You don’t have to be a master coder to create a WooCommerce site that wins customers, makes sales and reduces admin time. You just have to master one thing; plugins.
We’ll take you through our favourite must have plugins for managing subscribers, SEO, optimising checkout and store speed. Plus, we’ll round up all the nice-to-have plugins for you to consider.
Let’s make your store a success:
- What are WooCommerce plugins?
- Grow your subscribers: OptinMonster
- Optimise your checkout: Stripe
- Make your store fast: JetPack Boost
- Most popular for SEO: Yoast
- 8 other plugins that are worth checking out
- Adding text messaging to your ecommerce store
What are WooCommerce plugins?
Plugins add extra functions to your website. Or, they increase the current functionality. Basically, with plugins you can make your site work the way you want it to.
For example, you may want to send an SMS to customers when they abandon their cart or allow Paypal payments. You might want your site rank higher in Google (who doesn’t?). Or you might be looking to improve site performance.
All of this, and much more, can be done with plugins.
Like all good things, it’s best not to over indulge. Too many plugins can slow down your site and add clutter. Just stick to trusted plugins that meet your store’s needs.
Grow your subscribers: OptinMonster
It’s great when people visit your store. It’s even better when they visit and join your contact list. It makes it much easier to contact them about your newest product, sale or launch. No more shouting into the void.
Use OptinMonster for WooCommerce
OptinMonster is our favourite lead generation tool. It’s easy to create popups and floating bars to capture phone numbers and emails of your store’s visitors. OptinMonster works with most text messaging and email tools, so details you collect can be auto added to your subscriber lists.
It’s great for small and big business owners alike. There’s 400+ pop-up templates to choose from. Or, if you’ve got a dev on staff then they can code custom solutions for you.
Features:
- Use the built-in A/B testing to work out what message converts best.
- Use different messages for different countries with inbuilt geotagging.
- Show personalised messages based on your visitors' behaviour.
Optimise your checkout: Stripe
It can take a marathon effort to get customers to the payment screen, you don’t want to lose them at the final hurdle. Adding a payment plugin to your WooCommerce site can make checkout as seamless as possible. And maybe even reduce your abandon cart rate.
Stripe pairs well with WooCommerce
Stripe is one of the world’s most trusted plugins, for good reason. It’s a simple way to accept payments online and it integrates well with WooCommerce stores.
The best part about Stripe is that the customer stays on your website to pay. There are no redirects. This helps customers feel safe and confident when entering their card details and hitting buy. Cha-ching!
For extra customer support, you can add SMS notifications to Stripe to keep customers in the loop with payments and invoices.
Features:
- There’s no setup fees, no monthly fees, and no hidden costs.
- Go global. It’s available in 40 countries and accepts 135+ currencies including Apple Pay, Google Pay, Ali Pay and more.
- Seamless payments on mobile devices, it’s fully optimised for mobile and fast checkout.
- In-built Stripe Radar to help detect fraud and stop scammers.
Save time and send refunds from your WooCommerce Dashboard.
How to make your store super fast: Jetpack
As a store owner, you want to give your customer the best possible experience. Customers expect to be able to shop and purchase quickly online. They may even leave your site if they can’t find what they need easily or your site takes too long to load. In fact, a one-second delay in loading times can reduce conversion rates by 20%.
Speed up with JetPack Boost for WooCommerce
Jetpack Boost is a site speed plugin that can increase the speed of your pages. A faster website can help you rank higher on Google, increase your conversion rate and the time people spend browsing your site.
Jetpack Boost uses one-click optimisations, so you can speed up your site in minutes. You can also purchase the full Jetpack Suite which offers all the support to speed up your site. Along with highly-rated eCommerce store security, backup storage and some marketing tools.
Features:
- Make your store load faster with Critical CSS, Deferred Java and selective image loading for your entire site. No developer required.
- Measure user experience metrics to ensure your visitors are more likely to convert.
- Buy the full Jetpack suite for expanded security features and access to a dashboard that shows all your safety and speed stats in one place.
