A lot of people think that when it comes to WooCommerce support or WordPress support, you’re on your own. Hosted services like Etsy, Shopify, or Squarespace have dedicated support teams ready to help 24x7x365, but with free, open source platforms like WordPress or WooCommerce you’re at the mercy of Google and online forums…right? Fortunately nothing could be further from the truth. This article will tell you where to go to find all the WooCommerce and WordPress support your business needs.
A website is made up of a lot of moving parts, from the server it lives on to the software platform running the site to plugins, apps, and other add-ons. With a platform like Etsy that offers limited customizations, Etsy is the only company you need to contact for support.
On more capable hosted platforms like Shopify or Squarespace, there’s one company that takes care of the server and core platform; if you use third-party themes, apps, or plugins, you need to get support the developers of those themes, apps, or plugins.
The structure of a site running WordPress and WooCommerce is actually very similar to Shopify or Squarespace. Your hosting company takes care of the server, and the developers of themes, plugins, and extensions offer support for their products. So who supports WordPress? Actually that’s a trick question: it’s your hosting company, too!
Finding a Host that Offers WordPress Support
They might be appealing, but when you see an offer for $2 hosting from a big hosting company, just keep on walking. For a website and online store that your business depends on, what you want is Managed WordPress Hosting.
What does Managed WordPress Hosting mean? It means that along with the web server, the hosting company also manages your WordPress core installation. This means they keep it up to date and secure, and it means that your hosting company is the one you go to for WordPress support.
Some hosts like SiteGround, WPEngine, Pressable, or Flywheel also offer support for popular plugins, and all are available around the clock.
Getting WooCommerce Support
WooCommerce is managed by Automattic, the same company that is the lead developer for WordPress. Automattic only offers support for their managed WordPress.com service, but the WooCommerce team offers free support for WooCommerce and all of the WooCommerce extensions that it offers.
Some extensions are paid, which means you pay an annual fee for the license to use the extension and for support.
Along with direct support from WooCommerce, most Managed WordPress Hosts also offer round-the-clock support for WooCommerce.
Theme and Plugin Support
As I mentioned in my comparison of the cost of running an online store using WooCommerce vs. Shopify, you can find great free themes, and use free versions of all the essential plugins you need.
The only problem with this approach is that most theme and plugin developers offer limited or no support at all for their free products.
Spending a little money to upgrade to the paid versions of your theme and all your plugins will get you access to priority support, just like on Shopify or Squarespace.
WordPress Support: Myth Busted
Just because WordPress and WooCommerce are free and open source doesn’t mean that support is a confusing trip down the rabbit hole of online forums. The combination of a good Managed WordPress host with premium themes and plugins from established developers means that you and your business will have all the help you need.