However, following an eCommerce launch checklist ensures that you don’t miss any crucial steps that could impact your store’s success. This list can help you stay organized, prevent errors, and boost efficiency.

In this article, we will share the ultimate eCommerce launch checklist for WordPress.

Why Use an eCommerce Launch Checklist for Your New Online Store?

An eCommerce checklist allows you to check your online store’s security, pages, checkout options, SEO, and other features without forgetting anything before you launch it.

It acts as a safety net, catching any potential errors or snags that you may have overlooked while preparing your website for launch.

Plus, it keeps you on track and helps you avoid any delays. This physical or digital product launch checklist allows you to prioritize tasks based on importance and deadlines.

If you are working with a team, it also ensures that everyone stays on the same page and tasks are divided effectively. Other than that, it can also be used to evaluate your launch and identify areas for improvement.

Having said that, you are now ready to follow the ultimate eCommerce launch checklist to prepare your store for success. Here is a breakdown of the steps we will cover in this guide:

1. Choose a Website Builder and a Hosting Plan

To start an online store, you will first need to select a website builder. We recommend WordPress because it is the best website builder on the market with over 43% of all sites using it.

It is free, flexible, has several customization options, and is super scalable for businesses of all sizes. This makes it the ideal choice for your eCommerce store.

Note: Keep in mind that we are talking about WordPress.org, which is an open source platform. There is also WordPress.com, which is a self-hosted software. You can view our comparison on WordPress.org vs. WordPress.com to see the difference.

Now even though WordPress is free, you will still need to purchase a hosting plan and domain name for it. Hosting is where your website stores all its data while a domain is your store’s name on the internet, like www.shoppingonline.com.

If you plan to sell physical products, then we recommend Bluehost WooCommerce hosting. This is a WordPress-recommended company that also offers a free domain name, SSL certificate, and pre-installed WooCommerce.

Plus Bluehost offers a huge discount to WPBeginner readers. To take advantage of this offer, just click the button below.

However, if you want to sell digital products, then SiteGround’s managed hosting for Easy Digital Downloads is the better option.

It comes with a free SSL certificate, EDD pre-installed, all the optimization features, and a huge 81% discount, making it a great choice.

To get this discount offer, just click the button below.

Once you purchase hosting and set up a domain name, WordPress will automatically be installed for you. You can now head to your dashboard to start creating your store.

For more details, see our guide on how to make a WordPress website.

2. Choose the Right eCommerce Platform

The next step in creating and launching an eCommerce store is to select a platform that allows you to build a store without any coding.

For this, we recommend WooCommerce because it is the best eCommerce plugin on the market and is completely free.

The plugin allows you to easily add products, integrates with numerous payment gateways, and supports multiple currencies and languages, making it a great choice for creating your store. For details, you can see our guide on WooCommerce made simple.

However, if you plan to sell digital products on your eCommerce platform, then we recommend Easy Digital Downloads instead.

It allows you to sell eBooks, music, PDFs, and any other digital products you want. Plus, the plugin is beginner-friendly, integrates with a lot of different payment gateways, has in-depth reporting, and connects with email marketing solutions.

For details, you can see our tutorial on how to sell digital downloads on WordPress.

Note: If you have created a store that sells digital goods, then the following list will still work for you as a digital product launch checklist.

3. Create and Check All the Pages for Your Store

After you have added your products to your store, it’s time to create some pages on your website. We recommend starting with the home page and making it attractive because it will be customers’ introduction to your website.

You should add a CTA (Call To Action) on this page to direct users to where you want them. Additionally, you should create a navigation menu so users can browse through your store easily.

For example, this is the homepage for WPForms, a popular WordPress form builder. As you can see, it has a prominent CTA button that directs users to the online store for the plugin software.

For details on how to do this for your online store, see our tutorial on how to create a custom home page in WordPress.

Depending on which eCommerce plugin you are using, it should have already created a checkout page, products page, and cart page for your online store.

You can customize these pages using SeedProd, which is the best page builder on the market. It fully supports the WooCommerce integration and also has special WooCommerce blocks that you can add to any page you want.

The plugin also offers numerous premade templates and a drag-and-drop builder, making the process super easy.

For more information, see our beginner’s guide on how to edit WooCommerce pages.

4. Create a Seamless Checkout Process

Next, you need to create a seamless checkout process for your store. This will improve conversion rates, reduce cart abandonment, and boost your brand’s image.

To do this, you must integrate your online store with popular and reliable payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal. Customers usually trust these options, and they provide secure transactions, making them a great choice.

