Factors to Consider When Choosing an IP Geolocation WordPress Plugin
Before we dive into the best WordPress geolocation plugins, we should consider what makes an IP geolocation plugin good. There are a few things to consider when choosing the right plugin for your site.
Accuracy of the Geolocation Data
IP Geolocation does not return an exact location. You can't use it to get a user's physical address, phone number, name, or any other identifying information. Geolocation returns information about the country, city, state, and zip code of a user, plus lat and long positions and a radius in which the user is likely to be.
Different plugins may have different levels of accuracy, so be sure to check before you install that the data you will get back is what you need.
Compatibility With Your WordPress Version and Other Plugins
As with any WordPress plugin, you should check that the plugin you're installing is compatible with your WordPress website and any other plugins you may be using (especially those that may need to interface with the Geolocation plugin.)
Ease of Installation and Configuration
Depending on your level of experience with WordPress or website building in general, some plugins may be easier to install and set up than others. Make sure to read the documentation for the plugin thoroughly before you begin. Is it a widget that installs with a single click? Or a more complicated piece of software that requires custom code to install?
Customer Support and Documentation
Familiarize yourself with the documentation, and read up on your support options. Some plugins come with the fantastic phone or chat support, while others may come with no support or just an online forum or FAQs.
Top 6 Free Geolocation WordPress Plugins
GeoIP Detection
This plugin provides geographic location data that can be used in themes or other plugins, as a short code, or in CSS body classes. There are language translations for city and country names. By default, it uses HostIP.info as a data source, but it can be connected to any free or premium geolocation data source, including MaxMind, CloudFlare, IP Stack, or Fastah
Pros
- Highly rated, at 5 stars with over 20,000 installs
- Well-documented
- Easy to install
- Flexible
Cons
- According to some reviews, support is lacking
- Compatible only with WordPress version 5.0 or higher
Price: Free
Best For: Small businesses and developers who need a plugin that is compatible with other plugins
IP2Location Redirection
A plugin specifically developed to redirect users based on their IP addresses. Can handle the task of redirection on a website or to a custom URL based on country and region. You can configure multiple redirection rules to redirect users based on several redirect parameter options. This prevents your site from having old or broken links and can improve SEO rankings.
Pros
- Easy to install and simple to use
- Supports 301 and 302 redirects
- Supports IP2Location BIN data and web service for IP address geolocation lookup
- IP address exceptions
Cons
- Only for redirects
- Does not work with cache plugins
- Some reviews report that support is lacking
- Not user-friendly for extremely large lists of countries
Price: Free
Best for: Developers who need to redirect users to a custom URL based on a user's location.
IP2Location Country Blocker
This plugin is also made by IP2Location and focuses solely on blocking user access based on the visitor's location. It allows you to block unwanted traffic from both the frontend (blog pages) or backend (admin area) either by countries or proxy servers.
Pros
- Can block access by specific locations like country code, or by grouped countries (i.e. EU, APAC, etc.)
- Provides detailed statistical reports of all blocked countries
- SEO friendly - allows you to whitelist web crawlers like Google, etc.
Cons
- Not compatible with caching plugins
- Doesn't work well with WP Rocket
- Some users report it does not work as expected
Price: Free
Best for: Developers who need a simple IP-blocking solution
Geotargeting Lite
The Geotargeting Lite plugin is a stripped-down version of the Geotargeting WP plugin. It uses MaxMind under the hood to return geolocation data about your users. It's compatible with the WordPress Popups plugin, meaning you can now gather data about users through your popups.
Pros
- Based on a very stable and accurate geolocation data source
- Can auto detect real IP from users even behind Cloudflare, Reblaze, Sucuri, Ezoic, Akamai, or Cloudways firewalls
- Simple debugging mode allows you to test for different countries
Cons
- A limited feature set - if you want a few complex features, you need to upgrade to the premium version
- Doesn't work with a page cache or caching plugins
Price: Free
Best for: People who want accurate and reliable geolocation data from MaxMind but don't need a rich feature set
If-So
If-So is a popular WordPress personalization plugin that handles serving dynamic content to users based on a number of conditions. The plugin includes a geolocation condition that can be used to render content based on the user's location. If-So uses an up-to-date geolocation API to pair between the IP address and the geographical location.
Pros
- Provides lots of customizable options for your WordPress users beyond just geolocation
- Flexible enough to customize any content on your site
- Dynamic Keyword Insertion lets you display the user’s location using a shortcode.
- Excellent documentation
Cons
- The free version is limited - you'll need to upgrade if you need to handle more than 250 monthly sessions
- Support is limited
Price: Free for 250 monthly sessions
Best for: People looking for more than just a geolocation plugin
IP Location Block
This plugin is designed to block site access for specific locations based on a visitor's location, determined by the user's IP address. It keeps your site safe from malicious attacks through methods like “WP Zero-day Exploit Prevention” and “WP Metadata Exploit Protection."
Pros
- Powerful enough to block any malicious accesses to wp-admin/*.php, plugins/*.php and themes/*.php, even from permitted countries
- All IP addresses are encrypted in logs and cache. Addresses can also be anonymized
- Not just good for blocking users - can also block badly-behaved bots and crawlers
Cons
- Some known issues are still pending - i.e. some mobile apps can’t execute image uploading because of their own authentication system via XMLRPC
- Only useful for site-based blocking
Price: Free
Best for: Users who only need to prevent malicious attacks
Top 4 Premium Geolocation WordPress Plugins
GeoTargeting Pro
This is the premium version of the GeoTargeting Lite plugin. It has a full feature set that allows you to geotarget any part of your website, including pages, posts, and custom post types (including WooCommerce products.) It is fully compatible with the WordPress block editor and classic WordPress editor.
