5 Things You’re Not Getting From Your Ecommerce Platform
For entrepreneurs new to the digital marketplace, ecommerce applications and software are very tempting. For a fee, these platforms can make selling your products or services online very simple. With drag-and-drop features, ecommerce platforms let you open your shop in just a few minutes.
However, there is also a dark side to these easy applications that you may not have noticed in your initial research. By looking at the potential pitfalls, entrepreneurs soon realize there are many more benefits by creating a customized ecommerce store with the help of an amazing web host.
So, if you happen to be in the market for a place to sell your goods or services, take a look at the top five features that you won’t get from a paid ecommerce platform:
#1. Flexibility
Ecommerce work as a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get). WYSIWYG can be great for the first day of an ecommerce adventure because users see the page exactly as website visitors do. However, as time goes by, you may begin to realize that what you see is all that you are ever going to get. Ecommerce platforms are simple because there are very limited options as to what can be achieved within the application or software. If you enjoy being creative by building onto your website, or if you ever want to expand, then an ecommerce platform might not be your best option.
#2. Freedom to move or expand
Many ecommerce platforms use customized themes that are built into their infrastructure. This means that it can be difficult, if not impossible, to move your online store to another location or platform. Some users don’t mind being locked into one specific ecommerce platform, but may change their mind after a price increase, a bad interaction with customer service or connectivity issues. Oftentimes, users don’t feel like they’ve made the best long-term decision when choosing an ecommerce platform for their online store.
#3. Extra cash flow
This pitfall is not hidden or stealthy. It is usually printed on the front page for your consideration. Ecommerce platforms are expensive. Plain and simple. Users often pay in a month what they would pay in a year for basic web hosting. Even if your online store is successful, a large portion of your earnings goes towards hosting the store for another month. These fees grow with every tool or page you add, and can sometimes be more than entrepreneurs are willing to pay. Financially it often makes more sense to pay a low fee for web hosting and create your own ecommerce store.
#4. Content marketing
To an extent, it can be argued that a blog is a blog. That is unless you are comparing it to a WordPress blog. WordPress is hands down the best blogging platform available. WordPress is the best because there are thousands of free tools available within it to make your blog successful. Since WordPress is open source, users from around the world spend countless hours perfecting the widgets available including SEO tools, blog hit counters and spam filters. Ecommerce platforms just don’t offer the same quality of blogging applications. If you are looking to add a vibrant blog to your online shop then you should seriously consider partnering with a web host that offers WordPress.
#5. Excellent SERP
This is not to say that you can’t get great SERP. There are plenty of online platforms that have pretty good search engine results. However, there are usually additional fees for good rankings. Achieving excellent organic search results are very hard to reach when using an ecommerce platform. Each website is competing with all of the other (almost identical) online shops located within the platform. To really outshine the competitors, a customized online store is THE way to go. As you build, you can add the necessary SEO elements to get on top of your organic results.