Author: Editorial Staff

Are you having trouble receiving or sending emails from your WordPress site?

Email deliverability is one of the most important parts of running a website. From password reset emails to order confirmations, having a reliable email service is a must.

In this article, we will show you how to use an SMTP server to send WordPress emails.

The Problem With WordPress Emails

WordPress uses PHP for most of its functions, including sending emails.

Many shared hosting providers do not have the email function configured properly, or they have disabled it entirely to avoid abuse. In either case, this causes your WordPress emails to not be delivered.

The alternative solution is to use a third-party email service to send out your emails. You can use services like Mailgun, Google Workspace, or SendGrid.

You will have to pay for your account, and the cost will vary depending on how many users/accounts you add or the number of emails you send. See our tutorial on how to fix the WordPress not sending email issue.

Additionally, some web hosts limit the number of emails users can send from their servers. For more information about why WordPress emails won’t send, check out our blog post on why you should never use WordPress to send newsletter emails.

There is another option, however. You can use SMTP to send emails using the WordPress hosting that you already have.

SMTP, which stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, allows you to use an external mail server to handle email delivery. This ensures higher email deliverability rates and can prevent your emails from landing in the spam folder.

Video Tutorial

For written instructions, just continue reading.

Using Email Accounts by Your Host

Most WordPress hosting providers offer email services for each domain you host with them. This means you can create email accounts with your own domain name, like yourname@yoursite.com.

Using your website’s domain will help you engage your subscribers from your email list and help you stay on-brand by sending messages with your domain name rather than a personal inbox.

First, you will need to create an email account. For the sake of this example, we will show you how to create an email account in cPanel using Hostinger. Your hosting service provider may use some other account management system, but the basic process is the same on most hosting services.

Log into your hosting account and click on ‘Emails’ so that you can create a new email under your domain. Then go ahead and click ‘Manage’ next to your domain.

Then, you’ll need to click on ‘Create email account.’

That way, you can set up a business email under your domain name rather than the default version that WordPress gives you.

This will show you a simple form, where you need to fill out the information required to create your email account.

Since we will be using this account to send WordPress emails, we recommend that you create an email account like wordpress@example.com. Make sure to replace example.com with your own domain name.

Go ahead and enter your email name and password. Then click ‘Create.’

From here, you’ll be asked to configure third-party email services to connect to.

That said, you can choose ‘Other’ if you don’t want to use any of the given services.

Make sure to copy the SMTP Host and Port since you’ll need to add that information to the settings of your WordPress SMTP plugin to start sending emails reliably.

The SMTP Host will allow you to send emails from the email address you’ve just created, and the SMTP Port is for secure login.

Finally, go ahead and click on ‘Complete, I’ve set up my client.’

If you’re using another hosting provider, like Bluehost or SiteGround, you can check the support section on your host’s website for this information. Most likely, there will be an article providing this information. If you don’t find it, then you should contact the hosting support to request this information.

Unfortunately, WordPress doesn’t offer built-in native SMTP settings by default. If you want to configure SMTP in WordPress for emails, you must install a SMTP plugin.

Using a WordPress SMTP plugin allows all of your emails to reach the desired destination by connecting to a server made to handle all types of emails. It will replace the default method of sending emails through WordPress, which uses the unreliable PHP mail system.

Using Your Branded Email Address in WordPress

You will now need to install and activate the WP Mail SMTP plugin.

Used by over 3 million websites, the WP Mail SMTP plugin is the best SMTP plugin for WordPress. It allows you to fix your emails easily by sending them through an email provider, which is a much more reliable way of sending emails than from your web server. 

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

Upon activation, you must visit Settings » Email to configure the plugin settings.

First, you need to enter the email address you just created in the From Email field. After that, you can add a From Name that will be used as the sender name.

Next, you need to choose the mailer. Go ahead and check the box next to Return Path that says, ‘Set the return-path to match the From Email’. After that, you need to check the box next to ‘Return Path’ option.

This option sets the return path to match the sender’s email address. If you leave it unchecked, bounced messages and non-delivery receipts will be lost.

Then, click on the ‘Other SMTP’ option to select it. If you have another mailer service, you can select that instead.

Next, you need to set up SMTP options.

First, you need to enter your SMTP host and port that you copied earlier.

You can obtain this information from your hosting provider. Typically, the SMTP host is mail.yourdomain.com (replace yourdomain.com with your own domain name). For SMTP, Port 465 is commonly used.

Depending on your hosting provider, they’ll provide an encryption method when signing up for an email account.

In this case, we are given an SSL encryption method in Hostinger, so we will select that option. However, some hosting services may provide TLS options as well.

Choosing the encryption method is important because it ensures your emails are secure and private. Without it, the content inside the emails could be intercepted and read by unauthorized parties.

After that, turn on the authentication toggle and provide your SMTP username and password. Normally, your email address is also your SMTP username.

Then go ahead and give your SMTP account a password.

You can always use a password manager, like 1Password, to securely manage your passwords.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Settings’ button to store your changes.

Keep in mind that if you do have another mailer service, you can add that service as a backup connection. That means if an email fails to send using your primary connection, then WP Mail SMTP will automatically try to send the email again using your backup connection.

If you’d like to add another mailer service, just hit the ‘additional connection’ link shown in the screenshot above, and WP Mail SMTP will guide you on how to do it.

If you don’t have Hostinger, these steps will look a little different. In that case, you may want to check out our ultimate guide on how to set up WP Mail SMTP with any host.

Testing Your SMTP Settings

Now that you have set up WP Mail SMTP to send emails, let’s test if everything is working fine. Head over to WP Mail SMTP » Tools in the WordPress admin panel.

