.
- Some freelancers on Upwork can be unresponsive.
- You have to pay a fee to use Upwork, adding to the cost of your project.
- Upwork can be a bit overwhelming at first. There are a lot of features and options to choose from, which can be confusing for beginners.
Why we recommend Upwork: Overall, Upwork is a great website to connect with professionals and hire developers. However, you will need to put in some leg work before making a choice.

6. Freelancer

Freelancer is an extremely popular job marketplace that has a large community of freelancers, including WordPress developers.

The platform asks you about your project and budget and then lets you post the job listing for free. Once you have done that, developers that fit the criteria for your job can bid on it.

Other than developers, you can also find writers, artists, designers, and project managers on Freelancer.

Pros
- Freelancer maintains a detailed profile for each freelancer that you can review.
- It allows you to directly interview and communicate with developers to learn more about their skill sets or expertise.
- Freelancer offers an escrow service to protect you from being scammed by freelancers.
- It is super flexible in terms of the project budget.
Cons
- No pre-screening process is available for developers, so you will have to do the vetting yourself.
- It’s not ideal for long-term projects.
- There is a fee to use Freelancer.
- You cannot exchange contact information with candidates.
Why we recommend Freelancer: Freelancer is a good choice if you are on a budget and don’t mind vetting WordPress developers.

What Is the Best Platform to Hire WordPress Developers?

In our expert opinion, Codeable is the best platform to hire developers for your WordPress website because they ensure that their clients get high-quality work by only hiring the top 2% of WordPress developers.

However, if you want to create a team of developers, project managers, and designers, then Toptal is also a great choice, as you can hire all the experts from one platform.

If you are on a tight budget, then you can also use WordPress Jobs or WPhired to find the right developer for your website.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hiring WordPress Developers

Here are some of the questions that our readers commonly ask us about hiring WordPress developers.

When should you hire a WordPress developer?

If you want to create a customized theme or plugin to increase the functionality of your WordPress website, then you should hire a developer to do it for you.

Other than that, developers can also help with routine maintenance of your website and make it more secure against hackers and malware.

You should also think about hiring a developer if your website is slow or sluggish, as a developer can help you optimize it for better performance.

How much does it cost to hire a WordPress developer?

The cost of hiring a developer can vary widely depending on a number of factors, including the developer’s experience, project complexity, and the platform that you choose.

For example, if you use Codeable to hire developers, then it can cost $70-$150 per hour, which can be a bit steep for some beginners.

However, if you are on a budget, then you can use WordPress Jobs or Upwork, which will cost $15 to $40 per hour.

How do I choose a platform for hiring a developer?

There are a number of factors that you should consider before choosing a platform to hire developers, including:
- The type of project: Some platforms are better suited for specific kinds of development projects. For example, Upwork is a good choice for small, one-off projects, while Toptal or Codeable are better for larger, more complex projects.
- Budget: The cost of hiring developers varies depending on the place you choose. For example, WordPress Jobs and Freelancer are more affordable than Toptal or WPhired.
- Level of expertise: Some places have a larger pool of experienced developers than others. Developers on platforms like Codeable and Toptal are pre-screened and vetted, whereas developers on platforms like Upwork or WordPress Jobs have not been vetted.
Best Guides for WordPress Development
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to ourÂ YouTube ChannelÂ for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us onÂ TwitterÂ and Facebook.

The post 6 Best Places to Hire WordPress Developers (Expert Pick) first appeared on WPBeginner.
23.08.2023
7 Best WooCommerce Point of Sale Plugins (Easy POS Setup)
Are you looking for a point-of-sale plugin for WooCommerce?

WooCommerce isnâ€™t just useful for online stores. By adding a point of sale (POS) plugin to your website, you can also sell your products in a physical store and make more profits.

In this article, we will share the best WooCommerce POS plugins for easy point-of-sale setup.

Why Do You Need a Point of Sale System?

You can think of a point of sale (POS) system as a modern cash register that runs on software. It allows you to take payments from customers in person, like in a physical store, a mobile food truck, or when selling merchandise at an event.

Like a cash register, you and your staff can use a POS system to ring up products, display the total cost to the customer, allow them to pay, and make a receipt or invoice.

But most POS systems donâ€™t stop there. You can choose a system that offers the features you need, such as automatically adjusting your stock levels as products are purchased, keeping sales statistics so that you know what is selling and what isnâ€™t, or working offline.

You might be thinking about purchasing one or more dedicated POS terminals for your business. However, these are expensive, and most require paying for an ongoing subscription for the software you need to run the terminal.

A better choice is to use WooCommerce, the worldâ€™s most popular eCommerce platform. It is super-flexible, cost-effective, and easy to manage, even for beginners. It allows you to sell products online from your WordPress website and in-person using a POS plugin.

The best part is that by installing a WooCommerce POS plugin, you have an inexpensive point-of-sale system that can be used at physical stores on any computer or tablet that runs a modern web browser.

Now, let’s take a look at some of the best POS plugins for WooCommerce.

1. YITH Point of Sale for WooCommerce (POS)

YITH Point of Sale for WooCommerce (POS) is a premium plugin that turns your WooCommerce website into a powerful and easy-to-use cash register.

Your cashiers can easily search for products or scan barcodes when checking out customers. They can even add new products when needed.

If you run both an online and physical store, then the product listings, orders, and customers from both stores will be kept in sync. And if you have many stores or a franchise, then there is no limit to the number of stores and registers the plugin can handle.

YITH Point of Sale for WooCommerce comes with layouts for both desktop and mobile devices. Like most POS plugins, the mobile layout is suitable for iPads and Android tablets but not smartphones.

The pluginâ€™s dashboard lets you keep track of useful analytics such as sales trends, the revenue collected by each terminal, the payment methods used, and even the cashier with the highest number of sales.

Pros
- Unlimited stores and registers
- Layouts for desktop and mobile devices
- Useful sales statistics
Cons
- Free version is limited to cash payments
- Does not work offline
Why we recommend YITH POS: YITH makes powerful plugins that are affordable and easy to use. Their POS plugin includes the features most stores need and supports multiple stores.

Pricing: YITH Point of Sale for WooCommerce (POS) starts at $147.99/year for a single site. There is also a free version of the plugin, but it is limited to cash payments.

2. Oliver POS

Oliver POS is one of the best WooCommerce POS plugins. It is designed to allow physical shops to easily sell products from their online inventory from a single system.

This makes it perfect for people who want to combine eCommerce shops with physical stores. You can easily sync inventory between your online store, retail store, and warehouse.

Oliver POS runs on any internet-enabled computer or device, and apps are available for iPads and Android tablets. You can also purchase hardware POS devices from the official website, including registers, tablet stands, barcode scanners, cash drawers, and printers.

You can quickly look up your customers to see whether they have made a purchase online or in-store. You can track their total spending, order history, store credit, and more.

You can also keep on top of in-store and online transactions. The plugin can generate reports for payments, sales, inventory, and more.

Pros
- Easy to set up and use
- Can run online and physical stores together
- Free version
Cons
- Limited customization options
- Does not work offline
Why we recommend Oliver POS: With 4.8 stars, Oliver POS is the highest-rated WooCommerce POS plugin in the WordPress Plugin Directory. It’s easy to install and use.

Pricing: A limited free plan is available with enough features to get you started. Paid plans start from $24.99/month per register.

3. Square for WooCommerce

Square for WooCommerce is a free WooCommerce extension that lets you accept payments using Square, a popular payment gateway that makes credit card payments easy.

The Square extension allows your customers to pay using all major credit and debit card types. It also supports digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

These payments can be taken from customers both online and in person. However, credit card payments are only available in the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, France, and Spain.

Square charges a fixed transaction rate, and this varies for each country.

Setup is easy. Your products and payments will be automatically kept in sync between your Square account and your online store. That means that when you add products to your Square account, they will be automatically added to your WooCommerce store as well.

Square also helps protect your business. They provide a dedicated dispute management team as well as fraud protection that uses machine learning to detect fraud before it happens.

Pros
- Easy setup
- Low cost of entry
- Multiple payment options
- Free
Cons
- Does not work offline
- Accepts credit card payments in only certain countries
Why we recommend Square for WooCommerce: Square for WooCommerce lets you easily set up a point-of-sale system without any up-front fees. For that reason, it’s one of the best free WooCommerce POS plugins.

Pricing: The Square for WooCommerce extension is free from the WooCommerce store. However, like most payment platforms, Square charges a fee for each transaction you make.

4. wePOS

wePOS is an affordable and attractive POS solution for WooCommerce that is fast and easy to set up and use. However, it lacks some features that other POS systems offer.

For example, wePOS doesnâ€™t directly integrate with retail hardware such as cash drawers. However, it does support barcode readers and printers.

Also, wePOS accepts only two payment methods: cash and credit card. When paying by credit card, the order number and receipt number will need to be inserted into wePOS manually to keep track of the sale.

