WooCommerce vs. Shopify: Which Platform Should You Choose?

Several sites offer to create an online store. If you are one of those who are thinking of creating your online store soon, you will surely have noticed that Shopify and WooCommerce are the two best-known and most used sites around the world.

So, how to choose between these two e-commerce platforms? Here is a comparison list that will help you make an informed choice.

What are Shopify and WooCommerce?

Shopify is a platform that is mainly used to conclude online transactions. It is a self-hosted site in which you choose the domain name during installation. The advantage is that you don't have to look for web hosting and the SSL certificate is included in its packages. The platform is simple and intuitive to use. So, for users with little computer knowledge, this software is for you. There are also basic SEO tools to optimize your site and you can set up a blog. The company was founded in 2006 and the head office is located in Ottawa, Ontario.

WooCommerce is a WordPress plugin for e-commerce released in 2011. In a short time, it has gained an important place for online store software. However, you must have a site on WordPress to install the WooCommerce plugin. The installation and configuration process for WordPress requires advanced computer knowledge, but installing WooCommerce is simple and easy. WooCommerce provides access to a multitude of plugins to personalize your e-commerce site.

According to the site Barn2 media, WooCommerce represents 42% of the market in February 2018 and Shopify 7% across the entire Internet. The data was taken from the site Built With.

The interface of Shopify and WooCommerce

The Shopify platform gives you access to more than a hundred themes, some of which are free. It is possible to view the templates in desktop and mobile formats. Most themes are "responsive". Choosing the theme is a crucial step, because it’s what visitors will see first on your page. Shopify gives you the possibility to change it according to the evolution of your e-commerce.

In addition, you do not need design skills. Themes are categorized by theme in this way you can choose the theme that most favors your product. Additionally, customization tools allow you to configure your site to suit your brand.

Source; Pixabay

For configuring a store or WooCommerce theme, you need to download them. Some are installed automatically during plugin installation, but the choice is limited. Hundreds of sites offer a multitude of themes with customization possibilities. Indeed, it requires knowledge and great patience when choosing the theme.

If you are looking for an original theme, there is a good chance that you will be able to find it. Pay attention to "responsive" themes, choose these so that your site is accessible on mobile, tablet and desktop. Since WordPress creators value design, some WordPress themes are optimized to import into WooCommerce.

Shopify and WooCommerce, price comparison

As for costs for Shopify, it will cost between $140 to $180 to purchase a theme. Otherwise, you have the free theme options. Plans vary between $29 and $299 per month. You must also take into account taxes and currency rate conversion.

Also plan for costs for payment gateways, fees related to credit cards and added options. The domain name, hosting and SSL certificate are included in all three packages. However, if you buy your site name, the price varies between $13 and $54USD per year.

For WooCommerce, you need to pay for the domain name, site hosting and SSL certificate. There are WordPress hosting sites like Godaddy, Bluehost, for example, that offer all three for less than $20USD per month. By choosing this type of hosting, you will not have to find a site for each service. Be aware that WooCommerce works with plugins and downloads, most of which are paid.

E-commerce: accepted payment methods

The most important element for e-commerce is the security of transactions and the information collected on buyers. In addition, we want to offer as many payment methods as possible in order to accommodate as many people as possible on the web. So, installing payment gateways is necessary to avoid losing customers.

For Shopify, you can pay through PayPal and pay gateways on every transaction which vary between 0.5% to 2% depending on your plan. Credit card fees of $2.39 + 30 cents. Payment methods are similar with WooCommerce without the fees and there are extensions with Amazon, UPS, PayPal and FedEx. You must also take into account taxes and the conversion rate in force in the countries.

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Web referencing and SEO on the e-commerce

On Shopify, you have the basic SEO tools like title tags, H1 tags and meta descriptions to optimize your ranking in web SEO. You can also create a blog on your site and articles optimized with keywords. In addition, you can generate a sitemap of your site that you can send to Googlebot so that it can index it.

WooCommerce SEO works with the Yoast SEO plugin. It costs 89$USD for one site and for one year, support and updates updated are included. It offers the same SEO basics (title tag, H1, meta description, photo, links) as Shopify.

However, they have slightly more advanced options like markup schema.org, for example. Why is this so important? Different search engines like Google or Yahoo, for example, use this tag to index product sheets with characteristics. When your product appears in search results: the name, description, availability and price are displayed. So, the Internet user sees this information and in a few seconds, he makes the decision to click on the link or not. You answer basic questions for purchasing a product.

Another interesting plugin is the Open Graph and the Twitter data card (og: type and twitter: card). These are plugins that increase your visibility and interaction on social media. They do not directly affect WooCommerce SEO, but help with visibility on social media. In fact, they display relevant product information much like the schema.org, but on social media. Since WordPress is a content site, SEO tools and SEO take an important place in WooCommerce.

In short, the Yoast SEO plugin offers a multitude of tools for web SEO. It stands out from Shopify, which mainly offers the basics of SEO best practices. You can also integrate Google Analytics and create reports from your dashboard for both platforms.

Overview of Shopify and WooCommerce

In both platforms you can configure Facebook. With Shopify, inventory updates are synchronized with your e-commerce page. In addition, Shopify allows you to have management software for your storefront and your online store. There is also an offer for large businesses which is Shopify Plus. This site contains marketing campaigns, inventory, payment methods, traffic tracking and a dashboard to track all changes on the site.

There are also free tools for businesses such as those that allow you to create a logo, a slogan, calculate CPM, and many others. Shopify offers everything you need to start your online business in a very simple and easy way. The platform is intuitive and everything is documented to understand each step. If you need more help, you can call a customer service center.

For its part, WooCommerce is a platform that offers a multitude of plugins to personalize your site as you wish. You need to have good computer skills to make the most of all the advantages that this e-commerce platform offers. In addition, it is an excellent site for web referencing and SEO.