Under the ‘Email Test’ tab, you need to provide an email address where you would like to receive a test email. This could be any valid email address that you can access.

Go ahead and toggle the HTML button to ‘ON.’ After that, click on the Send Email button to continue.

WP Mail SMTP will now send an email message using the SMTP settings you entered earlier.

Check your inbox, and you should see a success message appear informing you that the email was sent successfully.

Troubleshooting WordPress Email Issues

The most common reason for errors in sending emails using SMTP is an incorrect SMTP host or port.

Make sure that you are entering the correct host and port settings provided by your hosting provider.

Make sure that you select the correct encryption method.

Usually, SSL works on most environments, but we recommend that you check with your web host if your emails are not getting delivered.

Resending Emails Manually

Even if there aren’t any SMTP configuration errors, you may still experience temporary issues.

For example, the recipient’s email server might be causing emails to bounce or the mailer service may place a cap on how many emails you can send per day. If you exceed the allowed number of sent emails in a given time frame, the emails may be rejected.

In that case, you can simply resend it to those specific recipients. All you have to do is head over to WP Mail SMTP » Email Log.

Simply check all of the boxes next to the emails that failed to resend, and under the Bulk Actions dropdown menu, select the ‘Resend’ option and click ‘Apply.’

Then, a pop-up message will appear, asking you to confirm if you want to resend the selected emails.

Go ahead and hit the ‘Yes’ button.

Finally, you’ll receive a confirmation message on the screen that the emails are in the queue and will be resent shortly. Then, click ‘OK.’

There you have it! Now you know how to successfully use an SMTP server to send WordPress emails.

Pros and Cons of Using Your Web Host’s Mail Servers for WordPress Emails

First and foremost, the most obvious advantage of using your web host’s servers for sending emails in WordPress is that you can use your own branded email address.

Another pro is that you have already paid for this service when signing up for your hosting account. You will not need to pay any extra money to send and receive emails.

However, some WordPress hosting providers enforce limitations on outgoing emails. This is why we don’t recommend using WordPress to send newsletter emails and suggest using SMTP for transaction emails alone.

Another common problem with shared hosting providers is that their mail servers can be quite unreliable at times. If you notice delays in email delivery, then you should consider using third-party email services like Google Workspace, Mailgun, or SendGrid.

We hope this article helped you learn how to use an SMTP server to send WordPress emails. You may also want to see our list of the must have WordPress plugins for businesses or our guide on how to create a free business email address.

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

The post How to Use SMTP Server to Send WordPress Emails first appeared on WPBeginner.

Do you want to sell your personal training services online?

Luckily, WordPress lets you create a simple payment form or even an entire membership site to sell your personal training services. This will allow clients to ask about your services and schedule training sessions directly through your website, helping you grow your business.

In this article, we will show you how to easily sell personal training services with WordPress, step by step.

Why Sell Personal Training Services Online?

Building a website to sell your personal training services online can act as a base to showcase your experience and promote your training sessions. This expands your reach, helping you attract more clients who may not have heard of your business offline.

If you have a gym website, then adding a training services sign-up form is a good idea. This will make it easier for potential clients to join your gym after viewing your experience and training philosophy on your website.

It will also give your customers a central place for communication and booking, making the process smooth and convenient.

Plus, you can collect important customer information like fitness goals, any injuries or limitations, and preferred training methods. This will let you create personalized training programs for individual clients.

Why Use WordPress to Sell Personal Training Services?

Before you can add a training services form and start making money online, you must first create a website where you can promote your services. We recommend choosing WordPress because it is the best website builder on the market and is used by over 43% of sites on the internet.

However, you must know 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 details, see our comparison between WordPress.com and WordPress.org.

To sell personal training services, we recommend WordPress.org because it is completely free, flexible, and can integrate with plugins to help you sell your services.

For more information, see our complete WordPress.org review.

Once you have chosen a website builder, you must purchase a hosting plan and domain name to sell your training services. This is where your costs will start adding up.

That is why we recommend opting for Bluehost, which is a WordPress-recommended hosting company.

They offer a generous discount to WPBeginner readers along with a free SSL certificate and domain name. To get up to a 77% discount, just click on the button below.

Upon purchasing hosting, you can see our beginner’s guide on how to make a WordPress website for more instructions.

Now, let’s see how to sell your personal training services with WordPress easily. You can use the links below to jump to the method of your choice:

Method 1: Sell Training Services With WPForms (Easy)

You can easily sell training services in WordPress with WPForms. It is the best contact form plugin on the market that comes with a drag-and-drop builder, 1700+ premade templates, and a premade personal training signup form.

First, you need to install and activate WPForms. For details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

You will also need to install a payment addon to accept payments through PayPal, Stripe, Square, or Authorize.net on your online form.

You can do this by going to the WPForms » Addons page from the WordPress dashboard and clicking the ‘Install Addon’ button under the payment processor you want to use. In our example, we are installing the PayPal standard addon.

You will then need to go to WPForms » Settings and click on ‘Payments’ to set up the payment processor of your choice.

For more details, you can see our tutorial on how to create a WordPress form with payment options.

Then, you can visit the WPForms » Add New page from the WordPress dashboard and add a name for your form.

After that, find the ‘Personal Trainer Sign-Up Form’ template and click the ‘Use Template’ button under it.

This will open the WPForms drag-and-drop builder, where you will see a form preview on the right with form fields on the left side of the screen.

From here, you can add, rearrange, and delete fields according to your liking.

Next, you can scroll down and click on the ‘Trainer Preference’ field to open its settings in the left column. You can then change the preference options.

