10 tips that work to run a successful WooCommerce store

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If you are considering creating a WooCommerce store, we are sure you want to know how to make it successful in the long run. Or you may already have a webshop, yet there are still things you can do to improve it. Whichever the case, no need to worry. Below, we collected 10 proven WooCommerce tips and tricks that work and that you can rely on. Each of these tips is easy to implement and maintain, offering you quick and practical solutions to improve your WooCommerce store. Curious what are these? Without further ado, let’s take a close look at each!

 

10 tips for a successful WooCommerce store

 

As you might already know, WooCommerce is the top 1 and most popular WordPress extension that allows you to convert your WordPress website into an e-commerce store. Needless to say, if you are ready to sell your products and services, WooCommerce is the best platform to choose from. Now let’s see what tips and tricks we collected about running a successful WooCommerce store. Our guide will include 10 easy-to-implement tips that you can try to enhance your WooCommerce webshop. 

 

#Tip 1: Choose a high-quality theme and plugins

Believe it or not, it all starts with your WooCommerce theme. This has a huge impact on the entire performance of your webshop. What you should keep in mind is that poorly coded themes will unfortunately slow down your website, which will have a negative impact on not only the user experience but your success as well. Aim for themes that look nice, yet are lightweight. Try to keep the balance between form and function, and make sure that the style of your theme won’t harm its performance. 

WordPress has some free simple themes you can use but in case you want to try others, you can rely on website builders that can help you create your WooCommerce webshop. For instance, plugins like ShopEngine can help you create a webshop that has an updated look, and has all the necessary features that a webshop must have, yet it won’t have a negative impact on its speed or performance. 

Also, when it comes to themes, you will find thousands of WooCommerce themes on the internet following the latest design trends. When selecting the theme of your webshop, go for themes that are not only visually appealing but correctly coded too, for maximum efficiency.

 

#Tip 2: Use high-quality pictures and videos

Another essential thing you can do to run a successful WooCommerce store is to pay attention to the quality of the visuals you use. Regardless of whether you sell physical products or offer services, make sure to showcase your products so they can be appealing to your webshop visitors. You need pictures and videos that encourage them to make a purchase, and that are able to show the functionality and features of the products and services in greater depth. 

Not only the composition of these images and videos is important, but their quality is also key. Use large, functional pictures of your products from various angles. Make sure to include high-resolution images, where the customers can zoom in to see all details they are interested in. Keep in mind, these images and videos will communicate with potential buyers, so you must aim for the best possible quality.

 

#Tip 3: Don’t be afraid of pop-up notifications and similar features

Pop-up notifications and other features can be extremely annoying, especially if they are not set correctly. For this reason, many websites choose not to use them. However, these notifications have a significant role when it comes to customer engagement and most importantly, leading the visitor to make a purchase. If you choose to use pop-ups on your website, make sure to set them to appear at a specified interval. Also, make sure they won’t cause any frustration for the customer, so avoid using them one after another, as this will create a bad user experience and your visitor will most likely leave your page before even seeing your products. 

Also, in order to add features such as pop-ups, sum-up blocks, wish lists, swatches, and so on, you will need to install multiple plugins. Needless to say, these will make your website heavy and as a result, ruin your website performance. Luckily, there is another way. You can use plugins such as ShopEngine and add all these features to your website without having to worry about its speed and performance. 

 

#Tip 4: Do not forget about branding

No matter the type of business you have, you are part of an industry and you need to make yourself stand out from your competitors. Now, when it comes to that, you need to think about branding. Luckily, WooCommerce has all you need to help your webshop visitors learn about your brand, as it allows you to tell your story and present yourself as a business. Sounds wonderful, but how exactly can I do it, you may ask? The answer is simple. WooCommerce allows you to add an About page on your website, where you can write about your story and tell your visitors what makes you special in your niche. 

Other than that, on all pages and places such as product descriptions, blogs, FAQ pages,s or support pages, make sure to use a copy that shows off your brand’s personality. When you write about products and services, be descriptive and offer as much practical information as possible. This will help your buyers feel more connected both to your brand and your products. 

 

#Tip 5: Improve your SEO

When running an online business, especially a WooCommerce store, you should never forget about SEO. It is crucial to keep up with the latest search engine optimization trends and practices. This way you can stay visible to your customers and ensure that they can find you using search engines. The good news is that your SEO can be improved so easily, by only taking a few simple steps. You can make sure your product names or titles are the best possible variations, you can add meta descriptions, and keywords, optimize permalinks, etc. Luckily, there are lots of SEO plugins that can help you with all these, and even more. 

