9 Best Schema Markup Plugins for WordPress (2022)

Are you looking for the best schema markup plugins for WordPress?

The right SEO plugin will help you properly optimize your content for search engines, so you can outrank your competitors and grow your business. You can also use schema markup plugins to create valuable rich snippets for search engines like Google.

In this article, we’ll share our expert pick of the best schema markup plugins for WordPress.

Why You Should Use Schema Markup Plugins for WordPress

If your site has lots of high quality original content, then you’re already off to a great start. However, you also need to help search engines understand that content, so they can include it in relevant search results and drive more people to your website.

Schema markup is structured data that help your website communicate with search engines behind the scenes. It uses invisible code to clearly label your pages and posts, so search engines know exactly what your content is about, and when to show it to users.

Search engines such as Google also use schema to create rich snippets.

These valuable snippets show additional information about your pages and posts. If you manage to get a rich snippet on a search engine like Google, then your content immediately stands out from the crowd. This can improve your organic click through rate and increase your blog traffic.

Using the right schema markup is important, but it can also be complicated. Thankfully, there are WordPress SEO plugins that can walk you through the process of adding schema markup to your site. Some of these plugins will even generate the right schema automatically.

Using a schema markup plugin doesn’t guarantee that your rich snippets will appear in the search results, but it will improve your chances.

With that being said, let’s take a look at the best schema markup plugins for WordPress.

1. AIOSEO

All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO) is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market used by over 3 million websites. This complete SEO toolkit has everything you need to outrank your competitors including support for rich snippets schema.

AIOSEO makes sure your schema markup is properly set up, so search engines can show your content to people who are searching for pages, posts, and products just like yours.

The plugin even has special schema for FAQs, courses, recipes, software, ratings, and dozens more. This helps your customers find your products, services, and digital downloads over your competitors.

If you have a physical store or business, then AIOSEO has local schema markup for your business logo, address, business phone number, opening hours, and more. This gives you the best possible chance of appearing in Google Maps and local search results.

AIOSEO’s Google Map integration has multiple location support, which is perfect for successful businesses that have multiple offices, stores, salons, or other locations.

To learn more, see our guide on how to add multiple locations schema for local businesses.

This powerful WordPress SEO plugin is also easy to set up. To start, simply enter all your website information into the plugin’s settings.

Then, just work your way through the Schema Markup settings for each content type.

For example, you’ll typically map your Posts to the Article schema type, and Pages to the Web Page schema.

AIOSEO is flexible, so you can override these default settings for specific pages, posts, courses, and more from inside the content editor.

When editing your content, simply scroll to the AIOSEO Settings section and then click on ‘Generate Schema’ to open the Schema Generator.

You’ll now see all the different schema that you can add to this particular piece of content.

By simply repeating these steps, you can optimize your entire WordPress website without having to write a single line of code.

AIOSEO has support for all the modern schema types to get you rich snippets including the new FAQ schema. SEO pros can use the custom schema tab to enter any type of schema format they wish.

It also has built-in schema validation to ensure that your website is properly optimized for highest SEO rankings.

To get started with AIOSEO, please see our ultimate guide on how to set up All in One SEO for WordPress correctly.

Price: AIOSEO Pro licenses start at $49.60 per year for a single website. There’s also a free version that you can use to get started.

2. Schema Pro

The Schema Pro plugin has more than 20 schema types including recipe, article, book, job posting, and more.

You can add all of these schema types to your WordPress blog or website without writing a single line of code. Simply choose a schema type from a dropdown menu and then tell the plugin where to add this schema.

To help you use the correct schema, Schema Pro will even map default data such as page title, featured image, author, and data. You can then simply fine-tune these defaults to suit your content, and Schema Pro will add the correct code across your website.

If this is your first time adding schema, then the plugin integrates with the Google Structured Data Testing Tool and comes with built-in field validation. This allows you to test your schema and see whether you’re likely to get a rich snippet.

If you’re using custom post types or other unique content, then more advanced users may want to try the plugin’s Custom Schema markup tool. This allows you to create your own schema in JSON-LD format, and then test it using the Structured Data Testing Tool or Rich Results Test.

Price: You can buy an annual Schema Pro license for $67 which includes product updates, premium support, and advanced schema types.

3. WordPress Review Plugin

Positive customer reviews can convince shoppers to buy from your online store and will make your website seem more trustworthy. With that being said, you’ll want the search engines to highlight your reviews.

The WordPress Review plugin can add the schema that search engines need to correctly identify your customer reviews, and include them in rich snippets.

You can use this plugin to create both single and multi-criteria reviews. This helps your customers make a decision about your company or products at a glance, and then explore more detailed reviews if they want extra information.

The plugin can also generate rating schema and markup for your WooCommerce products, which makes it a great choice for any WooCommerce user.

The WordPress Review plugin comes with a selection of layouts that you can apply to your reviews plus support for numeric pagination. In this way, the plugin can display your reviews in a way that makes sense to shoppers as well as the search engines.

Despite the focus on eCommerce, this plugin can also create review schema for any page, post, or custom post type. For example, you might encourage visitors to rate their favorite blog post.

If you’re worried about spam and fake reviews, then the plugin comes with built-in support for reCAPTCHA v3. For more information on how reCAPTCHA works, please see our guide on how to add reCAPTCHA to WordPress.

