GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress – Which One is Better?

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Are you trying to decide between the GoDaddy website builder vs WordPress?

WordPress powers over 43% of all websites, but GoDaddy is also a popular choice. You can use either of these tools to create your website or online store.

In this article, we will compare GoDaddy website builder vs WordPress with their pros and cons, so you can decide which one is the right choice for your next project.

We will be looking at the GoDaddy website builder vs WordPress from a few different angles, and you can use the links below to jump to a specific area.

OverviewEase of UseMaintaining Your SiteeCommerce FeaturesSEOPricing

GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress: Overview

GoDaddy Website Builder is an all-in-one solution that includes web hosting. You can easily create a site using the GoDaddy editor and then click ‘Publish’ to make your site live.

However, this ease of use does come at a price. Since your website lives on the GoDaddy servers, you need to follow all of their rules, restrictions, and terms of service. You’re also limited by the features and resources that GoDaddy provides.

If you want to change platforms at any point, then it’s quite difficult to move your website from GoDaddy website builder to WordPress. This can be a big problem when you need more advanced features or flexibility as your business grows.

That being said, if you want to create a simple website fast, then GoDaddy website builder is an all-in-one solution that lets you create a site in minutes.

By contrast, WordPress is a free software that you can install on your own web hosting account.

Note: In this guide, we’re comparing GoDaddy with self-hosted WordPress.org sites, not WordPress.com blogs. For more information, please see our guide on what’s the difference between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org.

If you opt for WordPress, then you can choose the hosting plan and provider that has the most to offer your particular project. If your needs change, then most of the best WordPress hosting providers make it easy to upgrade your plan or even move WordPress to a new host.

As the world’s most popular content management system, there are all kinds of hosting packages that you can use for a WordPress project. With that in mind, you should have no problems finding a provider that fits your needs and budget.

If you want a flexible and customizable website builder, then WordPress is a great choice.

GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress: Ease of Use

Most people who want to create a website aren’t developers, so ease of use is a big factor when choosing a website builder.

WordPress is used by more than 43% of all websites. That’s millions of people at different skill levels. Unsurprisingly, WordPress is fairly easy to use and beginner-friendly.

There is a slight learning curve as you’ll need to familiarize yourself with new concepts like themes, plugins, and the differences between posts and pages.

The good news is that there’s lots of support out there, including plenty of free resources. For example, the WPBeginner Engage Facebook group has over 88,000 members and is the largest and fastest-growing WordPress group for non-techies and beginners on Facebook.

WPBeginner Engage is the perfect place to post questions and get advice from the WordPress community.

Every plugin and theme on the official WordPress repository also has its own support forum, so you can often get help directly from the developer. For more information, please see our guide on how to properly ask for WordPress support and get it.

Adding content to WordPress is fairly easy, thanks to an intuitive and beginner-friendly visual editor called the block editor.

You can simply add blocks to your pages and posts to create beautiful layouts without ever writing any code.

If you don’t like the default WordPress editor, then there are plenty of drag-and-drop page builders that you can use instead. These page builders are available as plugins, and most of them have free versions so you can try them out and see which one you like best.

Most of these page builders come with ready-made templates that you can use on your site, or you can start from scratch and create a completely unique design.

While WordPress has a slight learning curve, the GoDaddy website builder is designed with ease of use firmly in mind. There is also a free trial, so you can try it out and see whether it’s right for you.

After creating an account, GoDaddy will guide you through the process of building a website.

After entering some information about the type of website you want to create, GoDaddy will go ahead and generate a site for you.

To customize any part of your site, simply give it a click. GoDaddy will then show all the settings for that section.

If you want to completely change how your site looks, then just click on the ‘Theme’ tab.

Here, you can choose a new theme, change your site’s color scheme, switch to a different font, and more. In this way, you can easily make major changes to your website’s design.

To add more pages to your site, just click on the ‘+’ icon.

You can then type in a title for the page and click on the ‘Create Page’ button.

Simply repeat these steps to add more pages to your site.

You can publish a site during the free trial, but GoDaddy will add ‘godaddysites.com’ to your site’s URL.

For that reason, we recommend purchasing a GoDaddy plan and then connecting your site to a custom domain before clicking ‘Publish.’ For more information, please see our guide on how to register a domain name.

As you can see, GoDaddy lets you create a simple website in minutes. However, you are limited to the tools, themes, and settings that GoDaddy provides. This can feel restrictive, especially if you already have a clear website design in mind.

Winner: WordPress is the winner here because it offers you the ease of use along with advanced features that helps you grow your business.

GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress: Maintaining Your Site

As an all-in-one solution, GoDaddy handles a lot of website maintenance for you. You don’t need to worry about installing updates or even installing the tools that you’ll use to build your GoDaddy website.

This is perfect for busy business owners who don’t have the time for day-to-day site maintenance. Or for beginners who are unsure how to properly maintain a website.

However, since everything is handled automatically, you can’t customize how your website is maintained. This might be a problem for website owners who prefer a hands-on approach.

If you choose WordPress, then you may be responsible for performing some, or all these website maintenance tasks, depending on your hosting provider.

