Repetitive tasks can be tedious. If you’re a WordPress user, you know this more than anyone. You constantly have to do tasks like updating orders in a spreadsheet or keeping track of your WordPress posts. But here’s the good news: tools like Zapier for WordPress can help you complete these tasks without your intervention. You’ll save time and energy. Plus, it makes your work simpler!
What is Zapier?
Zapier is an online tool that enables you to connect and automate tasks between applications. It helps you simplify your workflow, so you won’t have to perform the same tasks on your website every day. But the best thing is that you don’t need any coding skills to use Zapier!
How to get started with Zapier
To get started, you need a Zap — which is a template that indicates what you want Zapier to do automatically. A Zap has triggers and actions. A trigger prompts the Zap to act, while the action is what the Zap does due to the trigger.
As for what actions to take, the possibilities are endless. Zapier works with thousands of WordPress plugins and apps. It allows you to integrate various tools to your WordPress website, including Trello, Google Drive, Asana, Spreadsheets and Slack.
Automate WordPress
As we already mentioned, thousands of Zaps integrate different apps and plugins with WordPress. Here are some of the essential WordPress Zapier automations you can apply to your website:
– Create a draft for a WordPress post from a new Google Doc
– Create a Google Calendar for new posts
– Post new WordPress posts to social media
– Add WooCommerce orders to a Google Sheet
– Get notifications for WooCommerce orders or comments on your posts
– Back up WordPress posts to Dropbox
– Share Instagram or YouTube posts on WordPress
Let’s look at each option in more detail.
Create a draft for a WordPress post from a new Google Doc
Most writers prefer to draft posts in a text editor before transferring their content to WordPress. However, sharing a document with your blog can be a hassle. And copy-pasting everything can take a long time. Therefore, it makes sense to have an app that automatically moves the content to your WordPress website.
If you’re using Google Docs as your text editor, you can create a Zap that helps you automate the process.
Create Google Calendar for new posts
If your website publishes lots of content from different authors, maintaining a content calendar is crucial. Because it lets you keep track of your posts.
Using Zapier, every new WordPress post is added to your Google Calendar. Zapier also helps you see which posts you need to publish, or what has been published and when.
Post new WordPress posts to social media
One of the best ways to share information from your website is through social media. But it’s time-consuming to post content on both your website and social networks. That’s where Zapier comes in. Every time you have a new post, it automatically gets shared on social media platforms, including Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. This way, you won’t have to go to each platform and do it manually.
Add WooCommerce orders to a Google Sheet
Adding information manually on a spreadsheet can be nerve-wracking, especially if you need to do it often. It’s no surprise that many people who want to set up a new ecommerce store swear by the Google Sheets Zapier integration. But even if you already own a WooCommerce store, Zapier can make your life a whole lot easier. It helps you set up workflows by automatically sending information to a spreadsheet. This will save you from the time-consuming task of copying and pasting data from one app to the other.
Get notifications for WooCommerce orders or comments on posts
With the Zapier WordPress integration, you can create a trigger so you receive notifications whenever you receive a new order. You can choose the way you want to receive these notifications, including through emails and text messages. This also works for new comments on posts!
Back up WordPress posts to Dropbox
In case something happens and you lose your data, it’s smart to have a backup plan for your website. But you may also need individual backups for your posts to protect your content. You can instruct Zapier to automatically back up individual WordPress posts to your Dropbox. You can even detail what kind of posts you want Zapier to look out for.
Share Instagram or YouTube Posts on WordPress
If you have an Instagram profile for your business, you should consider using the Instagram Zapier add-on. With Instagram Zap, you can automatically post new Instagram photos to your website. How does it work? When you post a new photo on Instagram, Zapier automatically pushes it to your blog as a new post.
Business owners who use YouTube to market their websites can also use Zapier to post YouTube videos to WordPress. The YouTube post can be saved as a draft, or it can go live immediately.
How to create your first WordPress Zapier automation
Even if you haven’t used Zapier before, the tool is straightforward to use. And no coding is required! Simply browse through the vast library (specific to WordPress) until you find the Zaps you want to use. You can also take a look through Zapier’s catalog to see the functionality options.
While every Zap is different, you use the same process to create any Zap you want. What makes it even easier is that Zapier walks you through the process step by step.
Below, you’ll find a guide on how to create a WordPress Zapier automation:
1. Create a user for Zapier on WordPress
– Sign up for a Zapier account. It is free to set up.
– Go to your WordPress admin dashboard.
– Go to Users, then Invite New.
– On the Add User page, enter Zapier as your username and create a secure password.
Note: For Zapier to trigger any actions on your website, remember to set the user role either as Administrator or Editor.
Remember to click on Add New User to finish the process.
2. Choose the Zap you want
For example, you can create a zap that automatically sends updates to your Gmail account every time there is a new comment in WordPress.
3. Create the trigger
Once you choose the app, it takes you to a page where you can select the triggering event — in this case, a new comment.
After choosing the Trigger Event, click Continue.
4. Connect your WordPress account to Zapier
This step requires information from your WordPress website. So, click the Sign in to WordPress button.
Enter your website URL and the username you created (Zapier), plus the password. Next, select Yes, Continue.
This will take you back to the Zap setup screen. Click Continue to move to the next step.
5. Customize your trigger events
Customize your trigger events and click Continue.
6. Test Your Settings
You have several options when it comes to testing. You can choose to Skip, Test & Review and Test & Continue.
We recommend that you test and review your settings before you continue with the rest of the process.
7. Create an action
The next major step is to choose the app that will trigger the action triggered by the event you set. In this case, we selected Gmail.
Zapier guides you through these steps, which are similar to setting up the trigger event. When you’re done with the settings, test your new Zap and finish the setup process.
Your Zap is now ready. You can turn it on, and if you’re not satisfied, there is an option to go back and edit from the dashboard.
Final thoughts: The WordPress Zapier integration eases tasks on your website
Not only will the Zapier WordPress integration help you with maintaining your website or blog, but it will also save you lots of time. Instead of doing repetitive tasks every day, you can now concentrate on other important tasks like creating great content and marketing your business. Zapier works with thousands of apps, so be sure to take your time to browse through their extensive list!
Let us know if there are other WordPress tasks you’d want to automate using Zapier in the comments below. Here at Bluehost, we want to help you expedite the growth of your online business. For more insights, contact our expert team today.
