Tag: Beginners Guide

How to Reduce Time to First Byte (TTFB) in WordPress â€“ Expert Tips
Do you want to improve your WordPress website’s performance and reduce time to first byte (TTFB)?

When optimizing a WordPress site’s load time, many people overlook the server side. Reducing TTFB (Time To First Byte) will help speed up your site and provide a better user experience.

In this article, we will show you how to reduce TTFB in WordPress.

To help you navigate this post, simply click the links below to jump ahead to your preferred section:
What is Time to First Byte (TTFB)?

TTFB, or time to first byte, is the time a server takes to respond to a request and load a web page in the user’s browser.

In simpler terms, TTFB measures the time between a user clicking on a web page and the browser first starts receiving a response from the website server.

The longer it takes for a server to send the first byte of data, the longer it takes a browser to display your website. Several factors go into calculating TTFB. For instance, it takes into account DNS lookup, TLS handshake, SSL connection, and more.

That said, let’s see why it is important to reduce TTFB.

Why Reduce TTFB in WordPress?

Time to first byte is one of the factors that can impact the overall speed of your WordPress site, and it is an important metric to keep an eye on.

TTFB tells the responsiveness of your site’s server, and reducing it will help you provide a better user experience. Your visitors won’t have to wait for web pages to load. In return, it will help boost your conversion, get more leads, and generate sales.

According to research, a 1 second delay in page load time can lead to a 7% drop in conversions, a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction, and an 11% loss in page views.

Besides that, improving the TTFB score can also boost your WordPress SEO.

Google uses what it calls Core Web Vitals to measure performance and overall user experience on a website.

TTFB is not a Core Web Vitals metric, but it can be used for diagnosis purposes. Since it measures how fast a web server responds, you can use TTFB to figure out if something is wrong and impacting the overall Core Web Vitals of your website.

That said, let’s look at different ways to measure time to first byte.

How to Check TTFB on Your Website

You can use different tools and software to check the time to first byte (TTFB) of your WordPress website.

Measure TTFB Using Google PageSpeed Insights

Google PageSpeed Insights is a free tool by Google that analyzes your page speed on mobile and desktop. It gives an overall rating out of 100 and measures Core Web Vitals along with other metrics, including time to first byte.

First, you’ll need to visit the Google PageSpeed Insights website and enter your website URL. After that, simply click the ‘Analyze’ button.

The tool will then analyze your website and show results.

You can then view the time to first byte (TTFB) score and other metrics.

Measure TTFB Using Google Chrome

You can also use your Google Chrome’s developer tools to view the time to first byte.

First, you can right-click on your webpage and go to the ‘Inspect’ option. Alternatively, you can also press Ctrl + Shift + I for Windows or Cmd + Opt + I for Mac on your keyboard to open inspect element tools.

Next, you can switch to the ‘Network’ tab.

After that, simply hover your mouse over the green bars under the Waterfall column.

You now see a popup with different metrics.

Go ahead and note the ‘Waiting for server response’ time, as this will show you the TTFB for your website.

Measure TTFB Using GTmetrix

Another way to measure the TTFB of your WordPress site is by using GTmetrix. It is a free tool that also measures your site speed.

Simply visit the GTmetrix website and enter your site URL. After that, go ahead and click the ‘Analyze’ button.

It will take a few minutes for the tool to analyze your site and show the results.

Next, you can switch to the ‘Waterfall’ tab to view the response time for your web page resources and elements. GTmetrix will show TTFB as ‘Waiting’ in the data.

Expert Tips to Reduce TTFB in WordPress

Now that you know how to measure TTFB, the next step is to lower it and improve the site’s performance.

Let’s look at different steps you can take to reduce time to first byte on your WordPress website.

1. Ensure WordPress, Plugins, and Themes Are Up to Date

When you’re optimizing your site for TTFB and improving overall performance, the easiest thing to do is make sure that you’re running the latest version of WordPress.

Each new WordPress version comes with performance improvements. This could mean optimizing the queries that run code in the database, resolving bugs that would slow down your site, and boosting the overall efficiency of your site.

You can learn more by following our guide on how to safely update WordPress.

Similarly, you should also ensure that WordPress plugins and themes are up to date. Just like WordPress, newer versions of plugins and themes can include performance optimization that can speed up your site.

Plus, you should also check if a plugin or theme is slowing down your website and increasing TTFB. You can measure TTFB and run a website speed test by first activating the plugin and then deactivating it to rule out any issues.

If you’re running older versions of plugins and themes and not sure how to update them, then please see our guide on how to properly update WordPress plugins and how to update WordPress themes without losing customization.

2. Update Your WordPress Site’s PHP Version

Updating the PHP version can also significantly improve your site’s performance and lower the time to first byte.

PHP is an open-source programming language on which WordPress is written. Each new version of PHP improves performance by making processes more efficient and reducing memory usage. This reduces the load on your website server when loading web pages.

Updating the PHP version also helps strengthen your WordPress security. It prevents hackers from exploiting an older PHP version and accessing your website.

You can follow our complete guide on how to update the PHP version in WordPress to learn more.

3. Use a Caching WordPress Plugin

Another simple way to reduce time to the first byte (TTFB) is by using a caching plugin for WordPress.

Caching stores a temporary copy of your web page after the first load that can be accessed quickly upon request. This speeds up the process, as WordPress won’t have to go through all the steps of generating a page. It also lowers server response time and lowers TTFB.

Most WordPress hosting providers offer caching with their hosting plans. However, you can also use standalone caching plugins for WordPress.

For instance, WP Rocket is one of the best caching plugins that is beginner-friendly to use. It automatically optimizes your site to improve performance and offers features like lazy image loading, DNS pre-fetching, and more.

You can also see our guide to improve WordPress speed and performance for more tips.

4. Add Content Delivery Network (CDN) to WordPress

Along with a caching plugin, you can also use a content delivery network (CDN) to reduce the TTFB of your WordPress site.

A CDN is a network of servers that delivers cached content from your websites to a user based on their geographic location.

This speeds up the process of displaying web pages to users that are located far away from your website server. People won’t have to wait for the page request to travel all the way to the server location. Instead, a CDN will instantly show a cached version of that page.

You can see our list of the best WordPress CDN services to choose the most suitable option for your business.

5. Optimize Your WordPress Database

You can also optimize your database and compress website files to lower the time to first byte and improve performance.

If your site’s database contains unnecessary information and hasn’t been cleaned in a while, then it can lower TTFB. For instance, trashed posts, post revisions, and spam comments can sit in the database and impact the TTFB.

You can manually delete these to clear the database or use a WordPress plugin to handle everything for you. To learn more, please see our guide on WordPress database management.

6. Switch to the Fastest Hosting Service

Choosing the right hosting provider for your WordPress website is important. A reputable hosting service is optimized for speed and ensures high performance.

At WPBeginner, we conducted a test to find the fastest hosting service. We used multiple third-party looks like Pingdom, Load Impact (k6), and Bitcatcha to test the performance of each provider.

The results revealed Hostinger to be the fastest hosting service, followed by DreamHost and WP Engine.

You can find all the details in our guide on the fastest WordPress hosting performance test.

FAQs About Time to First Byte (TTFB)

Here are some common questions our users have asked us about the time to first byte (TTFB).

What is a good TTFB?

According to Google Chrome developers, a good TTFB used to be under 0.8 seconds. However, this number depends on the content you have on your page. For instance, a static page would have a lower TTFB compared to a dynamic page.

What is included in TTFB?

TTFB measures the time it takes a user’s browser to receive the first byte of data from the website server. It includes multiple things like DNS lookup, TLS handshake, SSL connection, and more.

How is TTFB measured?

You can use different third-party tools like GTmetrix or Google PageSpeed Insights to measure TTFB. You can also use the dev tools in Google Chrome to view the ‘Waiting for server response’ time and check TTFB.

Why is my TTFB so high?

There can be several reasons for high TTFB. For instance, a slow website server, location of the server, slow DNS response time, content that has a lot of images and videos, and configuration issues can lead to a high TTFB.

We hope this article helped you learn how to reduce TTFB in WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to speed up your WooCommerce store and the most common WordPress errors.

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 Reduce Time to First Byte (TTFB) in WordPress â€“ Expert Tips first appeared on WPBeginner.
06.10.2023
How to Use Distraction Free Fullscreen Editor in WordPress
Do you want to use the distraction-free fullscreen editor in WordPress?

WordPress comes with a built-in distraction-free mode for writers. This feature hides unnecessary elements and gives you a fullscreen canvas to create content.

In this article, we will show you how to easily use the distraction-free fullscreen editor in WordPress.

Why Use the Distraction-Free Fullscreen Editor in WordPress?

Writing your blog posts is a creative process that requires attention to detail and concentration. However, many writers feel distracted by the on-screen elements of the WordPress writing interface, like buttons, columns, toolbars, and more.

When writing a post on your WordPress website, you can use the default distraction-free, spotlight, and fullscreen modes in the block editor for a clutter-free and clean writing interface.

Using these features can help you focus on your writing and improve productivity by removing distractions like the block panel, block menu, WordPress admin sidebar, and more.

As a writer, this can make the writing process a lot more enjoyable and relaxing for you.

That being said, let’s see how to easily use the distraction-free fullscreen editor in WordPress. We will cover methods for both the block and classic editor and you can use the quick links below to jump to the method you want to use:
How to Use the Distraction Free Fullscreen Editor in WordPress Block Editor

If you use the WordPress block editor to write your posts, then you can easily turn on the distraction-free mode by opening up a new or existing post in the editor.

Once you are there, simply click on the three dots icon on the top right corner of the screen.

This will open a prompt where you will notice that the fullscreen mode is already enabled by default.

If you uncheck this option, then the WordPress admin sidebar will be shown on the left side of the content editor.

However, we recommend leaving this setting as it is.

You can also enable the distraction-free mode by clicking on the three dots at the top.

Next, check the ‘Distraction free’ option from the dropdown menu.

Once you do that, the block panel settings on the right and the block menu settings on the left will automatically disappear from the screen.

You will now have a completely clean canvas to start writing your post.

When you are done writing and want to exit the distraction-free mode, you can also do that by simply hovering your mouse at the top.

This will display the menu at the top of the block editor, where you can click on the three-dot icon to open the dropdown menu. Then, deselect the ‘Distraction free’ option.

Now that you have learned how to enable the fullscreen and distraction-free modes in the WordPress Gutenberg editor, it’s time to activate Spotlight mode.

This mode only highlights the current block that you are working on and dims all other blocks. This allows you to easily focus on one block at a time.

To activate Spotlight mode, simply click the three-dot icon at the top right corner of the screen and select the ‘Spotlight mode’ option.

Once you do that, only the block that you are currently working on will be highlighted on the screen, while the rest will fade in the background.

For example, if you are writing a blog post and currently adding some screenshots or images, then only the Image block will be highlighted on the screen, while the Paragraph blocks will fade out.

