How to Add Infinite Scroll to Your WordPress Site (Step by Step)

Infinite scroll is one of those website trends that we’ve seen come and go over the years. It’s great for content-heavy sites like blogs, news portals, and social media platforms where users enjoy endless browsing.

If you’re looking to keep visitors glued to your content, infinite scroll might be the solution you’re after. This feature automatically loads new content as users scroll down, so they don’t have to click to the next page.

But how do you add this to your WordPress site? Don’t worry, because we’ve come up with 3 easy ways to implement infinite scroll, no matter your tech skills.

Why Add Infinite Scroll to Your WordPress Site?

Infinite scroll is a web design trend that uses AJAX page load technology to automatically load the next page of content and show it at the end of the current page. It can make it easier and more enjoyable for visitors to browse through your content, especially if they’re on mobile.

Instead of clicking on links to see more, infinite scroll loads new content automatically as users scroll down. This smoother experience can keep people on your site longer and may increase your pageviews.

That said, infinite scroll might not be the best choice for every type of website, such as web directories where each page is a different letter of the alphabet. If you use infinite scroll, then you also can’t show a footer on your WordPress blog.

Also, infinite scroll could put extra strain on your server. So, if you want to try it, it’s a good idea to optimize your WordPress website performance.

With that being said, let’s have a look at how to add infinite scroll to your WordPress website. You can use these quick links to skip to a specific method:

Method 1: Adding Infinite Scroll With Catch Infinite Scroll (Recommended)

During our testing and research, we found the best way to add infinite scrolling is with the Catch Infinite Scroll plugin. Besides being simple to use, it also allows you to customize how the infinite scroll behaves.

The first thing you need to do is install and activate the Catch Infinite Scroll plugin. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you will see a new menu item labeled ‘Catch Infinite Scroll’ in your WordPress dashboard. Simply give it a click to configure the plugin settings.

We want to trigger infinite scroll when the user starts scrolling down the page.

With that in mind, open the ‘Load On’ dropdown and choose ‘Scroll.’ If you choose ‘Click,’ then Catch Infinite Scroll will show a ‘Load More’ button instead.

Next, you can customize the navigation selector, next selector, content selector, and item selector. The default settings work quite well, so you don’t need to make any changes.

The ‘Image’ section shows the content loader icon that Infinite Scroll will show when it’s loading content.

By default, it uses a loader GIF image, but you can change this if you want. Simply click on ‘Upload’ and then either choose an image from the media library or upload a new file.

When you are happy with how infinite scrolling is set up, click on the ‘Save Changes’ button to store your changes.

Now, if you visit your WordPress website, then you will see the infinite scrolling in action.

Method 2: Adding Infinite Scroll With YITH Infinite Scrolling (WooCommerce Sites)

YITH Infinite Scrolling is an infinite scroll plugin by YITH, a WooCommerce plugin developer. So if you want to add infinite scroll to your product pages, then this is the plugin we recommend. It works really great with other YITH plugins like YITH WooCommerce Points and Rewards.

This plugin works out of the box, so you can simply install and activate it to add infinite scrolling to your WordPress website. For more details, see our step-by-step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you can visit your website to see the new infinite scroll feature in action.

If you want to tweak the infinite scroll, then you will find a few simple settings by going to YITH » Infinite Scrolling in your WordPress dashboard.

Here, you can enable and disable infinite scrolling.

You can also change the image or GIF that YITH shows when it’s loading content. Simply scroll to the ‘Loading Image’ section and then click on ‘Upload.’

Then, either choose an image from the WordPress media library or upload a new image from your computer.

Method 3: Adding Infinite Scroll With Ajax Load More (Advanced)

Ajax Load More has an advanced interface with lots of different options, including a repeater template, shortcode builder, and WordPress queries.

The plugin also offers more customization settings, including many page loading icon styles and button styles.

With that in mind, it has a steeper learning curve and isn’t recommended for beginners. However, it does give more advanced users complete control over their website’s infinite scroll.

For a detailed guide, you can see our tutorial on creating a load more posts button in WordPress using the Ajax Load More plugin.

Adding Infinite Scroll in WordPress: FAQs

Do you still have questions about adding infinite scroll to your WordPress website? Let’s discuss some frequently asked questions about this design feature.

Is infinite scroll good or bad?

Infinite scroll has its pros and cons. It’s great for websites like social media, blogs, and news sites where users enjoy browsing through a variety of content. However, for goal-oriented sites like eCommerce, it can be frustrating for users trying to find specific items.

Does infinite scroll improve performance?

Infinite scroll can make it easier for users to access more content quickly, especially on mobile devices where scrolling is natural.

However, without proper optimization, it can slow down page loading times, especially with large media files. That’s why it’s a good idea to follow the best website speed and performance practices.

Is infinite scroll bad for SEO?

Without proper optimization, infinite scroll can be bad for WordPress SEO. Search engines may not index all the content since they don’t automatically scroll down.

But there are ways to optimize it for better SEO. You can add a load more button using AJAX so that search engines recognize additional material, use schema markup to clarify your content for search engines, and preload links to upcoming content.

Is infinite scroll better than pagination?

Whether infinite scroll is better than pagination depends on what works best for your website and users. Infinite scroll offers a seamless experience, while pagination provides a clearer structure. Both have their advantages, so choose based on your content and audience preferences.

Learn More Ways to Optimize Your WordPress Blog Design

Want more tips and tricks to improve your WordPress blog? Check out these guides:

• How to Add a Parallax Effect to Any WordPress Theme
• How to Add a Font Resizer in WordPress for Accessibility
• How to Create a Custom Shape Divider in WordPress
• WordPress Sidebar Tricks to Get Maximum Results
• How to Add Custom Scrollbar to Any Element in WordPress
• How to Highlight Text in WordPress (Beginner’s Guide)
• How to Add Dynamic Content in WordPress (Beginner’s Guide)

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to add infinite scroll to your WordPress site. You may also want to check out our beginner’s guide on how to edit your WordPress website and our expert picks of the best Canva alternatives for website graphics.

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