10 Steps to set up your WordPress Store?

An online store allows you to target a large audience. With online shopping, people get quality products at their doorstep. The eCommerce business is booming, this is the best time to get into it. WordPress provides you an opportunity to do so by creating your own online store. However, creating a WordPress store is not that simple. 

Furthermore, it’s essential that your eCommerce platform should be easy to use and maintain. WordPress is a perfect player because it’s powerful, scalable, and easy to use even for beginners. 

If you’re not a tech-savvy person, you will still be able to build an online store without writing a single line of code. Wondering how to start an online store on WordPress, we will help you out in all this. We’ve created a step-by-step walkthrough so you can set up your WordPress store.

Step 1: Choose Domain Name

To set up an online store powered by WordPress, there are two prerequisites: domain name, and web hosting. 

A domain name is the name of your website (i.e. myonlinestore.com). Users can access your website by typing your domain name into the address bar of a browser. Some familiar domain names with extensions are www.Amazon.com, www.Facebook.com, etc.

You need to purchase a domain name that matches the brand name of your online store. Go with a .com extension as it is the most popular domain extension and you’ll be open to selling worldwide.

Step 2: Buy Web hosting

You need to purchase web hosting. Most of the time a domain name comes along with web hosting. It is like renting a spot of internet land for your website where all the files will be stored and users can see them when they visit your website.

Web hosting provides a space for your website just like the physical location of a retail store. 

How to Choose Web Hosting

It is essential to choose a web hosting of top-notch speed and performance. You must consider factors like 1-click installation of apps like WooCommerce, SSL certificate availability (a digital certificate that creates a secure link between a website and a visitor’s browser), PCI compliance to securely accept credit cards payments, Backups, and customer support service.

Considering the above factors, we recommend choosing Bluehost. It provides good operational and support services at an affordable cost. 

Step 3: Choose a Brand Name

Before you set up an eCommerce store it is important to have a brand name for your online store. The brand name should match your domain name. For instance, think about the most popular online store on the internet, Amazon. The brand name is Amazon and the domain name www.Amazon.com. 

Having a common brand name and domain name makes it easier for people to remember your website. Ensure that you have a simple and short brand name, keep it unique, and use keywords in your brand name. 

Use Domain Name Generator to help yourself, enter one or two keywords to get started.

Step 4: Install WordPress

Use one of the two ways to install WordPress; 

• One-click install through your hosting dashboard 
• Manually downloading WordPress, then uploading it to your hosting account 

One-click WordPress installation

It is the easiest method to install WordPress, you should look for this option while choosing a hosting provider.

Once you’ve signed up with a hosting provider, you can go into your hosting dashboard and hit the button “Install WordPress”.

Manual WordPress installation

In this method, it is required to download WordPress to your computer, then upload it to your hosting dashboard.

Step 5: Install and Activate Woocommerce

Woocommerce can be linked to WordPress as a free plugin. From the dashboard, press on ‘Plugins’ at the left-hand menu. Then search for Woocommerce in the search bar. The plugin will appear with the same name, press on Install Now.

Once installation is complete, the button will become blue, click on ‘Activate’ to get things rolling.

Why we choose Woocommerce:

It gives you full control over your online store and is chosen by 28% of all online stores. WooCommerce comes with a number of built-in features like shipping, inventory management, payment processing, reporting, and more.

There will be lots of customization options and you can utilize more plugins to add useful features to your online store.  Furthermore, a variety of themes are available to give the desired look to your online store. If you are stuck in an issue, don’t worry WordPress and WooCommerce have a huge community. Different forums are available to help you out. 

Step 6: Configure Woocommerce

On the dashboard, you will see a purple color box on the top with the text Run the Setup Wizard, click it. Another window will open where you need to fill out some basic configuration.

First, specify your store’s location and address. Then select the currency for receiving payment. Select the right option under ‘I plan to sell both physical and digital products.

Then move to the payment selection step. WooCommerce only accepts payments via PayPal and Stripe. Enter your PayPal email to complete this step, you don’t need to link your PayPal account. For additional payment methods, you can install other plugins. 

Next, choose your shipping rates. WooCommerce will set the area you’re currently in as your main shipping zone. Based on your choice, you can either set a fixed price for each zone, set shipping as free, or make use of specific carriers (including UPS) to get ‘live’ shipping rates.

The next stage is to decide on choosing complementary plugins and themes, we can skip it at this stage.

Next, you will be asked to connect your site with Jetpack. This will automate taxes and perform other functions. However, it’s not necessary, so you can skip it if you want.

That’s it, WooCommerce configuration is sorted. Now it’s time to add some products.

At the last stage of WooCommerce configuration, you’ll be asked to add your first product. If you aren’t ready now then simply skip it. 

 Step 7: Add Products

On returning to the dashboard, go to products on the left-hand side, then Add new. 

First, set the title of your product and then add some description. 

Click on the ‘+Add New Product Category’ in the ‘Product Categories’ box at the right-hand column. Create a Category for your product. It will help you and your customer to sort and search for products with ease.

Below the description area, you will see the Product Data box. Here you will provide information about pricing, inventory, shipping, etc. related to your product.

Below the product data box, there is an option to add a Product Short Description. If you have multiple products on a page, this short description will be useful in the said case.

Finally, in the right-hand column, there are some boxes to add the main Product Image and fill out the Product Gallery with multiple images.

Double-check all the information you have provided for your product, then click on the Publish button to make it live on your eCommerce website.

Step 8: Change Your WordPress Theme

To install a free theme, go to Themes under Appearance at the left hand of your WordPress dashboard. Then click the Add New Theme box. You will see some featured themes.

 You can also preview a theme by clicking on the thumbnails displayed. Filter themes using the eCommerce option so will only get eCommerce store compatible themes.

To install a specific theme, you can type its name in the search bar. Once you’ve found the right theme, install it, and click Activate to apply it on your website.

Step 9: Install additional plugins

Without adding a single line of code, WordPress allows you to add tons of different plugins for added functionality. 

For installing new plugins, from the dashboard press on Plugins then add new. In the right corner a search bar is present, use it to search for your required plugin. Click the Install Now button, then Activate it.

 For online stores following plugins should be used;

Yoast SEO 

Yoast SEO is a famous plugin, it will help you to optimize your website content and apply SEO (Search Engine Optimization) techniques. It will improve your place in the Search Engine ranking, as a result, you’ll have more traffic followed by more sales.

Sucuri Security

This plugin is responsible for securing your website against vulnerabilities. It will inform you about all actions performed on your website and will keep all your data and credit card details safe and tidy.

Site Reviews

By using this plugin, you enable users to leave a review on your site. Utilize these reviews to get feedback, improving website performance, product quality, and marketing in some cases.

Step 10: Public Your WordPress Store

Once you make all these, it’s time to make your WordPress store public so it can reach everyone. 

For this purpose, go to Settings, then Privacy. After uploading the privacy policy, select the option to make your store ‘Public’.

Conclusion:

Our suggestion is to keep a good site design, review regularly, and provide helpful customer service for your WordPress store. We hope now you will feel confident in launching your own eCommerce store by following these ten steps. If you have any questions, we’d love to chat with you in the comments section below.