There are many ways to sell prints online. In the last article of this series, we already looked at one of them that was free and easy to set up. But it might not be the right way to sell prints professionally. If branding and customer relations are important to you, a customized online store might be a better solution. In this article, I share how to set one up.
First of all, you must decide which platform to use. With services like Squarespace, Smugmug, Photoshelter, and Shopify, to name just a few, it’s up to you to pick and choose. But not so quickly. Those platforms are not cheap. If you require e-commerce support, Squarespace, for example, will cost you at least $25 per month plus a 3% fee for every sale you make. If you want options like customizable delivery or discounts, you will pay more than $50. With Smugmug and Shopify, you’ll pay between $30 and $50. Photoshelter might look a lot cheaper at first glance, but they charge between 8% and 10% transactional fee for every sale you make. So, based on the sales volume, you might pay even more than when using the other platforms.
Contrast those prices with a typical web hosting solution from services like GoDaddy or Ionos, which I use. For around $6, you get a solid base to self-host your e-commerce homepage, with nothing missing but the website itself.
If we do the math and compare this to Squarespace, you save $228 per year compared to their basic e-commerce offering. If you don’t plan on changing the look of your homepage every one or two years, which is simple with platforms like Squarespace, this can add up.
Now, you know your budget for paying somebody to create a homepage for you or buying a WordPress theme plus a few plugins and hooking everything up yourself. It’s certainly not for everyone, and you might value your time much higher than those $228 per year you can save by self-hosting. But again, as soon as you need more features, the $228 can quickly turn into $500 or more.
Below, I will first go through a general checklist of things you need to create an online print store. This checklist will be relevant for both self-hosted websites and when using the mentioned platforms.
Afterward, I show you an example of how to self-host an e-commerce website.
I already had a privacy policy long before starting the transition because I live in the EU. But even if you don’t, if you want to sell your prints to European customers, you better include a privacy policy on your homepage.
To fulfill orders, you must process customer data and most likely pass it on to a print provider unless you print yourself. Such uses must be transparent to your customers. And while you’re at it, don’t forget to add a legal notice and disclaimer to your homepage.
Terms of Service and Cancellation Policy
Those two are required once you turn your homepage into an e-commerce platform. And it’s a pain to create those. You could use one of the many available generators and templates, for example, Shopify’s terms of service template. But those are very generic, and you’ll spend much time adjusting them.
The alternative is to use an external service that provides customized legal documents for your website. Here, you can plan another $10 a month for a subscription.
Consent Form
E-commerce solutions usually store information on the customer’s device in the form of cookies. You should inform a user of your website about it through a cookie consent form. Those are the annoying popups you see on many websites today.
There are many solutions available which you will find via Google. If you fancy integrating one yourself, I have a tutorial on that topic.
Payment Gateway
How are you planning to charge your customers? If you select one of the mentioned platforms, you must understand which integrations they offer and know you will have to get additional accounts for those.
A typical payment gateway is PayPal. By creating a business account, you can not only use it to accept payment via PayPal itself but also via credit card. Other options are Stripe, which I used for several years to offer credit card payments to people buying my tutorials.
Print Provider
Setting up an e-commerce platform is one thing, but getting the goods produced and delivered to your customers is something you must handle separately. If you plan on printing yourself, you only have to figure out the packaging and logistics for shipping. But even if you don’t want to print, there are solutions.
One is to automate the whole process by integrating a service like CreativeHub. They offer integrations for Squarespace, Woocommerce, Shopify, and some others. Printing and drop-shipping are done by thePrintSpace, the company behind CreativeHub. You can even use them to sell limited edition prints, and their free tier allows you to store up to 30 GB of data. If you expect a high sales volume, then such an automated service might be a requirement for you. It’s something to consider when selecting your e-commerce platform because not all allow its integration.
Alternatively, you will have to do some manual order processing. Once an order arrives in your system, you can forward it to the print provider of your choice for fulfillment. It is the option I’ve now chosen for my shop. I use Whitewall for that. If you live in the US, you’d use their US website to order customer prints. If you live in the EU, you can use their EU website.
Tax
An important part of selling your art is to consider tax requirements. The regulations are different based on the location of your business and the types of sales you make. Ask yourself questions like:
Do you want to sell internationally? If so, which countries do you want to target?
Do you want to only sell to private customers (B2C) or as well to other businesses (B2B)?
What volume of sales do you expect over one year?
The answers to those questions will, for example, tell you, if you need a VAT id. Even if you fall under special regulations in your own country and are not required to get one, selling internationally might still require it in some cases. An excellent resource to educate yourself on this topic is Quaderno. In addition to that, you might also want to seek professional counsel.
Setup
Once you selected a platform and went through the checklist, you’re ready to set up your shop. And as I already mentioned, I will go through the self-hosting option, for which I use WooCommerce. If you decide to also do it like this, you should either have some basic knowledge about web development or get help. Otherwise, you can end up with a slow website that might not look or work as you want.
WordPress
Step one is to install WordPress on your server. Download the latest version from here and follow the instructions on how to install WordPress. If this part already bothers you, hire a web developer or use one of the platforms mentioned in the beginning, and don’t self-host.
WooCommerce
WooCommerce is open-source and free. It’s available as a plugin for WordPress, and installing it can be done via the WordPress dashboard. It offers a lot of settings, and you should take your time to study and configure each one of them. You would do the same with a platform like Shopify.
Some essential parts of the setup are, linking your legal documents, configuring emails, setting up shipping zones, creating print variations, selecting prices, and adding a payment gateway. For PayPal, you can install another plugin and connect it to your business account.
