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WORDPRESS
How to Sell Furniture Online – The Ultimate Guide for Beginners
Do you want to sell furniture online?
If you have a furniture business, then setting up an online store will allow you to reach a wider audience. This can help you increase conversions by allowing customers to go through the entire product catalog on your website.
In this article, we will show you how to easily sell furniture online in WordPress, step by step.
Which Is the Best Website Builder to Sell Furniture Online?
WordPress is the best website builder to sell furniture online. It powers over 43% of websites on the internet, is super easy to use, scalable, and has powerful features.
WordPress is used by many eCommerce stores, and there are plenty of free WordPress eCommerce plugins that you can use. This means that you will be able to easily set up a store and keep more of your profits.
However, before choosing WordPress as your website builder, keep in mind that there are two types of WordPress.
WordPress.com is a blog hosting platform, while WordPress.org is an open-source, self-hosted software. For more detailed information, you may want to see our comparison between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.
For setting up an eCommerce store, WordPress.org is the perfect choice because it’s free, gives you complete ownership of your website, and can easily integrate with third-party eCommerce plugins like WooCommerce.
To learn more about why we recommend using WordPress.org, please see our complete WordPress review.
Having said that, we will now show you how to easily sell furniture online with WordPress, step by step:
Step 1: Choose a Domain Name and Hosting for Your Website
To create a WordPress site, you will first need to get a domain name and web hosting.
A domain name is basically your online store’s name on the internet. It is what customers will type to visit your website, like www.sellingfurniture.com or www.buyhomedecor.com.
Similarly, web hosting is where your website lives online. To find the right web hosting for your online store, you can see our complete list of the best WordPress hosting services.
You will notice that even though WordPress is free, buying web hosting and a domain name is where the costs can add up.
A domain name can cost you about $14.99/year, and hosting costs start from $7.99/month, which can be a bit expensive if you have a small budget or are just starting out.
Thankfully, Bluehost is offering a BIG discount to WPBeginner readers along with a free domain name and an SSL certificate.
Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world and an official WordPress-recommended hosting partner.
To get a discount on Bluehost, just click on the button below.
This will direct you to the Bluehost website, where you can click on the ‘Get Started Now’ button.
You will now be directed to the Bluehost Pricing page, where you can pick a hosting plan.
The Basic and Choice Plus plans are the most popular web hosting plans among our readers, but you might prefer the Online Store plan.
To choose a plan, click on the ‘Select’ button under it. This will take you to a new screen where you have to pick a domain name for your online store.
Try to choose a domain name that’s easy to pronounce, spell, remember, and is related to your business.
If you are just starting your furniture business, then you can use our WPBeginner Free Business Name Generator to come up with your company’s name.
Then, the easiest option is to choose your furniture store’s name for your website. However, sometimes the domain name is already taken by some other business.
In that case, you can try adding some extra keywords or use your location to make your domain name stand out. For more ideas, you may want to see our beginner’s guide on how to choose the best domain name.
After choosing a name, just click on the ‘Next’ button to continue.
Once you do that, you will be asked to provide your account information, including your business email address, name, country, phone number, and more.
Upon providing those details, you will also see optional extras that you can buy.
We generally don’t recommend buying these extras straight away, as you can always add them later if your business needs them.
Next, simply type in your payment information to complete the purchase.
You will now get a confirmation email with details to log in to your Bluehost control panel. This will be your account dashboard where you will manage your furniture website, including asking for WordPress support.
Now, it’s time for you to install the WordPress software.
Step 2: Create a New WordPress Website
If you just signed up for Bluehost using our link above, then Bluehost will automatically install WordPress on your domain name for you.
However, if you want to create a different WordPress site, then you can also do that by clicking on the ‘My Sites’ tab in the Bluehost dashboard.
From here, simply click on the ‘Add Site’ button and select ‘Create New Site’.
The Bluehost wizard will now open up on your screen and walk you through the whole setup process.
First, you will need to type in a site title and an optional tagline for your website.
Once you do that, click the ‘Next’ button to continue.
You will now be asked to choose a domain name and path for your furniture website. If you already have a domain name, then go ahead and select it from the dropdown menu under the ‘Domain’ option.
However, if you haven’t purchased a domain name yet, then you can buy one by visiting the ‘Domains’ page on the Bluehost dashboard.
Upon selecting a domain name, simply leave the directory path blank and let Bluehost fill it in for you.
The setup wizard will also show you a number of plugins that you may want to install on your website, including OptinMonster and WPForms.
Many of these tools are must-have plugins that you will need to grow your online store. Simply check the boxes next to the ones you want to install on your site.
Once you are done, go ahead and click the ‘Next’ button to set up your furniture website. You will then see a ‘WordPress installed successfully’ message with information about your new website.
From here, click the ‘Log into WordPress’ button to access your admin dashboard.
You can also log in to the WordPress dashboard by going to yoursite.com/wp-admin/ in your web browser.
Step 3: Choose a Custom Theme
WordPress themes are professionally designed templates that control how your website looks on the front end to visitors.
Upon installing WordPress and visiting your website, you will notice that it has a default theme activated, which will look something like this:
However, if you want to get more sales and make a good impression on your customers, then you should replace the default theme with the one that matches your niche.
There are a lot of popular WordPress themes that you can customize on your website. You can also use multipurpose themes and create templates for your specific niche.
Additionally, you can also check our list of the best WooCommerce themes that will look amazing for your furniture store.
However, if you want a theme that is specifically designed for selling furniture online and requires minimal customization, then you can use SeedProd.
It is the best page builder plugin on the market that allows you to create landing pages and even an entire theme without using any code. It even comes with a furniture store template and additional WooCommerce blocks that will let you set up your furniture store in a few minutes.
