Table of Contents

#1. CMS and e-commerce: what is the difference?
#2. What is a content management system (CMS)?
#3. What is an e-commerce platform?
#4. Six benefits of integration CMS for e-commerce
#5. Seamless user experience
#6. Personalization
#7. Mobile-friendliness
#8. Simple maintenance
#9. Flexibility
#10. The ease of use
#11. What tools and features are essential for e-commerce CMS?
#12. What to take into account when integrating CMS for e-commerce?
#13. In conclusion

The vast majority of online business owners see CMS and e-commerce platforms as two independent platforms. And that’s a problem.

If you want to boost your content marketing efforts and generate high revenue, you should integrate your CMS for your e-commerce platform. Read this article to learn more about the benefits of integration.

CMS and e-commerce: what is the difference?

Before we start discussing the importance of integration, let’s clarify what CMSs and e-commerce platforms are all about.

What is a content management system (CMS)?

It’s a system designed to create, publish, and promote different types of content, including articles, shopping guides, press releases, whitepapers, as well as visual content.

CMSs were not designed to sell, but you can upgrade them with basic sales features. The most popular open-source content management frameworks are WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal.

What is an e-commerce platform?

It’s an online shopping system that is designed to sell products. Every e-commerce platform has such features as catalog, cart, and inventory and shipping management tools.

As a rule, these platforms do not have in-built content management features. But most of them allow adding paid content management plugins. The most popular e-commerce solutions are Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, Big Commerce, and Drupal Commerce.

Six benefits of integration CMS for e-commerce

Seamless user experience

When it comes to online sales, seamless user experience plays an important role. And if your CMS and e-commerce platforms are not integrated, it may negatively affect user experience.

Most “not-integrated” sites do not work smoothly. Sometimes the system sends a visitor to a separate “store” site to make purchases. It creates a disconnected user experience and increases the bounce rate.

If you integrate CMS for the e-commerce platform, you will eliminate this problem and take user experience to the next level. Your website visitors will be able to browse your site without facing distractions.

Personalization

Today, people who visit your website interact with both: your products and your content. Most users, who read your blog post, also browse your products. And users, who shop your products, also look through your recent posts.

If you integrate CMS for an e-commerce website, you will get a chance to create a personalized user experience. You will be able to tie specific content with particular product pages.

Let’s say you sell commercial kitchen equipment. If a user is looking at a high-capacity mixer machine, you can provide him a link to the article about high-end equipment. Or, if a user is reading an article “How to start a bakery business on a budget”, you can give him 10% off first order.

Platforms integration will allow you to personalize your marketing strategy and achieve great results. If you provide your prospective customers with information, products, and discounts they actually need, you will skyrocket your sales.

Mobile-friendliness

Since mobile traffic is growing year by year, it’s important to put mobile users first. According to statistics, 54.3% of users come to e-commerce platforms from mobile devices. But only 27.7% of them make purchases using their mobile devices.

So if you want to grow sales in 2019, you should convince mobile users that your website is better than others. You should integrate CMS for e-commerce to create a seamless experience not only for desktop users but also for mobile users. Integrated solutions will make your blog posts look great on screens of every size.

Simple maintenance

When everything is integrated, it’s much easier to make tweaks to the design and structure of the website. Operating in one single system, you don’t need to invite a team of experts to make quick changes. You can update your product page and publish new content literally in a few clicks.

It means that if you decide to use an integrated CMS solution, you will save your efforts and money. You will have more time to focus on more important tasks.

Flexibility

Modern users are picky. Their preferences are changing every month. If you want to keep up with the latest trends and keep your customers satisfied, you should integrate CMS for e-commerce.

It will allow you to implement up-to-date solutions and publish the most relevant content. It will help you to be one step ahead of the competition and keep your business growing.

The ease of use

Also, it is worth mentioning that most integrated solutions are easy to use. Your team members will face no difficulties in using CMS for e-commerce. It will take them just an hour or two to learn how to make modifications and publish updates.

It means that you will not have to waste your time teaching your new employees. So you will be able to invest more time into improving your content marketing strategy.

What tools and features are essential for e-commerce CMS?

Integrated solutions provide different content management capabilities. If you want to make sure that your site will work smoothly, you should choose CMS for e-commerce is compatible with the following tools and features:

1. Administrative features
2. Publishing tools
3. SEO tools
4. Social media integration
5. Personalization capabilities
6. Email marketing integration
7. Reviews and comments
8. A/B testing feature
9. Analytics
10. Security tools

What to take into account when integrating CMS for e-commerce?

Keep in mind that if you want to achieve great results, you should conduct in-depth research before starting integration. Here are two more important things to consider before choosing a CMS solution for e-commerce.

1. What plans do you have for the future? Do you want to grow your online business in the next few years? If yes, make sure that you choose a solution that will allow you to bring your ambitious plan to action.
2. As it was mentioned above, the preferences of customers are constantly changing. And if you want to achieve success in the long run, you should make sure that a chosen CMS for e-commerce is flexible enough. Otherwise, you will have to pick another integrated solution in a year or two.

In conclusion

Do not repeat the mistake other companies make. Do not consider CMS and e-commerce platforms as two independent platforms. Implement an integrated solution to take your online business with e-commerce website to new heights.

Author’s bio:

Daniela McVicker is a blogger with rich experience in writing about UX design, content planning, and digital marketing. Currently, she is the chief contributor at TopWritersReview where she helps individuals and organizations improve their web content writing, design, and planning skills. Her posts are always packed with examples and actionable content that readers can put straight into the action.