7 Best Countdown Plugins for WordPress (Easy to Use)

Are you looking to add a countdown timer to their WordPress website?

Countdown timers are a great way to build anticipation, excitement, and create a FOMO effect on your website. There are many different countdown plugins that let you create a countdown timer, so which one should you use?

In this article, we’ll share the best countdown plugins for WordPress and explain the key features of each.

What is a Countdown Timer Plugin & When You Need it?

A countdown timer WordPress plugin allows you to display a timer that counts down to a specific time or date.

Savvy marketers use countdown timers to build excitement and create a sense of urgency among their customers. It helps them take advantage of the FOMO effect to boost conversions.

There are many plugins that allow you to add countdown timers to your website. These countdown timers can be divided into two groups:

Normal Countdown Timers

A normal countdown timer, sometimes called a static or fixed countdown timer, is what most people think of when they imagine a timer. This timer counts down to a certain fixed time. That might be the launch of a WordPress website, the end of a sale, or another event.

The countdown clock’s endpoint is the same for everyone and doesn’t change depending on who’s viewing it.

Evergreen Timer

An evergreen countdown timer, sometimes called a dynamic countdown timer, is specific to each user. It begins counting down when the person arrives on your site. For instance, they might have 4 hours to take advantage of a special offer.

This can be a powerful marketing technique as it lets you create a sense of urgency.

Note that most WordPress plugins are designed to run normal countdown timers, and only some let you run evergreen timers.

Having said that, let’s take a look at some of the best countdown timer plugins for WordPress.

1. OptinMonster

OptinMonster is a powerful popup and lead generation plugin for WordPress. It allows you to convert abandoning website visitors into subscribers and paying customers.

With OptinMonster, you can create both static and evergreen countdown timers. You can make as many timers as you want and use different timers on different pages.

There are lots of ways you can position your countdown timer using OptinMonster. One of the best is to use a floating bar that sticks to the top or bottom of your page. That way, it stays visible at all times.

Here’s a countdown timer we created using the OptinMonster plugin:

You’ll need the OptinMonster’s Pro plan or higher to use countdown timers.

They allow you to add countdown timers on popups, floating bars, full-screen welcome mats, scroll boxes, and inline widgets. On top of that, you can personalize the timers based on the user’s location, which page they’re on, where they’re visiting from, and more.

2. SeedProd

SeedProd is the best WordPress website builder and landing page plugin. It is a great option if you want to add countdown timer animation to your landing pages.

SeedProd lets you easily set up a special landing page and put your site into coming soon or maintenance mode. Plus, it has a powerful drag-and-drop website builder. You can easily customize your WordPress theme without touching a single line of code.

With this plugin, you can create a normal and evergreen timer for your website. It offers lots of customization options, including pre-built templates for countdown timers.

Here’s a countdown timer we created using SeedProd’s Coming Soon Page Pro plugin:

For more details, you can see our guide on how to show a number count animation in WordPress.

3. Countdown Timer Ultimate

Countdown Timer Ultimate is another good option to consider if you want to create a normal countdown timer. It’s a simple plugin that allows you to show timers on the entire website or specific to individual site visitors.

You can use Countdown Timer Ultimate to make as many countdown timers as you want, and you can customize how they look to some degree.

Here’s a preview of the countdown timer that you can create using the free version of the Countdown Timer Ultimate plugin:

The pro plugin gives you more advanced options. These include being able to show specific text when the countdown expires and extra design features.

4. Countdown Builder

Countdown Builder is a simple countdown timer with multiple different styles built in. These include circle countdowns, flip clock countdowns, and even a coming soon page.

You can place your timer within a post or page in the WordPress block editor by selecting the ‘Countdown’ block or using a shortcode. You can also choose to display it automatically on specific posts or pages.

Here’s a preview of a countdown timer you can create using the plugin:

If you want, you can edit how your clock looks in detail, changing things like the font size, the labels, and the animation style. You don’t need to do this with CSS. There’s a built-in editor in the plugin.

5. Evergreen Countdown Timer

Evergreen Countdown Timer is the next countdown plugin on our list. It lets you create evergreen countdowns, as you might expect from its name. You can also use it to create normal countdowns as well.

You can choose how the plugin detects visitors by a cookie or their IP address.

To add the timers to your page, you’ll need to enter a shortcode. You can simply copy and paste this from the Manager section of your countdown timer settings.

Once your timer hits zero, you can automatically redirect the visitor to a URL of your choice. For instance, you could send them to a registration page if you’re counting down to the launch of your new course.

Here’s a timer we created using the Evergreen Countdown Timer plugin:

There’s a pro version of the plugin, which gives you lots of extra options. It also lets you choose more colors than just black or white for your timer.

With the Pro version, you can provide a countdown for available spots, such as seats or tickets. This could work well if you’re selling places for a paid webinar or another live event.

6. HurryTimer

HurryTimer is a free countdown timer plugin that lets you create both evergreen and regular timers. The evergreen timer uses both cookie and IP detection to display the right timer to each individual user.

You can also set up timers to run a countdown between two fixed dates. This is useful if you want to get ready for an upcoming sale in advance.

The timer works with WooCommerce, though you don’t have to run WooCommerce to use it. You can display your timer several times on the same page if you want to.

Here’s a timer we created using HurryTimer:

If you have the Pro version, you can set up a recurring timer. This is a timer that runs according to the rules that you specify. For instance, you could have a timer that shows shipping cut-off times.

With the pro version, you can also create an announcement bar that sticks to the top or bottom of the screen to keep your timer visible.

7. Sales Countdown Timer

Sales Countdown Timer is designed for WooCommerce stores. It helps show timers for sale events, promotional offers, and the latest campaigns.

You can easily integrate the plugin with your WooCommerce products. Plus, it offers different customization options. You can change the style of the timers, edit the message, change the colors in the timer clock, and more.

Besides that, the plugin also lets you choose the location of the timer, whether you’d like to make it sticky, and also select which type of product pages you’d like to show the countdown timer.