For instance, if you want clients to select trainers based on their experience rather than gender, then you can add those options in the ‘Choices’ field.

Similarly, you can change the days and times you are available for personal training.

Once you do that, you can configure the Desired Packages field to add your personal training session packages in the form.

For example, you might offer a fitness assessment, a single training session, 4 training sessions, and 12 training session packages to your customers.

Next, you have to add a payment field to your form so that users can pay for your training sessions directly.

Scroll down to the ‘Payment Fields’ section in the left column. Next, add the ‘Multiple Choice’ field to the form.

After that, click on the field again to open its settings in the sidebar.

From here, you can add the names and prices for your personal training sessions.

Then, switch to the Settings » Notifications tab from the left column and toggle the ‘Enable Notifications’ switch to on. Now, users will receive an email notification upon submitting the form on your site.

Once you do that, scroll down to the ‘Email Message’ section, where you can type the message that will be sent to potential clients.

If you haven’t added a payment field to your form, then you can tell customers how long it will take to reach out to them for payment details using this message.

You can also edit the subject line and email address from here.

Once you are satisfied, simply click the ‘Save’ button at the top to store your settings.

Now, open the page or post where you want to add the training services form. Here, click the add block (+) button in the top left corner and add the WPForms block.

Then, go ahead and select the form you just created from the dropdown menu within the block itself.

Finally, click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to store your settings.

You can now visit your WordPress site to view the personal training services form in action.

With WPForms, you can then view all your form entries right from your dashboard.

To do this, you must visit the WPForms » All Forms page and click the ‘Entries’ link under the training services form you created.

This will take you to a new screen, where you can view the data of all the users who have submitted the form by clicking the ‘View’ link on the right.

You can also delete and edit the entries according to your liking.

Method 2: Sell Training Services With WP Simple Pay (Free)

If you are looking for a free way to add a personal training services form to your website, then this method is for you.

WP Simple Pay is the best WordPress Stripe plugin that allows you to accept online payments without setting up a shopping cart. It comes with a payment form builder, easy setup, secure payment processing, recurring payments, and premade templates.

Overall, it makes it super easy to build a personal training services form with the plugin.

First, you need to install and activate WP Simple Pay. For detailed instructions, you can see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, a setup wizard will be launched on the screen, where you must click the ‘Let’s Get Started’ button.

You will then be taken to a new page, where you must enter your license key. This option will only apply to users with a pro plan. You can find this information in your account on the WP Simple Pay website.

Once you have done that, simply click the ‘Activate and Continue’ button.

Next, you will be asked to connect your plugin with Stripe, which is a popular payment gateway that easily accepts online payments.

To do this, click the ‘Connect with Stripe’ button.

This will direct you to another screen, where you must log in to your Stripe account to connect it with WP Simple Pay. If you don’t have an account yet, then you can create one by visiting the Stripe website.

For more information, see our tutorial on how to accept Stripe payments in WordPress.

Upon successful integration, the setup wizard will ask you to configure email settings.

Now, simply enable options to receive email notifications for payment receipts, upcoming invoices, and payment notifications and enter the email address to send them to.

Once that is done, click the ‘Save and Continue’ button.

Next, you must visit the WP Simple Pay » Add New page from the WordPress dashboard to start building a personal training services form.

This will open the ‘Select a Template’ screen, where you will see a list of premade templates.

Since WP Simple Pay does not offer a specific template for training services, you can click the ‘Use Template’ button under the ‘Payment Form’ option.

This will take you to the ‘Add New Payment Form’ page, where you can start by adding a name and description for your personal training services form.

After that, select ‘On-site payment form’ as your form type.

Next, switch to the ‘Payments’ tab and add a label and pricing for the training session that you offer.

If you offer more than one training service package, then you can click the ‘Add Price’ button to add multiple pricing options for different deals.

Once you do that, scroll down to the ‘Payment Methods’ section and check the box next to the payment gateways that you want to add to your form.

With WP Simple Pay, you can add SEPA, Affirm, Klarna, and AfterPay as payment methods as well. However, you will need the pro plan for these options.

If you have the free plan, then you will only be able to add AliPay and debit/credit card as payment methods.

After that, switch to the ‘Form Fields’ page from the left column. Here, the payment form has the email address, price selector, and payment methods as the default fields.

However, if you also want users to submit their name, phone number, and address, then you can select those options from the dropdown menu.

Similarly, if you want to add a custom age or weight field to your form, then you must select the ‘Text’ form field from the dropdown menu.

Once you do that, expand the field settings and add ‘Age’ as a label and placeholder text.

Additionally, you can select the ‘Dropdown’ form field to add custom trainer, day, or timing preference fields.

Here, simply expand the field tab and add a label. Then, you can type all the options that you want to offer your clients into the ‘Options’ field.

For instance, if you want users to be able to select specific days for their personal training, then you can type the available days into the field.

Keep in mind to separate each option with a comma.

Once that is done, switch to the ‘Payment Page’ tab and check the ‘Enable a dedicated payment page’ box.

WP Simple Pay will now create a custom personal training service payment page for you.

You can simply add a URL for the form page in the ‘Permalink’ field and then choose a color scheme, image, and footer text.

Finally, click the ‘Publish’ button on the right to store your settings.

You can then visit your WordPress site to view the personal training services form.

Alternatively, if just want to add the form to an existing page, then you must click the ‘Publish’ button after adding form fields.

After that, visit the page or post where you want to add the form and click the add block (+) button.

Once the block menu opens up, just add the WP Simple Pay block and choose the form from the dropdown menu.

Then, click the ‘Update’ or ‘Publish’ button to store your settings.

