In the current internet era, the recipe for running a successful business is the right products, excellent customer relations, and an attractive online store to bring the two together. Whether you are starting a new business or expanding your existing shop, having an online shop can help you reach many newer potential customers and increase conversion rates.
The best way to get your business on the internet is by creating a website using WordPress and then enabling E-commerce functionalities. The WordPress plugin WooCommerce helps facilitate all the eCommerce services on your site. In this article, we’ll learn WooCommerce and check out how someone can Start a WooCommerce Business.
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Why Use WooCommerce To Build An Online Store?
The best way to get your presence known online is through a website made with WordPress. WordPress is open-source software written in PHP. It manages content with its many Database management systems like MySQL or MariaDB database.
WooCommerce is one of the most well-known eCommerce plugins for WordPress. The plugin is also open-source to keep the room open for further development and coders. The WooCommerce Plugin, on its own, adds various basic e-commerce functionalities on your site to transform it into a successful online store.
Additionally, WooCommerce has many of its own plugins that add various different features for your online store. Many features like Discount rules, shopping carts, rewards and referral programs, etc. can be added to your store to keep your visitors engaged and grow your business with high conversion rates.
Some of the features included in all the basic WooCommerce installations are:
- Various theme options to customize your storefront to fit the style of your business.
- WooCommerce uses a product block structure when it comes to building your store. The blocks are easy to customize so effectively you can customize your whole page in minutes.
- Offers an excellent storefront for you to display all your products, prices, discounts, product variations, download items, and affiliate products.
- As the entire WooCommerce software is based on the WordPress eco-system, it can take advantage of WordPress’ SEO advantage feature. The feature helps your store or products to come up at the top in the search results.
Getting Started with your WooCommerce Store
When starting a WooCommerce store for business, there are many things you need to keep in mind. The right WordPress installation, getting the WooCommerce plugin, Domain name, and web hosting services to host it, the right plugins are just a few of those things. There are many additional choices to make about the specific tools your store needs and other plugins to provide excellent customer service.
Figuring out all of these things and setting up your online store can seem complicated to many people. I’ve prepared a step by step guide with explanations for you to Start a WooCommerce Business.
Step #1: Choose a CMS, Domain Name & Web Hosting
The first step of setting up your business online is making a website. There are many CMS out there to build your website, but WordPress is the most impressive one. To get your WordPress site online, you’ll need a registered domain name and a server to host it. Most Web hosts offer both of these. Suppose your choice of Web hosting service doesn’t have domain name registration functionality. In that case, there are other companies available that solely offer the said service.
In short, for your first step, you need to register a domain name for your business and pick a Web hosting service that will host your website on their server. Most web hosting companies also automatically installs and sets up WordPress for you.
If you’re looking for a WordPress Dedicated Host and I bet you’ll as for a WooCommerce Business, the owner must have to opt for a host that can handle heavy usage & can offer fast so I’d highly recommend you sign up for the WPX Hosting which is the best host for WordPress. You can also give this host a try with up to 90% coupon.
Step #2: Installing WooCommerce services On the Domain Name
Now that you have your WooCommerce website ready, your next is to enable e-commerce functionality. To enable eCommerce functionality, you need to install WooCommerce services on your WordPress site.
- You can sign up with WooCommerce.com and select from the auto-installation of the WooCommerce feature for your domain name or download the compressed downloadable version and do it manually.
- You can directly download the WooCommerce plugin from its official website and install it manually. Your WordPress website should come with a 1-click add-ons and plugins installation feature. Using that feature, you can install the WooCommerce plugin on your website and activate it.
- Your WordPress website should also come with plugin search and install functionality. GO to your dashboard and then search new plugins under add new plugins of the Plugins menu. Once you find the WooCommerce plugin, the installation is one-click away. Do not forget to activate your newly installed plugin.
Step #3: Do Basic Setting & Install Necessary extension, Plugins & WooCommerce Theme
Once you’ve successfully installed WooCommerce and enabled e-commerce services on your WP site, you’re a step closer to publishing your product and growing business. But there is yet another step for setting up your beautiful online store. You need to adjust the settings, install themes, and other plugins that can surely help your business grow.
Here’s what you should do:
First
After successfully activating the WooCommerce plugin on your WordPress website, it will launch the WooCommerce setup wizard. In the setup wizard, you need to provide information about your store location, currency, type of product you want to sell. Then you’ll be asked to set up your payment methods (PayPal and Stripe). Next, you’ll be asked to set up the shipping rate, and then they’ll provide you with some recommended extensions and plugins, which are optional. Now you’re ready to Start a WooCommerce Business but after some additional fine-tuning.
Second
Choose the necessary extensions and plugins for a polished online store experience. You need to add an extension for services like transactional emails, shopping carts, customer care services, taxation, discount rules, reward systems, and many more essential features of a successful online business. WooCommerce offers many free extensions and plugins that will do the job. To truly make the best online store, you should buy the premium plugins from various WooCommerce plugin developers.