Test Product
Once the basic setup is complete, test it by creating a first product and making a test purchase to ensure everything works smoothly. To not spend too much on this test product, use a dummy that costs just one dollar. Such a test order should trigger emails to your business and the customer’s mail address and initiate the money transfer.
Theming
To adjust the look of a WordPress homepage, you need custom themes. If you don’t want to develop one yourself or pay a web developer for it, you can buy one online. There are countless photography-specific themes available, starting at around $50 for an e-commerce-enabled theme. The alternative that involves some more work is using a builder like Oxygen. Unfortunately, it will soon move to a subscription-based license, taking away the appeal of using it for a single website.
I did the whole theming myself, and I have to say, it’s a bit painful. If you are not careful and don’t know what you are doing, you can end up with an unmaintainable mess. Even some of the commercial themes look a bit messy.
Print Mockups
If you made it this far, it’s finally time to turn your photos into products. To compete with other stores, you should create mockups of how your photos will look as wall art in different environments. An affordable resource for such mockups is freepik. It’s a subscription-based service through which you can download PSD files for different room settings.
And don’t worry about having to pay a continuous subscription. You get a license file for each download you make during your subscription allowing you to use the images even after you cancel it.
Descriptions
If you spend so much time and effort to set up your storefront, you surely also want people to find it. That’s why you have to think about SEO. This way, you make your store discoverable through Google and other search engines. To do so, add tags and custom descriptions to all your products.
It is where ChatGPT and Grammarly are a great help. Use ChatGPT to create a first description, then bring it to Grammarly and refine it. Avoid using the texts from ChatGPT as is. They usually need some attention, and it also doesn’t hurt to add a personal note, for example, by sharing behind-the-scenes information.
Conclusion
Creating a personalized print shop that you host yourself takes a significant amount of effort. But once you’re finished, the reward is having a storefront over which you have full control. You can even take all your data and head to another provider if new terms or prices are imposed or you are not satisfied with some aspect of the offering. I have done this once in the past.
With platforms like Squarespace, you can’t simply migrate your website. But most likely, you don’t have to. It’s just something to be aware of. And although those platforms offer countless configurations, you can run into limitations if you have special requirements. That’s why the final tip I want to give you here is: write down specific requirements for your website and print shop. Take your time for this task, look at similar offerings by other photographers, and figure out what you need. Those requirements will help you not regret your choice of platform later on.
Are you looking for the best ChatGPT plugins for WordPress?
A WordPress ChatGPT plugin allows you to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into your website. This can provide a more interactive and personalized experience to your users, increasing engagement and traffic. It can also help you generate content and increase your productivity.
In this article, we will share our list of the best ChatGPT WordPress plugins on the market.
Why Use a ChatGPT Plugin in WordPress?
ChatGPT is a well-known AI chatbot software that is based on the GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 language models. It is developed by OpenAI, who is also responsible for software like DALL-E and Whisper.
ChatGPT allows you to generate text, translate languages, write different kinds of creative content, and answer any questions you may have about a topic.
In simple terms, ChatGPT plugins are WordPress plugins that support integration with the artificial intelligence software. When using the plugin, it will send a prompt to the ChatGPT software and show a response to your query on your website.
For example, you might use the plugin as a chatbot where the responses come directly from ChatGPT. This can increase lead generation by engaging with visitors and telling them about your products or services.
Additionally, if you have an online store, then you can also use ChatGPT plugins to provide 24/7 customer support, improve content quality, or boost the user experience.
Plus, ChatGPT plugins can help you improve your own workflows and boost your creativity. You can generate meta descriptions and post titles, come up with blog post ideas, and more.
Having said that, here is our list of the best WordPress ChatGPT plugins on the market.
Aside from AI title generator, AIOSEO offers tons of comprehensive SEO tools to help your website rank higher in the search results. The plugin has features like a link assistant, XML sitemaps, a headline analyzer, FAQ schema, and more.
To integrate ChatGPT with AIOSEO, all you have to do is click the robot icon in the Meta Description or Post Title box in the block editor.
Once you do that, a prompt will open up on the screen, asking you to provide an API key to connect OpenAI with the plugin. To do this, you will need to create an OpenAI account and then generate an API key.
Upon adding the key, simply click the ‘Connect’ button to move on.
AIOSEO can now generate SEO-friendly titles and meta descriptions for your post using artificial intelligence.
You just need to click on the ‘+’ button next to a title or meta description to use it, or you can ask the software to generate more ideas.
These headlines are written to contain keywords relevant to your content, which can ultimately increase your click-through rates.
All in One SEO has a built-in headline analyzer tool to improve your headlines. It provides data-driven insights and suggestions for creating engaging and click-worthy titles.
It has on-page SEO features to improve website content and titles for search engines.
It comes with a robots.txt editor, social media integrations, and a redirection manager.
Cons
Some of the features of the plugin are only available in the pro plan.
Why we recommend using AIOSEO: We recommend using AIOSEO because it is the best WordPress ChatGPT plugin on the market. It easily integrates with OpenAI using an API key and generates suggestions for post titles and meta descriptions. It also comes with a WooCommerce integration and other SEO tools that can help your website rank higher.
Uncanny Automator is the best WordPress automation plugin that lets you connect your WordPress site with ChatGPT. It allows you to create comprehensive workflows by connecting two different platforms.
With Uncanny Automator’s ChatGPT integration, you can generate content for your blog posts from a prompt or list of keywords.
