How to Start an Online Store in 8 Steps (2025 Guide)

Last Updated on March 5, 2025 by Leave a Comment

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How to Start an Online Store in 8 Steps (2025 Guide)
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Are you planning an entrance into eCommerce? It is highly rewarding and every bit as challenging. Thankfully, WooCommerce is one of the most extendable platforms for creating online stores.

I want to walk you through the steps of starting an online store with WooCommerce. We will cover everything from choosing a platform to setting up and marketing your store. Sound good?


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There’s a lot of empty promises out there. This is not one of them. A basic online store with a premium design can be created in one hour. Now, you’ll want to spend a lot more time than that fully configuring WooCommerce (there’s shipping, taxes, product listing, and more), but for the barebones and the design, 1 hour is possible. I don’t know of a way that you can do this with Shopify, so I’ll show you how to do it with WooCommerce + Divi.

1. Pick an Ecommerce Platform

When it comes to eCommerce platforms, two options often dominate the conversationβ€”WooCommerce and Shopify. Website builder platforms like Shopify offer an all-in-one solution that can be a great option for many online stores. However, with WordPress powering over 40% of all online stores, it’s worth exploring why this platform is a top choice for many.

WordPress, the best content management system (CMS) for building websites, offers one of the most flexible options for building an online store, too. While the platform is free, associated costs include hosting, domain registration, plugins, and a solid theme. The costs aren’t much different with Shopify, where instead of hosting, you’d pay them to host your siteβ€”plus, there are all the extensions, themes, and even domain registration with Shopify, too.

WooCommerce Design made easy with Divi

Divi Pro gives you all the tools to reach WooCommerce’s maximum potential. Our advanced design system makes designing any store visually easy. While other solutions force you to assume their design constraints, Divi is built for total creative freedom. Pro is packed with endless features, such as an AI website builder, VIP support in less than 30 minutes, and tons of other confidence-inspiring tools.

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Not Convinced?

We couldn’t recommend WooCommerce enough. See why we like it so much and chose to support it inside Divi.

Divi Ecommerce Store Builder

2. Start with a Clear Plan for Your Online Business

Before diving into the technical steps, take the time to develop a clear business plan. This blueprint will guide your decisions and ensure you build a store that aligns with your goals. It’s worth investing the effort now to avoid costly mistakes later.

Here are the essential elements of a solid plan:

Define Your Niche and Target Audience

What do you want to sell, and who do you want to sell it to? These questions are fundamental. Choose a niche that aligns with your passions but also has market demand. A niche that excites you will make marketing and daily operations more enjoyable.

Next, research your target audience. Understand their preferences, challenges, and buying habits. Create detailed customer personas to guide your marketing, product selection, and design choices. For example:

  • What problems are they trying to solve?
  • How do they typically shop online?
  • What motivates them to make a purchase?
Ask yourself: What would I like to sell, and to whom would I want to sell it? I’ve tried to start a business where I was excited about the product, but it turned out I wasn’t excited about who I was targeting. It was hard to do marketing or sales because the clientele wasn’t what I anticipated.

Choosing a niche that aligns with your passions can make your journey more enjoyable and sustainable. Your enthusiasm for your products will resonate with your customers, creating a unique and engaging shopping experience.

Niche Down Your Online Store

Image by Dragon Claws / shutterstock.com

Next, understand your target audience and their personas. Identify their needs, preferences, and buying habits. The more you know about your audience, the better you can tailor your products and marketing strategies to them. Remember, choosing a profitable, searchable niche that aligns with your passion is imperative for success. This ensures a return on your investment and that there’s an active audience looking for your products or services.

Select and Test Your Products

Start small. Focus on a curated collection of products to test demand and learn what works. Whether you’re selling physical goods, digital downloads, or services, evaluate these factors:

  • Demand: Are people actively searching for your products or problems your products fix?
  • Competition: How crowded is the market, and how can you stand out?
  • Profitability: Will your pricing allow for sustainable growth?

Start with a limited catalog to test demand. You can always expand your product range later. When selecting your products, consider factors like demand, competition, and profitability. If you’re entering a popular market, consider how to differentiate your offerings. If you’re selling physical products, plan your inventory management strategy. Will you need custom manufacturing, dropshipping, or wholesale purchasing?

Conduct Basic Market and SEO Research

A good marketing plan doesn’t have to be complex. Identify a few key channels where your audience is most active, such as social media, email marketing, or search engine optimization (SEO). Plan to create high-value, original content to attract and engage your audience.

Semrush Keyword Magic Tool

Use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner or Semrush to identify what potential customers are searching for. This research will inform your product descriptions, blog content, and overall SEO strategy.

