How to Create an Online Store with WordPress

Do you want to create an online shop with WordPress, but you don’t know how to start? Are you afraid of not knowing how to set up all the options that an e-commerce needs? Forget about your doubts and worries. In this article we explain everything you need to know to start selling right away. Simple and right to the point.

How to start your e-commerce with WordPress step by step

It is as simple as adding just one plugin: WooCommerce . WooCommerce is a free plugin for WordPress with which you can very easily create an online shop. Its main advantage is that it is not limited to digital products, but rather it also allows for traditional product stock management. Not enough for you? Here you have 5 more reasons why WooCommerce is your best option

1. Simple, free, and powerful: it is an all-purpose plugin you can use to start creating your online shop with total security.
2. SEO friendly : the fact that Google likes WordPress is a well-known secret and that’s a very good thing for your SEO strategy. Don’t have a firm grip on positioning? You can read this guide to SEO for online shops .
3. Big community: there are thousands of users ready to answer any and all doubts you may have.
4. Steady updates: its open-source code allows for users to update WooCommerce every now and then.
5. Multiple functionalities: there are loads of extra addons and plugins for WooCommerce that allow you to create exactly the shop you want to.

How to create your online shop with WooCommerce

Unless you have decided not to use WooCommerce because you have a huge shop (in which case it would be better to use a different e-commerce platform ), you would have chosen this plugin. If so, continue reading and we will explain how to set it up and create your shop.

1. Buy a compatible template

All of the WordPress templates work with this plugin, but not all of them are 100% adapted. If you work with a normal template, you will most likely end up having design problems. In order for your shop to look and work perfectly, check that the template you are buying is compatible with WooCommerce.

2. Create the pages related to sales

Just after clicking the “activate plugin” button, WooCommerce will ask for your permission to install the main structure of an online shop. If you go to your pages, you’ll see that 4 new pages are automatically created for you:

• The main page or the shop window.
• The shopping chart.
• The checkout page (payment page).
• Client’s area with information related to orders.

3. Set up the basic aspects of WooCommerce

You can go to the WooCommerce Settings and go through the main pages:

• General Settings: you have to specify your location and currency.
• Products Settings: you will see different options within this page.
• General subtabs: besides dimensions, you can activate the option to allow clients to leave comments and evaluations.
• Display subtabs: in here you can set up whether you want the product categories to be seen in the main page or not. You can also set up lightbox (the product images will be seen bigger and with a light coming from the back).
• Inventory options: in this section you can enable the stock management. You could decide how many units of each product you have so the plugin will deduct them when they are sold.
• Taxes: here you will introduce all the information related to all applicable taxes.
• Checkout: this is the place where you can enable the different payment options. Obviously, the more the better, but as you will see, WooCommerce is 100% integrated with PayPal. That’s all you need to get started.
• Shipping: you have all the options. You can choose from a cost calculation or you can establish a fixed or free price.
• Accounts: check the box to “Enable registration on the Checkout page”. This way, the client will just have to introduce their data whenever they are going to finish the sale and not before.
• Product Search for Woocommerce: A smart product site search is essential for the user experience in your eCommerce, you can install Doofinder Plugin for Woocommerce in less than five minutes and show personalized search results.

4. Add your products

Now you just need to add your products. As you will see, it’s very easy since it is just like creating a post in WordPress. You only have to click Products / Add new, and then it is the same as when you write a product. You will have to fill in the:

• Title
• Text
• Featured image
• Categories
• Tags

In the bottom section, you are presented different options to take into account:

• Product information: it is important to consider if your product is a simple one or if it has different variables. You can show the same product in different colors, material, finishing, or sizes.
• Stock: number of units.
• Allow pending orders: allow the reservation of products that are not available.
• Related products: so you can do cross-selling.
• Attributes: you can use this section to add the characteristics and the variables that you want to show.

After having done all this, you have created your online shop with WordPress. There are a lot of people who put their projects off because of their fear of technical issues, and you have already put that step behind you. So, let’s get selling!