With Uncanny Automator, you can use different actions and triggers to create an AI-generated image, social media posts, personalized emails, product descriptions, and answers to customer queries.
The best part about using Uncanny Automator is that it also allows you to connect ChatGPT with other services other than your website, like Facebook, Drip, Zapier, Brevo, Instagram, Google Sheets, and more.
Uncanny Automator can connect with 140+ WordPress plugins and third-party apps to create automated workflows.
You can use Uncanny Automator and ChatGPT together for email marketing.
It has a free plan.
It has advanced features like delays, scheduling, and user creation.
Cons
The free version allows you to create only a limited number of automations with a limited number of app integrations.
Why we recommend using Uncanny Automator: We recommend using this plugin if you want to connect your ChatGPT account with third-party platforms or plugins. Uncanny Automator is a super powerful tool that you can use to generate content, publish social media posts, send emails, and so much more.
By connecting WPForms and ChatGPT using an automation plugin like Uncanny Automator, you can create smarter forms for your website.
For example, you can make a form that asks for a blog topic and a brief description for the post, and every time you submit the form, ChatGPT will automatically create a blog post for you on that topic.
You can easily connect WPForms with ChatGPT without using any code.
You can also use WPForms as an AI writing assistant after its integration with ChatGPT because it can generate content for you.
Some of its other features include spam protection, conditional logic, payment gateway integration, geolocation, and more.
Cons
You will have to use an automation tool like Uncanny Automator or Zapier to connect ChatGPT and WPForms.
Some of its premium features are locked in the free plan.
Why we recommend using WPForms: WPForms is the ideal ChatGPT plugin if you want to send automated and personalized emails to users upon form submission. Its integration with ChatGPT can further improve your form quality. You can even use both tools together as an AI writing assistant.
Formidable Forms is an advanced form builder plugin that can easily integrate with ChatGPT to help you create interactive forms.
It comes with a drag-and-drop builder and premade template that lets you create any type of form you want, including surveys, polls, quizzes, and more.
You can also add a ChatGPT field to your forms so that it will act like an AI assistant and help users through the form submission process.
This field will be able to answer customer queries in real time, generate personalized responses to user questions, provide feedback, and automate tasks based on user input. It will basically guide your users through the entire form-filling process.
It also comes with a shipping calculator feature that can estimate the total cost of a product you will have to pay with delivery.
Other than the ChatGPT field, you can also use AI templates offered by the plugin to create interactive forms.
Cons
It has limited functionality in the free plan, and its paid plan can be expensive for small businesses.
The ChatGPT field in the form cannot create content for your blog posts.
Formidable Forms has a learning curve and can be difficult to navigate for beginners.
Why we recommend using Formidable Forms: We recommend using Formidable Forms if you are looking for a ChatGPT plugin that can help your users fill out forms on your website. With its built-in ChatGPT field, Formidable Forms adds an AI assistant to your form that can provide suggestions, answer queries, and direct users to suitable options.
Thrive Ovation is the ideal ChatGPT plugin if you want to automatically display positive testimonials on your social media platforms.
It is part of the Thrive Suite and is a well-known testimonial plugin that allows you to easily collect, manage, and display testimonials in WordPress.
Once you connect this plugin with ChatGPT, the software will perform a sentiment analysis on each new testimonial submitted on your website.
With the help of an automation tool, ChatGPT will then automatically publish any positive testimonial on your social media platforms. This will help build social proof and encourage potential customers to check out your website.
Pros
Thrive Ovation comes with a drag-and-drop builder and also lets you turn WordPress comments into testimonials.
Using its integration with ChatGPT, the plugin can help drive traffic from social media platforms.
The tool comes with a dashboard where you can see an overview of your testimonials, including the ones that are ready for display, pending approval, or rejected.
It does not have built-in ChatGPT features. You will need to connect the plugin with ChatGPT using automation tools like Uncanny Automator or Zapier.
Why we recommend using Thrive Ovation: Thrive Ovation is the best WordPress ChatGPT plugin if you want to automatically publish positive testimonials on social media platforms. Upon integration, ChatGPT will run an analysis to find positive testimonials and use an automated workflow to share them on Facebook.
AI Engine is a free WordPress plugin that easily connects with ChatGPT to help you generate content for your website.
It is a great choice if you want to use ChatGPT for customer support. This is because the plugin lets you add ChatGPT as a chatbot using a shortcode.
The chatbot can then answer customer queries, solve any minor issues in your services, direct users to your support team, and help you provide support 24/7.
Pros
AI Engine lets you control the structure of your AI-generated blog posts by allowing you to determine the number of sections and paragraphs per section.
It also uses ChatGPT to generate meta descriptions, excerpts, images, product descriptions, and more.
If you have a multilingual website, then you can also use AI Engine for translations.
Cons
The plugin has a bit of a learning curve and can be difficult to navigate.
It relies on ChatGPT to perform most of the functions, which may have occasional outages or downtime.
Why we recommend using AI Engine: We recommend using this plugin if you want to provide customer support. AI Engine comes with premade templates for chatbots and popup models, and it makes it super easy to add chatbots to your site using a shortcode. AI Engine can also act as a writing assistant, making the plugin a good choice for a WordPress blog.
AI Chatbot is a great free ChatGPT WordPress plugin if you want to add a chatbot to your website.
This plugin easily connects with ChatGPT and shows a chatbot with text responses you created from the WordPress backend. It also displays some FAQs and asks users to provide their email or phone numbers so you can contact them later.