Price: You can download this plugin for free from the official WordPress repository.

4. WP Review Plugin

WP Review is another plugin that’s perfect for anyone who sells digital downloads, products, or services online.

This plugin adds 9 different schema types and allows you to show reviews in a structured box that features star, point, and percentage ratings. You can also add user comments, affiliate buttons, and more to create an eye-catching layout.

By presenting this data in a box with the correct schema, you can encourage search engines to include the information in their search results. For example, Google often shows star ratings next to each product.

As long as you get a high rating, this can make your products stand out from the competition and should improve your click-through rates.

WP Review’s boxes are completely customizable, so you can fine-tune them to perfectly suit your WordPress theme by changing the text color, adding a border, changing the background, and more.

Price: You can download WP Review for free from the official WordPress repository.

5. Structured Content

This plugin allows you to add structured data to any page or post, and it then renders that information as JSON-LD.

In total, Structured Content adds 6 schema types including LocalBusiness, FAQPage, and Person. If you sell online courses, then there’s a Course structured data type that will help search engines show your training in relevant search results.

If you run a job board in WordPress, then we recommend looking at the plugin’s JobPosting schema as this can help your job listings appear in Google’s job search experience.

Here, Google will show your job listings along with your logo, plus any company reviews or ratings you’ve received. This instantly makes your job listings more interesting and should get you lots more applicants.

To help you add schema to your website, Structured Content comes with its own blocks. Simply click on any block to add it to your content.

After that, you configure the schema markup by filling out a form.

This makes it easy to add correctly-formatted markup to your website.

Price: A free download of Structured Content is available from the WordPress repository.

6. WP SEO Structured Data Schema

If you want more control over your schema markup, then you may want to look at this free WordPress plugin.

Although WP SEO Structured Data Schema does have some site-wide settings, it places an emphasis on flexibility and manual customization.

This plugin allows you to add schema in JSON-LD format on a page-by-page basis.

WP SEO Structured Data Schema does require a bit more setup compared to some of the other plugins on this list.

However, it is a powerful solution that gives you lots of freedom to fine-tune your schema. This makes it a good choice for users who are more familiar with schema markup.

Just be aware that you’ll need to upgrade to the pro version if you want to add schema to custom post types.

Price: You can download WP SEO Structured Data Schema for free from the official WordPress repository.

7. WPSSO Core

The WPSSO Core plugin supports an impressive 500 schema types and sub-types.

It also stands out from the crowd by providing structured data markup for social media sites including Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Twitter, and WhatsApp.

If you’re already using some of the best SEO plugins, then you’ll be happy to hear that WPSSO Core integrates with WP Product Review, WP-PostRatings, and WP Meta SEO. WPSSO Core can even read settings and data from AIOSEO.

Beyond SEO plugins, WPSSO Core also integrates with Easy Digital Downloads and WooCommerce, so we recommend checking out this plugin if you run an online store.

WPSSO Core is also a good choice if you previously tried to add schema markup manually, but encountered errors. This plugin claims to fix all schema markup errors in Google Search, Rich Results, Merchant Listings, and more.

Price: To download WPSSO Core for free, simply visit the WordPress repository.

8. Five Star Business Profile and Schema

Like many plugins on this list, Five Star Business Profile and Schema can add LD+JSON schema structured data to any page or post.

However, it also has a unique contact card feature that lets you add all your business details with the correct schema markup. This includes a Google Map, opening hours, plus your phone number and WhatsApp number with a click-to-call feature.

Search engines can then discover this information and show it next to your listing.

If you accept appointments and bookings, or own a physical store then this will help customers contact you. In fact, if you have multiple locations then Five Star Business Profile and Schema will automatically add a dropdown menu so customers can choose between the different locations.

Even better, you can add the card to any page, post, or widget-ready area using either a shortcode or a special Contact Card block.

Beyond the SEO-friendly contact card, this plugin has a database of every organization type schema and every rich results type.

Each schema and rich results type comes with the corresponding fields and properties. Simply fill in the default values that you want to use and the plugin will handle the rest.

If you want to use different values on a specific page, then you can easily override these defaults from the post editor.

Price: You can download Five Star Business Profile and Schema for free.

9. Schema and Structured Data

This plugin adds 16 schema types to your WordPress website including reviews, email, and comments, plus support for custom schema.

After activating the plugin, Schema and Structured Data will automatically fetch the data from your website and then enhance it in the Google search results.

If you have an online store, then this plugin is compatible with WooCommerce so you can get your products and services featured on search engines like Google. If you’re using WooCommerce extensions, then this plugin is also compatible with WooCommerce Booking and WooCommerce Membership.

If you want to add schema to lots of content, then the plugin has some useful conditional fields. This allows you to include and exclude posts, pages, and taxonomies from the schema.

Schema and Structured Data has some extra features that can help search engines understand your content. This includes support for breadcrumbs and Google AMP compatibility so you can easily enhance the markup for the AMP version of your site.

For more information about AMP, please see our guide on how to properly setup Google AMP on your WordPress site.

Price: An annual license for a single website is priced at $99.00.

Which is the best WordPress schema plugin?

After carefully evaluating all the popular schema plugins in the market, we believe that AIOSEO – All in One SEO is the best WordPress schema plugin.

In the past, websites will use their main SEO plugin and then a separate schema plugin which would lead to complication, plugin conflicts, and even performance issues.