First, you will need to install and activate the SeedProd plugin. For detailed instructions, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, visit the SeedProd » Theme Builder page from the WordPress dashboard and click on the ‘Theme Template Kits’ button.
This will open a new screen where you can browse all the premade templates that SeedProd has to offer.
Once you find the Furniture Store template, simply click on it to launch it in the drag-and-drop builder.
SeedProd will now create all the page templates that you will need for your furniture store and launch the home page in the page builder.
Here, you can drag and drop any block you want from the column on the left into the page preview.
For detailed instructions, you may want to see our beginner’s guide on how to create a custom theme in WordPress.
Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button at the top.
If you have decided to use another theme for your furniture website, then you can see our tutorial on how to install a WordPress theme.
Upon installation, you will have to visit the Appearance » Customize page from the WordPress dashboard.
This will open the theme customizer, where you can change the theme settings according to your liking.
Alternatively, if you are using a block-based theme, then you will have to visit the Appearance » Editor page from the admin sidebar.
This will open the full site editor, where you will be using blocks to customize your whole theme.
Once you are done, don’t forget to click the ‘Save’ button to store your settings.
Step 4: Create a Custom Home Page and Navigation Menu
WordPress uses two content types by default: posts and pages.
Pages can be used to create a home page, a Contact Us page, or an About Us page. On the other hand, posts are usually used to create articles and blog posts for your website.
These blogs are then displayed in reverse chronological order on your website’s home page.
If you want, then you can also start writing blog posts on your website to help promote your furniture business. This can also help you improve your site’s search engine optimization (SEO) and customer engagement.
However, even if you plan to blog, you should create a separate page for your articles and not display them on your home page.
Instead, you can make a custom home page for your website that is visually appealing and introduces new visitors to your furniture store.
For detailed instructions, you may want to see our tutorial on how to create a custom home page in WordPress.
Once you have designed this page, you will have to set it as your home page.
To do this, visit the Settings » Reading page in your WordPress dashboard and choose the ‘A static page’ option in the ‘Your homepage displays’ section.
After that, open the ‘Homepage’ dropdown and choose the page you want to use.
If you want to use a separate page for blog posts, then you can see our tutorial on how to create a separate blog page.
Finally, click the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.
Now that you have added pages and posts to your furniture website, you will also need a navigation menu that can help visitors explore your website.
This menu will be displayed at the top of your site and will show an organized structure that allows visitors to navigate around your website.
To create a navigation menu for your WordPress site, please see our step-by-step guide on how to add a navigation menu in WordPress.
Step 5: Set Up an eCommerce Plugin
By default, WordPress does not have any eCommerce-related features. If you want to sell furniture online, then you will need to use a plugin like WooCommerce.
It is the most popular eCommerce plugin and the easiest way to sell physical products on your website.
First, you will need to install and activate the free WooCommerce plugin. For detailed instructions, you may want to see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Upon activation, the WooCommerce setup wizard will open up on your screen. Here, you will first have to type in your physical store’s name.
After that, you will have to select an industry. Since you are going to be selling furniture, simply pick the ‘Home, furniture, and garden’ option from the dropdown menu.
Next, choose your store’s location and click the ‘Continue’ button.
WooCommerce will then show you a list of free features that you can use to boost sales on your website.
Here, simply check the features that you like and click the ‘Continue’ button.
That’s it. WooCommerce will now set up your online store for you.
Step 6: Set Up Shipping For Your Furniture
Now that your online store has been set up, it’s time to add a shipping method for your furniture.
To do this, visit the WooCommerce » Settings page from the WordPress dashboard and switch to the ‘Shipping tab.
Here, you will see that a shipping zone has already been added to the list. Simply click the ‘Edit’ link under the zone name to start configuring the settings.
This will take you to a new page where you can change the zone name to anything you like.
After that, you can start adding as many zone regions as you want from the dropdown menu. Here, you have to choose areas, cities, or countries where you want to deliver your furniture products.
Next, you have to add shipping methods. To do this, just click the ‘Add shipping method’ button.
This will open a prompt on the screen where you can select flat rate, free shipping, or local pickup as your method. You can also add all of them if you want.
Upon making your choice, simply click the ‘Add shipping method’ button.
WooCommerce will now add your chosen shipping method to the shipping zone.
To configure its settings, click the ‘Edit’ link under the method.
This will open another prompt on the screen where you can select the tax status and cost for the shipping.
Once you are done, go ahead and click the ‘Save changes’ button to store your settings.
This will take you back to the ‘Shipping Zone’ page, where you have to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button again to store your changes.
Step 7: Set Up Payments in Your Furniture Store
Next, you have to set up a payment method to accept online payments in your furniture store.
For this, you need to visit the WooCommerce » Settings page from the WordPress dashboard and switch to the ‘Payments’ tab.
This will open a list of different payment methods and payment gateways that you can use with WooCommerce. Here, click the ‘Finish set up’ button for the payment method that you want to enable.
Now, you will have to follow all of the on-screen instructions to set up the payment method of your choice.
Once you are done, click the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.
Now, to activate the payment method in your furniture online store, simply toggle the ‘Enabled’ switch to active and click the ‘Save Changes’ button at the bottom.
We recommend adding multiple payment methods to drive more sales. For example, you can use Venmo, add cash on delivery, accept credit cards on your website, and more.
Step 8: Add Your Furniture Products
Now, it’s time for you to start adding furniture products to your online store. With WooCommerce, you can import your products from a template, CSV file, or another service.
However, in this tutorial, we will show you how to manually add furniture products to your online store.
First, visit the Products » Add New page from the WordPress admin sidebar. Once you are there, you can start by adding a title for your furniture product.
Next, add some sentences describing the product in the ‘Product Description’ text box.
After that, you need to add a product image by clicking on the ‘Set product image’ link on the right. If you want to add multiple images, then you can click on the ‘Add product gallery images’ link instead.