Now, you can visit the existing page on your WordPress site to view the personal training services form in action.

Bonus: How to Sell Training Courses and Videos as Downloads

Apart from services, you can also sell training courses and videos on your WordPress site. It is a cost-effective way to earn money online and can motivate users who buy your courses to also sign up for personal training sessions.

You can easily sell training courses with Easy Digital Downloads, which is the best WordPress plugin for selling digital products like PDFs, videos, music, courses, eBooks, and more.

You can easily connect the plugin with multiple payment gateways and create your first digital product by visiting the Downloads » Add New page.

This will open the block editor, where you can add a name and description for the training video or course. Once you do that, scroll down to the ‘Download Files’ option and upload the training video from your computer. Then, add its pricing in the ‘Pricing Options’ field.

You can also set categories, tags, and featured images for your product. Finally, click the ‘Publish’ button at the top to store your settings.

You have now successfully added a training video for sale on your gym website. For more information, you can see our tutorial on how to sell digital downloads on WordPress.

Bonus: How to Start a Coaching Business in WordPress

Other than selling personal training sessions, which are limited by location, you can also start online coaching through your website. This will allow you to work with clients globally and generate more conversions.

With online coaching, you can run sessions at any time of day through pre-recordings, live chat, or video conferencing. You can also organize workshops and group coaching to build a sense of community among different clients.

Plus, online coaching is much more cost-effective than running a physical gym, making it a great option.

You can easily start a coaching business with MemberPress, which is the best membership plugin for WordPress. It allows you to create different subscription levels for your clients and schedule your content release at specific intervals to engage users.

Other than that, you can create an automated onboarding process, add milestone tracking, and use automated reminders to motivate clients to complete their coaching programs.

MemberPress also lets you build premium coaching content that users must purchase for access, making it a great choice. For more details, see our tutorial on how to start an online coaching business.

We hope this article helped you learn how to easily sell personal training services in WordPress. You may also like to see our beginner’s guide on how to start an online store to sell your fitness products or our top picks for the best WordPress theme builders to make your fitness website visually appealing.

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

The post How to Sell Personal Training Services with WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

Are you looking for the best WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins?

Creating your own online store is great, but you could potentially earn more money by letting other sellers rent a small part of the space. With multi-vendor plugins, you can turn your eCommerce site into a professional-looking marketplace, such as eBay, Amazon, or Etsy.

In this article, we will go over the best WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins so that you can allow other sellers to promote their products on your website.

Why Do You Need a WooCommerce Multi Vendor Plugin?

A WooCommerce multi-vendor plugin allows you to turn your store into a marketplace where vendors can easily sell their products. It adds a feature to your WooCommerce site where other users create their own stores and manage products, payments, and orders.

Rather than trying to tinker with code, WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins are the fastest way to get started.

Creating a marketplace might be useful if your website has a large audience who wants to buy certain products. Maybe you can drive traffic to the marketplace but don’t have the products to sell.

In that case, you can just bring sellers onboard to your marketplace and earn a commission for each sale.

Here are just a few advantages of building your own eCommerce multi-vendor website:

• Earn a commission: As mentioned, you can piggyback on the sales generated by vendors on your site. This is similar to dropshipping, where you can make money online without having to deal with the hassle of managing inventory or shipping.
• An expanded audience: The more sellers on your eCommerce platform, the more customers you’ll have. Each seller brings their own word-of-mouth contacts, established customer base, and social media presence, which means more visitors to your platform.
• Sell a wide range of products: Every seller can add their own unique products or services. This can be either physical or digital products. It’s a win-win for everyone because customers have more products to choose from.
• Save on costs: Creating a marketplace usually takes a huge upfront investment, such as hiring developers to code a website that offers multi-vendor functionality.

With all that said, let’s look at the top WordPress multi-vendor plugins available so you can create a beautiful marketplace that attracts both buyers and sellers.

1. WC Vendors

WC Vendors is the best WooCommerce multi-vendor plugin out there, and it has all the features you need to convert your online store into a marketplace and begin selling third-party products online.

You can easily accept registrations from potential vendors. That way, they can hop on board and start selling on your platform. You can require admin approval, or vendor submissions can be approved automatically.

That said, if you require a more comprehensive application process, it’s best to use a dedicated form builder.

For example, WPForms would allow you to create a multi-page user registration form to collect all the information you need. You may want to ask sellers about the types of products they sell, their current revenue, and whether they already have a retail store.

In addition, the plugin offers plenty of customization options. Individual vendors can create their own storefronts, and they have the ability to easily upload products, manage inventory, and fulfill orders.

Best of all, you can set the commission rate to a fixed or percentage rate. You can even set up a tiered system where you reduce commission rates for top sellers to incentivize them to keep selling on your website.

If you are not ready to commit to a paid plan, then WC Vendors offers a free version to help you get started. You can easily allow vendors to register, and you can set up a commission rate for sales. Beyond that, all vendors have the ability to publish products.

That said, if you want more advanced features, such as creating service or digital product marketplaces, offering more SEO compatibility, adding auction capabilities, and creating membership plans, then you need to install the Pro version.

Pros:

• With its launch wizard, WC Vendors is easy to set up.
• WC Vendors make it easy to accept vendor registrations.
• You can accept customer reviews and ratings on each product page.

Cons:

• While there is a free version, the best features are paid.

Pricing: Starts at $99.50 per year.

Why We Recommend Using WCVendors: We recommend WC Vendors as the best choice for turning your online store into a highly profitable marketplace. It has all the features needed to sell physical products, handcrafted and second-hand goods, digital products, services, and more. Plus, since the plugin supports many WordPress themes and plugins, you can easily integrate all sorts of marketing apps to boost sales and conversations.