You can now write your blog post without distractions in the WordPress block editor.

However, keep in mind that there is a toolbar that you will still see on the screen in distraction-free mode. This toolbar allows you to add new blocks, undo changes, and show an outline of your article.

Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ button to store your settings.

Now, the distraction-free settings that you have configured will automatically be implemented for all the posts and pages that you edit in the block editor.

How to Use the Distraction Free Fullscreen Editor in WordPress Classic Editor

If you are still using the old WordPress classic editor, then you can use this method to activate the distraction-free, fullscreen editor.

To do this, just open a new or existing post of your liking in the classic editor.

Then, click on the â€˜Distraction-free writing modeâ€™ button in your post menu bar.

WordPress will now convert the screen into a clutter-free, fullscreen editor.

The fullscreen editor has a minimalist layout. It has a menu bar on top of the screen with text formatting options and even lets you easily switch between the visual and text editors.

However, the fullscreen editor does not have a Publish button or any meta boxes to choose categories and tags.

Once you are done, you can easily exit the distraction-free mode by hovering your mouse on the left or right side of the screen.

On doing that, all the hidden settings and the WordPress dashboard will become visible.

Now, simply click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to store your post settings.

Bonus Tips for Using the WordPress Block Editor

Other than enabling the distraction-free mode, you can also use some other features in the block editor to improve your productivity.

You can use keyboard shortcuts to create content more quickly. For example, simply type / into the content editor, followed by the name of the block you want to use.

The block editor will then show you blocks that you can insert straight into your content by clicking on them.

You can also use the reusable blocks feature to save any content block and reuse it in other posts and pages on your website.

This can save you lots of time and effort.

To become a complete pro at using the block editor, you can see our complete Gutenberg tutorial.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use the distraction-free fullscreen editor in WordPress. You may also want to see our beginner’s guide on how to check grammar and spelling mistakes in WordPress and our expert picks for the best Gutenberg blocks plugins for 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 Distraction Free Fullscreen Editor in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.
02.10.2023
How to Make a Logo for Your Website (Simple Guide for Beginners)
Do you want to make a custom logo for your website?

Maybe you can’t afford a professional designer, but you are worried that your graphic design skills aren’t up to the task. Your logo is a very important part of your brand’s identity. You want it to not only look high quality but also communicate your brand’s identity and values.

In this article, we will show you how to make a logo for your website. We will go through several different solutions so you can pick the one that suits you best.

To help you easily navigate the post, you can click the links below to jump ahead to the section you want to read:
Why You Need to Create a Logo for Your Website

Many people around the world can recognize big-name brands from their logos. When you see the iconic Golden Arches of McDonald’s anywhere in the world, you instantly recognize the brand and know what will be on the menu there.

That’s the power of branding, and a logo plays the most important role in building that reputation.

Whether you are creating a blog, making a website, or starting an online store, having a unique logo makes your brand look legitimate. It helps you build trust, recognition, and promote your business.

Often, when users want to start working on an online business idea, they start by thinking of business names and go straight to designing logos.

But before you do that, you need to make sure that your brand name idea is not already registered by someone else. See our guide on how to check domain name availability.

Once you have ensured that your business name idea is available, make sure to go ahead and register your domain so that no one else takes it (trust us, this happens more often than you think).

After you have registered your domain name, you are ready to start designing your logo. We have some excellent free logo-maker tools for beginners.

Tips for Making a Custom Logo for Your Website

Creating a custom logo for your website requires some understanding of design. However, as a beginner, you can follow these best practices to make sure that your logo looks polished and professional:
- Keep your logo design simple and clean. This makes sure that your logo will look good even at a small size. Think how tiny the profile images are in your Facebook or Twitter feed.
- Use a transparent background for your logo. That way, you can put it anywhere, not just on a white area of your website.
- Get the highest quality file you can for your logo. You want it to look great in a large size or in print, too. You can copy it and make smaller versions for social media, blog posts, and website pages.
- Use your brand and website colors in your logo to help it harmonize with the rest of your website.
There are different types of logo designs commonly used by businesses. When making your own logo, you may want to experiment with some of these.

Wordmark Logo

A wordmark logo is a distinctive text-only logo. Your unique brand name set with specific fonts and colors can make an excellent logotype.

If you are making a custom logo for your WordPress website by yourself, this is a great option as it’s simple and straightforward.

Pictorial Mark Logo

A pictorial mark is usually a brand image using an illustration or icon to represent an organization.

Famous examples of this kind of logo include Apple, Nike, Audi, and more.

Combination of Both

These types of logos are the most common ones you will see around. They combine words or letters presented in an iconic layout.

Famous examples of such logos include Dell, Pizza Hut, Doritos, and more.

Choosing the Right Style for Your Logo

If you are making your own logo, then you will need to be realistic about your design skills first. Using a wordmark might seem very simple, but it needs to be unique so that you can easily register your logo as a trademark if needed.

You can also draw an icon to be used as your logo. However, you will need strong design skills to come up with a unique idea for your brand image.

For our own brands, we use a combination of both wordmarks and icons. For example, our sister company OptinMonster’s logo has a mascot placed on a wordmark.

Let’s take a look at a few different ways to create professional-looking logos for your websites (without hiring a designer).

1. Make a Logo Using Tailor Brands (Best for Customization)

Tailor Brands’ Logo Maker is easy and straightforward to use. You also get access to a lot of customization options when creating a custom logo for your website.

It’s one of the best logo makers and is free to use. However, note that you will need to pay to download your finished logo. The minimum you can pay is $9.99 for 1 month.

To begin, go to the Tailor Brands Logo Maker and type in the name of your company. Then, click the ‘Get Started’ button.

Next, Tailor Brands will launch a logo builder that asks a series of questions.

First, you will need to select what your brand is offering. For instance, is your brand selling physical goods, services, technology and software, original content, or other products?

Simply select an option and move to the next step.

After that, you will need to enter some details about your industry. You can start by selecting an industry from the dropdown menu and briefly explaining your business.

Next, Tailor Brands will ask what your biggest motivation is for starting a business.

You can select from the options and add more details.

After that, you will need to select which stage your website or brand is in right now.

For instance, it is just an idea, you are getting ready to launch, or it’s already in business?

In the next step, you can choose which service you’d like to focus on.

Go ahead and select the ‘Logo & Branding’ option.

After that, you’ll need to select what you need for your brand.

Simply select the ‘Logo’ option.

Next, you will need to choose how you discovered Tailor Brands.

You can select any option or simply click the ‘Skip’ button at the bottom.

Tailor Brands will now process the information and show you an option to create your custom logo.

Go ahead and click the ‘Create’ button.

Next, you will need to sign up for a free account.

You can use your Facebook or Google account or simply enter an email address and password to get started.

After creating an account, you can build a new logo.

First, you will need to choose the type of logo you’d like to create. Tailor Brands lets you choose an icon-based, name-based, or initial-based logo.

You can only select one option, although you can always restart the logo maker again if you want to try out other possibilities.

If you select ‘Icon Based’ here, then you will be prompted on the next screen to choose an icon type. You can pick a geometric shape or search for an icon.

For this tutorial, let’s select the ‘Search For Icon’ option.

Next, you can choose up to 5 icons for your logo. There is also an option at the top to search for different icons.

When you are done, simply click the ‘Next’ button at the bottom.

After that, you will need to select 3 styles for your logo.

You can click the ‘Next’ button after selecting the styles you love.

Once you have completed this process, you will see a short animation while your logo is being created.

Next, you will be able to see your logo.

You can click ‘Love it’ to be taken to the pricing plans, ‘Customize’ to start editing it, or you can scroll down the menu on the left-hand side for more logo options.

If you choose to customize your logo, then you can pick from different styles, fonts, layouts, and more.

As you select different options, the logo will update on the right.

There are also options to change the color palette and edit the shape of your logo.

Once you are happy with your logo, you can click the ‘Finish’ button.

A small window will now open where you can review your logo design.

Go ahead and click the ‘I’m Finished’ button.

Once your logo is ready, you will see a download option on the next screen.

You can click on the ‘Download’ button.

Next, you will see a popup asking you to upgrade to a premium plan to download the logo.

Clicking the ‘Upgrade’ button will take you to the pricing page, and you will be presented with a number of different pricing plans.

These plans give you access not just to your logo but also to graphic design and website creation tools. They could be a good option if you want access to things like stock photos.

If you just want the logo, then you can click the ‘1 Month’ tab and select the ‘Basic’ plan. You only need to make one payment for your logo to be yours to keep. You can cancel the plan straight after that.

2. Make a Custom Logo for Your Site Using Looka (Quick and Easy)

Looka is a quick and easy online graphic design tool that allows you to make a logo without any design skills. It was formerly known as Logojoy.

Like Tailor Brands, Looka’s tool is free to use, but you will need to pay to download your logo. Prices start from $20. You don’t get the same level of personalization as you get with Tailor Brands, but it’s a great alternative for creating custom logos.

To get started, simply visit the Looka website and enter your company name in the search box.

Once that’s done, click the ‘Get started’ button.

Next, you need to select your industry from the dropdown menu.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Continue’ button to move on to the next step.

You will then see a number of logos that have been automatically generated for you.

Go ahead and select a few logos you like as inspiration.

Next, you will need to choose some colors that you like. You can pick up to 3 colors and then click the ‘Continue’ button.

After that, Looka will ask you to enter a company and a slogan (optional).

Once you have entered this information, just click the ‘Continue’ button.

In the next step, you will need to select some symbol types for your logo.

For example, we chose different food-related symbols for our food blog logo.

Looka will now start to generate logos for you.

You will then see a bunch of variations that you can use for your website. Simply select a logo to further customize it.

After that, you will see the logo builder offered by Looka.

Using the drag-and-drop logo editor, you can adjust the font size, choose a transparent background, change the font family, add or change your icon, and more.

Feel free to edit the design as much as you like and share it with colleagues for a second opinion. Once you are happy, just click on the ‘Download’ button in the top right corner to purchase and download your logo.

Note that if you want a transparent version of your logo, then you will need to pay $65 for the Premium plan.

3. Create a Custom Logo Using Hatchful by Shopify (Free)

Shopify is a popular eCommerce platform. They also offer a free logo maker tool called Hatchful. It allows you to easily create beautiful logos for your website without any design skills.

Unlike Tailor Brands and Looka, you can download the logo free of cost. Plus, it offers different customization options and will guide you step by step through creating a logo.

First, you need to visit the Shopify Hatchful page and click on the ‘Get Started’ button.

Next, you need to choose your business type.

If you can’t find an exact match, then simply use the closest possible match.

After that, Hatchful will ask you to choose a visual style for your logo.

You need to select a style that matches your business website’s style, look, and industry.

Next, enter your business name and a slogan (optional).

You can skip this step if you want and move ahead.

After that, you will be asked to select where you plan to use the logo.

You can pick the ‘Online store or website’ option to continue.