With All in One SEO, you can use just one plugin that gives you everything you need to grow your SEO rankings.

The free All in One SEO plugin has support for on-page schema markups, but you will need the Pro version to unlock access to their powerful custom schema generator.

Frequently Asked Questions

Being the largest free WordPress resource site on the planet, we have helped tens of thousands of people choose the best WordPress SEO plugins. Below are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions.

Does schema improve SEO?

Yes, having a proper schema markup will absolutely improve your SEO rankings. Google and other search engines reward websites with rich snippets and higher rankings when they use proper schema tags.

Does WordPress use schema?

By default, WordPress does not add schema markup. That’s why website owners use WordPress schema plugins. You can easily add schema markup in WordPress by using the All in One SEO plugin.

For a more detailed explanation, see our guide on how to add schema markup in WordPress and WooCommerce.

Does Yoast SEO plugin add schema?

Yes, Yoast SEO plugin does offer limited schema support. However they do not have powerful custom schema generators or schema validation like other plugins such as All in One SEO, Schema Pro, and others mentioned in the list above.

Can you add schema to WordPress without a plugin?

Yes, you can absolutely add custom schema markup in WordPress without using a plugin. All you need to do is simply add the custom schema code in your theme’s functions.php file.

Although we don’t recommend this because if you update your theme, then your customizations will be overwritten. This is why it’s better to future-proof your custom snippets using WPCode.

With that said, most professionals use a plugin like AIOSEO to add schema because they keep it updated with new SEO guidelines.

Will schema markup help me get a featured snippet in Google?

Yes, having a proper schema markup will increase your chances of getting a featured snippet in Google, also known as position zero. At the end of the day, Google decides which sites get the featured snippet, but generally only websites with schema markup get the featured snippet.

What’s better JSON+LD Schema vs Microdata?

Modern search engines like Google prefer JSON+LD schema markup over the microdata schema markup. This is why most large websites have switched to using JSON+LD schema, and the plugins we recommend in our list all output as JSON schema markup.

Which is the best review schema WordPress plugin?

The best review schema plugin for WordPress is All in One SEO. It lets you add review schema, so your search listings can get start ratings and other rich snippets. But unlike other plugins, AIOSEO will not force you to use their styles, so you have full control over how your website brand looks.

The second option people often use is Schema Pro which is built specifically for generating schema blocks.

Which is the best custom schema markup generator for WordPress?

We believe that All in One SEO is the best custom schema generator for WordPress. It offers a guided wizard for all schema.org markups, and for true SEO pros, it even has a fully custom schema markup input, so you can experiment further.

We hope this article helped you find the best schema plugins for WordPress. You may also want to see our guide on how to add keywords and meta descriptions in WordPress and our expert pick of the best analytics solutions.

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

The post 9 Best Schema Markup Plugins for WordPress (2022) first appeared on WPBeginner.

Beginner’s Guide: How to Use Rich Snippets in WordPress

Do you want to add rich snippets on your WordPress site?

Rich snippets allow you to have custom search listings for special content such as reviews, recipes, events, and more. These search listings will stand out and help get more traffic to your site.

In this article, we’ll show you how to add rich snippets to your WordPress site, step by step.

Why Use Rich Snippets on Your WordPress Site?

Rich snippets use what’s called schema markup to provide extra information about your content to the search engines.

The search engine bots use this data to show additional information about your posts and pages in the search results.

This helps to make your posts and pages stand out more in the search results, which can improve your organic click through rate and help you increase your blog traffic.

It also helps you build authority in your niche, as your site becomes more visible in the search.

Rich snippets are not just for review sites or recipes. You can use rich snippets for events, products, people, video, music, apps, articles, blog posts, and more.

Note: It’s important to know that adding schema markup to your website doesn’t guarantee that Google will display it. Google may choose not to for some searches. However, adding the schema markup helps Google to understand your content and makes it much more likely to display rich snippets.

That being said, let’s show you how to add rich snippets to WordPress. Simply use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.

Adding rich snippets in WordPress with a WordPress plugin (Recommended)Adding rich snippets in WordPress by adding code to WordPress

Method 1. Adding Rich Snippets in WordPress Using a WordPress Plugin

The easiest way to add rich snippets to WordPress is by using the AIOSEO plugin. It’s the best WordPress SEO plugin in the market, used by over 3+ million websites. 

It helps you easily optimize your site for search engines without the need to hire an SEO expert. Plus, you can set up rich snippets on your site in a couple of clicks.

Note: You’ll need the pro version of AIOSEO since it includes schema markup functionality and other features like XML sitemaps, a redirection manager, and more. There is a free version of the plugin you can use to get started. 

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the AIOSEO plugin. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll immediately be taken to the AIOSEO setup wizard. You need to click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button. 

If the setup wizard doesn’t immediately show up, then simply go to All in One SEO » Dashboard.

From here, you can click the ‘Launch the Setup Wizard’ button. This will walk you through the steps of setting up the plugin for your website. 

As you go through the setup wizard, you’ll need to activate the ‘Advanced Rich Snippets + Schema Markups’ addon.

Simply check the box so that it turns blue, then click the ‘Save and Continue’ button.

On the final screen, you need to enter your license key and then click the ‘Connect’ button.

You can find this information under your account page on the AIOSEO website. 

For more details, see our ultimate guide on how to set up AIOSEO for WordPress correctly.