This will launch the WordPress media library, where you can upload an existing image or add new ones from your computer.
Once you have done that, you can also add categories and tags for your product. This will help customers find your products in your online store.
To add a category, simply click on the ‘+ Add new category’ link and then make a new category for the furniture product that you are selling.
Next, type in the different tags that you want to use for the product under the ‘Product tags’ section.
Now, you need to scroll down to the ‘Product Data’ section and choose the ‘Variable product’ option from the dropdown menu at the top.
After that, switch to the ‘Inventory’ tab from the left column and add the stock-keeping unit (SKU) for your product.
Once you have done that, switch to the ‘Shipping’ tab from the left column. Here, you can add the weight, dimensions, and shipping class for your product.
Next, you need to switch to the ‘Attributes’ tab to create different attributes, including sizes, colors, and more for your products.
From here, you can add a name for your attribute under the ‘Name’ option and then add its values in the text box next to it.
For example, if your furniture product is available in three colors, then you can name the attribute ‘Available Colors’ and type black, white, and blue into the ‘Value’ box.
Once done, click the ‘Save Attribute’ button to store your settings.
After that, switch to the ‘Variations’ tab and click on the ‘Generate Variations’ button.
WooCommerce will now generate variations for all the attributes that you have created. To set up each variation, click on its ‘Edit’ link.
This will expand the tab for that specific variation, and you can now add its size, color, image, shipping method, and pricing.
Once you are done, click the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.
Simply repeat this process to configure each product variation.
There are also other settings that you can explore and configure according to your liking. Once you are satisfied, click the ‘Publish’ button at the top to make your product live.
To add more furniture products to your online store, simply repeat the process all over again.
Step 9: Add a Contact Us Form
Once you have created a store to sell furniture online, it’s important to also add a contact form to your store.
This provides a convenient way for customers to get in touch with you and will help you improve the customer experience.
Plus, it can also help you build an email list by allowing you to capture email addresses from your customers and visitors to your store.
While you could also add a contact info widget or your business phone number to your website, a contact form is the best way to collect data, respond to customer queries, and generate leads.
We recommend using WPForms to add a form to your WordPress site. It is the best contact form plugin on the market that comes with 1000+ premade form templates.
Used by over 6 million websites, WPForms has a drag-and-drop builder, comes with a ready-made contact form template, protects your site from spam entries, and offers a free version.
All you have to do is use the WPForms ‘Simple Contact Form’ template and then add it to any page or post using the WPForms block.
For detailed instructions, see our tutorial on how to create a contact form in WordPress.
Step 10: Create a WooCommerce Product Search
It’s important to add a search block to your online store so that users can find your products.
However, the built-in WordPress search block is not very good and doesn’t look for matches in product attributes, reviews, custom fields, or product descriptions.
This is where SearchWP comes in. It is the best WordPress search plugin on the market that allows you to create a smart WooCommerce search without using any code.
It puts you in complete control of the search algorithm and looks at the product title, content (description), slug, and excerpt (short description) for matches.
You can even customize SearchWP settings to look for matches in taxonomies, comments, product tags, reviews, and more.
For detailed instructions, see our beginner’s guide on how to create a smart WooCommerce product search.
Step 11: Add Customer Reviews to Your Online Store
A great way to increase conversions in your furniture store is to showcase customer reviews on your website. This can help build trust among potential customers and convince them to buy furniture from your store
If you already have reviews for your products on Yelp, Facebook, or Google, then you can easily add them to your website using Smash Balloon Reviews Feed Pro plugin.
It is the best customer reviews plugin on the market that lets you collect and organize reviews into a nice layout.
For detailed instructions, please see our tutorial on how to show Google, Facebook, and Yelp reviews in WordPress
Bonus: Use AIOSEO to Improve Online Store Rankings
Now that you have completed your online furniture store setup, it’s time to focus on your website SEO.
By optimizing your website, you can increase its search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your site. In turn, this can lead to more furniture sales in your online store.
To boost your online store’s SEO, we recommend using All in One SEO, which is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market.
It comes with a setup wizard that automatically helps you choose the best SEO settings for your business. Plus, it offers features like an on-page SEO checklist, XML sitemaps, a broken link checker, a schema generator, and more.
AIOSEO offers built-in WooCommerce SEO tools like dynamic optimizations, individual product page optimizations, breadcrumbs, product image SEO, and other handy features to bring more organic traffic to your online store.
It even lets you add GTIN, ISBN & MPN schema for your products to help you get rich snippets for your product listings in the search results.
For details, see our tutorial on how to add GTIN, ISBN, and MPN schema in WordPress.
We hope this article helped you learn how to easily sell furniture online. You may also want to see our ultimate SEO guide and our top picks for the best WooCommerce plugins for your store.
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.
WORDPRESS
How to Optimize Videos for Your WordPress Website (Expert Tips)
Do you want to optimize videos for your WordPress website?
Videos are a fantastic way to engage your audience, but video files can take up a lot of space. They can slow down your website’s performance and negatively impact the user experience. That’s why optimizing videos is so important.
In this guide, we will show you how to optimize videos for websites.
Why Optimize Videos for Websites?
The main reason you should optimize videos for your website is because they can be incredibly heavy to load.
Video files contain high-quality visuals and audio that make them large in file size. In fact, a single 1080p video that lasts 30 seconds can add about 30-50 MB to a website.
For context, at WPBeginner, we always aim to compress our images to less than 30 KB, which is way less than the average size of a 30-second video. If a file size is bigger than that, then it can negatively affect the page loading time.
A slow-loading website can create a chain reaction. First, it can frustrate users who want to access your website, which can then cause them to leave for a competitor.
If you run an eCommerce store, then slow performance can also lead to a higher bounce rate and lower conversions.
But don’t worry. If you have video content on your website, then all you need to do is follow our tips to optimize it and prevent that domino effect from ever happening.
