Shopify or WordPress? The guide to 2024
You have reached the long-awaited moment when you made the welcome and digital decision - to open a website yourself. But after you made the decision to get started, you discovered that there are quite a few ways to do it, from different companies offering different services to different systems, each of which claims to be probably the most popular in its field in the world.
In this article we will try to understand what are the most essential and central differences between the two systems for developing and building the most successful websites in the world - Shopify VS WordPress - for beginners.
Is it also available in Hebrew?
First, for those who words like Shopify And WordPress sounds like swearing in a foreign language to them, we'll start with a short and simple explanation.
In the past, in order to build and develop any website, you had to know some programming language that could be used to build such a website. The programming language, if you are not a programmer, looks like a jumbled collection of words and numbers that seem to be harder to understand than the Chinese language.
But don't worry, nowadays, you won't have to spend even one minute learning a programming language in order to open and build an impressive and inviting website, because systems such as Shopify and WordPress were created precisely for this purpose, these systems give each of us the opportunity to build a website relatively simply , in a short time you too can have a website, whether it is an ecommerce website or any other website.
Shopify VS WordPress
Many of us who approach the job of building a website, encounter this issue that does not escape anyone - which platform is better for building the perfect website for me?
Well, the opinions are many and important, and as time goes by it seems that the world is divided into two sides in this debate, but the truth that emerges from this debate is that there is no single answer to this question - both Shopify and WordPress are super popular and successful systems that have helped people all over the world achieve their goals .
Probably the best answer to this question lies in the different needs of each and every one, we must understand with ourselves whether our goals will be better served on one of these two platforms - and thus determine which path to follow towards the perfect website for you.
What are the important parameters in the selection?
When we want to choose the platform that suits us best, we have to examine different parameters and different services offered by each platform.
The main parameters that we would like to examine are many, but the central and important ones will deal with topics such as:
- Design
- Different prices and routes
- Support and assistance from the system itself
- Customer service of the system
- Growth potential within the system
- Ease of use for consumers
- Ease of use for website development
- The purpose of the site and its purpose
and more...
So, after understanding the background and the questions we must ask ourselves first, let's move on to the main thing - the data itself - the advantages and disadvantages of each platform.
Shopify - advantages
Shopify is one of the most popular systems in the world, the vast majority of Shopify sites are sites known as e-commerce sites, that is, sites whose purpose is digital commerce. Many large companies such as Pepsi and Nestlé have already opened such a digital store on Shopify, and it seems that as the years go by, more and more e-commerce sites are opening in the Canadian company's system, which is already making soldiers in over 175 countries around the globe.
Here are some of the main advantages that made Shopify successful:
- Thanks to a very easy and simple system, anyone can build and develop a website by themselves without the need for help.
- The prices for opening a website are completely reasonable and suitable for every pocket and already include the costs of servers and storage.
- The possibility of clearing payments even without the service of an external provider (in Israel you need an Israeli clearing company).
- There are more than 7,000 plugins in the system that can be easily implemented on your site.
- A comprehensive and efficient customer service system is at your disposal with an excellent level of availability.
- Large and well-known companies have already joined the system and used it effectively and successfully.
- The data is excellent - about half a billion people around the world have already purchased some product in 2020 alone and the numbers are only increasing.
Shopify - disadvantages
As with everything in life - there are advantages and disadvantages, here are some disadvantages of Shopify compared to other platforms:
- In addition to the monthly payment, there is a payment based on 0.15%-2% of the sales turnover - depending on the route chosen.
- Despite the relatively low prices, on other platforms the service is free.
- There are features that can only be used in the more expensive Shopify packages.
- There are customizations that a programmer must make in order to perform.
WordPress - advantages
WordPress is a system for building websites and managing content from the popularity that exists today. Here are some of the prominent advantages that make WordPress the power it is:
- The WordPress platform is a completely free-to-use system and offers its services free of charge.
- In terms of design - the existing selection and variety of timelines (templates) on the platform is huge and offers impressive flexibility, this is an important step if uniqueness is important to you.
- The WordPress system is a system called - an open source system, this means that unlike closed source systems (Shopify), there is maximum flexibility and openness to install various plugins that are imported from around the web with maximum ease.
WordPress - disadvantages
The other side of the wordpress coin, here are some major disadvantages of the system:
- Since WordPress is a system that is based on open source and free of charge as we mentioned, which is also an advantage in certain issues - it is also a disadvantage in that updates to the system may apply and change certain functions or things that in your opinion have served your website well.
- WordPress as a platform is built so that professional developers work on updates and developments for the system and websites, but while this subject is meticulous, another subject is a little neglected - security is not at the top of the system's springs and thus various hackers can find loopholes and sabotage - also on your site.
- Required plugins - the flexibility that comes from the very fact that the WordPress system is an open source system and is in some parts an advantage, it is also a disadvantage in that non-professional people do not know which plugins to install and thus will be left with the basic assessment in part of the system, different and correct plugins on the other hand - will increase the level of the site in a variety of parameters critical.
Our choice - developing an e-commerce store on Shopify
The Internet has become the center of our lives, no matter how we look at it, be annoyed by it, be happy with it, rebel or join in the celebration, one thing is certain beyond any doubt - we cannot ignore it.
The corona virus, which gave a decent kick to the whole consumption culture in Israel and the world - brought with it a tsunami in terms of the virtual stores that opened on the waves of the online network. There is not and does not exist a Western person with an Internet connection who does not use it daily, whether it is the purchase of various products ranging from tomatoes and cucumbers to a dress for a wedding, or whether it is the enrichment of knowledge on a particular subject.
More and more things are happening online today, even though not all of us are developers or programmers, precisely because of this reason, with a prior understanding of those platforms, such as Shopify and WordPress, the accessibility of the ability to build and develop any website for each and every one of us - is critical and important like no other , and actually opened the door for all of us to a world where everything is closer, faster and more available.