Finally, the wizard will analyze your answers and show you several logo samples to choose from.

You can select any of these logos to further edit them.

This will launch a simple logo editor where you will see a live preview of your logo with editing tools in the left column.

You can edit the text, add an icon, add symbols, and change the background.

Once you are satisfied with your design, you can click the ‘Next’ button to download your logo files.

You will be asked to create a free account, and your logo files will be sent to your email address. The zip file will include not just your logo but a favicon or site icon and cover images for your social media profiles.

Bonus: Hire Someone to Make Your Website Logo

The online logo maker tools we have covered in this tutorial are made specifically for beginners. You can create a simple and elegant logo for your website using these tools, but they are still limited in design choices.

If you can afford it, the best option is to hire an expert graphic designer to make a logo for your website. There are several places where you can find freelance designers.

For example, you can use any of the popular online job marketplaces to hire a logo designer.

There are thousands of people offering graphic design services on these websites. How do you pick the right person for the job?

Sticking to these best practices can help you find the perfect candidate to make a logo for your business.
- Look for ratings, reviews, and the number of completed jobs on the designer’s profile. These are good indications of quality services provided to previous customers.
- Give a detailed brief to the designer about your specific design requirements.
- Set your own price for the logo, but keep in mind that a unique and creative design will cost more than a generic logo.
- Make sure that you get the original source files in vector file format. This will allow you to later resize or reuse your logo in other places like business cards, posters, t-shirts, and more.
We hope this article helped you learn how to make a logo for your website. You may also want to see our guide on how to add a certified logo to your business email and our expert picks of the best WordPress typography plugins to improve 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 Make a Logo for Your Website (Simple Guide for Beginners) first appeared on WPBeginner.
28.09.2023
How to Appear in Google Answer Boxes with Your WordPress Site
Do you want your articles to appear in Google answer boxes?

Google uses answer boxes to answer questions directly on the search results page. Getting featured in them can help you get more organic clicks and boost website traffic.

In this article, we will explain how to make your WordPress website’s content appear in Google answer boxes.

What Is a Google Answer Box?

The Google answer box is part of Google’s knowledge graph. It is an algorithm that tries to answer user’s questions right on the search page like a featured snippet, and it appears at the top of the page.

Google uses carousels, side boxes, lists, tables, and answer boxes to display the most relevant information at the top. This information is gathered from various sources, and the algorithm decides which results should be displayed inside an answer box.

According to research done by Advanced Web Ranking, answer boxes have an average click-through rate of 32.3%. This makes them extremely important for your WordPress SEO strategy.

How Google Displays Information in the Answer Box

The purpose of answer boxes is to offer instant information to users. This works particularly well when people are looking for factual data like public figures, distances, conversion rates, scores, and similar information.

If users get the exact information they need, then they can move on and search for something else. For many queries, Google can just display a sidebox from the web’s most reliable knowledge sources, like Wikipedia.

In a way, it might sound like Google is trying to keep all the traffic for itself. However, not all users are looking for information that Google’s knowledge graph can answer with accuracy.

If a user’s keywords require an opinionated, well-thought-out, or research-based answer, then Google relies on other web sources.

If you are among the top 10 results for a keyword, then you are already closer to appearing in a Google answer box.

Google answer box results change quite often, and you can easily appear as the best answer by simply improving your WordPress website content.

Let’s explore a number of content optimization steps that you can take to appear in the answer box. You can click the links below to jump to our different tips:
1. Add Short and Helpful Answers in Your Content

The purpose of answer boxes is to provide quick answers to users.

To help grab a Google answer box, you will want to make sure that your article answers a specific question as early in the article as possible. You also need to make your answer short, concise, and easy to understand.

You can also add a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section to your blog post and pages. This will allow you to answer as many questions as possible for a particular topic and increase your chances of getting featured in an answer box.

If you are using All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO), then it is super easy to add a FAQ section to your content. AIOSEO is the best SEO plugin for WordPress, and it automatically optimizes your site for featured snippets.

Another advantage of using AIOSEO is that it lets you easily add FAQ schema in WordPress. FAQ schema is a smart markup code that allows Google to identify a FAQ section in your content.

As a result, Google may reward you by listing your site in answer boxes, people also ask sections, and other rich results.

2. Include Keywords in the Form of Questions

It also helps to include your keywords in the form of a question followed by a short answer. After that, feel free to add as much detail to your answer as you want.

Adding more information will allow you to use the keyword throughout the article. You can even use the article to answer other questions your users may have about the same topic.

To find keywords that are in the form of a question, you can use any keyword research tool.

For instance, we recommend Semrush as it shows a lot of information about a search term. This includes questions about the topic, which you can include while writing the article.

Expert Tip: Looking for a free way to do keyword research? Our WPBeginner Keyword Generator tool can help you find hundreds of keyword ideas in just seconds.

To learn more, please follow our guide on how to do keyword research for your WordPress blog.

3. Use Lists, Tables, and Table of Contents

Users love properly formatted content because it helps them quickly get the information they need. You can publish informative content in a viral listicle format that is easier for visitors to consume and share.

For example, here’s how Google picked numbered bullets from OptinMonster’s exit-intent popup hacks article and showed it as an answer box / featured snippet in the search results.

Google understands that list and table formatting makes content easier to read and tends to highlight the websites that use this formatting.

This includes:
- Pages that use tables to list items
- How to articles that use step-by-step instructions
- Top lists that simply list items
- Lengthy articles that use a table of contents
- And more
This does not mean that you must always use one of these formats to write your articles. However, if using formatting can help your users get to the information quickly, then it’s a good idea to use it.

In other cases, Google will use descriptions from your list post and show them in answer boxes.

For example, Google picks small details from our article about WordPress form plugins and displays them in the search results.

4. Optimize Content With Data-Driven Decisions

Data is the most important thing you need if you want to create an effective content strategy. Without knowing information about your visitors, you won’t be able to write content that they want to read.

This is where Google Analytics comes in. Its detailed data helps you understand your audience and plan accordingly.

You will need MonsterInsights to properly track user engagement in WordPress. It is the best Google Analytics plugin on the market, and it will help you learn where your users are coming from and what they do while they are on your site.

These stats provide you with a clear picture of what’s already working on your website. You can then expand on it and make informed decisions for better SEO.

5. Optimize Your Page’s Meta Description

A meta description is a brief description explaining what your page is about. It is added in the <head> section of your site’s HTML. At times, Google will use it as an answer and show it in its answer boxes.

You can easily add meta descriptions to your articles by using the All in One SEO plugin. When you are in the content editor, simply scroll down to the AIOSEO Settings meta box and enter a meta description.

Make sure that your meta description includes your target keyword. It also needs to explain what questions or topics this particular page or post will be answering.

6. Follow SEO Best Practices

Apart from answering user questions, you also need to make sure that Google can find your content and understand it easily.

This means you still need to optimize your posts for SEO just like you would normally do:
- Include your keywords in the SEO title, description, and keywords.
- Add your focus keyword in the content and sub-headings in your article.
- Properly use categories and tags.
- Make sure there is enough content to cover the topic.
- Make internal linking a habit and link to your other posts and pages.
- Add title and alt tags to your images.
For more details, you can see our complete guide on how to optimize your WordPress blog posts for SEO.

Are Google Answer Boxes Worth the Effort?

Yes, absolutely. As we mentioned earlier, the click-through rate for results in the answer box is way higher than other content. Depending on the topic and your content, it could go as high as 51.2%.

However, we do not recommend you overthink it. The purpose of answer boxes is to help users find information quickly. If you focus on answering questions through helpful and informative content, then search results will start picking up your content.

Google’s search features are always changing. There are no shortcuts that will help you win forever. But building your website as an authority/reliable source of useful information will help you win in the long run.

We hope this article helped you learn how to appear in Google answer boxes. You may also want to see our list of the best WordPress SEO plugins and our guide on how to use Google Trends to improve SEO and grow your business.

The post How to Appear in Google Answer Boxes with Your WordPress Site first appeared on WPBeginner.
22.09.2023
WordPress Layout Terms Demystified (Quick Reference)
Are you trying to understand what WordPress layout terms mean?

Many beginners come across WordPress layout terms and vocabulary when working on their websites. These are words used by designers and developers, and average users may find them confusing.

In this guide, we will explain some of the most commonly used WordPress layout terms. This will help you understand the lingo used for WordPress website layouts and work on your website like a total pro.

Why Learn WordPress Layout Terms?

WordPress themes control the appearance of your website. Depending on which theme you are using, you can customize it in multiple ways.

For themes that support the full site editor, you can customize them by visiting the Appearance Â» Editor page.

If you use a classic theme (a theme that doesn’t currently support the full site editor), then you can customize it by visiting the Appearance Â» Customize page.

This will launch the theme customizer, which looks like this:

All top WordPress themes have options to modify your website design using the theme customizer or the full site editor, but your options are limited depending on the theme.

You can use WordPress page builder plugins like SeedProd for even more flexibility.

SeedProd allows you to easily create custom layouts using simple drag-and-drop tools without writing any code.

It also has dozens of templates you can use as starting points. Plus, SeedProd supports WooCommerce, which also helps you create layouts for your online store.

However, as you work on creating a layout for your website, you might come across web design terms that you may not be familiar with.

Learning these website layout terms will help you to understand the building blocks of WordPress website design so you can more easily create any design you can imagine.

Let’s demystify these common WordPress layout terms to learn what they mean and how to use them. Here is a quick list of the concepts and terms we will explain in this article:
Understanding a Typical WordPress Layout

Most websites use a very familiar layout. It looks something like this:

The top area of a website is called the header, followed by a content area, and then a footer at the bottom of the page.

Depending on which page a user views, the layout might differ.

For instance, a WordPress blog page may include a sidebar next to the content area.

This basic layout is filled with other elements, which we will discuss later in this article.

Let’s first talk about each of these main sections in more detail.

Header in WordPress Layout

The header in a WordPress layout is the top section of any page. It usually contains your website logo, title, navigation menus, a search form, and other important elements you want users to see first.

Here is how the header section looks on WPBeginner.

Custom Header in WordPress Themes

Many popular WordPress themes come with additional features to customize the header area of your WordPress layout. This feature is sometimes called a custom header.

If you use a theme with site editor support, then you can change the header by clicking on the header area in the site editor.

From here, you can customize the header to your liking. You can change colors, the navigation menu, and add blocks like search, site logo, buttons, and more.

For classic themes, you can find the custom header settings in the ‘Header Options’ tab.

Depending on your WordPress theme, you may be able to add a full-width image to the header with a tagline or a call-to-action button.

Some WordPress themes may allow you to change the logo’s position, navigation menus, and header images.

Custom Background in WordPress

Some WordPress themes also allow you to easily change the background color or use a background image for your website.

If you use a theme with site editor support, then you can change the background color by going to ‘Styles’ in the full site editor.

Simply choose the ‘Colors’ option from the Styles panel.