Most popular for SEO: Yoast
The back pages of Google are like the internet’s basement. Not the ideal place for your store to show up. However, getting your e-Commerce store to penthouse status, AKA: page one of Google can be very difficult. That’s why smart website site owners and developers take the plugin elevator; not the stairs.
Introducing Yoast for WooCommerce
Meet Yoast; a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) plugin for Wordpress and WooCommerce websites. Yoast is a tool for on-page SEO, it helps you to make sure you include all the right elements to make your products stand out in search results.
It’s great for beginners with an easy to use interface and prompts that will simplify SEO. And there are plenty of advanced features too.
Plus, this plugin has added features that are tailored for SEO with WooCommerce. Such as automatically outputting all the data for rich snippets, analysing your product descriptions and adding product identifiers to search engine listings.
Features:
- Automatically create rich snippets. Product pictures, prices, brands and reviews can show up in search results without doing any extra work.
- Preview your search result will look like before you post your webpage.
- View analysis of your product page content and SEO with tips to improve both.
- Be set up for success with access to the eCommerce Yoast SEO training and 24/7 support.
8 WooCommerce plugins that are worth checking out
Adding too many plugins to your site can make your store slow for customers. That’s why we don’t recommend using every plugin listed below. But each plugin is worth checking out to see if it fits in your strategy.
1. Elementor Pro
Use this plugin to design and customise your online store and product listings. Elementor has a drag-and-drop interface, so it’s easy to create a professional store that converts customers, without any coding skills.
2. BookingPress
BookingPress for WooCommerce offers appointment scheduling, rentals, or reservations. It integrates with WooCommerce, so you can manage bookings and availability from your online store. No need to switch tools.
3. HubSpot for WooCommerce
Add marketing functions to your store. Sync order data and customer information into HubSpot's CRM effortlessly, turning purchases into deals. With tailored features for WooCommerce, cart abandonment follow-ups, welcome campaigns and re-engagement strategies are all part of the package.
4. Redirection
Redirection for WooCommerce is like your online store's GPS. It helps guide your customers to the right places on your site. If a product page changes or gets deleted, it ensures that visitors don't hit a dead end but are redirected to the new location. It's all about keeping the shopping journey smooth and frustration-free.
5. Kiwi Sizing
Kiwi Sizing is made for online clothing stores. It helps your customers find the perfect fit by suggesting the right size based on their measurements. Helping customers find the correct sizing in the first place can reduce shipping costs caused by returns and increase purchase rate and revenue.
6. VikWP
VikWP for WooCommerce can speed up your online stores engine. It supercharges the performance by adding extra features, optimising and customising. Think of it as turning your regular store into a high-performance machine, making everything faster, better, and more efficient for your customers.
7. CartFlows
CartFlows streamlines the entire checkout process on your WooCommerce store, making it quicker and more efficient. It guides your customers seamlessly from their shopping cart to purchase completion. This not only increases sales but also ensures a stress-free shopping experience for your customers.
8. WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packaging Slips
This plugin generates fully customizable invoices and packing slips. It streamlines administrative tasks, saving time and reducing the risk of errors associated with manual document creation. Additionally, its flexibility allows you to personalise each document for compliance and tax reasons.
Adding text messaging to your ecommerce store
Customers love to be kept in the loop about shipping, returns, sales and payment. Which is why SMS is such a powerful tool for e-commerce stores. It can improve engagement and customer service and even drive sales. You can add SMS to your store easily via the ClickSend SMS WooCommerce plugin. You can activate it in just a few clicks, right from your Wordpress dashboard. You can create messages from the backend of your store so you can easily update everything, all in one place.
Which plugins are right for your WooCommerce store?
Picking your plugins isn’t just about the bells and whistles — it's about finding tools that aligns with your unique business goals.
You need to consider factors like how it syncs with your current systems, its potential to enhance customer satisfaction, and user-friendliness. It’s a good idea to use plugins that have reliable customer support and regularly update their plugin too. Think ahead and ensure the plugin can adapt and scale as your business.
Already decided that you want to add text messaging to your online store? Check out our WooCommerce integration page or sign up for a free trial.