Plus, these gateways easily connect with WooCommerce. All you would have to do is install the plugin for these gateways and visit the WooCommerce » Settings » Payments page.

Here, you can toggle the switches to enable different gateways and then add your account details to complete the process. For instructions, see our tutorial on how to accept payments with Stripe in WordPress.

After configuring the gateways, you can add an express checkout button to offer a seamless experience to customers. This button allows users to go directly to the payment page without having to fill in any details.

For information, see our step-by-step tutorial on how to add express checkout buttons in WooCommerce.

If you need some more tips, then you can see our beginner’s guide on how to customize your WooCommerce checkout page.

5. Add Social Proof and FOMO

Now that your store has been set up, adding some social proof before launching it is important. This proof will show visitors that other customers have trusted your store and had a good experience with it.

Plus, it will develop FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) which can boost your sales. One way you can do this is by adding testimonials and customer reviews to your store.

If your customers have left reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp, or Facebook, then you can also showcase these feeds on your site with the Smash Balloon Reviews Feed Plugin.

It comes with a visual editor and makes the process of connecting these platforms with WordPress super easy.

For instructions, see our step-by-step guide on how to show your Google, Facebook, and Yelp reviews in WordPress.

Popups and optins are other great options for building FOMO and social proof.

You can use OptinMonster to display popups with customer reviews and limited-time offers/sales to encourage customers to take action and purchase.

For more details, see our guide on how to increase WooCommerce sales.

Another excellent way to build FOMO amongst customers is to use TrustPulse, which is the best social proof plugin on the market.

It tracks your store activity, such as purchases, signups, and downloads, and then displays notifications in real time that highlight these actions to visitors.

For detailed information, check out our guide on using FOMO on your WordPress site to increase conversions.

6. Add a Contact Form

You need to add a contact form to your online store so that customers can reach out if anything goes wrong, like reporting inappropriate behavior or having issues processing their payments.

For this, you can opt for WPForms, which is the best contact form plugin on the market. It has a beginner-friendly drag-and-drop builder, 1800+ premade form templates, and complete spam protection.

Upon activation, you can simply use the plugin’s ‘Simple Contact Form’ template and add it to any page you like using the WPForms block.

For details, see our tutorial on how to add a contact form in WordPress.

Keep in mind that this is a good solution if you are just starting your store, but as your website grows, a contact form won’t be sufficient to provide all customer support.

Add Other Tools To Contact Support

When you outgrow a contact form as the only way that customers can reach you, we recommend using a business phone service.

We believe Nextiva is the best business phone service for your site. We actually use Nextiva for our business, and you can read more about it in our complete Nextiva review.

It will allow customers to contact you over phone calls and you can also set up an auto attendant if you want.

Plus, you can use Nextiva to add live chat, online faxing, surveys, CRM, analytics, and more.

If your store grows rapidly, then we recommend picking a customer service tool like Groove, which will allow you to manage all your customer data in one place. We use Groove across a few of our brands, which you can learn about in our complete Groove review.

You can also create a knowledge base, use AI to create smart responses, and set up automated workflows.

For more information, see our top picks for the best customer service software.

7. Optimize Your Store for Search Engines

Before launching your store, you must optimize it for search engines so that it will rank high in search results and gets more traffic and customers.

This is where All in One SEO (AIOSEO) comes in. It is the best WordPress SEO plugin that allows you to optimize your store in just a few minutes.

The plugin has a broken link checker, schema generator, XML sitemaps, on-page SEO checklist, keyword tracker, image SEO, and so much more. For more details, you can see our AIOSEO review.

Plus, AIOSEO offers a GTIN, ISBN, and MPN schema that allows your individual products to rank in search results.

You can also write product SEO titles and descriptions, optimize slugs, enable breadcrumbs, and add alt text for product images.

For detailed instructions, see our ultimate WooCommerce SEO guide.

8. Set Up Email Marketing

Before opening your store, you must choose an email marketing service and set up your account on it. This is an important step of your physical or digital product launch checklist because it allows you to start building an email list as soon as your store goes live.

You can then send cart abandonment, welcome, birthday, or discount offer emails to customers to bring them back to your website and earn their loyalty.

For your online store, we recommend using Constant Contact because it is the best email marketing software for small businesses.

It allows you to add signup forms and comes with automation tools, email segmenting, split testing features, drip campaigns, and a visual builder for workflows. 

The tool also offers easy tracking and reporting, built-in social media sharing tools, a free image library, Facebook ads integration, and amazing customer support.

