How to Increase Ad Impressions in WordPress with Ad Refresh (2 Ways)

Do you want to increase ad impressions in WordPress with ad refresh?

Ad refresh lets you rotate ads in the same location as visitors browse your website. This simple change can increase your total ad impressions and overall ad revenue.

In this article, we’ll show you how to increase your ad impressions in WordPress by using ad refresh in your ad spots.

Why Use Ad Refresh to Increase Ad Impressions in WordPress?

Ad refresh lets you display multiple ads in the same location, which can get your ads more impressions and clicks. This also lets you show new ads to your visitors without reloading the page.

Traditional display advertising will show a single ad in a single location. If you’ve found that one spot has better ad performance, then you can earn more revenue by showing multiple ads in that location.

Ad refresh can be a useful part of your advertising strategy beyond increasing ad impressions.

• You can test different ads in the same location to see which performs better
• You can reduce ad blindness by showing new unique advertisements

However, there are a few important things to mention before adding the ad refresh feature to your WordPress website.

• When you enable ad refresh, the total number of visible ads on your site may be limited by ad networks
• Counting impressions for rotating ads can potentially slow down your website speeds
• This type of ad can go against Google AdSense guidelines, so you need to be careful or use other advertising networks

That being said, we’re going to share two different WordPress ad plugins that can help you add the ad refresh feature to WordPress. Simply use the quick links below to choose the WordPress plugin you want to use.

• Set up Ad Refresh in WordPress with Advanced Ads
• Set up Ad Refresh in WordPress with Ad Refresh Control

Method 1: Increase Ad Impressions with Ad Refresh Using Advanced Ads

We recommend using the Advanced Ads plugin to add ad refresh to WordPress. It’s very easy to use and lets you simply set up ad refresh for specific ad locations.

Note: there is a free version of the plugin available, but we’re going to use the premium version since it has the ad refresh features we need.

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Advanced Ads plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll have a new menu item called ‘Advanced Ads’ in your WordPress admin menu.

You need to enter the license key for the pro version of the plugin. To do this, navigate to Advanced Ads » Settings and then click the ‘Licenses’ menu option.

Once you’ve done that, enter your license key into the ‘Pro’ box and click ‘Update License’.

Next, click the ‘Pro’ menu option. On this screen, you need to enable the ‘Cache Busting’ option. This will turn on the refresh rate for your ad groups.

All you have to do is click the ‘Activate module’ checkbox next to ‘Cache Busting’. You also need to check the ‘Force passive cache-busting’ checkbox as well.

Once you’ve made these changes make sure you save your settings.

Following that, you need to create an ad group that will rotate your ads.

Navigate to Advanced Ads » Groups & Rotation and then click the ‘Add New Ad Group’ button, give your ad group a name, and click save.

Then, you need to add individual ads to your ad group. First, navigate to Advanced Ads » Ads and click ‘New Ad’.

Next, add your title and select ‘Plain Text and Code’, then click ‘Next’.

Once you’ve done that, you can add your ad code. This can be from a third party advertising network like Mediavine or Ezoic, or code from the ads you sell on your WordPress blog.

Then, click ‘Next’.

On the next screen, you can choose to hide the ad from some users and pages. However, we’ll leave the default settings since we want our ads to display to all visitors. After that, click ’Next’.

Now, you have the option to choose where to display your ad. We won’t select a placement option here, because we’re going to use the included ad widget.

You can review your ad parameters and display settings on this page as well.

Next, you need to add this ad to the ad group you created earlier. Locate the ‘Ad Groups & Rotations’ meta box and click the checkbox for the ad category.

Then click ‘Update’ to save your changes.

You need to repeat the process above for every ad you want to add to your ad group. These ads will rotate for your WordPress blog visitors.

Now you’re ready to change the display settings for how your ads will refresh. Navigate back to Advanced Ads » Ad Groups & Rotations and click on the name of the ad group you created earlier.

This will bring up a drop-down menu where you can customize how the ad group will display.

You can display random ads, ordered ads, an ad grid, or an ad slider. We will select the ‘Ad Slider’ option since this will slide through our ads simply.

Next, you need to set the amount of time each ad will pause before sliding to the next ad.

After that, choose the ads that you want to add to your ad group. Once you’re finished, make sure you click ‘Update Groups’ to save your changes.

Add Refresh Ad Groups to WordPress

To add your rotating ads to your sidebar, or other widget area, navigate to Appearance » Widgets.

Then locate the ‘Advanced Ads’ widget.

Choose the widget area where you want the ad group to display and then click ‘Add Widget’.

