Looking For The Perfect eCommerce Platform? WooCommerce Is The Answer…
If you’re thinking about setting up an online eCommerce website, you’ll likely come across WooCommerce, a simple and robust eCommerce platform developed by the team behind WordPress. It’s one of the most popular eCommerce platforms available online, up there with the likes of Magento and Shopify and for good reason; WooCommerce is super powerful, feature-packed and user friendly.
If you’re not yet sure which platform you’re going to choose, or you need some convincing, here’s just a few of the benefits of using WooCommerce…
8 Benefits of Using WooCommerce
- Site Ownership
- It’s Free
- WooCommerce is Futureproof
- Powerful Plugins & Extensions
- Site Security
- Customisable Design
- SEO
- An Easy To Use Back End
#1 Site Ownership
Third party selling sites such as eBay and Amazon are all well and good, but in order to sell on their sites, you’ll need to adhere to their terms and conditions. For the most part this is fine, but keep in mind your online sales will always be beholden to these terms.
Using WordPress and WooCommerce offers up a little freedom, as you have 100% ownership of your eCommerce site, from hosting and domain, all the way through to individual assets. Using WooCommerce, even as a secondary eCommerce site to your Amazon and eBay shops is always a good idea.
#2 It’s Free
WooCommerce, in it’s most simple format is totally free. All you really need to pay for is your WordPress hosting. This is a major benefit compared to other sites such as Shopify, which can run into the £100’s every month!
If you’re thinking of setting up shop, you’ll be up and running within a few days using WooCommerce, without much outlay. There are plenty of extras out there, some more useful than others, but you’re not obliged to buy them.
#3 WooCommerce Is Futureproof
It’s said that 1/3 of all websites are now using the WordPress platform, which means it’s not going anywhere. WooCommerce and WordPress benefits from regular updates and ongoing support, so you can be sure your online shop will stand the test of time.
#4 Powerful Plugins & Extensions
Whilst you can comfortably develop an entire online shop by just using WooCommerce alone, there’s also an absolute plethora of added extras, plugins and extensions to hand that will really enhance your site.
WooCommerce extensions range from simple design changing plugins, through to offering recurring orders, memberships and much, much more! Extensions are so popular, major sites like Facebook and Pinterest have jumped on the bandwagon, developing their own plugins which will integrate your site with social media.
There’s also loads of options when it comes to payment portal extensions. Our favourite being Stripe Payment Gateway, which offers a one stop shop for all your payments, quickly and easily integrating with your site.
#5 Site Security
As WordPress (and WooCommerce) is updated regularly, you’re well protected against ongoing threats. If you regularly maintain your site, including keeping plugins and themes up to date, you’re site will be as safe as any other platform, if not more.
#6 Customisable Design
As with all things WordPress, WooCommerce can be quickly and easily customised to match your brand and make your eCommerce site unique. There are thousands of ‘Themes’ available, which will work straight after install, as well as countless styling options to fine tune your design.
WooCommerce has it’s own theme; Storefront, which is a pretty robust option, with plenty of individuality that will please even the most discerning shop owners.
#7 SEO
Optimising your product pages is an absolute must if you’re looking to attract organic traffic and sales. WooCommerce has one of the strongest SEO offerings of all the major eCommerce platforms, especially when pared with Yoast SEO (who also offer a dedicated plugin).
Using WooCommerce, your site will be ‘SEO Friendly’ from the get go, but a few extra tweaks will really help your site stand out. If you do decide to use an SEO Agency for your Search Engine Optimisation, they will be adept at using WooCommerce thanks to it’s popularity, so you’ll always be in safe hands.
#8 An Easy To Use Back End
Back end functionality can make or break your business, with clunky, hard to use interfaces making day to day operation extremely difficult. Thankfully, WooCommerce provides an extremely robust, easy to use back end, which makes processing orders, managing stock and maintaining customers a breeze.
Again, plugins can really simplify things too. Using Parcel 2 Go for example, can automate your packing process, pricing and booking delivery on your behalf, leaving you to pick and post your orders!
The Wrap Up
There are plenty of eCommerce options out there these days, but not many come close to WooCommerce! It’s the perfect, free, all rounder that’s easy to use and make your own; we hope our list of benefits have helped you take the leap and choose WooCommerce for your site.
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