For details, you can see our guide on how to connect Constant Contact with WordPress.

However, if you plan to consistently send automated emails for order confirmations, abandoned carts, and invoices, then FunnelKit Automations is a better choice.

It is the best automation marketing plugin for WooCommerce that comes with a visual funnel builder, premade email automation templates, A/B testing, and more.

For complete details, see our tutorial on how to send automated emails in WordPress.

9. Set Up Google Analytics

Another crucial step to making your store customer-ready is installing Google Analytics. This will allow you to track your store’s performance and give you real-time insights into how users interact with your website.

You can then use this data to improve your marketing strategy and drive more sales.

To make using Google Analytics super easy, you can use MonsterInsights, which is hands-down the best analytics solution for WordPress.

It easily integrates with WooCommece and lets you track product performance, shopping cart abandonment rates, and checkout behavior. You can easily identify products with high abandonment rates and take steps to improve those product pages.

For more information, see our step-by-step guide on how to set up WooCommerce conversion tracking.

10. Create a Backup of Your eCommerce Store

Once you have added all the features to your online store and feel that it’s ready for launch, we recommend first creating a backup.

This will allow you to safeguard your data against security threats and let you recover it in case of data loss due to malware or hackers.

For this, you can use Duplicator, which is the best WordPress backup plugin. It has features like scheduled backups, recovery points, cloud storage integration, migration tools, and more.

With this plugin, you can create a backup right from your WordPress dashboard in just a few minutes.

For step-by-step instructions, see our tutorial on how to back up your WordPress site.

11. Secure Your Online Store

Once you have followed all the steps in our eCommerce launch checklist, your store is ready to go live. However, you can still take some extra steps to secure your online store from malware or hackers.

To do this, you can use Cloudflare, which the best security solution for WordPress. It comes with a powerful firewall to filter out bad traffic, prevents DDOS attacks, and has a browser integrity check to block hackers.

Plus, it has an amazing CDN (Content Delivery Network) that improves your page load time by caching static content across multiple servers worldwide.

Cloudflare also lets you optimize your images for reduced bandwidth, add page rules, manage SSL certificates, perform email routing, use fast DNS services, and identify and block malicious bots.

However, if you have a small business or blog, then Cloudflare may not be the best option. In that case, you can pick Sucuri, which is a popular firewall plugin that comes with a free plan.

For more tips, see our ultimate WordPress security guide.

Keep in mind that once you implement these security measures, you will still need to monitor your site regularly for threats or malware, which can be time-consuming and a bit annoying.

That is why we recommend WPBeginner’s Website Maintenance Service. Our team of experts will provide 24/7 maintenance and support to your website.

We will consistently update WordPress core, themes, and plugins, monitor uptime, remove malware, create routine cloud backups, prevent slow-loading page times, and even give you detailed maintenance reports.

Plus, we offer affordable pricing, making us an ideal choice for small businesses. For details, see our WPBeginner Pro Services page.

Frequently Asked Questions About Launching an eCommerce Store

Here are some questions that are frequently asked by our readers about starting an eCommerce website.

Is WordPress good for eCommerce?

WordPress.org is an excellent platform for your eCommerce store because it is open-source, free, scalable, and beginner-friendly.

It is used by 43% of the sites on the internet, has a massive community, and gives you complete freedom to build an online store according to your liking. To learn more, you can see our guide on whether WordPress is good for eCommerce.

Do I need any coding knowledge to launch a WordPress eCommerce store?

You do not need any coding knowledge to start an online store. All you have to do is select an eCommerce plugin and configure its settings to launch your store in just a few minutes. Plus, you can use a drag-and-drop page builder like SeedProd to design your store without coding.

How much does it cost to launch a WordPress eCommerce store?

Your eCommerce store costs can add up as you choose a hosting provider ($5-$25/month), domain name ($10-$15/yr), and eCommerce plugin (free-paid) for your store.

In our opinion, costs will start at about $100 to build a basic online store, with costs adding up as your store grows.

Related Guides to Help You Build an eCommerce Store

• How to Make a WordPress Website (Ultimate Guide)
• How Much Do eCommerce Websites Cost? (Real Numbers)
• Best WooCommerce Plugins for Your Store (Most are FREE)
• How to Speed Up Your eCommerce Website (14 Proven Tips)
• How to Choose the Best Products to Sell Online (Beginner’s Guide)
• Impressive eCommerce Statistics You Won’t Believe
• Best Shopify Alternatives (Cheaper and More Powerful)

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post The Ultimate eCommerce Launch Checklist for WordPress first appeared on WPBeginner.