Here is a look at the countdown timer we created using the plugin:

We hope this article helped you learn about the best countdown plugins for WordPress. You may also be interested in our tips to recover WooCommerce abandoned cart sales, and our list of the best email marketing services to grow your sales.

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

The post 7 Best Countdown Plugins for WordPress (Easy to Use) first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Choose The Best Premium WordPress Theme for Your Site

Are you wondering how to pick the best theme for your WordPress website?

When starting a blog, choosing the right theme is crucial for your success. During the process, you will likely have to decide between free WordPress themes vs premium WordPress themes.

In this article, we will cover how to choose the best premium WordPress theme for your site.

Free WordPress Theme vs Premium WordPress Theme

One of the main reasons why a lot of users choose a premium WordPress theme over a free one is that you get guaranteed support.

Free WordPress themes are often built as a passion project, so you are not guaranteed to get support or updates. These themes can become outdated with new WordPress releases or don’t work with different plugins.

On the other hand, when you pay for a premium WordPress theme, you get good documentation, access to support, and regular updates. Some theme shops even go beyond and offer video tutorials, demo content, and even a free blog setup service.

Aside from that, premium themes make your WordPress website more unique because free themes are being used by everyone.

Having said that, here’s what you need to look for when selecting a premium WordPress theme.

1. Aesthetically Pleasing Modern Design

When you select a theme, you will probably be using it on your website for quite some time. This allows users can become accustomed to it and easily consume content.

That’s why you need to choose a theme that is aesthetically pleasing and can be used for a long time without requiring any significant changes.

There are certain elements of design that all good designers use to create beautiful websites. These include:

Good Color CombinationAwesome TypographyClean LayoutBeautiful Images

Together these elements create a beautiful harmony and consistency that appeals to your users. It not only looks great, but it also helps you achieve your business goals.

Most premium themes come with unlimited color choices and built-in tools to select fonts. You need to make sure that your premium WordPress theme uses better typography out of the box.

For example, Astra offers lomanyustomization options, even in the free version. You can edit different elements like colors, fonts, buttons, and more. Plus, there are options to change the header and footer layout and edit the appearance of your blogs and sidebar.

Don’t just look at the homepage. Go deeper into the theme demo and explore other sections. For example, if you are building a portfolio site, then check the theme’s demo for the portfolio. If you will be adding testimonials, then check out how testimonials look in the theme demo.

Make sure that there are plenty of page templates and layouts to use. Examine the homepage, single pages, posts, and blog sections to ensure they all maintain the same design consistency and appeal.

2. Features vs Presentation

The main difference between WordPress themes and plugins is that themes handle the presentation part of your website, and plugins handle the functionality.

However, the premium WordPress theme market is highly competitive, and sometimes theme developers cannot resist the temptation to add more plugin-like functionality to their themes.

Why is this considered bad practice?

When a WordPress theme crosses over into the plugin territory, it becomes difficult to switch themes. For example, if a WordPress theme is using a custom post type, then switching to another theme would make those custom post types disappear from the admin menu.

Shortcodes defined by a theme would also stop functioning, which also makes switching a difficult and time-consuming process.

On the other hand, there are WordPress themes that behave exactly like a plugin. Offering functionality needed to create very specific niche websites, like real estate themes or hotel themes.

Some of these themes are really useful, but if you use those themes, then you need to understand that it will be difficult to switch themes later because other themes may not have similar functionality.

3. Security and Performance

Many WordPress beginners don’t pay much attention to speed and good coding practices when choosing a premium theme.

In the race to win new customers, theme developers can integrate unsafe and quick solutions that can compromise your site’s security. The insane amount of features can cost you speed and performance issues.

Now the problem is that most beginner-level users do not have the skills to study code. How do you know that the code behind a premium theme is of good quality?

First, you need to buy your premium themes from trusted and well-reputed WordPress theme shops. Some of the theme shops that we trust and recommend are:

Astra ThemeElegant ThemesBeaver BuilderThemifyStudioPressArtisan Themes

Secondly, look around for reviews and customer testimonials. See who else is using themes developed by that particular theme shop or developer. Are there any big websites or blogs using their themes?

Check out the testimonials page on the theme shop or search for their reviews on Google. You can also view the ratings of any theme on WordPress.org website and look at the reviews.

4. Compatibility Check

Before you start browsing for a premium theme, take a few moments to write down all the features you are looking for. For example:

Do you need eCommerce supportTranslation readiness for non-English websitesIs the theme mobile responsiveBuddyPress or bbPress supportAre any other plugins that you might be using

Many premium themes come with built-in templates and support for popular eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads.

If a theme you are looking for is not available in your language, then ask the theme developer to see if a translation is in progress.

Some users may want to use veparticularlugins to create niche websites like job boards and question-answer websites. Feel free to ask the theme developers if their theme would work with a specific plugin.

You need to make sure that you are investing your money in the right place.

5. Opt for a Custom Theme

A good premium WordPress theme would help you easily build high-quality websites. However, there are still many things you might want to customize, but it is not possible.

This is where creating a custom WordPress theme can help you out. It provides a lot of freedom and flexibility over the layout and design of your website. That said, the cost of creating a custom theme may vary based on the level of features and customization options you want.

An easier and more cost-effective way is to use SeedProd. It is the best WordPress website builder and offers multiple pre-built templates.

You can use its drag-and-drop builder to edit different elements on your theme.

The plugin offers standard and advanced blocks to add images, buttons, text, videos, options, contact forms, and more to your theme.

For more details, please see our guide on how to create a custom WordPress theme.

We hope this guide helped you choose the best premium WordPress theme for your site. You may also want to see the best web design software and the ultimate WordPress SEO guide.

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

The post How to Choose The Best Premium WordPress Theme for Your Site first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Create a Viral TikTok Giveaway in WordPress

Do you want to create a viral TikTok giveaway in WordPress?

Giveaways can help grow your TikTok channel and get you more views. They’re also a great way to engage with the people who already watch your TikToks and encourage them to watch even more of your videos.

In this article, we’ll show you how to create a viral TikTok giveaway in WordPress.

