Online stores are there to assist people with their 24 hours and seven days service. However, if you want to know how to start an online store, then it could be a challenging thought and mainly when you do not know anything about it. You have to be very sure about the new and present customers and their demands. Thousands of users might use your store for online shopping, but then how you could fulfill their demands? Don’t worry; here follow up vital step by step guide to begin your online store.
Six Steps to Set Up Online Store
Find out the basic requirements for building an online store using WordPress. Take a short step by step guide to open a free online store with products.
Step 1: Set up a platform to have an online store
Step 2: Go through WordPress using tips for once
Step 3: Ensure your payment method for your online store
Step 4: Add the products you want to sell
Step 5: Now set up a suitable theme for your website
Step 6: Extend your online business using Plugins
To start your business in the digitalized world, the online method is the most preferable. You do not need many skills but need to have a laptop, to begin with.
We are here with a tutorial for you to begin within minutes. However, before that, you must consider below three essential things:
• Name of your online store or domain name
• Place where your website will live online
• Full focused attention for thirty minutes.
What are the significant benefits of starting an online store business?
To have the best benefits, you have to run an entire business on the internet. Here are some significant benefits to starting an online store.
- To have better productivity along with store reputation
- To provide flexibility in business ways with increasing customer’s reliability
- A big pool of new customers to reach online store daily
- Proper marketing of the business
This is an easy work to set up a WordPress website in 30 minutes. However, you must follow the appropriate guidance, as mentioned below.
Six steps guide to open free online store.
Step 1: Set up a platform to have an online store
The essential requirement and the mistake generally we make is the platform of the online stores. Choose the ideal one to have better results as expected. There are mainly two ideal platforms for online stores- WordPress + WooCommerce or Shopify.
Here we will take you through WordPress + WooCommerce to provide better flexibility in your work. It is worth to go with WordPress for long term work.
However, before you set up, you must be precise with three basics as store name, web hosting, and SSL certificate.
The domain name or the store name is something when the customer will type on Google to reach out to your website.
Web hosting defines where your website will stand. For every web site, it is essential to have web hosting.
SSL certificate is to ensure your website is safe with every aspect. It must not disclose sensitive and vital information about your site.
However, these all might cause a lot of costs. Thus BlueHost has solved your big problem by offering some extra money once login to it. Thus you can enjoy a free domain and save your money.
Now the next step is to Go for WordPress using tips for once.
Step 2: Go through WordPress using tips for once
BlueHost will provide you with an already installed WooCommerce and WordPress. Once you login to a site, you will get one Welcome message.
They will ask for the type of website you would like to have for the Best Online Shopping Site. However, the step is necessary to consider, but still, your motive is to move to the WordPress admin dashboard.
Visit the settings of the page where you can visit general settings to set description and title for your online store.
Now set up HTTPS for having secured website
WordPress Hosting package you bought has free certification for SSL. It comes along with the domain name. However, you must configure it for once. Thus you need to load it once as both https and HTTP.
After that, you need to visit settings for changing to https instead of HTTP to ensure the security of the store website.
However, the changes will save only after you do. The save button will store the settings. You will get the save button by scrolling down.
The work to set up WordPress is now done. Be ready for your online store.
Step 3: Ensure your payment method for your online store
Before selling your online products, take care to set up payment, currency, and other essential requirements like shipping.
On the admin page, you will find one message, “Welcome to WooCommerce.” Press Run Setup Wizard in that message.
How WooCommerce helps you to complete all the necessary steps?
In this WooCommerce wizard, click on, Let’s go to start your operation.
WooCommerce will take care of many essential requirements, including accounts, shop, cart, and the checkout page. These pages are critical to creating, and thus you can automatically create them with the continue button.
Now you can finalise your currency and also tell the location of the store to WooCommerce.
Move on to the next once you complete the above steps. Now complete the shipping details and other tax information.
WooCommerce is a platform for selling physical products and also to go for digital downloads.
If you plan to sell digital goods only then, that means no need to check the boxes, but for physical selling, you have to check them.
Answer the tax question now, WooCommerce will make all calculations and make tax accordingly. However, you can even add tax information later and skip this one if not sure.
