Did you know that 31.68% of the Internet was designed with WordPress and that Drupal and Joomla distribute 5% of existing web pages? It seems clear that the CMS (Content Management System) has acquired great importance in the digital world and E-commerce in particular because these platforms are perfectly adapted to the needs of the markets.
Many users are wondering how to choose a CMS for e-commerce. Unlike other types of websites, online stores are distinguished by their complexity and sophistication, with advanced inventory managers, logistic API integration, payment processes, and other essential features in online environments. retail.
7 questions to ask yourself before choosing a CMS for your E-commerce
As you probably know, a CMS is a platform that allows you to manage and create web content without the need for advanced programming knowledge and other disciplines common to traditional webmasters.
Contrary to popular belief, the creation of CMS for the online store does not seek to eliminate or reduce the figure of the web designer, but to limit its presence in other areas of e-commerce (store, sale, etc.). WordPress or Joomla can be used by different professionals, who would not necessarily deal with the subtleties of Javascript or HTML.
That’s why the choice of CMS is one of the most important decisions in the life of an online store, what are the main features to look for?
Is it evolutionary?
All CMS available on the market responds well to the needs of e-commerce during their first years of life. As it grows and develops, all sorts of complications can arise due to the platform’s low scalability, a limitation that in many cases forces the migration of the store to another CMS.
Is the CMS interface intuitive?
Usability plays a key role in the CMS, whose interface must be accessible and intuitive for a large number of professionals, who do not necessarily need to be familiar with web design. Adding products, optimizing cards, creating promotions, or managing an e-commerce blog should not require the direct presence of a web designer, provided we have chosen the right platform.
The CMS is compatible?
Magento, PrestaShop and other CMS for e-commerce are, so to speak, the foundation of web architecture, but an online store also requires the use of third-party software and applications to improve its management: implementation of MailChimp to register subscribers to logistic API integration. If the CMS in question has low compatibility, professionals in all areas of electronic commerce may be harmed by this limitation.
Is it optimized for search engines?
This feature is taken for granted on most content management platforms. However, it must be emphasized that the web architecture (HTML, PHP, etc.) must be
Are permissions and administrative access available?
Another aspect to consider when selecting an eCommerce-oriented CMS is permissions and access, especially in medium and large businesses, by a large number of professionals and partners involved. All e-commerce employees should not have access to all features, but only those needed to perform their work. On the other hand, it can be dangerous for people outside an online store to access them as administrators. Hence the importance of the different permissions and access that a competitive CMS has to provide.
Are your security and backup options acceptable?
The latest statistics suggest that cybercrime already costs 400 billion euros a day, and e-commerce is not immune to this threat. Security is, therefore, a reasonable concern for online shops. In this sense, the most competitive CMS must have advanced security features, with encryption of data, availability of SSL certificates and other qualities, such as the ease of regular backups or warranties in case of cyber-attacks, such as than those suffered by eBay and Amazon in October 2016.
Does the CMS have a community or a help desk?
Especially in payment CMS, technical support is essential, as the team behind the platform must look after the interests and needs of its customers. Especially in the case of free platforms, the technical support does not need to be represented by a commercial team to use it; in the case of WordPress, its Help Service subdomain offers a series of useful forums to resolve all kinds of doubts and requests.
In addition, the digital world is changing rapidly, and what is today a trend, tomorrow will be part of the “prehistory” of the Internet. The support team must update its systems regularly to remain competitive and meet the needs of online stores.
Which are the best CMS platforms-oriented E-commerce?
Given the varied offer of content management platforms on the Internet, it is interesting to ask which is the best CMS for e-commerce. One of the most popular is, without a doubt, WooCommerce, specially designed for the marketing of products and services online, under the free software WordPress. In addition, PrestaShop was launched in 2008 for the creation of online shops, with a web architecture based on MySQL, PHP, and Smarty, in essence.
Also in 2008 was another key content management system niche, Magento, which has gained a reputation among entrepreneurs for providing a flexible, scalable, fully e-commerce platform.
Online sales platforms in cloud or SaaS mode
Cloud-based solutions are online sales platforms that are out-of-the-box, hosted by the publishers themselves, and require no maintenance. This type of e-commerce application on the SaaS model (Software as a service) is often very interesting in terms of speed of deployment. However, as part of an e-commerce site, it presents in my opinion, three major flaws. The first is economic, the second is the design / technical and the third and not least touches
The financial aspect and the economic model
Economically speaking, although generally, the appeal offers are often very attractive it turns out that the “unlocking” of some key features can quickly become expensive and the prices charged for these features are sometimes completely unjustified. In addition, many of these online sales platforms have an economic model indexed to turnover.
The design and technical quality of the platforms
The ability to modify or adapt the design and developments is often limited to the goodwill of the publisher. As long as we stay in the “classic” needs of an e-commerce site, these solutions are adopted. On the other hand, as soon as specific needs are felt, these online sales platforms in SaaS mode are often limited. Finally, the quality of the source code really depends on the publisher of the platform. Compliance with development standards is not guaranteed.
SEO and SEO
Finally, last against argument, which explains my choice not to retain these online sales platforms in the “cloud” to create an e-commerce site; regards the
“All-in-one” online sales platforms are not suited to a content marketing strategy. E-commerce sites in SaaS mode do not all give access to all
- The lack of possibility for some publishers to modify the URLs of a site in a marginal way.
- Little or no possibility of managing oneself internal mesh.
- The use of H1 and H2 tags imposed.
- The use of meta descriptions imposed.
- Absence for some Rich Snippet platforms.
However, I would like to say that the arguments I am putting forward are valid for 2019. In fact, cloud online sales platforms are constantly evolving. It may be that in a more or less near future, they offer dedicated functions for content marketing as well as very sharp adjustments in terms of natural referencing and positioning in the search engines. The Spotify platform is also ahead of the game.