Third
Choose a WordPress theme to better represent your business in the global market. A suitable and attractive theme can grab your visitor’s attention right from the start. There are various themes available for free on the WooCommerce website. But to get the best eCommerce WordPress themes, you’ll have to pay a slight premium or buy them from other WooCommerce or WordPress theme vendors like MyThemeShop, Themify, etc. Now you’re ready to add products and Start a WooCommerce Business.
Step #4: Publish Products On Your Online Store
Your WooCommerce site is ready, but you need to add a product to turn the website into a business. Adding a product on a WooCommerce site is easy and only requires a few steps:
- To start adding to your page, click the ‘add new’ under the Products menu in your dashboard.
- Give the appropriate title and a nice thorough description of the product you want to add.
- And choose the appropriate product category or create a new category under the ‘Product Categories’ menu. Categorizing your products is an essential step as it helps your customers to browse through your store.
- Now you need to enter all the necessary product information under the ‘Product Data’ section. Product information includes product types, shipping information, pricing, discounts, and other relevant data.
- Add a catchy and short description for your product that can be used on other sites and posts for promoting your product.
- Adding product images is a crucial step. It shows the customer how the product looks and also grabs their attention like nothing else. Add the Main product image that will be used in the shop and other sites. Also, add many different images for the products that will be shown on the product page.
- Finally, adjust the privacy settings of the post and Publish the product on your WooCommerce website.
Step #5: Expand your WooCommerce store further with Google services
To get the best out of your newly Start WooCommerce Business, you should incorporate Google services into it. Get your business linked with the Google Merchant Centre and get exceptional services like Google feed, Google Ad services, linked reviews, etc.
Here are the necessary steps on how to link your business with Google:
- Get a Google Merchant Center account; without a merchant account, you cannot enjoy the benefits of Google Marketing. Additionally, set up the Merchant account with your online store by following the necessary process.
- Install the WooCommerce Google Product Feed plugin. The plugin is offered by WooCommerce, and it helps you publish your product to the Google feed and to Google Merchant Center. This means your products will be featured on the Google homepage ads and other related places. There are other alternatives to this plugin available from various developers.
- Set up your Feed using the plugin with all the necessary information that Google Market Center needs to promote a product. You can check the necessary information on their official page.
- Add the unique URL for your Feed available at your wp-admin page to your Google Account.
- Finally, link your Google Ad account and your Merchant account to get all the promotions and advertisements for your products.
Best Plugins For a Successful WooCommerce Business
Now that you know how to Start a WooCommerce Business of your own, you should also know your store’s best plugins. The plugins are offered by various vendors, including WooCommerce, and they perform many functionalities.
Some of the best plugins are listed below along with their short descriptions:
1. Discount Rules for WooCommerce
Discount Rule for WooCommerce is a plugin offered by FlyCart. The plugin comes in both free and Pro versions. It helps you to add different discount rules to your online store.
This plugin comes with different 3 different license types and costs different pricing. If you want to install the plugin on just 1 site, you can go for the Single site license which costs around $49/year but thanks to the FlyCart coupon code out there, you can get a massive discount on the FlyCart plugins.
2. WooCommerce Multilingual
The plugin is offered by the WooCommerce developers. WooCommerce Multilingual and WPML services enable multi-language support on your WooCommerce online store to expand your business internationally.
3. Email Customizer Plus
Email Customizer Plus is also a plugin offered by FlyCart. It offers various transactional email services and customization options for your email.
4. YITH Wishlist
The YITH Wishlist plugin helps you add a Wishlist option on your online store. The Wishlist feature helps increase customer return and engagement for your business.
5. WooCommerce Checkout Field Editor
The plugin is also offered by WooCommerce. The plugin helps you put custom checkout fields on your store to truly suit your products.
6. YITH WooCommerce Quick View
Another YITH plugin helps you add a quick view feature for your products. With the quick view feature, your visitors can check out all the necessary product information, image, and deals without visiting the product page.
7. WooCommerce Menu Cart
The plugin helps you add a shopping cart feature for your eCommerce business. A shopping cart feature is a staple for any online store.
Tips To Run a Successful WooCommerce Business
Now that you understand the basics to Start a WooCommerce Business and run it successfully. Let me give you some useful hints to successfully take your business to new heights.
Tip #1: Learn How to use SEO for WooCommerce
You can use the Search Engine Optimization feature to get a lot of traffic from the various browsers. Since WooCommerce is based on WordPress, it is already very much SEO-ready. Still, you can improve upon this by learning how Search Engine Optimization actually works.
Tip #2: Use Good and Relevant Pictures For your Products
To any shopper, the photos are the first impression of the products. So grab the attention of your visitors by using great photos.
Tip #3: Increase Customer Engagement and Offer Good Customer Service
Increasing good customer interaction is the key to increasing your sales numbers. There are various methods to achieve excellent customer engagement. You can offer subscriptions, ask your customers to leave reviews, affiliate programs, and more to get your visitors involved in your business. Providing excellent customer service through chats, telephone interactions, etc. is another way of keeping your customers happy and returning for more business.
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