
Unlike Read Meter, however, this plugin does not give you an option to add the estimated reading time – it’s exclusively for the progress bar. Reading progressbar Reading progressbarĪlong with Read Meter, Reading progressbar is another one of the most popular progress bar plugins at. Customizable colors – you can customize the colors and style of every element to make it match your site.below the title) or manually place it using a shortcode. Read time – automatically add the estimated read time to various parts of the post (e.g.For example, you could display it on blog posts but not on pages.

Post type targeting – you can opt to only add the reading progress for certain post types (including custom post types).Top or bottom placement – display the progress bar at the top or bottom of a user’s screen.Here’s everything that you’ll get with Read Meter: You also have the option to display the post’s estimated reading time along with the progress bar. The plugin lets you automatically add a reading progress bar that sticks to the very top or bottom of the page. Read Meter is a reading progress bar plugin from Brainstorm Force, the same team behind the popular Astra WordPress theme (which made our list of the fastest WordPress themes).
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In terms of pricing, 6 of these plugins are completely free, while the 2 remaining plugins are affordable and add some extra flexibility that you won’t find in most of the free options.īest of all, all of these plugins should work with pretty much any WordPress theme. While you can find generic progress bar plugins that let you create a custom progress bar for anything, this post is specifically focused on plugins that add reading progress indicators based on the length of a page’s content. Now, let’s get into the 8 best progress bar WordPress plugins to help you add a reading progress bar to your site. 8 Best Reading Progress Bar WordPress Plugins

If you combine progress bars with other user experience-boosting tactics such as quality navigation structure and smart use of pagination, you can create a really nice, engaging experience for visitors. Bounce rate – by increasing the time that visitors spend on your page, you’ll increase the chance that a visitor will continue to engage with your site (maybe by reading another post), which can help reduce your bounce rate.Dwell time – by encouraging readers to finish a post once they’ve started reading, you can increase the time that they spend on the page.These improvements in user experience can have positive effects on two key metrics: For example, if a reader sees that they’ve already made it through 80% of the content, they’ll be encouraged to finish the last 20% because they’ve already made it through most of the post. Once your visitors start reading, the progress bar can also encourage them to finish the post. To help with this, some sites also add an estimated reading time in addition to the progress bar, which several of the plugins below support. Is it a 5-minute article they can read in between tasks or is it a lengthy 20-minute article that will require some serious focus?Ī progress bar gives readers a good idea of what to expect from your post as they start reading. Most people want to know what they’re getting into before investing the time to engage with your post. A simple way to instantly improve your site's UX? 👀 Adding a reading progress bar! Get started here ⬇️ Click to Tweet Why Add a Reading Progress Bar to WordPress?Īt a high level, a reading progress bar is a way to improve the usability and user experience on your site, which can have more direct effects on important metrics such as time on page and bounce rate.įirst, let’s talk about user experience in general.

However, you can experiment with different progress bar placements depending on your site. HubSpot adds an orange progress bar that appears directly below its sticky header: A reading progress bar example from HubSpot. Here are two real examples of the typical way that sites use reading progress bars…
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However, the key difference is that the progress bar will be based on the length of the actual content, whereas the browser scroll bar is based on the full length of the page. In these cases, it looks almost like a scroll bar. Some plugins also give you the option to create a vertical progress bar on the left or right of the content. As users scroll through the post, the bar will “fill up” to indicate how close they are to the end of the content. Typically, you’ll stick a horizontal bar to the top or bottom of the page. Optimize your admin tasks and budget with $275+ enterprise-level features included free in all WordPress plans.
