The eCommerce industry has been booming around like never before. More and more businesses are found jumping into the eCommerce bandwagon and willing to make it big in the world. However, this doesn’t mean that conducting an eCommerce development project is easy or a child’s play! Yes, and the hurdle starts right from the beginning; which eCommerce platform must be taken into account – WordPress or Magento!
I am sure you must have heard about both platforms a lot lately! After all, WordPress and Magento are one of the leading names to consider for building an eCommerce website. Both Magento and WordPress are the two most powerful platforms when it comes to creating an online store. Although both of them are open-source and robust platforms, there are several differences between them which will further be discussed in the following post. So brace yourself up because we are about to unveil potential differences between the two. But first comes first, let’s meet the two contenders.
Meet Magento
One of the most popular eCommerce platforms that have been in talks a lot lately is Magento. In simple words, if you want to sell goods of different types online, then Magento turns out to be an absolute choice. In fact, the shopping cart system, easy payment processing, and managing product catalog easily are certain aspects that compel businesses irrespective of their sizes whether they are SMBs or listed among fortune 500 companies crave for Magento Commerce.
There is no denying the fact that eCommerce businesses are growing at a fanatic pace. Before achieving success, one must be able to survive in today’s cut-throat competition. Some of the core aspects of Magento include:
- It is an open-source platform
- It can easily collaborate with 3rd party extensions
- It offers a lot in regards to flexibility and scalability
- It offers advanced SEO features
- It is secure
- Here you are bound to receive 24/7 support
Integrated checkout, catalog management, advanced marketing tools, instant chat, visual merchandising, B2B functionality, customer loyalty tools, BI dashboards, instant purchase, support cloud and global selling, are some of the core features offered by the Magento platform.
A fun fact, Magento is one such word that seems to have been highly searched on Google even way more than the word eCommerce. So I guess now you just figured out how popular Magento is. If you are still confused, you can check out Magento’s directory which keeps on increasing.
Further below I would like to mention certain common yet crucial benefits offered by Magento.
Pros of Magento
Since we have already covered what Magento is. It’s time to look for the why part. Why one must consider Magento when conducting an eCommerce development project.
#1 Feature-rich and power-packed platform
One of the obvious reasons for considering Magento is that it is a feature-rich and power-packed platform. Yes, no matter how many products you try to sell through your eCommerce store, Magento will take care of your every need. In other words, the platform seems to be highly scalable and takes care of hundreds and thousands of products. So here you don’t have to worry about product and inventory management. In addition, several filters can be added so that the end-user finds it best in performance and easy to navigate. Not to mention, this definitely results in high conversion rates.
#2 Advanced SEO
Another benefit offered by using Magento in your eCommerce website development is that the platform itself comprises the advanced SEO feature. Now whenever you try developing a website, it’s never done for just the sake of it! Here you do require to hire an SEO expert who can assist you in making the developed eCommerce site rank on the Google search engine. Well, with Magento that’s certainly not the case! Whether it’s Google, Yahoo, or Bing, Magento is a very SEO-friendly platform. It may quite interest you to know that Magento has the potential to generate SEO-friendly URLs. Not to mention that websites created using Magento are responsive, no matter what!
#3 Customization
Today every user dreams of having a personalized or customized experience. And for that, firstly you need to pick a platform that offers seamless customization and Magento is no exception. Here product categories can be configured, accounting, payment processing, shipping, and every department can be well-taken care of. All you have to do is hire a reputable Magento development company that comprises the best team of Magento developers who do know how to reach wide audiences, save time and enhance the end-user experience, all at once!
Of course, this is not it! There are several other benefits such as Magento has a pretty large and active community, it is highly flexible, allows third-party integration, advanced reporting, highly secured, fast-loading web pages, and whatnot!
Now it’s time to get acquainted with another contender, named WordPress!
Meet WordPress
Wait a minute, isn’t wordpress a content management system? If so, then how can it be considered an eCommerce platform? Of course, wordpress is a content management system but this is also true that if you want to build an eCommerce store, then choosing wordpress could be your winning move. Let us find out how!
Though this one being a content management system has a lot to offer. In fact, more than 60% of the websites are built using WordPress. Some of the highly reputable brands such as Reuters’, The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes. Mashable, The Next Web, etc shouldn’t be ignored at any rate. Now, do you really think WordPress is limited to just blogging? Certainly not! Though it started its journey as a mere blogging platform, soon developers realized that it is way beyond.