Besides optimizing videos for your website performance, it’s also good to optimize videos for SEO. With the rise of video content platforms like YouTube and TikTok, videos have become a powerful tool to bring in traffic to your website.
When optimized properly, video search results can be more noticeable, boost your online visibility, and improve your search engine rankings.
That being said, let’s take a look at how to optimize videos for websites. You can use the quick links below to skip to different tips in our post:
1. Use a Video Hosting Service
First, you should choose a reliable video hosting platform. Our years of experience with WordPress have shown that it’s better to use a third-party video hosting provider than to self-host your own videos.
You can read our article on why you should never upload a video to WordPress for more details. But essentially, uploading videos to your media library can take up a lot of your web hosting bandwidth and resources.
Even if you use a powerful cloud or dedicated web host, it’s much easier to use embedded videos than to self-host your video content. If you host your own videos, then you will need to process them to be compatible with different devices.
Meanwhile, platforms like YouTube and Vimeo take care of this for you. There’s no need to worry about using a certain file format or resolution so long as they are supported by the platform.
Then, you can simply embed the video in your WordPress website using a Video block and the URL of your content.
You can check out our guide on the best video hosting sites if you need recommendations.
If you are displaying product videos for your WooCommerce website, then you can also read our step-by-step guide on adding WooCommerce product videos to galleries.
2. Compress Your Video Before Uploading It
Images need to be compressed before you upload them to WordPress, and so do videos. Compression is a quick and easy way to reduce file sizes so they don’t slow down your page speed.
That being said, not all video optimization tools are equal. While they may make the file size smaller, they can also compromise your video quality.
When looking for software to compress your videos, make sure that it supports the file format you are planning to use.
If you are uploading videos to YouTube or Vimeo, then most likely, you are using a popular format like MP4, WebM, or MOV. These formats are widely supported by video compression platforms.
Additionally, consider using a tool that offers adjustable compression levels. Typically, you will be able to choose between low, medium, or high video quality. You may also select a desired resolution to make the size smaller.
Finally, don’t forget to consider the platform’s pricing. There are many free software options to optimize videos for websites online, but you must test them out to see if they add a watermark.
One popular online video optimization tool is VEED.IO.
This free platform comes with basic and advanced compression settings and doesn’t add a watermark to your content. All you need to do is upload your video to the tool and select a video quality and resolution.
If you want to use a desktop tool, then you can check out HandBrake.
It’s a free and open-source video compression platform that’s compatible with all major operating systems.
3. Set Up Your Video Sitemap and Schema Markup
Reducing the video file size and quality is just one part of video optimization. If you want your videos to appear on search engine results pages (SERPs), then you need to help Google understand and index your content effectively.
One way to do this is to use the All in One SEO for WordPress (AIOSEO) plugin. It’s the best WordPress SEO plugin that can help you easily optimize your content and monitor your website’s performance.
To access AIOSEO’s Video SEO features, like the Video Sitemap and Video Schema Markup, you will need to sign up for a Pro plan.
Then, you can install and activate the AIOSEO plugin in WordPress. For more guidance, check out our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
After installing the plugin, you can activate the license key. Simply go to All in One SEO » General Settings from your WordPress admin area and insert the license key there.
From here, you can follow our step-by-step guide on how to set up a video sitemap in WordPress.
A video sitemap is a specialized XML sitemap that provides detailed information about the videos on your website. This data includes the video title, description, duration, thumbnail URL, and the page where the video is embedded.
By creating a video sitemap, you enable search engines to crawl and index your videos more effectively.
Another important step is setting up video schema markup. This is structured data that helps search engines understand what your videos are about.
It increases the likelihood of your videos showing up as special previews (or rich snippets) in search results, making them more noticeable to people searching online. Here’s how that looks:
To configure video schema markup on AIOSEO, just go to the WordPress post or page where your video is embedded and open the WordPress block editor.
After that, scroll down to the AIOSEO Settings and navigate to the ‘Schema’ tab. Then, click ‘Generate Schema.’
Now, the Schema Generator pop-up will appear. In the Schema Catalog tab, look for the ‘Video’ schema template.
Go ahead and click the ‘+’ button next to the Video template.
Now, you will be able to fill out your video information. In the first three fields, you can enter the video’s Name, Description, and Content URL.
For the Name and Description, feel free to use AIOSEO’s Smart Tags. These are predefined labels that can easily add existing information from your content, such as the post title, site title, and post excerpt.
As for the Content URL, you can enter the address of the video media file. That means the URL should end with the file format, like https://www.example.com/video/123/file.mp4
Google has said that providing your video’s Content URL is the best way for them to fetch your video file. But if you uploaded your video to a video hosting site like YouTube, then this may not be possible.
Scrolling down, you will find the Embed URL, Upload Date, Is Family Friendly, and Thumbnail URL settings.
You will use the Embed URL if you uploaded the video to a third-party service and don’t have access to the Content URL. Here, you need to enter the address to the video’s embeddable player, so it should look like https://www.example.com/embed/123
If you’ve uploaded the video to YouTube, then you can find the embed URL by opening the YouTube video and clicking the ‘Share’ button below the player.
After that, click ‘Embed’ in the popup window.
You will see a full video embed code in the next popup.
Note that you don’t need to copy-paste the whole thing. What you should do is block the URL that comes between the double quotes after the src= attribute.
This is your video’s Embed URL.
After that, copy-paste this URL back into AIOSEO’S Video Schema Generator.
For the Thumbnail URL, you can copy-paste your image URL into the field or upload a new image to the media library. Note that the minimum size is 112 pixels in width and height.
Once all the settings look good, simply click the ‘Add Schema’ button.
And that’s it!
Now, you should see a Video schema item in the Schema tab within the AIOSEO Settings.
