There’s a version of this post that lists 40 plugins and tells you to ‘choose what fits your needs.’ That’s useless if you just want to sell a PDF by Sunday. Here’s the actual stack I install, in order, with the reason each one is there and the setting most people miss.
**1. WooCommerce.** Obvious, but the install matters. Run the setup wizard even if you think you don’t need it — it creates the pages (Shop, Cart, Checkout, My Account) and without those pages WooCommerce throws shortcode errors that look like a theme problem. If a theme demo already created those pages, delete the duplicates. Two checkout pages is a classic first-week headache.
**2. A block theme, not a page-builder theme.** I use a lightweight block theme and build the store pages with the block editor. Page builders add weight and their own settings panels, and when something breaks you’re debugging the builder, not WooCommerce. The exception is if you already own a builder license and know it well — then use it, because familiarity beats theory.
**3. A caching plugin, configured carefully.** LiteSpeed Cache if the host runs LiteSpeed (many do, check your hosting panel), otherwise WP Rocket or the built-in caching at your host. The setting that matters: exclude cart, checkout, and my-account from caching, and exclude logged-in users. Everything else is tuning. Don’t spend an afternoon on it.
**4. An SMTP plugin.** WP Mail SMTP or similar. Connect it to your host’s SMTP or a transactional service and set the from-address. This is the single highest-value plugin on the list and the one people skip. Order emails that land in spam are lost revenue you never see.
**5. A payment gateway.** Stripe for cards, and PayPal if your customers ask for it. Stripe’s plugin is well-maintained and the onboarding flow walks you through connecting an account. Do the connection while you’re setting up, not later — the ‘test mode’ toggle is easy to leave on, and there’s no worse feeling than a week of test orders. After you go live, place a $1 order with a real card and refund it.
**6. A backup plugin.** UpdraftPlus or your host’s built-in backups. The setting: schedule daily backups and confirm the destination is off-server (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3). A backup stored on the same server that dies is not a backup. This isn’t glamorous, but you’ll want it the first time an update breaks the checkout.
**7. A security and login plugin, minimal.** Limit login attempts and enable two-factor for admin accounts. That’s it. Don’t stack three security plugins; they conflict and slow the admin down.
That’s seven. Notice what’s not on the list: a page builder, a slider plugin, a popup plugin, a reviews plugin, an upsell plugin. Add those when you have a reason. A store with seven plugins and a working checkout beats a store with 30 plugins and a checkout that loops.
**Install order matters more than the list.** Install WooCommerce and complete the wizard first, because it creates pages and sets up the database tables. Then theme, then caching, then SMTP, then payment, then backup, then security. If you install caching before WooCommerce, the wizard pages can get cached mid-setup and you’ll chase ghosts. If you install the payment gateway before SMTP, your first test order’s receipt goes to spam and you think the gateway is broken.
**A note on plugin count.** The ‘too many plugins’ warning is mostly about quality, not quantity. Seven well-maintained plugins that do one thing each is fine. The problem is seven plugins that overlap — two caching plugins, two SEO plugins, three security plugins. Before you install anything, check whether an existing plugin already does it.
**What I’d add once money is coming in.** An email marketing plugin (Mailchimp, Klaviyo, whatever) connected to the checkout so you capture buyers, and an analytics setup so you know which page people abandon on. Neither is necessary to take the first sale. Both are worth adding in week two, once you have data to look at.
If you’re following a checklist, this is the one to copy. Install in order, configure the settings flagged above, place a real test order, and you’re done. The rest is products and traffic, which is a different post.