How to Plan Your Online Shopping eCommerce Store | Web Design Derby

Turning a hobby into a full-blown online store… one giant spreadsheet at a time. 🧾 Download the sample spreadsheet...

https://www.ilkestonwebdesign.com/wordpress-woocommerce-online-shop-planning/

Ever tried building an eCommerce site from scratch? I did, for a koi carp breeder moving from eBay to a dedicated online shop. He’d tried Wix, called it “a bit crap,” and had also dabbled with Shopify. Eventually, we went with WordPress + WooCommerce—a flexible, open-source combo that works beautifully when paired with the right tools.

Here’s how we tackled it—from spreadsheets to plugins and everything in between.

💡 Why WordPress + WooCommerce?

WordPress powers over 40% of the web.

WooCommerce (free) turns it into a powerful store.

Accepts PayPal, Stripe, Apple Pay, and can sell physical, digital, or even consulting services.

But WooCommerce is resource-hungry. Avoid cheap shared hosting. Use VPS hosting from providers like SiteGround or DreamHost. Also, use a free SSL certificate (Let’s Encrypt), and avoid GoDaddy/123-Reg hosting entirely.

🌐 Boost Speed & Security with a CDN

We used Cloudflare to:

• Speed up global delivery with caching.
• Block non-UK visitors for region-specific selling.
• Optimise images with formats like WEBP or AVIF.

Remember: Bypass caching on dynamic pages like carts and checkout to avoid outdated prices or availability.

🧠 The Strategy Behind the Site

Before anything was built, we mapped out:

🎯 Target markets

🛠️ Operations & logistics

🧬 Unique selling points

🧾 Testimonials and backstory

A 2-hour video call with the client (transcribed via TurboScribe AI) gave us the gold needed to write category descriptions, T&Cs, About page, and more.

📊 The Product Inventory Spreadsheet

Manual product entry? Not for 900+ items. We used a master inventory spreadsheet with:

Product names, SKUs, weights, prices

• SEO titles and URLs
• Breadcrumbs and categories
• Shipping data and variables (like size/weight)

This document became the source of truth for both the website and the business.

🔌 Meet WP All Import

Once the spreadsheet was complete, we used WP All Import to upload everything to WooCommerce. It:

• Imports hundreds of products from CSVs
• Handles images, variations, metadata
• Saves days (or weeks) of manual work

It’s not perfect—expect parsing errors and formatting quirks—but it’s a game-changer. Even outside eCommerce, you can use it to bulk-create pages, posts, or custom content.

⚠️ Tip: HTML formatting is limited. Stick to plain text in the import phase, then refine later.

📦 Shipping, Payments & Other Moving Parts

Post-import, we:

• Set up payment gateways
• Built complex shipping logic (e.g. discounts by weight or spend)
• Had to convert volumes to weights (yes, the client weighed things manually)

Testing is crucial. Expect bugs. Don’t publish and promote your site until everything is fully tested.

🗂️ Don’t Ignore Category Pages

They’re not just navigation—they’re conversion machines.

Each product category had:

• Clean descriptions
• Logical structure (e.g. Accessories - Microscope)
• UI-optimized layout

These act as middle-of-funnel landing pages and can include videos, guides, testimonials, or reviews.

Add manufacturer tags to products for better sorting/filtering.

🚀 SEO & Backlinks for Category Pages

Want to rank? Build backlinks.

Category pages are prime SEO real estate. Great content here can earn organic links. If this were my business, I’d appear on koi podcasts and link back to those category pages.

Tip: Read Ahrefs’ beginner guide to link building.

You can even duplicate category pages for paid ad landing pages using WordPress plugins.

🧪 Final Thoughts on WP All Import

For a gym selling class memberships, I didn’t use WP All Import. But in hindsight, a spreadsheet would’ve helped with planning—even if I still entered things manually. Documentation = good project management.

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