After that, you can go to AIOSEO » Search Appearance in your WordPress admin panel, and then click on the ‘Content Types’ tab.

Then, you can set the schema markup type for your posts and pages.

Simply click the ‘Schema Markup’ menu option, then you can choose the schema type from the drop-down.

You will be able to see different content types that you can create with the plugin. The list includes:

CourseProductRecipeSoftware/AppFAQWeb pageProfileArticle

Clicking on any content type will show you the fields that will be available.

These settings will be the default settings when you add a new blog post. However, you can change these on an individual post basis too.

Below the post schema markup, you can also control the default schema for your pages.

Simply select the ‘Schema Type’ from the drop-down. Then, you’ll have additional options for the schema type you select.

Once you’re finished making changes, click the ‘Save Changes’ button before you leave the page. 

Adding Rich Snippet Information to Your Posts and Pages

Now, you can add schema information to your individual posts and pages, so they’ll display with unique rich snippets in the search results.

To do this, simply open up a blog post and scroll down below the post editor. Here you’ll see a meta box called ‘AIOSEO Settings’.

You need to click the ‘Schema’ tab and then click on the ‘Generate Schema’ button.

This will open up the Schema Catalog. Simply click the ‘Add Schema’ button next to the type of schema you want to add.

Now, there will be different fields available to fill out, based on the option you select. For example, the ‘Software’ schema type includes fields for the name, operating system, price, description, review, and more.

Once you’re finished, click the ‘Add Schema’ button. Don’t forget to click ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ on the post to save your changes as well.

Adding schema markup to individual WordPress pages is similar. You need to open up the page you want to edit and then scroll down to the ‘AIOSEO Settings’ meta box below the page editor.

Then, click the ‘Schema’ menu option, click the ‘Generate Schema’ button, and select your page schema type from the Schema Catalog.

Different options will appear depending on the type of schema you select. 

Just like above, when you’re finished, you need to click the ‘Add Schema’ button and hit ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ on the page to make your changes live. 

Adding rich snippet information won’t make a difference on the front end of your WordPress blog. However, you’ll be giving the search engine bots extra data to display with your posts and pages in the search results. 

Method 2. Adding Rich Snippets by Adding Code to WordPress

Another way to add rich snippets to WordPress is by adding code to WordPress. If you haven’t done this before, then see our guide on how to copy and paste code in WordPress.

Rich snippets or structured data markup can be written into three different vocabularies. These vocabularies are microdata, RDFa, and JSON-LD. You can use any of them on your site. However, most beginners find RDFa to be more beginner friendly.

Here is an example of a user’s about page in WordPress. Normally the text of the page will look something like this:

John Smith
<img src=”johnsmith.jpg” alt=”Photo of John Smith”/>
Support Technician
342 Acme Inc.
101 Washington Avenue
Eagleton IN 98052
(425) 123-4567
<a href=”mailto:johnsmith@example.com”>johnsmith@example.com</a>
Website:
<a href=”http://www.example.com”>example.com</a>

This can be easily transformed with rich snippets.

If you are familiar with HTML, then you can easily understand the following example:

<div vocab=”http://schema.org/” typeof=”Person”>
<span property=”name”>John Smith</span>
<img src=”johnsmith.jpg” property=”image” alt=”Photo of John Smith”/>
<span property=”jobTitle”>Support Technician</span>
<div property=”address” typeof=”PostalAddress”>
<span property=”streetAddress”>
342 Acme Inc.
101 Washington Avenue
</span>
<span property=”addressLocality”>Eagleton</span>,
<span property=”addressRegion”>IN</span>
<span property=”postalCode”>46818</span>
</div>
<span property=”telephone”>(425) 123-4567</span>
<a href=”mailto:johnsmith@example.com” property=”email”>johnsmith@example.com</a>
Website
<a href=”http://example.com” property=”url”>example.com</a>
</div>

For each content type, there are some special properties that need to be defined.

Schema.org is the organization that helps maintain the standard for different content types. You will find extensive documentation with examples for each schema content type on their website.

Here is another example of a recipe with rich snippets.

<div vocab=”http://schema.org/” typeof=”Recipe”>
<span property=”name”>Mom’s World Famous Banana Bread</span>
By <span property=”author”>John Smith</span>,
<img property=”image” src=”bananabread.jpg”
alt=”Banana bread on a plate” />
<span property=”description”>This classic banana bread recipe comes
from my mom — the walnuts add a nice texture and flavor to the banana
bread.</span>
Prep Time: <meta property=”prepTime” content=”PT15M”>15 minutes
Cook time: <meta property=”cookTime” content=”PT1H”>1 hour
Yield: <span property=”recipeYield”>1 loaf</span>
Ingredients:
– <span property=”recipeIngredient”>3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed</span>
– <span property=”recipeIngredient”>1 egg</span>
– <span property=”recipeIngredient”>3/4 cup of sugar</span>

Instructions:
<span property=”recipeInstructions”>
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix in the ingredients in a bowl. Add
the flour last. Pour the mixture into a loaf pan and bake for one hour.
</span>
</div>

If you are manually adding rich snippets into your WordPress posts, then you will need to manually add HTML to WordPress. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to edit HTML in WordPress code editor.

You may also need to refer to Google’s Developer resource on structured data to understand which properties are required for each content type.