Get Semrush

SEO is one of the more complicated aspects of this, so a general strategy would be:

  • Find high-traffic keywords relevant to your niche.
  • Use these terms in product titles, descriptions, and meta tags.
  • Explore AI tools like Divi AI or Surfer SEO to generate optimized content quickly. These can help you create the content you need for your website as you build it.

Get Divi AI with Pro

3. Get Hosting and Register Your Domain

I’d start by getting hosting. It’s the more complex (though fairly easy these days) of these two tasks. And usually, wherever you get hosting, you can also get a domain (making it easy). We highly recommend Siteground. They’ve been reliable for many years. We’ll also reference Siteground in many of the steps below since they make all this easy. They offer free CDN, free SSL, and email account management.

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Next comes snagging a domain. Your domain name is your online store’s address on the web. It should be easy to remember and reflect your brand.

Purchase a Domain Name Illustration

Image by Eny Setiyowati / shutterstock.com

You’ll need to buy your domain from a reputable domain registrar. You want reasonable prices and easy-to-manage domain options. You can’t go wrong with Siteground, but Namecheap and Godaddy may offer better prices. Follow along in our dedicated, step-by-step guide for registering a new domain.

Enter Site Title and Tagline

The WordPress settings section allows you to configure the major settings controlling your WordPress installation. They are found by clicking β€œSettings” in the admin sidebar. The most essential things you need to do are choose your site title and tagline and set your URL address (both fields should be the same).

WordPress settings

More Settings to Adjust Later

These settings are too granular to cover in detail here, but if you have lingering questions, you can consult these helpful mini-guides for WordPress settings:

Going through all of these settings can take just a few moments, so don’t let all the links scare you.

Install and Set Up Divi

Installing Divi isΒ straightforward. First, after purchasing a subscription, you need to download the Divi theme file from the Elegant Themes membership dashboard. Watch this video to complete this task so you can start designing your store!

Don’t Have It Yet? Get Divi Pro

4. Use Any Starter Site to Build Your Store

With your website newly configured, it’s time to design your online store. I like getting a first draft of the web design before I start adjusting WooCommerce settingsβ€”it’s just more satisfying at this stage.

Hands down, the fastest way to design a full online store is by using Divi Quick Sites. If you have Divi Pro, then you can use the AI site builder (or you can try using the free credits). Or, anyone can use Divi Starter Sites, predesigned layouts for pages and Theme Builder templates (headers, footers, and product pages). I love using Starter Sites because they are designed by professional designers on our team, and they are easy to modify. See how those work in the video below πŸ‘‡

Pretty impressive. Not only are they professionally designed, but they come with everything you need. That means predesigned pages, theme templates, menus, module presets, and global styles. When choosing a Starter Site, look for one thatΒ feels closest to what you want your end product to look like. The Starter Content doesn’t matter much since you’ll change out all the images and text. But the text, colors, and spacing presets can easily be carried over and continued with your own twist.

A screenshot of Divi Quick Sites' Portfolio starter templates

New Starter Sites are added weekly

The benefit of Starter Sites is that you know exactly what design you are getting. But the power of Divi is that all of these designs are editableβ€”meaning that you canΒ start with a Starter Site but quickly iterate to something that fits your fancy. Browse our growing selection to see where you want to start off from.

online store starter site divi

From here, you’ll be taken to a page where you can customize your store. You can enter your site name here if you hadn’t before. Also, select your logo and which of the Starter Site pages you want to use. You can also choose to install WooCommerce at this stage (so simple!).

Starter Site Customize Page

After some hard work by Divi, you’ll see a list of pages and Theme Templates it created. Each of these is editable. Looking at the Theme Templates, we can see that it also created all our online store pages for WooCommerce.

divi ecommerce starter site ready

Your homepage, for example, will look exactly like the Starter Site.

divi ecommerce starter site front end

For each page created, you can click into and start editing to your desire. Don’t forget about your headers/footers and other Theme Builder Templates.

Get Started with Divi Now

5. Setup WooCommerce

After configuring WordPress settings and choosing a theme, you can walk through the initial setup wizard to configure key settings for your store in WooCommerce. Remember that we had our host install WooCommerce alongside WordPress, so there is no need to install the WooCommerce plugin. If your host didn’t provide that courtesy, you can view our guide to installing + configuring WooCommerce.

The setup wizard configures your store with basic configurations and additional WooCommerce-specific plugins based on your needs. To get started, under WooCommerce, click β€œHome.”

Woo Onboarding Flow - Steps 1-2

The WooCommerce Onboarding Wizard begins with basic store information (address and email address). This is a good first step because it will help handle your shipping and tax information based on your locality.

Woo Onboarding Flow - Steps 3-4

Then, select the industries that your store best fits into.

Woo Onboarding Flow - Steps 5-6

Choose the functionality you want with your store regarding the type of products you wish to sell. Depending on your selection, additional WooCommerce plugins will be installed to give you the necessary functionality.