After that, you can click on ‘Background’ to pick a background color for your website.

For classic themes, the settings will depend on your theme features.

Many classic themes come with custom background support. You can find these settings in the ‘Colors’ or ‘Background Image’ options in the theme customizer.

Often, these options are buried inside other tabs, and you will have to look around to find them.

For more details, you can see our guides to adding a background image in WordPress or changing the background color in WordPress.

Content Area in WordPress

The content area comes right after the header part of a layout. This is where the main content of the page is displayed.

For a custom homepage layout, the content section may include a call to action followed by services or products, testimonials, and other important information.

Online stores typically use this area to promote ongoing sales, featured products, best-selling items, and more.

A WordPress blog may use a content-heavy layout with excerpts and images from recent articles, a newsletter sign-up form, and more.

Here is how WPBeginner’s homepage layout looks. It is a content-rich website, so the recent articles take up the whole content area.

By default, WordPress uses a blog layout showing your most recent blog posts as the front page of your website.

However, you can change that setting and use any page as the front page of your website.

Just go to the Settings Â» Reading page and choose ‘A static page’ under the ‘Your homepage displays’ option.

After that, you can choose a page you want to use for your homepage and another for your blog page.

For more details, see our guide on creating a separate page for your blog posts in WordPress.

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

Now, you can edit the page you picked as your homepage and create a custom homepage layout.

Sidebars in WordPress Layouts

As the name suggests, sidebars typically appear on the content area’s right or left side.

In WordPress, sidebars are also widget-ready areas. This means that you can add widgets to this area and display elements like archives, newsletter sign-up forms, categories, popular content, and more.

To edit your sidebars, you need to go to the Appearance Â» Widgets page. From here, you can add blocks to your sidebars and edit them to your liking.

However, not all WordPress themes come with widget-ready areas or sidebars.

If you cannot see a Widgets menu under Appearance, then your theme doesn’t support sidebars or have any widget-ready areas.

Footer Area in WordPress Layouts

The footer area appears below the content area at the bottom of a page layout.

If you use a WordPress theme with site editor support, then you can edit the footer area by clicking on it.

You can also edit the footer area by clicking on ‘Patterns’ in the site editor navigation. The footer area will appear under the ‘Template Parts’ menu item.

While editing the footer area in the site editor, you can add any blocks to display different elements.

For instance, you can add a list of your most important pages, show a navigation menu, add a contact form, and more.

If you are using a classic theme, then there is a good chance that your theme comes with a footer widget area.

Simply go to the Appearance Â» Widgets page and look for a footer widget area.

Like the site editor, you can use blocks to add different elements to footer widgets in your theme.

Wondering what to put in the footer of your site? See our checklist of things to add to the footer of your WordPress site.

Other Components of a WordPress Layout

Next, we will look at some of the components of a WordPress layout that you can add to your header, content, sidebar, or footer sections. These are the building blocks that help you make a functioning layout.

Navigation Menus in WordPress

Navigation menus or menus are horizontal or vertical lists of links. Most websites have at least one primary navigation menu in the header area.

However, some websites use multiple navigation menus in the header area.

WordPress also allows you to display navigation menus as a widget. These menus appear as a vertical list of links, and you can place them in sidebars or the footer widget areas.

For more details, see our guide on how to add navigation menus in WordPress.

Using Widgets in a WordPress Layout

If your WordPress theme supports widgets, then you can use them to rearrange your website layout. Plus, with block widgets, your theme can now also use blocks in the widget areas.

You can add widgets to your WordPress website’s widget-ready areas or sidebars. Some WordPress themes come with multiple widget-ready areas to add widgets or blocks.

WordPress comes with several built-in widgets and blocks that you can use. Many popular WordPress plugins also provide their own widgets and blocks.

For example, you can use widgets/blocks to add popular post lists, a contact form, banner ads, social media feeds, and more.

You can see all these widgets by visiting the Appearance Â» Widgets page in the WordPress admin area.

Note: You may not see the ‘Widgets’ page in the WordPress admin area if your theme has no widget areas.

For more details, see our guide on how to add and use widgets in WordPress.

Using Blocks in WordPress Layouts

WordPress uses the block editor to write content, manage widget areas, or edit your website. It uses blocks for all common web elements, which is why it’s called the block editor.

This editor is designed to help you create beautiful layouts for your WordPress posts and pages using blocks.

There are different types of blocks for the most common elements of any type of content. For instance, you can add paragraphs, headings, images, galleries, video embeds, columns, tables, and more.

This allows you to create different layouts for each post or page on your WordPress website without installing a plugin or changing your theme.

Featured Images in WordPress Layouts

If you visit the homepage of WPBeginner, you will notice thumbnail images next to each article title. These are called featured images.

WordPress allows you to set featured images for your posts and pages. Your WordPress theme then uses these images in different areas of your website.

To learn more, see our guide on how to add featured images in WordPress.

Cover Images in WordPress

A cover image is usually a wide image used as a cover photo for a new section in a blog post or page.

You can add it to your post or page using the Cover block. The Cover block also allows you to use a background color instead of an image.

To learn more, see our detailed guide on the difference between the cover image vs. the featured image.

Using Patterns in WordPress Editor

Patterns are collections of pre-arranged blocks that you can use to quickly add different sections to your layouts.

You can use patterns for writing content and editing posts and pages.

Similarly, you can use patterns in the full site editor in your WordPress theme and website layout.

Simply launch the site editor, and you will see patterns in the ‘Design’ options.

Each pattern is a collection of blocks arranged in a particular order for commonly used layouts.

Your WordPress theme may come with several patterns. You can also find more patterns in the WordPress Patterns Library.

Want to save your design sections? You save your own block arrangements as patterns and reuse them later.

It is a relatively new feature, so a limited set of patterns is available. However, more options will become available as more WordPress themes and plugins add their patterns to the block editor.

To learn more, you can see our guide on using block patterns in WordPress.

Adding Buttons in WordPress Layout

Buttons play an important role in modern website design and layouts. They provide users with a clear call to action, which helps you grow your business and conversions.

The default block editor comes with a Button block that you can use in any WordPress post or page or inside the site editor.

Your WordPress theme may also come with a call to action button settings in the theme customizer. Most popular WordPress page builder plugins also come with buttons in various styles that you can use.

You can even add click-to-call buttons in WordPress with a plugin.

For more details, see our guide on how to add call-to-action buttons in WordPress.

Using Custom CSS in WordPress Layouts

CSS is the styling language used to create websites. Your WordPress theme and plugins come with their own CSS rules, but from time to time, you may want to change small things like text color, font size, or background color.

This is where custom CSS comes in. WordPress makes it easier for you to save your own custom CSS rules.

If you use a theme with the site editor support, then just go to the Appearance Â» Editor page to launch the site editor.

Click on any template to start editing, and then click on the ‘Style’ button in the top-right corner of the screen.

This will show the ‘Styles’ panel in the right column. From here, scroll down and click on the ‘Additional CSS’ tab.

This will show a text box where you can add your additional CSS code.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save’ button to store your changes when you are finished.

If you are using a classic WordPress theme, then you can add your custom CSS in the theme customizer.

Simply go to the Appearance Â» Customize page and then click on the ‘Additional CSS’ tab.

From here, you can add your custom CSS rules, and you will be able to see them applied in the live preview.

Adding Custom CSS in WordPress Using a Plugin

Normally, if you use the default methods, then your custom CSS code is saved with your theme settings. Changing your theme will disable your custom CSS code.

A better way to store your custom CSS in WordPress is by using the WPCode plugin. It is the best WordPress code snippet plugin that allows you to easily add custom code snippets without breaking your site.

First, you need to install and activate the WPCode plugin. For details, see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go to the Code Snippets Â» + Add New from the WordPress admin dashboard.

Then, hover over the ‘Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ option in the code snippets library and click the ‘Use snippet’ button.

Next, at the top of the page, add a title for your custom CSS snippet. This can be anything that helps you identify the code.

After that, write or paste your custom CSS into the ‘Code Preview’ box and set the ‘Code Type’ by choosing the ‘CSS Snippet’ option from the dropdown menu.

Then, scroll down to the ‘Insertion’ section and select the ‘Auto-Insert’ method if you want to execute the code across your entire WordPress website.

You can choose the’ Shortcode’ method if you only want to execute the code on specific pages or posts.

Finally, go back to the top of the page, toggle the switch to â€˜Activeâ€™, and then click on the â€˜Save Snippetâ€™ button.

This will save your custom CSS code snippet.

For more on this topic, see our full guide on how to add custom CSS in WordPress.

Layout Terms in WordPress Page Builders

The easiest way to build custom WordPress layouts for your landing pages is by using a WordPress page builder.

We recommend using SeedProd. It is the most beginner-friendly WordPress page builder plugin on the market.

Other page builders use similar terms for common tools and features.

Using Templates in WordPress Page Builders

Templates are the quickest way to create a web page layout. All popular page builder plugins come with a bunch of ready-to-use templates that you can use as a starting point.

For instance, SeedProd has templates for different types of pages that you may need, including landing pages, sales pages, 404 pages, coming soon pages, and more.

Modules and Blocks in WordPress Page Builders

Like the blocks in the default WordPress editor, page builder plugins also use blocks.

Some page builders may call them modules or elements, but they are essentially the same thing.

However, page builder plugins come with more blocks than the default editor. For instance, SeedProd includes blocks for testimonials, WooCommerce blocks, Google Maps, contact forms, Facebook embeds, and more.

You can use blocks to create your own layouts, move them around, and play around to figure out what works best for your business.

Using Sections in Your WordPress Layouts

Similar to the ‘Patterns’ feature in the default editor, a Section is a set of blocks grouped to instantly create common areas of a website.

For instance, you can typically use a header section, hero image, pricing tables, and more.

Different WordPress page builder plugins may use different terms for them. For instance, in SeedProd, they are called sections, and Beaver Builder calls them saved rows and columns.

We hope this article helped you learn about the terms used in WordPress layouts. You may also want to check out our guide on how to learn WordPress for free in a week or our comparison of the best WordPress hosting companies.

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 WordPress Layout Terms Demystified (Quick Reference) first appeared on WPBeginner.
20.09.2023
How to Host Multiple Websites on One Server (Beginnerâ€™s Guide)

Do you want to host multiple WordPress websites on a single server?

You can easily manage multiple domains from a single place by hosting them on one server. Plus, it helps save costs as you won’t need to purchase separate servers for each website.

In this article, we will show you how to host multiple websites on one server.

Why Host Multiple Websites on One Server?

If you’re planning on expanding your business from one website to more, then it’s a feasible option to host them on a single server.

That’s because it is easier to manage them from a single place. It can be time-consuming and inconvenient to log in and out of multiple WordPress websites on different servers. If all your websites are on one server, then you can simply switch between them from the same dashboard.

Hosting multiple sites on a single server will also help save and be more economical for your business.

