10 Signs of a Bad WooCommerce Plugin

WooCommerce is one of the best ways to build a strong eCommerce store that can generate significant revenue over the long run. You have plenty of customization features, meaning that it’s possible to design your shop in the exact way you want to. To get the most out of WooCommerce, you’ll need to install plugins.

That said, not all plugins were created equally. While you will find some amazing plugins that significantly improve your website’s functionality, you’ll sometimes encounter others that aren’t so great. These can impact your website negatively if you aren’t careful, so it’s worth knowing their biggest signs.

To help you make better decisions, we’ll show you the top signs of a bad WooCommerce plugin in this article. Once you’ve got all this information, you’ll find it much easier to stay on the right path.

Keeping your plugins up to date is one of the most fundamental aspects of running a successful WordPress website. Using outdated plugins poses significant security risks, such as leaving the backdoor open to potential malware attacks. As a result, you should be very careful about the plugins you use on your site.

Most of the best WooCommerce plugins are updated frequently. This is particularly true when WordPress itself does big updates. Of course, some are more commonly updated than others – but generally, you don’t need to wait too long for them.

If a plugin has not been updated in a while, you should strongly reconsider whether you download it on your site. Besides the security risks, it will almost certainly result in performance issues for your website. This can result in worse search engine rankings and more annoyed customers.

When downloading plugins on WordPress, you can see how long it has been since the most recent update. Use this as one of your key guiding barometers.

One important thing to remember is that even if the plugin is high-quality, it doesn’t automatically mean that your site is secure. You should also pick a hosting provider that focuses on this, with features like free SSL certificates and free backups. Verpex has both of these, so you should consider signing up.

Even the best WooCommerce plugins won’t have 100% positive reviews if they’ve been around for long enough. People may leave negative reviews, but that doesn’t mean their experience is entirely representative. This is especially true if you find more positive reviews than negative ones, along with a good industry reputation.

However, lots of bad reviews are certainly a red flag if you only see negative ones. It suggests that the business developing the plugin isn’t serving its customers' needs, for starters. Beyond that, it highlights that they either don’t care about feedback or aren’t yet ready to power your WooCommerce site.

Check multiple sites. WordPress’s plugins page is a good place to start, but you can get a fuller picture by also going to the likes of Trustpilot. After that, you can make your decision as to whether the plugin is worth using.

While negative reviews are one sign of a WooCommerce plugin you shouldn’t use, you should also be wary of positive reviews. Social proof in digital marketing is essential, but only if it’s genuine. Unfortunately, fake reviews are rife on the internet.

Fake positive reviews, however, are often easy to spot. Most of the time, they overplay the good things about a plugin. The language also does not sound genuine; it’s as if someone has tried too hard to show that they’re not being serious.

One of the best ways to see if a review is legitimate or not is by checking to see if there’s a verification badge. This generally means that someone has actually tried the products and services they talk about.

This one can be a bit tricky to determine because plugins without lots of users aren’t always bad. In some cases, they might just be quite niche. But in some cases, it can be a serious sign that you should steer clear of installing it.

Payment gateway plugins are a good example of this. WooCommerce stores need these integrations to take payments, so this service is a widespread need. If you don’t see many people using a plugin, and you don’t recognize the name, you should think twice about using it.

Besides scanning the number of active users for plugins, doing research elsewhere is also a good idea. For example, you can find plenty of good redirect WordPress plugins.

While some plugins are necessary for WooCommerce websites, you need to be careful about how many you use. Each one has a file size, and if you have too many plugins, you’ll slow down your website. Many providers aim to keep their sizes small, so if you see a WooCommerce plugin that does the opposite, this is a clear sign you should not download it.

If you see two plugins that are equal in all areas apart from file size, pick the one with a smaller file size.

Creating a strong landing page is a cornerstone of selling any product or service, and this is no different for WooCommerce plugins. As a result, you should take this very seriously when looking for tools to integrate within your site.

Clear errors in the copy trying to sell a plugin should be treated with caution. Obvious typos are one example of this, and you should also beware of those written in poor English. These significantly impact credibility, and if you notice these, it at the very least suggests a lack of care on the developer’s part.

Instead, look for plugins that clearly and concisely describe the problem they claim to solve. Then, assess to see if the advantages of using it make sense for your specific needs.

There are several types of cyberattacks online, and knowing how to mitigate the risk of one harming your eCommerce site is crucial. Plugin vulnerabilities are one of the most common reasons that can cause a WordPress website hack, and as a result, you need to be very careful about what you install.

Before installing a WooCommerce plugin, be sure to check for any flagged vulnerabilities. You can do so via the reviews, but websites like Reddit are also helpful for this. Ideally, the developer should acknowledge these flaws and have taken demonstrable steps to stop them from being an issue.

If the developer is proactive in solving these issues, you should be fine to use the plugin. But if not, you will likely encounter issues later down the road and should tread with caution.

As you become more proficient with WordPress and WooCommerce, you’ll start to notice the same names developing many plugins used by leading websites. There are a lot of businesses that create all kinds of plugins, with some offering both free and paid versions. WooCommerce itself has a large selection of plugins.

Of course, there’s always room for new innovators to come in and change the game. But at the same time, you should be very careful about using plugins created by unreliable developers.

Track record is very important. Before installing anything, check to see what others sa,y not just about the plugin, but also its creator.

While it would be ideal for nothing bad to ever happen, the unfortunate truth is that you probably will encounter some issues with at least one plugin. This is inevitable, but you want to ensure that you have the right assistance when this does occur. As such, contact information is a key thing to look out for.

You should, at the very least, be able to find an email you can contact in the event of something bad happening. If you can’t find this, you should be very careful about using the plugin. This might be on the product’s download page, but if not, it should absolutely be on the website.

If you find a contact email or number, be sure to verify that it’s correct. That way, you’ll have no issues.

Compliance has become more important than ever in the world of eCommerce, and this will only continue to grow in the future. If you serve customers in the EU/EEA, for example, you must adhere to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you don’t, the financial penalties are severe.

When choosing your WooCommerce plugins, regulatory compliance is essential. You can find many plugins that improve compliance, but these are only a starting point. You should have the option to toggle settings that ensure compliance throughout your business.

Key things to look out for include data collection and safety measures to avoid leaks. Installing security plugins for WordPress and WooCommerce is wise to add an extra layer of security.

Plugins are an essential part of running WooCommerce stores, but they aren’t created equally. As a result, you need to know what to look out for – and how to identify the biggest red flags. From fake reviews to not being updated, it’s thankfully quite easy to find possible downsides.