As an ecommerce platform and content management system, Magento is world renowned for its reliability, flexibility, ease of use, cost and customer service. Perhaps that’s why nearly 1 percent of websites in the entire world use Magento (according to a November 2013 estimate by W3Techs). As the founder of a leading Los Angeles Magento services firm, I have been actively using and marveling at Magento since its initial release in 2008, but even I’ll admit that the platform is far from perfect. Case in point: wonky WordPress integration. If you want to incorporate a WordPress blog into your Magento website, or if you want to move your Magento store onto an existing WordPress theme, things can get a bit tricky.
So the question is, how do you unite Magento and WordPress in holy matrimony while still maintaining a single, fluid website?
Moving Magento Into WordPress
Many Web developers and webmasters are now taking it upon themselves to run their Magento stores on WordPress. They want the shopping cart features afforded by Magento, but they prefer the CMS simplicity of WordPress. That’s all well and good, but you must proceed with caution. For starters, this approach may handicap your ability to take full advantage of Magento’s development and SEO features, which are tailored specifically for ecommerce. Second, you’re putting the fate of your entire website into the stability of a single WordPress plug-in, and if you have ever seen a plug-in crash following a WordPress update, you understand what a rocky foundation that can be. Nevertheless, if you insist on pursuing this route, try downloading Wordgento or the Magento WordPress Integration plug-in, both of which enable you to import Magento blocks into your existing WordPress theme.
Integrating WordPress into Magento
This is the preferable approach to integration, especially if you just want to add a quality blog to your Magento store. The process is similar to the previous scenario, but rather than obtaining your plug-ins from WordPress, you’ll obtain them from MagentoConnect. The WordPress Integration extension, by FishPig, has received a lot of positive buzz from supporters, and there are also a number of premium (i.e. paid) options like Magento WordPress Extension, WpFeed and WordPress Migration Tool.
The Practical Solution – Los Angeles Magento Services
As you can see, there are innumerable extensions and plug-ins out there which seek to take the frustration and guesswork out of WordPress-Magento integration, but it’s only fair to note that third-party plug-ins have their limitations. The ideal approach is to implement custom development which builds a seamless, streamlined framework between the two verticals. This way, you achieve uniformity throughout your entire website, not only in terms of the aesthetics, but in terms of usability and SEO. If you want to establish the ideal union between Magento and WordPress, call Coalition Technologies for a free quote at (877) 989-7187. If you’re looking for Los Angeles Magento services, my team can help you to meet and exceed your expectations, and we look forward to hearing from you.