Many hosting providers offer dedicated hosting where you have full control over the server and allow you to set up more than 1 website.

Instead of purchasing individual hosting plans for each site, you can choose a plan that allows multiple WordPress sites on one server. This will also allow you to fully utilize your server resources.

That said, let’s see how you can host multiple websites on one server.

Select a Hosting Service and Buy Domains

Before you can add any website to a server, the first step is to purchase a hosting service and domain names for your websites.

Choosing a WordPress Hosting Provider

There are many services to choose from, but we recommend Hostinger. It is a fast-growing web hosting provider that offers different types of hosting options.

For instance, you can get premium shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, cloud hosting, managed hosting, and more.

In the Hostinger WordPress Starter plan, you can add up to 100 websites, get free email, an SSL certificate, unlimited bandwidth, managed WordPress, and more. You also get 1 free domain name, but you’ll need to purchase other domains.

The best part is that WPBeginner users can get up to 81% OFF on WordPress hosting plans. Simply click the link below to claim the offer.

â†’ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Hostinger Offer â†

Another advantage of using Hostinger WordPress plans is that WordPress comes pre-installed. You don’t have to manually install WordPress for your websites.

If you’re looking for alternatives, then you can also use Bluehost or SiteGround to add multiple sites to one server.

Purchasing Domain Names for Your Website

After choosing a web hosting platform, the next step is to purchase domain names that you’ll need to host on a server.

Hostinger lets you buy a new domain or transfer an existing domain. To purchase a domain, simply go to the ‘Domains’ tab from your Hostinger dashboard.

From here, simply select the ‘Get a new domain’ option.

Next, you can search for a domain name.

Go ahead and enter a keyword or brand name in the search bar.

From here, you’ll see a list of URL options along with different domain extensions and prices.

Simply select an option you want and click the ‘Buy domain’ button.

Next, a popup will open with different billing periods for your domain name.

Go ahead and choose a billing period.

After that, you can complete the checkout process by choosing a payment method and purchasing the domain name.

You can repeat this process to purchase as many additional domains as you’d like.

Alternative Method: If you don’t want to buy a domain from Hostinger, then there are many domain registrars that allow you to register a domain name with ease. For instance, you can use Domain.com as it offers top-level extensions, an easy domain registration process, and a bunch of features.

Adding Multiple WordPress Sites to One Server

After selecting a hosting provider and buying domain names, you can add multiple sites to one server.

From your Hostinger dashboard, you can go to the ‘Websites’ tab and click on the + Create or migrate a website option.

Next, Hostinger will walk you through the process of creating a new website on the same server.

For instance, you can select a website type. This includes an online store, blog, business, portfolio, and other types.

After that, you’ll need to select whether you’d like to create or migrate a website.

If you already have a website on another hosting platform, then you can transfer it to Hostinger. Simply select the ‘Migrate my website’ option and follow the steps.

For this tutorial, we will select the ‘Create a new website’ option.

Next, you can select a platform to build a new website. Hostinger will offer 2 methods, where you can use WordPress with artificial intelligence (AI) or use Hostinger’s website builder with AI to create a site.

Go ahead and choose the ‘WordPress with AI’ option.

From here, you’ll need to enter login details for your account.

Simply choose a language, select an administrator email, enter a password, and click the ‘Continue’ button.

In the next step, Hositnger will ask you to add WordPress plugins to your site.

You can simply select the plugins you want to install and click the ‘Continue’ button.

After that, you will need to select a website design.

Hostinger will load the default theme, but you can click the ‘Browse more templates’ option to view more designs.

From here, you can choose a different theme for your website.

You can also click the ‘Show More’ button at the bottom to load more templates.

Once you’re done, simply choose a design and click the ‘Select’ button.

Next, Hostinger will ask you to enter a brand name and a description of your business.

It uses ChatGPT to generate a few pieces of content for your website. Once you are done, simply click the ‘Continue’ button.

You can also skip this step by entering a name and brief description and then clicking the ‘Skip, I will write content later’ option at the bottom.

After that, you’ll need to enter a name for your website. Hostinger will show 2 options, you can either select the ‘buy a domain or ‘use an existing domain’ option.

If you haven’t purchased a domain name yet, then you can select the ‘Buy a Domain’ option and get one with Hostinger.

However, if you already have multiple domains on another provider, then you can select the ‘Use an Existing Domain’ option.

For this tutorial, let’s choose the ‘Use an Existing Domain’ option.

Next, you will need to enter the domain name and click the ‘Continue’ button.

A popup window will now open with details for pointing the domain to Hostinger nameservers.

You can see your domain’s existing nameservers and the required nameservers you’d need to change in the domain registration service. The instructions will vary depending on the domain registrar you’re using.

If you need help with domain transfer, then Hostinger offers step-by-step guides and documentation. You can also reach out to their support for further assistance.

Note: You’ll also need to ensure that the domain you’re transferring is not locked by the current registrar and that 60 days have passed since initial registration.

After noting down the nameservers, you can click the ‘Continue’ button.

Hostinger will then start to set up your website. It will take a few minutes for the setup to complete.

The final step is to click the ‘Connect’ button under the Connect Your Domain option after you’ve set nameservers in your domain registrar.

Once connected, you can view your website from the Hostinger dashboard.

Simply visit the ‘Websites’ tab to see your newly added site.

You can now repeat these steps and click the ‘+ Create or migrate a website’ option to add as many websites as you want to a single server.

Bonus: How to Create More Sites Using WordPress Multisite

A WordPress multisite allows you to run and manage multiple websites from a single WordPress installation. You’ll see multisite networks used by large corporations that need separate domains for each department, universities and schools, news outlets, online businesses, and more.

There is a slight difference between hosting multiple sites on a single server and a WordPress multisite.

In a multisite, you have the same parent domain (example.com), and the new sites are subdomains (blog.example.com). They can share plugins, users, and other elements based on your settings.

On the other hand, hosting multiple sites on a single server means you have different domain names for each website. They’re all completely separate from one another.

You can easily set up a WordPress multisite using any web hosting service, including Hostinger. Once it’s set up, you’ll be able to add multiple sites to the network and manage them from the same dashboard on one server.

To learn more, please see our guide on how to install and setup a WordPress multisite network.

We hope this article helped you learn how to host multiple websites on one server. You may also want to see our guide on how much does it cost to build a WordPress website and the best GoDaddy alternatives.

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 Host Multiple Websites on One Server (Beginnerâ€™s Guide) first appeared on WPBeginner.

08.09.2023
Where Is php.ini in WordPress? (& How to Edit This File)
Are you wondering where the php.ini file is located on your website?

Php.ini is a critical file in your WordPress installation. You’ll often need to edit it for better functionality and performance of your website. However, many website owners don’t know where it is located.

In this article, we’ll show you where is php.ini in WordPress and how to edit this file.

To help you navigate the post, you can click the links below to jump to any section you’re interested in.
What is php.ini file in WordPress?

The php.ini file is a default configuration file for PHP on your WordPress site. PHP is a scripting and programming language on which WordPress is written.

It’s used on the server side of things, which means it runs on your web hosting server. Through PHP, WordPress is able to display your blog posts, products, media content, and more.

The php.ini file configures how PHP works and can have a huge impact on your website’s functionality. Whenever PHP runs on your site, it will look for this file.

That said, let’s see why and when you’ll need to edit the file on your website.

Why Do You Need to Edit php.ini File in WordPress?

The php.ini file is very important for your site’s performance and functionality. This means you can edit it to ensure your website works smoothly or resolve any errors.

For instance, editing the php.ini file allows you to increase the maximum file upload size and resource limits.

If you have a photography website or a site that requires a lot of videos and images, then you might encounter an error ‘uploaded file exceeds the upload_max_filesize’ message.

Increasing the upload size in the php.ini file will help resolve this error and allow you to easily upload larger media files. Plus, you can also increase the available memory to accommodate long blog posts with lots of images.

Similarly, the php.ini file lets you edit the file timeout settings. If a file takes longer to process, then your site can timeout and stop processing the request. To prevent this from happening, you can increase the number of seconds before timeout through the php.ini file.

Lastly, you’ll also be able to enable or disable file extensions in PHP by editing the file. This is really useful if you see a ‘Your PHP installation appears to be missing the MySQL extension’ error on your site. It helps fix this error and resolve issues when establishing a database connection.

Now, let’s look at where the php.ini file is located in WordPress.

Finding the php.ini File Location in WordPress

There are several ways you can locate and view the php.ini file.

You can use your hosting service’s cPanel, a plugin, or an FTP client to access your website files and folders.

1. Use cPanel to Locate the php.ini File

You can use the cPanel provided by your WordPress hosting provider and access the File Manager to locate the file. This method is pretty straightforward, and you don’t need to edit any code.

For this tutorial, we will use Bluehost to access the cPanel. If you’re using another hosting service, then the steps may vary.

First, you’ll need to log in to your Bluehost account. From here, simply click the ‘Advanced’ option in the left panel.

On the next screen, you’ll see the cPanel of your website.

Simply scroll down to the Files section and click the File Manager option.

After that, you’ll see all the folders and files of your WordPress website.

From the left panel, you can navigate to the ‘public_html’ folder. Next, you should see files in the folder on your right. You can scroll down and locate the ‘php.ini’ file.

To download the file for editing, you can simply right-click the php.ini file and save it on your computer.

2. Locate the php.ini File using a File Manager Plugin

Another way of finding out where is the php.ini file in WordPress is by using a plugin like WP File Manager.

It is a free WordPress plugin that lets you edit, download, delete, and organize your files and folders directly from the WordPress dashboard. You don’t have to use an FTP client or cPanel to access your site’s files.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the WP File Manager plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can head to WP File Manager from your WordPress admin panel.

Next, you’ll need to select the ‘public_html’ folder from the panel on the left. After that, you can scroll down and navigate to the ‘php.ini’ file.

Once you’ve located the file, simply right-click to download it onto your computer.

3. Finding php.ini Path in WordPress using the phpinfo.php File

You can also find the php.ini file by creating a phpinfo.php file and placing it in the root directory of your WordPress installation.

This is a slightly advanced method and is recommended for people who know how to use an FTP client and access the root directory of a website.

First, you’ll need to create a new text editor file. You can use Notepad, Bracket, Sublime Text, or any similar software to create one. In the file, ensure that you enter the following code:
```
<?PHP phpinfo(); ?>
```
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Next, you’ll need to save the file and name it phpinfo.php. You can use any other name, but make sure that there is ‘.php’ at the end.

After that, you will need to use an FTP client to access the root directory of your website and upload the file. Simply drag the phpinfo.php file from the left panel and drop it into your site’s root directory.

If you need help, then please see our guide on how to use FTP to upload files to WordPress.

Next, you will need to enter the following web address in your browser:
```
www.example.com/phpinfo.php
```
Just make sure that you replace the ‘example.com’ with your domain name.

From here, you’ll see details about PHP installation on your site and the path for locating the php.ini file.