To learn more about its features, check out our complete WC Vendors review.

2. Dokan

Trusted by over 60,000+ marketplaces, Dokan is one of the most popular WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins on the market. Like WC Vendors, it lets you create your own online marketplace, similar to Amazon, eBay, or Magneto, in under 30 minutes.

What’s great about Dokan is that each vendor gets their own customizable dashboard on the storefront. They can easily control and navigate each aspect of their store, like creating product listings, managing orders, creating coupons, and viewing sales reports. However, the backend access is restricted to those with admin access only.

Dokan has arguably the most available payment gateways, with over 100+ integrations, including Apple Pay, Stripe Express, Google Pay, Razor Pay, and more. Vendors can enjoy automatic payment distribution, meaning that the plugin automatically calculates and distributes payouts with the commissions already included.

Also, vendors can easily manage shipments as well by selecting their own shipping zones or setting flat-rate shipping. It’s a good idea to have a built-in shipping calculator at the checkout page so customers can view the final price to avoid unexpected surprises.

Pricing: Free to get started with limited features. But if you want a full-featured marketplace with product bulk edits, multiple commission types, and reporting, the plans start at a one-time fee of $559.

Pros:

• Dokan has 20+ extensions, allowing you to add a lot of different functionalities to your marketplace.
• The plugin has a built-in order tracking system so vendors and customers can see the status of their shipments.
• It is an easy-to-use plugin with an intuitive interface.

Cons:

• Dokan’s paid plan is more expensive than WC Vendors.
• It doesn’t have advanced commission settings like WC Vendors.

Why We Recommend Using Dokan: It’s hard to argue against Dokan, especially with all of its add-ons and integration capabilities. Dokan also provides all the essential features you need, like commission settings, vendor customization, and more.

3. MultiVendorX

MultiVendorX is one of the best plugins for creating a niche marketplace. What’s cool about MultiVendorX is that you are not limited to making just an eCommerce marketplace.

You can also add subscriptions, auction features, or even a rental marketplace. Let’s say you wanted only to sell handmade goods, similar to how you would use Etsy. With MultiVendorX, you are in total control.

MultiVendorX gives you a wider range of monetization strategies than other platforms. While you can charge a commission fee, you can also charge subscription fees, listing fees, pay-per-contact, pay-per-action, or a mixed model. Pay-per-contact and pay-per-action would be best suited to a service marketplace.

For example, when a user books a table at a restaurant through your marketplace, you would get paid for that.

MultiVendorX also offers an easy-to-read analytics dashboard so that you can view sales performance. You can filter by vendors, products, product categories, and more.

There’s even a Google Analytics integration that allows you to track your traffic sources. That being said, we recommend using MonsterInsights to get insights from Google Analytics directly in your WordPress dashboard.

Pricing: Free to get started, but if you want advanced features, plans start at $399 per year.

Pros:

• Lots of available monetization strategies.
• Vendors can create a product catalog.
• You can create many types of niche marketplaces.

Cons:

• Paid plans are more expensive due to their diverse feature set.

Why We Recommend Using MultiVendorX: If selling products isn’t your main focus, then MultiVendorX might be the perfect solution. It allows you to create niche, subscription-based, and auction marketplaces. So whether you want to be the next eBay or Craigslist, there’s something for everyone. The plugin offers many monetization options, so you are not just limited by charging commissions, either.

4. WooCommerce Product Vendors

WooCommerce Product Vendors is an official plugin from WooCommerce that allows you to turn your store into a powerful marketplace. At its core, the plugin lets you:

• Build a diverse community of sellers.
• Set a commission rate for each vendor.
• Receive detailed earnings and sales.

While vendors don’t have the same level of customization over their storefronts as plugins like WC Vendors or Dokan, they do still have some control. For example, they can manage their shipping rules, view sales performance, control their public profiles, and send customers tracking numbers.

The biggest advantage to using this plugin is that it’s a part of the vast WooCommerce ecosystem. It allows you to sell anything from digital downloads and handmade products to music, themes, photographs, and more. You could even sell services and have customers book appointments using WooCommerce Bookings.

Pricing: It costs $119 per year.

Pros:

• You can tailor the appearance of vendor pages to align with your brand.
• Woo Product Vendors allows you to onboard new sellers easily with a customizable registration form.
• Vendors can manage their product listings, orders, and inventories.

Cons:

• Vendors must have PayPal accounts to use the plugin’s automatic payout feature, which can be very limiting for sellers in certain regions.
• It doesn’t allow vendors to customize the front end of their store.

Why We Recommend Using Product Vendors: WooCommerce Product Vendors is a simple solution that lets you easily turn your store into a multi-vendor site. You can enable commissions based on a set amount, percentage, store, product, vendor, or individual. Beyond that, you can set payouts to send on a schedule like weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

5. YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor / Marketplace

YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor is a beginner-friendly WooCommerce multi-vendor plugin that allows you to create and manage an eCommerce marketplace similar to AliExpress, SHEIN, or Amazon. It comes with both free and paid versions, so you can test the tool before making a commitment.

What’s unique about the YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor plugin is that you can customize what appears on the vendor side. For example, you can perform actions like setting the seller’s header size and color, customizing the related products section, and more.

You also get instant compatibility with all of the YITH plugins. For instance, if you wanted to add reviews of all products to each listing, then you could connect your site to the YITH WooCommerce Advanced Reviews plugin.

Pricing: It costs $149.99 per year.

Pros:

• You can easily set up your marketplace.
• The plugin allows you to customize the registration form and approve or reject vendor applications.
• As the marketplace owner, you can set vendor permissions.

