Understanding the Difference Between WordPress and WooCommerce
The main difference between WordPress and WooCommerce is that WordPress is a full system that can run on its own, whereas WooCommerce is a plugin that requires WordPress in order to function.
We build all of our websites with WordPress here at Full Scope Creative. That means some of our websites have WooCommerce enabled on them, and others do not. It really depends on the needs of the website and what the site owner wants to achieve with their online presence.
One thing that is sometimes confused is that WooCommerce is a plugin to WordPress and therefore has to be installed on your WordPress website. In order for WooCommerce to work, you will need a WordPress website first and then the WooCommerce plugin can be added to start selling online.
What Is WordPress?
I consider WordPress to be the core of any website, and it functions very much like the core of any vehicle – the engine under the hood. Without it, the website would not be able to function. This is why I also compare WordPress to the frame of a car, as so many other features of a website depend upon it to function properly.
In simple terms, this means that WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) which allows us to create pages and add blog articles with photos etc. and everything is managed within the system.
I like to think of WordPress as a big ol’ engine that we can customize to fit just about any site. For example, I work with a number of dental clinics, and even the custom home builders that I work with have sites on WordPress. Most of the sites that Full Scope Creative has created are on WordPress, including this one.
It’s almost like having a massive box of Lego bricks and building the model on the front of the box first and then tearing it down to build something even more unique and creative. WordPress can be thought of in the same way. The core of WordPress is fantastic as it stands, but with thousands of plugins, plus tools like Advanced Custom Fields (ACF), the possibilities are limitless when it comes to building unique websites.
What Is WooCommerce?
WooCommerce is a plugin that adds e-commerce capabilities to a WordPress site. If you sell physical or digital products and/or services, such as subscriptions, WooCommerce can allow your website visitors to purchase from your site.
We use WooCommerce on our websites to allow online shopping. We can sell physical products, services, and even digital downloads. Here are some things you can do with WooCommerce:
- Sell physical products, digital downloads, and subscriptions
- Create Product Variations (such as different colors or sizes for a shirt) and assign them to Categories.
- Add shopping carts and checkout pages
- Track inventory and orders
- Accept payments online
- Set up shipping rates and options
Whether you have 5 products or thousands of different products, there is no restriction on the number of products or categories you can add to an online store using WooCommerce. However, it is worth bearing in mind that a store with thousands of products will require more resources to run than a store selling just 5 items.
For additional functionality (payments, shipping, products management etc.) there are plenty of free and paid plugins available. Payment gateways, shipping management, security, and many more.
However, if you have a brick and mortar store, Woo Commerce will also allow you to reach customers who you would never reach otherwise!
Whether you’re looking to add online shopping to your current WordPress website or build a new WooCommerce store, Full Scope Creative can help. We’ll go over the products you want to sell, the features you need, and how we can build an online store that works for your business.
How WordPress and WooCommerce Work Together
WordPress is used to manage the rest of your website and WooCommerce adds in the required functionality to start selling your products online.
For example, we might install WooCommerce on a client’s existing WordPress site for their service-based business. They already have a WordPress site for their business with pages such as about the service, information about the company, a contact form and possibly a blog. Now they want to start selling products online as well.
We can set up an online store using WooCommerce for you on your existing WordPress website. We will set up your store with the payment options of your choice as well as your shipping options. We can also recommend additional plugins to you that will assist with managing your store as well as other tasks.
Additionally, we would add a number of product categories and examples of actual products for sale online. As well as examples of how to add more of your products to the online store yourself.
The WooCommerce Online Store will not look like the default WooCommerce setup. This would mean that the product pages, shopping cart and checkout will look like the rest of your website, with the same colors, buttons and overall feel and look.
Customizing Your WooCommerce Online Store
This is one of the best things about WooCommerce. All the stores built with WooCommerce look and function in whatever way best suits the needs of a business.
At Full Scope Creative, we are huge fans of Elementor and use it to build all of our websites. It’s especially useful for customizing WooCommerce pages, which would otherwise look exactly the same as every other WooCommerce store online.
Some products benefit from a very large photo, while others require more information regarding sizes, colors, etc. We can ensure that the relevant information is visible to the customer and that he/she focuses on the areas of the product page that are most important.
We can further customize the shopping cart and checkout pages as well. In some cases it is more effective to move the View Cart button to the top of the page. We can also feature certain products on the home page.
Making all the buttons on your site the same color is important too. It would look out of place if your WooCommerce store had completely different looking buttons to the rest of your site.
Additionally, there are many other plugins which can integrate into WooCommerce to enhance the functions of your online store, such as connecting to the shipping rates of UPS, FedEx, or USPS, and even add reCAPTCHA for increased security on your WooCommerce shop. We have also previously used ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) to allow for additional fields to be added to products in WooCommerce, to organize and add custom information to the products in your online store.
Does WooCommerce Cost More Than WordPress?
The core of WordPress and WooCommerce is free to use. Of course, like many things in life, there are many extras available for purchase (even required purchase) to enhance and extend the core functions of online store building. Just because something is free, doesn’t mean everything that adds value to the website will be free as well.
Some of the plugins, like payment processing and shipping, may cost each year for usage of their plugin. Also some of the payment processing gateways may also cost per transaction as well as have a monthly fee. This on top of your typical website hosting, domain name registration, and website development cost.
This WooCommerce functionality also can be added for FREE. I’m talking about free shipping. Yes, WooCommerce out of the box allows for the free shipping functionality without the need for another plugin.
One thing I wouldn’t cut back on is security.
Most online websites are vulnerable to hackers and spammers. As you will be processing payments online through your website, it’s even more important to secure your website.
This is exactly why we recommend our Security Max Hosting plan for e-commerce enabled websites like your WooCommerce enabled WordPress website. This hosting is offering extra layers of security on top of our regular hosting which we update with the latest version of WordPress and all of the plugins you have installed.
Do You Need WordPress or WooCommerce for Your Business?
You don’t have to use WooCommerce to take advantage of online selling on WordPress. Online portfolios, information about upcoming events, contact pages – the list goes on and on. If none of those fit your model then perhaps you should look into other website development options. But for selling your wares online WooCommerce is definitely something to consider.
However, if you are going to sell products online then WooCommerce is the way to go.
Perhaps your physical Green Bay store would bring in customers but having an online version of your store to sell to those outside of Green Bay would bring in even more customers. And you wouldn’t have to open another physical store location.
Also, WooCommerce offers a lot of good SEO opportunities. For example, each product and each category can have its own page. We can use these extra pages for keywords that are related to what you want to sell.
If you don’t think you will be selling anything online in the next few years, then there is no need for WooCommerce. But WordPress is a platform that allows for online retailing, so even if you don’t plan to start selling online right away, it’s good to know that it’s an option.
Building a WordPress and WooCommerce Website With Full Scope Creative
At Full Scope Creative we build and design WordPress websites with WooCommerce online stores. We can create a completely new online store or integrate WooCommerce into an existing WordPress website that you have already had developed.
We can set up the many plugins for WooCommerce, help to setup payment and shipping accounts, as well as customize the online store so that it best fits your brand. We can even manage the hosting for your website, keep it up to date, and make sure it is secure. We are always just an email away should you need to make any future changes to your website.
We would love to help you develop a store on which you can sell your wares. Let’s talk about what you’re trying to sell, what you need to make it work and if WordPress / WooCommerce is right for you.