Are you interested in enhancing your WordPress website with smart app banners? Smart banners offer a straightforward method for promoting your mobile app and enticing visitors to download it. These banners are particularly effective for iOS users, as they encourage downloads and, for those who already have the app, prompt them to open it for an improved user experience. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through the process of adding smart app banners to your WordPress site.
**Why Incorporate Smart App Banners in WordPress?**
Numerous website owners opt to create mobile apps as companions to their websites, enhancing the user experience for mobile visitors. These mobile apps can leverage push notifications to deliver reminders, personalized content, offers, updates, and more, leading to increased engagement, conversions, and sales. If you haven’t yet developed a mobile app for your site, you can refer to our complete guide on converting a WordPress website into a mobile app.
You can employ smart app banners within WordPress to encourage iPhone and iPad users to download your mobile app. These banners appear at the top of the screen when iOS users access your site through the Safari browser. Visitors can simply click on the banner to download your app directly from the App Store. If a visitor already has your app installed, the banner will prompt them to open it, fostering greater engagement. WordPress automatically conceals the banner for visitors using non-Apple devices or different web browsers.
**Method 1: Using WPCode (Implementing a Universal Smart App Banner in WordPress)**
The simplest way to add smart app banners to your WordPress website is by utilizing a free plugin known as WPCode. This plugin allows you to display the same banner on every page and post with just one line of code, making it ideal if you wish to promote a single iOS application. If you want to display different banners on various pages, we recommend using method 2 instead.
To add custom code to WordPress without any complications, we recommend WPCode. This plugin empowers you to enable and disable code snippets with a single click. To begin, install and activate the WPCode plugin. Then, navigate to “Code Snippets” » “Add Snippet” in your WordPress dashboard.
Next, click on the “Use Snippet” button under the “Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)” option. This action will take you to the “Create Custom Snippet” page, where you can provide a name for the code snippet for reference purposes. In the “Code Type” dropdown, select “HTML Snippet.”
To proceed, you will need to obtain the ID of your application. To find it, open the Apple Services Marketing Tools page in a new browser tab. Enter the name of the application you want to promote and click the “Search” icon. Scroll down to the “Apps” section to view all matching iOS apps. Click on the app you want to promote and locate the “Content Link” at the bottom of the screen. The app ID is the value positioned between ‘id’ and ‘?’ in the content link. Keep this information handy or leave the tab open.
Now, return to your WordPress dashboard. Insert the following snippet into the code editor, replacing the app ID with the one you obtained in the previous step:
“`html
<script>
var appBanner = document.createElement(“meta”);
appBanner.name = “apple-itunes-app”;
appBanner.content = “app-id=YOUR_APP_ID, app-argument=YOUR_APP_URL”;
document.head.appendChild(appBanner);
</script>
“`
Once you’ve completed this step, scroll down to the “Insertion” box. If it’s not already selected, choose “Auto Insert,” and then select “Site Wide Header” from the dropdown menu. Afterward, scroll to the top of the page and toggle the “Inactive” switch to “Active.” Finally, click the “Save Snippet” button to preserve your changes.
Your WordPress website will now display the smart app banner effectively.
**How to Verify the Smart App Banner Code in WordPress**
The best way to test the smart app banner is by visiting your website on an iOS device using the Safari mobile app. Keep in mind that the smart app banner won’t appear when attempting to view the mobile version of your WordPress site from a desktop device. If you need to quickly confirm if the code snippet is functioning correctly, you can employ your browser’s Inspect tool to check if the code has been inserted into your site’s section. This indicates that everything is operating as anticipated.
To execute this, visit any page or post on your WordPress blog and right-click anywhere on the page. Select “Inspect” to open a new panel displaying the site’s code. Locate the appropriate section and click on the arrow next to it to expand it. Look for the code you added in the previous step. If you can spot this code, the smart app banner should be appearing on iOS devices as intended.
**Method 2: Using Smart App Banner (Implementing Banners on Specific Pages and Posts)**
In certain situations, you may prefer to promote apps solely on particular pages and posts. For instance, you might not want to display a smart app banner on sales or landing pages, as it could divert attention from the primary call to action. Alternatively, you might aim to exhibit distinct banners on various sections of your website, especially if you’re promoting multiple apps as an affiliate marketer.
To achieve this level of customization, we recommend using the Smart App Banner plugin. This plugin grants you the ability to display different banners on different pages and posts, even allowing the inclusion of affiliate data in those banners. This makes it an excellent choice for affiliate marketers.
To get started, install and activate the Smart App Banner plugin. Once activated, you can add an app banner to specific pages or posts, the WordPress homepage, or across your entire website.
To set up the banner, navigate to “Settings” » “Smart App Banner” and enter the app ID in the ‘App ID’ field, which you can obtain using the same process described in Method 1. If you’re leveraging affiliate marketing to monetize your blog, you can also input your affiliate token in the ‘Affiliate data’ field. The specific token will vary depending on your affiliate program, so you may need to log in to your affiliate portal or consult your partners to acquire the correct token.
You can opt to display the banner on all pages by checking the ‘Show on all pages’ checkbox, or leave it unchecked to display the banner solely on the homepage. Once you are satisfied with the banner setup, click ‘Save Changes’ to make it live.
If you prefer to add a smart app banner to particular pages and posts, granting you more precise control over its placement on your website, open the desired page or post in the WordPress editor. Look for the new ‘Smart App Banner’ section and input the app ID and optional affiliate information as described above. Save your changes, and the banner will appear on the specified page or post.
By following these methods, you can effectively integrate smart app banners into your WordPress website, enhancing user engagement and promoting your mobile app to iOS users.