Testing Your Rich Snippets and Schema Markup

If you’re adding rich snippets manually, then you’ll want to make sure you’ve added the structured data to your WordPress website properly.

To check your rich snippets, simply head over to the Google Structured Data Testing Tool. Then, there are two different tests you can run to test your structured data.

First, click the ‘Go to the Rich Results Test’ button. This will see what rich results can be generated for your page.

Then, enter your page or post URL into the box.

Next, click the ‘Test URL’ button.

This will automatically generate a report to see which rich results features can appear when that page or post is listed in the search results.

It will give you any errors or warnings, so you can improve your structured data. You can click the drop-down arrow next to any warning, and you’ll get detailed instructions on how to fix it.

Next, you can test your schema markup by going back to the Google Structured Data Testing Tools page.

Then, click the ‘Go to the Schema Markup Validator’ button.

Next, enter your URL or code snippet into the ‘Test your structured data’ popup.

Then, click the ‘Run Test’ button.

The tool will automatically analyze your code to see if there are any errors.

You’ll want to see 0 errors on the right-hand side of the page.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use rich snippets on your WordPress site. You may also want to see our guide on how to choose the best domain name registrar and our expert picks of the best AI chatbots software for your website. 

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 Beginner’s Guide: How to Use Rich Snippets in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Add Arrow-key Keyboard Navigation in WordPress

Do you want to add arrow-key keyboard navigation on your website?

Keyboard navigation can make your website more user-friendly. It will allow your visitors to move from post to post using these arrow keys. However, WordPress does not offer these navigation features by default.

In this article, we will show you how to add arrow-key keyboard navigation in WordPress. 

Why Add Arrow-key Keyboard Navigation in WordPress

Adding keyboard navigation to your WordPress website allows users to easily browse blog posts on your website. Users are able to view the next and previous blog posts by clicking on the right and left arrow keys on their keyboards.

This feature comes in handy when you want users to easily browse posts in sequential order, For instance, if you’re using blog posts to publish chapters of a book, portfolio items, historical events, or more.

Adding arrow-key keyboard navigation can be a great way to improve user experience on your WordPress blog as it will encourage users to explore your site more.

With that being said, let’s see how to add arrow-key keyboard navigation in WordPress using a plugin.

Method 1. Adding Arrow-Key Keyboard Navigation Using a Code Snippet (Recommended)

You can add arrow-keys navigation on your WordPress blog by adding code to your WordPress theme’s functions.php file. However, adding custom code to WordPress core files can be risky as a tiny mistake can break your site.

That is why we always recommend using WPCode. It is the easiest and safest code snippet plugin available.

By adding this code to your website, your users will be able to switch between different pages and posts on your site using the arrow keys on their keyboards.

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

Upon activation, head over to Code Snippets » Add Snippet in your WordPress admin dashboard. Click the ‘Add New’ button to go to the ‘Add Snippet’ page.

Once there, find the ‘Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ option.

Simply hover your mouse over it and then click the ‘Use snippet’ button.

Once you’re on the ‘Create Custom Snippet’ page, start by typing a name for your code snippet.

Then, simply select ‘Universal Snippet’ as the ‘Code Type’ from the dropdown menu in the right-hand corner.

Note: Please do not select ‘JavaScript’ as your code type. Even though it’s JavaScript code, the code only works on your site if you select the ‘Universal Snippet’ option.

Next, simply copy and paste the following code into the ‘Code Preview.

<script type=”text/javascript”>
document.onkeydown = function (e) {
var e = e || event,
keycode = e.which || e.keyCode;
if (keycode == 37 || keycode == 33)
location = “<?php echo get_permalink(get_previous_post()); ?>”;
if (keycode == 39 || keycode == 34)
location = “<?php echo get_permalink(get_next_post()); ?>”;
}
</script>

This snippet will enable arrow-key navigation on your website.

After that, scroll down to the ‘Insertion’ box to choose the location of the code snippet.

In the dropdown menu beside ‘Location,’ simply choose ‘Site Wide Footer.’

Then, you’ll have to choose an ‘Insert Method.’ To run the snippet everywhere on your website, select the ‘Auto Insert’ option.

If you want arrow-keys navigation only on certain pages, then choose the ‘Shortcode’ option. Once you save the code snippet, a shortcode will appear here for you to copy/paste.

Next, simply go back to the top of the page and toggle the switch from ‘Inactive’ to ‘Active’.

Then all you have to do is click on the ‘Save Snippet’ button.

That’s it! You’ve successfully added the arrow-key navigation on your website.

Method 2. Adding Arrow-Key Keyboard Navigation Using The Arrow Keys Navigation Plugin

If you do not want to add code to your website, then you can use the Arrow Keys Navigation plugin.

This plugin enables you to navigate through the previous and next posts on your site using the right and left arrow keys on your keyboard.

So the first thing you need to do is install and activate the Arrow keys Navigation plugin.

For more details, see our step to step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: This plugin hasn’t been updated recently. However, we tested it with the latest version of WordPress, and it is still working.

Since it is a very simple plugin, it requires no additional configuration. Once you’ve activated the plugin, you can now switch to different posts on your site using the arrow keys.

Keep in mind that this plugin only allows you to switch between different posts on your website, so you won’t be able to use arrow keys to move from one page to another.

For example, you cannot switch from your ‘Home’ page to your ‘Contact Us’ page using arrow keys.

