There are three ways to put a chatbot or live chat on a WordPress site. They all end with the same widget on your pages; they differ in what you have to maintain and how easily it breaks. Here they are side by side, with the checks that stop a chat from slowing your site.
To add a chatbot to WordPress, either install the chat vendor’s official plugin, paste the chat script before the closing body tag with a header and footer snippet tool, or add it as a Custom HTML tag in Google Tag Manager. The snippet method works with any chat tool and leaves nothing extra to update. After installing, clear your cache and check mobile speed, because optimisation plugins sometimes delay or hide chat scripts.
How: Plugins > Add New, install the vendor's plugin, paste your account key.
Good: Easiest if the vendor has an official plugin. Settings inside WordPress.
Watch: One more plugin to update. Some load on every page, including admin. Use only the vendor's official plugin.
How: Use a code-snippet plugin (or your theme's custom code box) to paste the chat script before the closing body tag.
Good: Works for any chat tool, including ours. Nothing else to maintain.
Watch: Don't paste into theme files directly: a theme update wipes it. Keep a note of where it lives.
How: If your site already has GTM, add the chat script as a Custom HTML tag that fires on all pages.
Good: No WordPress change at all. Easy to switch off or limit to some pages.
Watch: Only worth it if GTM is already set up. Test in GTM preview before publishing.
Josh’s electrical business in Penrith has a WordPress site his nephew built. A chat plugin he tried stopped showing after a caching plugin update, and nobody noticed for a month. He moved to a snippet in a header and footer tool, excluded it from the caching plugin’s script delay, and now checks the chat on his phone after every site update.
Illustrative composite based on common patterns, not a single client.
For the widget’s look and placement, use the chat widget preview tool. Running a shop? See Shopify live chat for Australian stores. Choosing the tool itself? Read what live chat software costs to run. Or skip the DIY: we install our custom AI chatbot for you.
There isn't one best plugin; the plugin is just the wrapper. What matters is who answers the chat, whether it knows your business, and what happens to the lead. Many chat tools, including ours, don't need a plugin at all: a snippet does the job with less to maintain.
It can if the script loads early on every page. Load it deferred, check mobile speed in PageSpeed Insights before and after, and if you use a caching or optimisation plugin, exclude the chat script from JavaScript combining or delay rules if the widget stops appearing.
No. We give you (or add for you) a short script. You paste it with a header and footer snippet tool or your theme's custom code area, and it works on every page. We can also add it for you if you give us temporary access, which you remove afterwards.
The usual causes are a caching plugin serving an old version (clear the cache), a JavaScript optimisation setting delaying or combining the script, a cookie banner blocking it until consent, or the snippet being pasted into a theme file that was then updated.
Yes. Wix has its own chat (Wix Chat) and lets you add custom code under Settings > Custom code. Squarespace allows code injection on paid plans under Settings > Advanced > Code injection (footer). A chat script pasted there loads on every page.
Yes, the widget runs on WooCommerce pages like any other. Ours answers from your shipping, returns and product information and collects order numbers for you to check; it doesn't read your WooCommerce orders.
Check that the chat button can be reached and opened with the keyboard, has a text label for screen readers, and has enough colour contrast. WCAG 2.2 AA is the standard most Australian businesses aim for.
We build and run a custom AI chatbot for your website: $299 one-off setup, then from $29.99 a month (AUD, ex GST), month-to-month. See our AI chatbot plans and pricing.