After that, give your widget a name, select your ad group from the drop-down list, then click ‘Save’.

The rotating ad unit is now live on your website.

Your visitors will see the ad unit refresh based on the time limit you set earlier.

You can also use the following shortcode to add your rotating ad group to WordPress. Simply copy and paste the shortcode into any page or post where you want the ads to appear.

[the_ad_group id="4"]

For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to add a shortcode in WordPress.

You need to change the ‘id’ in the shortcode to your ad group.

You can find your ad group ID by going to Advanced Ads » Ad Groups & Rotations and your ID will be listed under the ‘Details’ column.

Method 2: Increase Ad Impressions with Ad Refresh Using Ad Refresh Control

This method involves using the free Ad Refresh Control plugin. This plugin simply adds the ad refresh feature to your existing ad slots.

Keep in mind, this plugin is not an ad management plugin. You need to use a separate plugin to add your ads to WordPress.

You can use the Advanced Ads plugin highlighted above or another ad management plugin. For help finding the right plugin, see our list of the best ad management plugins and solutions for WordPress.

Once you add your ad units to WordPress, you can add the ad refresh feature to your ad units.

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

Upon activation, navigate to Settings » Ad Refresh Control.

On this screen, you will set your ad refresh settings. These settings are global and will apply to all of the ad units on your website.

The most important plugin settings are ‘Viewability Threshold’, ‘Refresh Interval’, and ‘Maximum Refreshes’.

The ‘Visibility Threshold’ refers to how much of the ad needs to be viewable to be considered an impression.

The ‘Refresh Interval’ is how long an ad will be displayed before refreshing.

The ‘Maximum Refreshes’ will set the number of times an ad slot can be refreshed.

You can change these numbers, however, we will leave the default settings since they comply with most existing ad network guidelines.

The final plugin settings can be left empty. However, if you want to exclude specific ad units or ad sizes, then you can add the add unit sizes or ad unit IDs.

Once you’re finished making changes, click the ‘Save Changes’ button.

Your ad units will now automatically refresh for your visitors based on the settings above.

Bonus: Set Up Tracking to See How Your Refresh Ads Are Performing

After you set up ad refresh in WordPress, you’ll want to monitor how your ads are performing. This will tell you which ad units are converting the best and if your ad refresh units are getting more impressions.

The best way to do this is by using Google Analytics. However, it can be difficult to set up analytics properly.

We recommend using MonsterInsights, it’s the best analytics solution for WordPress used by over 3 million websites.

It lets you simply set up conversion tracking in WordPress, so you can create unique ad tracking codes and see how your ads are performing across your WordPress blog.

For more details, see our step by step guide on how to set up conversion tracking in WordPress.

We hoped this article helped you learn how to increase ad impressions in WordPress with ad refresh. You may also want to see our list of the best email marketing services for WordPress, and our expert picks of the must have WordPress plugins for business websites.

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 Increase Ad Impressions in WordPress with Ad Refresh (2 Ways) appeared first on WPBeginner.

May 17, 2021 at 03:34PM

9 Best Quiz Plugins for WordPress (2021)

Are you looking for the best quiz plugins for your WordPress website?

Many popular websites like BuzzFeed use quizzes to create viral content and boost user engagement on their websites.

In this article, we have hand-picked the best quiz plugins for WordPress that will help you engage your users and increase time spent on your site.

1. Formidable Forms

Formidable Forms is the most advanced WordPress form builder plugin in the market. It comes with a simple but very powerful drag and drop form builder that helps you create forms that go beyond simple contact forms.

It’s equipped with powerful form templates, or you can start with a blank form and build your quiz from scratch.

You can create quizzes that are scored automatically or create your own grading scale. Once a user submits a quiz, there’s the option to email the score or display it in a success message.

Plus, there are multiple ways to format the quiz score, including the total answer count, letter grade, percentage of correct answers, and more.

Note: you’ll need to get at least the ‘Business’ plan, which includes the useful Quiz Maker addon.

For more details, see our guide on how to easily create a quiz in WordPress.

2. LearnDash

LearnDash is one of the best WordPress LMS plugins in the market. It comes with a powerful quiz feature which allows you to create any type of quiz that you need.

It has multiple question types including: single choice, multiple choice, free text, sorting, matching, essay, fill-in-the-blank, and survey.

Some of the other features include: timed quizzes, randomized questions, question bank, multi-page quizzes, limit attempts, and more. You can even add media into any of the question and answer choices.

Post quiz options include redirects, messages, quiz result displays in multiple styles, leaderboard, certificates, and levels.

