How to make an Ecommerce Website with WordPress

The helpful setup wizard for WooCommerce will then be available to guide you through the rest of the set-up process.

2. Add business details

First, you’ll have to fill out your business details, which is straightforward

Select the correct option under “I plan to sell both digital and physical products”.

It’s important to know that digital products can be anything that is downloadable, such as WordPress themes, online courses, stock images, and so on. A digital camera would, on the other hand, would be a physical product.

3. Select payment options

Next step is to select the payment methods you’ll accept through your store.

We recommend that you enable Stripe and PayPal as both are popular options. You can add your accounts later if you don’t already have them set up.

4. Confirm shipping options

Next, you will be asked to select your shipping rates. WooCommerce will identify the location you are currently in and assign this area as your primary ‘shipping region’. The other option is ‘the rest’.

You have the option to set a fixed price per zone, make shipping free or integrate with specific carriers (including UPS), to receive ‘live’ shipping rates.

5. Choose complementary plugins/theme

Next, you will need to choose which plugins are recommended for your store and whether or not you prefer WooCommerce’s theme.

These plugins and themes can be added later, so don’t feel obligated to do anything right now. We’ll cover recommended plugins and themes later on in this article, so feel free to ‘unselect’ these for now, unless you’re sure you need them.

6. Activate Jetpack

In the final configuration step, you’ll be asked to activate Jetpack.

This will allow you to automate taxes and payment setup later. Click ‘Continue with Jetpack’ 

That’s it! Your basic configuration is now complete. Now it’s time for you to add your products.

Before you move on to the next step, ensure that you have:

• Found WooCommerce in the WordPress plugin directory, installed it, and activated it
• Added your business details
• Chosen shipping and payment options – remember, you can change these later.

STEP FIVE

Choose a theme

Your theme will be the basis for all of your web content. WordPress’s beauty is its flexibility. You can easily modify or add to the HTML code to create a completely new design.

However, unless your coding skills are advanced and you would love to be able to customize the theme to suit your needs, it is a good idea to pick a theme that matches your final product.

In other words, choose a theme that you like, and that will work well for your ecommerce website, even if that means splashing out on a premium template from a third-party site. It’ll save you a lot of effort in the long run.

Popular third-party sites for buying themes include ThemeForest (huge selection) and Elegant Themes (smaller, curated selection), but there are a ton of great sites out there.

After you have a good number of products, it is time to choose a theme.

A selection of free WordPress themes can be found in the theme directory. You can access it through your dashboard.

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
• Hover over ‘Appearance’, then click ‘Themes’. This will take you to the theme dashboard.
• Click the button above the themes that says ‘Add New’, then browse themes under ‘Featured’, ‘Popular’ etc., or use the search bar to search for specific industries.
• Demo a few themes to find the one you like, then hit ‘Install’ under the theme to download it.
• After a few minutes, a button will appear under the theme that says ‘Activate’. Click this, and the theme is all yours.

To install a premium theme on your site:

• Download the .zip file of your new theme.
• Log in to your WordPress Dashboard.
• Hover over ‘Appearance’, then click ‘Themes’. This will bring you to the theme dashboard.
• Click the button that appears above the themes that says ‘Add New’. This will take you to the WordPress theme dashboard.
• Click the blue button at the top that says ‘Upload Theme’.
• You’ll then be asked to choose a .zip file from your computer. Select your new theme file.
• You’ll then see a success message, with a link to activate your theme. That’s it! You’re now ready to go.

Top tip: WooCommerce has its own theme, Storefront. This works well with WooCommerce and looks great.

That said, because anyone can theoretically build a template and upload it on the internet, it’s important you assess whether the template is trustworthy.  You could be vulnerable to hackers if you choose a poorly-designed theme. Don’t forget to “demo” each theme to see how it might look on a real site.

Before you move on to the next step, ensure that you have:

• Browsed both free and premium themes
• Found a design you liked, and tried it out using the ‘demo’ function
• Checked the reviews to make sure it’s reliable
• Installed the theme (different methods for themes in the directory and those bought from a third-party site – see steps above)

STEP SIX

Add products

After installing Jetpack, in the final stage in your initial WooCommerce configuration, you will see a screen inviting to add your first product.

If you’re not ready to upload yet, it’s fine. When you return to your dashboard, just go to ‘Products’ down the left-hand side, then ‘Add New’:

These are the things you will need to upload for every product:

• Product name: e.g. Cute Pale Grey Cement Plant Pot
• Price: e.g. $12.95
• Main product image: this should be a picture of the entire product, from the front
• Additional product images (optional, but highly recommended): include pictures from as many angles as possible, and add closeups of finer details
• Product Description (long): e.g. ‘Inject some Scandinavian cool into your home with this simple cement planter. Features a drainage hole and comes with a small matching dish, so your plant won’t get over-watered. Height: 15cm. Diameter: 8cm.’
• Short product description: e.g. “Simple cement planter with matching tray and drainage hole.”
• Product category (if you have more than one): e.g. Plant Pots

Adding products with WooCommerce

The type of product that you are adding to your website will determine how you add it. There are six main types of products:

1. Simple
2. Grouped
3. External/Affiliate
4. Variable
5. Downloadable
6. Virtual

WooCommerce provides a detailed guide that explains each product type and how to upload them.

We’ll keep the plant pot example for now. This is a basic product. The pot in question does not have other sizes or colours. If it did, be a variable product.