Set Your Giveaway Goals

First, you need to decide what you want to achieve with your giveaway. For TikTok, you’ll typically either want to gain more followers or get more views on a particular video.

After choosing a goal, you can plan how to get the best value from your giveaway.

If you want to get more views on a particular video, then it’s important to choose the video carefully. For example, if you have a new product, then you might ask visitors to watch a TikTok promoting that product.

If a big TikTok influencer has recently praised your company, then you might ask people to watch their video.

If you’re planning to use ‘Follow us on TikTok’ as an entry method, then it’s smart to review your TikTok profile before launching the contest. New followers may watch your most recent TikToks, so you’ll want to make sure they’re interesting, entertaining, and recent.

You should also add any missing information to your TikTok bio so new followers can learn more about your company. It’s also a good idea to add a link to your website, or you might even make a special ‘link in bio’ page.

By fine-tuning your TikTok page now, your new followers will be more likely to stick around long after the contest is over.

Choose a Prize for your TikTok giveaway

The next step is choosing a prize that will make your target audience want to take part in your TikTok giveaway.

The prize doesn’t have to be expensive, but it should reflect your business niche and your target audience. This will attract relevant followers to your TikTok page, which means they’ll be more likely to engage with your company in the future.

For example, if you run a restaurant, then a discounted or free meal could be a great prize. If you run a skincare blog, then you might offer a bundle of your favorite products.

Once you’ve planned your giveaway, it’s time to set it all up in WordPress.

Install a WordPress Giveaway Plugin

The easiest way to create a viral TikTok is by using RafflePress. It’s the best WordPress giveaway plugin that lets you create all kinds of contests using a simple drag-and-drop editor.

There is a free version of RafflePress that allows you to run giveaways and competitions no matter your budget. However, in this guide, we’ll be using RafflePress pro because it has a ready-made template for running a viral TikTok giveaway.

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

Upon activation, you’ll see the RafflePress welcome screen in the WordPress dashboard. You can now go ahead and enter your license key.

You’ll find this information in your account on the RafflePress website. Once you’ve done that, click on the ‘Verify Key’ button.

Create a Viral TikTok Giveaway in WordPress

Now you’re ready to create a TikTok giveaway by going to RafflePress » Add New.

On the next screen, give your TikTok contest a name by typing into the ‘Giveaway Name’ field.

This is just for your reference so you can use anything you want.

Now you’re ready to choose the template that you want to use. RafflePress has templates for specific goals such as creating a giveaway to grow your email list and adding a Facebook giveaway to boost engagement.

We’ll be using the Grow Your TikTok template since it already comes with two TikTok entry methods. Simply hover your mouse over the template and then click on ‘Use This Template’ when it appears.

This opens the template in RafflePress’ drag-and-drop builder.

Since it’s so important, let’s start by adding some information about the prize. Just click to select the headline area, which shows ‘My Awesome Prize’ by default.

You can now go ahead and type a title into the ‘Name’ field.

To encourage visitors to enter, you may want to talk about how much the prize is worth, its benefits, and why people will want it.

Once you’ve done that, type in a description, which will appear below the headline.

Here, you may want to add some more information about the TikTok giveaway such as why you’re running the contest, and how people can enter.

It’s also a good idea to add a photo of the prize, so visitors can see exactly what’s at stake. If the product is digital, then you can show the product’s logo instead or create a picture using web design software such as Canva.

To add a picture, simply click on ‘Select Image.’

Then, either choose an image from the media library or upload a new file from your computer.

When you’re happy with how the section looks, click on ‘Done Editing.’

You can close your TikTok giveaway manually at any point, or you can set a date and time when the contest will end automatically.

If you have lots of giveaways planned, then it’s smart to schedule them in advance so your contests always start on time, no matter how busy you get. Scheduling contests in advance also gives you plenty of time to promote and market the contest.

To schedule your TikTok competition, simply enter a date and time into the ‘Giveaway starts…’ and ‘Giveaway ends…’ sections.

By default, RafflePress uses the UTC timezone, but you can change this using the ‘Timezone’ dropdown menu.

Set up your TikTok Giveaway Entry Actions

Your next task is choosing how visitors will enter the giveaway.

The TikTok template already has the ‘Follow us on TikTok’ and ‘View TikTok Post/Video’ actions, so let’s start by configuring these entry methods.

First, click to select the ‘Follow us on TikTok’ action. In the left-hand menu, you’ll see all the settings for this action.

By default, the action uses a ‘Follow us on TikTok’ label but you can change this to anything you want by typing into the ‘Title’ field.

Next, find the ‘TikTok URL’ field and add the link to your own TikTok profile.

Every time someone clicks on this action, they’ll see a ‘Follow us on TikTok’ button and a field where they can type in their TikTok username.

By default, every action is worth one entry. However, you can encourage visitors to choose one entry method over all the others by changing its value. For example, if you want to get more followers, then you might make the ‘Follow us on TikTok’ action worth multiple entries.

To make this change, simply select a new number in the ‘Value’ section.

You can also make the ‘Follow us on TikTok’ action mandatory so visitors can only enter the contest if they follow you on TikTok.

When you’re happy with how the ‘Follow us on TikTok’ action is set up, click to select the ‘View TikTok Post / Video’ action.

You can now change the action’s title and value, and then make it mandatory by following the same process described above.

To get as many views as possible, you may want to enable the ‘Allow Daily Entries’ toggle. This will allow users to earn extra entries by watching your TikTok video multiple times.

After that, it’s time to specify the TikTok video that you want visitors to watch.

RafflePress will embed this video inside the contest, as you can see in the following image.

In a new browser tab, simply visit the TikTok video that you want to add, and then click on the ‘Embed’ button.

In the popup that appears, click on ‘Copy Code.’

After that, switch back to your WordPress dashboard.

You can now paste the code into the ‘TikTok Post Embed Code’ field.

At this point, you’ve configured both of your TikTok entry methods. However, not everyone has a TikTok account or is familiar with the TikTok platform.

Currently, these people can’t enter your competition, so you may want to add some additional entry methods that aren’t related to TikTok.