Note that WooCommerce offers plugins that have a monthly fee associated with them. You can use these solutions if you wantβ€”they are reliable! But you also have more options if you do a bit more digging. We’ve gathered the best membership, bookings, and other free WooCommerce plugins you can use.

Woo Onboarding Flow - Steps 7-9

Then, tell WooCommerce a bit more about yourself and your store.

Woo Onboarding Flow - Steps 10-11

The WooCommerce ecosystem also has plenty of free plugins. The last step is to select which plugins you want to install (each handles a specific and essential task). If you wonder if they are worth it, see our reviews on Jetpack and MailPoet.

Woo Onboarding Flow - Steps 12-13

WooCommerce Settings

The nitty gritty settings of any platform can be a lot of work when starting an online store. WooCommerce has settings pages to configure and customize your online store for every single detail:

  • General Settings control currency, product types, checkout, and catalog
  • Product Settings manage options like units, visibility, and inventory
  • Shipping Settings configure delivery methods, costs, and other preferences
  • Payment Settings set up payment gateways for customer checkout
  • Account Settings configure registration, privacy, and data
  • Email Settings customize transactional emails from your store
  • Advanced Settings fine-tune advanced functions like hooks

These settings are discussed in detail with our guide on configuring WooCommerce settings.

6. Add Products to Your Store

Next, you should add products to your WooCommerce store. This involves creating a new product in your WordPress dashboard and filling in the details, including the title, description, price, and product image. Site owners can add products in bulk to WooCommerce via CSV if they have that information in a spreadsheet. Otherwise, products can be easily added through the dashboard.

Go to WooCommerce > Products > β€œAdd New” in your WordPress dashboard.

Add Products - Steps 1

Enter the product name for your product that will be displayed to shoppers.

Add Products - Steps 2

Add a product description and upload your product image.

Add Products - Steps 3-4

Now you can choose what product type, price, manage inventory, set shipping options, and more from the individual product page.

Add Products - Steps 5-6

Once you are happy with your product, you can publish the draft. Add as many products as you have available to sell.

Learn more about WooCommerce inventory management to handle product stock, and visit our guide on setting up shipping in WooCommerce. We also have a great guide on setting up product variations with WooCommerce.

7. Extend Your Store with Plugins

One of the great things about using WordPress and WooCommerce is the ability to extend functionality with plugins. Thousands of free and premium plugins add helpful features to an online store. Here are a few recommendations to get your feet wet.

Caching Plugin

wp rocket overview

WP Rocket is one of the best caching plugins available. It helps reduce your web page’s load time by creating static copies and serving them to visitors. This includes features like page caching, cache preloading, and GZIP compression. This isn’t your only optionβ€”check out these other great caching choices.

Get WP Rocket

SEO Plugin

rankmath plugin

Rankmath is a great SEO plugin that helps you optimize your content, manage keywords, and improve your site’s visibility on search engines like Google. It offers XML sitemaps, meta tag management, keyword tracking, and detailed SEO analysis. Rankmath also integrates with Divi, making managing your shop’s SEO easy.

Get Rank Math

Product Filtering and Search Plugins

Plugins that enhance product filtering, search, and navigation result in better customer experiences. The top options are SearchWP and the others referenced on our list of best search plugins.

SearchWP settings

Barn2 and Yith make some of our favorite WooCommerce plugins.Β If you want a solution that is guaranteed to work with Divi, there are also dozens of solidΒ WooCommerce options in the Divi Marketplace.

8. Launch Your New Online Store

Once your online store is built, it’s time to get the word out and attract customers. Some key marketing channels to leverage include:

Email Marketing: Email is one of the most effective ways to market to customers. Build your list by offering an incentive to subscribe. Send regular newsletter emails showcasing new products. Use email segmentation to target different groups. Choose one of the best email marketing services, likeΒ Mailchimp,Β or one ofΒ its alternatives. Ecommerce businesses have many additional ways to use email marketing,Β which can be very effective.

Store SEO: Search engine optimization helps customers find your products through search. Carry out on-page optimization across your site. Use advanced SEO techniques to improve rankings.

Social Media: Promote your store through social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Share products, run giveaways, and advertise through paid social campaigns. Many ways of doing social commerce can help increase exposure and sales.

Affiliate Marketing: Open an affiliate program where other creators can reference, review, and promote your products. This is quickly done with affiliate management plugins. Also, you can consider becoming an Amazon affiliate if your online store is focused on selling others’ products with Amazon. This earns you commissions on resulting sales.

PPC Ads: Paid search ads put your products in front of people as they search on Google and other search engines. Use AI tools to optimize your ads and copywriting to see even more outstanding results.

Site Speed and Optimization: Fast site speed is vital for conversions.Β To speed up your store, useΒ caching pluginsΒ and follow aΒ Divi optimization guide.