After you’ve activated the plugin, you can add a message or popup on your website that tells the users that they can now navigate through various blog posts by simply using the arrow keys to move from one post to the next.

Arrow-Key Navigation for WordPress Slider and Image Galleries

The above two solutions will allow users to navigate your blog posts with arrow keys, however sometimes you may want to add other functionalities like allowing users to move images with arrow keys, or perhaps move your slider with arrow keys.

In these cases, you will need to use a WordPress gallery plugin, and / or a WordPress slider plugin. Most popular slider and gallery plugins come built-in with arrow key navigation features.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add arrow-key keyboard navigation in WordPress. You may also want to see our top pick of the best WordPress plugins. If you’re interested, you can also go through our guide on how to add special characters in 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.

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How to Add a Buy Now Button in WordPress (3 Methods)

Do you want to add a buy now button in WordPress?

Whether you’re selling a service, subscription, or a physical product, having a quick buy now button helps improve the buying journey and leads to more sales.

In this article, we will show you 3 different ways on how you can add a buy now button in WordPress, step by step.

Why Add a Buy Now Button in WordPress?

A buy now button is a great way to reduce your cart abandonment rates. Every step in the purchasing process is another opportunity for the customer to change their mind and abandon their cart.

By taking them straight to the checkout, shoppers have less time to change their minds and give up on their purchases.

Since they speed up the purchasing process, buy now buttons can also improve the customer experience. When the buyer’s journey feels easy, customers are more likely to keep coming back to your store.

You’ll often see buy now buttons on product pages but they’re also sometimes used on landing and sales pages.

In this way, buy now buttons allow customers to kickstart the purchasing process without ever visiting the product page, which may increase the conversion rates for your marketing and advertising campaigns.

With that being said, let’s see how you can add a buy now button in WordPress. Simply use the quick links below to jump to the method you want to use.

Method 1. Adding a Buy Now Button With WP Simple Pay (No eCommerce Plugins Required)

You can add a simple buy now button to any page, post, or widget-ready area using WP Simple Pay.

This is a great option for service based business, non-profits, or anyone who’s looking for a quick buy now button option for WordPress.

WP Simple Pay is the best Stripe payment plugin for WordPress that lets you accept credit card payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, ACH bank debit, and more without any eCommerce plugins or shopping carts. This makes WP Simple Pay the perfect choice if you want to add a buy now button to a sales page without having to install anything special.

For this guide, we will be using the free version of WP Simple Pay.

If you want to accept payments using ACH direct debit, recurring payments, do automatic tax calculations, or you want to add a buy now pay later plan to WordPress, then you’ll need to upgrade to the pro version.

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

Upon activation, the plugin will automatically launch the setup wizard. Go ahead and click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button.

In the next step, you’ll need to connect a Stripe account to WP Simple Pay. Stripe is a beginner friendly payment processor for website owners.

To get started, click on the ‘Connect with Stripe’ button.

On the next screen, you can either log into an existing Stripe account or create a new one.

If you already have a Stripe account, then simply type in the email address and password for that account.

WP Simple Pay will now show you how to connect your Stripe account to WordPress.

If you’re not already registered with Stripe, then type in your email address and then follow the onscreen instructions to create a Stripe account. Once you’re logged into your Stripe account, click on the ‘Create a Payment Form’ button.

If you’ve clicked away from this screen by accident, then don’t panic. You can reach the same screen by going to WP Simple Pay » Add New.

The free WP Simple Pay plugin has a few different templates that can help you create a payment form, fast. You can unlock extra templates by upgrading to WP Simple Pay Pro, including a template that adds a Stripe donate button in WordPress.

Since we want to create a buy now button, hover over the ‘Payment Button’ template and then click on ‘Create Payment Button’ when it appears.

In the ‘Title’ field, type in a name for your buy now button.

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

You can also use the ‘Description’ field to add some information about your button. Again, WordPress won’t show this to your site’s visitors but it can be useful for your own reference or for anyone else who shares your WordPress dashboard.

After that, click on the ‘Payment’ tab.

By default, WP Simple Pay will create your button in test mode, meaning you can’t accept real payments yet.

We recommend leaving the ‘Global Settings (Test Mode)’ radio button selected so you can test your buy now button before you start accepting payments.

If you want to start collecting payments straight away then you can select the ‘Live Mode’ button instead.

Next, you can decide how much the button will charge the customer. Go ahead and type this number into the ‘One-Time Amount’ field.

Note: WP Simple Pay uses the dollar currency by default. If you want to accept payments in a different currency, then head over to WP Simple Pay » Settings. You can then select the ‘Currency’ tab and choose a new currency.

Once you’ve done that, select the ‘Form Fields’ tab.

By default, your button will have the label ‘Pay Now’, but you can change this to anything you want by typing into the ‘Button Text’ field.

You can also change the ‘Button Processing Text,’ which is the message that WP Simple Pay will show to shoppers while it’s processing their payment.

By default, WP Simple Pay will use the same button style as your WordPress theme.

It also has a ‘Stripe blue’ style that you can use, as you can see in the following image. If you want to use this button style, then simply select the ‘Stripe blue’ radio button in the ‘Payment Button’ section.

​Next, select the Stripe Checkout tab and choose the information that WP Simple Pay will collect from visitors at checkout.