For example, visitors might enter your competition by joining your email newsletter or following you on Instagram.

Giving visitors multiple choices for entries can get you more participants. Some people may also try to improve their chances of winning by completing several actions. This allows you to achieve multiple goals with a single competition.

To add more entry methods, simply click on the ‘Add Actions’ tab. Then, just click on any action to add it to the competition.

Once you’ve done that, just click on the action in the giveaway editor and then use the settings in the left-hand menu to configure that entry method.

For example, if you add ‘Join an Email Newsletter’ as an entry method then you’ll need to select an email marketing service.

You can add as many actions as you want. However, since our main aim is to create a viral TikTok giveaway you’ll typically want to show your TikTok actions at the top of the entry method list.

To move an action, just hover over that action in the editor and then grab the dotted button when it appears.

You’re now ready to move the entry method using drag and drop.

How to Customize your TikTok Giveaway

When you’re happy with how the giveaway is set up, it’s time to change how it looks by clicking on the ‘Design’ tab.

Here, you can change the fonts, select a new button color, change the layout, add a background image, and more.

By changing these settings you can create a beautiful TikTok giveaway that perfectly compliments your WordPress theme and the rest of your website.

You can even change the TikTok template using custom CSS.

When you’re happy with how the competition looks, click on the ‘Settings’ tab.

Configure the TikTok Contest Settings

RafflePress has lots of settings that you can use to fine-tune how the giveaway runs, including showing and hiding options, setting up tracking, and more.

Most of these settings are self-explanatory, but we’ll quickly cover each section.

In ‘General’ you can set the basic options for the giveaway including showing the contest’s winners, the total number of entries, limiting signups based on IP address, and more.

You can also make money from your TikTok giveaway by joining the RafflePress affiliate marketing program.

Next up, click on the ‘Giveaway rules’ tab.

RafflePress comes with a Rules Generator that you can use to quickly and easily create giveaway rules for your TikTok campaign.

Clicking the ‘Generate Rules’ button will bring up a form where you can enter information about the giveaway.

In most cases, you or your company will be the contest’s sponsor. This means you’ll need to type in the company name, business email address, country, and eligible locations.

RafflePress will then use this information to create some basic rules for your giveaway.

Just be aware that this is a starting point. You’ll still need to make sure your giveaway is following all local laws and TikTok’s advertising guidelines. For example, you shouldn’t ask visitors to watch any videos featuring products that TikTok doesn’t allow on their platform.

If you’re also using the TikTok contest to grow your mailing list or generate leads, then you may want to verify each participant’s email address by selecting the ‘Email Verification’ tab. It’s also a good idea to enable verification if you plan to email the giveaway’s winner.

To make this change, simply click on the ‘Contestant Must Confirm Their Email’ toggle to turn it from ‘No’ to ‘Yes.’

If you’re using Google Analytics to track user engagement, then you can select the ‘Success Tracking’ tab.

Here, you can add tracking scripts to record when the page loads or the visitor converts. In this example, conversion happens when the visitor successfully enters the TikTok giveaway.

After entering the contest, you may want to redirect visitors to a specific page such as a custom thank you page or your top-performing TikTok.

To set up a redirect, select the ‘Success Redirect’ tab and then click to activate the ‘Enable Success Redirect’ toggle. You can then add the page to the ‘Redirect URL’ field.

You may want to allow visitors to sign into your giveaway using their Facebook accounts. This will make it easier for people to enter your giveaway, which can get you more participants.

To allow logging in with Facebook, simply select the ‘Social Logins’ tab and then click to activate the ‘Allow logging…’ toggle.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union (EU) law that aims to give EU citizens more control over their personal information. If you break GDPR then you could get a fine or even jail time, so you’ll want to make sure you’re GDPR compliant.

Thankfully, RafflePress has a checkbox that gets visitors to consent before entering your TikTok giveaway. To add the checkbox, simply select the ‘GDPR’ tab and then click to enable the ‘GDPR Consent’ toggle.

RafflePress has some default text that it’ll show next to the checkbox, but you can change this if you want.

For a closer look at this important privacy law, please see our ultimate guide to WordPress and GDRP compliance.

Spam and fake entries can stop you from reaching your goals. With that being said, you may want to protect the giveaway form using an invisible recaptcha.

Unlike standard captchas that ask visitors to complete a puzzle, invisible recaptchas run in the background. This allows them to block spam without hurting the user experience.

To add an invisible recaptcha to your TikTok contest, select the ‘Recaptcha’ tab. Then, click to activate the ‘Enable Invisible Recaptcha’ toggle.

For more on this topic, please see our guide on how to add recaptcha to WordPress.

When you’re happy with how your TikTok competition is set up, click on the ‘Save’ button.

Publish and Add the Giveaway to Your WordPress Website

After you’ve done all that, it’s time to make your giveaway live by clicking on the ‘Publish’ tab.

You can add the contest to your site using a shortcode, the RafflePress WordPress block, or by creating a landing page.

We’ll cover each method, but if you want to get as many entities as possible, then we recommend choosing the ‘Giveaway Landing Page’ option. This creates a separate page that you can easily share on social media, which can help your TikTok giveaway go viral.

To get started, click on ‘Giveaway Landing Page’ and then select the ‘Click here’ link.

In ‘Page Permalink,’ type in the URL where you want to publish the giveaway landing page.

Then, go ahead and click on ‘View.’

RafflePress will now publish your giveaway as a landing page.

If you visit the URL, then you’ll see the giveaway live.

Another option is to add the giveaway to a post or page using the RafflePress block.

Simply open the post or page where you want to show your TikTok giveaway in the content editor. Then just click on the ‘+’ button and type in ‘RafflePress.’

When it appears, select the ‘RafflePress’ block.

After adding the block, open the dropdown and choose your TikTok giveaway.

You can then either publish or update the page to make the contest live on your WordPress website or blog.

Another option is to add the contest to any page, post, or widget-ready area.

In the giveaway editor, click on ‘WordPress Shortcode’ and RafflePress will show the shortcode that you can use.