You can also use the AI Chatbot plugin to create a chatbot that collects user feedback for your products, services, or website.
Pros
You do not need to use any code to add a chatbot using this plugin.
Its integration with ChatGPT software is seamless.
The tool can help you build an email list by asking users to drop in their email addresses.
Cons
The plugin cannot be used to produce AI-generated content.
The chatbot is completely reliant on ChatGPT. This means that if the software is experiencing downtime, then the chatbot on your website won’t work either.
Why we recommend using AI Chatbot: Overall, AI Chatbot makes it super easy to add a chatbot that can ask for feedback or help you build an email list for your newsletter.
AI Power is a free WordPress plugin that connects with ChatGPT to use its content generator, image generator, and audio converter for transcripts.
It also comes with an auto content writer where you just have to provide a prompt or relevant keywords and AI Power will generate content for you.
Additionally, the plugin also offers premade ChatGPT-based form templates, which have two ChatGPT fields that can read a user’s input and provide answers to guide your users through the form-filling process.
Pros
AI Power has a WooCommerce product writer tool that creates product descriptions, titles, and marketing materials for your WooCommerce store.
It also comes with built-in SEO features to help your website rank higher. It can even integrate with tools like AIOSEO, Rank Math, and Yoast SEO.
AI Power can build and integrate chatbots on your website.
Cons
It is a complex plugin not suitable for beginners.
AI-generated content or chatbot responses used by AI Power can sometimes be misinterpreted by users, leading to confusion.
Why we recommend using AI Power: Overall, AI Power is an ideal ChatGPT plugin if you want to generate content using AI. It is also a good choice for WooCommerce stores because its product writer tool lets you generate product descriptions and titles in just a few minutes.
AI Post Generator is a free WordPress plugin that uses ChatGPT to generate high-quality content for your website.
It is a great choice if you run a WordPress blog because the tool makes it super easy to create relevant blog posts for your audience.
The plugin saves you a lot of time by automatically creating a new post as a draft once you enter a prompt or relevant keywords into the field.
Pros
AI Post Generator can improve your WordPress SEO by using keywords and phrases that are relevant to your target audience. It can also generate meta descriptions.
The plugin can generate content in any language, making it an ideal choice for a multilingual blog.
The plugin automatically finds and adds relevant images and heading tags to your posts.
Cons
It offers limited customization and personalization options for AI-generated content.
If you use this plugin for generating blog posts on your site, then you must verify the originality of the content first. This is because AI-generated content may contain similarities to existing text.
Why we recommend using AI Post Generator: We recommend using this plugin if you have a WordPress blog and want to publish content on your website daily.
AI ChatBot with ChatGPT plugin comes with a built-in chatbot that uses ChatGPT to help you write custom code for your website right from your WordPress dashboard.
The plugin can also be used to generate content for your blog, while its chatbot can answer customer queries, showcase FAQs, and ask for user feedback on your website.
Additionally, the plugin can also use a text-to-speech response feature to give a more authentic customer support experience to the users on your WordPress website.
Pros
The plugin allows you to automate workflows for your chatbot.
It also comes with customizable options for the bot and lets you connect it to your website’s knowledge base.
The plugin uses ChatGPT to analyze user behavior and then provides personalized recommendations for products, services, or content.
Cons
The plugin’s chatbot’s responses can sometimes oversimplify complex issues with products or services.
The plugin sometimes provides incorrect information. We recommend double-checking any content you produce using this tool.
Why we recommend using AI ChatBot with ChatGPT: It is a great ChatGPT plugin for providing customer support for minor issues. Using this plugin will provide free time to your support members that they can use to focus on more complex problems.
AI Mojo is a free WordPress plugin that uses artificial intelligence to generate content, images, and forms for your website.
The plugin can easily create content for your blog posts, social media posts, or product descriptions once you provide a prompt or keyword.
Acting as a great AI writing assistant, AI Mojo can also convert audio files for easy text transcription, optimize your content for search engines, and make GPT forms that generate personalized responses.
Pros
AI Mojo has a library of pre-made prompts for a variety of content formats.
It lets you create chatbots for your website.
It can convert your existing website data into formats compatible with AI models.
Cons
The plugin does not offer great customer support.
You will need an API key to connect ChatGPT with the plugin.
It offers limited customization for AI-generated content and images.
Why we recommend using AI Mojo: The free plugin is a great choice if you want to add chatbots and generate AI content for your blog.
Which Is the Best ChatGPT WordPress Plugin?
In our expert opinion, All in One SEO is the best WordPress ChatGPT plugin on the market. It offers seamless integration with the AI software and makes it super easy to generate post titles and meta descriptions for your blog posts.
However, if you are looking for a plugin that allows you to connect ChatGPT with WordPress as well as other third-party platforms, then Uncanny Automator is the best option. The plugin can integrate with over 140 tools and automate workflows with ChatGPT.
If you have a WordPress blog and just want to easily generate content, then WPForms should be your go-to choice.
Similarly, if you are looking for a plugin that supports a ChatGPT integration in forms and allows the software to help with form submissions, then we recommend using Formidable Forms.
But if you are on a shoestring budget, then AI Engine and AI Power are great choices, too, because they use ChatGPT to generate content, images, and even a chatbot.
Frequently Asked Questions About ChatGPT WordPress Plugins
Here is a list of some frequently asked questions asked by our readers about using ChatGPT and OpenAI in WordPress.
What is the best ChatGPT SEO plugin for WordPress?
All in One SEO is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market that also supports ChatGPT integration.