Luckily, there are several ways to troubleshoot WordPress forms and get them up and running again.

And this guide, we will show you what to do when your WordPress form is not working and share our top troubleshooting tips.

An Overview of WordPress Form Errors

Forms enable you to build an email list, create secure user registrations, collect user feedback, and more. When your form stops working, this can lose you potential leads and hurt site engagement.

Before we dive into the troubleshooting tips, understanding common WordPress form errors can save you time and frustration. Here are some of the most common ones:

• Form not submitting correctly. This can be due to various reasons, such as plugin conflicts, incorrect form configuration, or server-side problems.
• Form not sending notification emails. This is usually due to incorrect form plugin settings or SMTP settings.
• Validation errors. These errors happen when users fill out forms but receive error messages indicating that required fields are missing or incorrect. They’re often due to misconfigured form field settings or compatibility issues with other software.
• Spam submissions. Even with anti-spam measures like CAPTCHA, some forms still receive fake or spam submissions. Aside from cluttering your inbox, they can slow down your website if left unchecked.

What to Do When WordPress Form Does Not Work

In this section, we will share 7 troubleshooting tips to help you fix WordPress form issues.

Here is a quick overview of all the tips we will cover in this guide. If you’re interested in a particular tip, you can click the link to skip ahead in the article:

Let’s get started!

1. Update WordPress, Themes, and Plugins

Outdated software is one of the leading causes of website problems, including form errors.

Software developers continuously work on improving their products. With each update launch, developers fix software bugs, patch security vulnerabilities, and improve functionality.

By keeping everything up to date, you make sure that your WordPress site, including its forms, runs smoothly and securely.

To update your WordPress site, the first thing you need to do is go to Dashboard » Updates.

In the ‘Updates’ section, you can see if there are any available updates for the WordPress core, plugins, and themes.

If a WordPress core update is available, you should prioritize that one first. To update your WordPress safely, you might want to check our ultimate guide for how to update WordPress for beginners.

Once done, go ahead and scroll down the page to start updating your plugins and themes.

We recommend performing updates one at a time to avoid any potential issues. To do this, simply check the box to the left of the plugin or theme name and click ‘Update Plugins’ or ‘Update Themes’.

After updating your WordPress core, plugins, and themes, you can return to your form and test it to see if the problem has been fixed.

2. Check for Plugin Conflicts

WordPress plugins are fantastic for extending your site functionality, but sometimes they don’t play well together. And conflicts between plugins can lead to issues with your forms.

To see if a plugin conflict is causing your form issues, the first thing you’ll need to do is navigate to Plugins » Installed Plugins from your WordPress dashboard.

From here, you can click the ‘Active’ tab to access the list of all the currently active plugins on your site.

Now, you’ll need to deactivate all plugins except for the WordPress form plugin you are using. You can do this by clicking the ‘Deactivate’ button under each plugin name.

Alternatively, you can bulk-deactivate all of your plugins by clicking on the boxes to the left of the plugin names.

Then, choose ‘Deactivate’ from the ‘Bulk actions’ dropdown menu, followed by the ‘Apply’ button.

With only the form plugin active, you can now test your form to see if the issue persists. If the form works correctly, then one of the deactivated plugins was likely causing the conflict.

Now, let’s find which plugin is causing your form issues.

To do this, simply navigate to the ‘All’ tab and try reactivating your plugins one by one by clicking ‘Activate’. Then, you can test the form each time to find the conflicting plugin.

If your form stops working after you reactivate a plugin, then you’ve found the culprit. So, you might want to look for plugin alternatives to fix your form issues.

3. Clear Cache

Caching is a great way to speed up your WordPress site. However, it may display outdated versions of your website components, including forms. With this in mind, clearing your browser cache can help resolve this issue.

Similar to the browser cache, caching plugins might also serve an outdated version of your form. If you are using a caching plugin, then you can go ahead and clear your WordPress cache as well to make sure your form shows the latest version.

We recommend learning the steps to clear browser and website caches in our guide for how to clear your cache in WordPress.

Once you clear your cache, you can go back to the page where you display your form. Then, you will want to test it to see if the problem has been resolved.

4. Review the Plugin Settings

Incorrect form plugin settings can also lead to form issues. So, reviewing and adjusting these settings might help resolve your form issues.

In this section, we will show you how to review the WPForms plugin settings. If you are using a different WordPress form plugin, then you will want to read their documentation.