The platform comprises a wide range of plugins which enable you to conduct so many activities without even the need to write the code. At present, you will find around 45,000 free plugins in the directory. Not to mention that WordPress is way easier to understand.
Further below I would like to mention certain reasons stating why WordPress can be used as an eCommerce platform.
- Easy to use
- Highly customizable
- Security
- Personalization Options
- Enormous themes and plugins are available
Now since I have been mentioning again and again that WordPress has a lot to offer. It’s time to unveil what exactly can be done using WordPress?
- Several online portfolios can be created
- Do you wish to create an affiliate marketing website? WordPress is the right choice
- Creating news portals
- Another astounding way of using WordPress is by developing eCommerce stores using WooCommerce and several other wordPress Plugins
- Several Community hubs, forums, and knowledge-based sites can be created
- Many businesses are found using WordPress to share adequate information and relevant contact details
So you see this is not just a blogging platform, it’s way beyond. Further, I would like to mention certain benefits of using WordPress as your eCommerce platform.
Pros of WordPress eCommerce
#1 SEO Friendly
One of the obvious and most availed benefits of WordPress eCommerce is that this platform comprises hundreds and thousands of plugins that have the ability to rank your site on the top of the search engine without much hassle. Of course, as mentioned earlier, you are not here just to develop a website and sit back and relax. You are here to make it rank and for that, an SEO-friendly platform like WordPress turns out to be an ideal choice.
#2 Easily Customizable
Another aspect or advantage to taking into consideration is customization. WordPress is one such site which can be customized easily as per your end-users choice. And you know what’s the best part here? It can be done without even writing any code. In addition to customization, WordPress can be well-integrated with other third-party applications You see Aweber and Mailchimp are certain platforms that can provide an additional boost such as enhancing the customer base.
Not to mention, WordPress features several payment gateways.
#3 Massive Community
Last but certainly not least, WordPress comprises a large community of professionals that do offer a helping hand like none other. In case, if the developer gets stuck in between, he will find help at any point in time. Also, a huge community plays an incredible role in increasing brand awareness and credibility.
Selling different products and services requires a great eCommerce platform and these two offers pretty much neck-to-neck competition. Let’s see who wins in the end.
Magento vs WordPress – Comparison
| Factors | Magento | WordPress |
| Definitions | Magento is highly dedicated in the development of eCommerce websites | WordPress is used as a blogging platform as well as for developing eCommerce websites |
| Pros | eCommerce comes as a built-in feature and comprises many useful sales and inventory features | eCommerce is not a built-in feature but there are several themes and plugins which can assist in creating the best eCommerce website |
| Cons | Magento is not beginner-friendly | WordPress does offer an infinite amount of possibilities, but one certainly needs to install it. |
Ease of Use
Hands down, here WordPress is way better when it comes to ease of use than Magento. As mentioned above, Magento is not beginner-friendly whereas WordPress certainly is. Whether you are just a beginner or a mid-level experienced, considering WordPress can always be the best option for ease of use.
In fact, you will come across web hosts that offer WordPress installation within a span of a few minutes. For example, Bluehost.
When developing an eCommerce Website
Another factor to keep in mind is the eCommerce aspect itself. Magento is one of the best platforms when considering developing an eCommerce site. Although, Magento and WordPress are highly capable eCommerce platforms but Magento offers a wide range of excellent features such as
- Free shipping options
- Creating different price points
- Adding multiple images
- One-page checkout
SEO
Magento and WordPress feature an adequate range of SEO tools. It may quite interest you to know that all the wordpress themes are well-coded and adhere to best practices. Have you checked the Yoast SEO plugin yet? If not, try this for yourself!
Now when you are using Magento, it is viable to choose a well-written theme. Come on, we all know that Magento is not designed keeping content marketing in mind. In fact, to make it adequately rank on Google’s search engine, you must grease your elbow a bit.
So, which is a better choice?
Which one to choose – Magento or WordPress? Well, my final answer is that it depends. Both Magento and WordPress are ideal platforms when it comes to developing an eCommerce website.
You can choose Magento when
- If you want to sell a wide range of products, items and services
- If you are looking for a platform featuring strong operational capability
- If you want your business to maximize its potential
You can choose WordPress when
- If your end goal is about content marketing, cost-effective
- If you are willing for an appropriate and user-friendly design
- Right from creating blogs to building communities, eCommerce websites, WordPress is an absolute choice!
Chances are pretty high that you may feel a little overwhelmed at first but both of them have been considered as proven options for business eCommerce sites. So choose wisely!
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