Simply copy the shortcode and then add it to your WordPress blog or website. For more information on how to place the shortcode, please see our guide on how to add a shortcode in WordPress.

How to Make Your TikTok Giveaway Go Viral

To help your TikTok giveaway go viral, it’s important to promote it so more people can enter.

Wherever possible, it’s a good idea to promote your giveaway before publishing it, so you can create a sense of anticipation and excitement around your contest. Then, when your giveaway goes live you should get a ton of entries straight away.

You’ll want to help visitors find your giveaway by promoting it on your site’s most important pages. To start, we recommend adding the giveaway to your navigation menu or sidebar.

You can also create a floating bar with a link to the giveaway landing page using a plugin such as OptinMonster.

To create a sense of urgency, we recommend adding a countdown timer to the floating bar. In this way, you can use FOMO on your WordPress site to get more entries and TikTok followers.

You can ask your push notification subscribers to follow you on TikTok if they haven’t already, or to refer any friends or family members who might want to enter the competition. To learn more, please see our guide on how to add push notifications to your WordPress site.

Another option is to send an email newsletter with a link to your TikTok giveaway.

Promoting the giveaway on your social media profiles is also a great way to get more participants. Since these people already follow you on social media, they may be interested in watching your TikToks and following your account, so this is a great way to get more engagement and grow your channel.

It’s also important to promote the contest to your TikTok audience. They may already be following your TikTok, but contests are a great way to create content and engage with your existing audience. For example, you might create a video announcing the contest or showing off the prize.

RafflePress also has a ‘View TikTok Post / Video’ action, which is perfect for re-engaging your TikTok followers. If you’re using this entry method, then it’s even more important to promote the contest to your existing TikTok audience.

If you’ve enabled daily entries, then you might even create multiple TikTok videos encouraging your followers to enter every single day.

You can also reach out to TikTok influencers and ask them to mention your giveaway to their followers. To help your giveaway go viral, think about the influencer’s fan base and whether they’ll be interested in the prize. For example, if you’re offering a skin care bundle then you might partner with beauty influencers.

How to Choose a TikTok Giveaway Winner

Once your giveaway closes, it’s time to choose a lucky winner at random.

To pick a winner, just go to RafflePress » Giveaways in your WordPress dashboard.

If you didn’t schedule an end date for the contest, then you’ll need to close it manually.

Simply hover over the giveaway and then click on the ‘End Now’ link.

To choose a winner, click on ‘Needs Winners.’

On the following page, RafflePress will show all the people who entered your TikTok giveaway, along with how they entered, their total entries, and more.

Here, just type in the number of winners that you want to pick and then click on ‘Choose Winners Now.’

RafflePress will then show the winner highlighted at the top of the list. Now, you simply need to contact the winner and let them know the good news.

You may also want to announce the winner in a TikTok video. If you’re shipping a physical prize, then you might ask the winner to create their own TikTok showing them receiving or unboxing the prize. This is great content for your followers and also proves that your contests are genuine.

It’s also a good idea to create a TikTok thanking everyone for taking part and encouraging them to join your giveaways in the future.

Wherever possible, we recommend you email all participants as this will help you build a relationship with these new leads and gives you another chance to mention your brand.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create a viral giveaway in WordPress. You may also want to check out our guide on how to allow user registration on your WordPress site, or see our list of best social media plugins for WordPress.

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

The post How to Create a Viral TikTok Giveaway in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

What is Headless WordPress and Should You Use It? (Pros & Cons)

We are often asked by users about what is headless WordPress and should they use it?

Headless WordPress separates WordPress’s back-end admin area from the front-end that visitors see. This allows developers to use different technologies for the front-end part of a website while still keeping the stability and security of WordPress.

In this article, we’ll explain what is headless WordPress and if should you use it. We’ll also talk about the pros and cons of a headless WordPress website.

Here is a quick overview of the topics we’ll cover in this guide:

What is Headless WordPress?

Headless WordPress is a term for any website that uses WordPress as the back-end software to manage data and content, but uses separate technologies to display the data on the front-end.

The back-end is the term used for the admin area of a website. This is where you create content like posts and pages, install plugins, manage comments, and more.

Front-end is the publicly visible area of your website.

This is what the users see when they visit your site their browsers.

WordPress normally takes care of both components in one robust software. You can simply use any WordPress theme to display your website.

However, some developers and website owners may have different requirements where they may need to use others technologies such as React.js, Angular.js, Faust.js, and others to create a custom front-end for their website.

Headless WordPress allows them to use those technologies while still using WordPress in the backend for easier content management.

How Headless WordPress Works?

WordPress comes with an easy-to-use admin area where you create content and manage your website. It also includes a templating engine to display the front-end of your site using themes.

For more details, see our article on how WordPress works behind the scenes.

WordPress also ships with an API called WordPress REST API.

This API provides a programming interface for developers to access WordPress website data in JSON format.

When making a headless WordPress website, developers use the REST API to fetch data from WordPress. After that, they can use it in their apps or other front-end technologies like React.js, Angular.js, Faust.js, and more to create a custom website.

What Are the Advantages of Using Headless WordPress?

Headless WordPress can be beneficial in some specific scenarios. We’ll talk about some of the advantages of using headless WordPress in those.

1. Headless WordPress Can Be Faster Than Regular WordPress Website

Many developers believe that headless WordPress can be used to create a much faster WordPress website.

By separating the front end of the site using technology such as React.js, many developers try to deliver more efficient code than most WordPress themes.

However, in our experience simpler WordPress performance optimization techniques work just as good as headless WordPress for most small business websites and use-cases.

2. Integrate Headless WordPress Data into Other Apps

Let’s say you have a mobile app and now you want to integrate your blog or other section from your WordPress website into that app.

Headless WordPress can help you bring your WordPress data into other apps, and you can use different technologies to create a seamless user experience.

Similarly, if you have a static website, and you need a dynamic section only for a specific section like a blog, reviews, or online store. Then headless WordPress can integrate WordPress data into your static website.

3. Publish on Multiple Platforms via Headless WordPress

Headless WordPress makes your WordPress data portable, so that you can take it anywhere.