The good news is that most popular WordPress hosting companies make these tasks easy. A lot of companies offer 1-click installations for WordPress, or you can follow our beginner’s guide on how to properly install WordPress.

Some hosting providers will install new versions of WordPress automatically, while others offer one-click updates. Another option is to enable automatic updates in WordPress for major versions so new releases get installed automatically.

As you can see, with a bit of planning there are ways to maintain your WordPress website without putting in a lot of time and effort. You also have the option to use a managed WordPress hosting provider like WPEngine who will take care of the day-to-day maintenance for you.

Winner: Tie – as both WordPress and GoDaddy website builder are fairly easy to maintain.

GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress: eCommerce Features

If you accept bookings or sell services, then visitors can book a one-time appointment through your GoDaddy website no matter what plan you’re on. However, if you want to collect payments, then you’ll need to buy GoDaddy’s eCommerce plan, which is $18.69 per month.

After upgrading to the eCommerce plan, you can accept payments using credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay.

You can also publish product listings and create an online store.

The GoDaddy website builder offers flexible shipping options and lets you add banners to your site, which is perfect for promoting your sales and special offers.

You’ll also get access to hundreds of professionally-designed website templates.

With its ready-made designs and straightforward eCommerce features, the GoDaddy website builder is a good choice if you want to launch a store quickly, or only want to sell a small number of products.

By default, WordPress doesn’t have any eCommerce features, but it does have several advanced eCommerce plugins. This includes WooCommerce, which powers more than 40% of all online stores and is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms for WordPress.

Using WooCommerce, you can quickly and easily create an online store and sell any kind of product, including physical products, membership plans, and affiliate products.

By itself, WooCommerce is already a powerful eCommerce platform, but you can add even more features by installing the best WooCommerce plugins. There are also loads of WooCommerce themes so you can create a store that perfectly reflects your brand.

If you want to sell digital downloads such as ebooks or online courses, then Easy Digital Downloads lets you sell any kind of digital product and then collect payments using Stripe, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and PayPal.

For more information, see our beginner’s guide on how to sell digital downloads.

After building your online store, you can use WordPress plugins, extensions, and services to promote your store and get more sales. For example, you might create smart coupons, use page builder plugins to design a sales page that converts, and use WordPress popups to get the customer’s attention.

The huge range of eCommerce plugins, addons, and themes gives WordPress a big advantage over GoDaddy if you’re looking to create an online store.

Winner: WordPress easily wins in this category because it offers more robust eCommerce features with payment options that works worldwide.

GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress: SEO

If you want to get traffic to your website, then it’s important to choose an SEO-friendly website builder.

GoDaddy has built-in SEO tools that can help you identify keywords that people are using to find websites just like yours. You just need to answer a few simple questions and GoDaddy will suggest some keywords that could get more visitors to your site.

After choosing your keywords, GoDaddy will help you add them to different areas of your site.

This includes adding the keyword to your page title and editing the website description.

The GoDaddy dashboard also shows some suggestions on how to improve your website’s search engine optimization.

Simply click on any of these options and GoDaddy will show you how to make the changes.

These SEO tools are fairly simple, but they’re easy to use. Even if you’re completely new to SEO, GoDaddy shows you exactly how to make some important optimizations.

By comparison, WordPress’ built-in SEO tools are more advanced and powerful.

You can create custom permalinks, organize your content based on categories, add tags to your blog posts, add image alt text, and more simply by using the built-in settings.

Besides that, there are lots of WordPress SEO plugins that can help you fine-tune every part of your site.

For example, you can use a complete WordPress SEO plugin like All in One SEO (AIOSEO) and optimize your site without hiring an expert.

Using AIOSEO you can add title tags, meta descriptions, focus keywords, and get page analysis recommendations that you can use to optimize your posts. You can even manage and track redirects using the plugin.

For more information, please see our ultimate guide on how to set up All in One SEO.

Even if you don’t use an SEO plugin, WordPress has some advanced tools to help improve your website’s ranking. With that being said, WordPress is the clear winner if you want to create a high-ranking website.

Winner: WordPress easily wins this category because it’s known as the most SEO friendly website builder in the market.

GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress: Pricing

GoDadddy offers four pricing plans starting from $10.99 per month and going all the way up to $18.69 per month.

All of their plans come with an SSL certificate, 24/7 support, and the option to connect a custom domain. However, GoDaddy’s Basic plan doesn’t have any eCommerce features or SEO tools.

The Basic plan also limits the number of marketing emails you can send, which may make it difficult to grow your website.

With that in mind, you’ll typically want to opt for GoDaddy’s Standard ($11.54) or higher plan. If you want to sell products or services then you’ll need to go one step further and invest in their special eCommerce plan, which is priced at $18.69 per month.

If you do choose the GoDaddy website builder then we recommend carefully checking what’s included in each plan to make sure it has everything you need.

On the other hand, WordPress is a free and open-source platform. However, you will need to buy a domain name and a web hosting provider.

Prices can vary, which makes it difficult to work out exactly how much it really costs to build a WordPress website. Thankfully, there are special offers and deals that can help you create a WordPress website for less.

