WooCommerce is an e-commerce plugin for WordPress that enables entrepreneurs to set up and manage online stores. More than 6.5 million websites are powered by WooCommerce on the internet. The platform is widely used and has helped many businesses succeed in the online space.
However, there are several common mistakes newbies make when setting up their WooCommerce stores, and these can significantly impact their success. So, in this post, we’ll explore five rookie WooCommerce store mistakes and simple ways to avoid them.
#1: Not Managing Inventory Properly
One of the most common mistakes beginners make when setting up their WooCommerce store is not managing their inventory properly. Inventory refers to the products you have in stock that you sell on your online store.
Proper inventory management is essential for the smooth running of any store. However, beginners often overlook the importance of inventory management and end up running out of stock, leading to lost sales and unhappy customers.
To avoid this mistake, it is essential to keep track of your inventory regularly, update your stock levels, and set up automated alerts to notify you when stock is running low.
You can also use a specialized WooCommerce inventory management solution to help you keep track of your inventory. This will ensure that you always have the right products in stock, and you never miss out on sales due to a lack of inventory.
#2: Ignoring Customer Reviews
Another common mistake is ignoring customer reviews. This is essential for any online and offline store. They give potential customers a sense of the quality of your products and services and can influence their decision to purchase from your store. Yet, beginners have a bad habit of ignoring client feedback, which may be detrimental to their development.
Avoid making this mistake by incentivizing consumers to post evaluations after their purchases with follow-up emails. Additionally, always respond to customer reviews, whether positive or negative, as this shows that you care about their feedback and are willing to improve.
Responding to customer reviews is also an opportunity to showcase your customer service skills, which can set you apart from your competitors.
#3: Not Optimizing the Website for SEO
We all know how important SEO is in today’s world. Unfortunately, newbies often overlook the importance of SEO, leading to poor search engine rankings, which can significantly impact their success. In order to prevent this blunder, it is crucial to optimize your website for search engines by including keywords, meta descriptions, and tags.
Researching and using relevant keywords is one of the most important steps in optimizing your website for SEO. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner to find keywords relevant to your business.
Once you have identified the keywords, you can optimize your content by using them in your page titles, headings, and body copy.
#4: Not Making the Website Mobile-Friendly
With more and more people using their phones to browse the web, it’s crucial that eCommerce websites are optimized for mobile use. Sadly, novices often fail to see the significance of a mobile-friendly website, which results in a negative user experience and lost revenue.
Make sure your site is mobile-friendly, loads fast, and is straightforward to navigate to prevent this common mistake. The checkout procedure should also be simple and quick, and all pictures and videos should be mobile-optimized.
#5: Not Promoting the Store Enough
Promotion is crucial for the success of any online store. However, beginners often overlook the importance of promotion, leading to poor sales and limited growth. Social media, email marketing, and paid promotion are just a few ways to get the word out about your shop and ensure this doesn’t happen.
Social media, for instance, is an excellent channel for promoting your online store. You can create multiple accounts on various platforms and use them to showcase your products, share relevant content, and engage with your followers.
Email marketing is also an effective way to promote your store. You can keep your subscribers engaged and informed about your store by sending them newsletters, promotional emails, and special offers.
Paid advertising is another excellent option for promoting your business, and you can use platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads to create targeted ads that reach your desired audience.
However, it’s important to set a budget for your advertising and track your results to ensure that you’re getting a good return on investment.
Final Thoughts
Opening an online business is an exciting adventure, but there are many details that can hinder your success. By avoiding the aforementioned mistakes, you can set your online business up for success.
If you take the appropriate strategy and put in as much time, effort, and patience as you can, your business has a greater chance of achieving its goals.