Currently, you canâ€™t produce daily sales reports for cashiers, generate bar codes, offer gift cards, or customize the user interface.

And like many of the other POS plugins for WooCommerce, wePOS does not work without an internet connection.

Pros
- Fast and easy to use
- Affordable
Cons
- Does not work offline
- Only two payment methods: cash and credit card
- Limited hardware support
- Limited customization
- The free version is limited to cash payments
Why we recommend wePOS: wePOS is a popular point of sale for WooCommerce. It will suit users who are after a fast and reliable system rather than lots of features.

Pricing: wePOS offers a free plan with limited features, such as support only for cash payments. Premium plans start at $99/year.

5. Hike POS

Hike POS is a full-featured, standalone retail POS cloud service that works on PCs, Macs, iPads, and Android tablets. It also offers plug-and-play compatibility with most retail hardware, including scanners and receipt printers.

It offers lay-by sales, returns and refunds, gift cards, quotes, and credit notes. You can also see detailed sales analytics and use the software in multiple stores.

Besides its standalone apps, the service also integrates well with WooCommerce. Your Hike and WooCommerce inventory, orders, and customer profiles are automatically kept in sync.

Even though itâ€™s a cloud service, it does work offline, making it more reliable than many of the other plugins in this list. Once you are connected again to the internet, all data is synced back to the cloud.

Hike POS supports multiple payment options, letting your customers choose their preferred method. Options include PayPal, Square, Afterpay, Tyro, and many more.

Hike POS also offers integrations with other cloud services, like Xero, MYOB, QuickBooks, Mailchimp, and Amazon.

Pros
- Works offline
- Integrates with many third-party cloud services
- Works with or without WooCommerce
- Supports multiple stores
- 14-day trial
Cons
- No free version
Why we recommend Hike POS: Hike POS is a versatile solution that offers a point-of-sale system using WooCommerce or one of their native apps. Itâ€™s a great option if you need to work away from an internet connection.

Pricing: A Hike POS subscription starts at $59/month when billed annually. There is a 14-day free trial and no extra charge for WooCommerce integration.

6. Vitepos

Vitepos lets you quickly set up a point of sale system for your local store or sell from your existing online store in your physical store.

You can choose one of three different settings for the POS mode: grocery/retail, restaurant (pay first), and restaurant (traditional). Simply pick the option that best matches your store.

Vitepos can handle your inventory and stock management. You can add new products from vendors, transfer stock between your stores, and update prices.

There are also helpful features to help your cashiers, including holding stock, adding discounts or fees, and taking split payments. Your team can add products by scanning their barcodes or by searching for them.

Finally, Vitepos can run without an internet connection. Like Hike POS, once you are online again, your data will be uploaded automatically.

Pros
- Works offline
- Can run an online store and a local store simultaneously
- Free version
Cons
- Lacks third-party integrations
Why we recommend Vitepos: Vitepos is an affordable and user-friendly POS plugin for WooCommerce. It gives users a lot of control over their system and works offline.

Pricing: The Pro version starts at $79/year or $299 lifetime for a single site. Vitepos Lite is a limited free version available from the WordPress Plugin Directory.

7. ConnectPOS

ConnectPOS is a point-of-sale system that works on multiple platforms, not just WooCommerce. These include Magento, Shopify, BigCommerce, and more.

It is an award-winning POS system and has been used successfully by reputable brands like ASUS, Trinny London, Eyewa, and Lapaire.

The company can build custom POS solutions that donâ€™t rely on any eCommerce platform. Also, they can create custom solutions that integrate your POS with your other business systems like ERP, CRM, and accounting.

Data is automatically updated in real time between your WooCommerce database and the POS system. This includes orders, inventory, customers, and products.

Plus, the software is able to work offline. Data will be saved locally and updated once your internet connection is restored.

The ConnectPOS website maintains a list of compatible hardware, including receipt printers, label printers, barcode scanners, payment terminals, card swipers, and more.

Pros
- Works offline
- Can meet the needs of large companies and enterprises
- Offers a free WooCommerce plugin
Cons
- Pricing is not listed
Why we reommend ConnectPOS: ConnectPOS is a highly rated, award-winning POS solution that suits large companies and enterprises.

Pricing: Payment is by subscription. However, pricing information has not been made available. You can request a quote for the Professional and Enterprise versions from the ConnectPOS website.

What Is the Best WooCommerce POS Plugin?

After reviewing all of the popular point-of-sale systems for WooCommerce, we believe that YITH Point of Sale for WooCommerce (POS) is the best POS plugin for most local stores.

However, this choice depends on your needs and budget, so we have a few additional recommendations.

Our top recommendation doesn’t work offline. If you need to take payments at times when there may not be an internet connection, such as on a food truck, then your best options are Hike POS, Vitepos, and ConnectPOS.

Some users prefer to get started with a free solution thatâ€™s easy to set up, and in that case, we recommend Square for WooCommerce. But be aware that with fees for each transaction, you may pay more in the long term.

If you have a franchise or chain of stores, then you will need YITH Point of Sale for WooCommerce (POS) or Hike POS. And if you have very specific needs and a budget for complex customizations, then it’s worth considering ConnectPOS.

FAQs About Point of Sale Systems

Our readers often ask us about point-of-sale systems and the best WordPress POS plugins. Here are our answers to some of the most common questions.

Does every WooCommerce store need a POS system?

No, if you are only making sales online, then you donâ€™t need a POS system. They are only needed when your customers make payments in person.

What makes WooCommerce a good eCommerce platform?

WooCommerce is the most flexible eCommerce solution for an online store that sells physical goods. With the right plugin, it is also an excellent point-of-sale system for physical stores.

However, if you are selling digital goods like eBooks, software, or music, then Easy Digital Downloads is a better WordPress eCommerce plugin. And BigCommerce could be the best option if you donâ€™t want to manage all the technical stuff of building an online store.

You can learn more in our detailed comparison of the best WordPress eCommerce plugins.

What other plugins are needed for WooCommerce?

Besides a POS plugin, there are plenty of other plugins you can use to add features to your WooCommerce store. Here are a few we recommend:
- All in One SEO is the best SEO plugin for WordPress that can help you optimize your site to get more traffic from search engines.
- MonsterInsights is the best analytics solution for WordPress. It helps you see where your visitors are coming from and what they do on your website. You can optimize your business strategy based on real data.
- OptinMonster is the best conversion optimization software on the market. You can use it to create optin forms to grow your email list and convert visitors into paying customers. It can also reduce shopping cart abandonment.
- PushEngage is the best push notification software for WordPress. It allows you to send personalized web push notifications to your customers.
You can discover more in our guide on the best WooCommerce plugins for your store.

Best WordPress Guides for WooCommerce
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to ourÂ YouTube ChannelÂ for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us onÂ TwitterÂ and Facebook.

The post 7 Best WooCommerce Point of Sale Plugins (Easy POS Setup) first appeared on WPBeginner.
23.08.2023
How to Easily Track 404 Pages and Redirect Them in WordPress
Are you looking for an easy way to find 404 error pages on your WordPress website and redirect them?

404 errors occur when users try to reach a page on your website that no longer exists. These errors create a bad user experience, which can lead to a drop in search engine rankings and lower eCommerce sales.

In this article, we will show you how to easily track 404 pages and redirect them in WordPress.

What Is a 404 Error?

A 404 error is an HTTP status code that shows that the server couldn’t reach the web page you are trying to visit.

This means that if you enter a URL of a web page that does not exist, then you will see a ‘404 Page Not Found’ error.

Now, there are many reasons why the 404 error occurs. It could be because the visitor made a mistake when entering the URL, the page was deleted from the website, or the domain name no longer exists.

Another cause of the 404 error is when a page was moved to another URL but wasn’t properly redirected, resulting in a broken link.

Finally, sometimes server malfunctions can also lead to 404 errors on a WordPress website.

Why Track and Redirect 404 Pages in WordPress?

Now that you know the different causes of 404 errors, let’s take a look at why it’s extremely important for website owners to track 404 errors and fix them.

404 errors are bad for your site’s user experience. If users can’t find the page they are looking for, then they will likely leave your site and go to your competitors.

This means you will lose potential customers and miss an opportunity to convert your visitors into subscribers.

Aside from that, 404 errors have a negative impact on your WordPress SEO rankings. Search engine ranking algorithms often penalize websites when they run into broken links.

Not to mention, these broken pages will cause you to lose valuable backlinks for your website, which results in lower domain authority and a significant drop in Google keyword rankings.

With that being said, let’s take a look at how you can easily track 404 pages and redirect them in WordPress. We will cover two different methods, so feel free to click the links below to jump ahead to your preferred method:
Video Tutorial

If you’d prefer written instructions, then just keep reading.

Method 1: Track & Redirect 404 Pages Using AIOSEO (Recommended)

The easiest way to track and fix 404 pages on your WordPress website is by using the All in One SEO plugin for WordPress, which is also known as AIOSEO. It’s the best SEO WordPress plugin that is used by over 3 million professionals.

