Building E-Commerce (B2C) Websites with WordPress

Creating a WordPress e-commerce site that is both functional and profitable, while it is more difficult, the process can be greatly simplified by tackling the challenges one by one. There are a lot of details that need to be taken care of to create such a site, and tackling them in steps can make the whole process much easier.

So I'm going to give a comprehensive overview of all the must-know points on how to build an e-commerce website using WordPress. Everything from choosing the right themes and plugins to providing tips on search engine optimization (SEO). Let's get started together!

E-commerce topics

Choosing the right theme is crucial to making a good impression on your visitors, and it directly affects the first impression people have of your website. Therefore, it is very important to figure out what a theme can do for you in terms of customizability and functionality.

While this post won't go into all the details of choosing a theme, we've wrapped up some of the key points you need to consider when picking one in other posts. Before picking a theme, we suggest you take a look at which lessons we've summarized.

Popular E-Commerce Topics

While there are a multitude of themes available on the market, in our experience, the following three are great choices for whatever need they fulfill. Below, let's take a look at them in more detail!

Storefront

We'll talk more about it laterWooCommerceBut for now, let's take a look at Storefront, the "official" theme, which is simple, functional, and easy to use, so you can see your products at a glance. Since it's officially developed by WooCommerce, it's guaranteed to be compatible with WordPress, WooCommerce, and various extensions.

However, many people feel thatStorefrontIt's more like a door into the world of other themes. That said, while it's suitable for newbies to use when familiarizing themselves with the platform and building a basic website, if what you want is more functionality and fewer limitations, then you may end up moving on to other options.

Shopkeeper

Next, let's talk aboutShopkeeperThis is a feature-rich yet easy to use premium e-commerce theme.

Shopkeeper's design features clean lines and bold fonts to give your website a modern and sleek look. We don't think there's anything negative about this theme. Take a look at its demo to visualize its look and functionality and help you determine if it suits your needs.

Jessica.

The last thing to be introduced isJessica.A specialized program for theGenesis FrameworkDesigned as a child theme. While we'll explain this in more detail later in the article, the short version is that StudioPress is a leading company in premium theme development. Unsurprisingly, Jessica is also a top e-commerce theme.

Unlike the other themes on our list, Jessica is special because it is compatible with multiple e-commerce platforms, which makes it more flexible than other options. Also, considering the excellent code quality of the Genesis framework, you can rest assured that your e-commerce store will be built on a solid foundation.

E-commerce plug-ins

Plugins can add new functionality to your website as easily as installing a new app on your cell phone with a few clicks. Therefore, choosing the right plugin is crucial for both visitors and developers.

When it comes to building an online store with WordPress, you have to use specialized e-commerce plugins. Next, we'll cover some of the top e-commerce plugins.

Top eCommerce Plugins

Which features your website needs is up to you, but we still think that the following plugins can support and enhance the performance of most e-commerce websites. Let's start with the most popular solutions.

WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the undisputed leader in the WordPress e-commerce space, mainly due to its ease of use and ability to quickly set up a full-fledged e-commerce site. We'll be going further in-depth on WooCommerce later on, so stay tuned if you want to learn more about what this plugin can offer.

Easy Digital Downloads

Like WooCommerce.Easy Digital DownloadsAlso a very popular plugin, but it focuses on selling digital products. It's simple to use and just as easy as WooCommerce. This plugin also offers a lot of extensions, although some people may find the price of these extensions a bit on the high side.

MemberPress

This plugin is a bit different from what we mentioned before, as it's mainly used to build membership sites. But we still think it can be considered in the e-commerce category because you are actually selling products to your customers.

MemberPressIt's run by a group of experts and is both easy to use and can be customized as much as needed. There's no free version, but it's fairly priced.

E-commerce payment gateway options

It is a basic requirement for any e-commerce website to offer multiple payment methods. More critically, these payment methods must be integrated correctly or else it may affect the customer's trust in your business.

For this reason, we'll then take a brief look at three popular payment gateways, explaining why they're so popular.

Stripe

Stripe is a globally available and highly popular payment platform that supports currencies in over 100 countries and multiple payment methods, including Apple Pay and direct bank transfers.

One of the big advantages of Stripe is that it doesn't charge any additional fees beyond the small fee you need to pay for each transaction. This makes Stripe both a reliable and affordable option, no matter where your customers are or how they choose to pay.

PayPal

Almost everyone has heard of it.PayPal, it has become almost synonymous with online shopping. It is usually the default free payment method for most people, but there are also paid pro versions that offer more features.

The main advantage is that customers can complete payments directly from your website, while the actual payment processing is done behind the scenes through PayPal. However, this convenience comes at a price - a monthly fee of $30 in addition to the fee you need to pay for each transaction.

WooCommerce for WordPress

As we mentioned before.WooCommerceIt is the most popular e-commerce plugin for WordPress, both for users and developers. Not only is it powerful and easy to use, but there are tons of additional plugins that make it possible for you to extend the functionality of WooCommerce as needed.

For those who have some basic programming skills, WooCommerce's code is easy to understand and as intuitive to use as WordPress. If you want to make some personalized adjustments to the software, WooCommerce gives you plenty of flexibility.

E-commerce Search Engine Optimization

You may know something about search engine optimization (SEO), but it's just as important for e-commerce websites. Simply put, it's about making your e-commerce product pages well found by search engines as well. Here are a few practical ways to do this:

• Make sure that each product description is clearly written and contains relevant keywords.
• Add descriptive alternative text to each product image.
• Have each product URL contain relevant text and keywords.
• Pay attention to the overall structure of the site, as e-commerce sites tend to have numerous pages.

To dive into the last point, a large e-commerce site can have thousands of pages, so it's important to keep everything organized. Simply put, try to make it no more than three clicks for a visitor to access any content on your site.

All in all, it's crucial to treat the optimization of your posts, pages and products equally. Neglecting any of these aspects can become a weakness and ultimately lead to a decrease in website traffic.

E-Commerce Tips

While there are many other factors to consider, the following three tips are a good starting point for optimizing your WordPress e-commerce site. To get started, the first is about how to deliver your website content!

1. Prioritize cell phone users Nowadays, surfing the web on cell phones has become the norm for most people. Therefore, adopting a "mobile-first" design strategy will not only improve the usability of your website, but also help you attract more potential customers.
2. Manage your mailing lists and subscriber data You may not have realized it, but the most valuable resource for an e-commerce website is your mailing list. This is because a mailing list represents more opportunities for profitability. Over time, by retargeting and remarketing your mailing list, you may find continued profitability.
3. Harnessing the power of social media Social media is known to be a popular place to bring together people with the same interests. If you build your e-commerce website with social media channels in mind, you're more likely to attract traffic, increase conversions, and ultimately increase revenue.

List of e-commerce sites

No matter how much you know about building an e-commerce website, it's always good to have a checklist on hand so you can always look at it and check it off. So, here are a few things you should think about before you actually start building your website:

• Pick a suitable platform, such as WordPress.
• Find a reliable web hosting provider (we'll explain further).
• Pick a theme that matches your idea.
• Decide on the e-commerce platform you're going to use, such as with the WooCommerce plugin for WordPress.

Next, you may need some initial advice on how to build and launch your website. We think the following points are the most critical:

• Prioritize the user's website experience and usability.
• Offer a variety of payment options and make sure the checkout process is straightforward.
• Design your product pages, including search engine optimization, and make sure each page has high-quality images and videos.
• Start a blog and add value to your products through content marketing.

You also need to consider how to track customers who have converted or left the sales pipeline. This topic is beyond the scope of this article, but there are plenty of resources to help you dive deeper.