Which Is The Best Online Store Solution? WordPress vs Shopify
It is undeniable that ecommerce is the future, but with so many ways to go about selling online, it can be hard to decipher which is the best for your business. Once again, we at DRA Create are here to lend a helping hand to help you find the perfect platform which suits your every ecommerce need, so let’s get started!
WordPress
User Friendly
One great thing about WordPress is how user friendly it is – you really don’t need a design background in order to make a WordPress site look professional. The site has been created to be easily customisable allowing you to have creative freedom when making the site reflect your chosen businesses aesthetic and make it completely bespoke to you.
Hundreds of Add Ons
A standout feature of WordPress is the ability to add a mix of features through compatible basic and premium add on choices to attach to your single website. This makes your site entirely adaptable and able to grow at the rate of your business. Let’s say you started an online WordPress baking blog site, which then grows exponentially in its readership, and you want to start selling baking equipment. You could simply create an ecommerce add on for your page and you’d be sorted, and everything would be in one place on one site.
The WordPress plugin directory includes hundreds of plugins—small pieces of code designed to perform specific tasks—that allow users to add features such as shopping carts, galleries, contact forms, and more to any compatible WordPress site. Users can also purchase and install hundreds of custom plugins from third-party developers. Plugins can be activated or deactivated and uninstalled as needed as a site evolves.
Hosting Capabilities
This will help save time and allow you to access your WordPress dashboard through your account. If you are building a WordPress site, you should consider a hosting provider that offers WordPress hosting. This will help save time and allow you to access your WordPress dashboard through your account.
SEO Optimisation
SEO optimisation is key to driving traffic towards your site, and therefore making money for your business. The more footfall you get and the easier you are to find the more you will see the interest in your product sore. The easiest way to do this is to be in favour of Search Engine Optimisation. Let’s continue with the baking business example; say someone searches ‘cake tin’ on google as they are looking to purchase one, if you sell this product on your site its in your best interest for your page to appear in the first few search pages on Google, as people are less likely to trawl through all of the relevant sites online. Making SEO work in your favour independently can be tricky when you do not have the relevant know how, but WordPress has SEO built into its sites, taking one more thing off your to do list.
Safe and secure
WordPress is super reliable when it comes to site safety and security, you can never be 100% covered but WordPress as a large platform has been developed with security as a priority. A way to make your WordPress site even more protected is to work with an experienced website host who can help monitor and tackle any viruses and site hackers which may cross your site’s path.
Shopify
User Friendly
Shopify is arguably as user friendly as WordPress, as it also has different themes you can choose to make your website uniquely you. Shopify prides itself on its customisation features and the independent feel it can bring to your site. Again. Like WordPress you have the possibility of running the entire site yourself if you choose to do so.
Ecommerce Tailored
Shopify differs from WordPress in the sense that it is entirely designed around being efficient for e-commerce. For example, it features abandoned cart reminders so that if shoppers choose to leave their carts, you can set up alert reminders to be sent to them about the products they have left behind. Shopify is particularly great for google online selling and is made to be super compatible with it- since Google is the top-ranking search engine, this is promising for large increases in footfall to your site compared to your competitors.
Mobile Friendly
Part of its ecommerce compatibility is that it is highly mobile compatible. Since over 40% of ecommerce purchases happen through mobile devices, this is more important than ever. This is also reflected through Shopify’s links to social media marketing. It can work closely with Facebook through allowing you to upload to Facebook product catalogues and offering immediate check outs through your social media channels. Since social media is such a great advertising platform this makes it even easier to translate your online presence into profits.
SEO
There are also some SEO-friendly best practices that your Shopify store will automatically follow, including having your content follow a hierarchy, use of standard characters in URLS and more. Shopify is also designed to be super speedy which greatly increases the chance of someone staying on your site for longer. If a site lags customer are likely to get inpatient or think your site is not secure and leave. Shopify’s super speed and cloud storage utilisation keeps the chances of this happening minimal. Additionally, Shopify allows you to access information about where your customers are finding your site through, making it far easier to specifically target you audience.
Servers and Tech Support
Shopify offers tech support allowing you to feel like your site is in safe hands. Again, you can never be fully secure even with good tech support and having a specific website host can really help with this.
It’s worth noting that although these sites are user friendly and you can host your site yourself, if you’re looking to save time but still would like an impressive and professional fully manned site, DRA Create is here to help. We offer bespoke designs and hosting for both WordPress and Shopify sites, consulting with you to make sure it reflects your business vision and functions at 100% 24/7. If you would like to know more about what we can do for you, get in touch!