The plugin acts as a writing assistant and uses ChatGPT to create titles and meta descriptions for your blog posts. AIOSEO also optimizes your content so that it can rank high in search engine results.
Does ChatGPT generate SEO-friendly content?
ChatGPT can generate SEO-friendly content for your website by adding relevant keywords and phrases, writing concise titles and meta descriptions, structuring content, and avoiding keyword stuffing.
However, we still recommend proofreading all the content that you create using ChatGPT because the AI tool sometimes uses existing content on the internet, which can be interpreted as plagiarism. This can hurt your website rankings.
Best Guides for Using AI in WordPress
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Do you want to integrate Mailchimp with your WordPress site and want to find the best plugins?
Mailchimp is a popular email marketing service that lets you create email campaigns, send automated messages, and more. With the right plugin, you can grow your email list, automate workflows, and make the most out of the service.
In this article, we’ll show you the best WordPress Mailchimp plugins that you can use for your business.
Why Use WordPress Mailchimp Plugins?
If you’re just getting started with email marketing, then you must have come across Mailchimp. It is one of the best email marketing services in the market. The best part is that you can get started for free and send up to 1,000 emails every month.
With Mailchimp, you can set up emails, create campaigns, and manage your subscribers with ease. It also integrates with other third-party plugins and tools for WordPress.
For instance, you can use it with lead generation software to grow your email list. Or you can connect it with a WordPress contact form plugin and automatically collect email addresses in Mailchimp.
You can even set up automation with Mailchimp using the right plugin. For example, automatically send an email using Mailchimp when publishing a new blog post. This way, your audience is immediately notified about new content, news, announcements, and sales.
That said, let’s look at some of the best Mailchimp plugins you can choose for your business.
WPForms is the best WordPress form builder plugin for WordPress that lets you easily create Mailchimp signup form with its powerful drag-and-drop form builder.
With its Mailchimp addon, you can create a newsletter signup form and select which audience or group the subscribers should be added to in Mailchimp. This makes it very easy to save form entries and add them to your email list.
Besides that, you also get options to unsubscribe, archive, delete, and record events. The Mailchimp addon also lets you mark subscribers as VIPs, so you know your high-value customers.
By integrating Mailchimp with WPForms, you can assign Mailchimp tags to segment subscribers. Or use WPForms smart tags to save additional information about subscribers in their Mailchimp profiles.
Pros:
Beginner-friendly plugin with drag-and-drop builder
Tons of pre-built form templates
Smart conditional logic
Easily integrates with Mailchimp
Built-in spam protection
Automated workflows
Cons:
Offers a Lite version, which is available for free but with limited features
Mailchimp integration is not available in the Lite version, only Constant Contact
Why Use This Plugin: If you’re looking to create different WordPress forms and want to collect subscribers’ contact information in Mailchimp, then WPForms is the best plugin.
Pricing: WPForms pricing plans start from $49.50 per year. However, you’ll need the Plus plan to use the Mailchimp addon, which will cost $99.50 per year. There is also a WPForms Lite version you can use for free.
Uncanny Automator is the best WordPress automation plugin. You can think of it as Zapier but for WordPress. Uncanny Automator offers different recipes that you can create for Mailchimp and automate workflows.
You can choose from hundreds of actions and triggers to create an automated recipe. It helps 2 or more WordPress plugins to talk to each other.
For example, let’s say a user cancels their membership on MemberPress. They’re then automatically unsubscribed from the Mailchimp audience. Similarly, if a user completes an online course on LifterLMS, then a tag is automatically added to the user’s profile in Mailchimp.
Aside from Mailchimp, Uncanny Automator integrates with over 130 different plugins and social media apps. Plus, its recipe builder is user-friendly, and you don’t need to edit code to set up automation.
Pros:
Easy-to-use recipe builder
Supports over 130 integrations, including Mailchimp
Choose from over 500 triggers and 300 actions
Automate workflows without touching code
Cons:
The premium version can be a bit expensive for startups or businesses on a tight budget
Why Use This Plugin: If you’re looking for a way to automate your workflows between Mailchimp and other plugins on your WordPress site, then Uncanny Automator is the perfect solution for you.
Pricing: Uncanny Automator prices start from $149 per year.
WP WooCommerce Mailchimp is a free WordPress Mailchimp plugin. It helps you add customers to your email list automatically.
You can select which Mailchimp list the subscribers should be added to. The plugin lets you choose when to collect customers’ email addresses. For instance, you can collect information when a customer places an order, the order is processed, or when the order is completed.
Other options offered by the plugin include asking permission from customers to subscribe to the email list, editing the opt-in field text, and more.
Pros:
Simply and free-to-use plugin
Automatically add customers to your email list in Mailchimp
Add interest groups to further segment customers
Multiple opt-in settings
Cons:
Limited opt-in customization options
Why Use This Plugin: If you have a WooCommerce store, then the WP WooCommerce Mailchimp plugin is a great plugin to automatically add customers to specific email lists. This way, you can create custom email campaigns for each customer group and send personalized messages.
Pricing: WP WooCommerce Mailchimp is a free WordPress plugin.
OptinMonster is the best lead generation and conversion optimization software. It helps you get more leads, grow your email list, and boost conversions.
OptinMonster easily integrates with Mailchimp, and you can gather email addresses through different campaigns in your Mailchimp account.
With OptinMonster, you can create all types of campaigns, like a simple popup, floating bar, full-screen welcome mats, and more. There are lots of pre-built campaign templates to choose from. You can then use its drag-and-drop campaign builder to easily customize your campaigns.
