What is the Best CMS for E-commerce?
A content management system (CMS) is a piece of software that allows e-commerce store owners to generate, edit, and publish digital website content without having to write any code. Users can also change the style and feel of the online store, such as changing the layout of product pages, adding promotional banners, or easily establishing new website sections to better advertise products.
An eCommerce platform is a web-based shopping cart that allows you to manage your products and sell them directly from your website. Some e-commerce platforms also function as content management systems. In other words, it’s a user-friendly infrastructure that manages all of an online store’s backend store management activities.
When it comes to Best CMS for E-commerce software, there are two main categories to consider: SaaS and open source.
1. A software-as-a-service (SaaS) content management system
A hosted SaaS CMS for e-commerce shops is a cloud-based solution that does not require a separate server. You pay a monthly fee in exchange for without having to download anything, maintain updates, or set up data storage – the software vendor takes care of everything. In most cases, the service provider also provides customer assistance. BigCommerce, Shopify, Squarespace, and other hosted CMSs are examples. These examples can be used as both e-commerce and content management platforms.
2. A CMS that is open source.
Users have complete control over the website functionality using open source eCommerce solutions. Open-source software can be downloaded for free and is frequently self-hosted. This means that store administrators are in charge of determining their eCommerce website’s hosting, as well as maintaining the server and implementing software upgrades as needed. Some open source platforms include a cloud-hosted alternative, however, they differ from SaaS in that the store owner is still responsible for upkeep. WooCommerce and Magento are two well-known examples of open source e-commerce applications.
Is it Necessary to Have a Separate CMS?
You may not have considered the possibility of not having a separate CMS before now. However, it’s crucial to note that a content management system isn’t required for every eCommerce site. The simplest method to figure out if you need a separate CMS for your online store is to consider your content strategy plans.
The flexibility of a CMS would be particularly beneficial to eCommerce sites that publish new content on a regular basis, whether for the blog or as part of homepage and product page changes. You might be able to build your site without one if your store doesn’t require regular, real-time content updates.
Furthermore, if you already have an eCommerce platform that functions as a CMS, you may not require a separate one.
Still undecided? Consider the numerous benefits that a well-chosen CMS can give.
1. Easily create and change material.
Do you get nervous when you think of changing your website’s content? One of the best things about modern content management systems is how user-friendly they are and how little technical knowledge they demand. It means you or your team can easily handle all content and product updates on your own, allowing you to move marketing campaigns and promotional activities along more quickly.
2. Get rid of your reliance on developers.
Successful eCommerce entrepreneurs understand that meeting consumer expectations is the key to increasing income. However, if you go through a middleman, you won’t be able to maintain the speed and agility required to keep your website material fresh.
You can reduce development time and update the website on your own using an easy-to-use CMS. Finally, not only will you save time, but you will also be able to invest that development expense on other marketing activities that will help your company grow. Win-win!
3. Add a new way to reach out to potential customers.
Content should be at the top of your priority list because it is one of the most successful marketing methods for attracting organic visitors.
Few eCommerce firms can afford to be silent on social media in the age of TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram. Creating interesting, useful content will increase your store’s visibility on Google (and other search engines), bringing more visitors to your site and increasing sales. Consumable content is also a guaranteed approach to establish a memorable brand and foster client loyalty. People nowadays buy in this manner!
A solid CMS aids in the organization, sharing, and accessibility of your content. And it all happened without a lot of backend tinkering.
4. Allow writers to collaborate.
Great work is done in groups. A lot of effort goes into writing high-quality content, from editing to formatting to locating the perfect visual images. Facilitating team cooperation is essential for efficient content creation. A good CMS can also bring everyone on the same page by allowing writers to work directly in the system and take advantage of smart features to improve their content. Better-targeted content, smoother review processes, and a more streamlined consumer experience are all benefits of this.
Features to Look for in an Ecommerce Content Management System
What features should you look for when selecting a content management system? Taking a deep dive into feature comparison could lead to a severe case of analysis paralysis.
1. It’s search engine optimized
For e-commerce sites, on-page SEO is all about figuring out where to put your keywords. It’s a method of communicating with web crawlers and ensuring good search ranks. Basically, the internet’s version of smooth-talking. If you’re not an SEO expert, don’t worry: a decent eCommerce CMS will guide you through the process of implementing optimal SEO techniques and optimizing your product pages.
The less time you spend on it, the better. Every day, Google crawls millions of new and updated pages. It’s no surprise, then, that URL brevity is favoured. If you can eliminate unneeded subfolders from your URLs, your website’s overall performance will improve. However, keeping it short isn’t the primary criterion. Incorporating the major keyword and making the URL understandable can also help you rank higher in search results.