Note: WPBeginner users can get a Bluehost Coupon to save up to 73% off website hosting plans. That means you can get Bluehost web hosting for just $2.75 per month rather than $9.99 per month for your first year.

You also get a free domain name and a free SSL certificate.

You can also use any other WordPress hosting provider like Hostinger, Dreamhost, or SiteGround and all are more affordable than GoDaddy.

To keep your costs under control you can also use free themes and WordPress plugins.

While the cost of creating a WordPress website can vary, there are plenty of hosting providers, themes, plugins, and other addons available so you should be able to create a website no matter what your budget is.

Winner: WordPress is definitely more affordable and gives you far more value than GoDaddy website builder.

Conclusion: GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress – Which One Is Better?

Based on our research and user reviews, WordPress is by far the best choice when compared to GoDaddy website builder because it’s more affordable, has a large plugin ecosystem, and offers you the flexibility to grow your business.

If you want to create a website quickly and don’t need lots of flexibility, then you can choose a beginner-friendly tool like GoDaddy. Their builder has everything you need to create a website, including hosting.

However, if you want complete control over your website then you need a customizable and flexible platform like WordPress. In particular, if you’re creating an online store or want to sell courses, then WordPress has some of the most powerful eCommerce tools available.

We hope this GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress comparison helped you understand the pros and cons of each so you can make the right decision for your website. To learn more about WordPress, we recommend reading our guide on the most important reasons to use WordPress and see the type of websites you can create with 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 GoDaddy Website Builder vs WordPress – Which One is Better? first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Promote Your Twitter Page in WordPress with a Popup

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Do you want to show promote your Twitter page using a popup on your WordPress site?

Showing your Twitter page as a popup is a great way to get more followers and boost engagement. You can use your existing website traffic to grow to promote social content on your Twitter account.

In this article, we will show you how to promote your Twitter page in WordPress with a lightbox popup.

Why Promote Your Twitter Page in WordPress?

Twitter is one of the most popular social media platforms. Many businesses use it to promote their products, blog posts, share announcements, and news. Plus, it’s a great place to get feedback from users, run a poll, and hold audio webinars through Twitter Spaces.

However, getting more people to follow you on Twitter can be hard work. What if you could use your existing website traffic to grow your social media followers using a lightbox popup?

You can display your Twitter page in a lightbox popup anywhere on your website. This will help improve the visibility of your Twitter profile and increase followers.

That’s not all, you can also use a lightbox popup for building an email list, generating leads, offering content upgrades, displaying a contact form, and more.

Let’s see how you can use a lightbox popup to promote your Twitter page.

Promoting Your Twitter Page in WordPress with a Lightbox Popup

The best way to add a lightbox popup in WordPress is by using OptinMonster. It’s the best WordPress popup plugin and lead generation software in the market.

OptinMonster makes it super easy to boost sales, generate leads, grow your email list, and optimize your site for more conversions.

First, you’ll need to visit the OptinMonster website and click the ‘Get OptinMonster Now’ button to create an account.

For this tutorial, we’ll use the OptinMonster Pro license because it includes the Exit Intent feature, more customization options, and pre-built templates. You can get an additional 10% off using our OptinMonster coupon code.

After creating an account, you’ll need to install and activate the OptinMonster plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll be taken to the OptinMonster setup wizard screen. Go ahead and click the ‘Connect Your Existing Account’ button.

A new popup window will open, confirming the OptinMonster account to use.

Simply click the ‘Connect to WordPress’ button to continue.

Next, you can go to OptinMonster » Campaigns from your WordPress dashboard to create a campaign.

Go ahead and click the ‘Create Your First Campaign’ button.

After that, OptinMonster will offer you different campaign types to choose from.

Since we want to create a lightbox popup, simply select the ‘Popup’ campaign type.

Below the campaign type, you’ll see different templates for your popup campaign.

You can select a template by hovering over it and then clicking the ‘Use Template’ button. For this tutorial, we’ll use the ‘Social’ template.

Next, a popup window will open where you can enter a name for your campaign.

Once you’ve added a name, go ahead and click the ‘Start Building’ button.

This will launch the OptinMonster campaign builder, where you can use the drag-and-drop builder to customize your popup.

The plugin offers different elements to add to the template from the menu on your left.

You can also edit existing blocks in the template.

For instance, you can remove other social networks, but keep the Twitter button to provide a call to action button that allows users to follow your Twitter page.

Plus, there are options to edit the text in the headings and body. For example, if you want the button to read ‘Follow me’ instead of ‘Twitter,’ you can change the ‘Button Text’ field to the left.

Next, you can click on the Twitter button to see more options in the menu on your left. Go ahead and enter your Twitter page link under the ‘New Window URL’ field.

Next, simply drag the ‘HTML’ block from the menu and drop it on the template.

Now, you have a block ready for the HTML code you’ll get in the next step.

Creating a Twitter Page Embed Code

Next, you’ll need to create an embed code for your Twitter page by going to the Twitter Publish tool.

We recommend opening the tool in a new tab or window because you’ll need to switch back to the OptinMonster campaign builder to enter the HTML code.

Once you’ve opened the Publish tool, you can add your Twitter page URL in the ‘What would you like to embed’ field and hit the enter key on your keyboard.

