How To Setup A Woocommerce Online Store From Scratch.
Woocommerce is one of the best and popular online eCommerce platform that works well with wordpress. According to Woocommerce, the eCommerce platform powers about 28% of all online stores on the internet. Woocommerce ships with prebuilt extensions that enable shipping, invoicing + accounting, SEO, payment gateways and marketing functionality. This tutorial will give you a step by step guide on how to setup a woocommerce online store from scratch.
REQUIREMENTS
In order to complete this tutorial successfully the following items are required. Please ensure to have these items available before taking implementation action on this tutorial:
1) A registered domain named with an SSL certificate installed.
2) A cpanel website hosting account.
3) WordPress website with access to the admin console.
4) The woocommerce wordpress plugin.
6) An internet connection.
OVERVIEW
1) Introduction
2) Purchase a domain name and a web hosting plan that uses CPANEL
3) Install wordress using the SOFTACULOUS web apps installer
4) Install and configure the WOOCOMMERCE plugin
5) Setup the E-COMMERCE store (online store design, upload your products, prices, delivery & shipping).
INTRODUCTION
1) When you want to start an e-commerce website one of the most important elements to consider to choosing a good domain name. You might find that it is difficult to think of a good domain name that is easy to remember for you target users and that describes your brand.
To make the process of choosing a good domain name for your new e-commerce business go to learndomainsearch.com. On this website you can simply type in a keyword associated with your e-commerce business in the search bar and learndomainsearch will display available domain names that you can use.
Step 1: Purchase A Domain Name And Hosting Plan.
2) Once you have decided on a domain name click HERE to go to the namecheap website where you can register the domain name as well as purchase a wordpress hosting plan.
Namecheap offers managed wordpress hosting services that are jam packed with easy to use features that will help you to quickly and securely launch and scale your e-commerce website.
Namecheap has 3 product offerings for wordpress namely EASYWP STARTER, EASYWP TURBO and EASYWP SUPERSONIC all of which are available on a monthly or yearly billing cycle.
Step 2: Install WordPress Using The Softaculous Apps Installer.
3) Once you have purchased a domain name as well as a wordpress hosting account, login to the CPANEL web hosting control panel and open the “SOFTACULOUS APPS INSTALLER”. If your cpanel hosting account doesnt have this option you may have to install wordpress manually. Click HERE to learn how to do so.
4) On the “SOFTACULOUS” page hover your mouse on the wordpress logo and click on the “INSTALL” button. On the wordpress software setup page choose the version you want to install as version 5.3.2. You may select an older version if you wish to however we recommend installing the latest version. Select an installation location on the “CHOOSE INSTALLATION URL”.
On the “SITE SETTINGS” section add the “SITE NAME” and “SITE DESCRIPTION” for your new e-commerce website.
On the “ADMIN ACCOUNT” section type in an admin username and password as well as an admin email. Please ensure to enter a valid admin email as this will help you in the event that you forget your login credentials.
5) WordPress has support for multiple languages. This is usefull if you are building an e-commerce platform that is highly localized. Scroll down to the “CHOOSE LANGUAGE” section and select a language that best suites your e-commerce website.
On the “SELECT PLUGIN(S)” section, tick on “LIMIT LOGIN ATTEMPTS (LOGINIZER)” check box to protect the website from bruteforce login attacks. Tick on the “W3 TOTAL CACHE” chek box. Ticking on the check box will allow the “W3 TOTAL CACHE plugin to cache the website and use its content delivery network (CDN) feature to improve user experience by reducing website content download times.
Scroll down to the “SELECT THEME” section, choose a theme for the website. This theme can be change after installing wordpress. Click on the “INSTALL” button to proceed.
Step 3: Install And Configure The Woocommerce Plugin.
6) Once wordpress is installed successfully installed open up an new browser tab and go to https://yourdomainname/wp-admin. Enter you login credentials on the login page to get access to the wordpress admin dashboard.
Go to “PLUGINS > ADD NEW” and enter “WOOCOMMERCE” on the search. Click on the “INSTALL NOW” button on WOOCOMMERCE and click on “ACTIVATE”
7) The Woocommerce plugin will automatically redirect you to the woocommerce setup wizard. On the “STORE SETUP” section fill out information such as the country where your online store is based, address, currency ans choose whether you plan to sell digital products, physical products or both. Click on “LEST GO!” to proceed.
On the “PAYMENT” section WooCommerce can accept both online and offline payments and third party payment plagins can also be added after store setup. Choose payment methoods that work best for you from the available payment methods and click on “CONTINUE”
Make selections that best fit your store location on the “SHIPPING” section and on the “RECOMMENDED” section the MAIL CHIMP, WOOCOMMERCE ADMIN and FACEBOOK plugins can be installed. These plugins can enhance your store and make it easier to market your products, tick on each plugin and click on “CONTINUE”.
8) On the “ACTIVATE” section there is the option of installing JETPACK. JETPACK for wordpress is an all in one tool that can perform site traffic, website management and website design functionalities. Click on “CONTINUE WITH JETPACK” to proceed.
9) The next step is to install a custom theme so as to be able to make changes to the look and feel of the e-commerce website. To install a theme go to “APPEARANCE > THEMES > ADD NEW” and search for a theme called “ASTRA”. From the ASTRA theme search result click on “INSTALL” then “ACTIVATE”.
10) Go to “APPERANCE > ASTRA OPTIONS” and click on “INSTALL IMPORTER PLUGIN” this will allow you to install a free sample ecommerce website that can be edited using the ELEMENTOR page builder.
You will be prompted to select a page builder, choose the ELEMENTOR option and click on “NEXT”
On the ASTRA sites library, click on the “E-COMMERCE” tab, choose any starter site template you like and click on “IMPORT SITE”.
Once the import process is complete, you can click on the “VIEW SITE” button to have a look a what the starter site looks like.
Step 4: Setup The E-commerce Store.
11) Now that the woocommerce plugin and a sample website has been installed the next step is to add products to the store, add any additional payment options and customize the look and feel of the e-commerce website.
The store setup process will be completed in 5 simple steps:
a) Delete sample products on the starter website.
b) Add your own products.
c) Change Your currency.
d) Setup payment methods.
e) Customize the design and layout.
12) To delete the sample products go to the wordpress dashboard, click on “PRODUCTS” and click on the “SELECT ALL” check box. On the “BULK ACTIONS” drop down menu choose the “MOVE TO TRASH” option and click on “APPLY”
To add your own products, go back on to the “PRODUCTS” page and click on “ADD NEW”. Woocommerce also also importing product in bulk using a CSV file.
To change the currency to the e-commerce website simply go to “WOOCOMMERCE > SETTINGS”. On the “GENERAL” tab scroll down to the “PAYMENT OPTIONS” and on the “CURRENCY” dropdown select the currency you wish to change to. Click on “SAVE CHANGES”.
13) The next step is to setup payment methods and to install payment plugins that will allow you to receive payments for the goods and services that you are selling on the e-commerce website. However payment methods and plugins that you can use depend on where the e-commerce website is based and the financial service providers available in your region.
And finally customize the look and feel on the e-commerce website. This can easily be done with the ELEMENTOR page builder. It has lots of drag and drop features that allow you to customize the e-commerce site to look just the way you want it to.
14) AWESOME! You Have Successfully Setup A Woocommerce Online Store From Scratch.