4. Enable Lazy Loading
Lazy loading means your website delays loading certain content elements until someone scrolls to where the content is on the screen. When lazy loading is turned on for videos, your website will wait to load the video player and content until the viewer is about to watch it.
This makes your website load faster initially because it doesn’t have to load all the video elements at once.
To do this, you can use WP Rocket. It’s one of the best WordPress caching plugins on the market, and it comes with a feature to lazy load images and videos.
The first step is to install and activate the WP Rocket plugin. You can read our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin for more information.
Next, go to Settings » WP Rocket from your WordPress dashboard and navigate to the ‘Media’ tab. Then, simply check the ‘Enable for iframes and videos’ and the ‘Replace YouTube iframe with preview image’ boxes.
What the second checkbox means is that, instead of loading the actual video player immediately when someone visits your web page, only a static image representing the video is loaded first.
If you want to lazy load images as well, then you can check out our article on how to lazy load images in WordPress.
5. Use a Video CDN
CDN is short for content delivery network, which is a service that can speed up your website.
It works by storing your website’s content across multiple servers worldwide. When someone visits your site, the CDN serves the content from the server nearest to them. This reduces the distance the data needs to travel and makes your website load faster.
A video CDN is designed to efficiently deliver video content. It optimizes video streaming by storing copies of your videos on servers located strategically around the world.
If you followed our suggestion to upload videos to a third-party service, then having a video CDN won’t be necessary. But for people choosing to self-host their own videos, we recommend using Bunny.net.
Bunny.net is one of the best WordPress CDN services with a video delivery CDN feature. Your videos will be protected in their enterprise-grade storage, and viewers can watch your videos in high quality with no buffering.
If you are interested in using a CDN, then check out our list of the best WordPress CDN services.
Bonus Tips to Optimize Background Videos in WordPress
If you need to optimize background videos for your WordPress website, then you can use the following tips.
Remove the Audio
Audio can add significant weight to a video file. If you are only using a video as a background without sound, then it’s best to strip the audio.
You can easily remove audio from video using video editing software. For recommendations, see our list of the best video editing software.
Alternatively, you can use the free audio remover for videos by Adobe Express. Simply upload your video, and the tool will handle the sound removal for you. The video will then be downloadable as an MP4 file.
Shorten the Duration
Shortening the video duration is another good way to do video compression for background or auto-play videos. This can decrease the overall file size, making it quicker to load and improving website performance.
Typically, 30 seconds or less in video length should be enough for a background video.
Again, you can use video editing software to reduce your video length. For a free online tool, you can use Canva or Adobe Express’s Video Trimmer.
Avoid Looping Forever
When using background or auto-play videos on your website, it’s essential to avoid endless looping. Looping is when the video keeps playing over and over, and it can consume a lot of bandwidth.
It’s also important to consider the context in which the video is displayed. If the video is a brief introduction or showcases a specific product, then a limited number of loops or a single playthrough is usually enough to communicate the message.
In WordPress, you can control the loop behavior of your YouTube video to reduce the strain on your website’s resources. Our guide on how to add a YouTube video as a full-screen background in WordPress shows you how.
Use a Good Contrasting Text Color
People who use an auto-playing video as their homepage background will usually put some text on top of it. In this situation, it’s good to use a text color that contrasts well with the video’s color scheme.
This way, the text remains easily readable and stands out prominently against the video background.
If you want tips and tricks on choosing a text color for your background video, visit our guide on how to choose the perfect color scheme.
Also, you can check out our article on the best WordPress themes for video websites to find designs that complement your website and video content.
FAQs About How to Optimize Videos for Your WordPress Website
Now, let’s address some common questions related to optimizing videos for your WordPress website.
1. What is the best video format for a WordPress website?
WordPress supports video file types like .mp4, .m4v, .mov, .wmv, .avi, .mpg, .ogv, .3gp, and .3g2.
It’s recommended to use MP4 with H.264 codec for the best balance between quality and file size.
2. How do I optimize a YouTube video in WordPress?
If you embed your YouTube videos, then WordPress will take care of the embedding process and ensure the video player loads efficiently.
However, you can optimize videos further by enabling lazy loading, compressing the video files, and setting up video schema markup and sitemap with AIOSEO. The last step ensures that search engines can understand and index your videos properly.
You can also check out our list of best YouTube video gallery plugins for WordPress for more features to enhance your website’s videos.
3. How do I make my WordPress video load faster?
To make your WordPress videos load faster, you can upload them to a third-party hosting service like YouTube or Vimeo. Self-hosting your own videos is not recommended, as it often requires more server resources and slows down your website.
You will also need to compress the videos to reduce their file sizes without compromising quality.
Additionally, it’s a good idea to enable lazy loading for video content. This ensures that your website loads quickly the first time, and the videos are only loaded when the visitor scrolls down to view them.
We hope this article has helped you learn how to optimize videos for websites. You may also want to check out our list of the best WordPress plugins for YouTube publishers and our tutorial on how to show the latest videos from your YouTube channel 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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With WordPress.com, This Novelist’s Success Is No Mystery – WordPress.com News
Dan Alatorre murders people for a living. Not literally, but literarily: His thrilling mystery novels have captivated audiences around the world, landing him on multiple bestseller lists.
Like so many authors of the internet age, Dan started his writing journey with a blog. Back then, his posts were focused more on the day-to-day happenings of his life, and they eventually provided the fodder for his first book: a silly autobiographical tale about a father and his daughter.
Dan has always had many different stories to tell. He published titles in a variety of genres, such as horror, romance, humor, and science fiction, before he tried his hand at murder mysteries. It didn’t take long for his unforgettable characters and unique storytelling to captivate audiences.
“It is great when some stranger you’ve never met picks up your book and reads it. You wrote words down, they read it, and it changed their life.”
