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.

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:

This can be easily transformed with rich snippets.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

The post How to Add Arrow-key Keyboard Navigation in WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

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.