Meta descriptions and page titles
Your core keyword should be in the page title, commonly known as the H1 tag. Bonus points if you can put it at the beginning of the title. It is primarily reliant on keyword optimization as the mainline of text appearing in search results. So, even if it sounds tedious, it’s well worth the effort!
In search results, the meta description is the grey text that appears beneath the page title. While it has no direct effect on page rankings, it can significantly enhance click-through rates. And the higher your CTR, the higher your page rankings will be!
It’s critical that you optimize the page titles and meta descriptions on all of your e-commerce store’s pages. To avoid future SEO blunders, make sure your CMS allows you to change page URLs and has an easy-to-use interface for adding and checking meta descriptions. Better yet, include a feature that automatically generates page titles and meta descriptions to save you time.
2. User experience is simple to optimize (UX).
An eCommerce website must meet the high expectations of today’s customers. If you don’t give a pleasant user experience, your visitors will leave before making a purchase. Worse, they aren’t planning on returning.
Do you know what to look for in an eCommerce CMS in terms of user experience? These are the most important requirements to check off.
Design solutions that are adaptable
Every interaction matters as clients proceed through their purchase journey on your website. To provide a personalized, pleasurable experience, you want to be able to design, change, and manage content layout on every single page of your store.
An easy-to-use CMS is very important for store owners who have low (or no) coding expertise. It will allow you to swiftly adjust your store’s appearance and page layout in response to changing industry trends, special events, and promotional offers. Some CMS platforms will also provide a variety of interfaces and plugins to assist shop owners in running store-wide promotions and other marketing campaigns.
Content that is mobile-friendly
Mobile purchasing is becoming increasingly clear as the future of eCommerce. By 2021, it is estimated to account for 54% of all eCommerce revenues, offering a new challenge to eCommerce merchants. If you don’t want to fall behind on the mobile commerce bandwagon, mobile store and content optimization should be at the top of your UX priority list.
In practise, this entails paying special attention to loading times, mobile navigation, the mobile check-out process, and other UX factors that have an impact on the user experience on mobile devices. Furthermore, the Best CMS for E-commerce you select should simplify the optimization process so that you may obtain higher conversion rates without having to write bespoke code. Also read about Shopify CMS is the ideal for your e-commerce store
3. It’s simple to use.
Given the number of plates a store owner must keep spinning, a CMS should not be a source of additional stress. Depending on your developer resources, you may want to seek for a platform that is simple to set up right away and doesn’t require a long, drawn-out onboarding process. A CMS should enable e-commerce entrepreneurs to move quickly, try new things, and improve the site’s UX, regardless of their technical level. From content updates and plugin integrations to changing page layout and optimizing for search engines, a CMS should empower eCommerce entrepreneurs to move fast, try new things, and improve the site’s UX, regardless of their technical level.
4. There are a lot of integrations.
The harsh reality is that no Best CMS for E-commerce is flawless. However, if you need a feature that isn’t included in the core best CMS for E-commerce or simply want to keep your options open in the future, look at how easy the system connects with other tools and plugins. You’d like seamless connection with your current tech stack (think email platform or analytics tools), as well as the ability to install and activate plugins as needed. It’s also a useful factor to keep in mind because the number of integrations available will reflect how popular and API-friendly the CMS is.
12 Best Ecommerce Content Management Systems
Prepare yourselves now. It’s difficult to pick just one Best CMS for an E-commerce platform because there are so many. This is just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s a good location to start your search and learn about the most common choices available.
1. BigCommerce is the first
BigCommerce is one of the most well-known eCommerce systems on the market, with over 60,000 merchants of all types and sizes. BigCommerce’s platform is powerful enough to support the growth of fast-growing e-commerce businesses while also being intuitive enough to empower complete eCommerce beginners, thanks to a plethora of built-in features and CMS capabilities. It is a one-stop shop for anything related to eCommerce. Read our blog on Build and design with bigcommerce.
The platform is noted for its advanced SEO integration and flexible APIs, which allow merchants to connect to leading software and other Best CMS for E-commerce solutions while still using the BigCommerce shopping cart. BigCommerce is a monthly subscription service that is completely hosted and PCI Level 1 compliant.
2. WordPress is the second option.
Although WordPress is the Best CMS for E-commerce, it is not an eCommerce platform in and of itself. The WooCommerce plugin is required to turn a WordPress site into an online store.