AIOSEO allows you to easily find pages with broken links and fix them with just a few clicks using its powerful Redirection Manager.

The best thing about AIOSEO is that it helps you set up faster 301 redirects, which helps you improve search engine rankings.

For this tutorial, we will be using the AIOSEO Pro version because it includes the powerful Redirection Manager addon. There is a free version of AIOSEO, but it doesn’t include 404 monitoring or the Redirection Manager.

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

Activating Redirects and Enabling 404 Error Logs in AIOSEO

Once the plugin is active, you can go to All in One SEO Â» Redirects and click the ‘Activate Redirects’ button.

After that, you need to visit the ‘Settings’ tab under Redirects and configure the plugin to keep 404 logs and track pages with broken links.

Simply scroll down to the ‘Logs’ sections and make sure that the ‘404 Logs’ option is enabled. Next, select the time period to record the 404 logs using the dropdown menu. We recommend no longer than one month for optimal server performance.

Once you are done, go ahead and click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

You will now see a ‘404 Logs’ tab in the Redirects section in AIOSEO. When you first enable 404 logs, this page will not have any data because it only starts monitoring 404 pages after you enable the setting.

In time, it will show a list of all the URLs that have a 404 error. You will see how many times someone tried to visit the link in the ‘Hits’ column and the date when it was last visited in the ‘Last Accessed’ column.

Once you have identified the pages with broken links, you can simply redirect them by clicking the ‘Add Redirect’ button. You should redirect the URL to a relevant page on your website.

When you click the button, you will see the option to enter a target URL and select the redirection type from the dropdown menu.

For example, you can move a page permanently by selecting the ‘301 Moved Permanently’ option.

After that, click the ‘Add Redirect’ button, and your broken link will now automatically redirect to the new target URL.

Clearing 404 Error Logs in AIOSEO

With time, the size of your log file can grow and take up a lot of disk space. A lack of WordPress hosting disk space can lead to errors. To make sure that you don’t run into this problem, it’s a best practice to delete and clear 404 error logs.

With AIOSEO, you can easily delete any individual 404 error from your logs by clicking the trash can icon.

You can also bulk delete your 404 logs by going to All in One SEO Â» Tools and then clicking on the ‘Database Tools’ tab.

Now, just scroll down to the ‘Logs’ section and click the ‘Clear 404 Logs’ button.

Permalink Monitoring in AIOSEO

Aside from tracking 404 errors, the AIOSEO Redirect Manager also comes with permalink monitoring. This means that if you delete a page on your site, or change the URL of any blog post, then AIOSEO will automatically notify you to set up a redirect.

In some cases, AIOSEO can even set up the proper 301 redirects for you without any effort.

Bonus Tip: Set Up Faster 301 Redirects in WordPress With AIOSEO

AIOSEO also allows you to set up faster redirects by going to the ‘Settings’ tab and choosing the ‘Web Server’ redirect method.

This allows you to unlock significant speed improvements when compared to the default WordPress/PHP redirect method.

Method 2: Track & Redirect 404 Pages Using the Redirection Plugin

The next method to track and redirect 404 errors is by using the free Redirection Plugin for WordPress. This is an advanced plugin, so some beginners may find it harder to use.

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

Upon activation, go to Tools Â» Redirection and then scroll down and click the ‘Start Setup’ button to set up your redirects.

After that, the plugin will ask whether you would like to monitor permalink changes in WordPress and keep logs of redirects and 404 errors.

Just select the checkbox for these options and click the ‘Continue Setup’ button.

The plugin will now test the REST API status.

When the status result comes back as ‘Good’, you can click the ‘Finish Setup’ button.

After that, the plugin will set up redirection. This will take several seconds, and when it is complete, you will need to click the ‘Continue’ button and then the ‘Ready to begin!’ button.

Now, you can start to redirect your 404 pages.

Simply enter the URL of the page you want to redirect in the ‘Source URL’ column.

Next, select whether you’d like to exactly match the query parameters, ignore them, or pass them through to the target URL from the ‘Query Parameter’ dropdown menu.

Now, you need to enter the Target URL to where the 404 page will be redirected, keep the Group option as ‘Redirection’, and click the ‘Add Redirect’ button.

If you want more options to set up redirection, then just click the gear icon next to the ‘Add Redirect’ button.

You can begin by adding the old URL showing 404 in the ‘Source URL’ field, selecting the Query Parameter like before, and adding a title to describe the purpose of this redirect.

After that, select the ‘Match’ option from the dropdown. You will see multiple options, including URL only, URL and referrer, URL and user agent, and URL and login status.

In most cases, you want to use the ‘URL and referrer’ setting. That’s because if you see several 404 requests for a specific page, then those users probably clicked on the same link to the wrong URL rather than all typing the same wrong web address.

Now, whenever someone else clicks on the broken URL, it will automatically redirect them to the new location.

Next, make sure that your action is ‘Redirect to URL’. The other options are complex and require advanced technical knowledge.

For the redirection type, you need to select an option from the HTTP code dropdown. For a permanent redirection, this should be ‘301 – Moved Permanently’.

Lastly, enter the target URL in the ‘Matched Target’ field. After you have entered this information, just hit the ‘Add Redirect’ button.

You can go to the new URL to test and make sure that the redirection is working properly.

The plugin also has the option to track 404 error logs. Simply click on the ‘404s’ tab at the top, and the plugin will show you recent 404 errors that occurred on your site since you installed the plugin.

Note: If you just enabled the Redirection plugin, then the 404 log page will be empty. It only starts keeping a log of 404 errors after the plugin is activated.

Bonus: Design a Custom 404 Page With SeedProd

Setting up redirects means that visitors shouldn’t run into many 404 error pages on your WordPress website. However, if they do land on a 404 page, it’s a good idea to have a custom design that will help out your users.

Including your custom branding can make your 404 page look more reputable. Adding a contact form can allow users to tell you the address they entered that triggered the 404 error. You can even include links to your popular posts or products so that visitors will be tempted to stay on your website.

Luckily, it’s easy to design a custom 404 page with SeedProd. It’s the best WordPress landing page builder and comes with plenty of customizable templates for 404 pages.

You can learn more in our complete guide on how to improve your 404 page template in WordPress.

We hope this article helped you learn how to track 404 pages and redirect them in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to increase your blog traffic the easy way or our expert picks of the best 404 error page examples to inspire your website design.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to ourÂ YouTube ChannelÂ for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us onÂ TwitterÂ and Facebook.

The post How to Easily Track 404 Pages and Redirect Them in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.
22.08.2023
How to Use AI for SEO in WordPress (12 Tools)
Do you want to use AI for SEO in WordPress?

Artificial Intelligence is making a significant impact on the SEO industry. There are already excellent AI SEO tools that you can use to improve your SEO rankings without much effort.

In this article, we’ll show you how to use AI for SEO in WordPress with our hand-picked selection of tools and software.

Why Use AI for SEO in WordPress?

Most AI tools for SEO use a type of artificial intelligence that uses machine learning technology to teach itself.

These incredibly powerful computer programs are trained over a massive amount of data with access to millions of resources and websites.

With this powerful range of knowledge, natural language capability, and lightning-fast speeds, AI SEO tools can make SEO a breeze for WordPress website owners.

Artificial Intelligence powered SEO tools can help you with the following:
- Research and optimize your content
- Keyword research and finding related topics
- Comparing your content with the competition for better search rankings
- Understanding your audience
With that said, let’s look at some of the best AI tools for SEO on the market and what they can help you with.

Best AI SEO Tools for WordPress

There are many AI SEO tools available on the market. However, not all of them are equally capable or suitable for day to day SEO tasks of a WordPress website owner.

We looked at many of them and here is our expert pick of the best AI tools for SEO.
1. All in One SEO for WordPress
2. Clearscope
3. Semrush
4. ChatGPT
5. Jasper
6. Grammarly
7. Surfer
8. Link Whisper
9. Rank Math
10. WordLift
11. Outranking
12. Frase
1. All in One SEO for WordPress

All in One SEO for WordPress is the best WordPress SEO toolkit on the market. It is the most comprehensive SEO software for WordPress, used by over 3 million websites.

It has powerful SEO features, including some powered by artificial intelligence.

It comes with an AI-powered title and description generator. This allows you to use AI to generate SEO-optimized titles and descriptions for your articles.

Simply click on the robot button next to the Post Title and Meta Description fields. All in One SEO will generate up to 5 ideas based on your post’s content.

You can then click to select the one that you want to use and then further improve it if needed.

Internal links play a massive role in SEO. However, it becomes difficult to internal link to your newer articles as your website grows.

To solve this, All in One SEO includes an AI-powered link assistant, which helps you manage internal links.

It crawls your website and analyzes all your links. You can then view your links reports to see the results.