To get started, you can click ‘WPForms’ from the WordPress dashboard. This will redirect you to the builder’s ‘Forms Overview’ panel.

Then, simply hover over the form that does not work from the list of all forms, and click ‘Edit’. Once you’ve done that, you’ll arrive at the WPForms builder interface.

Spam protection makes sure that your form doesn’t receive fake form submissions. So, if you have spam submission issues, it’s a good idea to verify your spam protection configuration.

For this, you’ll need to go to Settings » Spam Protection and Security. Then, you can check if your spam protection measures are turned on.

Next, let’s verify your notification configurations.

In the ‘Notifications’ section, you’ll want to look for any typos in the email addresses in the ‘Send To Email Address’ field.

If you set multiple recipients, then you should check if you use a comma to separate each.

If you are not sure whether you’ve set up multiple email recipients correctly, we recommend learning more about it in our guide for how to create a contact form with multiple recipients.

The next step is to check what happens when a user submits a form. This will help you ensure that redirects, thank you messages, and any other follow-up actions are properly configured.

You can head to the ‘Confirmations’ section to start checking.

If you set your confirmation type as ‘Show Page’, you’ll need to make sure the page is live on your WordPress website. And if you choose ‘Go to URL (Redirect)’, you might want to double-check the attached link to make sure it works.

5. Test Email Deliverability

You may also be having issues with your WordPress form not sending notification emails to you or your users.

Sometimes, WordPress emails can end up in the spam folder. This is because default WordPress emails use the PHP ()mail function, which is often not configured correctly on different hosting servers.

Luckily, an SMTP plugin like WP Mail SMTP can help fix this problem.

WP Mail SMTP is a powerful plugin that can improve email deliverability. It has all the features you need to solve issues like emails getting lost or being marked as spam.

First, you will need to install and activate the WP Mail SMTP plugin. Then, you can follow the steps in our guide on how to fix the WordPress not sending emails issue.

We also recommend reading our guide for how to send a test email from WordPress.

6. Check Web Server Configuration

Outdated server software can cause compatibility issues with WordPress and your form plugin. To ensure smooth operation, you will want to make sure that your server meets WordPress’ minimum requirements.

WPForms lets you check what server software your site uses, along with the versions of PHP and MySQL.

To access these details, you can navigate to WPForms » Tools » System Info from your WordPress dashboard.

Then, scroll through ‘System Information’ to locate the ‘Webserver Configuration’ section. 

Once you’ve found it, all you have to do is compare the PHP and MySQL versions with the minimum requirements for WordPress.

As of the latest WordPress version (6.6.1), the minimum requirements are:

• PHP: Version 7.4 or greater.
• MySQL: Version 5.6 or greater (or MariaDB version 10.1 or greater).

If your server is not running the recommended PHP and MySQL versions, then you should contact your WordPress hosting provider. Most hosting providers will help you upgrade your server’s software to meet the current WordPress requirements.

You can also see our guide on how to update your PHP version in WordPress.

7. Contact Plugin Support

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, your WordPress form will still not work, and you will need hands-on help.

If you’ve tried all the previous WordPress troubleshooting tips and your form still isn’t working correctly, then it’s time to contact the plugin’s support team. Most reputable plugins offer support through their official websites, forums, or dedicated support portals.

With WPForms, you can submit an email ticket for support. To reach their support team, simply log in to your WPForms account and select the ‘Support’ tab.

Then, you should see a form with the following fields:

• Name. This is where you can share your name and let the WPForms support team know who they’re talking to.
• Email. You can fill this out with your email address so WPForms can send all their replies to you.
• Confirm email. Type in your email address once again to make sure it matches the one in the ‘Email’ field.
• What can we help you with today? Here, you can choose from the available options. As you’re having problems with your forms, let’s pick ‘Technical issue or bug’.
• WPForms version. Simply type in the plugin’s version that is installed on your WordPress site. You can check this in your WordPress dashboard by going to Plugins » Installed plugins » WPForms » Descriptions.
• Issue/Message. In this last field, you’ll want to write the issue you’re facing in a specific, concise description.

Once done, you can click the ‘Submit’ button. And you should immediately receive an email to confirm your ticket submission.

Bonus: Contact WordPress Emergency Support Service

If you are still having problems fixing your WordPress forms, then it might be time to contact the professionals.

Our on-demand WordPress support services can troubleshoot errors and fix them so that your forms will be up and running again in no time. Our experts are available 24/7 and can fix any WordPress issue quickly and reliably.

