A WooCommerce shop does far more work than a brochure site: carts, checkouts, stock updates, emails and scheduled tasks. Most shop problems on shared hosting come from a handful of settings. Work through this checklist when you launch a shop and review it every few months.
Before you start
- WordPress with WooCommerce installed on your MdmHost cPanel account.
- A backup and, for an existing shop, a staging copy to test changes on.
PHP version and limits
- Use a current PHP version supported by WooCommerce and your extensions (cPanel → Software → Select PHP Version).
- Set
memory_limitto at least 256M andmax_execution_timeto 120 for imports and reports. - Raise
max_input_varsto 3000 or more if you have products with many variations. - Confirm the values in WooCommerce → Status → System Status.
Caching that respects carts
Use LiteSpeed Cache. It detects WooCommerce and automatically excludes cart, checkout and account pages and visitors with items in the cart. Do not add a second page cache or a CDN "cache everything" rule that could cache cart or checkout pages; customers would see each other's carts.
Real cron for scheduled actions
WooCommerce relies on scheduled actions for emails, subscriptions, stock and webhooks. On quiet shops these run late with WP-Cron. Disable WP-Cron in wp-config.php and run it from a cPanel cron job every five minutes. Check Tools → Scheduled Actions for a growing list of Past-due actions.
SSL everywhere
The whole shop must run on HTTPS, not only checkout. AutoSSL gives you a free certificate; force HTTPS in cPanel and make sure Settings → General uses https:// addresses. Payment providers may refuse to work otherwise.
Reliable order emails
- Send email through SMTP with a mailbox on your domain.
- Set WooCommerce → Settings → Emails → From address to that mailbox.
- Check SPF and DKIM in cPanel → Email → Email Deliverability.
- Place a test order and confirm both the customer and admin emails arrive.
Updates without surprises
- Read the changelog before updating WooCommerce and payment or shipping extensions.
- Test major updates on staging, including a full checkout with the payment gateway in test mode.
- Run the database update WooCommerce offers after an upgrade, after taking a backup.
- Never push a staging database over a live shop; live orders would be lost.
Keep the database lean
- Clear completed and failed actions in Tools → Scheduled Actions periodically.
- Remove expired transients and old revisions.
- Use WooCommerce's High-Performance Order Storage when your extensions support it (WooCommerce → Settings → Advanced → Features).
Backups and security
- JetBackup takes daily backups; for busy shops add more frequent database backups with a plugin.
- Use 2FA for all admin and shop manager accounts.
- Keep the number of extensions small; each one adds code to every checkout.
Watch resource usage
During sales or campaigns, check cPanel → Metrics → Resource Usage. Frequent limit hits during peaks mean it is time for caching improvements or a larger plan; contact support before a big campaign so we can advise.