Switch to the Link Suggestions tab and you will see a list of opportunities for creating internal links.

Recommendation: Best overall for WordPress users with the most comprehensive set of SEO tools for website owners. After testing many AI tools, we feel that AIOSEO provides the most value for money as it comes with multiple tools that cost a lot more when purchased individually from other providers.

Pricing: Starts at $49.60. A free version is also available called All in One SEO Lite.

2. Clearscope

Clearscope is an AI powered content optimization software that helps website owners optimize their content for higher search rankings.

You can start by typing in a keyword. Clearscope will then show you a list of relevant terms, competitors that already rank, and questions users commonly ask.

Clearscope’s AI-powered content optimizer allows you to edit your content for higher rankings.

It will show you a list of relevant terms. You can sort them by importance and include them in your content. You also get questions users commonly ask under the Research tab. Including answers to these questions in your content makes it more comprehensive and useful.

As you optimize your content, Clearscope will grade your work.

Your aim should be to get at least an A+ grade to ensure that the content you are working on is comprehensive and covers all the relevant information your audience may be looking for.

Clearscope saves all your reports and optimizations you make for your content. Next, time you are working on an article, you can compare it with the previous version and only update newer information missing from the content.

Clearscrope also offers a Google Docs extension, which allows you to collaborate with team members in Google Docs without missing Clearscope’s optimization features.

It also has a WordPress plugin that lets you optimize inside the default WordPress editor as you write new content or update older articles.

Recommendation: Best for enterprise users, larger editorial teams, and anyone who needs to get to the top of highly competitive keywords.

Pricing: Starts at $170 per month.

3. Semrush

Semrush is an all-in-one search marketing platform for SEO professionals.

Often ranked as one of the best SEO tools, Semrush offers a comprehensive set of content marketing tools including several tools powered by AI.

Sermsuh includes keyword research, competition analysis, track search rankings, and AI-powered writing assistance to optimize content for specific keywords.

Semrush also helps you track PPC keywords for paid marketing campaigns. You can also monitor your social media campaigns, track social postings, and manage your social media postings in an editorial calendar.

The AI-powered writing assistant isn’t as powerful as Clearscope, but Semrush comes with many more features for the price.

Recommendation: Best for power users and small businesses who need a suite of different tools for SEO in one place.

Pricing: Starts at $129.95 per month. A free plan is available with limited features.

4. ChatGPT

ChatGPT by OpenAI is a powerful generative AI software. It comes as a chatbox where you can enter your questions as prompts, and the AI will respond to them using natural language processing.

ChatGPT can help you in multiple ways to improve your SEO. It can be used as a research assistant, article outline assistant, proofreader, and more.

Many marketers and bloggers use ChatGPT to write content for their blogs. However, we don’t recommend ever simply copying and pasting content generated by AI. It is often inaccurate and not optimized for conversions and user experience.

Responses from ChatGPT depend a lot on how good you are at writing the prompts. To help with that, we have compiled a comprehensive list of the most useful ChatGPT prompts for bloggers and marketers.

Recommendation: Best for content analysis, article outlining, proofreading, and assistance in writing. It is not good for one-click content generation.

Alternatives: Bing Chat and Google Bard. You can also see our list of even more ChatGPT alternatives.

Pricing: ChatGPT Plus starts at $20 per month.

5. Jasper

Jasper is an AI-powered writing assistant for bloggers, marketers, and SEO teams. It uses GPT 3.5 and a custom natural language understanding model to train the AI.

Jasper is trained to work for brands by adapting your brandâ€™s voice and style to create blog post outlines, article drafts, landing pages, and more.

It comes with a powerful template library with ready-to-use commands for writing articles, social media posts, photo captions, and more.

It also offers tools to generate AI images, translations for content in over 30 languages, brand memory, and style training.

Recommendation: Best for brand-conscious marketing teams and small businesses. In our opinion, the pricing for the number and quality of tools is very good.

Pricing: Starts at $39 per month.

6. Grammarly

Grammarly is a must-have tool for any SEO team. It started as a grammar and spelling checker and has evolved into an AI-powered writing assistant.

Grammarly’s AI-powered writing assistance is called Grammarly Go. It allows you to choose a tone for your writing, edit it as you write, and switch tones as needed. It can help you rewrite and rephrase whole articles using AI.

It also includes a plagiarism checker, which helps you avoid search penalties and catch plagiarized articles before they appear live on your site.

The best part is that Grammarly works everywhere you work. It is available for all operating systems, mobile phones, browser extensions, and more.

It also works inside the WordPress block editor and helps you improve your content as you write.

Recommendation: In our experience, Grammarly is a tool all users can benefit from using.

Pricing: $12 per month. A free forever plan is also available with fewer features.

7. Surfer

Surfer is an AI-powered, on-page SEO optimizer tool. It allows you to perform keyword research, generate article outlines, and optimize your content for better rankings.

It is made for SEO professionals and editors and uses AI to generate headlines, article guides, in-depth topic research, and more.

Surfer is also available as a WordPress plugin and integrates with the block editor to optimize your content as you write it.

With the keyword research tool, Surfer can help you find topic clusters and semantically related keywords. You can then sort them by the level of difficulty, search intent, and monthly search volume.

Once you have chosen a topic cluster or a keyword, you can launch the Surfer SEO editor to prepare your content.

Surfer SEO Editor uses AI to analyze your content and recommends improving it. It will show you an article outline, competitors, questions to answer, and keywords to include.

Recommendation: Useful for bloggers, content writers, editors, and SEO professionals with a medium budget.

Pricing: Starts at $69 per month.

8. Link Whisper

Link Whisper is a WordPress-specific, AI-powered, internal linking plugin for SEO professionals, marketers, and bloggers.

It allows you to discover internal linking opportunities as you write. This helps you link to the newer posts that may not get as many internal links as some of your older content.

It uses Artificial Intelligence to find relevant content and keywords. This makes link suggestions highly relevant and useful. You can also enter a keyword to find relevant internal linking opportunities.

You can also set automatic linking for specific keywords. This ensures you can link to some of your pillar content without editing any articles.

If you are already using a WordPress SEO plugin like All in One SEO, RankMath, or Yoast, then Link Whisper will automatically use focus keywords set for your articles to suggest relevant internal linking opportunities.

Plus, it shows you very useful internal linking reports, where you can monitor internal links, find internal linking opportunities, and catch errors like broken links or 404 errors.

Recommendation: Useful for optimizing and automating internal link-building tasks.

Pricing: Starts at $75 per year.

9. Rank Math

Rank Math is a popular WordPress SEO plugin that comes with AI powered features to help automate your SEO workflow.

Like All in One SEO and Link Whisper, RankMath has an internal linking assistant.

However, unlike All in One SEO and Link Whisper, Rank Math doesn’t automatically add internal links. You’ll need to edit a post and manually copy and add the internal link suggested by the plugin.

Rank Math also offers a Content AI module which offers AI-powered writing assistance on a pay-as-you-go basis.

The content AI tool uses Rank Math’s proprietary algorithms that run on their own servers to analyze your content. After that, the data is stored for that particular analysis on your web hosting server.

Besides AI-powered features, Rank Math is a good WordPress SEO plugin for day-to-day SEO tasks like adding SEO titles, descriptions, schema markup, Google Search Console integration, and more.

Recommendation: Useful for small businesses without large budgets and writers who may not need to pay for AI assistance all the time.

Pricing: Pricing starts at $59 per year. A free version is also available with limited features.

10. WordLift

WordLift is another AI SEO plugin for WordPress. It allows you to easily add structured data and schema markup to your WordPress posts automatically.

Similar to other AI-powered SEO tools, WordLift shows you suggestions inside the block editor to improve your content.

These suggestions include schema markup, relevant sources that you can link to, images you can use, and building topical authority by building content clusters.

WordLift also offers a product knowledge graph builder that helps your eCommerce products appear in Google Shopping results.

Recommendation: Useful if you need to add structured data to your website without using a full-featured WordPress SEO plugin like AIOSEO.

Pricing: Starts at â‚¬49 per month. However, the starter plan doesn’t include some of the AI-powered features, so you may want to upgrade to a higher plan.

11. Outranking

Outranking is another useful AI SEO tool for WordPress websites. It comes with content optimization, analysis, and planning features that help you improve and maintain your search rankings.

It helps you optimize content based on search intent, incorporate semantic search terms, and perform in-depth content optimization.

It helps you generate facts and stats to start your draft with a solid outline. With a built-in plagiarism checker, you can easily check content submitted by authors to be sure it is original and won’t hurt your search rankings.

Recommendation: Good for in-depth on-page SEO and content optimization. Outranking is especially good for writers who need a boost with the first steps of generating content and outlines.

Pricing: Starts at $59 per month.

12. Frase

Frase is a powerful AI SEO tool designed for content marketers and writers. It helps you generate content using AI by including facts and background research from search results.

It makes content research simplified and helps you quickly come up with great article outlines. The outline builder helps you easily drag and drop headings to plan your content.

