How to Add a GDPR Cookie Banner to a WordPress Website?

You can easily add a GDPR compliant cookie banner to your WordPress website using WebToffee’s Cookie Consent plugin. With just a few clicks, you can display an accept and reject option, collect explicit user consent, and make your site GDPR cookie compliant.

To display the GDPR cookie banner, activate the WebToffee CMP plugin and go to cookie banner settings page in the Cookie Consent menu. Enable the banner, choose the consent law (GDPR), and configure additional settings such as geo-targeting, the IAB TCF framework, and other advanced cookie banner options. Once you update the settings, the GDPR cookie banner appears on your website. The plugin also provides a preview and full cookie banner customization controls so you can personalize the banner layout and style to match your site’s design.

In this article, you’ll find a complete step-by-step guide on how to add a GDPR compliant cookie banner to your WordPress site and customize its appearance and settings to fit your theme.

A cookie banner is a popup that appears when a user visits your website for the first time, informing them that your site uses cookies and other trackers. The main purpose of a cookie notice is to explain what data is being collected, why it is collected, and give users clear choices to accept, reject, or customize cookie preferences.

Cookie consent banners became a part of website compliance with the rise of global privacy laws. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) introduced by the European Union set strict rules on how websites must handle personal data and obtain user consent. Because GDPR is considered one of the toughest privacy and security law, websites with visitors from the EU are required to display a compliant cookie banner and secure explicit consent before storing cookies.

Now that we know what a cookie banner is and how its essential to GDPR compliance, let’s jump on to how to create a GDPR compliant cookie banner in WordPress using the plugin.

Follow these steps to create a GDPR Compliant Cookie Banner for your WordPress website.

Step 1: Install WebToffee Cookie Consent Plugin for WordPress

Our GDPR Cookie Consent Plugin is a Google-certified CMP solution for WordPress websites. It helps you comply with EU GDPR and US State laws. With our plugin, you can easily manage cookie compliance on your WordPress website with IAB TCF and Google Consent Mode integrations.

• After purchasing the plugin, you can download the plugin zip file from the My account section. You will also receive an email with the link to download the plugin file.
• Now, open your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New Plugin.
• Click on Upload Plugin to upload the plugin file. Then, Install and activate the cookie consent plugin.

Step 2: Configure GDPR Cookie Banner in WordPress

• Now, go to Cookie Consent settings from your WordPress sidebar menu.
• Under the Cookie Banner settings page, choose GDPR as the Consent Law.
• Select the Enable cookie banner checkbox.
• Set geo-targeting for EU Countries & UK. This will ensure that the cookie banner is displayed only to visitors from these regions.
• Enable IAB TCF 2.2 and configure the related settings if required. These settings can be ignored if you are not displaying third-party ads on your website.
• Expand the Show advanced settings dropdown, and enable the Reload page upon user consent checkbox. From here, you can also choose to hide the cookie banner on specific pages and set how long user consent should remain valid.

Then, proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Choose a Layout for the Cookie Banner

• From the Layout tab, choose Banner style for the cookie notice.
• You can also choose a style for the Preference Center.

Step 4: Customize Cookie Banner

• Go to the Content & Colors tab. You can customize various elements in the cookie banner.
• Customize the title and content for the cookie banner.
• Choose a color for the text, buttons, background, and border.

• Now, expand the Revisit Consent menu, and enable the Revisit consent button.

• Click on Update settings to save the cookie banner settings.

This will add a GDPR cookie banner on your WordPress website.

Creating a GDPR compliant cookie banner involves more than showing a popup. You must give users clear information, meaningful choices, and full control over their preferences. Use the checklist below to ensure your cookie banner meets GDPR guidelines.

• Inform users about the use of cookies in simple and clear language
• Provide auto-translation for the text in the cookie banner based on visitors’ preferred language
• Categories cookies based on their purposes
• Allow site visitors to accept and reject cookies based on their categories.
• Display ‘Accept’ and ‘Reject’ buttons on the banner
• Allow visitors to close cookie banners without providing consent
• Automatically block third-party cookies until the user grants consent to it
• Add links to the privacy policy and cookie policy
• Allow users to withdraw and modify their consent preferences anytime
• Ensure responsive design for the cookie banner for all screen sizes

Our GDPR Cookie Consent Plugin is a complete cookie compliance tool for WordPress websites. It lets you comply with major privacy laws like GDPR and CPRA for using cookies on your website. You can create a cookie consent notice and get implicit or explicit consent from your site visitors.

The plugin will scan and identify the third-party cookies on your website and add them to the cookie list. It will automatically block the third-party cookies until the user gives consent to it. You can provide granular control option to your site visitors and allow them to partially consent to cookies based on their categories.

The plugin supports geo-targeting so that EU users will see a GDPR compliant banner, whereas users from the United States will see a banner that complies with US state laws. Additionally the plugin is compatible with popular multilingual plugins and provides out-of-the-box translations for 10 languages.

Every website owner who deals with clients in the EU region must have to comply with the GDPR guidelines. Millions of Euros have been imposed as fines on big corporates for violating GDPR guidelines.

Make sure your website complies with the GDPR guidelines. You must also ensure that your website has a strong cookie and privacy policy. You might also be interested in reading our article on the best GDPR plugins for WordPress. Do you have any queries? Drop them in the comments.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this guide on how to set up GDPR cookie banner on WordPress websites. Do you have any queries? Drop them in the comments.