For more details, just contact our Premium WordPress Support Services today!

We hope this guide has helped you learn what to do when your WordPress form is not working. Next, you may want to learn how to create a secure contact form and tips to create more interactive forms in WordPress.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post WordPress Form Does Not Work: 7 Troubleshooting Tips first appeared on WPBeginner.

Over the years, we’ve built over 2 million followers on various social media channels for WPBeginner. Across our partner brands, we also sell software that is used on over 25 million websites. 

A big lesson we have learned is that your social media followers’ expectations of you are different from those of your website audience. 

Unfortunately, many small business owners treat their social media followers and their site audience the same way. 

In this article, we will walk you through what social commerce is and how you can get started with it, even if you are not a social media expert.

What Is Social Commerce?

Social commerce means the buying and selling of products or services directly through social media platforms.

Think of it like having a virtual storefront built right into your favorite social media apps. While scrolling through friends’ updates, you can discover new products and sometimes even make purchases without leaving the app.

Several popular social media platforms now offer built-in social commerce features.

For instance, Instagram allows businesses to tag products in their posts and display a ‘Buy Now on Instagram’ button. Some profiles may even have a dedicated ‘Shop’ section with a checkout function.

Facebook also lets businesses tag products in photos, where users can then click to view and purchase them.

Similarly, TikTok lets you add a ‘Visit shop’ tab on a brand profile, taking users straight to your product catalog.

Many businesses are making the most out of selling on social media channels.

Take Fjällräven, a popular Swedish outdoor brand whose website is built on WooCommerce. They use Instagram’s shop features to showcase their products and drive sales within the platform.

Bloomscape, another WooCommerce-based business, uses TikTok for social commerce.

They create engaging videos that showcase their beautiful plants and increase traffic to their online store.

What Are the Benefits of Social Commerce?

If you already sell through an online store or an online marketplace, then you may be asking why you should give social commerce a chance.

Social commerce can be beneficial because it simplifies the buying process for customers. This convenience can lead to more sales and happier customers.

Let’s say a customer stumbles upon a photo of a stylish hat on their Instagram feed. With social shopping features, that customer can click a button and buy the hat on their mobile device, all without leaving Instagram.

When a customer interacts with your social commerce store (e.g., by liking or sharing a product), their social network sees it, too. This organic reach can expose your brand to entirely new customer segments you might not have reached through traditional eCommerce.

Other than that, social commerce can be highly beneficial if your business targets a younger audience like Gen Z and Millennials. These demographics often trust influencers more than ads because their recommendations may feel more genuine.

Partnering with micro-influencers in your niche can help you reach a targeted audience and build trust with potential customers.

Finally, social commerce is a cost-effective marketing strategy. By simply connecting your existing social media accounts to your online store, you can start using social commerce to drive eCommerce sales.

You can also use these platforms’ customer data for advertising purposes. They can be useful for creating personalized ad campaigns that resonate with users’ interests and retarget potential buyers in ads.

What Are the Limitations of Social Commerce?

While social commerce offers exciting opportunities, it’s important to be aware of its limitations:

• Platform dependence: Social commerce heavily relies on the features and algorithms of specific social media platforms. These platforms can change their rules and functionalities at any time, potentially impacting customer experience.
• Limited product display: Compared to a dedicated WordPress website, social commerce platforms often limit the product information you can display.
• Difficult to stand out: Grabbing the attention of social media users can be difficult. Hundreds, if not thousands, of brands will be competing with you for users’ attention.
• Regional restrictions: Some social commerce features may not be available in all countries. For instance, selling directly on Instagram is only available in the US.

All in all, social commerce is exciting, but it shouldn’t replace your existing online store. Instead, they work best together.

Think of social media like a shop window. You can use it to show off your products and make some sales directly on the app. But if that’s not the best fit for your business, then you can still use social media to get people to visit your website.

eCommerce platforms like WooCommerce offer much better control over your online shopping experience.

It provides a variety of secure payment gateways that may not be available on social platforms. Plus, it allows you to customize the checkout flow for a more convenient buying experience.

What’s more, you can use WooCommerce plugins like FunnelKit to optimize your customer journey. This way, you can increase the chances of new users converting into buyers.

For more details, you can see our complete guide on how to start an online store.

How to Get Started With Social Commerce

Now, let’s see how to get started with your own social commerce strategy. You can use the quick links below to navigate through the article:

1. Choose the Right Social Commerce Platform

Choosing the right platform for your business is the key to driving social commerce sales. After all, different platforms cater to different demographics and product types.