Your Twitter URL will look like https://twitter.com/YourUserNameHere. Just replace ‘YourUserNameHere’ with your own Twitter handle.

After that, you can scroll down and choose whether you’d like to embed the Twitter timeline or buttons.

We’ll choose the ‘Embedded Timeline’ option for this tutorial to show the tweets from our Twitter page in the popup lightbox.

Next, you can scroll down to open the customization settings.

Simply click the ‘set customization options’ link above the embed code.

In the customization options, you can edit the height and width of the Twitter timeline. This allows you to control the appearance of your timeline in the lightbox popup.

There are more settings for choosing a light or dark theme for your timeline and the language in which the tweets will be displayed.

Once you’ve configured these settings, click the ‘Update’ button.

After that, the Publish Tool will generate an embed code. You can click the ‘Copy Code’ button.

A popup window will now show that you’ve successfully copied the embed code.

Go ahead and click the cross icon in the top-right corner to close the popup window.

Adding Twitter Page Lightbox Popup to Your Website

Now, you can go back to the OptinMonster campaign builder window or tab in your browser.

Next, click on the HTML block in the pop-up you are designing. You will see a field to the left where you can paste the embed code from the Twitter Publish tool.

As you enter the embed code, you’ll see a preview of your Twitter timeline in the campaign template.

After that, you can head to the ‘Display Rule’ tab. Here, you can set the conditions for when the lightbox popup will appear on your website.

For instance, it can appear when a user views a page for a specific period of time, visits a particular page, or is about to leave your website.

For this tutorial, we’ll select the ‘Time on Page’ as the display rule and set the number of seconds after which the popup will appear.

Next, you can make the popup appear on every page on your site by setting ‘current URL path’ to ‘is any page.’

After that, you can switch to the ‘Actions’ tab at the bottom.

Now ensure that ‘Optin’ is selected for the ‘show the campaign view’ option. There are also optional settings to add effects and sound to your popup.

Next, you can go to the ‘Published’ tab to activate your campaign.

Simply change the ‘Publish Status’ from Draft to Publish.

You can now click the ‘Save’ button at the top to store your settings and close the campaign builder.

To confirm if your campaign is published, head to OptinMonster » Campaigns in your WordPress admin panel. You should see green text that reads ‘Published’ under the ‘Status’ column.

If not, you can click the ‘Change Status’ option under your campaign name and select ‘Publish’ from the dropdown menu.

Your OptinMonster campaign will now be active.

To view your Twitter page in the lightbox popup, simply visit your website. After the OptinMonster campaign triggers, your Twitter profile will appear in a lightbox popup along with the CTA button you added beneath it.

We hope this article helped you learn how to promote your Twitter page in WordPress with a lightbox popup. You may also want to see our ultimate WordPress SEO guide for beginners and the best live chat software for small businesses.

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 Offer an Ad-Free Version of Your WordPress Site to Subscribers

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Do you want to sell visitors a premium, ad-free version of your WordPress website?

Ads help you monetize your website. But you can charge a premium from subscribers to view your site without ads similar to many other popular websites.

In this article, we’ll show you how to create an ad-free version of your WordPress site for subscribers.

Why Create an Ad-Free Version of WordPress Site for Subscribers?

One of the easiest ways to make money online is by running different types of ads on your website. However, many users prefer to read your content, watch videos, or browse through your site without ads interrupting them.

While ads can help you generate revenue, removing them can provide a better user experience. To have the best of both worlds, you can create a subscription where people can sign up for a paid plan and remove all the ads from your WordPress website.

For example, the famous microblogging site Tumblr allows users an ad-free browsing experience by subscribing to one of its paid plans. This way, it can continue to sell ads to regular visitors and hide ads for premium subscribers.

YouTube, Hulu, and several other platforms offer ad-free experience in exchange for a small subscription fee.

That being said, let’s take a look at how you can set up a subscription plan and offer an ad-free version of your website.

Creating Ad-Free Subscription Plans in WordPress

The best way to create a subscription in WordPress is by using MemberPress. It is the best WordPress membership plugin and allows you to restrict content based on different user roles.

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

If you’re just starting a subscription-based website, then please see our ultimate guide to creating a WordPress membership site.

Once MemberPress is active, you can go to MemberPress » Settings to configure the plugin and add a payment gateway.

Simply switch to the ‘Payments’ tab and click the ‘+ Add Payment method’ button.

MemberPress works with PayPal Standard, Stripe, Offline Payment, and Authorize.net out of the box. We recommend using Stripe. You can follow the onscreen instructions to set up your preferred method.

After setting up a payment service, the next step is to add a membership level.

Simply go to the MemberPress » Memberships page and click the ‘Add New’ button.

After that, you can enter a name and description for your subscription plan at the top.

MemberPress also lets you select the pricing and expiration of your membership plan. For instance, you can offer a one-time subscription or recurring payments.

Next, you’ll need to scroll down to the Membership Options section.

Here, MemberPress lets you edit the registration settings, change permission, customize the price box, and more. Simply head to the ‘Advanced’ tab and enable the ‘Unser Roles for this Membership’ option.

