What Are WordPress Plugins?
WordPress plugins allow you to add new features that enhance your website’s functionality, similar to how mobile apps work for smartphones. WordPress is a platform designed to empower developers to customize their codes.
The WordPress plugin API offers a variety of hooks and filters, allowing developers to edit and enhance existing WordPress functionality.
You can find WordPress Plugins on the Plugins » Add New page in the admin sidebar with the option to activate or deactivate your existing ones and install new plugins.
What Types of WordPress Sites Accept Online Payments?
If you have a WordPress website that sells services or works with money, accepting online payments using Plugins can help you meet your business goals. While, in theory, you can add online payments to any website you like, it makes sense to only add them to the websites that utilize it to its full potential.
Accepting online payments using payment Plugins can be beneficial for websites such as:
- For billing purposes,
- LMS (Learning Management System) websites selling online courses,
- Charities or nonprofit websites,
- Service businesses and all kinds of commercial websites.
Service businesses and all kinds of commercial websites.
Setting up a payment Plugin for a WordPress website isn’t a complex process. Like most WordPress features, installing a payment Plugin involves a couple of simple steps. Meaning anyone with any skill level can complete these steps.
There are four prerequisites to setting up a payment option for your WordPress website:
1. SSL
Secure Sockets Layer or SSL is the default security method adopted by websites used for encryption of all traffic being generated between your website and your visitor’s web browser.
You need to have a secure network connection in place when dealing with credit cards and payments on your WordPress website. It can be achieved by implementing SSL using certificates. Most web hosts provide SSL for free or at minimal cost and its installation. Once you have installed SSL, you are ready to set up WordPress payments.
2. Secure WordPress Website
Securing your customer details when dealing with payments is crucial in making a WordPress website reliable. You must familiarize yourself with the regional data collection and retention rules as some areas may have strict rules.
WordPress security measures include:
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Setting strong passwords for your WordPress login,
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HTTPS with SSL,
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Website intrusion and hack monitoring,
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WordPress firewall and security plugin,
3. Optimized Website
To accept payment through a website, you need to have a good website design focused on enhancing the user experience. Converting your prospective buyers into customers relies on having a robust product or service with a positive user experience for your website.
We all know how off-putting it can be when the page loading speed on your website is slow, making it challenging to navigate hampering the user experience. Lack of good website design can slow your website.
It is crucial to use a good WordPress WooCommerce theme such as Astra to make your website fast loading with enhanced navigation. Picking the suitable WordPress theme can make a real difference in converting visitors into customers.
4. Secure Web Host
It is equally important to choose a well-performing, fast, and secure web hosting service. Selecting a poor-performing host won’t make a difference using a fast WordPress theme or streamlining the purchase process. Choosing a slow and poor-performing host will lead to a poor user experience. So, before you zero in on your web host, conduct a thorough research by reading reviews of WordPress hosts.
What Is a Payment Gateway?
Let us try to understand what payment gateways are and how they work.
A payment gateway is a software acting as a middleman between your website, the customer, and the payment processor. It allows your website to connect to its processor servers as a standalone app.
payment gateway allows you to accept PayPal or a credit card transaction without having to process it yourself or store credit card and other sensitive personal information on your website. This is done in return for a small commission that the payment gateway deducts, offering to handle everything related to payment processing using a secure app and connection.
How Do Payment Gateways Work?
We take you step by step through the process of how payment gateways enable you to accept payment on your WordPress website:
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Firstly, your customer selects a product or service from your website and adds it to their card.
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They move on to the checkout process by selecting a payment method.
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This prompts the payment gateway, which appears in front of the customer, asking them to enter the details as per their choice of payment method such as credit card, PayPal login, etc.
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The gateway transfers payment data and confidential information securely to its payment servers that contact credit card servers or PayPal and authorizes payment accordingly.
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Once the payment is authorized, the gateway is signaled, which informs your eCommerce platform of the successful transaction.
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Your website releases the product or service for download or delivery, informing the customer that products or services are ready for dispatch.
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The gateway transfers funds to your bank account, bringing the transaction to completion.
While there are several steps involved in using the payment processing through your website, it takes a couple of seconds to manage WordPress payments without actually handling any financial data.
7 Popular WordPress Payment Gateways
1. PayPal
PayPal is the leading and most popular WordPress payment gateway. It has garnered the respect and trust of most online retailers and service providers because PayPal allows payment from PayPal accounts, credit cards, debit cards, and even gift cards.
2. Stripe
Stripe is another equally popular payment gateway facilitating WordPress payments. Various eCommerce platforms adopt Stripe throughout the web since it works similarly to PayPal. The only difference is that it requires customers to enter their credit card details rather than using an account login like PayPal.
You can choose from our free or paid WordPress payment plugin specially designed for WordPress websites to accept payment using Stripe. Stripe interacts with other payment gateways such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and others, accepting recurring payments for subscriptions and more.
3. Authorize.net
Authorize.net is an up-and-coming payment gateway reaching the heights of PayPal and Stripe with each passing day. It is a well-established credit card payment platform that handles transactions occurring on your website without you having to do anything.
Authorize.net primarily works with credit cards and doesn’t require an account, unlike PayPal. It is a fast and secure payment gateway allowing you to accept payment on your WordPress website. You can accept Authorize.net payments using contact form 7 by using our free or paid WordPress payment plugin.
4. Amazon Pay
Amazon Pay is another leading payment gateway and an integral part of the retail giant’s strategy to rule the internet. It can be integrated with your website, allowing people to pay for goods and services using credit cards linked with their Amazon account.
Amazon Pay offers a user advantage to customers who have Amazon accounts allowing them to log into their account once and pay anywhere across the internet that supports Amazon Pay.
5. 2Checkout
2Checkout is a popular payment gateway that is popular around the globe. It is similar in functionality to Authorize.net and accepts credit card payments, processing them on your behalf.
2Checkout is primarily popular with merchants selling digital products or subscriptions without any extra fee for subscriptions. You can accept 2Checkout payments using contact form 7 pro through ZealousWeb’s free or paid WordPress plugin.
6. Elavon
Elavon is a leading payment processor adopted by worldwide enterprises and small businesses alike. Elavon is a secure, innovative, and global partner ideal for your WordPress website’s processing needs whether you conduct your business online, mobile, or in-person. You can accept Elavon payments using contact form 7 Pro via our free or paid WordPress Payment Plugin.
7. World Pay
Choosing Worldpay to finish your online transaction allows you to take payments directly from your website or app. It is easy to integrate and use with its API helping developers to create bespoke checkout forms that can be activated and accept payments within 24 hours.
Using our free or paid WordPress payment plugin, you can accept Worldpay payments using contact form 7 pro. Worldpay is backed by a stable and secure infrastructure and relies on millions of eCommerce brands.
Wrap Up
Now that we have covered what WordPress plugins are and how they can streamline payment processing using the leading payment gateways. It is essential to select the right web host provider for your website and the ideal payment gateway for your website’s needs.
ZealousWeb Technologies is a leading provider of WordPress, Craft CMS, Expression Engine Addons, and Magento 2 Extensions. Our WordPress plugins are designed to streamline the functionality of your WordPress website. With the help of our WordPress plugins, one can easily accept payments using Contact Form 7 through a website, even if it is not an eCommerce site. Accepting donations, bills, or other payments can now be done with our trusted WordPress payment plugins.
Do you use any of these WordPress payment gateways? Are you looking for WordPress payment plugins for your website? We encourage you to share your comments and thoughts in the comment section below. Contact us today regarding our WordPress payment plugins and other services.