Cons:

• Vendors don’t have a lot of customization options to personalize their own store.

Why We Recommend Using YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor: We like the YITH WooCommerce Multi Vendor plugin because it gives the owner a lot of control over what vendors can and can’t do. You can set the commissions and permissions. for instance, you can decide whether you want to allow them to generate coupons, manage reviews, or limit the number of products they can publish.

6. WCFM Marketplace

WCFM Marketplace is a free marketplace plugin from the WordPress repository. It has a lot of the essential features you’d expect, like flexible commissions, vendor registration, bulk product uploads, and more.

Vendors have a lot of control over their shipping rates. They can set them by zone, country, distance, weight, country, and even zip code.

The plugin also gives the marketplace owner a lot of control. For instance, you can set the rules for withdrawals and disbursements. It also supports reverse withdrawals in the event that a customer requests a refund.

You can configure the refund settings for vendors. For instance, you may want refunds to be auto-approved or set up to enforce a threshold number of days for permissible refunds.

But if you want additional features, then the WCFM Marketplace has a wide range of paid add-ons. For example, the WooCommerce Frontend Manager addon allows you to set store hours, store vacations, add reviews, and more.

The Analytics addon gives you the ability to analyze visitors and sales by product category, specific products, traffic sources, etc.

Pricing: Free to get started, but they offer a variety of premium extensions available that range between $19 to $249+.

Pros:

• Marketplace owners have a lot of control over setting rules for operating their multi-vendor stores.
• It is a relatively affordable plugin with a free plan.
• Vendors can configure the store’s SEO by placing appropriate keywords.

Cons:

• There are complaints about the quality of customer service.
• You need to pay for add-ons to allow vendors to customize and manage the front end of their stores.

Why We Recommend Using WCFM Marketplace: WCFM Marketplace is a good option with a wide range of feature sets for both the marketplace owner and vendors. Plus, unique customizations such as seller verification and badges are available. The verification ensures a seller verifies they are a real person, and the badge will showcase the best vendors on your site.

7. Easy Digital Downloads

Easy Digital Downloads is a popular plugin for selling digital products like ebooks, courses, audio, pdf, templates, and more.

While it’s not a WooCommerce plugin, it’s the best choice for people looking to turn their website into a digital product marketplace.

With the Frontend Submissions addon, you can configure your own eCommerce store for selling third-party products. Once configured, you can allow anyone to sell digital products through your store, similar to Etsy or Gumroad.

On the front end, vendors can register to become sellers in your marketplace. Upon approval, they’ll be given access to a vendor dashboard, where they can create new products, add product pages, manage orders, access revenue stats, and communicate with customers.

What’s also cool about this addon is that it integrates with the Reviews extension. That way, customers can rate and leave reviews on the products they’ve purchased. Vendors get valuable feedback about their products and can leverage these reviews as social proof for more orders.

Everything is drag-and-drop, so vendors can easily build out their product listings without writing code. All they do is add a product description, upload images, and set their pricing.

For a full tutorial, check out our complete guide on how to create a digital product marketplace in WordPress.

Pricing: Starts at $99.50 per year.

Pros:

• Easy registration process for vendors.
• Vendors can easily create their own storefronts since everything is drag-and-drop.
• Vendors have the power to track their stats and communicate with customers.

Cons:

• Easy Digital Downloads is geared towards selling digital products, not physical products.

Why We Recommend Using Easy Digital Downloads: If you plan on selling digital products, then Easy Digital Downloads is the perfect choice. While it’s not a WooCommerce plugin, it still works for all WordPress websites. Easy Digital Downloads also comes with a wide range of extensions like multi-currency capabilities, email marketing service and payment gateway integrations, add-to-cart pop-ups, and more.

Other Useful Plugins for WooCommerce Websites

Besides having a WooCommerce multi-vendor plugin to simply create the marketplace, you might want to download a few additional tools to help provide sellers and buyers with a better user experience.

Here are a few tools to consider.

8. TeraWallet

TeraWallet is a free WordPress plugin that lets your customers easily store money in a digital wallet on your multi-vendor marketplace website.

Returning buyers can add money to their wallets using a variety of payment methods and later use it to make purchases. With this plugin installed on the website, customers won’t have to fill in their payment details every time or for every vendor they purchase from.

Beyond the core wallet functionality, TeraWallet has a useful cashback and rewards system that allows you to provide discounts to customers based on their purchases.

For instance, you can set cashback rates for specific categories or products and even provide bonus cashback during special events or seasonal promotions. This is a great way to build customer loyalty and drive more buyers to your marketplace.

Pricing: Free to use

Pros:

• The plugin is free to use.
• Customers can deposit funds, transfer money to other users, and make purchases with their wallet balance.
• Customers can even make partial payments with the balance and the remainder with their credit cards.

Cons:

• It’s not a multi-vendor-specific plugin, so it works for regular WooCommerce and online stores, too.

Why We Recommend Using TeraWallet: We like TeraWallet as a plugin to improve the user experience. If you want your customers to keep returning to your website, then it’s a good idea to ensure a seamless checkout experience. With TeraWallet, customers can keep an account balance, and sellers can reward them with cashback.

9. Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce

Product Feed PRO for WooCommerce is a plugin that helps you set up better eCommerce marketing campaigns.

It helps you add product feeds to your marketing channels, such as Facebook, Google Shopping, Bing Ads, and others. Adding these feeds will help you showcase your top sellers, which help you boost their sales. Best of all, this plugin has an unlimited number of products you can put in your product feeds.