You can use the data in your marketing campaigns, post on social media platforms, use it on IoT devices such as smart speakers, feed an artificial intelligence tool, connect to virtual assistants, and more.

4. Headless WordPress is far more affordable than proprietary headless CMS

Headless WordPress is far more affordable and powerful than proprietary “enterprise CMS” solutions like Contentful which will easily cost you tens of thousands in hosting alone (not including development costs).

What Are the Disadvantages of a Headless WordPress Website?

Creating a headless WordPress website may also put your website at certain disadvantages. Let’s take a look at a few of them.

1. Headless WordPress is More Expensive compared to Traditional WordPress sites

You’ll need to hire a developer to make a custom front end for your website. This could easily get into the range of tens of thousands of dollars.

If you are a developer, then you’ll be spending valuable time making a custom front end.

Even if you are using a front-end development framework, it would take more time and effort than using a ready-made WordPress theme with proper caching on server / DNS level.

2. Some WordPress Plugins May Not Work

Plugins are like apps for your WordPress website, and they allow you to add new features to your site and extend its functionality.

A headless WordPress website may not be able to take advantage of some of the WordPress plugins.

For instance, some WordPress plugin data may not be accessible using the REST API, or plugin features may require a WordPress theme to function properly.

With that said, popular WordPress plugins like AIOSEO have a REST API extension that lets you create SEO friendly headless WordPress sites.

3. Maintainance Headaches

You’ll basically be using separate platforms for the front and back end of your site, and you will need to maintain both of them separately.

Occasionally, things may break down on either side. You will need to rely on developers to sort out these issues. Or you will spend your own valuable time fixing them.

The additional complexity will make it harder as your business grows.

Should You Use a Headless WordPress Website?

In our opinion, most WordPress users don’t need to use a headless WordPress website or other types of headless framework.

It is expensive, needlessly complicated, and not suitable for vast majority of website owners, bloggers, small businesses, or online stores.

For instance, if speed and performance is your main concern, then your existing WordPress website can easily beat any headless WordPress website.

All top WordPress caching plugins come with page caching, cache preloading, object caching, and gzip compression features.

Turning on these features can significantly boost your website speed without hiring any developers.

Combine that with a powerful CDN and web application firewall like Cloudflare or Sucuri, and your website will be even faster.

See the case study of how we made WPBeginner load faster than headless websites.

As for integrations, there are more than 59,000+ WordPress plugins offering integrations with almost every third-party platform available.

There are even tools like Uncanny Automator that allow integrations with WordPress websites and third-party tools using Zapier.

If you need an integration that is not available via an existing WordPress plugin, then perhaps you should hire a developer to write a custom plugin.

This will cost a lot less, and you can even make money online by selling it as a digital download to other WordPress users.

Who Should Use Headless WordPress?

We believe that headless WordPress should only be used in very specific scenarios.

First, you need to evaluate if there is a genuine need for headless CMS.

For instance, a company that has built a custom website or an app. They might need WordPress for easier content management features, and in that scenario it makes sense to use headless WordPress.

Secondly, you should either have the budget to hire & retain developers or have the skillset required to maintain a headless CMS.

Remember, a headless WordPress CMS is used for creating a new custom app, or one that uses WordPress for easier content creation and management.

Important Thing to Watch Out for with Headless WordPress

As a non-techy business owner, sometimes it’s hard to know if you truly need headless WordPress.

Some WordPress developers and agencies will try to push headless websites on you, and you must know what you’re getting yourself into. Remember their incentives are to charge you more money.

If the only reason why they propose headless WordPress is speed or SEO, then you must ask them what have they already done to optimize the speed of your website, and how big of the impact will switching to headless WordPress may have. If you don’t get a concrete answer, then you should look for a second opinion.

You will be surprised that for vast majority of websites, the improvements are negligible, but the cost to develop & maintain headless WordPress websites are much higher.

Whatever you do, definitely do not let anyone talk you into switching away from WordPress to something like Contentful because you’ll be highly disappointed.

We have heard numerous business owners switching only to realize what a mistake they had made, and then converting back to WordPress.

What that said, if you’re 100% convinced that you need a headless WordPress website, then below is a quick step by step guide.

How to Make a Headless WordPress Website?

There are many ways to make a headless WordPress website depending on what tools you want to use for the front end.

For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll show you how to create a headless WordPress website using only the static pages generated by WordPress. This is NOT the most flexible way to create a headless WordPress website, but it is the easiest way for beginners.

First, you need to make a WordPress website that you want to use as your headless CMS.

This needs to be a live website on its own domain name and web hosting account.

We recommend using SiteGround. They are one of the fastest WordPress hosting companies and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.

SiteGround servers are powered by Google Cloud and they have many built-in performance optimization tools.

Alternatively if you can spend a little more, then take a look at WP Engine. Their Atlas plan is made for large headless WordPress websites and is targeted towards developers.

Atlas comes with a free sandbox account, custom content modular, pre-configured blueprints to speed up your workflow, and a deeper integration with WPGraphQL plugin.

You can also make a local WordPress website on your own computer.

After that, you can start working on your website by adding posts and pages. You can also choose a WordPress theme for your website and design your website.

Once your website is ready, you need to install and activate the Simply Static plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit the Simply Static » Settings page to configure the plugin.

From here, you can choose the URL path you want to use in your static files.

For instance, if you know the URL or domain name where you will host your static files, then you can provide that URL under the ‘Absolute URLs’ field.

If you are unsure, then you can use the ‘Relative URLs’ option.

Next, switch to the ‘Include/Exclude’ tab. From here, you can add additional pages that you want to include or add pages that you want to exclude.

You can also use regex expressions to exclude URLs that match a specific pattern.

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

Now, you are ready to generate static files for your headless website. Simply go to the Simply Static » Generate page and click on the ‘Generate Static Files’ button.

The plugin will then start crawling your website and storing static files in a temporary folder. It may take a while depending on how many pages your website has.

Once finished, you will see a success notification with a link to download files to your computer in a zip archive format.

After downloading the zip file, you will need to extract it.

