I do have some other questions now. So, I have anyway previously purchased my domain name. I bought hosting from host gator and have installed WordPress. From what I understand, WordPress and woo commerce are free. The issue I'm running into is, when I try to get the woo commerce plugin on WordPress, it says that it's an upgrade and I would have to pay for it. What am I doing wrong?
I'm not 100% sure on that one. It is possible you are trying to use a feature that isn't free. Basic WooCommerce is free, but there are many parts and extensions that aren't.
Yes. Apparently the.org version of wordpress is free and so is the woo commerce extension, but if u have the .com version (which I got with hosting), it is not. Another lesson learned. Lol thank you for replying.
I have survey question for u: how is the custom site that u had built? Do u like it? Was it worth ur money? Are u still bringing in sales? I only ask because I'm contemplating whether to do that rather than spend the hours trying to learn it myself when I could be making my money back. Thank you in advance.
you should not consider going custom until you already have a proven site making money. you can spend alot of money on a custom theme, and if it is not designed to convert, then it will be a total waste, simply because, even a theme can make the difference between success/fail.... I know you want to start your own business, but eCommerce is a very competitive market, and even if you use shopify $30/mo. What unique products do you have that others dont? So if you are selling aliexpress products, then you have nothing new to offer, and your success will be a challenge... shopify/oberlo can only do so much, even though it makes importing your products easy, it does not mean those products will be a success, as they are already been sold on numerous sites.... 1: Do you know SEO? 2: Familer with keyword research? 3: How about FB ads? 4: other SEO marketing? 5: Can you write high quality content? 6: How about content/marketing? Anyone can setup a store, however, most people fail trying to get their store to the next level; It is not as easy as you may think, and can be very, very costly. I have seen comments where people have spent $5k getting their site to a sustainable level, and it did not happen overnight and they did everything right to begin with, and if you have very little skills, then that too can be problematic, and more costly.... I hate to be a Debbie downer, but there is far more to this then just choosing which plugins are best, and/or which platform you should use.... and too be honest, there are no easy answers or solutions... If you are in this, then it has to be for the long haul, as success may not be an overnight process, and expect to put in money, and time....
I would recommend the custom site option. I still had a tweak it a little bit, but they did the bulk of the work in under a week. The revenue from the site has already paid off the initial cost. My conversion rate is currently about 2.5% for new visitors and 4.5% for returning visitors. I am happy with it. The most important thing to do is verify and re-verify your niche before starting. Make sure it is something people enjoy buying.