Whether you are selling online courses or creating viral content, LearnDash is one of the most flexible WordPress quiz plugins for all types of quizzes.

3. Interact Quiz Maker

Interact Quiz Maker is a powerful web-based app to generate viral quizzes and use them to generate leads, build social media following, generate traffic, and improve conversions.

It allows you to create highly interactive quizzes with a nifty drag and drop quiz builder.

You can choose different styles, colors, designs, and more than 800 ready-to-use quiz templates.

It supports quiz branching which allows you to show questions based on user’s answers to previous questions. You can use their scoring system to easily show results at the end.

It can be easily added to your site using a simple shortcode and integrates beautifully with your email marketing and CRM software.

4. WP Quiz

WP Quiz is a flexible and easy to use quiz plugin for WordPress. It comes with 3 quiz types: trivia, personality, and flip cards.

You can add images to your questions and answers, allow users to restart quiz, show results at the end, and more.

WP Quiz comes with two styling options: multi-page or single page quiz. You have the ability to auto-scroll and add social sharing buttons.

The pro version of the plugin allows you to force users to perform an action to view results, randomize questions and answers, countdown timer, and display ads.

5. Quiz And Survey Master

Quiz and Survey Master is a flexible quiz and WordPress survey plugin. This powerful two-in-one plugin may look a bit rough around the edges, but it makes up for it with excellent features and extensive documentation.

It supports multiple types of questions including multiple choice, true and false, fill the blanks and more.

It also allows you to create multiple result pages, so you can customize them based on user score. It comes with email support, certificates, leaderboards, hints, comment boxes, and more.

The pro version of the plugin comes with all kinds of addons that give you reporting and analysis, email marketing integration, funnel optimization, and more.

6. Quiz Cat

Quiz Cat is a free WordPress quiz plugin with an easy to use interface and great options to create viral quizzes for your website.

It allows you to add images to each question and answer. You can also create a start and finish screen for your quiz.

Each answer can be given a rating and assigned an amount of points. If you’re creating a right and wrong quiz for visitors, then this can be useful.

7. HD Quiz

HD Quiz is another awesome free quiz plugin for your WordPress blog. It has a responsive design and allows you to create unlimited quizzes with as many questions and answers as you need.

You can also use GIF images with your questions and answers to make them more interactive and fun.

Other notable features include quiz timer, question tooltips for hints, social sharing, use images as answers, scoring, and more.

8. ARI Stream Quiz

ARI Stream Quiz allows you to use quizzes for lead generation by collecting user email address and name.

It supports integration with MailChimp and other email marketing service providers. Apart from lead generation, the actual quiz builder features an easy to use interface to build your quizzes.

It uses AJAX for faster performance, has multiple themes, social media integration, Open Graph support, and more.

9. Chained Quiz

Chained Quiz is a WordPress quiz plugin with the conditional logic feature where the next question in the quiz depends on user’s answer to the previous question.

This allows you to create highly interactive personality quizzes that change dynamically.

It supports multiple choice, single choice, and essay answers. You can assign scoring to each correct answer and decide what to do when the user selects an answer.

Which is the Best WordPress Quiz Plugin?

After reviewing each of these plugins, we believe that Formidable Forms, LearnDash, and TryInteract are the most comprehensive quiz building solutions in the market.

If you’re looking for a solution to add quizzes to WordPress and advanced form building features, then we highly recommend you go with Formidable Forms.

If you want a simple way to create interactive quizzes on a course website, then LearnDash is a great option.

If you’re looking to create viral Buzzfeed style quizzes, then TryInteract is a great option for that because it comes with many ready-to-use templates.

We hope this article helped you find the best quiz plugin for WordPress. You may also want to see our list of the must have WordPress plugins for businesses and our expert picks of the best webinar software including free options.

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 Quiz Plugins for WordPress (2021) appeared first on WPBeginner.

May 14, 2021 at 04:06PM

WordPress Layout Terms Demystified (Quick Reference)

Are you trying to understand what WordPress layout terms mean?

Many beginners come across WordPress layout terms and vocabulary when working on their website. These are words used by designers and developers and average users may find them confusing.

In this guide, we’ll explain some of the most commonly used WordPress layout terms. This will help you understand the lingo used for WordPress website layouts and work on your website like a total pro.

Why Learn WordPress Layout Terms?

WordPress themes control the appearance of your website. You can customize them by visiting the Appearance » Customizer page.

All top WordPress themes come with options to modify your website design using customizer settings, but your options are limited depending on the theme.

