Magento Community and Enterprise Edition: Which should be your Choice?

Magento is the most popular eCommerce platform in the world at the moment, and many start-ups and companies planning to sell online use it to build their new store. There are two editions versions of Magento businesses have to choose from: the Magento Community Edition and the Magento Enterprise Edition.

The Magento Community Edition

This version of Magento is open source, and popular with start-ups that need to build a store without investing too much money. It is also sometimes used by companies to create an experimental version of their store. If you build a store with this edition, you will be able to use the extensions in the Magento marketplace to enhance it.

The Magento Enterprise Edition

The Magento Enterprise Edition is paid software. It has more features out-of-the-box than the regular edition. Bigger stores use it. Like the Community Edition, you can further bolster your store using plug-ins from the marketplace. You also get support from the Magento team to build your store.

The Differences between the Two Versions

A big difference between the two is the cost: the Enterprise edition costs $ 15,500 per year to use. You also get access to premium features like an abandoned cart saver, gift registry and return handling. The Enterprise Edition also performs better, most of the time, even if it has more modules than the Community Edition. It is also PCI compliant, which makes it secure. However, you can get access to the same features on the Community Edition through extensions. You can also make the Community Edition store more secure by implementing PCI policies.

Which One Should You Pick?

You should be fine with the Community Edition – until you have more than 20,000 transactions per year, it’s a good choice. The Enterprise Edition should be chosen when you’re thinking big, have a big budget and need access to quality support 24/7.

Are you still having trouble deciding between the two? It will help if you take a look at some live stores built on the two versions. You could also talk to some certified Magento developers and get their opinion on which one would be more suitable for your business.  

5 Biggest Mistakes to Avoid While Redesigning your Website

Websites must constantly keep evolving to meet the burgeoning expectations of customers. Today, if a website doesn’t run on a CMS and doesn’t provide advanced features like web applications, it loses value in the eye of your visitors. Your website should get minor design changes once every few months and a fully revamp once every few years just to stay relevant.

If you’re planning on redesigning your website, here are some common mistakes you should avoid:

Focusing all your efforts on looks to the detriment of functionality

Are you looking to incorporate modern design elements into your website? That’s a good plan, but don’t neglect functionality either. Your website should look good as well as be very easy to use. De-clutter wherever possible and keep it simple.

Trying to do a lot with a tiny budget

You need to have a realistic budget in mind if you want to make major changes to your website. Redesigning a website is difficult, and you will need experienced people for the job.

Not doing your research about the team you’re hiring for the task

Have you done your research about the team you’re hiring to work on your redesign? If the team you’ve hired is inexperienced or if you’re hiring a bunch of college kids in an attempt to save money, chances are you’ll end up with a sub-par site that will only hurt you in the long run.

You simply can’t ignore mobile users anymore

Mobile traffic has surpassed traffic from desktops this year. If your website isn’t designed to be surfed from a smartphone or tablet, you’re going to be losing out on a lot of customers.

Not keeping existing customers informed

You need to inform your existing customers about your redesigning efforts. If they visit your website while it’s down, they may think you’ve shut shop. Also, you could make a separate page for new customers asking for their contact information so that you can talk to them directly while your website is down.

If you avoid these common blunders, your business should do okay even when your website is down, and it will only benefit in the long run. You also can opt for a professional web development team to help with your website redesign.

Top Advantages of Custom Magento Store Development

The eCommerce industry continues to grow by leaps and bounds as global revenue is expected to surpass the $2 trillion mark sometime this year. However, it’s very difficult to gain a foothold in the eCommerce world where the majority of the market is cornered by online giants like Amazon.com. 

Do you qualify for getting a custom Magento store? 

If you’re a Magento store owner and your store is under-performing, getting it custom developed can solve the majority of your problems. If you’re new to the eCommerce world, the Magento platform is probably the best choice for your business – it is the most popular platform in the world, and is very scalable and powerful. 

Here are some scenarios where you should consider getting a custom-built Magento store:

• You are a real-world enterprise thinking of putting your business online 
• Your existing store isn’t getting as good a conversion rate as it should 
• You want to optimize and speed up your current store  
• You’re trying to boost your company’s reputation and existing brand value with the help of an eCommerce store 
• Your store is out-of-date 

Here are the top advantages of getting a custom developed Magento store:

Easy-to-use CMS

Magento lets you easily add, update, and remove products from your website. You don’t need coding knowledge or have to use complicated tools for it either. 

Responsive from the very beginning 

Magento has recently been updated to be responsive. You don’t have to spend time or money trying to make your Magento store responsive now – the capacity is now inbuilt. 

Faster checkout process

One of the main reasons why stores have high bounce rates is a long and tedious checkout process. Magento implements a two-step process that customers will find confidence in. 

Intuitive product-search feature

It is easy for customers to find products on Magento stores thanks to the intuitive search feature. 

Before you opt in for custom development, be sure to double check the reputation and past work of the company or development team you’re planning to hire. Getting a custom store is a significant investment on your part, after all, so hire only experienced Magento professionals. 

Top CMS Tweaks to Drastically Improve User Experience on your Website

Content Management Systems (CMSs) are designed for organizing, showcasing, and managing content. A CMS can be paid or open source, with WordPress being the most popular CMS in the world at the moment with a 22% market share. Your CMS is the tool you’re going to be using to communicate with your customers.

Here are easy CMS tweaks that will drastically improve the user experience on your website or app:

Be picky with your CMS

If you’re not intimately familiar with your Content Management System then you shouldn’t be using it for your website. Just because everyone else is using WordPress doesn’t mean it’s what your business needs. Do your research and be picky while settling on a CMS to avoid a lot of trouble later.

Know your audience and cater to them

The main goal of every CMS is to provide content to visitors. Your content should be designed for the kind of users you’re expecting to visit your website. If you’re in the education business, for example, you’re mainly going to be visited by teenagers and their parents.

Never expose the inner workings of the system

Your CMS may be the most scalable and robust software in the world, but your visitor doesn’t need to know that. You have to hide the inner workings of the system and always present a smooth, easily-accessible layout to visitors.

Customize your CMS to extract the most of it

Your CMS solutions has to be custom built for what you need it to do, following global standards. Use developers for this, if you have to.

Have a consistent layout that aids in navigation

A major problem with this systems is the number of clicks they ask the user to make to get from point A to point B. Your goal is to have a consistent layout that allows a user to get from point A to point B with the least clicks possible.

Your website is the face your business is showing to the world, so it’s worth the time and effort it takes to get a good website up and running. If you’re technically challenged, expert developers from Openwave can work on website design on a short-term basis – consider hiring their services.