For starting an online store, choose the mode of payment. You can pay via PayPal, PayPal Standard, and Stripe Payment gateways. Also, there are other payment methods which you can choose to make it later.
However, the best you can do is through PayPal standard and then click to continue button.
Through Stripe, the user can enter his credit card details and then check out without leaving the site.
Once you are done with everything, it has set up your WooCommerce Store.
Now get back to the Dashboard. Keep adding other items for the store you want to sell online.
Step 4: Add the products you want to sell
Add the very first item now. For this visit Products>> Add New. This will add the new product to your site. Online store works with the products you add.
After providing a good title, give detailed information for the product.
For this, visit the right hand to select the category of the products.
For a product, the most important thing is its title and some description of it. Product categories box will help add a new category for products. It will sort the products quickly after browsing.
Once you scroll it down, find a data box. Here you can add information related to the products for their inventory, shipping, and pricing.
Below this box, you can add a product description. This will display a short description when the user is viewing multiple products on a single web page.
And here, at last, add the product image and gallery you wanted to display.
If you are done with the addition of product information, click to publish the product on your site.
You can repeat step 4 to add more products.
Step 5: Now set up a suitable theme for your website
An attractive online store website is the best way to have an audience on it and buy products. Themes will have an attractive impression on the user who is visiting your site. Thus choose an appropriate and matching theme to your domain. Also, WooCommerce has reduced your work by controlling how products get displayed on the website.
Now enjoy thousands of the free themes available on WordPress for your website. However, the taste of the theme must match your domain. It is the first point to consider.
If you have registered with BlueHost first, then it has even reduced your time spent. They will work automatically with the Storefront theme that will suit your Online Store website,thus customize it as per requirement.
For customizing the theme as per choice, move to Appearance >> Customise. A new page will appear, and the theme customizer can help to change the subject and alter settings as per need.
However, if you dislike these themes, then you may even visit Appearance >> Themes page for further details and new themes.
Step 6: Extend your online business using Plugins
Now your online store is ready to work. Now keep adding other essential elements to your site. It includes about page, contact form, and much more. These are also important.
Even if you want some changes, you can also add some features like galleries, sliders, contact forms, etc. Here the work comes to use the best WordPress Plugins.
WordPress Plugin will add some useful features required for attaching to a site. These features will enhance website appearance and thus attract more users.
More than 46,000 Plugins with WordPress Plugins. You can have the best once at WPBeginner. It will provide the functionality that your website needs.
You can even look for our steps guide to install WordPress Plugin.
For the beginners, WpBeginner has been the primary site, to begin with, the most powerful tool.
Step 7: To market your online store
It is the final part to set up an online store. Everyone might know to begin a new company and to set up an Online Store website and the tax requirements.
However, the main thing left is to create a marketing plan for your website.
Content Marketing and SEO services are always there available to help to configure. However, be aware that SEO has always been a fantastic service for marketing your website.
How SEO helps?
No matter if you have seen two stores selling the same product and have the same features, but one will be popular than others. It is because of the SEO ranking of that site. It will surely bring different results for both the sites if one is not, and the other is search optimized.
And thus, at the final, the selling of products of the search-optimized site will increase. It will maximize the customers buying your product at the end of the day.
Thus you will have an idea for different ways to market the product. Content marketing improves website reputation. It will help to build up trust among different customers and visitors. The main motive for all is to improve sales.
Conclusion
Once you have done proper product marketing using the best digital strategies, now you must be overwhelmed with the new Online shopping Store Website. Take a deep breathe now. You have completed your task without any mistakes. It is a high-level plan that is not possible to finish by a single person. But this does not mean your whole mission is over. Now your focus must be to meet all your financial goals. Now set up the revenue that you would like to hit. If you hit that, you are okay with it. But for that, you need to know how many products sale is a must. Once you are clear with all the doubts, you are now ready for further action. Keep detailed recorded information of every task still now you have performed. It will assist you in the future for reference.
Now you have become an expert on opening an online store. However, that does not mean waiting for the right moment. You can start your work now, onwards. Have a busy business and busy schedule with the best Online Shopping Store Website. But don’t forget to add discounts and offers to attract the best customers every time.