From here, you can select which WordPress user roles can access your membership level. For instance, we’ll choose the ‘Subscriber’ role for this tutorial.

Go ahead and click the ‘Publish’ button once you’ve made changes to your membership level.

You can now repeat this step and create as many membership levels as you like. Using the plugin, you can also set up different rules and restrict content on your site based on user roles, capabilities, and more.

Create a Pricing Page to Show Subscription Plans

Next, you’ll need to set up a pricing page for your subscription plans. To start, go to MemberPress » Groups and then click the ‘Add New’ button.

After that, you can enter a title for your pricing page, which will also be used as a URL for the page.

From here, scroll down to the ‘Group Options’ section and select which pricing plans to show on the page.

You can click the ‘+’ button to add different memberships and use the drag & drop functionality to arrange their order.

MemberPress comes with different pre-built themes for your pricing page. You can also add custom CSS to style your pricing table.

When you’ve made the changes, go ahead and publish your page. You can now visit your website to see the pricing page in action.

Now, let’s see how you can add ads to your WordPress site.

Inserting Ads in Your WordPress Website

The easiest way to manage ads on your website is by using the AdSanity plugin. It is the best ad management plugin for WordPress.

Using the plugin, you can easily insert and manage your banner ads in WordPress. Plus, it offers a ‘User Role Ad Visibility’ addon that allows you to hide ads from different WordPress user roles.

First, you’ll need to install and activate the AdSanity plugin. For more details, please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once the plugin is active, you can go to the Adsanity » Settings page and switch to the ‘Licenses’ tab.

Next, enter the key and click the ‘Activate License’ button. You can easily find the license key in your account area.

Don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button when you’re done.

After that, you can head to Adsanity » Create Ad from your WordPress dashboard and set up an ad.

AdSanity lets you create all types of ads. You can set up a self-hosted ad and manually add banners and graphics.

On the other hand, you can also add ads from external networks like Google AdSense. The plugin also lets you schedule ads, set a specific time frame to display them or run them indefinitely.

When you’re done, click the ‘Publish’ button.

You can now insert your ads anywhere on your website using the AdSanity widget block or shortcodes.

One of the best places for showing banner ads in your website sidebar. This increases the visibility of your ads and helps you get more clicks.

Simply go to Appearance » Widgets from the WordPress admin panel. Next, click the ‘+’ button and add the ‘AdSanity Single Ad’ widget block.

Go ahead and click the ‘Update’ button to show ads in your website sidebar. or another widget ready area.

For more details, please see our guide on how to sell ads on your WordPress blog.

How to Hide Ads for Members in WordPress

Next, you can hide your ads for subscribers in WordPress using the AdSanity User Role Ad Visibility addon.

First, you will need to head to AdSanity » Add-Ons from your WordPress admin.

After that, scroll down to the User Role Ad Visibility addon and click the ‘More Info’ button.

You can now subscribe to the addon on the AdSanity website. Simply click the ‘Checkout’ button to purchase the addon.

Next, you can download and install the addon on your website. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Once the addon is active, you can go to AdSanity » Settings from your WordPress dashboard and head to the Licenses tab.

From here, enter the key under the ‘AdSanity User Role Ad Visibility’ headline and click the ‘Activate License’ button.

You can find the license key in your AdSanity account area. When you’re done, don’t forget to click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Next, you’ll need to switch to the ‘Add-Ons’ tab in AdSanity Settings.

Here, you can hide ads from different user roles on your website.

For instance, let’s go ahead and select the ‘Subscriber’ role. This way, users who subscribe to a paid membership plan will not see any ads on your website.

Once you’re done, click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create an ad-free version of WordPress site for subscribers. You may also want to see our guide on how to start an online store and our expert pick of must-have WordPress plugins for business.

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 Offer an Ad-Free Version of Your WordPress Site to Subscribers first appeared on WPBeginner.

How to Add Custom Navigation Menus in WordPress Themes

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Do you want to add custom navigation menus in your WordPress theme?

All themes have set locations where you can display a navigation menu. However, by default, you can’t add a menu anywhere else except these pre-defined locations.

In this article, we’ll show you how to add a custom navigation menu to any area of your WordPress theme.

Why Add Custom Navigation Menus in WordPress Themes?

A navigation menu is a list of links pointing to important areas of your website. They make it easy for visitors to find interesting content, which can increase pageviews and reduce bounce rate in WordPress.

The exact location of your menu will vary based on your WordPress theme. Most themes have several options, so you can create different menus and show them in different places.

To see where you can display menus in your current WordPress theme, simply head over to Appearance » Menus and then take a look at the ‘Display location’ section.

The following image shows the locations that are supported by the Astra WordPress Theme.

However, sometimes you may want to show a menu in an area that isn’t listed as a ‘Display location’ in your theme.

With that in mind, let’s take a look at how to create WordPress navigation menus and then add them to your theme. Simply use the quick links below to jump to the method you prefer.

Method 1. Adding a Custom Navigation Menu in Full Site EditingMethod 2. Creating a Custom Navigation Menu in WordPress Using SeedProd (Works With All Themes)Method 3. Creating a Custom Navigation Menu in WordPress Using Code (Advanced)

Method 1. Adding a Custom Navigation Menu in Full Site Editing

If you’re using a block theme, then you can add a custom navigation menu using Full Site Editing (FSE) and the block editor. For more details, you can see our article on the best WordPress full-site editing themes.