It also helps you discover relevant search terms to include, perform competitive analysis, and communicate with your team.

Recommendation: Best for users who need a standalone AI-powered content writing assistant.

Pricing: Starts at $14.99 per month.

Which AI SEO Tools to Use in WordPress?

We recommend using All in One SEO for WordPress as the best overall AI SEO tool for WordPress users.

All in One SEO comes with powerful AI integrations, and it is the most comprehensive WordPress SEO plugin on the market.

It includes schema markup support, local SEO, powerful sitemaps, a redirection manager, SEO audit, competitor analysis, AI headline writing, and more. With such a comprehensive set of features, AIOPSEO for WordPress is the best value for your money.

You can also combine All in One SEO with other AI SEO tools.

For instance, you can use Grammarly for proofreading, Semrush for powerful keyword tracking, and Jasper for AI-powered content writing.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use AI for SEO with the best tools for the job. You may also want to see our complete WordPress SEO guide or take a look at how to create automated workflows in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to ourÂ YouTube ChannelÂ for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us onÂ TwitterÂ and Facebook.

The post How to Use AI for SEO in WordPress (12 Tools) first appeared on WPBeginner.
22.08.2023
How to Manage Ads in WordPress with AdRotate Plugin

Do you want to manage banner ads with WordPress?

Placing banner ads on your site is one of the most common ways to make money from your blog. Many bloggers use ad management software to maximize their ad earnings without ruining the user experience.

In this article, we will show you how to manage ads in WordPress with the AdRotate plugin.

Why Use a WordPress Ad Management Plugin?

Advertising programs like Google Adsense and others require publishers to add a code snippet on their website for displaying ads.

As a WordPress publisher, you can do this by either editing the code in your theme files or by using an ad management plugin.

If you are a beginner who just started your blog, then adding code into theme files is not an ideal solution. You cannot properly manage different ad sizes or their placements. You also increase your chances of messing up and causing unexpected WordPress errors.

On the other hand, using an ad management plugin allows you to easily insert ads anywhere on your website. You can save multiple ad codes, rotate them, and show / hide ads on different pages.

Let’s take a look at how to manage ads in WordPress like a pro using the AdRotate plugin.

Note: Looking for an alternative method? Then try the Adsanity plugin instead. Here’s how to manage ads in WordPress with Adsanity.

Manage Ads in WordPress with AdRotate

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

Upon activation, you need to visit AdRotate Â» Manage Adverts page and click on the ‘New Advert’ link to create your first ad.

This will bring you to the add new ad page. You need to provide a title for your ad because it will help you identify this ad inside the WordPress admin area.

After that, you can paste the ad code generated by your advertising network like Adsense. Alternatively, you can also generate your own ad code if you are running self-hosted ads.

For hosted ads, you can upload banner images and enable click tracking.

You need to select the activate option to make this ad available on your WordPress site.

Next, you need to scroll down on the page to the usage and schedule section. Here you can schedule your ad and get the shortcode which you can add to your posts, pages, or sidebar widgets.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Advert’ button to store your settings.

You can repeat this process to create as many ads you want and then decide which ads you want to be displayed on your site.

Grouping Your Ads Together

Many WordPress bloggers join multiple advertising networks and partner programs. You may also have advertising spaces on different locations and in different sizes.

Grouping allows you to easily sort your ads into different categories for easier management.

To create a new group, head over to AdRotate Â» Manage Groups page and click on the ‘Add New’ link.

This will bring you to the create new group page.

First you need to provide a title for your group. This will allow you to easily identify the group in your WordPress admin area.

Next, you need to choose a display mode. AdRotate allows you to customize how you display ads from a specific group.

For example, you can display one ad from the group at a time, a block of ads, or dynamic mode which changes the ad after few seconds.

Next, you can select the group auto display options. AdRotate allows you to automatically insert ads from a group into posts, pages, and sidebar widgets.

At the bottom of the page, you will see all your ads that you can associate with that group. Simply select the ads that you want to include and then click on ‘Save Group’ button.

Manually Inserting Ads in WordPress

While you can associate your ads to groups and automatically insert them into posts, pages, categories, and widgets, some publishers may want to have more granular control on which ads to display on which location.

AdRotate makes it super easy to insert ads anywhere on your WordPress site.

Each ad you create on your site has its own shortcode that you can copy and paste into your WordPress posts or pages and even custom post types.

Go to AdRotate Â» Adverts and click on any ad to edit it. On the Edit Ad page, you need to scroll down to the usage section to copy the shortcode.

Similarly, you can also edit a group to get the shortcode and then use it anywhere on your website.

If you want to display ads in your WordPress sidebar, then go to Appearance Â» Widgets page and add the AdRotate widget to your sidebar.

We hope this article helped you learn how to manage ads in WordPress with the AdRotate plugin.

If you’re looking for an alternative plugin to manage ads in WordPress, then you need to try the Adsanity plugin. Here’s how to manage ads with Adsanity.

You may also want to see our handpicked list of the best WordPress ad management plugins and solutions.

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

The post How to Manage Ads in WordPress with AdRotate Plugin first appeared on WPBeginner.

21.08.2023
How to Easily Add a Coupon Code Field to Your WordPress Forms

Are you looking for an easy way to add a coupon code field to your WordPress forms?

By adding a coupon code field in your forms, you can offer discounts to your customers and increase sales during slow periods.

In this article, we will show you how to easily add a coupon code field in your WordPress forms.

Why Add Coupons to Your WordPress Forms?

Adding a coupon code field to forms on your WordPress website can encourage users to buy from you.

For example, if you have an order form for your restaurant, then adding a coupon code for discounts can help attract new customers and encourage repeat purchases.

You can also use coupons to promote clearance sales or new products in your online store, celebrate events, or reward loyal customers.

Moreover, you can also use a coupon code field to build an email list by offering discount codes to customers who sign up as subscribers.

That being said, let’s see how to easily add a coupon code field in WordPress forms.

How to Add Coupon Code Field in WordPress Forms

You can easily add a coupon code field in a WordPress form using WPForms.

It is the best WordPress contact form plugin on the market that comes with a drag-and-drop builder and makes it super easy to create any kind of form you want.

First, you will need to install and activate the WPForms plugin. For detailed instructions, please see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: WPForms also has a free version. However, you will need a paid plan to unlock the Coupons addon.

Upon activation, you need to head over to the WPForms Â» Settings page from the WordPress admin sidebar and enter your license key.

You can get this information from your account on the WPForms website.

Next, visit the WPForms Â» Addons page from the WordPress dashboard and search for the Coupons addon.

Once you have done that, just click the ‘Install Addon’ button to download and activate it on your website.

After the addon has been activated, head over to the WPForms Â» Payments page from the admin area and switch to the ‘Coupons’ tab.

From here, you need to click the ‘+ Add Coupon’ button to continue.

This will take you to the ‘Add New Coupon’ page, where you can start by typing a name for your coupon. Keep in mind that this name won’t be displayed for your users and is just for your reference.

After that, you have to type the code that users will use to get a discount on your website.

If you don’t want to create a custom code, then simply click the ‘Generate Code’ button to let WPForms generate a code for you.

Next, you need to add the percentage or amount of discount that will be given to the customers upon using the coupon in the ‘Amount’ field.

Once you have done that, you can also add a start date and end date for the coupon code. For example, if you want to create a coupon that will only be valid for a week, then you can add those dates into the fields.

After that, you must add the maximum number of times a single user can use the coupon code in the ‘Max Uses’ field.

Now, you have to scroll down to the ‘Allowed Forms’ section on the page. From here, toggle the switch on next to the form where you want to enable the coupon code.

Finally, click the ‘Save Coupon’ button to store your settings.

Add the Coupon Code to a WordPress Form

Now, you need to open the form where you want to add the coupon code field.

To do this, visit the WPForms Â» All Forms page from the WordPress dashboard and click the ‘Edit’ link under the form where you want to add a coupon field.

This will launch the form in the form builder. For this tutorial, we will be adding a coupon code field to a takeout order form.

Here, you will notice available fields in the left column and a form preview on the right side of the screen. Simply drag and drop the Coupon field into the form.

Once you have done that, you must click on the field to open its settings in the left column.

Next, choose the coupon that you created earlier from the ‘Allowed Coupons’ dropdown menu.

After that, you can add a label or description for the coupon field and also toggle on the ‘Required’ switch.

If you do this, then users won’t be able to submit the form without filling in the coupon code.

Next, switch to the ‘Payments’ tab to configure settings. With WPForms, you can easily accept payments from popular gateways like Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.net, and more.

All you have to do is activate the addon for the gateway of your choice and then toggle the switch to enable it from the form builder.

For more detailed instructions, you may want to see our tutorial on how to create a WordPress form with payment options.

Next, switch back to the ‘Fields’ tab and drag and drop the field for the payment gateway of your choice into the form.

