How to Easily Integrate Shopify with WordPress (Step by Step)

As an experienced webmaster, I often get asked – can you really integrate Shopify with WordPress?

The short answer is yes! By combining Shopify and WordPress, you get the best of both worlds for your ecommerce store.

Shopify offers a robust platform for creating an online store and managing products. WordPress gives you endless customization options and built-in marketing capabilities.

In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll explore how to connect your Shopify store to a WordPress website step-by-step.

I‘ll also share insights from my 15 years of experience running WordPress sites to help you get the most out of this powerful integration.

Why Integrate Shopify and WordPress?

Before we get into the how-to, let‘s look at some of the key reasons for integrating Shopify with WordPress:

Flexibility in Design: Shopify has great themes, but they can be limiting. WordPress opens up thousands of themes to customize your store‘s look.
Blogging and SEO: WordPress is the best CMS for blogging. Optimizing your Shopify store for SEO is easier with WordPress.
Marketing and Analytics: WordPress makes it simple to add email marketing, popups, analytics tracking and more to your Shopify store.
Cost Savings: Hosting WordPress is more affordable long-term versus Shopify‘s monthly subscription fees.
Accept Payments: Maintain Shopify‘s secure checkout while using WordPress for marketing.
Customization: Build a completely custom store experience with WordPress plugins and options.

According to BuiltWith, 43% of ecommerce sites run on WordPress. And Shopify powers over 1,000,000 businesses worldwide.

Together, Shopify and WordPress give you the ultimate flexible, feature-rich platform for your online business.

Now let‘s look at how to get started with this powerful combo.

Getting Started: What You Need

Here are the requirements for integrating Shopify with WordPress:

Shopify Store: First, you‘ll need an existing Shopify store and products.
Domain Name: Buy a custom domain name for your WordPress site.
Web Hosting: Sign up for hosting to install WordPress. Aim for at least 5 GB storage.
WordPress: Install WordPress via a one-click installer from your host.
Shopify Plugin: Connect your Store to WordPress with a plugin like ShopWP.

Let‘s break this down step-by-step:

Step 1: Set up Your Shopify Store

First, you need to set up a Shopify store with some products added.

Over 1 million businesses use Shopify for their online stores. Their plans start at $29/month.

YOURSTORE.myshopify.com

Add at least 10-15 products with images and descriptions. This provides the back-end ecommerce engine.

Shopify Dashboard

Step 2: Get a Domain and Web Hosting

The next requirement is a domain name and web hosting for your WordPress install.

When choosing a domain, go with your brand name or store name. For example:

yourstorename.com

[Domains average around $14.99 per year from registrars like GoDaddy.]

For hosting, I recommend going with a popular WordPress host like Bluehost. Their low-cost shared plans start at $2.75 per month.

[Tip: Bluehost almost always has discounted annual pricing around $100 per year.]

Bluehost makes installing WordPress incredibly easy with their one-click installer.

*[Over 2 million sites use Bluehost as their hosting provider.]

Claim Bluehost‘s exclusive offer for WPBeginner readers:

Get a free domain name + hosting for $2.75 per month here.

Step 3: Install WordPress

Next, log in to your Bluehost dashboard and go to "My Sites".

Find your newly created site and click "Log in to WordPress" to access your admin.

WordPress Dashboard

Great! Your WordPress install is ready. Now let‘s connect it to Shopify.

Connecting Shopify to Your WordPress Site

To integrate Shopify with WordPress, we‘ll use an excellent plugin called ShopWP.

Step 1: Install and Activate ShopWP

In your WordPress admin, go to "Plugins > Add New".

Search for ShopWP and click the "Install Now" button.

After installation completes, click "Activate" to enable the ShopWP plugin.

*[Over 10,000 WordPress sites use ShopWP to integrate with Shopify.]

Activate ShopWP Plugin

Step 2: Connect Your Shopify Store

Next, we need to connect ShopWP to your Shopify store.

Go to "ShopWP > Connect" and click "Begin the connection process".

