Link Data from Google Sheets to WordPress Website
A while back, I wrote about Google Sheets and how it can be used to gather data and create reports. One of the features I mentioned was the ability to create a link (URL) to any cell in the spreadsheet, which can then be followed to that point in the document.
For example, if I wanted to create a hyperlink to the cell containing the email address of my wife, I could do so by putting the following in a cell:
- =HYPERLINK(“https://google.com”, “welcomewelcome@email.com”)
The hyperlink will then be created to https://google.com followed by the text “welcomewelcome@email.com”. As you can see, this is very flexible and can be used in a variety of ways.
Recently, I’ve been trying to find a way to put this same data into WordPress, which is where my knowledge base currently stands. The reason for this is simple; I have a lot of experience with WordPress and have written several e-books on the topic. As such, I figure it’s time to share my knowledge and help others get the most out of this great content management system.
Fortunately, the process of doing this is fairly easy and requires minimal effort. At the end of this tutorial, you will have a fully functioning WordPress website containing your very own product reviews and a detailed step-by-step guide to getting your own WordPress website.
Create a Free WordPress Account
To get started, you will need to create a free WordPress account. You can do this easily by clicking Sign Up near the top of any page on WordPress.com. Once you have successfully signed up for a free WordPress account, you will see a small profile image and a dashboard (also known as the WordPress landing page).
From here, you can begin to explore WordPress and get to know the platform. You don’t need to do much for now, as you will be going through the setup process automatically. Just click on the profile image in the upper-right corner of the dashboard (cog icon) to navigate to the WordPress settings.
Here, you can change your site’s settings and the theme you will use (if you have chosen one) to customize the appearance of your site. For now, we will leave these as-is and click on the Click to activate button to continue.
Import Google Sheets Link Data
To get started, click on the Import Google sheets link data button on the right side of the page, as shown in the image below.
After doing this, you will be brought to a Google Sheets page with the data imported from your spreadsheet. From here, you can download the exported file and then import it into WordPress. This is pretty much all there is to it. Once you have imported the file, WordPress will ask you to familiarize yourself with the platform. After reviewing the basics, you can begin adding content to your site. To get a better understanding of how all this works, continue reading.
Learn About WordPress Structures
WordPress offers several structures and settings that can be used to format content and design your site. The way these structures and settings work together is known as structural flexibility. You can view the full list of structures and their abbreviations here (scroll to the bottom).
To add a little more meaning to these structures and settings, let’s take a look at an example.
In the previous step, we imported a Google sheets document containing our product reviews. This document is made up of several structured columns; each column contains a different piece of information about the product, as shown below:
- =Title
- =Summary (optional)
- =Detail (optional)
- =Price
- =Link (URL)
- =Image (URL)
The first thing you will want to do is add some content to your site. To start with, let’s add a title for each column.
To add a title, start by creating a heading. You can do this with the text editor on the WordPress dashboard or with the heading tool in the toolbar when you are writing an article. After creating a heading, you can edit the h1 formatting to suit your needs.
For example, if you have added a heading called Product Reviews, you can edit the h1 to read “Product Reviews”. As you can see, the contents of this column will be used to format the blog post itself.
After adding the title, you can continue adding content to your site. For some products, you will only need to add the summary. To add the summary, you can either use the free-formatted text (no HTML or markdown) available below the title or add a short form. A short form is one that has no more than six sentences. Examples of short forms are ‘To Do’ lists and Event schedules.
To add the detail, you can either add a details block below the title or use markdown to add in more content. If you choose to use the details block, you can add in as much content as you want. You can even use this space to add in images or video content if you want.
Adding the price is very similar. You can either type in the price or use the image as a currency icon and input the price using it. As you can see, the prices are already formatted according to the website’s style. You don’t need to worry about this part.
Customize The Overall Design Of The Site
With the basic content in place, you can now customize the appearance of your site. To do this, click on the Customize link under the logo in the top-right corner of the dashboard.
From here, you can choose a theme (also called a skin) for your site. To create a skin, go to Appearance on the left side of the dashboard and click on Themes. Here, you can choose from multiple templates (skins) that can be downloaded and applied to your site.
You can leave the Title displayed on the blog’s front page as-is and begin customizing the look of the blog by adjusting the colors, fonts, and other general design elements. Remember that all this can be changed by clicking on the Customize link in the top-right corner of the WordPress dashboard.
Set Up Your Product Reviews With Good Intentions
One of the best things about this process is that you don’t need to be perfect in order to get a functioning website. As long as you follow the steps above, you will end up with a functional website.
Since I want to emphasize the good intentions of this tutorial, let’s take a quick look at why these steps are necessary in the first place. If you’re looking to start a blog or website that will contain product reviews, there are a variety of reasons why you might want to use WordPress.