{"id":76196,"date":"2024-04-17T18:03:56","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T22:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/?p=76196"},"modified":"2024-12-03T14:26:37","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T19:26:37","slug":"what-is-woocommerce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/what-is-woocommerce\/","title":{"rendered":"What is WooCommerce?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"What<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

WooCommerce<\/strong> is a customizable, open-source eCommerce platform built on WordPress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this article, you will learn about the primary features and benefits of WooCommerce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re ready to start an eCommerce store, get up and running fast with a WooCommerce Hosting<\/a> plan from InMotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is WooCommerce?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

WooCommerce is an eCommerce plugin designed to work with WordPress that allows you to set up an online store through your WordPress website. It can grow as your business needs demand and expand with your business as it grows. The set of tools within the WooCommerce plugin<\/a> are built for WordPress, so they are extensible and highly-customizable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The WooCommerce WordPress plugin<\/a> is free, open-source and designed to make it quick and easy to get your eCommerce website up and running for customers with just a few clicks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What WooCommerce Can Do For You<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The WooCommerce dashboard<\/a> lets you run your business from anywhere, at any time. Modify your shop\u2019s settings, pull sales reports<\/a> for review and analysis, and make your own coupons<\/a> and discounts whenever you want. It\u2019s a versatile tool that can accommodate selling everything from physical products to services, appointment bookings, affiliate products, and personalized products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overview of WooCommerce Features and Options<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re just starting out with WooCommerce you may be overwhelmed with the amount of tools and options you have before you. In this section you will get a quick overview of the primary WooCommerce features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WooCommerce and WordPress, Free and Open-source<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you are already comfortable using WordPress<\/a>, then you will have no trouble getting started with WooCommerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same themes and plugins that are compatible with WordPress are compatible with WooCommerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are many themes and plugins designed to enhance your experience with WooCommerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should you face any situation in which WooCommerce is limited, you can make any changes necessary to meet your needs. Following the open-source nature of WordPress, WooCommerce can be modified completely at the code level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extensions and Plugins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There is a wide field of WooCommerce extensions and plugins you can use to improve the functionality of your site. WooCommerce is a plugin with its own set of tools that can be supplemented. For more information about popular plugins, you can peruse our WooCommerce Product Addons, Extensions, and Plugins Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sell Whatever<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

As a business owner, you decide your market. You determine how to brand your store. WooCommerce is designed to place no barriers in your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can sell virtually any kind of product with WooCommerce. You can sell physical goods like books, clothing, or electronics, as well as digital items through a secure download.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sell Wherever<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

WooCommerce allows you to sell goods domestically and internationally, as well as set shipping options. Where taxes apply, you can configure WooCommerce to complete the sale with the necessary specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once you have determined the types of products you\u2019re going to sell and to what locations you want to ship to, you can begin configuring different shipping options for your customers from local and international to in-store pickup \u2014 or free shipping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your customers will be able to see taxes and shipping charges for their area before checkout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like any business, location is important. If you have a product that can be delivered locally or picked up at your location, you can offer this shipping method to your customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Control Your Store\u2019s Look and Feel<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you have a favorite theme or template you like to use with WordPress, you can relax knowing it will function just as well with WooCommerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Should you be interested in trying something different, there are themes built specifically for WooCommerce. \u201cStorefront<\/a>\u201d is the default Woo-optimized theme, and you can download it for free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Provide the Best Products for Your Customers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

WooCommerce provides tools to help you learn more about your customers, what is selling, and what you can improve to make your store the best it can be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Onboard analytics allow you access to your store\u2019s statistics. You can see where your customers are located and what products they\u2019re interested in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing your customer\u2019s opinions can be important as well. WooCommerce lets you decide which products your customers can review and whether or not you would like to display those reviews to new customers. Choose whether to allow registered customers to review or guests  as well. You have full control over these options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help You Reach Your Customers and Find New Ones<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Building on the SEO<\/a>-optimized framework of WordPress, you can easily reach your customers and they can find you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Likewise, you can syndicate your products to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, or any social media easily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no need to separate your store from your other marketing tools. You can manage and launch an email marketing campaign from within your WordPress\/WooCommerce installation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marketing and More<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

WooCommerce and WordPress offer you virtually endless options for social media and email marketing. When it comes to reaching current and potential customers you will have no barriers set before you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The above only represents an overview of some of the major features available to you within WooCommerce. As you proceed through the following sections you will become more familiar with WooCommerce offerings; and you will see how you can use these tools to launch and maintain your eCommerce presence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is WooCommerce Optimized for Search Engines?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Once you have started adding products to your site and you begin to promote your store, you will want to take your site\u2019s search engine ranking<\/a> into consideration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a broad topic, and if you would like more information you can peruse our SEO guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WordPress already comes with a lot of features that are friendly to search engines. The key for WooCommerce users is cultivating a working knowledge of these tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can take a while for any website to start ranking highly with popular search engines like Google, so be patient and persistent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While you can pay for targeted ads, there are some helpful tips you can use to improve the quality of organic search results.  Here are a few things you can do to get started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good Content<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Producing high-quality content at regular intervals is not as difficult as it may seem, but it is critical to your page rank. Popular search engines like Google can tell if the content on your site is valuable or provides good information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t have to be a professional writer to create good content. There are a few basic guidelines you can follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n