This method doesn’t work with every theme, and it doesn’t let you customize every part of the menu. If you want to add a completely custom menu to any WordPress theme, then we recommend using a page builder plugin.

If you are using a block-based theme, then head over to Appearance » Editor.

This will launch the full site editor with one of your active theme’s templates already selected.

If you want to add a custom navigation menu to a different template, then click on the arrow in the toolbar and select ‘Browse all templates.’

The site editor will now show all the different templates that are part of your theme.

Simply find the template that you want to edit, and give it a click.

The next step is adding a Navigation block to the area where you want to show your menu.

In the top-left corner, click on the blue ‘+’ button.

Now, go ahead and type ‘Navigation’ into the search bar.

When the ‘Navigation’ block appears, simply drag and drop it onto your layout.

Next, click to select the Navigation block.

If you’ve already created the menu that you want to display, then click ‘Select Menu’ and make your selection from the dropdown.

Another option is to click on ‘Create new menu,’ which allows you to build a navigation menu inside the full site editor.

To start with a blank menu, simply click on ‘Start empty.’

To add items to the new menu, just click on the ‘+’ icon.

This opens a popup where you add any post or page, and decide whether these links should open in a new tab.

Simply repeat these steps to add more items to the menu.

When you’re happy with how the menu looks, simply click on the ‘Save’ button. Your site will now be using the new template, and visitors can interact with your custom navigation menu.

Method 2. Creating a Custom Navigation Menu in WordPress Using SeedProd (Works With All Themes)

The full site editor is a quick and easy way to add a basic custom menu to block-based themes. However, if you want to add an advanced, fully-customizable menu to any theme, then you’ll need a page builder plugin.

SeedProd is the best WordPress page builder plugin on the market and allows you to customize every part of your navigation menu.

SeedProd comes with over 180 professionally-designed templates that you can use as your starting point. After choosing a template, you can add a custom navigation menu to your site using simple drag and drop.

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

Note: There’s also a free version of SeedProd that allows you to create custom navigation menus without writing code. However, in this guide, we’ll be using SeedProd Pro since it has lots more templates for you to choose from.

After activating the plugin, SeedProd will ask for your license key.

You can find this information under your account on the SeedProd website. After entering the key, click on the ‘Verify Key’ button.

Once you’ve done that, go to SeedProd » Landing Pages and click on the ‘Add New Landing Page’ button.

You can now choose a template for your custom page.

To help you find the right design, all of SeedProd’s templates are organized into different campaign types such as coming soon and lead squeeze campaigns. You can even use SeedProd’s templates to improve your 404 page.

To take a closer look at any design, simply hover your mouse over that template and then click on the magnifying glass icon.

When you find a design that you want to use, click on ‘Choose This Template.’

We’re using the ‘Black Friday Sales Page’ template in all our images, but you can use any template you want.

After choosing a template, type in a name for that custom page. SeedProd will automatically create a URL based on the page’s title, but you can change this URL to anything you want.

After entering this information, click on the ‘Save and Start Editing the Page’ button.

Most templates already contain some blocks, which are the core components of all SeedProd page layouts.

To customize a block, just click to select it in the page editor.

The left-hand toolbar will then show all the settings for that block. For example, in the image below, we’re changing the text inside a ‘Headline’ block.

You can format the text, change its alignment, add links, and more using the settings in the left-hand menu.

To add new blocks to your design, simply find any block in the left-hand menu and then drag it onto your design. If you want to delete a block, then simply click to select that block and then click on the trash can icon.

Since we want to create a custom navigation menu, drag a ‘Nav Menu’ block onto the page.

This creates a navigation menu with a single default ‘About’ item.

To customize this menu item, click to select it in the left-hand menu.

This opens some controls where you can change the text, as well as add the URL for the menu item to link to.

By default, the menu item will be a ‘dofollow’ link and open in the same browser window. To change either of these settings, simply use the checkboxes in the ‘URL Link’ section.

In the following image, we’re creating a “nofollow” link that will open in a new window.

To add more items to the menu, simply click on the ‘Add New Item’ button.

You can then customize each of these items by following the same process described above.

The left-hand menu also has settings that change the font size and text alignment.

You can even create a divider, which will appear between each item in the menu.

After that, go ahead and switch to the ‘Advanced’ tab. Here, you can change the menu’s colors, spacing, typography, and other advanced options.

As you make changes, the live preview will update automatically so you can try different settings to see what looks good in your design.

When you’re happy with how the custom menu looks, it’s time to publish it.

Simply click the dropdown arrow next to ‘Save’ and then select ‘Publish.’

Your custom navigation menu and the page will now go live on your WordPress blog.

Method 3. Creating a Custom Navigation Menu in WordPress Using Code (Advanced)

If you don’t want to set up a page builder plugin, then you can add a custom navigation menu using code. Normally, you would need to add custom code snippets to your theme’s functions.php file.

However, we don’t recommend this method for anyone but advanced users, and even then, a small mistake in your code could cause a number of common WordPress errors, or break your site completely.