Be sure to track metrics with eCommerce analytics to optimize efforts and take an omnichannel approach.

Tools for Building an Online Store

Starting an online store is an ambitious goal that can be intimidating at first. But by following a step-by-step guide, anyone can create a thriving online store. Don’t let technology or self-doubt hold you back. You have what it takes to turn your retail goals into a thriving online store that realizes your entrepreneurial vision. Use our tool recommendations to build confidentlyβ€”at the very least, you need Siteground, Divi, and a Starter Site.

Product NamePurpose
1WooCommerceeCommerce solution for WordPressGet Now
2ShopifyProprietary eCommerce platformGet Now
3SemrushSEO keyword research toolGet Now
4Siteground HostingTop web hosting providerGet Now
5Siteground DomainsDomain registrationGet Now
6Namecheap DomainsAffordable domain registrarGet Now
7Divi Quick SitesPre-built Starter Sites or AI-generated sitesGet Now
8Divi ThemeThe ultimate WordPress themeGet Now
9Divi AIAI-powered website builder, coder, and image editorGet Now
10Sucuri SecurityWordPress security platformGet Now
11Barn2 WooCommerce PluginsSuite of WooCommerce toolsGet Now
12Yith WooCommerce PluginsSuite of WooCommerce toolsGet Now
13Divi MarketplaceTools and extensions built for DiviGet Now

Divi makes installing WooCommerce and designing your store a breeze. Divi Pro is the best of the entire Divi ecosystem and will make your life much easier.

Get Divi Pro

Let us know how your online store plans are shaping up!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Before we wrap up, let’s answer some of your most common questions about creating an online store. Did we miss one? Leave a question below, and we will respond!

How do I make an online store?
To make an online store, you must choose an e-commerce platform like WordPress/WooCommerce, create a domain name and website, design your storefront, add products, set up payment and shipping options, and launch your website. You can also market your store through social media and search engines to attract customers.
Can I start an online store for free?
Yes, while it is possible to start an online store for free using platforms like Shopify and, WooCommerce, remember that these platforms may have limitations on features and functionality, or you may still need to pay for services like hosting and domain.
How much does it cost to start an online store?
The cost to start an online store can vary depending on the platform used, website design, domain name, hosting, payment processing, and marketing. Some platforms, likeΒ  WooCommerce, are free but require hosting and additional expenses. A basic online store can cost around $500-$1,000 but can increase with additional features and customization.
Why should I use WordPress to build my online store?
Using WordPress to build your online store offers a range of benefits, including easy customization, a vast selection of plugins, and flexibility to scale as your business grows. With WordPress, you can completely control your store's design and functionality and integrate with popular payment gateways and shipping options. Plus, its user-friendly interface makes managing your store a breeze.
Which is better, Shopify or WordPress?
WordPress offers greater flexibility and customization options than Shopify. With WordPress, users can access a wide range of plugins and themes, enabling them to customize their online store fully. Using WooCommerce with WordPress offers more affordable pricing plans, unlimited product listings, and no transaction fees. Additionally, WordPress is an established platform with a large community, providing a wealth of resources and support.
Can I create an online store without physical products?
Yes, it is possible to create an online store without physical products. This can be done by selling digital products such as software, ebooks, music, or courses. Alternatively, you can provide consulting, coaching, or freelancing services. Such online stores are known as digital or service-based stores.
How do I start an online store without inventory?
To start an online store without inventory, consider dropshipping or print-on-demand services. Drop shipping lets you partner with a supplier who ships products directly to your customers. With print-on-demand, you create designs printed on products only when ordered. Choose a platform like WooCommerce, set up your website, select products, and start marketing your store.
What are the important pages that my online store should have?
An online store should have essential pages such as a homepage, product pages, about us page, contact us page, FAQs page, shipping and returns policy page, and a blog page. These pages help provide an easy and engaging shopping experience for the customers and build trust and credibility for the brand.
Where should I host my online store?
When choosing a hosting provider for your online store, look for one that offers fast and reliable performance, secure transactions, and scalable resources to accommodate growth. Consider popular options such as SiteGround, Hostinger, Cloudways, and Pressable. You can read our detailed comparison of various hosts here.
How do I create an online dropshipping business?
To create an online dropshipping business, you must choose a niche, research and select products to sell, find and partner with a dropshipping supplier, develop an online store, and market your business through social media and other channels. You can use platforms like WooCommerce to set up your store and automate the ordering and shipping process.
How do I sell digital products online?
To sell digital products online, you need a platform to showcase your products, such as a website or e-commerce store, which you can easily make using tools such as WordPress, Divi, and WooCommerce tools. Ensure that your product is valuable and in demand. Use marketing strategies such as social media advertising, email marketing, and content marketing to attract potential customers. Set up a secure payment gateway and deliver the digital product to the customer upon successful purchase.
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