Many complex terms are used in the world of website design and digital marketing. There are so many elements to consider when designing your new website. For many businesses, the website design may be simple and only a few pages long, but for others, it may be a bigger project due to selling products online. In this blog, we’re answering the question – what is WooCommerce?
What is eCommerce website design?
Firstly, let’s make sure you know the basics of website design. A website with products available to buy is an eCommerce website. These websites will have product pages, baskets and checkout facilities.
Some websites will use an on-site payment gateway, while others may transfer you off the site to use a third-party website. Regardless of the payment gateways used, it is an eCommerce website. Not all websites have to sell products or services directly. There are many types of websites that you can have, including:
- Business website
- Blog website
- Portfolio website
- Event website
- Membership website
- Personal website
The type of website that is right for you depends on what it is you are focusing on. A great web design agency will be able to offer you honest advice on your website plans. eCommerce websites (websites with online stores) are typically bigger projects as they have more pages involved.
What is WooCommerce?
Now that you have a little more understanding of website design, we can move on to the rest of the blog – what is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is used in WordPress website design. It is one method of building an eCommerce store for your website. You may have heard about plugins, and the WooCommerce store is precisely that.
Installing the WooCommerce plugin allows you to add unlimited products to your online store, add a basket or cart and take payments through your website.
WooCommerce is currently the most popular eCommerce platform. Other eCommerce platforms don’t tend to offer the same design features as a WooCommerce website.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) for building websites. It is open-source software, meaning all users are free to use it and make changes if necessary. Around 43% of websites currently use WordPress.
WordPress allows you to use a range of themes and is easy to update, making it an excellent choice for a long-lasting website design. In addition, many plugins are available to install on a WordPress site to help you achieve your desired aesthetic and functionalities.
Find out more about WordPress in our blog – WordPress – What are the core benefits?
How to install WooCommerce
The WooCommerce plugin is easy to install and can be done by a WordPress admin at the website’s back end. You can download this eCommerce platform in the same way you would download another WordPress plugin. Once installed, you can create your online store and start to sell with WooCommerce!
Benefits of using WooCommerce
There are many benefits to using the WooCommerce plugin for your eCommerce website.
WooCommerce pricing
WooCommerce is a free plugin! There are not many things in life that are free! Additionally, creating a WordPress site can be free. However, more tools and impressive functionalities are available using the paid version compared to the free version of WordPress.
Easy to use
WooCommerce couldn’t be easier to use. One of the main benefits of using WordPress is the level of support available in the community from other web and WooCommerce plugin developers. If you have a problem or are a little confused, chances are you aren’t the only one! The community is friendly, and you’ll likely discover an easy fix for any issues you are having.
WooCommerce themes
WooCommerce and WordPress themes allow you to change the appearance of your website. You can even create custom themes to suit your preferences. Make sure that your themes are compatible if you choose to use a different theme for these elements. The WordPress theme you choose can help transform your website and can be changed anytime (after a website backup).
WooCommerce websites can have lots of features
The WooCommerce store plugin has lots of features that you can use. For example, you can edit product tags and features, allowing you to create more personalised categories. You can also make adjustments based on location and receive product reviews. You may be required to install other WordPress plugins to take full advantage of these features.
WooCommerce stores support SEO
If you haven’t already considered SEO for your business website, it’s definitely time to. A website needs visitors to succeed, and one way to achieve this is through search engine optimisation. There are many methods of SEO that can be implemented on your website.
SEO is a long-term marketing strategy that is best performed by a specialist SEO agency. An agency can work with you to create quality strategies and carefully monitor your results to ensure they provide a return on investment.
A range of WooCommerce plugins can be used to help you achieve a good SEO score on product pages and your blog. Including a blog on your online store is a great way to appear more knowledgeable to your users.
Provides security
It goes without saying that you need a reliable company to host your website. Users will be required to enter personal information and card details into an eCommerce website; therefore, it is vital that you can provide secure payments.
Many users will be reluctant to make a purchase on a website with little security. To boost security, you should have an SSL certificate for your site and also use a reliable website hosting provider.
Good hosting providers can reduce downtime on your website and perform regular maintenance updates. We have a range of website hosting and security packages available to suit your needs.
Developing your eCommerce site
If you’re looking to start an eCommerce business, WooCommerce is a fantastic option. There are many benefits, and it is definitely an easy-to-use online business solution.
Whether you know exactly what design you’d like or you’re struggling with ideas, our expert web designers can support you. We use WordPress to build our websites, and we also provide full training to clients upon completion. As a result, our websites are aesthetically pleasing, mobile-friendly and efficient.
Get in contact if you have any questions regarding both WooCommerce and WordPress. Our team are always happy to help with all aspects of website design.