How to add a social media feed to a WordPress website?

What is a social media feed for a WordPress website?

A social media feed is a live, auto-updating stream of posts from one or more social platforms. These posts are displayed on your WordPress site. It can show Instagram photos, X posts, TikTok videos, LinkedIn updates, or a mix of all of them in one place.

The most common way to do this is to use a social media aggregator. This is a tool that connects to your accounts, filters and moderates the content that comes in, and gives you a code that you can paste into WordPress. After that first set-up, the feed updates automatically as new content is posted on the connected platforms. You don't need to refresh the page manually or copy and paste individual posts.

If you want to do more than just use social media — for example, if you want event attendees or website visitors to be able to submit content without having a social account — look for a tool that supports a social wall on WordPress. This should include direct content submissions alongside aggregated posts.

How to add a social media feed to WordPress in 4 steps

1. Sign up for a service that collects social media content from different sites. Walls.io is a tool that handles the connections to social media platforms, so you don't need to use a developer. After you sign up, a step-by-step guide will help you connect your first source.
2. Connect your social media accounts. You can pull content from Instagram hashtags and business profiles, X keywords and accounts, TikTok profiles, LinkedIn pages, profiles & hashtags, YouTube channels, and more. Each platform you connect becomes a live content stream that appears on your wall.
3. Set up moderation and design. Decide what you want to see. You can filter out keywords, approve posts manually before they go live, or turn on AI Moderation. This uses AI Spam Filter and AI Sentiment Filters to keep your social wall professional and on-brand. Change the colours, fonts and layout to match the design of your website.
4. Embed code into your WordPress site. Just copy it and paste it in. To do this, go to the embed settings in your aggregator, copy the iframe or JavaScript snippet, and add it to your WordPress site (see the next section for exactly where). You can now save, preview and manage your social media feed on WordPress.

Most setups take less than 20 minutes from start to finish.

Where in WordPress do you paste the embed code?

Depending on how your WordPress site is built, you have a few options:

• Gutenberg block editor (most common): To add a new block, search for "Custom HTML", then paste in your embed code and hit publish. Works on pages, posts, and full-site editing templates.
  Classic editor: Switch to the "Text" tab (not "Visual") and paste the code where you want the feed to appear.
• The widget area is where the sidebar or footer appears. Go to Appearance > Widgets, add a Custom HTML widget, and paste the code inside it.
• Page builder (Elementor, Divi, Beaver Builder, etc.): Drag in an HTML widget or Code element and paste your embed code there.
• Social wall WordPress plugin: Walls.io offers a WordPress native social wall plugin. You can install it for free.

The embed code itself doesn't care about the platform you use: it works the same way on every platform. If the feed doesn't show up after you paste it, check your theme or page builder. Some do this by default, removing raw HTML.

To find out more about adding social media feeds to different types of websites, take a look at our guide: How to embed a social media wall on your website.

What to look for in a social media feed tool for WordPress

Not all aggregators work equally well on a WordPress site. Before picking one, check for these:

• The process of combining information from different sources. The most useful feeds use information from several platforms at the same time. Look for a tool that supports 10+ sources and combines them into one feed. Walls.io's social media aggregation feature collects content from various social media platforms and displays it anywhere. It supports more than 14 sources, including Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
• The website's design adapts to different devices. The feed should look right on mobile, tablet, and desktop without any extra configuration. Make sure that the embed resizes properly at smaller viewports before you go live.
• Make sure you follow GDPR rules and use a cookieless embed. If your site has visitors from Europe, the tool needs to meet GDPR requirements. If you use a cookieless embed option, the feed won't trigger cookie consent banners or require a consent management platform to handle it. Social wall tools like Walls.io are secure and GDPR & CCPA compliant.
• Use branding options. The feed should match your branding. Look for control over colors, fonts, layout, and card design so that it doesn't look like a third-party widget added to your site.
• Asynchronous loading. If your page doesn't load properly, it will have a negative impact on your Core Web Vitals score. Async loading means the feed loads on its own after the rest of your page content is already visible.
  

To see a side-by-side comparison of tools, take a look at this list of the best social media aggregators.

How Walls.io approaches this
Walls.io's Website Embed is a tool that allows you to display reviews and keep visitors updated on any WordPress site. All you need to do is paste in a single code. Connect Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube and more than 10 other sources. Set up moderation and customise the design, and get a live social media feed that visitors to your WordPress site can engage with in under 20 minutes. See how it works →