If you’re here for WooCommerce website development advice, WooCommerce hardly needs an introduction. The famous WordPress eCommerce plugin powers over 15.2 million websites, amounting to 37% of online stores. On top of that, at the time of writing, it’s been downloaded over 82.5 million times.
The reason for this popularity is simple: WooCommerce is a highly customizable and open-source eCommerce solution with a user-friendly backend that allows you to build your online store exactly how you want. But, best of all, WooCommerce is free and built on the globally celebrated website builder, WordPress.
In light of all that, it’s no wonder WooCommerce’s popularity has prompted the launch of so many development services. No matter your goals or requirements, there’s bound to be a suitable option out there for your WooCommerce website development project.
But, with so much choice, how do you decide? To help with that, we’re walking you through your options. So, hopefully, by the end of this blog post, you’ll have all the info you need to make the best choice for your project.
WordPress WooCommerce Website Development: An Introduction
Before we dive any deeper, let’s clarify what we mean by WooCommerce website development and the services that fall under this umbrella.
As we’ve mentioned, WooCommerce’s back-end allows you to make any customizations you want. It grants you the freedom to tweak your WooCommerce store’s appearance, functionality, optimization, and more.
In light of that, WooCommerce website development includes:
- WooCommerce theme development, including developing whole WordPress website themes and templates from a PSD mockup.
- WooCommerce plugin development, such as creating your own integrations or new website features.
- WooCommerce customization and web design.
- WooCommerce shopping cart integrations.
- WooCommerce site maintenance.
- Optimizing your eCommerce code, database, images, and configuration, as well as handling any WooCommerce API or PHP updates, etc.
- WooCommerce migrations from other website platforms, for example, from Magento.
- Payment gateway integrations.
- Third-party vendor integrations.
- WooCommerce SEO (search engine optimization) services.
Thanks to WooCommerce’s thriving online community, there are many resources available that empower store owners to tackle small web development projects themselves. But, whether you should attempt this, depends on your level of skill and technical expertise. If you don’t feel confident that you can successfully complete the necessary WooCommerce development tasks, don’t. Instead, leave it to the experts.
How to Get Started with a WooCommerce Website Development Project: Drafting a Smart Development Plan
Let’s say you’ve identified something about your site that could use some improvement. For example, you’ve envisioned a new feature or distinguished something that’s negatively affecting your conversions.
In that case, the best way to get started with a WooCommerce website development project is to draft a smart development plan, consisting of:
- A project overview: Outline the motivations behind the project, including its goals, objectives, constraints, and stakeholders. This should paint a clear picture of what the developer should try to achieve and why.
- Scope: Clearly define the project’s schedule, including any deliverables, milestones, and tasks. A clear plan allows you to track whether a project’s steering away from its intended results and where you might be falling behind schedule.
- Plan: Break down the work to create a clear structure, and outline details surrounding the project. For example, how you’ll execute quality management and risk assessment tasks. You’ll also need to consider resource management, your budget, stakeholder management, and anything else that’s relevant to your operation.
With a smart WooCommerce development plan in hand, you can manage unexpected events and stay in control. This is especially important if internal or external stakeholders are involved, as a project plan will help keep them up-to-date and reassure them about your exact intentions.
That said, projects often evolve in complexity, revealing a need for professional expertise to ensure proper project governance. In this instance, you may benefit from a professional WooCommerce development service.
What Should You Expect from a Full WooCommerce Website Development Service?
Whatever the size and scope of your project, at the bare minimum, you should expect the following from your WooCommerce development service:
- Reliability and expertise
- Excellent pricing to performance ratio
- Assurance that your project roadmap will be respected
- Great overall communication
- Responsiveness in case issues arise
WooCommerce Website Development Services vs. Freelance WooCommerce Developers
The standard of service received will vary depending on your chosen service provider. That’s why it’s essential to clearly define your priorities and pick a suitable partner. But, when it comes down to it, there are just two types of partners you can engage with:
WooCommerce Website Development Services or Agencies
WooCommerce development agencies consist of a team of experts from different backgrounds and levels of experience. As such, they’re usually able to provide multiple services ranging from complex back-end WooCommerce development to front-end customization and WooCommerce website design.