Now, you will be able to accept payments directly from WPForms after the user applies the discount coupon code.

Once you are done, just click the ‘Save’ button at the top to store your settings.

Add the WordPress Form to a Page/Post

Now, it’s time for you to add the Takeout form with the coupon code to a WordPress page or post. Keep in mind that if the form where you added the coupon code field is already published on a page/post of your website, then it will automatically be updated.

However, if you haven’t added the form yet, then open an existing or new page/post from your WordPress dashboard.

From here, click the ‘+’ button to open the block menu and add the WPForms block.

After that, you need to choose the form with the coupon code field from the dropdown menu inside the block.

Next, click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to store your settings.

Now, you can visit your WordPress site to view the form with a coupon field in action.

Add a Message for Coupon Errors

If you also want to display a message to users who enter the wrong coupon code, then you must visit the WPForms Â» Settings page from the WordPress dashboard.

From here, switch to the ‘Validation’ tab and scroll down to the ‘Coupon Error’ option. After that, type the sentence that will be displayed to users upon entering the wrong code.

Once you are done, just click the ‘Save Settings’ button to store your changes.

Now, if users enter the incorrect coupon code, then they will see your error message.

Track Coupon Usage With WPForms

With WPForms, you can also track the number of times your coupon was used to get a discount. This can help you see if your coupon codes and discounts are effective in driving sales or not.

To view your coupon usage, just visit the WPForms Â» Payments page from the WordPress admin sidebar.

You will see a summary chart of coupon usage on your WordPress site in the ‘Overview’ tab.

From here, you can also click on the ‘Total Payments’ tab to view individual payments and see which customers used the coupon code on your site.

This will help you decide if adding the coupon code field has helped you generate more revenue and been a successful campaign or not.

Bonus: More Tips for Using Coupons in WordPress

Coupon marketing is one of the most effective ways to get more sales and grow customer loyalty. Apart from adding coupon fields to your WordPress forms, you can also use coupons to promote a new product, clearance sale, special events, or more.

To do this, you can use the Advanced Coupons plugin, which is the best WordPress coupon code plugin that lets you create a huge range of deals in your online store.

It easily integrates with WooCommerce and offers features like coupon URLs, scheduled coupons, auto-apply coupons, shipping coupons, and bulk coupons.

Moreover, you can also create coupon popups to convert your website visitors into customers using OptinMonster.

It is the best lead generation and conversion optimization tool that allows you to design attractive popups with discount coupon codes.

This strategy can help recover abandoned cart rates, increase brand awareness, and improve conversions. For more detailed instructions, you can see our tutorial on how to create a coupon popup in WordPress.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily add a coupon code field in WordPress forms. You may also be interested in our beginner’s guide on how to send automated coupons in WordPress and our expert picks for the best WooCommerce spin-a-wheel coupon plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to ourÂ YouTube ChannelÂ for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us onÂ TwitterÂ and Facebook.

The post How to Easily Add a Coupon Code Field to Your WordPress Forms first appeared on WPBeginner.

21.08.2023
How to Add Two-Factor Authentication in WordPress (Free Method)
Have you noticed how popular sites like Facebook and Google ask you to add two-factor authentication to improve security?

Well, now you can add two-factor authentication to your WordPress website. This ensures maximum security for your WordPress site and all its registered users.

In this article, we will show you how to add two-factor authentication for WordPress using a plugin and an authenticator app.

Why Add Two-Factor Authentication in WordPress?

One of the most common tricks hackers use is called brute force attacks. During one of these attacks, they use automated scripts that try to guess the right username and password so that they can log in to your WordPress website.

A successful brute force attack can give hackers access to your website’s admin area. They can install malware, steal user information, and delete everything on your site.

One of the easiest ways to protect your WordPress website against stolen passwords is to add two-factor authentication (2FA). With this setting, you will need to both enter your password and a secondary code (from an app, email, or text message) to log in to your website.

This way, even if someone stole your password, then they would still need to enter a security code from your phone to gain access.

What Is an Authenticator App?

There are multiple ways to set up 2-step login in WordPress. However, the most secure and easier method is by using an authenticator app.

An authenticator app is a smartphone app that generates a temporary one-time password for the accounts that you save in it.

Basically, the app and your server use a secret key to encrypt information and generate one-time codes that you can use as the second layer of protection.

There are many apps available for free:
- The most popular app is Google Authenticator, but it’s not the best choice. That’s because if you lose your phone, there is no way to recover your accounts unless you create a backup copy in advance.
- We recommend using Authy since it is an easy-to-use and free app that also allows you to save your accounts on the cloud in an encrypted format. This way, if you lose your phone, then you can simply enter your master password to restore all your accounts.
- Other password managers like LastPass and 1Password all come with their own version of an authenticator. They are better than Google Authenticator since they allow you to restore keys.
For the sake of this tutorial, we will be using Authy. You can follow our tutorial using a different app if you want since they all work the same way.

With that being said, let’s take a look at how to add 2FA in WordPress. Simply click the links below to jump to the method you prefer:
Now, let’s take a look at how to easily add two-factor verification to your WordPress login screen for free.

Method 1: Adding Two-Factor Authentication Using WP 2FA

This method is easy and recommended for all users. It is flexible and allows you to enforce two-factor authentication for all users.

First, you need to install and activate the WP 2FA â€“ Two-factor Authentication plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, the WPA 2FA setup wizard will launch automatically. Otherwise, you can visit the Users Â» Your Profile page and scroll down to the ‘WP 2FA Settings’ section.

Clicking the ‘Configure Two-factor authentication (2FA)’ button will launch the setup wizard.

The WP 2FA Setup Wizard

Simply click the ‘Let’s Get Started!’ button to start configuring the plugin.

On the next page, you will be asked to choose an authentication method.

There are two options:
- One-time code generated with your 2FA app of choice (recommended)
- One-time code sent to you via email
We recommend that you choose the authentication via the 2FA app (TOTP) method, as it is more secure and reliable.

Once you have made your choice, you can click on the ‘Continue Setup’ button to go to the next page of the setup wizard.

You will be asked which alternative 2FA methods you’d like your users to use if the primary 2FA method fails, such as if they lose their phone.

On the free plan, only the backup code method will be available. If you would like more alternative 2FA methods, then you will need to upgrade to WP 2FA Premium.

Simply click the ‘Continue Setup’ button to move to the next page.

On this page, you can make two-factor login compulsory for some or all users. We recommend this, especially if you run a multi-user WordPress website, like a membership site.

If you’d like to enforce 2FA for all users on your website, then simply select the ‘All users’ option and click ‘Continue Setup’.

Now all of your users will be required to use 2FA.

However, maybe there are some users on your website that you don’t want to force to use 2FA. The next page allows you to type the usernames or user roles of those team members.

Once you have done that, clicking the ‘Continue Setup’ button will bring you to a page where you can decide how soon your users need to start using 2FA.

You can require them to start right away, or you can give them a grace period of, say, 3 days, so they have time to set things up. Just click on the option you want to use on your website.

If you want to give a grace period, then you can choose how many hours or days that will be. The default setting of 3 days will work well for most websites.

There are also options for what to do after the grace period ends if some users have not set up 2FA. You can either let them in but not let them access the dashboard or block them from being able to log in at all. For most websites, the first option will be best.

Once you have made your choice, you can click ‘All Done’ to exit the setup wizard. Congratulations, you have set up two-factor authentication on your site!

You will see the Setup Finish screen with a congratulations message. You will also see a button that will allow you to set up 2FA for your own user account. You should click the ‘Configure 2FA Now’ button.

Configuring Two-Factor Authentication for Your Own User Account

A new setup wizard will start to help you set up two-factor authentication for your own user account. Other users on your website will be prompted to do the same.

The first thing you will need to decide is which 2FA method you wish to use. You should see the option for a one-time code via an authenticator app. You may also see other options depending on the choices you made during the setup wizard.

Simply choose the ‘One-time code via 2FA app’ option and then click the ‘Next Step’ button.

The plugin will now show you a QR code and a text code.

You will need to scan the QR code using an authenticator app. Alternatively, you can type the text code into the app manually.

Now you will have to pick up your mobile device and open your preferred authenticator app. The screenshots below are using Authy, but other apps work in a similar way.

First, click on the ‘+’ or ‘Add account’ button in your authenticator app.

The app will then ask permission to access the camera on your phone.

You need to allow this permission and then tap the ‘Scan QR Code’ button so that you can scan the QR code shown on the plugin’s settings page on your computer.

Once the app recognizes the QR code, it will automatically start to save the account.

After that, you can edit the default logo and nickname for the account. When you are ready, you should tap the ‘Save’ button.

The authenticator app will now save your website account.

Next, it will start showing a one-time password. You will need to enter this in the plugin settings on your computer.

Now you need to switch back to your computer.

In the plugin’s setup wizard, click on the ‘I’m Ready’ button to continue.