For instance, you can show a campaign when a user is about to leave your site with an exit-intent popup. Or display campaigns based on the time a user spends on a page, visit a specific page, and more.
Pros:
Drag and drop campaign builder
Pre-built campaign templates and customization options
Powerful display rules to show campaigns
Simple integration with Mailchimp and other email marketing services
Mobile friendly popups
Cons:
The free version has limited features
Why Use This Plugin: OptinMonster and Mailchimp are an explosive combination to have on your website. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to create attractive and nonintrusive popup campaigns using OptinMonster and collect email addresses in Mailchimp.
Pricing: OptinMonster pricing plans start from $9 per month (billed annually).
MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress is a free plugin that lets you add signup forms to your WordPress site. It easily integrates with Mailchimp and collects email addresses from the sign-up form.
The plugin is simple and easy to use. It even integrates with other form builders and plugins like WooCommerce, WPForms, AffiliateWP, and more.
While the plugin is free to use, it doesn’t offer the customization options or form templates that you’d get in other form plugins, like WPForms. There are only a handful of form fields to choose from and limited customization options.
Pros:
Simple interface and is easy to use
Easily integrates with Mailchimp
Free to use
It also integrates with other form plugins
Cons:
Limited customization options
No form templates
Why Use This Plugin: The plugin is best for anyone who wants a free WordPress plugin that creates basic sign-up forms and integrates with Mailchimp.
Pricing: MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPress is a free to use plugin.
SeedProd is the best WordPress website builder that helps you create custom themes and landing pages without editing code or hiring a developer.
SeedProd easily integrates with Mailchimp. This way, you can create custom landing pages with subscription forms and collect email addresses in Mailchimp.
Besides that, you can also select which segment or group to add your subscribers to in Mailchimp, enable double opt-in, and more.
Other features offered by SeedProd include a drag-and-drop theme builder, pre-built theme and landing page templates, lots of customization options, and more.
Pros:
Super easy to use
Drag and drop theme and landing page builder
Easily integrates with Mailchimp
Multiple customization options
Cons:
The free version has limited customization options
Why Use This Plugin: If you’re looking for a plugin that lets you design and create custom landing pages and works seamlessly with Mailchimp, then SeedProd is the perfect solution.
Pricing: You’ll need at least the Plus plan in SeedProd to use Mailchimp integration. This will cost you $99.50 per year.
Another Mailchimp Widget is the next Mailchimp WordPress plugin on our list. The plugin lets you add clean and basic sign-up forms for your WordPress site.
You can show the signup form through a shortcode or use a widget. The plugin also shows different lists from your Mailchimp account. You can select a list and group to add new subscribers.
That said, there are not many customization options or templates to choose from. The plugin just lets you edit the first and last name labels and show a success message and a failure message. The form also only contains 3 fields, which include first name, last name, and email.
Pros:
Lightweight and easy-to-use plugin
Automatically add subscribers to lists and groups in Mailchimp
Add sign-up form using shortcode
Free to use
Cons:
Limited customization options
Cannot add additional form fields
Why Use This Plugin: The plugin is best for anyone looking for a free option to add simple Mailchimp signup forms. It is lightweight, and you can add the form anywhere using a shortcode.
Pricing: Another Mailchimp Widget is 100% free to use.
Thrive Themes offers powerful tools to build high-converting WordPress sites without editing code. It is a complete suite of plugins that help you build, convert, sell, and engage.
Thrive Themes suite includes popular tools like Thrive Leads, Thrive Architect, Thrive Theme Builder, Thrive Quiz Builder, Thrive Ovation, and more.
You can easily integrate Mailchimp with Thrive Theme and then use the email marketing software with different tools in the suite.
For instance, you can connect Mailchimp’s API with Thrive Themes and then use Thrive Leads to gather email addresses. Or use Thrive Apprentice to build online courses and integrate it with Mailchimp for all your email needs.
Pros:
Offers 9 powerful tools for different purposes
Easy to set up and use
Mailchimp easily integrates with different tools
24/7 customer support
Cons:
Thrive Theme suite is only for WordPress
Why Use This Plugin: The plugin is great for anyone looking for a complete marketing toolkit for their WordPress site and wants to integrate Mailchimp as well. You can do so much with Thrive Themes tools, from creating landing pages to building online courses, popups, quizzes, and more.
Pricing: The Thrive Themes suite will cost $299 per year.
MemberPress is the best WordPress membership plugin that’s beginner-friendly to use. You can use it to create a membership site, lock content based on user roles, set up content dripping, sell online courses, and more.
MemeberPress easily integrates with different email marketing tools, including Mailchimp. This allows you to add your members to Mailchimp and segment them based on their membership levels. You can then create targeted email campaigns for each segment.
MemberPress also lets you send custom fields to Mailchimp and add additional user information. By default, it will only send the email address and first name to Mailchimp. But you can edit the settings to map other fields as well.
Pros:
Easy to set up and use
Create unlimited membership levels
Easily integrates with Mailchimp
Offers powerful content access controls
Offers a drag-and-drop online course builder
Cons:
Limited payment options
Mapping custom fields in Mailchimp can be tricky for beginners
Why Use This Plugin: MemberPress is one of the best Mailchimp plugins because it makes it very easy to create a membership site. Plus, it helps you manage all your email needs by seamlessly integrating with Mailchimp.
Pricing: MemberPress is a premium plugin with prices starting from $179.50 per year.
