How to Add a Customer Portal to Your WordPress Website

A customer portal is a web app, typically hosted on a separate domain, that customer’s can use to access important information about your business. It provides customers with a single place to find information about your company.

If you’re looking to add a customer portal to your WordPress website, check out these 23 tips on how to do it right

Add A Contact Page

The first thing you should do to add a customer portal to your site is to add a contact page. A contact page is a static page that serves as a simple landing page for visitors. Typically, it’s used to collect email addresses and telephone numbers for a business, or to provide customers with an easy way to purchase something from your website.

A contact page doesn’t have to be super-informative. It just needs to have enough information for customers to be able to find the business or service they’re looking for. Some examples of a contact page are shown below.

Pick A Suitable Web Host

The next step is to choose a suitable web host for your customer portal. There are a variety of hosting providers out there, all with their perks and quirks. It’s a good idea to choose a hosting provider that’s been around for a while and is recommended by other WordPress users. You can also ask other users for their opinions on different hosting providers, or read online reviews to identify the best suited for your needs.

Always keep in mind that the performance of your site will be determined by the quality of the web host you choose. The type of hosting you use will have an impact on your site’s load time, security, and overall performance. For example, shared hosting is a cost-effective solution, but the quality of the hosting is determined by the number of sites that share the server. Hence, if you have a large number of visitors, you may experience slow website speeds as a result.

Install WordPress Plugins

Now that you have a suitable web host, it’s time to install WordPress plugins. A WordPress plugin is a piece of software that extends the functionality of WordPress, the most popular content management system in the world. There are hundreds of plugins available, and everyone has something different to offer. If you have a specific use case in mind, or if you just want to experiment, check out the WordPress plugin repository to find a plugin that suits your needs.

Among the plugins you’ll need is the WooCommerce plugin to launch a successful eCommerce store on your website. With WooCommerce, you can create an eCommerce store that’ll accept payments and ship products to customers worldwide. You’ll also need a shipping plugin to get the ball rolling on your international deliveries. Some of the best-known shipping plugins are QuickBooks and Shipwire.

Creating and running an online store with WordPress isn’t difficult. With the right plugins, the process of launching a store, taking orders, and fulfilling them is as easy as click of a button. While there’s still a lot to learn, setup and customization take about the same amount of time as building a standard WordPress website. You’ll have to use your own initiative to get started, but with the right plugins and some trial and error, you’ll be able to build a functional store in no time.

Use The Right Coding Scheme

Coding is one of the most important aspects of building a website. You’ll need to use a secure and reliable web development company to create your customer portal. A good coder should be experienced in WordPress development and should have a solid understanding of SEO and digital marketing. A qualified coder should also be capable of integrating with third-party applications, like shopping carts and email marketing platforms.

Your WordPress website’s coding scheme will determine the appearance and functionality of your site. For example, if you go with a static (non-interactive) theme, you won’t be able to use plugin to customize the appearance of your site. You’ll also need to know how to customize the coding if you decide to switch to a different theme later on. If you’re looking for a one-stop-shop for learning how to code, check out Codecademy, codeacademy, or TreeHouse, to name a few.

Use The Right Database

Behind every great WordPress website is a great database. Your WordPress database holds all the content and settings for your site. It plays an important role in keeping your content up-to-date, handling logins, and keeping track of your site’s preferences. For database applications, you’ll need to choose a platform that’s been around for a while and is popular among WordPress users. You can also ask other users for their opinions on different databases, or read online reviews to identify the best suited for your needs.

In choosing a database, you’ll need to keep in mind that it has to be flexible enough to meet your needs, yet secure enough to keep your content private. Some of the most popular database applications for WordPress are shown below.

Pick A Suitable Username And Password

When it comes to keeping track of user accounts on your website, you’ll need to choose between using cookies or storing user data on the server. Both have their perks, but for the sake of security, you’ll have to go with the server-side solution. The best and most-suitable usernames and passwords for your customer portal are shown below.

If you decide to use cookies, make sure that they’re not tied to any personal information that could be used to identify the individual user. You can opt-out of receiving cookies by adjusting your browser settings. To store user data on the server, you’ll need to install and configure a WordPress plugin like UserLogin. Once installed, all the user information, like email addresses and passwords, will be securely stored and accessible to you via the plugin’s administrative panel.

Since your customer portal will be accessible from your website’s footer and can receive orders as well as provide important information for your business, you’ll need to make sure that the username and password for your customer portal are both unique and secure. Changing the default settings for these two elements is extremely important, especially if you decide to use the same combination of username and password for other areas of your website. Enabling login through WordPress’ built-in accounts system and using the same password for multiple accounts is a common error made by people who use the same password for multiple accounts. This makes it extremely easy for someone to gain access to your personal information if they gain access to one of your other accounts (like WordPress or eBay).

The above tips will help you add a customer portal to your site’s footer. If you have any other questions about how to build a website with WordPress, feel free to leave us a comment below! And if you found this article valuable, you might also want to check out the rest of our How to Build a WordPress Blog series.