In addition, you can set various filters and rules to show only your vendor’s most profitable products. You can exclude products that are low on stock, have low-profit margins, or only include products on sale.

Pricing: Free to use

Pros:

• Free and paid versions are available.
• Filter rules so you can show the best products for your marketing campaigns.
• 100+ templates included for marketplaces and comparison shopping engines.

Cons:

• It is not designed explicitly for multi-vendor sites, so each seller does not get their own control set.

Why We Recommend Using Product Feed Pro for WooCommerce: We like Product Feed Pro for WooCommerce because it’s a good way to help advertise your marketplace. Adding product feeds to your Google Shopping campaigns will allow you to showcase some of the most popular products on your website and, in turn, help out your vendors.

How to Choose the Right WooCommerce Multi-Vendor Plugin

Not all WooCommerce multi-vendor plugins are made equal. That’s because you may have specific needs that are different from those of other eCommerce marketplaces.

But still, here are some key features and factors to consider when making your decision.

Vendor Management Tools

At the heart of a successful eCommerce marketplace is the ability to easily manage multiple vendors. So, you’ll want to look for vendor management features such as:

• Unlimited product uploads and variations
• Inventory management
• Sales data and reporting dashboard
• Shipping management
• Vendor Registration

For instance, WC Vendors provides a full vendor dashboard so you can see all of your orders and shipment status.

The idea is that the plugin should be able to handle all multi-vendor activities, contributing to smoother operation.

Individual Vendor Stores

Your branding plays a vital role in attracting vendors and customers. That means your chosen platform offers a high level of customization.

These customization options may include things like flexible layout designs, adjustable themes, and personalized storefronts for vendors. Each vendor must have its own independent storefront with unique URLs that customers can send.

On top of that, vendors should have the power to add custom dashboard logos, unique headers, and product descriptions.

Commission Structure

Since you are responsible for driving all the traffic to your marketplace, it’s a good idea to have a commission structure in place.

The best multi-vendor plugins offer a flexible commission system. Under this system, you can charge vendors a fixed or percentage fee for every successful sale made through your platform.

For instance, WC Vendors allows you to set multiple commission types. You can even offer tiered commissions based on product price, product sales, or total sales.

Essentially, it allows you to take a small cut to provide the customer base, infrastructure, and platform so that vendors can sell their products or services.

Payment Gateways

Without convenient payment gateway options, there’s a good chance your visitors will abandon their shopping carts.

No matter how many pop-ups, social proof, countdown timers, or other trust badges you add, customers need a reliable payment option they can trust, like Stripe and PayPal.

These are trusted WooCommerce payment gateways available in most countries. They allow you to process credit card payments. Furthermore, customers know they can always contact these payment providers should a problem arise with their order.

Integration and Third-Party Apps

Your multi-vendor plugin is just one part of your entire eCommerce ecosystem. You’ll need other third-party apps such as inventory management systems, email marketing services, accounting software, and help desk plugins.

For example, adding various WooCommerce shipping plugins is probably helpful so that customers can calculate extra fees before checkout and track their orders after making a purchase.

WC Vendors offers integrations with UPS and FedEx shipping plugins, which is helpful for getting accurate shipping costs and handling returns.

Navigation and Search

When customers land on a marketplace site, they expect a smooth shopping experience. Slow website performance or a lack of mobile responsiveness are a few factors that could increase bounce rates.

But beyond that, it’s helpful to have a search bar on your site along with a filter option. For example, WC Vendors provides a sorting feature so users can easily sort through products by rating, price point, and popularity.

They also have an intuitive search functionality so shoppers can find the products they’re looking for without needing to scroll through pages of product listings.

Documentation and Customer Support

When an issue comes up, getting the error fixed should be the top priority. That’s why you want to look for a multi-vendor plugin with a dedicated support team that you can easily reach.

It should also provide a comprehensive knowledge base with documentation showing you how to perform every single function offered by the platform. Ideally, there should also be a way to submit a support ticket or a live chat feature where you can speak with a customer service representative.

Frequently Asked Questions About WooCommerce Multi Vendor Plugins

What is the best multi-vendor plugin for WooCommerce?

Based on our experience and testing, WC Vendors is the best multi-vendor plugin for WooCommerce. Its combination of user-friendliness, customization, and diverse feature sets makes it the most popular choice for building your own online marketplace.

Why create a multi-vendor marketplace?

Creating your own marketplace allows you to stand out from the pack. You can create niche multi-vendor platforms to serve a specific audience, such as a marketplace for hand-crafted goods or an online booking system for online contractors. The possibilities are endless. By creating a multi-vendor site, you can earn an additional income stream with commissions and serve a niche audience.

With all that in mind, WC Vendors is the best overall multi-vendor plugin for WooCommerce since you can sell physical goods, digital products, services, and subscriptions. That said, MultiVendorX offers multiple monetization methods like charging a subscription model, listing fees, or pay-per-action.

We hope this article helped you find the best WooCommerce multi-vendor plugin for WordPress. You may also want to check out our curated list of the best WooCommerce plugins for your store and the best WooCommerce WordPress themes.

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

The post 9 Best WooCommerce Multi-Vendor Plugins (Compared) first appeared on WPBeginner.

Do you want to add Google Authenticator 2-step verification to your WordPress site?

Passwords alone aren’t enough to ward off hackers and unauthorized users. Luckily, using Google Authenticator 2-step verification can add an extra layer of security to your website.

In this article, we will show you how to add 2-step verification on your WordPress site using the Google Authenticator app.

What Is the Google Authenticator App, and Why Do You Need It for Your WordPress Site?

The Google Authenticator app is a mobile application that adds a second layer of authentication every time you log in to a third-party app or website like WordPress.