For even more flexibility, you can use WordPress page builder plugins like SeedProd.

SeedProd allows you to easily create your own custom layouts using simple drag and drop tools without writing any code.

It also comes with dozens of templates that you can use as a starting point. Plus, it supports WooCommerce which helps you create layouts for your online store as well.

However, as you work on creating a layout for your website, you may come across web design terms that you may not be familiar with.

Learning these website layout terms will help you to understand the building blocks of WordPress website design, so you can more easily create any design you can imagine.

That being said, let’s demystify these common WordPress layout terms to learn what they mean and how to use them.

Here is a quick list of the concepts and terms we’ll explain in this article.

Understanding a Typical WordPress Layout

• Header
• Custom Header
• Custom Background
• Content Area
• Sidebars
• Footer

Other Common Components of a WordPress Layout

• Navigation Menus
• Widgets
• Blocks
• Featured Images
• Cover Images
• Patterns
• Buttons
• Custom CSS

Layout Terms in WordPress Page Builders

• Templates
• Blocks and Modules
• Sections

Understanding a Typical WordPress Layout

Most websites use a very familiar layout. It looks something like this:

The top area of a website is called the Header, followed by a Content area, and then a Footer at the bottom of the page.

Depending on which page a user is viewing, the layout might be different. For instance, on a WordPress blog page, it may include a sidebar next to the content area.

This basic layout is then filled with other elements, which we’ll talk about later in this article.

Let’s first talk about each of these main sections in more detail.

Header in WordPress Layout

The header in a WordPress layout is the top section of any page. It usually contains your website logo, title, navigation menus, a search form, and other important elements that you want users to see first.

Here is how the header section looks on WPBeginner.

Custom Header in WordPress Theme Customizer

Many popular WordPress themes come with additional features to customize the header area of your WordPress layout. This feature is sometimes called a custom header.

Depending on your WordPress theme, you may be able to add a full-width image to the header with a tagline or a call-to-action button. Some WordPress themes may allow you to change the position of the logo, navigation menus, and header image.

Custom Background in WordPress Theme Customizer

Similar to the custom header feature, some WordPress themes may allow you to set a custom background color or an image across your WordPress website.

You can usually find this option under the theme customizer. However, it is sometimes buried inside other tabs. For more details, take a look at our guide on how to add a background image in WordPress.

Content Area in WordPress

The content area comes right after the header part of a layout. This is where the main content of the page is displayed.

For a custom homepage layout, the content section may include a call to action, followed by services or products, testimonials, and other important information.

Online stores typically use this area to promote ongoing sales, featured products, best-selling items, and more.

A WordPress blog may use a content-heavy layout with excerpts and images from recent articles, a newsletter sign up form, and more.

Here is how WPBeginner’s homepage layout looks. It is a content-rich website, and that’s why the recent articles take the whole content area.

By default, WordPress uses a blog layout showing your most recent blog posts as the frontpage of your website. However, you can change that and use any page as your front page.

Simply go to Settings » Reading page and choose ‘A static page’ under the ‘Your homepage displays’ option.

After that, you can choose a page that you want to use as your homepage and another one for your blog page. For more details, see our guide on how to create a separate page for your blog posts in WordPress.

Don’t forget to click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your settings.

Now you can edit the page you choose to be your homepage and create a custom homepage layout.

Sidebars in WordPress Layouts

As the name suggests, Sidebars typically appear to the right or the left side of the content area.

In WordPress, sidebars are also widget-ready areas. This means you can add widgets to this area and display elements like archives, newsletter sign-up forms, categories, popular content, and more.

Footer Area in WordPress Layouts

The Footer area appears at the bottom of a page layout below the content area. It usually includes a footer widget area where you can display links to important pages like privacy policy, terms and conditions, about page, and more.

Wondering what to put in the footer of your site? See this checklist of things to add to the footer of your WordPress site.

Other Components of a WordPress Layout

Next, we’ll take a look at some of the components of a WordPress layout that you can add to your header, content, sidebar, or footer sections. These are the building blocks that help you make a functioning layout.

Navigation Menus in WordPress

Navigation Menus or Menus are horizontal or vertical lists of links. Most websites have at least one primary navigation menu displayed on top in the header area.

However, some websites use multiple navigation menus in the header area.

WordPress also allows you to display navigation menus as a widget. These menus appear as a vertical list of links and you can place them in sidebars or the footer widget areas.

For more details, see our guide on how to add navigation menus in WordPress.

