Magento vs WordPress: Which is Better for Ecommerce
It’s important for entrepreneurs to learn the difference between Magento vs WordPress content management systems, so you can make an informed decision when it comes down to selecting your business’ ecommerce platform!
We will cover some of the pros and cons, and share our team’s recommendation, based on established ecommerce projects we’ve consulted on.
Fully customized eCommerce systems are almost always required to run an efficient and secure website that is selling items. For example, most websites have a “Shop” inner page, which requires either a WordPress plugin or Magento Extensions to set up and configure, based on your overall requirements.
Fortunately, with the evolution of the web development industry, WordPress and Magento are open-source website systems that are completely free to use and customize. This gives new and existing business owners, with limited funding, the ability to launch a custom-built ecommerce website within a reasonable timeframe.
Comparing Magento and WordPress
Magento Overview:
Magneto has been a leading ecommerce platform for over a decade now, and was acquired by Adobe in 2018. Since it’s an open-source technology and owned by Adobe, the product should continuously improve over the years to come, with enterprise-grade security, based on Adobe’s role as product owner.
Magento was originally built with ecommerce in mind, so the overall architecture was structured to help beginners and developers build an online store, with minimal development work. This gives website owners the ability to fully customize their online shopping experience without having to manually code product pages. This also saves a tremendous amount of time when it comes time to set up and configure your credit card processing system with your Magento website.
You’ll find plenty of extensions that have been developed over years as there’s a large community of users due to the fact that Magento has been around for over a decade now! Based on our in-depth research and experience working with a variety of clients, Magento typically has a higher cost to maintain and develop. Unfortunately, Magento web developers charge several folds more than a professional WordPress development service, so WordPress has the advantage, in addition to having a larger network of developers.
Magento vs WordPress Support
Furthermore, the Magento support forum isn’t very user-friendly. Whether you’re looking for a specific solution to a website element or extension, you may not find a streamlined method to obtain this information. This can be discouraging to new users as there’s endless issues you’ll come across when building your ecommerce website.
The open-source, community version of Magento is completely free of charge, but sadly, the larger scale, Enterprise version, now known as Adobe Commerce, can cost a lot more than a paid WordPress plugin, which can be a huge turnoff when deciding on a new ecommerce solution for your website project.
While Magento is known to have a large community of users, this does not equate to a high number of qualified developers, thus resulting in a lack of talent in the marketplace, which is a top reason why WordPress wins this battle. So, unfortunately, this will end up causing you to waste valuable time sourcing qualified talent.
WordPress overview:
So, fun fact, based on recent data, WordPress now powers more than 40% of the websites in the entire World, and there are countless reasons why WordPress CMS has become popular with businesses and organizations of all sizes.
For start-ups and established ecommerce stores, WordPress can be fully customized with the assistance of a dedicated plugin, such as WooCommerce, which is one of the most popular plugins on the market.
Thankfully, since WordPress is truly open-source, it’s generally free from any upfront licensing costs, so it’s an ideal solution as the costs are minimal. The entire list of expenses associated with your new WordPress based ecommerce site are generally linked to hosting costs, domain renewal fees, plugin licenses fees (which are typically yearly), and any fees paid to your web design agency.
WordPress over Magento Support
Trusted community support is the number one advantage of WordPress over Magento, and this is a clear winner in our book. This is the top reason why most web designers prefer to implement an ecommerce site based on WordPress’ system, as Magento needs improvement in this department.
WordPress is maintained by an active community of thousands of high-level, fully qualified developers and testers, who are rigorously testing the WordPress code for security, speed, and any other enhancements. With this in mind, you can expect an influx of new features on a consistent basis, which will ultimately improve your ecommerce website over the years.
WordPress is Top-Rated
The flexibility and customization that comes with WordPress CMS is unmatched! There are thousands of ecommerce-related plugins available for your WordPress site. Apart from a vast number of free plugins, there are also several premium plugins sold by third-party software developers (such as WooCommerce), which are usually reasonably priced as every plugin requires updates to resolve bugs and security issues.
If the built-in settings do not meet your needs, you can also extend the functionality of your site by modifying an existing plugin, so it meets your exact requirements.
If you’re looking to build a new ecommerce website or you’re in the process of redesigning an old website with an outdated design, content, and overall website architecture, then we highly recommend looking into a WordPress web design solution.
WordPress vs Magento – the WooCommerce Advantage
Interesting fact, 22% of the top one-million ecommerce sites in the world use WooCommerce, which basically means this plugin is the most popular WordPress plugin on the Internet! So, based on this statistic and our team’s knowledge, we are certain this is a top-rated ecommerce solution for businesses of all sizes.
Some of the top hosting companies have dedicated support teams for WordPress sites as the demand is increasingly high nowadays, which is a clear indication WordPress based ecommerce solutions have an advantage over Magento. (Please note: you should only work with a hosting company that specializes in your CMS solution)
Lastly, WooCommerce gives you more SEO specific options as it’s part of the WordPress ecosystem, so you’ll have access to well-known SEO plugins which will enhance your presence on Google by following SEO best practices.
Magento vs WordPress: Conclusion
If you’re a new ecommerce website owner or you’re refreshing an old site that isn’t aesthetically-pleasing and lacks flexibility, then we highly recommend a custom-designed WordPress website. You can set up and configure ecommerce functionalities with zero coding knowledge, by having access to some of the best, rigorously-tested ecommerce plugins.
If you’re in need of an experienced web design company to assist you with your ecommerce website, then please feel free to contact our team for a free website review!
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