This is how the screen has been populated with the information that we have provided above. You can see that we have added the product to the category “Plant pots” on the right-hand side. We just clicked ‘+Add new category’ which is underlined on the right, named our new category and selected it, then unselected ‘Uncategorized’. If we had more pictures of our plant pot, they would go in the ‘Product gallery’ section under the main image.

After you have added the key information, click through the tabs in the middle to complete the product details. Let’s take a look at what each tab covers in the product data section.

1. General: This is our current tab and includes price and tax
2. Inventory: This is where you can add SKUs, etc. If you wish to keep track of your inventory
3. Shipping: Product dimensions and shipping cost
4. Linked products: Update later with products that complement each other to upsell
5. Attributes: If you have a product with variable dimensions (e.g, one that has different colour options or sizes), this is where to add them.

When you are satisfied with your product click the blue “Publish” button towards the top on the right-hand side.

You can view any products that you have published by going to “All products” in the menu on the right. They will appear as follows:

Before you move on to the next step, ensure that you have:

• Written a title, long description, and short description for each product you want to upload
• Taken product pictures
• Uploaded products to your WordPress dashboard
• Organized products by category

STEP SEVEN

Install additional plugins

We rate the following plugins for online shops as highly as WooCommerce.

1. Yoast for SEO guidance

Having the best online store in the world won’t matter if no one can find it. Yoast SEO is a handy plugin that will help your site climb the search engine rankings and give you the best chance of landing on page 1. SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s about making small changes to your website to make search engines better understand your content and prioritize it accordingly.

2. Sucuri for security

Security is more important when you accept card payments through your ecommerce website. Wordfence is a free security plugin, but we believe this area is worth the extra effort. Sucuri plans start from $199/year. To enable the plugin, you will need to download the free plugin from WordPress directory.

P.S. – We probably don’t need to say this, but securing your ecommerce website is very important. So don’t push it into the “too hard” pile.

3. Site Reviews for reviews

Social proof has been proven to be one of the most powerful factors in getting people to do what you want. In this instance, it would be buying your products. Customers will be able to leave reviews on your site by installing Site Reviews.

It is easy to add plugins to your website:

• Log in to your WordPress dashboard.
• Head to ‘Plugins’, then ‘Add New’.
• Make use of the search bar in the top right-hand side to search for specific plugins, or the general feature you’re looking for.
• After you have found the one that you like, read its reviews and ratings to make sure it is trustworthy.
• After you are satisfied with your selection, click the “Install Now” button.
• After WordPress has downloaded the plugin, you will receive a message confirming that it was successful. Next, you will be asked to click “Activate Plugin”.
• Next, go to settings to configure the plugin. Each plugin will have a different process, but you should be able to follow the instructions in your plugin description.

Before you move on to the next step, ensure that you have:

• Thought about any extras you need for your ecommerce website
• Found the right plugins to add this functionality
• Checked reviews to make sure they’re trustworthy, before then installing

STEP EIGHT

Add content that converts

It’s now time to modify the copy on your key web pages. These key pages can be found by going to “Pages”, then “All Pages”.

A complete guide to writing for the internet has been created by us. It is jam-packed and full of advice from experts in copywriting. Make sure you take a look.

We’ll focus on a few types of content for now. Follow the elements below and you’ll be well on your way to creating a successful ecommerce website.

1. Microcopy

“Microcopy”, also known as “UX copy”, refers to small pieces of navigational text on your site as well as error messages and ‘calls to action’ (CTAs).

Word for word, this is the most important copy on your site. It directs users to your site and convinces them at crucial points (such as when it’s time for them to part with their cash).

This should be written with care. Consider the mindset of your users at every stage of their journey through your ecommerce website.  For example, on the homepage, it might be more appropriate to have a button that leads to your product saying ‘Find out more information’, or ‘Have a browse’. Something pushier, like ‘Buy now’, might be very off-putting.  At this stage, your user is interested in finding out about your brand, but probably not ready to buy.

2. Product descriptions

These should be concise, but helpful and, as the name suggests, descriptive. Consider everything you would need to know when buying that product for yourself, especially if it isn’t obvious from the photos. You can use bullet points to separate the information and keep the format and info consistent across products.

3. Product images

The quality of your product images can make or break your site. For best results, use a high-quality camera with a simple background. A general rule is, ‘the more product photos, the better’. Keep your product images consistent with the descriptions for a clean-looking website.

Top tip! Use TinyPNG and Kraken to compress images. This will help reduce the file size without compromising image quality, helping to keep your site as fast as possible.

4. Privacy Policy

WordPress will ask you to choose a privacy page before making your website public. There is a template that you can use to help you get started.

Click here to generate a free privacy policy for your website

Before you move on to the next step, ensure that you have:

• Personalized the content of your website, including the main cart and shop pages
• Carefully crafted persuasive CTAs and helpful navigational copy
• Written and uploaded a privacy policy page

STEP NINE

Make your ecommerce website public

Once you’re happy with how your ecommerce wesite works (remember you can always ‘Preview’ pages to see how they’d look live), you can make it public. This is the easy part.

Click on ‘Settings’ and then ‘Privacy. After you have uploaded your privacy policies, you will be able to make your site public.

Before you move on to the next step, ensure that you have:

• Made your site public, so people can start shopping.

Conclusion

We’ve aimed to make this guide as easy as possible, but the reality is that WordPress is best-suited to those who have some tech experience. If (like many) you don’t think you belong to that category, not to worry, ecommerce website builders are designed to be easy for anyone to use, and prices start at just $15/month.