To find the path of the file, you can look for the ‘Configuration File Path’ or ‘Loaded Configuration File’ fields.

You’ll see the path for the php.ini file in either one of the fields.

Once you know the path, you can access your site’s files using an FTP client.

From there, simply go to the path you just discovered and download the php.ini file.

Editing the php.ini File in WordPress

Now that you know the location of the php.ini file, the next step is to download and edit it.

Go ahead and open the file in Notepad or any other text editor.

Next, you can edit the file to improve your site’s performance. Here are a few common configurations you can make in the php.ini file:
- max_excecution_time – This is the time needed to run commands and execute scripts. You can increase the default time of 60 to a higher number if you’re uploading large files to the server.
- memory_limit – It relates to the memory needed to upload files and execute commands. Editing the memory limit will help you accommodate long content and lots of images. By default, it is set to 256M, but you can increase the memory limit.
- upload_max_filesize – Editing this option allows you to upload large media files and increase the limit.
- post_max_size – If your blog posts contain a lot of images and videos, then the size of the post will increase. To avoid any errors, you can increase the post_max_size to accommodate more extensive articles.
Once you’ve made these changes to the php.ini file, you can simply upload it back to your server in the same location using the cPanel, an FTP client, or the file manager plugin.

We hope this article helped you learn where is php.ini in WordPress and how to edit it. You may also want to see our guide on the most common WordPress errors and the best WordPress 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 Where Is php.ini in WordPress? (& How to Edit This File) first appeared on WPBeginner.
05.09.2023
How to Code a Website (Complete Beginnerâ€™s Guide)
Do you want to learn how to code a website?

Most website code contains HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Learning these programming languages requires hours of studying and practice. The good news is that there are some excellent tools that let you create any type of website (without writing code).

In this comprehensive guide, we will cover how to code a website using drag-and-drop tools that create all the code for you. We will share how to learn the code fundamentals for those who want to code a website from scratch so you can do just that.

Website Builders vs. Coding a Website From Scratch

In the early days of the internet, building a website was complicated. That’s because developers had to code a website from scratch, which would take hours, if not weeks.

However, those days are now behind us.

Over 62.9% of all websites on the internet are built on a website framework, so most developers don’t have to know how to build a website from scratch anymore.

Most developers now use WordPress and other CMS platforms (website builder frameworks) to speed up website building.

In 95% of cases, you can build a website with website builders or no-code solutions, and it will be just as good as writing code from scratch.

Pros and Cons of Using a Website Builder

Here are some of the benefits of using a website builder:
- It is easy to use, even for beginners.
- You don’t need to invest time and money in learning web development.
- It saves you time, which you can then spend on growing your business.
- Easily build eCommerce, membership, and business websites without spending a fortune.
However, there are a few drawbacks to using a website builder:
- Your website could have unnecessary features that could slow it down.
- You may not need CMS capabilities for a project but will still have to maintain the software updates and backups.
Pros and Cons of Writing Code From Scratch

Here are some benefits of writing code all by yourself from scratch:
- Your website will only have the code it needs, which allows it to load faster.
- You won’t need to maintain software updates.
- You will get valuable programming skills that may lead to new WordPress career opportunities.
However, you will have to compare these advantages with the following downsides:
- You will spend hours and days learning to code in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Generating content dynamically will be difficult.
- Adding and updating content will require editing multiple files.
- You can’t easily share access to your website without giving full control to someone else.
- If you hire a developer to write the code for you, then it will be expensive and not very cost-effective.
Since time is your most valuable asset, we will show you the fastest ways to code a website using tools that do the code writing for you (methods 1 and 2 will cover this).

In method 3, we will share resources on how to make a website from scratch. This is great for students who want to learn programming.

With that said, let’s look at how to code a website. You can use the quick links below to jump to the method you want to use:
1. Code a Custom Website With WordPress

WordPress is the most popular website builder platform. In fact, according to our CMS market share report, WordPress powers over 43% of all websites on the internet.

It has multiple tools that let you create a custom website from scratch without learning to code.

Our #1 pick is SeedProd. It’s the best drag-and-drop WordPress website builder, used by over 1 million websites.

To start with WordPress, you will need a domain name and web hosting. We recommend using Bluehost.

They are one of the top WordPress hosting providers, and they are offering our readers a free domain name and a 60% discount on hosting (just $2.75/month).

â†’ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer â†

If you want to look at some alternatives, we recommend Hostinger, SiteGround, or one of the other best WordPress hosting companies.

After you have a domain and hosting, the next step is to install WordPress (the right way). If you are using a hosting provider like Bluehost, then you will have access to a 1-click, user-friendly WordPress installation process.

Once you have installed WordPress, you can log in to the admin dashboard. It will look something like this:

First, you need to install and activate the SeedProd plugin. For details, you can see our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.

SeedProd is the best WordPress drag-and-drop page builder for WordPress. It allows you to easily design your website and create beautiful pages without writing any code.

You can even use it to create your own custom WordPress theme from scratch.

Once you have installed SeedProd, just go to the SeedProd Â» Landing Pages page and click the ‘Add New Landing Page’ button.

On the next screen, you will be asked to choose a template.

SeedProd has dozens of beautifully designed templates that you can use as a starter point, or you can choose ‘Blank Template’ to start with an empty page.

After that, you will be asked to enter a title for your page and a URL slug.

For instance, if you are creating the front page of your website, then you can enter ‘Home’ as the title and URL.

Then, you need to click on the ‘Save and Start Editing the Page’ button.

SeedProd will now load the page builder interface. It is an intuitive page builder where you can simply point and click to start editing.

SeedProd’s drag-and-drop interface is easy for beginners but powerful enough for developers.

In the left column, you’ll see the most commonly used web design elements as blocks that you can add to your page.

To your right, you’ll see a live preview of your design where you can simply point and click on any element to edit, delete, or move it.

Basically, you can create a custom web design, including a navigation menu, sidebars, and footers, without writing code.

However, if you need to add custom code, then you can do it by dragging and dropping the Custom HTML block.

Inside the custom HTML block, you can manually add any HTML code.

You can also adjust the margin, padding, and design attributes of your custom HTML block.

Similarly, you can also add custom CSS code to your page.

Just click the ‘Settings’ button in the bottom left corner and choose ‘Custom CSS’.

Once you finish editing your page, click the ‘Save and Publish’ button to make it go live.

You can also click the ‘Preview’ button to view your page in live action.

Simply repeat the process to create other pages for your website. You can quickly create a small business website within minutes.

SeedProd website builder makes it easy to make and edit a website effortlessly.

This is why many professional developers use it worldwide. Even developers at large companies like Awesome Motive use SeedProd to build their main websites because it allows for rapid deployment and customization.

Alternatives to SeedProd

There are several other popular WordPress page builders you can use. The following are our top picks for beginners to code a website from scratch without actually writing the code:
- Divi Builder – Drag and drop theme and page builder
- Beaver Builder – Another well-known WordPress page builder
- Astra is a highly customizable theme with ready-made starter websites that you can install with one click.
While we are biased toward WordPress, its popularity speaks for itself. Many big companies use WordPress, like BBC, Microsoft, Facebook, The New York Times, etc.

Tip: Need help setting up WordPress? Our expert team can help you with a free WordPress blog setup.

2. Code a Website With Web.com Website Builder

If you don’t want the hassle of getting a domain, hosting, and installing various software like WordPress, then you can use the Web.com website builder.

It is a great platform to build simple business websites and online stores. They even have a guided wizard that helps with the process.

Web.com pricing plans include a free domain name, free SSL certificate, dozens of templates, and an AI writing tool to help you generate website copy quickly.

Simply pick from their thousands of beautiful pre-made website templates and customize the design to match your brand needs with point and click.

The builder comes with all the powerful features you would expect.

You can easily add photo galleries, videos, testimonial sliders, contact forms, map locations, social media buttons, and more.

You won’t need to worry about updates, security, or backups because Web.com takes care of all of that for you. They also offer 24/7 chat, email, and phone support.

Alternatives to Web.com

There are plenty of different all-in-one solutions out there. Apart from Constant Contact, the following are our top picks for easy website builders that are not WordPress:
- Gator by HostGator – Fully hosted website builder with drag-and-drop tools and templates.
- Domain.com Website Builder – Hosted website builder with dozens of beautiful templates for all types of websites
- HubSpot – All-in-one website builder and marketing platform for small businesses
- Wix – Another well-known drag & drop website builder.
- BigCommerce – Fully hosted website builder to create eCommerce stores.
For more options, you can see our comparison of the best website builders with pros and cons.

Want to have an expert design a custom website for you? The team at Web.com also offers custom web design services, giving our users an exclusive deal. Get your free quote today.

3. Learn to Code a Website From Scratch

If you are a student and want to learn how to code a website from scratch, you will need to understand web development fundamentals like HTML, CSS, and more.

While there are many free and paid courses, the best one we have found is the one on Code Academy.

It takes roughly 9 hours to complete, but by the end of it, you will have learned to code a custom responsive website from scratch using HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap.

Even after you finish the course, you will need hours of practice before you can truly become efficient at coding websites from scratch. In the next section, we will show you how to code a very basic website using HTML and CSS.

Coding a Basic Website

Websites use HTML, CSS, and sometimes some JavaScript.

HTML defines the basic layout of a web page, including content like images, text, videos, and more.

CSS defines colors, margins, padding, text size, and more.

To write this code, you will need a code editor. A code editor comes with syntax highlighting, which helps you easily catch mistakes and write code more efficiently.

Next, you will need to start a project.

Simply create a new folder on your computer and call it whatever you want. This is where you will store all your website files.

Open your code editor and create a new file. Since this will be your website’s home page, we recommended naming it index.html.

This file is where you will write the HTML code for your first web page.

A basic HTML page contains the following sections.
- HTML document wrapper
- Head
- Body
You can define this structure by writing the following code:
```
<html>
    <head>

    </head>
    <body>

    </body>
</html>
```
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The code inside the head section is not visible on the screen.

It defines metadata for your HTML document, like the title of your HTML document, link to the CSS file, and more.

Now, let’s fill in the head section of your HTML page:
```
<html>
    <head>
		<title>Star Plumbing Services</title>
		<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" /> 
    </head>
    <body>

    </body>
</html>
```
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The body section of your website is where you define the page layout and add the content.

Here is an example of a sample web page with a header, main content area, and footer:
```
<html>
    <head>
		<title>Star Plumbing Services</title>
		<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" /> 
    </head>
    <body>
		<header id="header" class="site-header"> 
		<h1 class="site-title">Star Plumbing Services</h1>
		<nav class="site-navigation">
		<ul class="nav-menu">
		<li><a href-"index.html">Home</a></li>
		<li><a href="about.html">About</a></li>
		<li><a href="contact.html">Contact</a></li> 
		</ul>
		</header> 
		
		<article id="main" class="content"> 
		
		<h2>The Best Plumbing Service Providers in Pawnee!</h2>
		
		<p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. </p>
		
		<p><a href="contact.html" class="cta-button">Call Now</a></p>
		
		<p><img src="images/plumbing-services.jpg" alt="Star plumbing services at work" width="600px" /></p>
		
		<p>Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.</p>
		
		</article> 
		
		<footer>
		<p>Â© 2023 Star Plumbing Services. All Rights Reserved - Call us +1-5555-5555</p>
		</footer> 

    </body>
</html>
```
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Feel free to replace the dummy content with your own, and don’t forget to save your changes.

