Sell & Secure Downloadable Products
Digital product piracy has still been a real can of worms nowadays. Thousand online business owners have seen billions of dollars fly out of the window.
Podia stated that digital product piracy is estimated to cause a loss of $52 billion by the year 2022. That’s huge!
As an eCommerce site owner, you must protect your product assets.
The challenge here lies in how you can effectively sell and protect your digital items at the same time.
Luckily, what we showcase now will ease your concern. Keep reading on to discover how to sell protected downloadable products via WooCommerce!
How to Sell & Protect Downloadable Products via WooCommerce
Selling protected downloadable products via WooCommerce is easy. It involves just 3 simple steps:
- Step 1: Embed your downloadable product to a page and protect the product file with PDA Gold.
- Step 2: Protect that page using PPWP Pro. This will keep your digital products away from prying eyes.
- Step 3: Add the page with the embedded digital files to a WooCommerce product page and sell it. Your customers can download your products via protected download links.
We will walk you through them one by one.
1. Embed & Protect your Downloadable Product with PDA Gold
- Download PDA Gold under a zip file format and install it on your WordPress site.
- In your WordPress dashboard, go to Pages > Add New to create a new page
- Embed your downloadable product files into the page you’ve already created. If you use Classic Editor, just insert the link into Visual.
In case you use page builders like Elementor or Gutenberg editor, depending on your product types, e.g. images, videos, you need to find the right block types to embed links.
- Check the “Protect this file” option in the Attachment Page Details. This box is added to your page as soon as you install and activate PDA Gold.
2. Use PPWP Pro to Password Protect the Downloadable Product
Password protecting your page with PPWP Pro allows you to generate quick access links to the page containing WooCommerce downloadable products. Instead of entering passwords, they can click on the page link and download your products with ease.
1. Install and active PPWP Pro plugin
2.In your WordPress admin menu, select Password Protect WordPress and head to the General Settings page
3. Choose “Products” in the Post Type Protection dropdown
4. Open the Pages section and hover the one you have just embedded your downloadable product
5. Click on the “Password protect” option which displays a popup letting you manage your passwords
6. Auto-generate passwords or create your own ones.
The link icons in the Action column enable you to copy quick access links to your protected page. Each password corresponds to a unique quick access link.
3. Sell Downloadable Products via WooCommerce
In this step, you’ll need the assistance of the WooCommerce Integration extension. While PPWP Pro creates quick access links for your protected page, WooCommerce Integration will help automatically send these links to buyers once they make a purchase.
- In your WordPress admin menu, navigate to Products > Add New to create a new product page
- Enter the product title, description, and other important information
- Scroll down to the Product data section at the bottom of the page. Select “Simple product” from the drop-down menu and check “Virtual”
- Under the PPWP Protection section, configure your settings
- Protection type: Select “Individual pages”
- Protected page: Choose the page that you’ve just created, embedded digital products, and password protected in steps 1 and 2.
- Usage limit (clicks): Input the number of times purchasers can click on the quick access links and download your products. After these set clicks, they’ll encounter a 404 not found page.
- Expiration (minutes): Fill in the “green” time for product download. After this given time, buyers will find no way to access the protected page with your downloadable products.
- Custom message: Deliver the quick access link of the password-protected page to buyers. It includes your intangible product, plus the usage limit and expiration time. Remember to replace the %product page% with your actual product name.
4. Finally, publish the product page
This is what buyers will see on their thank you page. They can click on the “product page” link to download their digital product files.
Secure your Digital Products Now
Selling digital products with WooCommerce is just a breeze. However, protecting your downloadable products from unwanted users and illegal download happens to be a tricky task.
We’ve walked you through 3 easy steps to sell protected WooCommerce downloadable products.
With the help of PDA Gold, PPWP Pro, and WooCommerce Integration, you’re free from worrying about online piracy or illegal product download.
If you get stuck on any steps above or have any questions, feel free to let us know below!
Mustafa Al Mahmud is the Founder and CEO of Gizmo Concept and also a professional Blogger, SEO Professional as well as Entrepreneur. He loves to travel and enjoy his free moment with family members and friends.