Pros
- Detects user's real locations, no matter what firewalls or other APIs you are using
- Works with page caching
- Can geotarget partial content
- Provides handy widgets
Cons
- Most expensive option on the list
- Support only available via email
Price: $8/month for 120,000 requests per year, up to $169/month for 24,000,000 requests per year
Best for: Businesses that need a flexible solution that allows them to geotarget any part of their site, including navigation menus, blog posts, and more
WooCommerce Geolocation Plugin
WooCommerce is a highly reputable and reliable eCommerce platform built on WordPress, which can run on a headless architecture for increased flexibility. The WooCommerce geolocation plugin allows merchants to block products, categories, CMS pages, or entire websites for specific regions or countries. It can prevent spam orders and malicious attacks and help you to target your offerings for users based on their locations.
Pros
- Built by WooCommerce, so highly reputable and reliable
- Easy to use and install
- Excellent documentation and support
Cons
- Only handles blocking and geotargeting - must purchase a separate plugin for currency conversion
Price: $29 plus $9 for extended 12-month support
Best for: eCommerce sites looking to block specified IP addresses and regions
GeoDirectory Geolocation
GeoDirectory is a WordPress geolocation plugin that helps you build robust and scalable business directories. It is the only directory plugin that can scale to millions of businesses and handle the heavy traffic that a business directory site must endure.
Pros
- The core plugin is free to install and comes with enough features to get you started
- Drag and drop builder and easily customizable templates make building a breeze
- Dedicated support team
Cons
- Most powerful features are only available as paid add-ons
- The cheapest way to buy is a Lifetime membership, but that comes without the money-back guarantee
Price: $99/4 months or $199/year or $995/lifetime
Best for: Anyone trying to build a business directory site
WooCommerce Currency Switcher
TheWooCommerce MultiCurrency Currency Switcher supports multiple currencies and conversions. It detects the user's currency based on the IP address. When any page loads, all prices are displayed in the user's correct currency. You can detect unlimited currencies, as well as accurate tax rate info, shipping costs, and conversion rates.
Pros
- Easy to install and use
- Support for unlimited currencies
- Can change currency even after initiating checkout
- Can block checkout for users in undesired countries
Cons
- The extension cannot be styled to fit your website theme
- Some users report that support is unreliable
Price: $6.59/month or $79/year
Best for: Businesses looking to expand their reach to new countries
How to Install and Configure a WordPress Geolocation Plugin
Installing WordPress geolocation plugins is easy. Let's take a quick look at an example: installing the free Geolocation IP Detection plugin.
- Make Sure You Can Install the plugin
Before you begin, be aware that you cannot install any plugins if you are using wordpress.com. You can only install plugins on your self-hosted wordpres.org website. For information on how to switch from wordpress.com to wordpress.org, check out this tutorial.
- Install the plugin
The easiest way to install WordPress geolocation plugins is to do it through your WP Admin dashboard. Go to Plugins > Add New and search for the plugin you need in the Plugins search bar.
Select the plugin you want and click "Install Now."
Once you have installed the plugin, you will need to activate it. Navigate back to the Plugins section of your Admin dashboard and click "Activate" on the newly installed plugin.
You can also install plugins by uploading the plugin files from your computer. This works if you previously downloaded the plugin from somewhere else.
You can download most free Wordpress geolocation plugins through the plugins section of the wordpress.org website. The Geolocation IP Detection plugin is available here.
- Configure the Plugin
For this plugin, you'll need to decide on some basic configuration options. The way you use the plugin will depend on your experience with WordPress and what you need to use it for. This plugin provides a few different configuration options:
- API: PHP - for themes or plugins
- API: Shortcodes - if you don't know how to code PHP
- API: Shortcodes for Contact Form 7 - Integration into CF7 forms
- API: AJAX - if you are using a page cache, this is a great option. You need to code in JS, though.
Check the plugin's documentation for more detailed instructions.
Comparison of WordPress Geolocation plugins: Which one is right for your site?
The best WordPress geolocation plugins for you will depend on what you need to use your geolocation plugin for. Take a look at the following chart for a side-by-side comparison of the top plugins.
Conclusion
Utilizing a geolocation plugin in your WordPress site is an absolute necessity if you run an eCommerce site based internationally. Businesses need to be able to display product descriptions and prices in users' local currencies to have proper storefront pages. Geolocation is also useful for preventing attacks by bad actors and mitigating issues with bots and crawlers.
If you have a location-based website like a business directory or map application based on something like the Google Maps API, geolocation is non-negotiable.
There are many WordPress geolocation plugins that do a number of different things, and determining which one is right for you will require an analysis of your specific needs. The best WordPress geotargeting plugins are those that allow you the flexibility to integrate with other plugins while providing the powerful geolocation feature set that you need.
FAQs
What is IP Geolocation?
IP geolocation refers to the process of determining a user's location through their IP address. Every device that connects to the internet has a unique string of numbers that identifies it to the network and allows other devices to send and receive requests from that device.
What are the benefits of using IP Geolocation plugins on my WordPress site?
IP geolocation information can be used to show language translations, and currency conversions, and to target users for ads. It can also be used to block users in certain countries from accessing your site or to prevent malicious attacks from bad actors. Finally, geolocation allows you to collect analytical data on your users.
How accurate is IP Geolocation data?
Geolocation data cannot return a physical street address or any identifying information about the user. IP geolocation returns country, region, state, and city information, plus a radius within which the user is likely to be.
Can IP Geolocation plugins affect my website's performance?
The top WordPress geotargeting plugins should not affect the performance of WordPress sites in any way. However, be aware that some WordPress geotargeting plugins do not work with cache mode or caching plugins. Always read the documentation to determine how a new plugin will affect your site.