You will want to consider these factors when making your choice:

• Target audience: Where does your ideal customer spend their time online? Understanding their social media habits is crucial.
• Product type: Are your products visually appealing and well-suited for photo and video content? This might influence your platform choice.
• Platform features: Consider the functionalities offered by each platform. Some might offer live shopping events, product tagging capabilities, or chatbots for customer interaction.

Here’s a breakdown of some popular social commerce platforms and who they are best for:

• Instagram Shopping: A great option for businesses selling fashion, accessories, homeware, or anything that benefits from high-quality photos and videos.
• Facebook Shops: A perfect fit for businesses with established Facebook pages. You can also use Facebook Messenger for customer service inquiries.
• TikTok Shopping: Consider this platform if your target audience is active on TikTok. It is also suitable if your products can be showcased through short-form videos and live streams.
• Pinterest Product Pins: This is a great option for businesses in the home decor, fashion, or DIY space. Here, users might be searching for ideas and inspiration before making a purchase.

2. Set Up Social Media Profiles for Your Business

If you haven’t already, then you need to create social media business profiles specifically for your brand. This allows you to access features like social commerce tools and analytics.

First impressions matter, so focus on creating a profile that’s both visually appealing and informative.

Here are the key elements to consider:

• Profile picture and cover photo: Choose high-quality images that represent your brand personality. Your profile picture should be clear and easily recognizable, like your logo. The cover photo is your chance to showcase your brand aesthetic.
• Engaging bio: Use this space to insert your unique value proposition and a clear call to action. Also, feel free to mention some relevant keywords to your business, as they can help users find you through the platform’s search engine.
• Website link: Include a clickable link to your website or online store in your bio. This makes it easy for potential customers to discover your full product catalog and complete their purchase journey.

Now that you have a stunning profile set up, it’s time to start creating engaging content.

You can start by introducing your business. Let your audience know who you are and what your brand is all about. Share your story, your mission, and what makes your products special.

High-quality product photos and videos are essential for social commerce. Use your first few posts to highlight your most popular items or new arrivals.

You can also entice new followers with an introductory discount or special offer. This is a great way to generate excitement and encourage people to check out your products.

Contests and giveaways are a fun way to increase engagement and brand awareness. Offer a free product or discount to a lucky winner and ask users to follow your page, like your post, and tag a friend to enter.

To ensure the success of your giveaway, you can read our case study on how WPBeginner runs giveaways to double traffic and conversions.

3. Create a Shoppable Social Feed

Now that you’ve got a captivating profile, let’s create a shoppable social feed. This is where you can integrate product tags directly into your social media posts, making it easier for customers to discover your products.

Keep in mind that the setup process and functionalities for shoppable feeds can vary depending on the country and platform you are using.

Major platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok usually let you add a product catalog to your profile. However, you must check if your region is eligible for enabling an in-app checkout experience or if you need to direct users to your website via links.

Here are some guides you can check out for more information:

• Instagram for Business Guide
• Facebook Shops Guide
• TikTok for Business Guide
• Pinterest Product Pins Guide

The great thing about social commerce is you can repost user-generated content (UGC) and add it to your shoppable social feed.

You can encourage customers to share photos or videos of themselves using and loving your products with a specific branded hashtag. Besides tagging the products, you can also use these photos as social proof in your feed to show real people enjoying your products.

Or, you can add them to your customer reviews page on your website.

If you use Instagram, one thing you can do is embed a shoppable social feed on your online store, like your homepage. Clicking on these posts will take users directly to the product pages on your website, creating a smooth buying experience.

Plugins like Smash Balloon can simplify this process by displaying your Instagram feeds directly on your website and making them shoppable.

For a step-by-step guide, check out our article on how to add a shoppable Instagram feed on WordPress.

For more tips and tricks, check out these other articles on integrating social media with WordPress:

• How to Create a Custom Facebook Feed in WordPress
• How to Embed TikTok Videos in WordPress
• How to Add Pinterest “Pin It” Button in WordPress

4. Stay Organized With Social Commerce Tools

Juggling multiple social media accounts can get quickly overwhelming. So, you should consider using a social media management tool to simplify your workflows and save time.

Social commerce tools can help you schedule posts in advance so that they are published when your audience is most active. Plus, they often come with analytics to help you gain valuable insights into your social media strategy. Some may also have a messaging feature to respond to customers.

A great example of this is Semrush Social, which offers a comprehensive suite of social media management features.

