Frequently hailed as a transformative force in the world of e-commerce, Magento has attracted enormous attention as a marketing platform that presents a wealth of appealing possibilities to any web entrepreneur. Here we take a look at some of the key benefits it can bring to your business, as well as some important points to be aware of should you opt to use Magento.
Open source and high community involvement
The basic version of Magento is free to use and its open source structure enables it to be readily adapted to suit individual requirements and to be integrated easily with any existing software you might have. There is a thriving, global community of Magento users and programmers, who have developed many add-ons, widgets and variations that can add value to your platform. Whether you need a basic marketing platform or a sophisticated, multi-variable interface, Magento can be moulded to give you exactly what you want.
It’s big – very, very big!
Magento is a hefty piece of software, with more than 20,000 files included. This means you need a top-notch web hosting service to allow it to run properly. Poor hosting will result in a slow, unresponsive set-up of limited use. catalyst2 is highly experienced in e-commerce hosting in particular Magento. Add-ons such as a full page cache or Memcached can also help.
Complex and unstructured
The organic growth of Magento provides a rich e-commerce experience with many exciting possibilities, but it also makes customising and developing your own Magento site extremely complex. Without a high level of developer input to get the system running smoothly, set appropriate parameters and install the correct add-ons, there is a high risk of Magento running slowly or failing to work correctly.
Used correctly, Magento is an amazingly adaptable e-commerce platform that can deliver spectacular results in a challenging environment. Intriguingly, the flexibility of Magento is a double-edged sword; it can deliver fast, impressive results, but needs a significant amount of expert developer input and a premium web hosting service in order to do so.
How we can help
Here at catalyst2 we are Magento experts, we have a lot of experience in tuning Magento and ensuring you get the best possible performance out of your site. Magento is a great piece of software but it is also one that needs a great deal of expertise to get the most out of it. Just drop us an email today and we would be happy to talk it through with you – sales@catalyst2.com