Connect ShopWP to Shopify

Enter your Shopify store URL like:

yourstore.myshopify.com

Then click "Connect your Shopify store".

Enter Shopify URL

Allow ShopWP access by clicking "Install app". This connects ShopWP to your Shopify data.

Install ShopWP App

That‘s it! ShopWP will now sync your Shopify products over to your WordPress site.

Step 3: Configure ShopWP Settings

ShopWP offers in-depth settings to customize your Shopify integration:

Product Pages: Automatic or manual product page creation.
Cart: Use Shopify cart or a WordPress cart.
Checkout: Check out on Shopify or WordPress.
Account Pages: Manage accounts on Shopify or WordPress.

I recommend using Shopify for checkout and accounts for security. And enable automatic WordPress product pages.

Step 4: Sync Products from Shopify

To display products from Shopify on your WordPress site, you first need to sync them over.

Go to "ShopWP > Sync" and click the "Sync Products" button.

Sync Shopify Products to WordPress

This will import all products from your Shopify store into WordPress.

Now you‘re ready to display these synced products on your site!

Displaying Shopify Products in WordPress

With products synced from Shopify, it‘s time to display them in WordPress.

Here are three easy ways to showcase Shopify products on your WordPress site:

1. Use the ShopWP Shop Page

When you install ShopWP, it automatically creates a "Shop" page in WordPress to list your products.

To customize the default [products] shortcode layout here, edit the page and tweak the shortcode settings.

2. Add a Products List Block

You can add a Products List block to any WordPress page or post. Select which products to showcase.

This block has custom settings for product images, titles, pricing, colors, and more.

Shopify Products List Block

3. Show Individual Products

Add a ShopWP Single Product block to any page to showcase a specific product.

Just enter the product title to display it. Customize button colors and styles.

Single Product Block

Experiment with these options to showcase products throughout your WordPress site.

Customizing Your Integrated WordPress Site

With your products flowing from Shopify into WordPress, it‘s time to customize your site.

Here are some best practices:

Choose an eCommerce Theme

Pick a WordPress theme suited for ecommerce sites. Popular options:

Storefront
Astra
Hello Elementor
Divi

These all integrate nicely with ShopWP.

Add Key Site Pages

Structure your site using core WordPress pages:

Home
Shop
Cart
Checkout
Contact
Blog
About

Make sure to add these pages to your main navigation menu.

Extend Functionality with Plugins

Consider these plugins to power up your Shopify/WordPress integration:

WooCommerce – Allows deeper ecommerce functionality like coupons.

Google Analytics – Connect to understand your store traffic better.

OptinMonster – Run targeted email popups and lead generation campaigns.

WPForms – Create contact forms, surveys and polls to collect customer data.

There are over 55,000+ free plugins to explore in the WordPress repository.

Growth Hacking Your Integrated Store

The awesome part about combining Shopify and WordPress is all the built-in marketing capabilities.

Here are some growth strategies to consider:

Improve SEO with WordPress

Install Yoast SEO plugin to fully optimize your site for search engines. This helps your product pages rank higher.

Also, create blog content around your products. Link to products organically from your blog posts.

Run Facebook/Instagram Ads

Facebook and Instagram advertising integrate seamlessly with Shopify. You can run highly targeted product promos.

Install the Pixel Caffeine plugin to add the Facebook pixel across your WordPress site.

Send Email Newsletters

Build an email list with ConvertKit or MailChimp. Send regular promos and sales to subscribers.

Use opt-in forms and popups across your WordPress site to rapidly grow your list.

Track Detailed Analytics

Google Analytics gives you deep data on traffic and customer behavior. Integrate it into WordPress for powerful ecommerce analytics.

Use analytics to refine your products, pricing and marketing over time.

Promote on Social Media

Add social sharing buttons everywhere. Encourage customers to share your brand.

Also, actively promote your best WordPress content across social media. Link back to products.

With WordPress, the marketing possibilities are endless! You have everything you need to scale your Shopify store to new heights.

I hope this guide gives you a comprehensive overview of integrating Shopify with WordPress from start to finish. Please let me know if you have any other questions!