As WordPress grows in popularity, more and more people are starting to use it for their websites. Marketplace websites make it easy to use WordPress for websites. With a marketplace site, you are allowing people to sell their products on your site, which helps increase website traffic and revenue.
The following article will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to build your very own WordPress marketplace site using the WordPress CMS.
Why Use WordPress?
WordPress gives you access to thousands of plugins that will help you with everything from payment processing to security. Also, you don’t need any coding knowledge to use it, which means you can spend more time creating content and less time figuring out how things work.
As someone who has previously created online stores, I know how frustrating it can be to deal with other platforms. Therefore, if you’re interested in starting an online store, I recommend using WordPress to create your marketplace website.
It’s not just about the marketplace, but you can also use WordPress to create a blog. However, I strongly recommend creating your own website with WordPress since it is easier to use than other CMS.
A great feature of WordPress is that no coding knowledge is required. Also, there are many themes, plugins, and drag-and-drop builders that you can use to make a website quickly and easily.
So think to all, overall WordPress is one of the most popular website creation tools which just need an idea to be turned into a domain. You can read why should you use or learn WordPress?
What things do you need to create a marketplace website?
The following are some of the things you may need to create a marketplace website.
Domain name: You will need to purchase a domain name for your marketplace. It’s up to you whether you use the .com, .org, or .net version. If all else fails, you can always go with a .website since they’re relatively new and easy to remember.
However, .com is the most popular extension. When registering a domain, I recommend NameCheap. Because they offer domain at the cheapest price with free domain privacy protection.
Hosting: You’ll need to buy a hosting plan to store all of your marketplace files. There are different types of hosting plans, such as Managed WordPress & Shared hosting, so you must find the right one for you.
For the highest performance at the lowest price, I recommend Hostinger or NameCheap to my blog readers. For reliable servers, you can go with Nexcess or Bluehost if you have a high budget.
You can choose Woocommece specific web hosting to build your online marketplace site.
You can read our other guide about
WordPress theme: After purchasing a domain and hosting, you need to ensure your marketplace runs smoothly. You can purchase a pre-built market theme from Themeforest. You should keep in mind that free themes are not as good as paid ones.
Drag-and-drop page builders can be used to design a custom marketplace theme for your site. When it comes to advanced features, Divi is the best WordPress page builder.
You can read Divi theme/page builder review
Plugins: There are some plugins you need to purchase for your marketplace. Some are free. Some of the most popular are Woocommerce, EDD, WordPress SEO by Yoast, etc.
For better speed and performance, you can use WP Rocket & Perfmatters with other free plugins. Although you will need certain plugins for specific types of marketplaces.
Design: There are plenty of sources to help you design your website. However, you can also do it yourself if you have basic knowledge of WordPress.
If you are a novice, you can hire someone. I recommend you hire WP Buffs to design your marketplace website.
Benefits of Creating Marketplace Website
One of the best and biggest ways to make money is through marketplaces. Building a marketplace website has many benefits.
- It’s worthwhile to note that a marketplace website is not only an income source but also helps you drive valuable traffic to your primary website.
- Beginners should think about starting a marketplace. They only need a basic understanding of how to create a market without knowing any coding.
- A marketplace is the backbone of every e-commerce business. It is essential to every website.
- There are a lot of business opportunities that can arise from a marketplace. However, if your marketplace is not popular, then your products or services will be less popular.
- You can earn money from affiliate marketing companies by creating a marketplace website. Affiliate marketing companies will pay you for the services they provide.
- The process of building a marketplace website is straightforward. You just need a domain and web hosting, then use WordPress themes to build your website.
- When you sell your items on a marketplace website, you do not have to do any additional work. All your products can be sold in one place.
- E-commerce marketplaces are easy to operate. They are simple, easy to use, and look great.
- It allows you to reach your target audience and increases your chances of selling your product.
Types of Marketplaces that You Can Create With Tips & Tricks
As the online market becomes more popular, so there is a better chance of you getting high traffic, which means more money in YOUR pocket. What type of marketplace you build depends on how much time you invest and how good your marketing skills are.
Here are a few options for you to choose from based on your time, money, and skills.
1) Downloadable product selling:
You can easily start a digital product marketplace without much work. I will not go into detail on how to do this as it is already covered extensively on the internet.
If you have a blog, website, or forum that receives at least 100 visitors a day, you can easily start your market by simply adding your product download links.
Tips: To create this type of market, you can use the Easy Digital download plugin which you can use to add download links to your existing blog/website.
Themes for digital product selling marketplace:
2) Service selling:
You can create a service selling market without too much work by providing a service for your buyers. To do this, you need to make sure that your service is unique and that you are the only one providing it on the internet.
Tips: You can use Gravity Forms with WooCommerce to create an easy and affordable service selling market.
WordPress Themes for service selling marketplace:
3) Product source selling:
You can create an exclusive product marketplace by sourcing products from Amazon, eBay, or Alliexperice that you don’t have access to normally. For example, you can create a market for handmade jewelry, clothes, etc.
Tips: To create a product sourcing marketplace, you can use the Affiliate egg plugin which allows you to source products from Amazon, eBay, or any other market easily. You can also read Affiliate egg vs content egg.
WordPress Themes for product sourcing marketplace:
4) Dropshipping marketplace:
You can create a marketplace with a large range of products and buy products at a low cost, then resell them for a higher price.
For example, you can choose from a list of books from an affiliate website, buy them for $5.99 each, sell them at $20 each, and keep the profits for yourself.