The plugin will now ask you to verify your one-time password.

Simply type the code from your mobile app into the ‘Authentication Code’ field before it expires.

After that, you should click on the ‘Validate & Save’ button to finalize the setup.

Next, you will be given the option to generate and save a list of backup codes. These codes can be used in case you don’t have access to your phone.

You should click the ‘Generate List of Backup Codes’ button.

The backup codes will be generated and displayed.

You can download these backup codes to a secure location on your computer, print them and put them somewhere safe, or send them to yourself via email. Make sure you keep them somewhere you can get to if you don’t have your phone.

After that, you can click the ‘I’m Ready, Close the Wizard’ button to exit the setup wizard.

Using Two-Factor Authentication When Logging In

Next time your users log in, they will see a notification that they need to set up two-factor authentication, along with the deadline date at the end of the grace period.

They can click on a button to configure 2FA now or choose to be reminded on their next login.

When they click the ‘Configure 2FA now’ button, they will be taken through the same steps as when you set up 2FA for your own user account in the previous section.

When they sign in after setting up two-factor authentication, they will see the WordPress login screen as normal. However, when they enter their username and password, a second screen will be displayed, asking for the code from their authenticator app.

They will need to enter the code from the app on their phone before they can be logged in. Alternatively, they can enter a backup code if they don’t have their phone with them.

This makes your website more secure. If a hacker learns the username and password of one of your users, they will not be able to log in unless they also have access to their phone.

Tip: If your WordPress website uses a custom login form page, then you can also create a custom page where users can manage their two-factor authenticator settings without accessing the WordPress admin area.

Method 2: Adding Two-Factor Authentication Using Two-Factor

This method is less flexible as it does not allow you to enforce two-factor logins for all users. Each user will have to set it up on their own and can disable it from their profile. However, it is a quick and easy method if you just want to set up 2FA for your own account.

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

Upon activation, you need to visit the Users Â» Profile page and scroll down to the ‘Two-Factor Options’ section.

From here, you need to choose a two-factor login option. The plugin allows you to use email, an authenticator app, and the FIDO U2F Security Keys methods.

We recommend using the authenticator app method. Simply scan the QR code on the screen using an authenticator app like Google Authenticator, Authy, or LastPass Authenticator.

Once you have scanned the QR code, the app will show you a verification code that you need to enter into the plugin options and click on the ‘Submit’ button.

The plugin will now set the secret key. You can reset this key at any time from the settings page to rescan the QR code.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page to save your settings.

Now each time you log in to your WordPress website, you will be asked to enter the authentication code generated by the app on your phone.

FAQs About Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) in WordPress

Here are some answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about using two-step login in WordPress.

1. How do I log in with 2FA if I don’t have access to my phone?

If you are using an authenticator app with a cloud backup option like Authy, then you can install the app on your laptop as well.

This gives you access to the authentication codes even when you don’t have your phone with you. It also allows you to easily restore your secret keys when you buy a new phone.

Many authenticator apps also allow you to generate backup codes. These codes can be used as one-time passcodes when you don’t have access to your phone.

2. How to log in without any codes from my authenticator app?

If you don’t have access to your phone, laptop, or backup codes, then you can only log in by disabling the 2FA plugin.

You can see our guide on how to deactivate all WordPress plugins when you are unable to access the admin area.

Once you deactivate all plugins, this will also disable the two-factor authentication plugin, and you will be able to log in to your WordPress website. Once logged in, you can reactivate the plugins and reset the two-factor authentication setup.

3. Do I need to password-protect the WordPress admin folder?

Website security works best when you have multiple layers of security to protect your website, starting with the basics like using HTTPS and secure WordPress hosting.

Two-factor verification makes your WordPress login secure, but you can make it even more secure by password-protecting the WordPress admin directory. This means that users won’t be able to access your login page unless they first enter a username and password.

We hope this article helped you add 2-factor verification for WordPress login. You may also want to see our guide on how to get a free SSL certificate for your WordPress site or our expert pick of the best WordPress security plugins.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to ourÂ YouTube ChannelÂ for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us onÂ TwitterÂ and Facebook.

The post How to Add Two-Factor Authentication in WordPress (Free Method) first appeared on WPBeginner.
18.08.2023
7 Best URL Shorteners for WordPress to Track Links
Are you looking for a way to shorten your WordPress website links so you can track clicks when they’re shared?

If you have long and unreadable URLs on your website, then a URL shortener can reduce them to a few characters. This makes it easier to share them on any platform. You can also track how many times they’re clicked and more.

In this article, we will show you the best URL shorteners for WordPress to track links.

What is a URL Shortener and Why Use It on Your Site?

A URL shortener is a tool that helps convert long WordPress website links into short and shareable links. It simplifies complex URLs that are hard to read by reducing a few characters and turning them into small links.

When a user clicks the shortened URL, they’re redirected to the correct page. They use 301 redirects, which tell search engines that the link is permanent and not going anywhere. Using a 301 doesn’t affect your WordPress SEO.

Short URLs are really useful for sharing content on social media. Some social media platforms like Twitter offer a limited number of characters that you can use. If you have a lengthy link, then it can take up a lot of space.

Using a shortened URL helps save valuable character space that you can use to write compelling copy, get more clicks, and boost engagement. For example, on WPBeginner we use a custom short URL to share content on Twitter.

Besides that, you can use URL shorteners to convert affiliate links into more readable links.

Affiliate links are usually lengthy, hard to remember, and contain your affiliate ID or username. This makes them complex, and it looks something like this:

https://www.myaffiliatesite.com/products/?product_id=12345&affiliate=123345623456

You can convert them into shareable and branded links using a URL shortener. Some tools even let you cloak affiliate links and make them look more professional, like:

https://wpbeginner.com/refer/productname

The best part about using URL shortener tools is that they also track the number of clicks. This way, you can see which link gets the most clicks.

That said, let’s look at some of the best URL shorteners for your WordPress website.

1. Pretty Links

Pretty Links is the best WordPress URL shortener plugin and the most popular affiliate link management tool. It helps shrink long and complex links into shortened URLs with your brand name.

You can use the plugin for links outside your website. For instance, you’ll be able to cloak affiliate links and turn them into readable URLs. This makes it a great tool for creating shareable links for different platforms, like social media.

When shortening a URL, Pretty Links gives multiple options for redirection. You can select 302 and 307 temporary redirects, 301 permanent redirects, and more.

Using Pretty Links, you can manage all your shortened URLs from the WordPress dashboard. In the premium version, there are options to group links into categories and tags.

The plugin offers other features as well, like an auto-linking feature. You can add affiliate links for certain keywords and the plugin will automatically insert them in the content.

Pretty Links also helps track the number of clicks for each shortened URL. It shows a report inside the WordPress dashboard, displaying the browser, operating system, timestamp, host, URI, and other data for each link.

Other than that, the plugin also integrates with MonsterInsights. You can track affiliate link clicks in Google Analytics and better understand your users’ behavior.

Recommended For: Pretty Links is the best tool for anyone looking for a complete link management solution for their WordPress site. You can easily manage affiliate links, cloak and brand them, shorten any URL on your site, and track link clicks.

Pros:
- Beginner-friendly plugin for creating custom links
- Easily manage and organize your URLs from the WordPress dashboard
- Cloaks complex affiliates links
- Use the auto-linking feature to automatically add links to specific keywords
- Offers social sharing buttons to easily share short links
- Seamless integration with other plugins like MonsterInsights
Cons:
- It doesn’t offer an automatic link uncloaking feature for Amazon
- You cannot check if a link is broken before publishing it
Pricing: Pretty Links premium version prices start from $99.50 per year. However, there is also a free version of Pretty Links you can use to get started.

2. Bitly

Bitly is one of the most popular URL shorteners in the market. It helps you create short links, QR codes, and link-in-bio pages. The tool is very easy to use, and you get started for free.

To shorten a URL, simply enter the link, and Bitly will create a short link for you. In the free version, you will get a URL with a ‘bit.ly’ domain name, and it will look like this: https://bit.ly/3YqTCEH.

If you upgrade to the premium version, then you add a custom domain and remove Bitly branding from the links. At WPBeginner, we also use Bitly to create custom short URLs for our site.

Bitly makes it very easy to track individual links and get analytics inside your account dashboard. For instance, the tool will show the link clicks, the technology used by your users to click on the short URL, and the location from where you get the most clicks.

There is also offers Bitly’s WordPress plugin. It is a free plugin that lets you shorten a link for selected post types. You can also view the number of clicks from your dashboard for each shortened URL.

Recommended For: Bitly is perfect for free users who want to give link-shortening a try, as well as enterprises that want a robust link-shortening and tracking tool. You can easily create short links and QR codes for your business. Plus, it offers detailed analytics and reports for link clicks, QR code scans, country-level data, and more.

