Step-by-Step Guide to Turn Your WordPress Site Into Online Store

Introduction 

If you already have a WordPress site and want to convert it into an online store, you can do it easily with the help of WooCommerce. WooCommerce is the most popular eCommerce plugin available for WordPress that can help you create the most amazing online store with minimal developing experience. 

All you need to do is follow this step-by-step guide of creating an online store with WooCommerce and you will be set. In this article, we are going to tell you how to create a basic online store, so let’s get started!  

Find a Domain Name and Hosting

The 2 essential things you need to open an online store is a domain name and a hosting service. A hosting service is like a manager for your website. It consists of all the necessary tools and features to run your site and increase sales and traffic. Some of the best hosting providers include BlueHost, WP Engine, Kinsta, etc. They all have different pricing plans available which you can choose from according to your budget. 

Some hosting services also provide your site with a free domain name, such as BlueHost. A domain name is an address for your website and can cost around $10 if you buy separately.

Installing WordPress and WooCommerce

Most hosting providers already install WordPress on your website, such as BlueHost. Once you have set up WordPress, it’s time to install WooCommerce. WooCommerce is available for free in the WordPress directory. After installing and activating WooCommerce, you are directed to a Setup Wizard which helps you create the basic pages of your website like checkout, shopping cart, payment gateway, etc. Let’s discuss this process in a little detail.

WooCommerce Setup Wizard

The WooCommerce Wizard setup makes creating a website immensely easy. It starts by setting up basic pages on your websites, such as the shopping page, where products will be displayed, cart page, my account, and checkout page. Then you need to answer a few questions regarding the location of your store; where is it based? Which currency will you use? Units of measurements and product dimensions? 

Next, you are required to set up tax and shipping charges. WooCommerce can automatically calculate sales tax based on your store’s location, making this job extremely easy and quick. The last option involves choosing a payment gateway to collect customers’ payments. Luckily, WooCommerce is equipped with hundreds of payment gateways, many of them are available for free, such as Stripe and PayPal. You can also add different payment methods. And that’s it! Your basic online store is ready. 

Add Products 

Adding products in WooCommerce is very simple, all you have to do is go to WooCommerce > Products > Add new. On this page, you need to add a product title and give a detailed description of the product. In the product data section, you need to set up the regular price and sale price. You can also set the inventory, shipping costs, product dimensions, attributes, linked products, and much more in the advanced section. 

You can also categorize your products by tagging them or adding different categories so customers can easily find products. 

Choose the Best Theme

Once you have set up WooCommerce and products, it’s time to style your website. WooCommerce is equipped with thousands of themes, both paid and free, to give your site a unique look. The WooCommerce official theme Storefront is available for free and consists of 14 child themes which are great for selling any type of product.

Other popular themes include Neto, Ultra, Astra, Galleria, and much more. You can easily find these in the WordPress directory or download from third-party websites like ThemeForest, ThemeIsle, etc. These themes are compatible with WordPress and WooCommerce and easily transfer data and products. You can also customize the theme however you like. 

Enhancing Your Online Store

You can further improve your customers’ shopping experience by adding plugins and extensions. WooCommerce is compatible with thousands of plugins and extensions that increase the functionality of your website and make it user-friendly. 

Some of the most popular plugins include 

• Yoast SEO, which checks the readability of your content.
• LiveChat, which enables you to add a live customer support option
• TrustPulse, for enabling social proof
• WooCommerce Multilingual, to make your site translation-ready

All this and many more features can be added with the help of WooCommerce.

You can even add Shoppable posts or Shoppable Galleries on your website as well to improve sales of your online Store. Tools like a social commerce platform can help you collect visual content from social media (including UGC) into a feed.

Then you can tag products to this visual social feed to make it shoppable and publish these shoppable galleries or Shoppable Instagram feeds on your online store. This helps in inspiring users and turning them into customers leading to more sales, engagement, and revenue. 

Conclusion

The best thing about using WooCommerce to convert your WordPress site into an online store is that it is available for free, offers multiple options, is customizable, and easy to use. The learning curve is steep at the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, you can easily create a site according to your liking. For more information, this detailed WooCommerce guide for beginners can be a great help.

WordPress and WooCommerce are also a very budget-friendly option. WooCommerce allows you to add unlimited plugins, although you need to make sure to not overload your site with unnecessary features. With WooCommerce, you can stay within budget and also enjoy the best options available.  

Guest article written by: Xaviera Khalid is the content writer at WooKeeper.com. She provides ghost writing, guest blogs, and articles on WordPress and WooCommerce. She focuses on SEO content and provides factual writing. Check out her work at WooKeeper.com.