They’re also usually better positioned to facilitate migrations from other eCommerce platforms. Not to mention, they should be able to:
- Take care of website maintenance.
- Undertake various optimizations to boost the performance and user experience of an existing eCommerce website.
- Develop new website functionalities
- Develop custom WooCommerce/WordPress plugins
How you engage with an agency is usually pretty structured. You’ll usually start with an introduction or discovery. This preliminary meeting can take place either online or in person, the purpose of which is for the agency to learn more about your online business and project details.
This is followed by a proposal presentation. Here, the agency presents its understanding of your project, including outlining the work’s scope, proposed solutions, cost, timeline, and their terms and conditions.
Finally, during the deal’s closing, the agency will finalize the contract and sign an agreement with the client. At this stage, they will also complete any other on-boarding formalities.
The pros of working with a WooCommerce website development company:
- Bigger, full-stack agencies may have distributed teams, meaning they’re more likely to have around-the-clock support teams on hand.
- They usually have experience with medium-sized startups and more prominent enterprise-level brands and, as such, can call upon this experience to adapt to your business style.
- Agencies typically have access to team members with different specializations. As such, they can handle all types of projects and work laterally across your whole eCommerce store.
- Depending on the nature of your WooCommerce project, agencies may be able to provide one or two months of free support.
The cons of working with a WooCommerce website development company:
- Communication with agencies isn’t always straightforward. For instance, you may have to interact with more than one person and consequently spend more time explaining your project.
- Working with an agency is usually more expensive.
- Suppose your project is small and the agency of your choosing has many clients. In that case, they may turn you down to concentrate on more profitable projects.
Freelancers
In contrast to an agency, if you opt to work with a freelance developer, you’ll only have one contact that handles all aspects of your project. Despite being a solo operation, freelancers may still offer the same services as an agency. Still, it’s rare for a single individual to boast 360° multidisciplinary skills. Instead, usually, they’ll be highly specialized in a few select fields.
When it comes to engaging with a freelancer, the process will differ depending on where you first made contact. For instance, if you found your partner on a freelancer platform or posted an offer on a job board, it will be your responsibility to vet the freelancer thoroughly. More specifically, you’ll want to assess their skills, request references, take a look at their previous work, etc.
Alternatively, if you’re engaging with an expert via a hiring partner (especially if said partner has an excellent reputation), you can be more relaxed about the process. After all, the hiring partner should have already put their freelancers through a rigorous screening regimen. As such, you should be able to trust that prospective freelancers boast the necessary technical skills and experience to handle your WooCommerce development project.
The pros of working with a freelancer:
- You’ll enjoy a closer and more personal working relationship with your expert.
- Freelancers are often more affordable than a full WooCommerce development service.
- You’ll have more control over project costs and budget constraints.
- You’ll have access to a skill set that’s current and up-to-date, as freelancers work in a competitive environment, which motivates them to stay on top of their game.
- A freelancer is often the most time-efficient solution. This is especially true for straightforward projects with a clear vision.
The cons of working with a freelancer:
- If you have a large or complex project, you may need to hire more than one expert. This is because one person may not have all the expertise your project demands, or the scope of the work might exceed a single freelancer’s capacity.
So, What’s The Best WooCommerce Website Development Service?
Working with a freelance WooCommerce website development expert is the best way to transform your vision into a reality quickly.
The smartest thing to do is hire a partner who can get the agreed-upon work delivered on time and within budget. You want a hassle-free experience, so trust your instincts during your initial communications. If you get a vibe that they won’t be pleasant to work with, look elsewhere.
As you search for WooCommerce experts, ensure they offer a warranty covering any bugs or issues that may arise at the end of the project. You’ll want it in writing that these will be fixed at no additional cost.
Codeable fulfills many of the requirements mentioned in this post. The Codeable platform is a highly trusted hiring partner for WooCommerce development services. They match you with a small selection of experts who are crystal clear about the scope of your project. You’ll only get estimates from experts who will deliver as promised. Codeable experts also provide an industry-leading 28-day bug fix warranty and a generous refund policy if plans go awry.
So what are you waiting for? Submit your project to Codeable today to receive a free, no-obligation estimation, and start speaking to our vetted professionals.