 

#Tip 6: Follow leading marketing channels 

There is a saying we are sure you have heard about: the more, the better. Well, while in some cases one could argue about the truth of this saying when it comes to marketing channels, it is undoubtedly true. Today, when online shopping is blooming, there are various marketing platforms, channels, and outlets available. In addition to the main web shop, brands use other channels as well to promote their products. Just to give you some examples, Facebook ads, Instagram, and Google Shopping are all part of the leading marketing channels. When you start to use these platforms and methods to sell your goods, you basically multiply your chances to make sales. Also, you will extend your reach, being able to target a much larger audience. Being present on these platforms will also boost your website traffic, as people will eventually come to your website to make a purchase. It is something you must use in your marketing strategy, even if you have a smaller budget. 

 

#Tip 7: Offer customer support

Unfortunately, still to this day, there are lots of sketchy, scam web shops that take people’s money for nothing in return. That’s why when operating an online store, you need to be extra careful when it comes to your customer support. You want to build credibility and gain the trust of your buyers. You want website visitors and customers to feel safe and at ease when using your platforms. This includes giving your personal and financial information such as name, home address, and bank details. Also, they must be sure that the product they choose to buy is quality. Not to mention being delivered. You must also think about reimbursement issues, returns, guarantees, and so on. The best you can do is to communicate clearly about your policies. Add a FAQ section where you share all important information with your customers considering shipping, returns, guarantee, exchange, etc. Also, live chats can make a huge difference when it comes to customer support, so make sure to make them available for your customers. This is a super easy, fast, and convenient way for your customers to get in touch with you, ask questions or notify you about issues. 

 

#Tip 8: Involve your customers

Now, this one is quite simple. Looking at the current online shopping trends, people are more vocal about their shopping experiences, including both positive and negative experiences. People are happy to share their experiences with a brand or products with others, and others appreciate learning from previous customers. This is a great system that can help you run a successful WooCommerce store. All you need to do is to allow your customers to leave their reviews and share their shopping experiences with others on your website. The best way to do that is to add a review section underneath your products, so people can see what previous buyers say about certain products. You can also implement a rating system, where people can rate their purchases. 

In case you are worried that negative reviews will ruin the reputation of a product, here’s the deal. At some point, negative reviews will come for sure. But keep in mind, if you delete them and you show only positive feedback about your products, people might question the credibility of your business. Leave both and let your customers decide whether or not they want to buy from you. 

 

#Tip 9: Add special features like wishlists, coupons, vouchers, etc. 

Getting close to the end of our collection of tips and tricks to run a successful WooCommerce store, here’s another thing you can do. WooCommerce has special features that you can use to make people come back to your e-commerce store and shop regularly. You can enable a wishlist, where they can create a collection of the products they want to buy in the future. You can offer them coupons or vouchers periodically or for special occasions to make them come back and make another purchase. Discounts are the best way to make your customers return. Do not forget to promote these discounts on all possible marketing and social channels, such as ads, newsletters, etc. There are so many ways to convert a one-time buyer into a loyal customer and WooCommerce has all the tools you need to make that possible. 

 

#Tip 10: Implement loyalty and reward points

Last, but not least, there is another easy way to keep the business booming. This is a practice that will allow you to grow your sales effortlessly, and the best thing is that it works. The practice is simple: implementing a loyalty and rewards program in which your customers can redeem their money for discounts, freebies, and other deals such as free shipping. More and more businesses rely on this method to keep their customers returning. To make this happen, you can set up a store credit system and policy, which will help people understand how the entire program works. 

 

Final Thoughts

 

Now, to sum things up, here are the best, yet simplest things you can do to run a successful WooCommerce store in the long run:

 

  1. Choose a high-quality theme and plugins that are lightweight and correctly coded to avoid slowing down your website
  2. Use high-quality pictures and videos that showcase your products and services in the best way possible
  3. Don’t be afraid of pop-up notifications and similar features as these have a huge impact on customer engagement and growing your sales
  4. Do not forget about branding as you must stand out from your competitors in the industry 
  5. Improve your SEO so people can quickly and easily find you using search engines
  6. Follow leading marketing channels as these can help you extend your target audience, multiplying your chances of making sales
  7. Offer customer support by implementing live chat, adding a FAQ page, and being responsive in all situations 
  8. Involve your customers in your marketing strategy allowing them to share their shopping experience with your website visitors underneath your products
  9. Add special features like wishlists, coupons, vouchers, etc as these will motivate people to come back to your website and make future purchases 
  10.  Implement loyalty and reward points as these will help you grow your sales constantly and make people return to your store to buy more

 

We hope you enjoyed our list of 10 tips on how to run a successful WooCommerce webshop! If you want to learn more about WooCommerce, do not hesitate to click here!