Once you’ve signed up, you can connect your social media accounts to Semrush Social. The setup is easy and takes just a few clicks.

From here, you can explore any of the available features to manage your social commerce.

For instance, the Social Poster feature lets you schedule content, set up an editorial workflow, and even gather content ideas, all in one place.

Want to keep an eye on the competition? The Social Tracker tool allows you to monitor your competitors’ social media performance.

Simply enter their brand name or domain, and Semrush will gather data on their social media activity. You can take advantage of all of these valuable insights to improve your own strategy.

You can learn more about the platform in our Semrush review.

5. Make Your Business Visible in the Right Local Market

When you optimize your social profiles for local searches, you will increase the chances of your business showing up in the search results. This means you are attracting qualified leads who are close by and more likely to convert into paying customers.

If you want to localize your social commerce strategy, you can start by making sure your location is clear on your profiles. Include your city and state in your business name or bio, and consider adding your address if it makes sense for your business.

Additionally, you may want to make your ads targeted to people based on location. This means focusing on people within your city, town, or neighborhood, not just anyone scrolling through social media.

Also, remember to optimize the landing page for your ads so that users don’t leave once they land on it.

Other than that, don’t forget the power of hashtags. Adding relevant city or neighborhood hashtags to your posts can help people find you.

Keeping your business information accurate across all online directories can be a pain. Luckily, there are tools like Semrush Local to help.

Semrush Local helps ensure your business information (like your name, address, and phone number) is consistent and accurate across major online directories. This includes social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

This consistency is important for local SEO and can significantly improve your chances of showing up in local searches.

Once you’re inside your Semrush account, just enter your business name. Then, Semrush will check the web to see how your information is listed everywhere.

If anything’s wrong or missing, Semrush can distribute the correct information to relevant websites. It can also help remove duplicate listings that might confuse potential customers.

6. Get Creative With AI Content Writing Tools

Creating consistent and engaging social media content can be time-consuming. If you are looking for an extra boost, then you can try using AI content writing tools. They can help you write product descriptions on your website as well as on your social media posts.

While AI can be a helpful starting point, it’s important to remember that your brand voice and style are unique. Always review and edit the generated content to ensure it resonates with your audience and reflects your brand personality.

One powerful tool you should check out is ContentShake AI from Semrush. It helps you create high-ranking content on your site with AI and Semrush’s SEO data. You can also use it to create social media posts.

To use ContentShake AI, simply provide some details about your business, the type of post you are creating, the desired tone, and the post format. ContentShake AI will then generate several unique social media copy options for you to choose from.

You can then fine-tune your generated content further by interacting with the AI chat function.

This allows you to refine your message, add specific details, or simply get a creative nudge in the right direction.

ContentShake AI also allows you to establish a brand voice for your content simply by pasting existing content.

The tool will analyze your writing style and target audience. This lets you generate future content that aligns perfectly with your brand identity.

You may also want to see our guide on how to use AI to boost your marketing.

Frequently Asked Questions About Social Commerce

Let’s answer some frequently asked questions about social commerce.

Is social commerce rising?

Absolutely. The social commerce industry is booming and projected to grow 3 times faster than traditional eCommerce by 2025. This means social media platforms are becoming increasingly important for businesses to drive sales directly to consumers.

What is the difference between social commerce and social marketing?

Social marketing focuses on building brand awareness and improving relationships with your audience. On the other hand, social commerce has a more direct goal: converting followers into paying customers through your social media channels.

However, these two strategies work hand-in-hand. A strong social media marketing presence can lay the groundwork for successful social commerce efforts.

Is TikTok a social commerce platform?

Yes, TikTok is a major player in social commerce. They’ve introduced features like TikTok Shop, allowing users to discover and purchase products directly within the app. This focus on in-app purchases makes TikTok a leader in social commerce trends.

What is the largest social commerce platform?

While Facebook Marketplace is a major contender, TikTok Shop is currently considered the biggest social commerce platform due to its massive user base in China (where the app is known as Douyin).

Which countries allow Instagram Shopping?

Instagram Shopping is available to businesses in many countries, including the United States, Canada, most of Europe, and many countries in Asia-Pacific. You can find a full list of supported countries in Facebook’s Help Center.

We hope this article helped you learn about social commerce and how to get started with it. You may also want to check out our expert pick of the best Twitter plugins for WordPress and our complete social media cheat sheet.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

The post Beginner’s Guide to Social Commerce for WordPress Users first appeared on WPBeginner.