You are now ready to upload the extracted files to your website or the server where you want to host your headless website.

Simply connect to your website using an FTP client or use the file manager app in the hosting control panel.

Once connected, upload the extracted static files you downloaded earlier to your website.

After that, you can visit your static website to see it in action.

Note: To update your static website, you will need to create new content in your WordPress installation and then repeat the whole process again to replace the static files being served to your users.

It’s important to note that this is not the most flexible way to create a static WordPress website.

When you’re using a headless WordPress solution like WP Engine Atlas, it comes with better developer tooling, starter site blueprints, how-to guides, smarter production deployment solutions, and more.

For larger websites and enterprise solutions, we would recommend using WP Engine Atlas along with WPGraphQL to unlock the full power of headless WordPress CMS.

With that said, if you’re a small business owner and read somewhere that you need a headless WordPress site to improve your SEO rankings, that’s just wrong advice. You can get similar results by just improving your website performance by following our guide on how to speed up WordPress.

We hope this article helped you learn what is headless WordPress and if should you use it for your website. You may also want to see our guide on how to create a custom WordPress theme without coding, or see our comparison of best smtp services to improve email deliverability.

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

The post What is Headless WordPress and Should You Use It? (Pros & Cons) first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Create a Client Portal in WordPress

Do you want to create a client portal in WordPress?

A client portal is a dedicated area where clients can login and access exclusive documents, files, support, and more.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily create a client portal in WordPress.

Why Create a Client Portal in WordPress?

A client portal makes it easier to manage client resources online. This can reduce the number of support requests you receive, allow clients to help themselves, and provide them with a better user experience.

For example, if you run a photography website then you might create a dashboard where clients can upload and download images.

Similarly, if you run a graphic design or web design business, then you might create a customer portal where clients can download all the resources you’ve designed for them.

Without a client portal, the customer would need to contact you directly and wait for a response. This is time-consuming and frustrating for both you and the client.

With that being said, let’s see how to reduce your workload and keep your customers happy by creating a client portal in WordPress.

How to Create a Client Portal in WordPress

Each business will need something different from their client portal, so you need a solution that’s flexible, customizable, and works well with other plugins.

For this guide, we will be using MemberPress.

It is the best WordPress membership plugin on the market and allows you to easily create a members-only section for your clients. MemberPress also has powerful display rules so you create exclusive posts, pages, and other content for your clients.

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

Upon activation, go head and visit MemberPress » Settings and enter your license key.

You’ll find this information under your account on the MemberPress website. It’s also in the email you got when you purchased MemberPress.

After entering the key, click on ‘Activate License Key.’

Next, you need to add at least one payment gateway so you can easily accept credit card payments in your client portal.

MemberPress supports PayPal and Stripe. If you purchase a MemberPress Pro plan, then you can also accept payments using Authorize.net

Note: If you plan to add existing clients to your portal without charging a fee, then you can skip this step.

To add a payment method, switch to the ‘Payments’ tab and click on ‘Add Payment Method.’

You can now chose a payment method from the ‘Gateway’ dropdown.

MemberPress will then show all the settings you need to configure before using this payment gateway. For example, in the following image we’re adding PayPal payment to WordPress.

After choosing a gateway, you’ll need to enter some information to configure your account. Once you’ve done that, click on the ‘Update Options’ button to save your changes.

You can add multiple payment gateways to your corporate portal simply by following the same process described above.

After adding one or more payment methods, you’re ready to create a membership plan.

To get started, simply go to the MemberPress » Memberships page and click on the Add New button.

On the next screen, you can type a title for the membership level and set the price. If you’re planning to add clients manually, then you can leave the ‘Price’ field at ‘0.’

However, if you want to make money by selling subscriptions to your client portal, then you can type in a price.

Next, use the ‘Billing Type’ dropdown to create a billing cycle, for example you might charge clients a one-time fee for lifetime access or set up a recurring monthly subscription.

In the following image, we’re charging clients $100 every 6 months.

Next, you need to create access rules. This allows you to create an exclusive, client-only area of your WordPress website.

Simply go to the MemberPress » Rules page and then click on the ‘Add New’ button.

On the next screen, you first need to choose what content you want to restrict.

The ‘Protected Content’ section offers different options. To start, you can restrict access to specific pages and posts, although this may be time-consuming if you have lots of content.

Another option is to restrict access to all child pages of a particular parent page. For example, you might create a ‘Client Portal’ parent page and then restrict access to all its child pages. This can save you lots of time and effort.

Similarly, you can restrict access to all the posts that have a specific category or tag.

Below that, you can specify who can access this content by opening the ‘Access Conditions’ dropdown and choosing ‘Membership.’

In the second dropdown menu, select the membership level you created earlier.

When you’re happy with how the access rule is set up, click on the Save Rule button to store your settings.

You can create more content restriction rules by following the same process described above.

Creating a Client Account Page in MemberPress

Next, you’ll want to create an Account page, which is the page that clients will see then they log into your portal.

First, go to MemberPress » Settings and click on the ‘Pages’ tab.

MemberPress will create an Account page automatically.

To preview the page, click on the ‘View’ button next to ‘MemberPress Account Page.’

The default Account page has a few different tabs where clients can edit their profile, check their subscriptions, and log out of their account.

The Account page is also designed to perfectly integrate with your WordPress theme, as you can see in the following image.

The default Account page should be a good fit for most client portals. However you can edit the page just like you would any other WordPress page.

To make some changes, click on the ‘Edit’ button.

This launches the standard WordPress page editor, so you can do ahead and make your changes. Just be aware that any content you add here will be visible to everyone and not just the client.

When you’re happy with how the account page looks, just scroll to the bottom of the screen and click on ‘Update Options.’

MemberPress will now go ahead and create the Account page.

You can see this page live on your website by adding /account/ to the end of your domain, for example www.example.com/account/.

You can also find this page in your WordPress dashboard by going to Pages » All Pages.

Although MemberPress creates this page automatically, you can also add the Account content to any page or post using the [mepr-account-form] shortcode.