For inspiration when writing his novels, Dan looks to what has piqued his interest throughout his life–1950s film noir classics, modern-day crime shows, and mystery authors like Agatha Christie–and then puts his unique spin on things. In his most popular series, Double Blind, he’s found an equation for success: two detectives, with an underlying current of romantic tension, working to solve a murder. Each case is its own self-contained story, so it not only works as part of the series, but it also makes a good standalone novel. “Good ideas were and are everywhere for an author, so I have about twenty additional story ideas for the characters,” he says. “As long as readers enjoy reading them, I’ll keep writing them.”
His creativity unlocked, Dan was able to concentrate on that all-important but oft-ignored aspect of any creative business: marketing. His website, danalatorre.com, was already his personal space on the web but it also gave his fans a VIP entrance to interact with him. With his Readers Club, Dan is able to go above and beyond simply promoting his books, building an active community of engaged readers. That sense of connection—with other murder-mystery fans as well as with him, the author—makes each new novel even more likely to be a success.
“It’s a great way to build that rapport with your fan base. If they’re interacting with their favorite author, they’re a fan for life.”
But don’t just take his word for it. If you’re an active (or aspiring) author, there are many other reasons to carve out a corner of the internet just for yourself and your fans.
Always be writing
Since writing is already something you do, an active blog can help provide insight to your audience about your writing process, upcoming events, story ideas, and so much more. It will position you as a valuable resource for readers and potential collaborators, leaving them eager to hear more from you.
Build your brand
Your website is a distillation of your personal brand, reflecting your unique literary style, voice, and identity. Choosing the right theme for your site—from colors, to fonts, to layout, and more—can help reinforce your work as an author. A good website builds trust, and it can help you stand out like a literary beacon in the vast sea of books.
Control the story
In an age of online reviews and social media commentary, other voices can often shape the narrative. A personal website provides a platform for you to tell your own story, highlighting your work in the way that you want.
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How to Create a Wholesale Order Form in WordPress (3 Ways)
Want to learn how to create a wholesale order form in WordPress?
The standard WooCommerce shop layout isn’t designed for B2B purchases. That’s because B2B buyers have distinct requirements, which is why you need a wholesale order form to accommodate their needs. A wholesale form lets buyers purchase in bulk and customize the products to fit their brand.
In this article, we’ll discuss how to create a wholesale order form in WordPress so customers can buy your products in bulk faster.
Why Use a Wholesale Order Form?
If you have an online store and can fulfill orders in large quantities, you may want to set up a bulk order form with whole pricing to allow your customers to purchase in bulk.
Many B2B and dropshipping businesses are looking for wholesale prices so they can profit from selling your products as well.
Wholesale order forms simplify the ordering process for your customers. They can quickly select the products they need, specify quantities, and place orders.
WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce platform in the market, used by millions of small and large businesses. It’s a great tool for setting up beautiful stores with product pages and managing orders.
But if you want a simple solution to accommodating resellers, then you’ll want to add a wholesale order form to your WordPress site.
You can just click the links below to jump to any method you want to use.
Method 1: How to Create Wholesale Order Forms with Wholesale Suite
In this section, we’ll be sharing our preferred method of creating wholesale order forms online. First off, you’ll need to install Wholesale Suite.
Wholesale Suite is a collection of plugins that easily add wholesale to your WooCommerce store. The beauty of it is that it works with WooCommerce, making it a viable option for online store owners, not just WordPress users.
There are three plugins that make up the suite:
- Wholesale Order Form: This plugin lets you create order forms that can be customized to your needs.
- Wholesale Prices Premium: You can set custom prices for your WooCommerce products, allowing you to offer multiple levels of wholesale discounts.
- Wholesale Lead Capture: With the plugin, you can build wholesale registration forms, logins, and thank you pages to improve the buyer experience.
Note: You can just create a wholesale order form online using only the Wholesale Order Form plugin. However, the Wholesale Suite works best as a package since it comes with many more features, so you can get your store to work just the way that you want it to.
To get started, you’ll need to download the Wholesale Order Form plugin. If you need help with that, follow our tutorial on how to install a WordPress plugin.
From there, you can go to Wholesale Order » Forms in your WordPress admin area. Then, click on the ‘Add Form’ to create a new form.
This will automatically redirect you to the Form Editor page. You’ll want to customize the ‘Order Form Table.’
This is where you can design how your products will appear to buyers on the front end.
It should automatically populate the products under the ‘Order Form Table.’ If you don’t have any products in your WooCommerce store, you’ll need to add them to your store first.
If you need help with that, we recommend reading our Ultimate Guide to WooCommerce.
All you have to do is drag and drop modules from the table elements under the ‘Edit Form’ tab, located on the right panel of the editor. Then, drop them into the form.
There are tons of elements you can add, starting with ‘Header/Footer Elements.’ This includes the search input, category filter, add selected products to cart, cart subtotal, and more.
These elements are particularly useful if you have a long list of products, which can help users find what they’re looking for or see the total cost at the top or bottom of the order form.
Also, you can customize table elements, everything from product images and names to prices, in-stock amounts, and more.
Of course, don’t forget to include the ‘Add to Cart Button’ for each item so shoppers can add your products to their carts.
If you want to rearrange the positioning of the form columns, all you have to do is click the ‘Re-order Element icon’ at the top of each column.
This will allow you to drag the column right and left. The trash icon will allow you to delete columns as well.
If you want to change the text or adjust the styles of any input field, just hit the ‘Element Settings’ icon, and a sidebar will appear.
For example, you can choose a different button color or change the ‘Button Text’ to ‘Buy Now.’
In the ‘Settings’ tab of the right side panel, you can choose to customize how you want the products to be sorted in the form, how many products are loaded per page, and whether all variations are shown individually.
The ‘Lazy Loading’ option is where more products will load as the user scrolls so that they don’t have to click on the next page to see more items.