For example, if you’re selling a physical product then you can get the customer’s shipping address by checking the ‘Collect Shipping Address’ box.

If you think that customers may want to buy multiple products, then make sure you check the ‘Allow quantity adjustment’ box.

This adds a dropdown to the Stripe checkout page which allows customers to change how many products they’re buying.

When you’re happy with how the buy now button is set up, it’s time to make it live by clicking on the ‘Publish’ button.

You can now add this buy now button to any WordPress page, post, or widget-ready area using the ‘Form Shortcode.’

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

If you’ve published your button in test mode, then the Stripe dashboard won’t show any payments you get during this time, which makes it difficult to test your buy now button.

To see your transactions, you’ll need to enable test mode in Stripe by logging in to your Stripe dashboard and clicking on the ‘Payments’ tab.

After that, just click on the ‘Developers’ toggle in the upper right corner.

As soon as you’ve done that, you can test your buy now button and the payments will appear in the Stripe dashboard.

Once you’ve finished testing your button, you can start accepting payments by going to WP Simple Pay » Payment Forms.

Here, just hover your mouse over the buy now button, and click on the ‘Edit’ link.

You can now go ahead and select the ‘Payment’ tab, and then click on the radio button next to ‘Live Mode.’

Finally, click on ‘Update.’ Your buy now button is now live, and you’re ready to start accepting payments from your visitors.

Method 2: How to Add a Buy Now Button to Your Digital Downloads

WP Simple Pay lets you add a straightforward buy now button to any WordPress blog or website. However, if you want to sell digital downloads on WordPress, then you’ll need an eCommerce plugin that has a buy now feature.

Easy Digital Downloads is the best platform to easily sell digital products. In fact, we use this plugin ourselves to sell many of our premium WordPress plugins.

Easy Digital Downloads gives you a few ways to add a buy now button in WordPress.

By default, Easy Digital Downloads will show an ‘Add to Cart’ button on all its product pages. However, you can replace that with a buy now button instead.

When the customer clicks on the button that you can see in the image above, they’ll see a popup where they can type in their email address and credit card details.

After that, they just need to click on ‘Purchase’ to go ahead and buy the product.

Easy Digital Downloads also comes with an ‘EDD Buy Button’ block that you can add to any page, post, or widget-ready area.

You can connect this block to any of your downloadable products. The visitor can then simply click on this button to add the product to their basket and go straight to checkout.

With that in mind, let’s look at both methods.

How to Add a Buy Now Button to Any Product Page

To start, you may want to add a buy now button to your product pages. This gives the customer less time to change their mind and abandon their purchase.

If you use SiteGround as your hosting provider, then Easy Digital Downloads comes pre-installed so you can start using the plugin straight away.

If not, you can check out SiteGround EDD hosting and get started for as little as $2.99 a month!

If you’re using any other hosting provider, then you’ll need to install and activate the Easy Digital Downloads plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

In this guide, we’ll be using the free Easy Digital Downloads plugin as it has everything you need to create a simple buy now button. There’s also a pro version that has more advanced features including wishlists, purchase rewards, fraud monitoring, and more.

Before you can create a buy now button, you need to set up Stripe or PayPal. To configure your payment gateway, go to Downloads » Settings and then click on the ‘Payments’ tab.

You can now check the box next to ‘PayPal’ or ‘Stripe’ depending on the payment gateway you want to use.

If you add multiple payment gateways, then you won’t be able to create a buy now button, so it’s important to only choose one gateway.

After making your decision, click on ‘Save Changes’ to store your settings.

If you want to use PayPal, then click on the ‘PayPal’ tab.

You can then select the ‘Connect with PayPal in live mode’ button.

This opens a popup where you can type in the email address and password for the PayPal account where you want to receive payments.

To set up Stripe instead, click on the ‘Stripe’ tab and then select ‘Connect with Stripe.’

This opens a setup wizard, which will help you connect your website to Stripe.

After configuring your payment gateway, don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button. You can now add a buy now button to any Easy Digital Downloads product page.

To create your first digital product, go to Downloads » Downloads. Then, click on the ‘Add New’ button.

You can now add a title and a description for the product, upload an image, add categories and tags, and more.

Note: By default, Easy Digital Downloads will set your product as a free download. It’s important to scroll to the ‘Product Options’ section and type in the real price for the product.

The next step is uploading the product. This might be an ebook download, video training, a PDF guide, digital art and graphics, or any other file that WordPress supports.

Pro Tip: If you want to sell a file type that WordPress doesn’t support, such as SVG images, PSD files, or others, then see our guide on how to allow additional file types in WordPress.

To add your downloadable file, scroll to the ‘Download Files’ section.

In the ‘File Name’ field, type in a name for the downloadable file. Once you’ve done that, click on the ‘Upload a file’ button.

This will launch the WordPress media library. Here you can choose the file that you want to sell as a digital download.

When you’re happy with how your product is set up, it’s time to add a buy now button.

In the right-hand menu, find the ‘Button Options’ section. Here, click on the ‘Purchase Button Behavior’ dropdown and choose ‘Buy Now.’

You can now make the product live by clicking on ‘Publish.’ Now, if you visit this product page you’ll see the buy now button.

You can add a buy now button to any product page simply by following the same process described above.

How to Add a Buy Now Button to Any Page or Post

Sometimes you may want to use buy now buttons on other parts of your online store.

