How to Build an eCommerce Website Step by Step?
Are you planning to build an eCommerce website step by step? Are you looking for solutions to create customized pages for your website? If you answered yes, then this article is for you!
E-commerce is the talk of the town as it helps you make money without necessarily setting up a brick and mortar business with high overhead costs. All you need is a great web hosting, a great WordPress theme, and a few right plugins. So, let’s get started!
Step 1: Buy a hosting and domain name.
The first step is to have web hosting. In other words, it is home to your domain name. Whereas, a domain name is an address to your website. Even though you can get a domain name from many online websites, you need to be sure to get hosting from a highly reliable company. There are many great web hosting services to choose from, and in fact, WordPress also recommends a few of them.
Once you have chosen your web hosting provider, create an account, and choose your plan accordingly. Then enter your domain name and complete the billing process. You will receive a confirmation of your account with login credentials and other information.
Step 2: Install WordPress
Once you have completed the billing process, you can easily install WordPress with a ‘one-click’ install. As you set up WordPress, as your host, you will be directed to the WordPress login page. Enter the login credentials that were emailed to you in the previous step. Now you can view the entire dashboard of your website.
Step 3: Choose and install a theme for your website.
There are many WordPress themes that you can choose from to make your website look great. However, we recommend installing the Astra Theme as it goes quite well with WooCommerce. To install your theme, click on ‘Appearance’ from the side panel, select ‘Theme’ and choose ‘Add New.’ Then search for your theme, click on ‘Install’ and then ‘Activate.’ You will then be asked to install a page builder wherein we recommend that you opt for Elementor.
Step 4: Install Elementor
Elementor is a great page builder and offers features like front end page editor, templates and block library, mobile-responsive options, high customizable layouts, etc. It is one of the most powerful page builders.
Before you can get to work, you need to install Elementor free and Elementor pro plugins. To install Elementor, click on ‘Plugins’ from the left side panel, select ‘New’ and then search for Elementor. Then click on install. Once the plugin is installed, then you must click on ‘Activate.’
To install Elementor pro, you need to head over to
Step 5: Customize your website with Elementor
You can edit a page with Elementor in two ways. You can either click on ‘Pages’ on the side panel and then add, remove or edit pages that appear along with the theme selected. To edit these pages, hover your mouse over any page, and you will notice an option that says ‘Edit with Elementor.’ When you click on that, you can then use Elementor to make changes.
Another way to edit your page is from the front-end. On your webpage, you can click on ‘Edit with Elementor’ that appears on the top-most bar. Either of these methods will allow you to edit a page using Elementor.
You can use different images, change texts, icons, and so much more. Since you have also installed Elementor Pro, you can add forms, your custom fonts, sliders, price tables for your products, price lists, and so much more.
Step 6: Install WooCommerce
The next step is to install WooCommerce. This is another WordPress plugin that easily transforms any website into an online store. It lets you seamlessly add products, online payment options, generate coupon codes, set up shipping options, and so much more.
To add WooCommerce to your website, click on ‘Plugins,’ then select ‘Add New’ and search for WooCommerce.
Step 7: Design pages with WooCommerce and Elementor
Now that everything is set up, you need to set up product pages for your e-commerce website. To do this, go to ‘Templates’ from the sidebar and select ‘Add New.’ From the list that appears, you can click on ‘Single Product.’ Elementor will then list a few ready-made WooCommerce products pages that you can choose from. So, select ‘Insert’ against the template you wish to customize. The template gets added to your Elementor canvas, and on the left sidebar, you can see the WooCommerce elements like product title, images, price, etc. You can easily drag and drop the elements you wish to use and customize them.
The stock Elementor templates are quite generic. To make them yours, you can fix background colors, font colors, and other typography settings that make it closer to your brand. If you wish to edit a block on the page, then hover over the block and click on the pencil icon. Now on the left side panel, click on the ‘Style’ tab. Here you will find all types of looks and styling options.
The ‘Add to Cart’ button is the most important button for your e-commerce site. WooCommerce offers you two different blocks. There is a simple ‘Add to Cart’ block and ‘Custom Add to Cart’ block. You will have to experiment and see what suits best for your pages.
You must invest your time and resource to set up your pages as per your requirement.
Step 8: Publish your e-commerce website
Now that you have customized your website as needed click on the ‘Publish’ button on the bottom left corner of the Elementor interface. Then click on ‘Save and close.’ You can now see your website in action!
Conclusion
Creating an e-commerce website with WordPress and WooCommerce is not as overwhelming as it seems. All you need is to invest time and be open to trying new plugins and features that make your website better.
Have you created your e-commerce website yet? Share your success story in the comments below!