Once you’re done customizing your order form, don’t forget to give it a name.
And you can hit the ‘Publish’ button when you’re ready for it to go live.
Now, all that is left to do is to embed the order form to any post or page in your WooCommerce store. We recommend placing it on a landing page or user registration page.
First, you’ll need to copy the shortcode at the top of the order form.
Then, head over to the page you’d like to add the form to on your site.
Hit the ‘+’ icon on the top left corner of the editor.
From there, add the ‘Shortcode’ widget.
And then, you can paste the shortcode for your wholesale order form.
Feel free to add any other important information to the page that could help boost conversions or give buyers more information. For example, adding shipping and delivery information or security and trust badges could help.
Go ahead and hit ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ at the top right corner to make it live.
From there, you can check to ensure everything looks and runs smoothly.
Here’s what it should look like. Unlike the other methods, this one gives users a better experience, since they can search products or filter them by category.
Method 2: How to Create Wholesale Order Forms With WPForms
WPForms is the most powerful drag-and-drop WordPress form plugin out there. It allows you to easily create all types of forms, including contact forms, payment forms, and wholesale order forms, all without any coding.
To get started, you’ll need to install the WPForms plugin. For detailed instructions, you may want to follow our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Note: While there is a WPForms free version, you’ll need the WPForms Pro version to use the wholesale order form template.
Upon activation, you need to visit the WPForms » Settings page from the WordPress admin sidebar to enter your license key.
Once you’ve done that, head over to the WPForms » Add New screen from the WordPress dashboard.
This will take you to the WPForms drag and drop builder.
Customize your wholesale order form.
This will take you to the ‘Select a Template’ page.
Here you can begin by typing a name for your form.
After that, you can choose the ‘Wholesale Order Form’ template that you want.
Hover over the form and click the ‘Use Template’ button.
Next, the template will be generated for you, and you can start editing the fields.
Start by scrolling down on your form to the ‘Your Order’ section.
Then, you’ll want to click on one of the dropdown item fields to open its setting in the left-hand panel.
Here, you’ll be able to rename the Label to whatever your product name is and adjust the quantities and prices accordingly.
You can add more buying options by clicking the ‘+’ button to add another choice to your ‘Dropdown Items’ field.
If you want to add more products, drag and drop the ‘Dropdown Items’ field to the form preview.
Then, you can edit the name, quantities, and prices the same way.
Repeat these steps for each of the dropdown item fields for all the items that you want to sell at wholesale prices.
You can add or remove fields to your order form by dragging them from the left panel to the right panel.
Beyond that, you can update the ‘Form Name’ and ‘Form Description’ to tell visitors what this form is and provide any important information.
To make these changes, just go to the ‘General’ tab under the Settings panel.
Configure your form notifications.
Once you’ve finished customizing the wholesale order form, you’ll want to receive notifications every time someone has completed the form. That way, you can notify your suppliers or in-house inventory team and process the orders quickly.
Emails are an easy way to send a notification whenever someone submits the online wholesale form on your site.
In the left side panel, click on ‘Notifications.’ From there, you’ll need to toggle the ‘Enable Notifications’ to the right.
After that, you can customize the ‘Send to Email Address,’ ‘Email Subject Line,’ ‘From Name,’ ‘From Email,’ and ‘Email Message.’
WPForm automatically uses your site’s admin email by default.
In the email message, you can let them know that you’ve received their order form and that someone will start working on it shortly.
By default, the Email Message field contacts the ‘{all_fields}’ Smart Tag, which shows all the user-entered fields and their labels from the form itself.
Once you’re done, scroll up to the top of the WPForms editor.
Then, hit the ‘Add New Notifications’ button.
Customize your form confirmations.
Form confirmations are shown to site visitors once they have submitted the wholesale order form on your site. They let people know that the request has gone through and provide them with any information about the next steps.
It is similar to the form notifications message, except this will appear on-screen for your user.
Under ‘Settings,’ you’ll need to select ‘Confirmations.’
From here, you can choose the ‘Confirmation Type.’ There are three types to choose from.
- Message: A pop-up confirmation appears, letting them know the order was processed.
- Show Page: This confirmation type takes site visitors to a specific web page on your site to thank them for your order. If you want more details, read our tutorial on how to create a thank you page in WordPress.
- Go to URL (Redirect): This option lets you send visitors to a different website once they’ve submitted your form.
From there, you can update the ‘Confirmation Message’ to your liking.
Once you’re satisfied with the message, click the ‘Add New Confirmation’ button up top.
Set up payment settings.
If you want to make bulk order checkouts fast and easy, you’ll have to enable a payment gateway on your site.
WPForms works with Stripe, PaPal, Authorize.Net, and Square. Since you’re working with potentially huge orders, you may want to offer multiple payment methods.
For this tutorial, we’ll use Stripe. Once you have set up the Stripe addon, drag the ‘Stripe Credit Card’ field under the ‘Payment Fields’ onto the form editor.
To learn more about connecting your payment method to WPForms, follow our tutorial on how to create a WordPress form with payment options.
On the left panel, go to the ‘Payments’ section of the form builder. Then, you’ll need to select your payment gateway. In this case, we’re using Stripe.
Toggle the ‘Enable one-time payments’ to the right to accept payments from your form. Then, you’ll need to fill out the ‘Payment Description’ so customers know why their card was charged.
Scroll down, and you’ll also be able to ‘Enable recurring subscription payments.’ You can change the ‘Plan Name’ and set the ‘Recurring Period’ to any time period you wish.
If you have multiple subscription offerings or tiered plans, you can just hit the ‘Add New Plan.’
If you want to protect your form from spam, refer to our guide on how to block contact form spam in WordPress. That way, you won’t have to worry about fraudulent submissions.
Add the wholesale order form to your website.