For example, if you have a landing page that promotes a particular product, then you might allow customers to start the checkout process directly from that landing page.

This can get you more sales by encouraging impulse purchases, while also removing multiple steps from the buyer’s journey.

You can do this easily using the ‘EDD Buy Button’ block. To use this block, you first need to set up a payment gateway and create at least one product following the same process described above.

After that, simply open the page or post where you want to add your buy now button in the content editor. Then, click on the ‘+’ icon and start typing ‘EDD Buy Button.’

When the right block appears, click to add it to your layout.

You can now open the ‘Select a Download’ dropdown and choose the product that will be added to the customer’s cart.

By default, Easy Digital Downloads will show the product’s price on the buy now button.

If you want to hide the price, then click to disable the ‘Show Price’ toggle.

You can now publish or update the page to make it live. Now, if you visit your WordPress website you’ll see the buy now button in action.

Method 3. Add a Buy Now Button to Your WooCommerce Store

If you run a WooCommerce store, then you may want to add a buy now button to your product pages. This allows customers to start the checkout process directly from the product page, which often reduces cart abandonment rates.

The easiest way to add a buy now button to your online store is by using the Buy Now Button for WooCommerce. This is a simple plugin that requires no configuration, and adds a buy now button to every single one of your product pages.

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

Since the plugin doesn’t have any settings, simply head over to any product page on your online store. You will now see a ‘Buy Now’ button next to the standard ‘Add to Cart’ button.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add a buy now button in WordPress. You can also go through our guide on the best email marketing services and how to get a free SSL certificate for your WordPress website.

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 Add a Buy Now Button in WordPress (3 Methods) first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Better Manage Automatic WordPress Updates

Are you looking for a way to automatically manage WordPress updates?

Updates are important for the security and stability of your WordPress site.

In this article, we will show you how to better manage automatic WordPress updates.

Why Do You Need Better Automatic Updates in WordPress?

Keeping your WordPress website updated is extremely important. The same goes for all plugins and themes installed on your website. You need to install updates for WordPress core, themes, and plugins to get new features and fixes.

Learn more in our guide on why you should always use the latest version of WordPress.

WordPress will automatically update itself when a security or minor release is available. You can also enable automatic updates for major releases, as well as plugins and themes.

However, you may have noticed that some of them are updated more frequently than others. A lot of popular plugins are updated almost weekly.

Some users find it a bit annoying that whenever they log in there are new updates available for WordPress core, one or more plugins, or their theme. It becomes even more time-consuming when you manage multiple WordPress sites.

That’s why many users want to have WordPress automatically install updates for WordPress core, trusted plugins, and themes. But while WordPress now lets you do this without a plugin, you still don’t have full control over your auto-updates.

Let’s take a look at how you can take total control of WordPress and minimize the time spent on installing updates.

Setting Up Easy Updates Manager

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Easy Updates Manager plugin. This plugin gives you complete control over customizing your updates and also keeps logs of what is updated and when.

For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you need to visit Dashboard » Updates Options page to set up the plugin.

This page provides you quick access to turn on or off updates for WordPress core, plugins, themes, and translations. The default settings here will work well for most websites.

We strongly recommend that you never turn off updates for WordPress core, plugins, or themes. It will seriously compromise your site’s security and health.

Setting Up Automatic Updates for WordPress, Plugins, and Themes

Easy Updates Manager allows you to quickly enable automatic updates for WordPress core, plugins, and themes from the Dashboard » Updates options page. Simply click on the blue ‘Auto update everything’ button in the ‘Quick configuration actions’ section.

This plugin also allows you to selectively turn on automatic updates for certain plugins or themes. If you would like to selectively turn on automatic updates, then click the ‘Choose per plugin’ and ‘Choose per theme’ buttons.

Next, we’ll show you how to select which plugins and themes are updated automatically.

Setting Up Automatic Updates for Select Plugins and Themes

If you selected to individually enable automatic updates for a few plugins, then you need to switch to the ‘Plugins’ tab on the Dashboard » Updates options page.

Here you will see a list of all plugins installed on your WordPress site. To automatically update a certain plugin, simply click the ‘On’ button under ‘Automatic updates’.

When you switch to the ‘Themes’ tab, you will see a list of themes installed on your site.

You need to click the ‘On’ button under ‘Automatic updates’ for those themes that you want to be updated automatically.

Rolling Back to a Previous Version of a Plugin or Theme

Plugin and theme incompatibilities are the major reason why some users are hesitant when it comes to updating. Even though most good developers thoroughly test their plugins, there can still be bugs that can cause your site to break.

The first step you should take to protect your website is to install a WordPress backup solution. This will let you restore your entire website if something goes wrong.

However, restoring your WordPress site from a backup can be a lot of work. If you know which plugin or theme update caused the problem, then it’s easier just to roll back that one update.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Rollback plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, go back to the plugins page on your WordPress site. You will notice a new Rollback option below each plugin installed on your site.

Clicking on the ‘Rollback’ link will allow you to roll back your plugin to any previous version you want. It can also roll back theme updates.

For detailed, step-by-step instructions, see our guide on how to rollback WordPress plugins.

We hope this article helped you find a better way to manage automatic WordPress updates on your site. You may also want to learn how to increase your blog traffic, or see our list of 40 useful tools to manage and grow your WordPress blog.

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.

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