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There is no denying that creating your own e-store and running it is complicated. There are a lot of different tasks that need to be handled; from marketing and SEO to inventory management and customer service. With that being said, below, we are going to explore some of the main errors to avoid when selling with WooCommerce.
Overlooking site security
There is only one place to begin, and this is with site security. Effective website security is critical for enhancing consumer confidence in your website. If your customers feel safe to use your website and confident in your business, they are going to be more likely to purchase from you than not.
You can use an SSL certificate to secure key areas, like the checkout process and the ‘My Account’ area. Savvy consumers are going to think twice before they purchase from a website that is not secure. That’s not all, though…
Search engines are also going to be turned off if your site is not secure. A few years ago, websites that did not have HTTPS were marked as non-secure by Google Chrome. This means HTTPS is simply a must for an eStore, as it naturally collects sensitive information.
Overlooking convenience
One of the most critical factors when it comes to setting up an e-store is making sure that it is convenient. After all, people love online shopping because they can order products with a mere few clicks. Therefore, lengthy checkout processes are only going to frustrate people and cause them to want to shop elsewhere. Whenever you are editing your site, make sure each possible action is done in the fewest required steps.
Not setting specific Selling Locations
For a customer, there is nothing more frustrating than placing an order only to discover that you are not going to receive the item because the company does not actually ship to your location. Not only does this frustrate the customer but it means that you have to sort out a refund as well. It is a lot of hassle, which could all be avoided if you set specific Selling Locations. All you need to do is head to the Settings, and then you can head to Location(s), and from here you will be able to Restrict shipping.
Bad product presentation
One of your main tasks with your eStore is to make sure that you deliver a great customer experience; an experience that makes people want to shop online rather than heading to their local shop. This is why you need to make sure you use high-quality photographs and provide an accurate description of the products you sell.
Make sure the description offers meaningful information and that people can view the product from different angles. Social evidence is also extremely important when it comes to product presentation today. Reviews from other buyers are a great resource because potential buyers are going to be more inclined to believe what other consumers have to say rather than what you say.
Failing to automate your marketing
Another mistake that a lot of business owners make when they are selling online, not just via WooCommerce, is failing to automate their marketing campaigns. There are a lot of great plug-ins and tools out there that can assist with this, such as ExoClick. If you integrate ExoClick with a powerful solution like Voluum, you’re going to make sure you have everything you need to get as many sales as possible. A lot of online stores today are parts of affiliate programs and so it is even more important that you track all of your ads so that you can enhance the number of sales you make.
Using a poor quality host
You need to choose a good hosting company for your online presence. There are free hosts available, so this does not have to cost you anything. However, you do need to choose with care. Your web host is going to influence everything from the speed of your store to the security of it, and so you really should not cut any corners here.
Some hosts are going to offer additional services, for example, they may provide you with VPN services, as well as back-up and restoration services. A lot of web hosts are going to offer you a free domain name as a standard as well. This is why it is vital to consider all of the options that are out there. A small tip is to also make sure that you consider the prices after the first year, as a lot of hosts offer enticing deals for the first year but then their prices go up.
Neglecting a staging website
Another mistake that a lot of businesses make with WooCommerce is not having a staging site. This is a private, independent clone of your live site, which can easily be utilized for testing custom code, themes, and plugins.
It is not a good idea to update WooCommerce on your live store without testing it on a staging website. This could lead to terrible things for your company. For instance, a lot of people lose thousands in data and orders because they did not test on their staging site first.
Running an old version of WooCommerce
Last but not least, another mistake that a lot of people tend to make when it comes to WooCommerce is running an old version. Every six months, a new minor version of WooCommerce is shipped. If you do not run an up-to-date version, you are not going to get official support for plug-ins. You could also find that you are vulnerable to data breaches.
As you can see, there are a lot of mistakes that people tend to make when it comes to their WooCommerce store. If you can avoid the errors that have been mentioned above, you can give yourself a great chance of achieving your eCommerce goals using WooCommerce. After all, WooCommerce is a popular platform but it still needs to be used effectively to be a success.