Using Widgets in a WordPress Layout

Widgets are elements that you can add to the widget-ready areas or sidebars of your WordPress website. Most WordPress themes come with multiple widget-ready areas where you can add widgets.

WordPress comes with several built-in widgets that you can use. Many popular WordPress plugins also come with their own widgets. For example, you can use widgets to add popular post lists, contact forms, banner ads, social media feeds, and more.

You can see all these widgets by visiting Appearance » Widgets page in WordPress admin area.

For more details, see our guide on how to add and use widgets in WordPress.

Using Blocks in WordPress Layouts

WordPress comes with a powerful content editor called the block editor. This editor is designed to help you create beautiful layouts for your WordPress posts and pages using blocks.

There are different types of blocks for the most common elements of any content. For instance, you can add paragraphs, headings, images, galleries, video embeds, columns, tables, and more.

This allows you to create different layouts for each post or page on your WordPress website without installing a plugin or changing your theme.

Featured Images in WordPress Layouts

If you visit the homepage of WPBeginner, you’ll notice thumbnail images next to each article title. These are called featured images.

WordPress allows you to set featured images for your posts and pages. Your WordPress theme then uses these images in different areas of your website. To learn more, see our guide on how to add featured images in WordPress.

Cover Images in WordPress

A cover image is usually a wide image used as a cover photo for a new section in a blog post or page.

You can add it to your post or page using the ‘Cover’ block. The cover block also allows you to use a background color instead of an image.

To learn more, see our detailed guide on the difference between cover image vs featured image.

Using Patterns in WordPress Editor

Patterns were introduced to the WordPress block editor in WordPress 5.5. Each pattern is a collection of blocks arranged in a particular order for commonly used layouts.

You can choose from buttons, header styles, galleries, columns, and more. This makes it easy for beginners to quickly build layouts using common patterns.

It is a relatively new feature so there are a limited set of patterns available. However, more patterns will become available as more WordPress themes and plugins add their own patterns to the block editor.

Adding Buttons in WordPress Layout

Buttons play an important role in modern website design and layout. They provide users with a clear call to action, which helps you grow your business and conversions.

The default block editor comes with its own buttons that you can use in any WordPress post or page.

Your WordPress theme may also come with a call to action button settings under the theme customizer. Most popular WordPress page builder plugins also come with buttons in various styles that you can use.

You can even add click-to-call buttons in WordPress with a plugin.

For more details, see our guide on how to add call to action buttons in WordPress.

Using Custom CSS in WordPress Layouts

CSS is the styling language used to create websites. Your WordPress theme and plugins come with their own CSS rules, but from time to time you may want to change small things like text color, font size, or background color.

This is where Custom CSS comes in. WordPress makes it easier for you to save your own custom CSS rules. Simply go to the Appearance » Customize page and then click on the Additional CSS tab.

From here, you can add your custom CSS rules and you’ll be able to see them applied in the live preview. For more on this topic, see our full guide on how add custom CSS in WordPress.

Layout Terms in WordPress Page Builders

The easiest way to build custom WordPress layouts for your landing pages is by using a WordPress page builder.

We recommend using SeedProd. It is the most beginner friendly WordPress page builder plugin on the market.

Other page builders use similar terms for common tools and features.

Using Templates in WordPress Page Builders

Templates are the quickest way to create a web page layout. All popular page builder plugins come with a bunch of ready-to-use templates that you can use as a starting point.

For instance, SeedProd has templates for different types of pages that you may need, including landing pages, sales pages, 404 pages, coming soon pages, and more.

Modules and Blocks in WordPress Page Builders

Just like the blocks in the default WordPress editor, page builder plugins also use blocks. Some page builders may call them modules or elements, but they are essentially the same thing.

However, page builder plugins come with more blocks than the default editor. For instance, SeedProd includes blocks for testimonials, WooCommerce blocks, Google maps, contact forms, Facebook embeds, and more.

You can use blocks to create your own layouts, move them around, and play around to figure out what works best for your business.

Using Sections in Your WordPress Layouts

Similar to the ‘Patterns’ feature in the default editor, Sections are a set of blocks grouped together to instantly create common areas of a website. For instance, header section, hero image, pricing tables, and more.

Different WordPress page builder plugins may use different terms for them. For instance, in SeedProd they are called sections and Beaver Builder calls them saved rows and columns.

We hope this article helped you learn about the terms used in WordPress layouts. You may also want to check out our guide on how to learn WordPress for free in a week, or our comparison of the best WordPress hosting companies.

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 Layout Terms Demystified (Quick Reference) appeared first on WPBeginner.

May 13, 2021 at 02:00PM