Use the best ecommerce plugin for WordPress (Part 4)

Part 4: How to choose the best ecommerce plugin for WordPress

In Part 3: How to find the best WordPress hosting for an online store, we’ve talked about finding WordPress hosting for your online store. Today, we’re looking into how to find the best ecommerce plugin for WordPress online store environment.

The best ecommerce plugin for WordPress stores

Once you have your domain name registered and hosting account already created, it’s time to install WordPress and the needed plugins.

Installing WordPress is easy and your hosting platform will take you step-by-step through the process. You may even find something usually called One-Click WordPress install, which is a script that will make it really easy and it all can be done in mere minutes. The most important thing to remember is to use your store name as your site title and add a persuasive tagline or description to describe your site.

There are many courses available on this subject, and you will find them on YouTube also.

Here are just a few general steps you must do.

The mandatory steps after WordPress installation

Change your WordPress address (URL) and Site address (URL) from HTTP to HTTPS. You can do this via ‘Settings’, then ‘General.’ You will be logged out of the system and you’ll have to log in again, this time over a secure connection (https://).

Use the best ecommerce plugin to start your store. Choose the one that is easy to customize, has professional free and premium themes, supports different payment gateways, has reliable customer support, and integrates with third-party apps like accounting software, email marketing software, and so on. Unless you have very specific needs, WooCommerce is the one you should be looking at.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is by far the best ecommerce plugin to use to build and expand your store. It’s free, but you can always expand its functionalities by using premium addons. You can add as many products as you like and customize them whichever way you want. WooCommerce has an extension store that gives you access to countless third-party software if you need to improve your store’s functionality or add more features. In a very basic statement, WooCommerce is most probably the best ecommerce plugin for WordPress.

One very important thing about WooCommerce is that you can sell whatever you want. Physical goods, subscriptions, digital products, and so much more. You can also add affiliate links to your store and earn passive income. It’s all completely up to you.

Go to your WordPress admin dashboard to start building your store. Go to ‘Plugins’, then ‘Add New.’ Search for WooCommerce and click on ‘install’. The plugin has many millions active installations and thousands of reviews, so you can be sure about its functionality. After completing the installation process, go to ‘Activate’ to activate your plugin and you can immediately start using it.

WooCommerce Setup Wizard

You will be directed to a setup wizard where you will add important information such as your country, address, region, and location (many are optional).

This whole part is very important when installing WooCommerce.

This whole part is very important. The settings you put in here will determine most of the hidden functionalities of WooCommerce (taxes, delivery options, etc.). You really need to take some time to set this up. But don’t worry, you can always come back later and change things.

After providing the necessary information, click on ‘Continue’. Follow the prompts and provide all the required details such as your store industry, the types of products you want to sell, the number of products you want to display, whether you are also selling elsewhere, and so on.

After providing your business details switch to the ‘Free Features’ tab and untick the ‘Add recommended business features to my site’ box. Click ‘Continue.’ Choose a free or premium theme or use your current theme for your online store.

The previously mentioned Divi theme, as an example, works flawlessly with WooCommerce. It includes a theme builder which you can use to style your shop to details. So, if you have Divi installed, you’re well on your way and you can continue to the next step, Customizing your store.

Summary: The best ecommerce plugin for WordPress stores

There are many ecommerce themes available on websites like Themeforrest. It’s important that you read the descriptions thoroughly before buying, or even ask questions if you’re interested in something you can’t find about the theme. Vendors are usually very friendly and will do their best to answer you. If the theme fails on some of your main requests, just keep searching. Remember, price should not be your primary condition. Paying $17 or $47 for a good theme does not make any difference if the theme does what you want it to and brings you thousands in return.

Full report (FREE)

You can download the full report about how to start an online store by clicking the image below. It will let you download a full PDF doc that you can read at your own pace and on any device.