Pros:
- Create short and custom links in a few clicks
- View link click reports from your Bitly account dashboard
- Offers a free WordPress plugin
- Lets you create QR codes for links
- Offers 1 link-in bio page feature
- You can connect a custom domain with Bitly
Cons:
- The free version has limited features
- It uses Bitly branding in short links in the free plan
- You cannot schedule or auto-link URLs to keywords
Pricing: Bitly offers a free version that lets you create 10 short links and QR codes per month. However, there are paid plans that start from $8 per month.

3. ThirstyAffiliates

ThirstyAffiliates is the best link management plugin for WordPress that lets you cloak your affiliate links. You can turn long, unshareable affiliate links into beautiful short URLs that are easy to read.

We’ve been using ThirstyAffiliates on our websites, including WPBeginner for over 5 years.

The plugin lets you manage all your links from your WordPress dashboard. You can easily create branded links, add them to your content, and arrange and organize links into categories.

The plugin even tracks your links and shows reports inside the WordPress admin panel. You get to see full statistics of how your shortened links are performing and see top-performing affiliates.

ThirstyAffiliates also integrates with MonsterInsights, so you can track them in Google Analytics. It also tracks geolocation and shows which region you get the most clicks from.

ThirstyAffiliates is more than just a URL shortener. You can use it to auto-insert affiliate links in the content, import links, check links with 404 errors, schedule affiliate links, and more.

Recommended For: If you’re an affiliate marketer or a blogger using WordPress, then ThirstyAffiliates is for you. It’s very easy to use, and you can shorten any URL in just a few clicks. ThirstyAffiliates is also a great alternative to Pretty Links. You can see our comparison on Pretty Links vs ThirstyAffiliates for more details.

Pros:
- Very easy to use and shorten URLs
- It lets you choose a prefix for your links
- Easily manage all your links from a single place
- Allows automatic keyword linking
- Offers smart uncloaking feature for Amazon Associates links
- It automatically checks links for 404 errors
Cons:
- Dashboard reports are not that detailed
- It doesn’t integrate with eCommerce plugins like WooCommerce
- The free version is great but offers limited features
Pricing: ThristyAffiliates premium plans start from $79.50 per year. There is also a ThristyAffiliates free version you can use to get started.

4. URL Shortener by MyThemeShop

URL Shortener by MyThemeShop is a free WordPress plugin that helps create short links for your website. It is a beginner-friendly plugin that’s lightweight and won’t slow down your website.

You can easily create a short version of your URLs and share them on social media. The plugin also helps trim long links of external sources. This makes your links more readable and shareable.

URL Shortener by MyThemeShop offers multiple redirection types to choose from. It lets you select between 301, 302, and 307 reductions. You can manage all your short links from your WordPress admin panel and also organize them into different categories.

The best part is that it also tracks all your URLs and shows the number of clicks. This is really useful if you have affiliate links and want to see which affiliate is getting the most clicks and generating revenue.

Recommended For: If you’re just starting a new website and looking for a free WordPress plugin to shorten URLs and track them, then URL Shortener by MyThemeShop is the best choice. It lets you customize your short link, pick a redirection type, and offers multiple features for free.

Pros:
- User-friendly and lightweight plugin
- Offers auto-linking feature in the free plan
- Organize your links into categories
- Open short links in a new tab or window
- Add nofollow tags to your affiliate links
Cons:
- Click tracking report shows limited information
- Doesn’t integrate with analytics plugins like MonsterInsights
- You don’t get a link scheduler or broken link checker
Pricing: URL Shortener by MyThemeShop is available for free.

5. URL Shortify

URL Shortify is another free WordPress URL shortener plugin and is a great alternative to URL Shortener by MyThemeShop and Bitly’s WordPress plugin.

You can easily create short links from your WordPress dashboard, select redirection type and even group links into categories. The plugin also lets you enable the option to automatically add nofollow and sponsored tags to your links.

During our testing, what made URL Shortify stand out was its dashboard reports. It shows more details compared to other free options on your list.

For instance, you’ll see click history, top locations, referrers, devices, browsers, platforms, and more. The report also shows details of each click, so you know how your short URLs are performing.

Recommended For: URL Shortify is a good free solution for affiliate marketers, bloggers, podcasters, and anyone looking to manage links on their WordPress site. The biggest draw is for people who want detailed reports inside the WordPress admin area.

Pros:
- Easily customize your short links using your brand
- Automatically create short URLs for your posts and pages
- Manage and organize links from the WordPress dashboard
- Track link clicks and get details analytical reports
- Integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads
Cons:
- There is no broken link checker in the free version
- You cannot create QR codes in the free plan
Pricing: URL Shortify is a free WordPress plugin.

6. WP.me Shortlinks by Jetpack

WP.me Shortlinks is a URL shortener by Jetpack. It lets you create short URLs from the WordPress content editor, so you can easily share them on different platforms.

Jetpack is a plugin suite that offers different features. However, its core focus is on performance, security, and marketing.

You’ll need to manually activate the WP.me Shortlinks tools from Jetpack settings. Once that’s done, you can access it from the content editor by clicking the Jetpack icon and heading to the Shortlink option. The tool creates short links using the wp.me domain.

While the tool is straightforward to use, it doesn’t offer a lot of features that you’ll find in other plugins on our list.

For instance, you don’t get a dashboard to manage your short links, select redirection type, add your custom domain to short links, remove wp.me branding from links, and auto-link URLs to specific search terms.

You also don’t get built-in dashboard reports to see link click stats. You’ll need to manually set up link click tracking in Google Analytics.

Recommended For: WP.me is a great tool if you’re already using Jetpack on your WordPress site. This way, you can quickly shorten URLs from the content editor.

Pros:
- It comes prebuilt in the Jetpack plugin
- With Jetpack, you get a whole suite of plugins along with a URL shortener
- Easy to use and can be accessed from the content editor
- You can use it for free
Cons:
- It doesn’t offer a custom branding option for short links
- No option to select the redirection type
- You cannot set up auto-link to keywords
- There is no dashboard to manage and organize short URLs
- You don’t get built-in reports to track shortened URLs
Pricing: WP.me Shortlinks is available in the free version of Jetpack. However, there are also premium plans that start from $4.95 per month.

7. TinyURL

TinyURL is a URL shortener software you can use to create short links and QR codes. It is a great alternative if you don’t want to use a WordPress plugin or Bitly and just want to quickly condense long URLs.

The best part about the tool during our testing is that you can create unlimited short URLs in the free version. This makes a budget-friendly option for new websites and beginners. However, your links with TinyURL branding in the URL.

To add your own brand name in the links and access analytics, you’ll need to upgrade to the premium version. This will unlock reports where you can see URL click history, dashboard report, time chart of clicks over time, map of where people click your links, and more.

Recommended For: TinyURL is a budget-friendly option for businesses looking for a premium URL shortener. You can customize links using your domain or subdomain while tracking link clicks.

Pros:
- Very easy to use and create short URLs
- Short links don’t have an expiration date
- Easily manage your links from the TinyURL dashboard
- Affordable pricing plans
Cons:
- The free version has limited features and functionality
- No integration with WordPress plugins or analytical tools
- You cannot auto-link, auto-cloak, or schedule short links
- Analytical reports show basic information
Pricing: The base software is free to use. However, you’ll need a paid plan to remove TinyURL branding and view reports. The premium plans start from $9.99 per month (billed annually).

Which is the Best URL Shortener for WordPress?

After reviewing multiple plugins and tools, we recommend Pretty Links as the best URL shortener for WordPress.

It is packed with features and helps convert long and complex URLs into readable and shareable links. The plugin is super easy to set up and use.

You also get a handful of redirection types to choose from, use the auto-linking feature to automatically add links to your content, and manage all the short URLs from your WordPress dashboard.

Besides that, Pretty Links helps track link clicks. You can integrate it with MonsterInsights to track clicks in Google Analytics as well.

On the other hand, if you’re looking for an external tool that shortens links and also offers a WordPress plugin, then you can use Bitly.

FAQs about Best URL Shorteners

Here are some of the most common questions people have about URL shortener tools:

1. Which is the best free URL shortener?

From our testing, we recommend Pretty Links and Bitly as the best free URL shorteners. Pretty Links is great for WordPress sites looking to manage their affiliate links and track them. Bitly is great if you just want to shorten a few URLs.

2. Are URL shorteners good for SEO?

URL shorteners won’t impact your WordPress SEO and website visibility if they’re used wisely. Short links don’t pass the link juice entirely, so you shouldn’t use them as the main form of creating links for your website.

3. Do short URLs expire?

Some short URLs expire while others don’t. It usually depends on the URL shortener you’re using. For instance, custom links created using TinyURL don’t expire.

We hope this article helped you learn about the best URL shorteners for WordPress to track links. You may also want to see our guide on the best SEO plugins and tools for WordPress and the ultimate guide to boosting WordPress speed.

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The post 7 Best URL Shorteners for WordPress to Track Links first appeared on WPBeginner.
18.08.2023
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