Getting Started with WooCommerce for Your Business
One of the first steps in starting an ecommerce business is to choose which platform you will use for your website. Among the top ecommerce platforms out there, WooCommerce is one of the popular ones due to it being free-to-use and integrated with WordPress, one of the most popular content management systems on the Internet.
But for many people, it does seem overly technical and complicated. That’s why we’ve come up with this beginner’s guide for the less tech-savvy to learn what WooCommerce is and how to set it up for your ecommerce business. WooCommerce is incredibly flexible, cost-effective, and easy to manage, making it ideal for both beginners and long-time online entrepreneurs.
What is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin that can turn any WordPress website into an online store quickly and easily by adding shopping cart functionality on top. Millions of online stores, both big and small, are powered by WooCommerce due to this ease of implementation.
It’s open source, making it free to download and use. WooCommerce is a cost-effective way to create an online store without having to create a whole new website from scratch. But if you don’t have a website yet, you can still use WooCommerce to build an online store quickly and easily with no extra cost.
What Do You Need to Create a WooCommerce Store?
You will need three things to make an online store with WooCommerce from scratch:
- WordPress hosting account, where your files will be stored
- Domain name, which is your website’s URL address
- SSL certificate, which will allow you to accept online payments
These three things cost money, but WooCommerce itself does not. If you’re putting up an online business, you’re going to be investing money into it anyway, so these are necessary expenses to get started. You need them anyway if you’re going to create any type of website.
Your online store’s total cost will depend on which services you choose to purchase for your website. If your budget is limited, then you should only purchase whatever you actually need.
Choose Hosting
To put up a WooCommerce store, you need to run WordPress on a self-hosted site. There are quite a few affordable web hosting sites out there that are made for WordPress, such as Bluehost, SiteGround, and WordPress.com itself.
These hosting services include pre-installation of WordPress and WooCommerce, dedicated IP, and SSL certificate for security.
Install WordPress
If your web hosting doesn’t have WordPress pre-installed, then you’ll have to install it yourself. Download the latest version from WordPress.org, unzip the files into a folder, and upload those files to the public_html folder of your website.
You then visit your website in a browser and go through the WordPress setup process. Follow the instructions and make sure WordPress is fully installed.
Activate WooCommerce
Once your WordPress site is up and running, it’s time to bring WooCommerce into the mix. First, you must register a free account on WooCommerce.com. Once you have it, you can then install WooCommerce through the plugin library or download and install it manually, then activate it.
Once activated, WooCommerce will take you through a Setup Wizard, wherein you set it up for your website. Follow the instructions in each step and you should have it ready.
Pick a Theme
You’ll be asked to pick a theme in the Setup Wizard. The theme will determine how your online store will look, and there are a lot of free themes available out there. You can also pay for a premium one that may have certain things that free ones don’t.
The Storefront theme and its child themes are recommended for starters as they’re designed specifically for WooCommerce. It’s also free, so you can build your online store on top of it.
Extend WooCommerce
As you progress with your online business, your website will change with it. You can grow your online store by adding functionality through extensions for WooCommerce, adding things like subscriptions, bookings, memberships, payment gateways, shipping options, and so on.
You can start with a low-budget site and scale up as your business grows. Each of these extensions can be purchased through an annual subscription, which gives you access to support and product updates as well.
WooCommerce Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s take a look at a few common questions about WooCommerce and the answers to them in order to better understand how it is to run an online store with the platform.
If you have more advanced questions, you can find resources and forums about WooCommerce with users who are more than happy to give you answers.
What kind of products can be sold through WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is an ecommerce platform that was designed to sell just about anything. You can sell physical goods, digital downloads, and even subscriptions through WooCommerce. If you wish to customize your WooCommerce site for a specific type of product, there are extensions available for booking, auction, multi-vendor marketplace, dropshipping, and so on.
Can WooCommerce be used for dropshipping?
Yes, it can be used for dropshipping. In fact, WooCommerce is the top platform for dropshippers who decide to make their own website. There are some excellent plugins in WooCommerce that are specifically designed for dropshipping, letting you easily manage orders and vendors, as well as automate the entire process.
Can a blog be added in WooCommerce?
Yes, since WooCommerce runs on top of WordPress, which is the most popular blogging platform in the world. Just have a separate blog section in your website and start publishing blog posts on it.
Can the WooCommerce store name be changed?
It can be changed through the general settings page in the WordPress admin area. Just change the title to whatever you want to name your store. Of course, it must match your branding.
As for the domain name, you’ll have to go through your domain registrar, and you’ll have to make sure you won’t lose your SEO in the process.
Conclusion
Most of WooCommerce support you’ll get is from your hosting provider or theme and extension developers. If you want custom work done for your online store, you either do it yourself or hire a WordPress developer from a trusted directory like Codeable, freelancing website like Upwork, or so on.
Unless you’re looking for something particular, this beginner’s guide should get you started easily enough. You now have an online store from which you can build your brand, and the rest is up to you in taking your online business to the next level.