For more details on how to place the shortcode, please see our guide on how to add a shortcode in WordPress.

Customizing Client Account Page in MemberPress

Content protection rules are one way to create exclusive content for your clients. However, sometimes you may want to hide specific content within a page or post, such as the index to your members-only bbPress forum or some bonus documentation you created using a WordPress knowledge base plugin.

In this case, you can wrap the content in shortcode. MemberPress will then hide or show the content inside the shortcode, based on whether the person is logged into your client portal.

To start, you’ll need to know the ID for the client membership level. To get this, simply go to MemberPress » Memberships and look at the value in the ‘ID’ column.

Once you have the ID, go the page or post where you want to hide some content.

You can then create a shortcode block above the content and a block below the content.

In the top block, add the following: [mepr-active membership=’162′]. Make sure you replace the number with the client membership ID.

Next, add the following in the bottom block: [/mepr-active].

Then, simply update or publish the page and visit your site in incognito mode, or when logged out of your WordPress account.

MemberPress should hide the content inside your shortcode blocks. To see the content, simply log into any client membership account.

Adding Tabs to The Accounts Page in MemberPress

By default, the Account page has Home, Subscriptions, Payments, and Logout tabs.

You may want to add more tabs to help members find content in your client portal. For example, you could create tabs for customer service software such as HelpDesk.com or HelpScout, to help clients contact your support team.

The easiest way to add more tabs to the Account page is by using the MemberPress Nav Tabs add-on.

Simply go to MemberPress » Add-ons and then click on the ‘Install Add-on’ button next to ‘Nav Tabs.’

After that, go to MemberPress » Settings.

Here, click on the ‘Account’ tab.

Next, just scroll to ‘Account Nav Tabs Settings’ and check the ‘Enable Account Nav Tabs’ box.

Once you’ve done that, you’ll see a new editor where you can select either ‘Content’ or ‘URL.’

If you choose ‘Content,’ then you can add images, text, audio, shortcodes, and other content.

This content will appear inside the new tab, as you can see in the following image.

The other option is ‘URL,’ which will take the client to a different page, similar to clicking an item in the navigation menu.

If you do select ‘URL,’ then you can type in a title and the URL that the tab will link to. By default, the link will open in the same tab but you can open it in a new tab by checking the ‘Open URL…’ box.

To add more tabs to the Account page, simply click on ‘Add New Tab’ and repeat the process described above.

After adding all your custom tabs, click on the ‘Update Options’ button to save your changes.

Adding Custom Content for an Individual Client

MemberPress also allows you to show a different message to each client in their Account page. This message is included in the ‘Home’ tab.

By creating a personal greeting, you can make your clients feel more appreciated and valued. You might also include links to resources that the client may find helpful, such as the documentation for a new product they’ve just bought.

To add a custom message, go to MemberPress » Members. You can then hover over any client and click on the ‘Edit’ link when it appears.

After that, scroll to the ‘Custom MemberPress Account Message’ section and add the content that you want to show to this particular client.

This area works like the regular WordPress post editor so you can add images, shortcodes, image galleries, video, audio files, and any other resources that the client may field useful.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Update User’ button to save your changes.

Adding a Link to Client Area using MemberPress

Next, you need to make it easy for clients to access the portal by adding it to your menu.

Simply go to Appearance » Menus and click to expand the ‘Pages’ section, if it isn’t expanded already.

You can then check the box next to the ‘Account’ page and click on ‘Add to Menu.’

Once you’ve done that, you can change where the Account page appears in the menu using drag and drop.

You can also change the label that’s used for the ‘Account’ page in the menu. The default is ‘Account’ but you may want to use ‘Client Portal’ or similar.

To do this, click to expand the ‘Account’ section and then type a new title into the ‘Navigation Label’ field.

Don’t forget to click on ‘Save Menu’ to store your settings.

Now if you visit your site, you’ll see a link to the Account page in your menu.

Extending Client Portal with MemberPress

By this point, you’ve created a client portal with exclusive, members-only content and even a custom welcome message.

That’s a great start, but let’s look at some other features that you can add to the client portal using MemberPress.

1. File Downloads

Want to allow clients to download files from your site? This might be anything from copies of your invoices, to reports and studies, or the stock images you’ve created for the client.

MemberPress comes with a File Downloads add-on that allows you to offer downloadable content to your clients. After creating the download, you can add it to any page or post using a shortcode.

MemberPress will then show a link that visitors can use to download the file.

You can use content protection to make the file exclusive to your clients, or even create different downloadable files for each client.

For step by step details, please see our guide on how to manage file downloads in WordPress.

2. Training Courses

You may want to offer courses, workshops, and other training materials to your clients.

The good news is that MemberPress is also the best WordPress LMS plugin on the market.

The MemberPress course builder is built on top of the WordPress block editor. This means you can add lessons, topics, categories, embed videos, images, and more using the WordPress tools that you’re already familiar with.

By publishing courses to the client portal, you can add more value for your customers and encourage them to renew their membership.

For more details, see our tutorial on how to easily create online courses in WordPress.

3. Add Forms to Clients Area

No matter whether it’s a contact form, feedback form, customer testimonial form, or a customer survey, forms are an important way to communicate with your clients.

They can help you get feedback and improve the member experience, while also giving clients a way to ask questions and get support.

MemberPress integrates perfectly with WPForms, which is the best WordPress form builder plugin on the market.

Sometimes, clients may need to upload files to your portal, such as a contract that you need to sign or photographs that you plan to publish to your client portfolio.

You can easily create file upload forms using WPForms. You can then embed the form on the Account page, or any members-only page on your website.

4. Selling More Products and Services

As a business owner, you may want to promote other products and services to your clients.

MemberPress works with many of the email marketing services that you may already be using to keep your audience engaged and promote your other products and services. This includes SendinBlueConstant ContactDrip, and 1000+ others.

You can also add an online store to your portal using WooCommerce and sell other products to your customers.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create a client portal in WordPress. You may also want to see our comparison of the best business phone services, and our guide on how to create an email newsletter.

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

The post How to Create a Client Portal in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.