The open-source WooCommerce platform is extremely popular because of its large number of plugins and themes, the majority of which are free. These plugins are useful because they may quickly enable missing capabilities and functionalities within the WooCommerce core product. The disadvantage is that a large number of plugins adds unneeded complexity and slows down the site’s speed. Go through Sell Online With Webflow
BigCommerce also has a WordPress plugin that is simple to use and provides a layer of ease. It enables eCommerce merchants to combine the frontend freedom of WordPress with the backend benefits of the BigCommerce SaaS platform, such as abandoned cart recovery, coupons and discounts, and single-page checkout.
3. Drupal is the third option.
Although Drupal isn’t designed primarily for e-commerce, it may be used in conjunction with several plugins and frameworks to provide eCommerce features. It is, in fact, one of the most frequently used open-source content management systems, rivalling WordPress and Joomla in popularity. Unfortunately, Drupal is not very user-friendly for folks who don’t have a lot of programming experience (though this is steadily changing for the better).
Drupal commerce, being the Best CMS for E-commerce, provides a lot of freedom. You get the best of both worlds when you combine it with the BigCommerce plugin: a fully configurable interface and a fully hosted backend.
4. Joomla is number four.
Joomla is yet another open-source content management system that allows users to create and publish websites. While commerce isn’t built-in to Joomla, there are a variety of free extensions that can help you convert your site into an ecommerce store.
5. Sitecore is a content management system.
Sitecore is a prominent digital experience platform that blends design and editing capabilities with content, commerce, marketing automation, and customization. Merchants can use the platform to create digital storefront experiences and deliver customised commerce trips. You can integrate headless commerce capabilities with Sitecore’s robust, built-in content experiences with the BigCommerce plugin for Sitefront.
6. Magento is number six
Magento is a well-known open-source content management system (CMS) for ecommerce sites. It is owned by Adobe and supports more than 260,000 online stores across the world. Magento includes interfaces with CRM, ERP, chatbots, and other enterprise-level technologies, as well as deep functionality and a diverse extension marketplace. It caters to all types of merchants, but because of its complex setup, price options, and development requirements, it’s often preferred by fast-growing and larger firms.
7. Shopify is number seven
It is a well-known SaaS e-commerce platform around the world. It has been a popular option for startup merchants and small enterprises due to its easy interface and low cost. That isn’t to imply that larger companies can’t use the CMS. The number of features available will vary depending on the plan you select, so review the features list before joining up. This platform provides free customer service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, as well as a separate POS system. The disadvantage is that using payment providers other than Shopify incurs transaction fees. Also read Webflow Pricing
8. Prestashop is number eight.
Another open-source platform with MySQL data management and substantial backend code customization is Prestashop. It has a large number of add-ons and themes, allowing merchants with minimum technical skills to build a web store from the ground up. However, keep an eye on the entire cost, since some of the additions can be pretty expensive.
The good news is that you don’t need to be a developer to create a Prestashop website, making it an excellent choice for small and medium-sized businesses. Because of its lack of free support, businesses may neglect Prestashop.
9. OpenCart is number nine.
OpenCart is another free and multipurpose open-source content management system for ecommerce. It includes a flourishing plugin marketplace as well as a number of templates for quick setup. Over 20 payment gateways and eight shipping options are included into OpenCart. It’s a popular choice among novices on a tight budget because it’s an e-commerce CMS with no monthly costs. Read about Shopify Hosting.
10. Wix is number ten.
Wix is a popular drag-and-drop website builder for small businesses. Despite the fact that it isn’t officially an eCommerce CMS, website owners can add the commerce module if they require it. Wix is an appealing option for complete beginners and non-coders because of its variety of templates, built-in features, and no-code approach. It might work if you only have a few products and need to get your business up and running quickly. Keep in mind, though, that once you’ve chosen a template for your business, you won’t be able to modify it afterwards.
11. HubSpot is number eleven.
HubSpot is a cutting-edgeBest CMS for E-commerce and marketing automation platforms. Although it lacks e-commerce capabilities, it can easily interface with eCommerce systems such as BigCommerce and Shopify. Connecting HubSpot to your eCommerce store will allow you to better understand customer behaviour, automate marketing campaigns, and track and report on revenue streams through specialised reports.
12. Volusion is number twelve.
It is a cloud-based eCommerce platform that specializes in the creation of no-code online stores. This is a good option for mid-sized and larger businesses because it has some useful built-in inventory management, payment collection. If you’re thinking about using Volusion for your company, keep in mind that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2020. While the platform is still operational and open for business, it may not be the best long-term solution.
