Setting up an eCommerce store can be a profit-spinning idea only if you have the right weapons in your armory.
Call it a base, foundation, a platform that will turn your hobby into a full-time money-making business. WordPress has been owning hundreds and thousands of points when it comes to trust, flexibility, and robust solution.
People irrespective of their industry e-commerce, education, healthcare, media & entertainment look no further than WordPress development when it comes to building a successful online presence.
I can simply go on and on stating why WordPress enjoys such adoration and popularity but since we are running out of time I would recommend WordPress when looking for a go-to platform. However, building an eCommerce site isn’t a cakewalk. Part of that is because of the comprehensive range of plugins it has to offer.
Now what exactly these plugins are? I call them mini software or vital technical additions comprising of a variety of features and functions used to enhance a website. Whether you realize it or not, one wrong move can sabotage you to a great extent. Out of thousands available around, I have narrowed it down to 5 must-have WordPress plugins for an eCommerce website! But before that let’s take a bit of a detour.
Factors to Look For In a WordPress Plugin
Remember, there is no cookie-cutter solution when looking for plugins around. The answer is it depends on the situation. For instance, if you are selling e- products or digital products such as ebooks, music online, you must consider an eCommerce plugin that only specializes in selling instead of hassle-free shipping or something else. And if you are selling any physical products (Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, Club Factory) such as clothing, accessories or any kind of electronica, tangible items? You need an eCommerce plugin that excels in shipping and inventory management.
In addition to all this, one thing has to be done for sure; i.e. you need to focus on WordPress plugins especially the ones which support payment gateways by default. It is always advisable to have a thorough check on what you are getting into.
Best WordPress Plugins to Consider
1. Meta Box
This one is my favorite; the plugin which is the developer’s best friend with no strings attached offers best of both the worlds. If you are looking for a custom-fit solution that looks like you coded everything from the scratch, look no further than this. Its core features include:
• Easy To Manage
• Fast & Weightless
• Gutenberg & GDPR Compliance
• Lightweight, expertly-coded Open Source All The Way
• Effortless Updates
• Unparalleled Support
Meta Box also lets you create many different kinds of pages for your eCommerce site. You can visit here to learn about it.
2. WooCommerce
Being one of the finest eCommerce plugins of all time, WooCommerce is used to build your digital storefront right from scratch on WordPress. All require doing is activate the plugin and follow the guided tour to set up your new store in just a few minutes, and it’s even completely customizable so that you can design your store to match your brand.
The plugin also provides extensive easy-to-follow documentation so that you can have a cakewalk while opening an online store.
Its features include:
- Seamlessly integrates commerce with content
- Sell anything including both physical and digital downloads
- Entirely an open-source, modify and customize anything and everything
- Rest API – to manage everything from products to orders
- More than 400 official extensions – payments, shipping, marketing, accounting
3. WP eCommerce
Another great WordPress plugin that allows business owners to create and customize a purpose-oriented online store with ease. Whether you are selling physical and digital products, it is very crucial to choose a powerful plugin. Moreover, it allows you to create a membership site as per your requirement. Customization here is quite easy especially if you are comfortable with CSS and HTML coding.
Integrated with hosts of payment gateways, ready-made marketing tools, Inbuilt shipping tools, popular couriers, secure check-out with SSL are its core features to consider.
4. Yoast
Search marketing is pretty much in vogue these days. And to excel in that, one must consider using the Yoast SEO plugin. The WordPress plugin helps you to optimize your site for search engines, and also provide tips and guidelines on best on-page SEO practices every time you write a new post.
Adding meta tags are one of the finest features of using the plugin is it helps you to improve your website’s SEO ranking. Now many of you aren’t much familiar with SEO terms, I would say keep calm and stick to that. It will take some time getting used to. Well, on that note it might interest you to know that their interface is quite user-friendly and easy to use.
5. WPForms
While establishing an eCommerce site it is very important for any business owner to have a way for customers to contact them in case they have any kind of feedback or opinion. As the name suggests, the plugin lets you set up a contact form quickly on WordPress with a beginner-friendly interface.
Dealing with create contact forms, order forms, payment forms, email subscription forms or any other becomes simple by using the drag and drop functionality.
And in case, you are wanting more advanced options and functionality, you can sign up for their Pro version, which has more customizability options and features.
Besides, you can read the detailed review about WPForms here or pick up an alternative here.
Author Bio:
Harley Marsh is a Technology Trend Observer at eTatvasoft – a WooCommerce development company and you can visit here to know more about his company. He likes to write about Technology Trends, Leadership, Social Media, SEO, Entrepreneurship, Business Trends and many more things about IT services. He is an avid reader of blogs related to technology and business development.