WordPress is our Web Shop Hero
Web Shops, or online stores are all the rage these days. But how can you build them for yourself?
There are many services tempting you to do business with them, and choosing one is a daunting task. When choosing which technology to use there is one choice you can make to protect yourself and your profits from prying hands.
If you have an existing business, or you want to start a new one. Using a WordPress web shop is the best way to protect your investment in time and money. https://webshoptoolbox.com is your DIY resource for setting up, running, and managing your own WordPress Web Shop.
WordPress the CMS platform
WordPress is a CMS platform that is open and free to use. Websites used to be hand crafted works of art, coded by hand with programs like Dreamweaver, and uploaded to a server for you to visit. WordPress is software that runs on the server and creates your website automatically when a client contacts your website, giving them a completely custom experience.
WordPress is easy to work with because it comes complete with an administrative back-end website to manage all aspects of your business. WordPress’s functionality can be extended with free and paid for plugins that can transform your web shop. There are tons of services offering to host your WordPress web shop, giving you freedom to change your hosting company should something go wrong.
Setting up a WordPress web shop
[discuss how simple it is to setup a WordPress Website]
The WordPress.com website is the original WordPress Hosting service, the company Automattic created the WordPress software, and they release it as free and open source software. You don’t have to use their service, you can host it on any web service. Even your own home computer or laptop. There are thousands of web hosting companies that offer affordable WordPress hosting services around the world.
Many of these companies also offer Domain Registration and email services as well, giving you a full suite of services to manage your web shop.
To begin, you will want to find a Domain Name. Next go to the Web Hosting service you choose and create an account. Register your domain, and then click the button to create a WordPress website. In minutes you will be sent a link to your new WordPress web site. Then you can customize it by selecting a theme and plugins to build your web shop. Of course there are many options to choose from, and help is easy to find or hire.
eCommerce Plugins for a Web Shop
A new WordPress web site is setup for blogging by default. To build your Web Shop, install a theme and plugins that extend its functionality to offer products for sale.
There are many eCommerce plugins, but the most popular ones are WooCommerce, or Easy Digital Downloads. These plugins are free to use, and you extend them with plugins as well, depending on your preference to use payment processors for payments like PayPal, Stripe, or Square.
There are also premium paid for plugins that customize your shop with features like shipping calculators and labeling. Setting up the shop is a little complex, but once you set it up, then it operates with minimal fuss.
Building and growing your web shop
While it may be seem technically challenging to get the web shop setup and configured right, I believe it is more challenging setup up the products on display.
Present your products in your web shop with clear and informative product descriptions, photos and videos. Once you get a feel for it and setup templates and build a process then that will get easier.
The next challenge is marketing. Selling products from your website through Social Media is a great way to generate traffic. Many services can hook into your Web Shop to help sell your products. This is where you have to be careful though, there are many services that are happy to take your money for little traffic in return.
Why you should use WordPress for your web shop
When it comes to your business you want technology to get out of the way and focus on being productive. There are SAAS solutions that try to offer you that, and they are good at doing that for a while until you reach their limit. Either they become too expensive, or their capacity limits your ability to grow. You also want to protect your investment in time and money, and that is where WordPress shines. WordPress is willing to grow with you from the smallest 1 item web shop to a full department store.
WebShopToolbox.com is your DIY resource for building and running your own Web Shop. I am a big fan of WordPress, I believe that it will continue to be an industry leader in eCommerce solutions.