RafflePress is the best WordPress giveaway plugin that helps you run viral giveaways to grow your email subscribers, social followers, and website traffic.
The plugin easily integrates with Mailchimp. You can add an option in your giveaway content to join your email newsletter and integrate it with Mailchimp. This way, when users enter their email addresses, they’re automatically added to Mailchimp.
Besides that, RafflePress offers a drag-and-drop giveaway builder, pre-built templates, social media integration, a custom giveaway landing page, and more.
Pros:
Drag and drop giveaway builder
Use pre-built giveaway templates
Fraud protection
Seamless integration with Mailchimp
Cons:
The free version doesn’t include Mailchimp integration
Limited customization options in the free version
Why Use This Plugin: The plugin is perfect for anyone who wants to run a viral giveaway and collect email addresses in Mailchimp. Both plugins smoothly integrate with each other.
Pricing: You’ll need at least the RafflePress Pro plan to unlock email integrations. This will cost you $99.50 per year.
Formidable Forms is another popular contact form plugin for WordPress, and it also offers a Mailchimp addon. Formidable Forms lets you create complex and advanced forms without editing code.
For instance, you can create advanced calculators like mortgage calculators, time sheet forms, amortization calculators, registration forms, content download forms, web applications, and more.
With the Mailchimp addon, you can automatically send contacts gathered from the form over to Mailchimp. You also get options to sort leads with tags and groups in Mailchimp.
Other options include selecting a single or double opt-in, asking users to update their information when filling out the form, and more.
Pros:
Create complex forms and web applications
Drag and drop form builder
Multiple customization options
Seamless integration with Mailchimp
Create all types of WordPress forms
Cons:
High learning curve for creating complex forms
No Mailchimp integration in the free version
Why Use This Plugin: Do you want to create advanced and complex WordPress forms and manage leads in Mailchimp? If yes, then Formidable Forms is perfect for you. It offers pre-built form templates, a drag-and-drop form builder, lots of customization options, and more.
Pricing: Formidable Forms is a premium WordPress plugin. You’ll need at least the Plus plan to unlock Mailchimp integration, which is priced at $99.50 per year.
MailChimp Forms by MailMunch is one of the best free WordPress Mailchimp plugins on our list. The plugin deeply integrates with Mailchimp and lets you create beautiful opt-in forms for your website, eCommerce site, or blog.
With different opt-in forms, you can grab user’s attention and grow your email list. MailChimp Forms by MailMunch lets you create opt-in forms like popups with exit, sidebar widgets, top bars, scroll boxes, landing pages, and embedded forms.
Besides that, you can add additional information about your subscribers in Mailchimp. For instance, it lets you collect first and last names, email addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, and more.
The plugin offers other features as well. For instance, you can A/B test Mailchimp opt-in forms, enable welcome emails, and more. However, MailChimp Forms by MailMunch doesn’t offer many display rules or templates compared to OptinMonster.
Pros:
A free plugin that’s easy to use
Easily connects with Mailchimp
A/B test opt-in forms
Enable Google reCAPTCHA protection
GDPR compliant
Cons:
Limited opt-in forms options
Display rules are not that powerful
Not many customization options
Why Use This Plugin: If you’re looking for a free Mailchimp WordPress plugin to create opt-in forms for your site and grow your email list, then MailChimp Forms by MailMunch is among the best free solutions in the market.
Pricing: MailChimp Forms by MailMunch is a free WordPress plugin.
Easy Digital Downloads (EDD) is among the best eCommerce plugins for WordPress, and you can use it to sell digital products on WordPress. The plugin comes with powerful features and lets you create beautiful digital stores.
We use Easy Digital Downloads to sell our software, like WPForms and MonsterInsights. With that, we can easily say that it’s the best eCommerce platform for your site.
Easy Digital Downloads offers different extensions, including a Mailchimp extension. This helps you connect your email lists in Mailchimp to Easy Digital Downloads. When a customer purchases a product and enters an email address, it’s automatically saved in Mailchimp.
You can also show different email lists at checkout and let customers choose which list they’d like to subscribe to. EDD also supports Mailchimp’s eCommerce tracking, which shows the products that are driving the most subscribers.
If you’re using the Free Downloads extension in Easy Digital Downloads, then you can integrate it with Mailchimp. This way, you can grow your email list faster by offering free downloads.
Other than that, you can also use email templates offered by Mailchimp to run email campaigns, A/B test different email versions and improve email deliverability.
Pros:
Beginner-friendly to use
Works smoothly with any WordPress theme
Set up software licensing and sell all kinds of digital goods
Easily integrates with Mailchimp
Cons:
Selling non-digital products can be complicated
You’ll need third-party to sell external or affiliate products
Why Use This Plugin: Easy Digital Downloads makes it very easy to sell digital products. It is the best Mailchimp WordPress plugin, as you get to do so much more with your eCommerce website. For instance, automatically add customers to email groups, send targeted messages, create segments, and more.
Pricing: Easy Digital Downloads pricing plans start from $99.50 per year.
MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar is a WordPress Mailchimp plugin that lets you add a customization sign-up bar at the top of your WordPress website.
You can show a beautiful sign-up bar at the top of the page to attract user attention. The best part, it automatically connects with your Mailchimp account and adds new subscribers to your preferred list or group.
The plugin offers decent customization options. You get to change the bar color, and text color, edit the text for the message and button, and more.