After saving your HTML document, you can preview it in a browser. It will appear like this:

That’s because our HTML document points to two files that don’t exist. The first one is the CSS stylesheet.

Simply create a file called style.css using your code editor and save it in the same folder as your index.html file.

After that, add the following code to your style.css file:
```
body {
	margin:0;
	padding:0;
	font-family:sans-serif; 
	font-size:16px;
	background-color:#f2ffee;
}

h1, h2, h3 { 
font-family:Georgia, Times, serif; 
} 

h2 { 
font-size:xx-large;
}

.site-header {
background-color:#2751ac;
width:100%;
padding:20px; 
overflow: auto;
color:#FFF;
	} 

	
.site-title { 
float:left; 
}

.site-navigation { 

float:right;
text-align:right;
margin:20px 50px 0px 0px;
} 

ul.nav-menu { 
list-style-type:none;
list-style:none;
}
ul.nav-menu li { 
display:inline;
padding-right:20px;
}


.site-header:after{ 
clear:both;
}

#main {

margin:0 auto; 
background-color:#FFF;
	} 

.content {
	
max-width:60%;
padding:30px;
margin:50px 0px 50px 0px;
font-size:18px;
}

.content p { 
margin:50px 20px 50px 20px; 

}

a.cta-button {
    background-color: green;
    padding: 20px 100px 20px 100px;
    color: #fff;
    text-decoration: none;
    font-size: xxx-large;
	border:2px solid #abfcab;
	border-radius:18px;
   
}

footer {
background-color:#2751ac;
width:100%;
padding:20px; 
overflow: auto;
color:#FFF;
	} 
```
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This takes care of styling, and we still need to upload an image.

Simply create a new folder in your project and name it images.

Now, you need to create an image you want to display and add it to the images folder.

Next, change the image name in the HTML code from ‘plumbing-services.jpg’ to your image file name.

Don’t forget to save all changes and preview your page in the browser.

Just repeat the process to create other pages for your website. You can simply use the index.html file as a template for other pages.

We hope this article helped you learn how to code a website. You may also want to see our guide on how to increase website traffic and our expert picks for the best tools for WordPress freelancers, designers, and developers.

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 Code a Website (Complete Beginnerâ€™s Guide) first appeared on WPBeginner.
31.08.2023
How to Understand WordPress Website Visitors Intent (7 Tips)
Do you want to better understand your website visitors?

By figuring out the intent of your visitors, you can offer what they’re looking for. This helps you create more helpful content, improve your website experience, offer the right products, and more.

In this article, we will show you how to understand WordPress website visitors’ intent and also share helpful tips.

What is Website Visitor Intent?

Website visitor intent simply refers to what a user is trying to do or find on your WordPress website, or why they clicked on your site in search results in the first place.

To better understand what is a visitor or user’s intent, you can break it down into 4 types:
- Navigational – When a user searches for your brand name in the search engine to find the website URL or visits your site to find a link to the contact form, then this is called navigational intent. For instance, a visitor might be looking to fill out a contact form and get in touch with you about guest posting.
- Informational – This is when people are in the research phase and are looking for information about a product or service. Informational intent allows visitors to gain more knowledge about a topic or solve a problem. For example, a user might be looking for an article to learn more about your software before making a purchase.
- Commercial – A user might visit your website to compare different products and services. When this happens, then the visitor intent is said to be commercial. The purpose of the visit is to find out which product or service is better and which they should buy.
- Transactional – When someone visits your site to make a purchase, then the intent is transactional. Users are in the final stage of buying a product or service. They can also visit your site or online store to find discount coupons and deals before purchasing.
Why Understand WordPress Website Visitor Intent?

As a website owner or a marketer, trying to understand visitor intent is like reading minds. It uncovers a wealth of information that can help grow your business.

If you have a WordPress blog, then you can find out which content your visitors like. This way, you can create content that your audience prefers and boost your website traffic.

Similarly, understanding visitor intent on a WooCommerce can help you better understand your customer’s needs. You can offer products that people are looking for and get more conversions.

Knowing user intent can also help improve your website experience. You can see the path a user takes on your website before converting. This way, you’ll be able to fix any issues, like making the checkout process straightforward or providing a table of contents in an article for better navigation.

That said, let’s look at how you can better understand website visitor intent. You can click the links below to jump ahead to any tip.
Understanding WordPress Website Visitor Intent

Uncovering the true intention of users and why they’re on your website can be challenging.

However, there are many WordPress plugins and tools that you can use better understand your audience and their behavior.

Here are a few ways you can learn about your website visitor’s intent.

1. Ask Users for a Quick Feedback

The easiest way of understanding your visitors’ intent is by asking them for feedback. You get to know what your audience is looking for on your website and uncover their pain points.

For instance, if you have an online store, then you can run surveys to find out what buyers are actually looking for or where they are satisfied with their purchase.

Similarly, you can also get feedback on your articles and landing pages. This helps you figure out whether the content you’re creating is helpful for users. You can then tweak your content to match the correct intent.

For example, a user might be visiting with informational intent and looking for basic information about your service. However, if you show an article that has a transactional intent, then the user might not be satisfied and would eventually exit your site.

MonsterInsights runs a quick survey and asks its visitors what content it should create. This is really useful in coming up with new content ideas.

The best way of adding collecting feedback from your audience is by using the UserFeedback plugin. It is a free and powerful plugin that lets you launch surveys and get quick feedback in real-time.

The plugin comes with built-in templates and questions that help create a quick feedback survey. There is also a UserFeedback premium version that offers more templates, questions, and customization options.

For example, you can choose templates for website experience, post-purchase review, competitive research, NPS survey, and more.

Please see our guide on how to get quick feedback on your articles in WordPress to learn more.

2. Add Interactive Polls to Understand Visitor Intent

Another way of quickly understanding your WordPress website visitor intent is by adding interactive polls on your site.

While surveys can be open-ended, polls are focused. You can show multiple options for users to choose from, show a rating scale, or show a simple yes/no question. The highest votes for an option will help you uncover the intent behind using your website.

The best way to create interactive polls in WordPress is by using WPForms. It is the best contact form plugin for WordPress and offers a Survey and Polls addon.

It offers pre-built form templates, a drag-and-drop form builder, and multiple customization options.

Check out our tutorial on how to create an interactive poll in WordPress.

Once you know why people use your website, you can then divide them into different segments. This will help you send targeted push notifications, show personalized campaigns, and display relevant content.

3. Track the User Journey of Your WordPress Forms

If you have different forms on your website, then wouldn’t you want to know how users interact with them and what’s their intent when submitting one?

Forms are a great way to stay connected with your users. They help you get feedback from people, resolve their queries, collect online payments, accept file uploads, gather leads and newsletter subscribers, and more.

However, some users fill out forms while others don’t. By tracking the user journey, you can see the steps people take before submitting a form.

This way, you’ll learn a lot about user behavior and what compels them to fill out forms on your website. Using the insight you get from understanding your visitor’s intent, you can create forms that help gather more leads and grow your business. Plus, you’ll also be able to reduce form abandonment.

The best way to track the user journey of your WordPress forms is by using WPForms. It offers a User Journey addon that shows where a user came from and which pages they visited before submitting a form.

To learn more, you can follow our guide on how to track user journeys on WordPress lead forms.

4. Setup Customer Journey Tracking on Your Online Store

You can also track customer journeys on your eCommerce store and learn more about your visitors’ intent. Customer journey tracking will help you see which pages each user visited, how long they stayed there, and what they did before completing a purchase.

This will help you uncover transactional intent and see the reason why people are buying some products but not others. You can then improve your sales funnel and optimize it for more conversions.

Plus, you’ll see how users navigate your website. Using this information, you can uncover the navigational intent of users and make it easier for them to find the right products, smoothen the checkout process, optimize the product pages, and more.

With MonsterInsights, setting up customer journey tracking is very easy. It offers a User Journey addon that automatically works with popular eCommerce plugins like WooCommerce, MemberPress, Easy Digital Downloads, and more.

You can then view a report inside your WordPress dashboard and learn more about the path your customers took.

Simply select a transaction ID to view the entire journey of the customer.

In the screenshot below, you can exactly see on which page the customer arrived, which pages they then visited, and how long they stayed there before buying a product.

For more details, please see our guides on how to enable customer tracking in WooCommerce and how to track customer journeys using MemberPress.

5. Find Out How People Use Your Website

Next, you can discover website visitor intent by looking at how they interact with your WordPress site.

For instance, you can see where they click, which pages they visit the most, which files they download, which videos they watch, and more.

You can track all this using MonsterInsights. It is the best Analytics plugin for WordPress and makes it very easy to install Google Analytics in WordPress without editing code.

The plugin automatically sets up advanced tracking in Google Analytics for you. The best part, you can see reports in your WordPress admin panel and better understand your visitors.

For instance, MonsterInsights tracks outbound links and affiliate links on your site. This helps understand user behavior and lets you see where they click.

Similarly, you can uncover your most important pages.

MonsterInsights shows the top pages and posts that people visit on your site. Using this insight, you can uncover content that your audience likes.

If you have videoes embedded in your content, then MonsterInsights can also help see which videos get the most engagement. For instance, if an informational video is getting more plays, then you can create similar videos to attract more visitors.

In the report, you can see the number of plays, average watch time, average percentage watched, and completion rate for each video. To learn more, please see our guide on how to track video analytics in WordPress.

Besides that, you can also use MonsterInsights to better understand your visitors by tracking file downloads, viewing top traffic sources, finding which region your visitors are from, and more.

It even shows which device and browser your visitors use, which marketing campaigns are performing the best, and top referral sources.

6. See What Search Terms People Use on Your Website

Do you have a search feature on your WordPress website? If so, then you can understand user intent by finding out what search terms people use on your site to find products, services, and content.

You can use SearchWP to uncover the search terms people use on your website or eCommerce store. It is the best WordPress search plugin that lets you customize your search on a WordPress site.

You can create custom search engines and algorithms to include custom fields, tables, categories, tags, documents, products, and more in the search process.

With SearchWP, you’ll get to see stats inside your WordPress dashboard. It will display all the queries and the number of times users searched them on your site.

To learn more, check out our guide on how to improve WordPress search with SearchWP.

7. Use SEO Tools to See the Search Intent of Keywords

Aside from tracking site searches, you can also look up keywords people use on search engines to find your website. While this may not show user behavior on your website, but it reveals a key part of user intent.

