Do you want to add Facebook Messenger chat to your WordPress website?
In a world of instant communication, that small delay can be the difference between a sale and a lost customer.
Adding a live chat feature helps you connect with visitors instantly. This builds trust and allows you to answer pre-sales questions before potential customers leave your site.
The fastest way to add Facebook Messenger to WordPress is using the WPChat plugin.
It connects directly to your Facebook Page to render a live chat widget. This allows you to manage customer support directly through Messenger without writing code.
In this article, we will show you how to easily add Facebook Messenger chat to your WordPress site.
Why Adding a Messenger Chat Matters for Your Business
Adding a live chat solution is often the best way to answer customer questions quickly.
Unlike email, where replies can take hours, chat allows you to address concerns immediately. Check out this helpful article on email vs live chat for more details.
Here are a few specific reasons why you should add Facebook Messenger to your site:
- Buyers who use live chat are more likely to make a purchase. Answering a simple question can prevent them from abandoning their cart.
- A visible chat bubble shows that your business is active and responsive. It proves there is a real person behind the website.
- Most users already have the Facebook Messenger app on their phones. They can start a chat on your site and continue the conversation later on their mobile device without losing the chat history.
- You can manage all customer inquiries from your Facebook Business Suite. This keeps your support channels organized in one place.
When Facebook Messenger Chat Makes Sense
Facebook Messenger chat works best for businesses that rely on quick, conversational responses. It’s a good fit if:
- Visitors often ask pre-purchase or support questions
- Your audience already uses Facebook or Instagram
- You manage customer conversations inside Messenger today
Messenger chat may not be the best option for businesses that require strict internal ticketing systems or enterprise-level reporting.
Getting Started with Facebook Messenger Chat
There are two common ways to add Facebook Messenger chat to a WordPress website.
You can manually copy code from Facebook and add it to your site, or you can use a plugin that handles the connection for you.
I don’t recommend the manual method for beginners. Pasting code directly into your theme can cause conflicts, and you might lose your changes if you switch themes later.
For most site owners, using a plugin is the more reliable option.
In this guide, we’ll use WPChat, which connects your Facebook Page to WordPress through an API and handles the technical setup automatically without requiring any code.
To help boost your reach, you can instantly add chat options for Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
As a result, it means you’re meeting your customers on whichever platform they want.
What I like the most about WPChat is that WPChat handles the technical connection to Facebook Messenger so you can focus on responding to conversations instead of configuring widgets.
You can create chat assistants, connect them to different messaging platforms, customize their design, and display them on your website. All without touching a single line of code.
What You Need to Get Started
Before beginning the setup, ensure you have the following items ready:
- Administrator Access – You must be logged in to your WordPress dashboard to install plugins
- A Facebook Business Page – You must have a published Facebook Page. This feature does not work with personal Facebook profiles
- WPChat Plugin – The free version works for basic setups, or use WPChat Pro for more powerful features
- Time Required: Approximately 5 minutes for configuration
Overview on Adding Facebook Messenger Chat with WPChat
At a high level, the setup process looks like this:
- Install and activate WPChat
- Connect your Facebook Messenger account
- Choose where the chat button appears
- Publish the widget on your site
Once connected, messages go directly to your Messenger inbox.
Step-by-Step Guide on Adding Messenger Chat to Your WordPress Site
Now that you have your requirements ready, let’s set up the chat widget. The setup process is straightforward, and you’ll have your Messenger chat widget working in just a few steps.
Step 1: Install and Activate WPChat on Your Website
First, you’ll need to get a copy of the WPChat plugin and install it on your WordPress site.
Install and activate the plugin (see this beginner’s guide). Once WPChat is active, you’ll see a new menu item in your WordPress dashboard.
Open the WPChat menu in your dashboard and click on Set Up to proceed.
After that, you can enter your WhatsApp number so visitors will have another way to reach your business.
Enter your WhatsApp number in the field and click on the Next button to proceed.
Step 2: Set Up Facebook Chat Assistant
The first thing you’ll see is three theme options for your chat assistant. Pick from the available themes:
- Basic
- Night
- Pastel
Pick a theme that you prefer from the options and click on Next.
Once you do that, you can choose where your Facebook chat assistant appears on your site.
You have 2 visibility options: Display on all pages or Display only on specific pages.
Next, you can scroll down and pick the parts of your website to include or exclude.
Pick the Pages, Tags, Categories, and Custom Post Types using the filters below and click on Next.
Finally, enter your WPChat license key in the provided field. This activates all the premium features of the plugin.
After entering your license key, click on Finish Setup to complete this stage.
Step 3: Customize Facebook Messenger Chat Assistant
Now it’s time to make your chat assistant look exactly how you want it to appear to your visitors.
First, click on the Customize button to open the live editor.
You can now use the options on the left sidebar to pick your customization preferences. Plus, this powerful tool lets you see your changes in real-time as you make them.
Let’s check out some of these options below:
Customizing the Assistant Avatar
Your Assistant Avatar serves as the face of your chat widget. After all, it greets your visitors and redirects them to Facebook Messenger.
To change how it looks, click on Assistant Avatar in the left menu.
You can pick from a collection of pre-made avatars that WPChat comes with.
Plus, you can also add a custom avatar that matches your brand. Just click on the Add Your Own option below.
Then click on Upload to select the avatar image from your computer.
After that, enter a name for your avatar in the provided field. For best results, you can pick a name that matches the avatar image.
Once you’re done adding your custom details, click on Add to confirm the avatar.
Finally, click on the Save button to confirm the changes.
Setting Up the Header
Once you’re happy with your Assistant Avatar, click on the Back button to continue with the customization.
This time, select the Header option from the left sidebar to customize the greeting message.
Enter a fitting heading for your chat assistant that welcomes visitors and encourages them to start a conversation.
Click on Save at the top of the editor to preserve all your changes.
Feel free to try out the other available options to change your colors, icon, visible sections, and much more.
Each change you make will instantly appear in the preview, so you can see exactly how it will look to your visitors.
Step 4: Connect Chat Assistant to Facebook Messenger
Another great thing about WPChat is that you can create chat agents to represent your support team.
What’s more, you can link these agents to your Facebook Messenger account.
From your WordPress dashboard, navigate to WPChat » Agents to see a list of chat agents.
Then click on Edit to customize the default agent that WPChat created for you.
Before we continue, you can click on Upload to select a fitting image for your agent.
This should be a professional photo that represents who visitors will be talking to – it could be your headshot, your team, or your company logo.
Once the photo is ready, you can enter a fitting name in the field below the image.
Having a name and face can make your Facebook chat assistant feel more human to talk to. You can also edit your WhatsApp number here if you like.
Scroll down to find the Facebook Messenger section.
Here, you’ll just need to enter your Facebook Messenger ID or username in the provided field.
Click on Save Changes, and you’ve now connected your chat agent to Facebook Messenger.
You can open your website in a new browser tab and check how the chat widget looks to your visitors.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, it’s easy to add Facebook Messenger chat to your WordPress website with WPChat. The entire process takes just a few minutes, but the impact on your business can be huge.
Your visitors now have an instant way to reach you using a platform they already know and trust, leading to more sales and happier customers.
Ready to boost your website’s engagement with Facebook Messenger chat?
Get WPChat today and start connecting with your visitors instantly.
Going forward, you can use WPChat to add FAQs and automated responses to handle common questions even when you’re not available.
You can even create Chat Funnels to generate leads by guiding visitors through specific conversation paths.
Check out our guide on how to build your first Chat Funnel using WPChat if you want to learn more.
