Adding a points and rewards system to your WordPress site can be an excellent way to boost engagement and loyalty from your users. With the right points plugin and strategy, you can incentivize actions like profile completion, content creation, referrals, and more.
In this 2023 updated guide, I‘ll walk you through the latest best practices for setting up an effective points system with the myCred plugin.
Why Add a Points System to Your WordPress Site?
Here are some of the benefits of having a points/rewards system on your WordPress site:
Increases user engagement – Getting users to take actions like write comments, share posts, fill out profiles, etc. can be difficult. A points system gives them a reason to participate.
Drives referrals – Let users earn points for referring friends and family, driving viral growth.
Improves conversions – Points earned can be redeemed for discounts, unlocking premium content, etc. which improves sales.
Builds loyalty – Rewarding active community members makes them feel valued and keeps them coming back.
Choosing the Right WordPress Points Plugin
There are a few WordPress plugins that enable you to add a points system, with myCred being the most popular and full-featured option.
Some of the advantages of myCred include:
- Works with any theme
- Supports earning/deducting points with hooks
- Point expiry settings
- Point transfer between users
- Robust rank/badges system
- Add-ons for many popular WordPress plugins
Given the active development, vast feature set, and free core plugin, myCred is hands-down the best points plugin available as of 2023.
How to Install and Configure myCred
Installing myCred takes just a couple of minutes. Here are the basic steps:
- Install and activate the myCred plugin
- Visit Points > Settings and adjust core options
- Set custom point labels, format, etc.
- Add point earning/deduction hooks
- Establish point ranks
- Install any compatible myCred add-ons (if needed)
- Test that points are being earned/deducted properly
- Display points totals/leaderboards using widgets
Below I‘ll explore some best practices for key aspects of your points program…
Choosing the Right Point Hooks
Hooks allow you to trigger points earnings/deductions based on specific actions users take. Selecting the right hooks to incentivize is crucial.
Some effective hooks to consider:
Publishing content – Reward users points for publishing different types of content like blog posts, articles, videos, etc. This encourages creation and contribution.
Profile completion – Grant points when users add key profile fields. Great for sites wanting more user data.
Daily site visit – Increase loyalty by rewarding return visits with a daily point allowance. Needs to be time-gated to prevent abuse.
Purchases/sales – For ecommerce stores, connect points to cart/checkout to encourage more sales.
Determine what types of actions and behaviors you want to drive, and select hooks accordingly.
Establishing Point Ranks
As users earn more points, you should graduate them through different "ranks" that come with perks and recognition.
For example:
- 0-500 points = Bronze rank
- 501-2,000 points = Silver rank
- 2,001+ points = Gold rank
Ranks incentivize users to keep moving up the ladder to unlock more valuable rewards.
Set minimum points thresholds for each that make sense based on point earning rates and volume of site activity.
Redeeming Points for Rewards
The incentive for users to earn points is getting to redeem them for something desirable. Make sure to offer compelling rewards.
Some reward ideas:
- Site badges/labels to display rank
- Unlocking premium content
- Discount coupons for your products
- Free shipping incentives
- Entries into giveaways
- Donation matching programs
- Access to members-only areas
- Custom badges, rank images, or labels to display on their user profile
Having a good mix of digital rewards and discounts works well. Gamify it by showing the next reward they are close to unlocking.
Displaying User Points
With the plugin configured, you‘ll want to display user points balances and ranks where it will be visible.
Widgets
Under Appearance > Widgets, myCred has several built-in widgets like:
- User Ranks – Shows current user‘s rank
- Total Points – Shows user‘s total points balance
- Latest Points – Shows recent point activity
Drag these into widget areas like your sidebar. It gives users visibility into what they‘ve earned and how far until their next rank.
Shortcodes
For inline display of user points and ranks inside pages/posts, myCred has handy shortcodes like:
[mycred_my_rank][mycred_my_balance][mycred_my_history]
Inserting these into your content will dynamically display the output for the current logged in user.
Leaderboards
To add a community leaderboard displaying the top point holders, use shortcodes like:
[mycred_top_balance number=25]
Seeing others‘ balances taps into social proof and motivates competition for top ranks.
Tips for Point Program Success
Here are a few parting tips to ensure your WordPress points program achieves maximum success:
- Send new user tips about the program
- Show points earned after key actions
- Reward high value outcomes over menial grinding
- Limit points possible per day/week to prevent exploits
- Make unsigned-in visitors aware of the program
- Announce leaderboard winners publicly
- Keep rewarding levels attainable but require commitment
Take time recruiting initial testers, tweak the program based on feedback/data, and you‘ll have a points system that supercharges engagement on your WordPress site.
I hope this up-to-date guide gives you clarity on running a points/rewards program with WordPress and myCred. Let me know if you have any other questions!