That’s why we recommend using WPCode. It is the easiest and safest way to add custom code in WordPress without having to edit any core WordPress files.

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

Upon activation, go to Code Snippets » Add Snippet in your WordPress dashboard.

Here, you’ll see all of the different ready-made snippets that you can add to your site.

Since we want to add our own snippet, hover your mouse over ‘Add Your Custom Code,’ and then click ‘Use snippet.’

To start, enter a title for the custom code snippet. This can be anything that helps you identify the snippet.

After that, open the ‘Code Type’ dropdown and select ‘PHP Snippet.’

Once you’ve done that, simply paste the following snippet into the code editor:

function wpb_custom_new_menu() {
register_nav_menu(‘my-custom-menu’,__( ‘My Custom Menu’ ));
}
add_action( ‘init’, ‘wpb_custom_new_menu’ );

This will add a new menu location to your theme, called ‘My Custom Menu.’ To use a different name, simply change the above code snippet.

If you want to add more than one new navigation menu to your theme, then simply add an extra line to your code snippet. For example, here we’re adding two new menu locations to our theme, called My Custom Menu and Extra Menu:

function wpb_custom_new_menu() {
register_nav_menus(
array(
‘my-custom-menu’ => __( ‘My Custom Menu’ ),
‘extra-menu’ => __( ‘Extra Menu’ )
)
);
}
add_action( ‘init’, ‘wpb_custom_new_menu’ );

Below the code box, you will see insertion options. If it isn’t already selected, then choose the ‘Auto Insert’ method so the snippet will be automatically inserted and executed on your site.

After that, open the ‘Location’ dropdown and click on ‘Run Everywhere.’

Then, you’re ready to scroll to the top of the screen and click on the ‘Inactive’ toggle so it changes to ‘Active.’

Finally, go ahead and click on ‘Save’ to make this snippet live.

After that, go to Appearance » Menus and look at the ‘Display location’ area.

You should now see a new ‘My Custom Menu’ option.

You’re now ready to add some menu items to the new location. For more information, please see our step-by-step guide on how to add navigation menus for beginners.

When you’re happy with your menu, the next step is adding it to your WordPress theme.

Adding the custom navigation menu to your WordPress theme

Most website owners show their navigation menu directly under the header section just after the site logo or title. This means the navigation menu is the first thing visitors see.

However, you can display your custom navigation menu anywhere you want by adding some code to the theme’s template file.

In your WordPress dashboard, go to Appearance » Theme File Editor.

In the right-hand menu, select the template that you want to edit. For example, if you want to show the custom navigation menu in your website’s header, then you’ll typically want to select the header.php file.

For help finding the right template file, please see our guide on how to find which files to edit in your WordPress theme.

After selecting the template file, you need to add a wp_nav_menu function and specify the name of your custom menu. For example, in the following code snippet we’re adding My Custom Menu to the theme’s header:

wp_nav_menu( array( ‘theme_location’=>’my-custom-menu’, ‘container_class’=>’custom-menu-class’ ) );

After adding the code, click on the ‘Update File’ button to save your changes.

Now if you visit your site, you’ll see the custom menu in action.

By default, your menu will appear as a plain bulleted list.

You can style the custom navigation menu to better match your WordPress theme or company branding by adding custom CSS code to your site.

To do this, go to Appearance » Customize.

In the WordPress customizer, click on ‘Additional CSS.’

This opens a small code editor where you can type in some CSS.

You can now style your menu using the CSS class that you added to your theme template. In our example, this is .custom_menu_class.

In the following code, we’re adding margins and padding, setting the text color to black, and arranging the menu items in a horizontal layout:

div.custom-menu-class ul {
margin:20px 0px 20px 0px;
list-style-type: none;
list-style: none;
list-style-image: none;
text-align:right;
display:inline-block;
}
div.custom-menu-class li {
padding: 0px 20px 0px 0px;
display: inline-block;
}

div.custom-menu-class a {
color:#000;
}

The WordPress customizer will update automatically to show how the menu will look with the new style.

If you’re happy with how the menu looks, then click on ‘Publish’ to make your changes live.

For more information, please see our guide on how to style WordPress navigation menus.

Do More With WordPress Navigation Menus

With WordPress, you can do much more than just show links in a menu. Here’s how to get even more out of your navigation menus:

How to add image icons with navigation menus in WordPressHow to add conditional logic to menus in WordPressHow to add menu descriptions in your WordPress themeHow to add a fullscreen responsive menu in WordPressHow to add a mega menu to your WordPress site

We hope this ultimate guide helped you learn how to add a custom navigation menu in WordPress. You may also want to see the best ways to increase your blog traffic and how to track website visitors to your WordPress site.

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 Custom Navigation Menus in WordPress Themes first appeared on WPBeginner.

How To Buy a Domain Name Anonymously (3 Easy Ways)

~ Web Administrator ~ Leave a comment

Do you want to buy a domain main anonymously for your business?

When you purchase a domain, your personal information is listed in the WHOIS database which is publicly available. Because of that, anyone can search and see who owns the domain.

In this article, we’ll show you how to buy a domain name anonymously.

Why Buy a Domain Name Anonymously?