After you’ve created the form, you’ll need to add it to your WordPress site. WPForms lets you quickly add your forms to any location on your website, including your pages, blog posts, and even the sidebar menu.
Don’t forget to hit the ‘Save’ button at the top right corner so you don’t lose any changes you’ve made. From there, also hit the ‘Embed’ button.
A pop-up window will appear asking whether you’d like to ‘Select Existing Page’ or ‘Create New Page.’ Either option will work fine, but for this tutorial, let’s click on ‘Create a New Page.’
Next, you will be asked to name your page.
Pick a name and hit the ‘Let’s Go!’ button.
The form should automatically be embedded onto your page. Review the form and make any changes to the page.
If you click on the form, you’ll be able to edit the ‘Block’ on the right-side panel. From here, you can toggle the ‘Show Title’ and ‘Show Description’ buttons.
This tells your visitors what your form is all about.
Once you’ve made the necessary changes to the site, you can hit the ‘Publish’ button.
Now, you’ve successfully created a wholesale hat order form from WPForms!
Here’s what it should look like.
Method 3: How to Create Wholesale Order Forms With WP Simple Pay
If you’re looking for a plugin that accepts more than the standard options like Stripe or PayPal, you may want to consider a dedicated payment plugin app to create your wholesale order forms.
WP Simple Pay is the best Stripes payment plugin for WordPress that lets you quickly collect one-time and recurring payments directly from your site.
While it’s advertised as a Stripe payment plugin, it’s so much more. You can accept 10+ payment methods, including most major credit cards, Google Pay, Apple Pay, Afterpay, Alipay, Klarner, ACH Direct Debit, and more.
This is especially important for wholesale buyers since many of them will pay via ACH direct debit. But others may want ‘Buy Now Pay Later‘ options like Klarna or Afterpay.
Allowing resellers to pay in installments will make your wholesale products accessible to more businesses.
To get started, you’ll need to download the WP Simple Pay plugin. If you need help, then please see our guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.
Note: There’s also a free version of WP Simple Pay, which allows you to only accept Stripe payments. However, if you want to take other forms of payment methods or have access to premium features, we recommend the paid version.
Connect Stripe to Your Site.
Upon activation, you’ll be directed to the setup wizard. This lets you set up your Stripe account and connect it to your website.
In the setup wizard, hit the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button.
Just click on the ‘Connect with Stripe’ button, which will allow you to accept online payments from your wholesale order form.
Next up, enter the email address you’ll be using for your Stripe account and then hit ‘Continue.’
If you don’t have a Stripe account, you can easily create one.
Once you’ve completed this process, you’ll be sent to a success page that says ‘Setup Complete.’
After that, you’ll need to build an order form. Go ahead and click on the ‘Create a Payment Form’ button.
Customize Your Wholesale Order Form
Now that you’ve connected your website to Stripe, you can start creating an order form.
For this tutorial, you’ll want to find and select the ‘Variable Product Form’ template. This template has all the form elements you need to sell products.
After choosing the template, you’ll be shown a payment form page where you can add a title and description.
Below that, you can also add CAPTCHA and email verification to protect against fraud or fake orders.
Once you’ve chosen where to send your customers, click on the ‘Payment’ option from the left panel.
From here, you’ll be able to change the currency, amount, and even pick between on-time and subscription payments.
Also, scroll down to ‘Payment Methods’ and check all of the boxes of the payment options you are willing to accept.
By accepting more payment methods, you appeal to a wider audience.
In the ‘Form Field’ tab, you can add, remove, or customize any form fields you want.
The ‘Variable Product Form’ template we’ve selected has many of the important form fields you would need in an order form. This includes fields such as:
- Quantity
- Size
- Color
- Amount
- Full Name
- Email Address
- Phone Number
- Address
- Payment Methods
- Checkout Button
Go ahead and customize each of the fields by hitting the dropdown area until you’re satisfied.
In the ‘Quantity’ field, you can specify the maximum and minimum quantity customers can buy.
In the ‘Size’ field, you can decide all the different variants or options you want. Then, separate them with a comma.
The same goes for the ‘Color’ field as well.
Keep in mind you can change any ‘Label’ name to any option you want, based on the type of product you’re selling.
When you’re done customizing your form, don’t save hit ‘Publish’ on the right side of the page.
Add the Payment Form to a Page
Now that your wholesale order form is ready, it’s time to embed it on your site. To embed the form, simply go to the post or page where you want to publish it.
Then click the ‘+’ icon at the top left corner of the page editor.
Find and select the WP Simple Pay block to add it to the page.
It should appear in the editor.
From here, you can choose the wholesale order form you’ve just created. Finally, just click the ‘Publish’ or ‘Update’ button.
That’s all there is to it!
Bonus: How to Add Wholesale Pricing in WooCommerce
Now you know how to successfully create a wholesale order form! That being said, you still may want to give distributors the option to purchase in bulk without needing to complete the form.
For example, the order form can be used for buyers looking to add branding or specify their unique requirements, while bulk purchases can be bought directly from your WooCommerce store.
In that case, you’ll be using the Wholesale Suite plugin. Head over to WooCommerce » All Products. You can edit any product of your choice. Under the ‘Product data’ section, you can set the ‘Regular price.’
From that, you can scroll down to the ‘Wholesale Prices’ section and open the ‘Discount Type’ dropdown.
After that, you can now select the ‘Discount Type,’ ‘Discount (%),’ and the ‘Wholesale Price ($)’ to offer.
On the same page, you’ll even be able to set the minimum quantity needed to receive wholesale pricing.
For more details, you can see our in-depth tutorial on how to add wholesale pricing in WooCommerce.
We hope this article helped you learn how to create a wholesale order form. You may want to read our post on the best WooCommerce plugins for your store or check out the best WooCommerce dropshipping plugins.
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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