How to Create a WordPress Ecommerce Website with Katacoda
Having an e-commerce website is pretty cool, but it can be pretty difficult to pull off. There are a lot of steps you need to follow, and a lot of work that goes into making an e-commerce store work for your business. In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to creating a fully functioning e-commerce store using WordPress and Katacoda. The entire process will only take you about 30 hours to complete, including research, implementation, and testing.
Why WordPress?
WordPress is head and shoulders above any other content management system when it comes to e-commerce websites. Not only is it extremely popular, but it also has enough robust integrations built in to make building an e-commerce store a piece of cake. If you are looking to create an e-commerce store, why not try WordPress? It’s free, it’s open source, and it’s very flexible. If you are looking for a CMS, or if you are simply looking for a blogging platform, WordPress is the CMS for you.
What About Shopify?
If you are looking for a CRM, or if you are simply looking for an online store, you should check out Shopify. It’s a bit more expensive than WordPress, but it provides a lot of the same basic features. You can use Shopify to build just about any type of website you could want. And for a limited time, they are offering a free trial so you can see it for yourself.
Setting Up The Theme
WordPress comes with a ton of themes built in. These themes are what give you the look and feel of your site. Instead of having to build all of that from scratch, you can choose a theme that already has all the elements you need. Of course, you can also choose your own colors and layout as well. So, if you aren’t happy with how the default themes look, you can change them to fit your needs.
Taking The Easy Way Out
If you’re new to WordPress or if you’re simply looking for a hassle-free way to build your site, you can use a service called Katacoda. This service makes creating a WordPress site easy, by taking all the guesswork out of the process. You give Katacoda a bit of information about your project, and they will build the entire site for you, including the shopping cart and checkout itself. So, instead of having to build that from scratch, you can just go through Katacoda’s simple step-by-step builder, and once you’re done, you can preview your site live.
Get A Hosting Plan
You’ll need a place to house your website. Without a host, your site won’t be available to the world. The most popular WordPress hosting plans come with a free domain and you can install your site with just a click of a button. Once you have your domain, you can install a free WordPress account using the 1-click installer.
Get A Product Key
If you are planning on selling products on your site, you’ll need a way to provide those products to customers. You can use a service like WooCommerce to manage your product inventory and sell your products online. To get started, you can use the key that comes with your hosting plan to create a free test site.
Install WordPress
Once you have WooCommerce up and running, you can use the 1-click installer to install WordPress on your site. This is a one-time process that will pull in all the right files and settings for your site. You can also use this installer to set up your email accounts and to optionally configure your social media accounts.
Install WooCommerce
Once WordPress is installed, you can use the 1-click installer to install WooCommerce on your site. WooCommerce is a free extension for WordPress that makes setting up an online store super easy and intuitive. Once you have WooCommerce installed, you can use their simple storefront to display your products and allow customers to buy them easily.
Get A Sales Page
If you are planning on pursuing e-commerce as a way to make money online, you can use the free builder provided by Shopify to create a sales page for your products. On your sales page, you can display all of your products and their associated prices. You can add multiple products and their prices to your sales page, as well as add additional images and videos. Once you have a sales page, you can use their automated email marketing tool to send out emails to potential customers, with enticing offers and discount codes to make them purchase your products.
Add Stripe
If you decide that pursuing e-commerce is the right move for your business, you’ll need to look into setting up a payment processor account with Stripe. Stripe is a service that provides you with a payment processor account, so if a customer makes a purchase and you’re using the checkout service provided by PayPal, you won’t need to worry about setting up a separate PayPal account.
Shopify’s E-commerce Checkout
If you decided that pursuing e-commerce as a way to make money online is the right move for your business, you can use Shopify’s pre-built checkout service. Here’s a quick overview of Shopify’s e-commerce checkout service:
- It’s very easy to use
- Robust list of advanced features
- Pricing is flexible
- Built-in safety features
- Free trial available
- Secure payments (via Stripe)
- Multi-currency support (via Stripe)
- Works with all major email marketing platforms (via MailChimp)
- Automatic order fulfillment (via Shopify)
- Free domain name with every membership
- Free backups with every membership
Get A Shipping Container
If you’re serious about selling your products online, you’ll want to look into getting a shipping container. These durable, waterproof containers are ideal for storing and shipping large volumes of products. They also come with their own wheels, so if you have a truck, you can pull them wherever you want, without needing a trailer. Many sellers use these containers to store and ship their products all around the world. It’s an affordable option for those seeking to make the shift to more commerce-focused activities.
Create A Pinterest Account
If you’re a woman entrepreneur or if you run a business with an all-female team, you can use your personal Pinterest account to store products, repins, and create boards for your business.
Create A Jovanni Account
If you’re selling a lot of clothing items, you can use Jovanni, an online marketplace for women, to quickly and effectively bring in the sales. On their site, you can create a lookbook of your existing products, as well as find new products that match your style.
Now that you have the basic framework of your site set up, it’s time to add the goods. We’ll cover how to sell your products, as well as provide you with some helpful tips on getting started.
Sell Your Products
You can’t have an e-commerce store without any products to sell. Luckily for you, we’ve collected a list of 20+ companies that offer one-stop-shop for every type of product you could want or need. These businesses cover areas from beauty to clothing, accessories, and more. Once you’re able to set up an account with a company, you can start selling their products straight away. You’ll need to decide how much you want to pay per product sold, and how often you want to receive payments. Many companies will also provide you with a free sample of their products, which you can use to gain credibility with your customers.
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