Tips: We call it dropshipping. So for this type of business, you can source products from a different wholesale marketplace like Alibaba. For WordPress, you can use any of the following dropshipping plugins.
- eBay Dropshipping
- AliExpress Dropshipping Business
- WooCommerce Dropshipping
- AliDropship
5) WordPress multi-vendor marketplace:
Nowadays multi-vendor marketplaces are one of the most popular marketplaces. Because they have a different set of rules from single-vendor. In a multi-vendor marketplace, the seller, as well as the buyer, can sell their products to both buyers and sellers.
Tips: You can use a multi-vendor marketplace plugin to create your WordPress marketplace. Some of the best multi-vendor plugins for WordPress are as follows:
6) Auction-style marketplace:
You can create an auction marketplace where the highest bidder wins the product. This type of marketplace is good because there are no fees involved in selling products, and you can find products online for free.
Tips: WooCommerce marketplace auction plugin and YITH WooCommerce Auctions are the best plugins for auction-style marketplaces for WordPress.
WordPress Themes for marketplace auctions:
- iBid – Multi-Vendor Auctions
- Elementor (drag and drop design)
7) Membership fee site:
You can create an auction marketplace that requires a monthly or yearly subscription to become a member and bid on products. There are no fees involved in selling or buying products, and you can find free products to sell online.
Tips: Membership fee marketplaces are easy to create using Restrict content or Ultimate membership pro with Ultimate WordPress Auction.
You can read Restrict content vs Paid membership pro.
WordPress Themes for bidding marketplace:
- Astra with Elementor page builder
- Divi with GeneratePress theme
How Can You Start Earning Money From Your Marketplace Site Immediately?
Marketplaces are known for their quick cash flow. Here’s how you can start making money right away!
(1) Choosing the right niche: The first step is choosing the right niche or subcategory of the market. Here are some examples:
- Clothing (especially women’s fashion)
- Health and beauty products (for example, makeup)
- Books (romance, science fiction, etc.)
- Home and garden items (decorations, furniture, etc.)
- Sporting goods (sporting equipment and accessories)
- Any digital product or service.
(2) Create an eCommerce store: After choosing a niche, it’s time to create your store. Please fill out all required details and upload an attractive logo about your niche. If you cannot create a logo yourself, you can do this using Canva software.
(3) Consider the design of your website: Design your website in such a way that it will attract your target audience’s attention. Your website should be easy to navigate and informative.
Besides, write engaging product descriptions to entice customers. Make your site easy for search engines to index and include social sharing buttons to gain more shares. You can use Jarvis to create high-converting product descriptions.
(4) Adding products: The next step is to add all the products you want to sell in your eCommerce store. Make sure you select the right shipping, tax, return, and other policy details. Here is the guide about how to add table/shipping rating on Woocommerce.
(5) Don’t forget to promote your website: You can do all of the above but if you don’t promote your website, these efforts will be in vain. You can promote your eCommerce store using several online marketing platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest.
You should also use other marketing channels to get customers, like banner advertising, content marketing, and email campaigns.
(6) Get customers: The final step in your eCommerce endeavor is to get as many customers as possible. You can do this by offering lucrative deals, coupons, and promotions. Also, make sure the products are affordable so that more customers can afford them.
Start selling! Once you have completed these steps, you can start selling on your eCommerce store immediately to start making money.
Payment Gateway For Marketplace Site
You can integrate many payment gateways with WordPress. Some of the most popular gateways that you can integrate with WP e-Commerce or any other popular marketplace plugin or theme are listed here.
- PayPal
- Authorize.net
- 2Checkout
- Stripe
All payment gateways have a plugin for WP to integrate with them. You can find all of these plugins in the WordPress plugin directory for free.
Bouns Tips:
Customize marketplace to be professional:
If you want to create a professional marketplace, then your website needs to be professional and require the right theme and plugins. With WP Adminify, you can add/design a custom login, customize dashboards for admins and users, and control WordPress for your clients. Also, you should use an easy-to-use and customized theme.
Marketplace Security:
It is extremely relevant if you are selling digital or physical goods since there is a chance of getting hacked or attacked by cybercriminals.
You can protect your marketplace from hacking attacks by using a dedicated server for hosting, preventing directory browsing, and hiding all WordPress directories. I highly recommend using iThemes Security PRO and the Sucuri plugin for security.
Website loading speed:
As you know, a website’s loading speed plays a key role in its ranking on Google SERPs. Therefore, you should have a fast loading speed without any CLS issues. If you have millions of products on your website, I recommend having a dedicated server.
Implement proper marketing techniques:
Using the right marketing techniques would help you promote your website to a vast extent. Content writing, social media marketing, Google Adwords, content marketing, search engine optimization, and local SEO are some of the most effective marketing strategies.
If your marketplace is related to WordPress, you can promote your site here at WP BASIC PRO. You can check our paid promotion plans.
In Conclusion
Using WordPress to build a marketplace website can be beneficial for you if you are willing to put in the effort. The first step is to choose a quality marketplace theme, followed by building a niche site to showcase the best WordPress themes.
The next step is to add all the products you want to sell through your store. Make sure you select the right shipping, tax, return, and other policy details. You can use the WP legal page plugin to create the right Privacy policy, disclaimer, and other legal pages.
Make sure to use several online marketing platforms to promote your website. The most effective way to get results is to advertise on Google (PPC campaigns). As a final note, make sure you use quality web hosting services to host your site and protect it from hackers.