Unfortunately, passwords can sometimes be cracked. If you are using the same password on numerous websites, then a security leak on one puts your other accounts in danger. Often, people are lazy, and they don’t change their passwords even after they get an email about a security compromise on a major site.

Well, the 2-step verification is the solution just for that. Even if the hacker knows your WordPress username and password, they will not be able to access your WordPress website unless they have a time-restrained random security code (provided by Google Authenticator).

Because your blog is directly connected to your mobile device, you will be the only person with access to retrieve the unique code for each login. The code expires in a short amount of time for security purposes.

The Google Authenticator app is just one example of a mobile application that provides two-factor authentication (2FA) for various online accounts and services.

It generates time-based one-time passwords (TOTPs) that serve as the second factor for authentication when logging into an account.

If you still aren’t convinced about the importance of WordPress security, then you should probably see how one of Wired.com author’s digital life was destroyed.

After reading that story, we jumped on board with the 2-step authentication for our Google accounts and most other services that offer this feature. If you are as security-conscious as we are and you value your blog, then you should follow this tip to improve your WordPress security.

To further improve your security, we recommend looking at other methods as well. For example, software like 1Password can help you manage your passwords in one place and ensure they are strong enough to withstand potential hackers.

With that said, let’s jump into the tutorial on how to add Google Authenticator 2-step verification to your WordPress site.

How to Add Google Authenticator in WordPress

The first thing you need to do is install the Google Authenticator app on your phone. We are going to use the iOS terminology for the sake of this tutorial, but the process is similar for other devices as well.

Step 1: Install Google Authenticator App on Your Mobile Device

Visit the App Store, search for ‘Google Authenticator’, and then click on ‘Install’ for the application.

Now, let’s get back to your WordPress dashboard.

Step 2: Install MiniOrange’s Google Authenticator Plugin

Go ahead and install and activate the MiniOrange’s Google Authenticator plugin. For more details, you can see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

This is a free WordPress plugin that helps protect your site from unauthorized access. Every time you log in to WordPress, you’ll be asked to enter the one-time passcode from the Google Authenticator app to verify your identity.

Upon activating the plugin, you’ll be taken to a setup wizard. Just follow the process to set up your Google Authenticator two-factor authentication in WordPress.

Step 3: Complete the Setup Wizard

Start by clicking on the ‘Let’s get started!’ button.

Next, you will be asked whether you want to set up 2FA after your first login or within the plugin dashboard. Either method is fine.

Click ‘Continue Setup.’

The next step is to choose who you’d like the 2FA to apply to. You can either select all users for maximum security, or you can only have it apply to certain user roles.

Then hit ‘Continue Setup.’

Lastly, you’ll be asked whether or not you’d like to directly enforce 2FA immediately or give users a grace period.

If you choose to give users a grace period, then you can select how long that would be in hours and days. Once that is complete, click on ‘All Done.’

Now that you are done with the setup process, you can decide whether you want to set up 2FA for yourself now or later.

Go ahead and hit the ‘Configure 2FA for yourself’ button.

From here, you’ll be asked to enter the method of 2-factor authentication you’d like to add to your WordPress site.

For this tutorial, we will choose ‘Google/Microsoft/Authy Authenticator.’ Then, just hit the ‘Save & Continue’ button.

Next, you’ll be asked to scan the barcode on the screen. That means you’ll have to pull up the Google Authenticator app on your phone and scan the barcode displayed.

In your Google Authenticator app on your mobile device, hit the ‘+’ icon at the bottom and then select ‘Scan a QR code.’ Then, point your phone camera to your computer screen to scan the barcode.

From here, a one-time passcode (OTP) will appear on your mobile device.

Type that into step 2 on your computer. From there, you can click on ‘Save & Continue.’

Now, you should receive a message that says that you’ve successfully configured two-factor authentication.

Simply select ‘Advance Settings.’

Step 4: Add Security Questions

In addition to adding Google Authenticator 2-factor authentication, you probably want to also add security questions as well.

If you can’t access your Google Authenticator app, then you can still log in to your WordPress website if you answer the security questions that you’ve set up for yourself.

You’ll need to head over to the Mini Orange 2-Factor » Two Factor page in your WordPress admin dashboard. Then, in the Setup 2FA For Me tab, find the Security Questions method and click on ‘Reconfigure.’

Keep in mind that you can also set up other types of two-factor authentication methods, such as email verification, OTP over SMS, OTP over email, OTP over Telegram, and even Duo Authenticator.

Next, you’ll be able to select up to three security questions. You can select two of them from a dropdown menu, and the third will be a custom question that you can come up with on your own.

Then, type in the answer for each of them and hit the ‘Save’ button.

Step 5: Test It for Yourself

Once everything is set up, you can test it out yourself.

Simply log out of your WordPress dashboard and try to log back in.

You will now be taken to a page where you can either answer security questions or use the Google Authenticator to enter your one-time passcode.

Go ahead and select the ‘Google Authenticator’ option.

On this screen, you will be asked to enter your OTP from your Google Authenticator app.

Type in the code and then click ‘Validate.’

Now, you will land back into your WordPress admin dashboard, as usual.

Lastly, we recommend that everyone turn on 2-step verification on their Google accounts. You can also configure that with Google Authenticator, as shown in this tutorial.

We hope this article has helped you add Google Authenticator 2-Step verification to your WordPress website. You may also want to check out our article on the most common WordPress errors and how to fix them or our ultimate guide to boost WordPress speed and performance.

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

The post WordPress Security Tip: Add Google Authenticator 2-Step Verification first appeared on WPBeginner.