Pros:
Create stunning sign-up bars
Easily integrates with Mailchimp
Choose your Mailchimp lists and groups
Basic customization options
The plugin is 100% free
Cons:
Only limited to creating sign-up bars
There are no additional display rules
Why Use This Plugin: If you’re looking for a plugin to add a sign-up bar only, then this is the right plugin for you. It’s free to use and allows users to quickly enter their email address and subscribe to your emails.
Pricing: You can use the MC4WP: Mailchimp Top Bar plugin for free.
The plugin is super easy to use and offers different image size options, image alignment settings, image-to-text padding, and more. You can also use it with your WooCommerce store to show product photos in Mailchimp RSS campaigns.
Pros:
Simple and easy to use
Show featured images in the Mailchimp RSS feed
Free to use plugin
Cons:
Limited customization options in the free version
You cannot set custom image size in the free version
Why Use This Plugin: If you want to ensure that your blog post featured images appear in the RSS feed, then this is the plugin to use. You can set a particular image size and customize the image’s appearance in the feed.
Pricing: Featured Images in RSS for Mailchimp & More is a free WordPress plugin.
MonsterInsights is the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress that lets you enable Mailchimp form tracking in WordPress. It helps you set up Google Analytics in WordPress without editing code or hiring a developer.
For instance, you can use its Forms addon to track Mailchimp signup forms on your site. The plugin also shows reports inside your WordPress dashboard, so you can easily view data without having to leave your website.
You can see which Mailchimp form is performing the best. This way, you get to optimize low-converting forms while promoting high-performing forms even more.
Forms addon is not available in the MonsterInsights Lite version
Why Use This Plugin: Do you want to track Mailchimp forms on your website and see which campaign is performing the best? Then MonsterInsights is the perfect solution for you. It is beginner-friendly and helps set up tracking without touching a single line of code.
Pricing: The MonsterInsights Forms addon is available in the Pro plan, which costs $199.50 per year. There is also a MonsterInsights Lite version that you can use for free, but it doesn’t include the Forms addon.
The plugin is flexible and easy to set up. You can choose a predefined list to add new contacts to in Mailchimp. The plugin also lets you choose between single or double opt-in, as well as show an opt-in checkbox.
Pros:
Simple and easy interface
Easily connect mailing lists from Mailchimp
Add mailing list tags to subscribers
Show a single or double opt-in
Cons:
The plugin works only if you’re already using Contact Form 7
Not many customization options
Why Use This Plugin: If you are already using Contact Form 7 on your WordPress site, then this plugin is for you. It lets you pair Contact Form 7 with Mailchimp.
Pricing: Contact Form 7 Extension For Mailchimp is 100% free to use.
Which WordPress Mailchimp Plugin Should You Use?
After going through multiple plugins, choosing the best Mailchimp WordPress plugin depends on your needs. You can use multiple plugins in combination and integrate Mailchimp with your site.
For instance, if you’re looking to add different forms on your site and collect emails, then WPForms is the best plugin. You get multiple form templates, a drag-and-drop form builder, lots of customization options, and easy Mailchimp integration.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to get more email subscribers in Mailchimp, then we recommend OptinMonster. It offers pre-built templates, lots of campaign options, and powerful display rules.
Similarly, you can use Uncanny Automator and connect Mailchimp with other plugins and tools on your website. This way, you get to automate different tasks and let the plugin handle everything for you.
Our all-new Instant Business Name Generator will help give a concrete and creative name to your bold idea.
A great business name is essential for building a strong brand. It needs to immediately catch the attention of potential customers and become something that stays top-of-mind for the long term.
You could wait until you have a flash of inspiration and stumble upon an excellent brand name. But what if you want something to spark your inspiration right now? Perhaps a tool that could get your creative juices flowing and start you on the path toward success?
That’s where our Instant Business Name Generator comes in. We’ve recently revamped this free tool with the power of AI so you can uncover dozens of great ideas in seconds.
Next, you’ll be presented with several options to choose from:
Want to see more options? Try the same keyword or phrase again or enter a different term to get a new set of ideas.
If you see a name that you like, click “Next” to purchase the domain name. You can choose from over 350 extensions to find the one that’s best for your new business.
The Business Name Generator will only suggest business name ideas that match an available domain name.
Once you have a domain name, there’s no better place to host and build your website than WordPress.com. Choose any paid annual plan and you’ll get your domain name free for the first year. If you need help building your website, Built By WordPress.com, our own website design service, has you covered—and you’ll still get your domain name free.
3 tips for choosing your business name
While the Business Name Generator is helpful for effortlessly spinning up tons of ideas, you’ll still need to choose just one that’s going to represent your business. Here are a few tips to choose a name that sticks:
Simplicity is key
If your name has too many words, or is hard to understand, people might not remember what your business is called. Or they might be reluctant to recommend your business to others. Choose a name that isn’t likely to require repeating several times in conversation.
Make it memorable
Once you have a handful of ideas that you like, try sharing them with a trusted friend or two. Then, see if they can remember your ideas a day or two later.
It’s not a perfect system, but as long as your friend is willing to help with your market research, it might help you determine which of your ideas has staying power.
Own it everywhere
Once you have settled on your business name, buying the domain name is a clear next step. In addition, you should also make sure matching social media usernames are available across networks that your business might use.
Be quick to create accounts and claim those handles, even if it might be a while before you’re ready to promote your business. It could save you some disappointment later on.
Try the Business Name Generator
If you’re planning on starting a business soon, then take the Business Name Generator for a spin. And if your big idea becomes a world-famous brand and people ask where you found the name? Well, we won’t even ask for any credit. We’ll just be glad we could help.