For instance, let’s say a user enters a search term on Google looking for information about your products. Instead, you’re offering them a sales page with transactional intent that has limited details about the product. This will be bad for your WordPress SEO and user experience.

Understanding the search intent of a keyword helps you fulfill your visitor’s needs. You get to see what type of content to create or products to offer.

To start, you will first need to see what keywords people are entering in search engines. You can do that by using Google Search Console. It is a free tool by Google that helps monitor your site’s presence in search results.

You can follow our step-by-step guide on how to add your WordPress site to Google Search Console to get started.

Next, Search Console will show all the keywords your site is ranking on. If you’re using MonsterInsights, then you can see the Search Console report inside your WordPress dashboard.

It will show the number of impressions, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), and average position for top 50 Google search terms people use.

After you’ve uncovered the keywords people are searching for, the next step is to perform keyword research and figure out their user intent.

You can do that by using an SEO tool like Semrush. It is a powerful tool used by SEO experts, marketers, and business owners. Simply enter the keyword in the tool, and you’ll see different variations.

It will also show the intent behind each search term. For instance, if the intent is informational, then your users are looking for answers to a specific question or topic. Or if it is transactional, then people are looking complete an action like purchasing a product or service.

You can then use these details to create the right content and satisfy user intent. In turn will help you rank higher on Google, better assist your visitors, and boost conversions.

Alternative Method: To get more keyword ideas for your website, you can use WPBeginner’s Keyword Generator Tool. It will show over 300 search term ideas to target on your site.

We hope this article helped you learn how to understand WordPress website visitor intent. You may also want to see our guide on how to increase your blog traffic and the best push notification software.

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 Understand WordPress Website Visitors Intent (7 Tips) first appeared on WPBeginner.
29.08.2023
How to Use Google Trends to Improve SEO and Grow Your Business
Are you wondering how to use Google Trends to improve your WordPress website?

Google Trends is a tool that enables you to find popular keywords, identify trending topics, and research your competitors, which can help improve your website’s rankings.

In this article, we will show you how to easily use Google Trends for search engine optimization (SEO) and growing your business.

What Is Google Trends?

Google Trends is a tool that helps you analyze the popularity of a search term on the Google search engine. It gets data from Google Search, Google News, Google Images, Google Shopping, and YouTube.

Created by Google, this tool helps you find searches or keywords that are currently trending. Then, you can compare how the search volume for different keywords changes across locations.

Using Google Trends can improve the SEO on your WordPress site by helping you find target keywords, research your competition, identify trending topics, and more.

It’s a completely free Google tool that can also help you find related content ideas for your WordPress blog.

Plus, if you have an online store, then you can also use Google Trends to help you plan when to display Google Shopping Ads for your products or choose new products for your store.

That being said, let’s see how to use Google Trends to improve your website SEO and grow your business.

How to Use Google Trends to Improve Website SEO

There are many ways to use Google Trends to improve WordPress SEO, improve your website rankings, and get more customers to your website.

The tool provides you with a bird’s eye view of what’s trending in the world of search, helping you browse through the latest data and find keywords that are related to your niche.

You can use the quick links below to jump to different parts of our beginner-friendly guide on how to use Google Trends:
1. Find Search Volume Trends

Google Trends makes it super easy to find search volume trends for keywords.

This lets you see how many people are searching for a particular keyword over time. In turn, this can help you decide if you want to use that keyword in your blog content.

By tracking the search volume for different keywords, you will get a sense of what people are interested in at any given time and identify topics that are currently gaining popularity.

You can also use Google Trends to research your niche and see what is popular within your industry. For example, if you are thinking of starting a WooCommerce store that sells standing desks, then you can use Google Trends to find out if people are actually interested in that product.

This way, you can avoid making decisions that won’t make you money and instead focus on niches that have more chance of success.

To find search volume trends, head over to the Google Trends website and type a keyword of your choice into the search field.

After that, just click the ‘Explore’ button to continue.

Google Trends will now display the search volume of the keyword that you typed as an ‘Interest Over Time’ graph.

From here, you can even select a region, category, or period of time for the search volume.

For example, if you want to find the search volume of the keyword ‘Paris’ in 2021 in the USA, then you can use the dropdown menus to configure the settings.

Once you do that, the search volume trends graph will adjust itself according to the settings.

You can then use this information for different keywords and target audiences from specific regions, languages, and more. This will help you decide if it’s a niche that you want to write about or not.

If the search term has a downward trend, then the niche may be irrelevant now, and it will be more difficult to sell products and services or reach users with blog posts that target that keyword.

Similarly, if the search term only peaks during specific seasons, then this means that it’s a seasonal keyword that will only make sales during a certain time of year.

2. Find Relevant Keywords

Another amazing feature of Google Trends is that it lets you find keywords that are related to the keyword that you initially searched for.

For example, if you used Google Trends to search for the Keyword ‘Beach Reads’, then the tool will also show you other relevant terms that you can use in your blog post.

This can be helpful for targeting a wider audience and improving your website’s SEO.

To find relevant keywords in Google Trends, you will first need to type a keyword into the search field and click the ‘Explore’ button.

Once the search volume for the keyword is shown on your screen, you need to scroll down to the ‘Related Queries’ section.

Here, you will see the rising related keywords to the one that you searched for.

Alternatively, if you want to see the related keywords that are currently trending for this topic, then you can select the ‘Top’ option from the dropdown menu at the top. Google Trends will then display these keywords, along with their search volume.

This can help you choose related keywords with the highest search volume and add them to your blog posts or design new content around them.

Expert Tip: Are you looking for a quick and easy way to generate new keywords and content ideas for your blog? You can use our free WPBeginner Keyword Generator Tool and Blog Post Idea Generator to create hundreds of content ideas in just seconds.

3. Compare Different Keywords

With Google Trends, you can also compare different keywords to find the one that has more search volume and is more popular with your target audience.

This can help you discover how each keyword is performing and identify the perfect one that will grab your users’ attention.

First, you will have to visit the Google Trends website and search for a keyword of your choice. Once the trends for that search term have loaded on your page, just type another related search term into the ‘+ Compare’ field.

Next, the ‘Interest over time’ graph on the page will show the search volume of the two different keywords.

You can then make a decision on which keyword to target based on the graph.

However, if you are still not sure which keyword to choose, then you can scroll down to the ‘Compared breakdown by subregion’ section, where you will see the search volume of both keywords in different subregions of the country that you chose.

You can now make a more informed decision by choosing the keyword that is more popular in the region where most of your audience lives. This can be very helpful for local SEO.

4. Find Trending Topics for Blog Content

With Google Trends, you can also find new ideas for your WordPress blog content by looking at trending topics.

By writing about topics that a lot of people are currently interested in, you may be able to increase the traffic to your WordPress website and reach new readers. This is particularly helpful if you run a news website or simply want to jump onto the latest trend.

To do this, head over to the Google Trends website and switch to the ‘Trending’ tab.

Here, the tool will display all the topics that are currently trending across the internet.

You can also choose a country from the dropdown menu to take a look at the topics that are trending in areas where most of your audience is.

5. Analyze Competitors

You can also use different features in Google Trends to analyze the growth of your competitors.

For example, you can compare your competitors with your business by typing in both business names. Google Trends will then show you a graph detailing the growth of each term over time.

You can then further analyze the countries where your competitors are more popular by using the dropdown menu at the top.

You can also see the regions where your competitors are more popular by scrolling down to the ‘Compared breakdown by subregion’ section.

You can even download this comparison as a comma-separated values file by clicking on the ‘CSV’ button.

To further analyze your competitors, just type their company or blog name into the keyword field.

Once you do that, you can scroll down to the ‘Related Queries’ and ‘Related Topics’ sections to see the topics and keywords that your competitors are associated with.

You can then start planning to create your own content that targets these keywords and topics.

6. Use Google Shopping Data to Advertise Your Products

If you run a WooCommerce store, then you may wish to submit your products to Google Shopping. This means that your items will be displayed in the Google Shopping tab and may even appear at the top of the search results for some keywords.

Google Trends can help you design your ad campaigns on Google Shopping and decide the best time to advertise particular products on that platform. The data can also tell you the best time to design your own marketing campaigns.

For example, you can get more sales by displaying a Google Shopping ad for your coats during the winter. Using a popup marketing tool like OptinMonster, you can also showcase your winter products to visitors on your website at the same time.

To see Google Shopping data, you will need to type the search term for a product into the Google Trends website. Once the search volume for the term loads on your screen, simply select the ‘Google Shopping’ option from the dropdown menu on the right.

After that, Google Trends will show the popularity of the product in Google Shopping using the ‘Interest Over Time’ graph.

You can also select different regions and time periods to collect further information about the product.

If there is a high interest in a particular kind of product during particular months, then this is a sign that you should advertise your product at that time.

7. Generate Ideas for YouTube Videos

If you have a YouTube channel for your WordPress website, then you can also use Google Trends to generate ideas for your videos. This will help you make YouTube videos for topics and keywords that are currently trending on the platform.

To do this, simply type a search term of your choice into the Google Trends website and wait for the search volume to load on the screen.

After that, simply select the ‘YouTube Search’ option from the dropdown menu on the right. Google Trends will now display the search volume of the keyword on YouTube.

This will help you figure out if the keyword you searched for is a topic that users are interested in or if the trend has died down.

You can also get new ideas for YouTube videos by scrolling down to the ‘Related Queries’ and ‘Related Topics’ sections. Here, you will find more relevant keywords and ideas that you can use to create a YouTube video.

Bonus: Use AIOSEO to Optimize Your Website for Search Engines

In this post, we showed you how you can use Google Trends to find target keywords, research your competition, and find the search volume of different topics and keywords.

However, Google Trends itself can’t actually optimize the content on your WordPress website.

This is where All in One SEO for WordPress comes in.

It is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market that makes it super easy to optimize your content to improve search engine rankings.

The plugin comes with a suite of incredible features, including SEO analysis, a headline analyzer, schema markup, XML sitemaps, redirects, and more.

AIOSEO even offers a Chrome extension, meaning that you can check your website’s SEO without even logging in to your WordPress dashboard.

Some of its other features that help optimize your content include:
- On-page analysis that provides recommendations on how to improve your content for specific keywords and general SEO.
- Social media integrations to attract more visitors to your website.
- The image SEO feature makes it easier for search engines to index your images.
- The search statistics feature allows you to track your keyword rankings and monitor SEO metrics to improve your content over time.
- You can also detect critical errors on your WordPress site and get insights to boost SEO using the SEO audit checklist feature.
For details, you may want to see our list of unique things you didn’t know about All in One SEO.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use Google Trends to improve website SEO and grow your business. You may also want to see our ultimate SEO guide and our expert picks for the best analytics solutions for 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 Google Trends to Improve SEO and Grow Your Business first appeared on WPBeginner.
17.08.2023