WooCommerce Store Tips: How to Set Up Digital Products the Right Way

Looking for WooCommerce store tips to get your digital products set up the right way? Whether you’re moving products from another platform or setting up your shop from scratch, there are a few key decisions you need to make before you start adding products.

I’ve helped dozens of small business owners set up their WooCommerce stores. I offer WooCommerce setup services to get your store configured, and product transfer services if you need products moved over from another platform. These are the tips I share with every single client.

Before you add any products, WooCommerce should be installed and configured with your desired features. It is much easier if everything is set up first, including the base plugin, your file delivery method, your payment methods (I use PayPal, Stripe, and Purchase Orders), pricing features (bundles, dynamic discounts, etc.), and a terms and conditions page.

Contact me if you’re interested in learning more about the base WooCommerce setup!

Choose Your File Delivery Method

One of the most important WooCommerce store tips I can give you is to think carefully about how your customers will receive their digital files after purchase. There are four main file delivery methods I’m familiar with.

Dropbox (My Recommendation)

Dropbox is my current choice because it is inexpensive, works reliably, and I can link to an automatic download of a folder. This means I can change out the contents of a folder without changing my link or rezipping! If you need to update a file, you just swap it out in Dropbox and every customer’s download link stays the same.

To make Dropbox links work as direct downloads in WooCommerce, you’ll need to replace https://www.dropbox.com with https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com and change ?dl=0 to ?dl=1 at the end of the link. This forces files to download instead of opening in the browser.

Amazon S3

Amazon S3 is a file storage service provided by Amazon. It is cheap and very secure, and there is a plugin that can manage it for you. One limitation: you are NOT allowed to link to downloads of folders (zipped files work, but folders do not). The setup is more technical than Dropbox, so you may need help getting it configured. Reach out if you want a hand with that!

Hosted on Your Site

Hosting products on your site (uploading directly to the media library) is an option, but you should talk to your hosting provider first. Hosting files on your site can GREATLY increase the size of your server storage and can drain server resources as people download them. This works fine for small files, but be sure to ask your host if there are any storage limits or extra costs.

Google Drive

Most people are familiar with Google Drive, but the clients I’ve had who used Google Drive for file delivery have had nothing but problems. Links don’t work, files don’t download, or customers get confused. I do not recommend Google Drive for WooCommerce product delivery at this time.

Set Up Your Categories, Tags, and Attributes First

Another one of my biggest WooCommerce store tips: set up your store’s categories, tags, custom taxonomies (optional), and attributes (optional) BEFORE you start adding products. Trust me on this one. Going back and organizing everything after you’ve added 50 products is a nightmare.

These are similar to categories you might use on other selling platforms. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to transfer them automatically if you’re moving from another platform. But spending 30 minutes getting your structure set up first will save you hours later.

Some of the things you see in the video below will need custom code or will depend on your particular theme. Contact me if you need help installing custom taxonomies!

Tips for Setting Up Individual Products

Once you have your products in your store (whether through a transfer service, CSV import, or manual entry), here are the things to check for each product. Every store will be slightly different, but this list will get you started.

Tidy up the description. If you’re moving products from another platform, clean up any leftover formatting or references that don’t apply to your own site. Check that links work and the formatting looks right.

Add your keywords and meta information. Use your SEO plugin (Rank Math, Yoast, etc.) to add a focus keyword, SEO title, and meta description for each product. This helps your products show up in Google search results!

Add your short description. This is the brief text that appears near the price and “Add to Cart” button. Keep it concise and compelling.

Check your price. Double-check that the price is correct, especially if you imported products from a CSV.

Add upsells and cross-sells (optional). WooCommerce lets you suggest related products on each product page. This is a great way to increase your average order value.

Add categories, tags, and/or attributes. Make sure each product is properly organized so customers can find it through your shop’s filters and navigation.

Apply your email marketing tags (optional). If you’re using an email marketing integration (like FluentCRM, Mailchimp, or ConvertKit), tag purchases so you can segment your list.

Add a preview (optional). For digital products, a preview or sample can help customers feel confident about purchasing.

Adjust FAQ (optional). If you use custom product tabs for FAQs, fill those in. (I use the Custom Product Tabs plugin for this.)

Add your download link. ⬅️ MOST IMPORTANT! Don’t forget to actually add the file! You’d be surprised how often this gets missed.

Publish!