When you create a WordPress website, you’ll need a domain name. It is your site’s address that people will type in their browsers to visit your website.

However, when you buy a domain name, your personal information is saved in a public WHOIS database. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, requires every domain registrar to maintain a WHOIS database.

Using this database, anyone can find out who actually owns a domain name. This includes your name, email address, physical address, server name, DNS, and other information.

Buying a domain anonymously allows you to protect your private data and use proxy information in the WHOIS database instead. Plus, you can prevent malicious or accidental domain transfers from happening.

Additionally, getting the domain anonymously enhances your site’s online security. It prevents hackers from stealing your domain or misusing it for monetary benefit.

That said, let’s look at how you can buy a domain name anonymously. We’ll show you 3 ways to hide your information in the WHOIS database using domain registrars and a web hosting company.

You can click the links below to jump ahead to your preferred section:

Method 1: Buy Domain Name Anonymously Using Domain.comMethod 2: Buy Domain Name Anonymously Using BluehostMethod 3: Buy Domain Name Anonymously Using GoDaddy

Method 1: Buy Domain Name Anonymously Using Domain.com

Domain.com is one of the most popular domain name registrars. You can easily find a domain for your website, as it offers more than 300 website name extensions.

With Domain.com, you get access to multiple tools for domain management. For example, you get bulk registration, easy transfers, DNS management, an email account, and more.

To buy a domain name anonymously, you’ll first need to visit the Domain.com website and enter a name in the search bar. After that, simply click the ‘Search’ button.

The domain registrar will now see if the domain you’re looking for is available and show a list of options with different website extensions.

If your domain is available, then Domain.com will add the ‘Domain Privacy + Protection’ addon by default. However, this is a paid addon and will cost you an additional $8.99 per year along with the cost of the domain name.

You will see it in your shopping cart, and the ‘Add Domain Privacy + Protection to each domain for $8.99 per year’ option will also be enabled.

Domain.com offers WPBeignner readers 25% off on domains and addons like Privacy + Protection.

All you have to do is use the Domain.com coupon code at checkout.

Method 2: Buy Domain Name Anonymously Using Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world and the official WordPress hosting partner. When you sign up for their hosting service, you can register a domain for free.

Bluehost lets you add the ‘Domain Privacy Protection’ addon to your package during the signup process. This way, your private information won’t be publically available, as it will be replaced with generic Bluehost contact details in the WHOIS database.

Bluehost offers an exclusive discount for WPBeginner users. Using the Bluehost coupon code, you can get website hosting, a free domain name, and a free SSL certificate for just $2.75 per month.

To get started, you need to visit the Bluehost website and click the ‘Get Started Now’ button.

Next, you will need to select a pricing plan.

Simply click the ‘Select’ button for any plan you’d like to use.

After that, Bluehost will ask you to set up a domain. You can either create a new domain or connect an existing domain name.

Since we’re buying a new domain, simply enter a name under the ‘Create a new domain’ section and click the ‘Next’ button. You can also choose the domain extension you’d like to use.

Bluehost will now check if the domain name you entered is available. If it is, then you’ll see the account information and payment page.

Next, you can add your personal details to create an account. From here, simply scroll down to the ‘Package Extras’ section and make sure that the ‘Domain Privacy + Protection’ addon is selected.

The ‘Domain Privacy + Protection’ costs $11.88 per year at Bluehost. With that option selected, you can go ahead and enter your payment details to purchase website hosting and domain name anonymously.

Method 3: Buy Domain Name Anonymously Using GoDaddy

Another way you can get your hands on a domain name anonymously is by using GoDaddy. It is one of the oldest and most popular domain registrars in the market.

To start, you can visit the GoDaddy website and search for a domain name.

Next, GoDaddy will check and see if your domain name is available. It will also show different domain extensions you can purchase along with the .com extension.

After that, simply click the ‘Continue to Cart’ button.

On the next screen, you can select different addons for your domain name. This includes protecting your domain and keeping your information anonymous.

Simply select the ‘Full Domain Protection’ option, which is $9.99 per year, and click the ‘Continue to Cart’ button.

After that, GoDaddy will show you a summary of your cart. You can check if everything is correct.

Next, go ahead and click the ‘I’m Ready to Pay’ button to proceed to the payment process and finalize your purchase.

Additionally, GoDaddy differs from other registrars because you can buy a domain name that’s already taken by using their domain broker service.

If the domain name you’re looking for is owned by someone else, then GoDaddy will work as a broker and try to work out a deal with the domain owner.

Since GoDaddy acts as the middleman and handles all the steps, your identity is never revealed to the actual owner.

Simply visit the GoDaddy Domain Broker Service webpage and enter the domain name in the search bar.

Next, you can hire GoDaddy as your domain broker, so they can negotiate a deal to purchase your domain name.

Doing so and using GoDaddy as a broker will cost you $69.99 per domain plus a 20% commission on the final price of the domain.

We hope this article helped you learn how to buy a domain name anonymously. You can also see our guide on how to improve your WordPress SEO ranking, and the best email marketing services for small businesses.

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 Buy a Domain Name Anonymously (3 Easy Ways) first appeared on WPBeginner.