Choosing a CMS is an important decision and can be difficult to take. This article aims at helping you create a pros and cons list to make your own decision. I explain the plus and minus of several e-commerceCMS.
If you think that I am going to tell you which CMS is the best of all, you are mistaken. Unfortunately,there is not one CMS that is the best and that is a good thing, because each company is different. Which means that you get to select the CMS that is the best for your company, your objectives, needs and preferences.
This article is meant to help you choose the CMS that is most suitable for the growth of your business for the next 5 years or so.
Each CMS will require at some point compromises. It’s up to you to decide what you can live with.
Is Shopify a good e-commerce CMS?
Shopify is a Saas that helps you sell online and in-person. It offers some store customization, payment processing and marketing tools. Most of the pros and cons of Shopify derive from the fact that it is a Saas – it has been made for a purpose. You have less control and less options for optimisation. You need to decide if this is an optimal solution for you. Read on, you will have more information. In this article I discuss Shopify in its basic plan.
Saas definition: Software as a service (SaaS) is an application ready to use without needing to code, which means that an amount of decisions have been made without you having to think about it.
Shopify: plus
Shopify is straightforward to set up, allowing you to launch your e-commerce store within days, even without web development or design expertise. It eliminates the need for a development or design team, offering a low barrier to entry.
Designed specifically for e-commerce, Shopify is built to address a wide range of basic needs effectively. It’s an excellent choice for those without the budget for a developer or SEO specialist, or for those lacking technical knowledge and experience. Shopify also provides reliable hosting as part of its platform.
Shopify: minus
As Shopify is a Saas, some customisations are not available, which means that you can find workarounds. A workaround is a workaround: it adds complexity to set up and maintain and increase the potential for errors and failures.
In Shopify, the robots.txt file is automatically generated, and it cannot be customised. However, there is a workaround: you can create a custom robots.txt file and use a 301 redirect to replace the default version with your customised file.
Shopify does not allow hierarchical organisation of categories. All categories are placed at the root level, and subcategories cannot be created. While this structure may function, it is not considered best practice. Categories provide valuable context for search engines by helping them understand the content. In e-commerce SEO, hierarchy plays an important role in organising content effectively. For example, it is not possible to create a structure such as example.ch/parent-category/child-category/.
Since hierarchy cannot be established, creating breadcrumbs in Shopify is challenging. Without proper hierarchy, the breadcrumbs are less effective for internal linking, making it harder to transfer link equity. Breadcrumbs are essential for search engines to understand the relationship between categories and why they exist, but Shopify’s limitations in this area reduce their SEO value.
Category URLs in Shopify always include /collection/, and this cannot be changed. Furthermore, the category is always included in the product URL, which is not ideal for SEO. While canonical tags for products in Shopify correctly point to a canonical URL that excludes the category, the inclusion of the category in the actual URL creates an unnecessary multiplication of URLs at scale. This results in every internal link to a product pointing to a URL that is canonicalised, which, although seemingly minor, becomes a significant issue when applied across all products. This setup complicates the job of search engines and reduces the efficient transfer of link equity. It also adds complexity for SEOs trying to track results and manage SEO performance.
Product filters in Shopify present another challenge. It is difficult to control which filters search engines are allowed to crawl. Since the robots.txt file cannot be customised, all filters are canonicalised to the base category URL without filters. While filters are valuable for targeting long-tail keywords and improving conversions for longer queries, Shopify does not allow granular control over which filters are indexed by search engines. Ideally, businesses should have the flexibility to decide which filters and facets are accessible to search engines, as well as the ability to name and organise them coherently. Shopify removes this level of control, which can limit strategic SEO opportunities.
Is Shopify good for SEO?
Shopify out of the box is a better option than a non optimised or badly optimised e-commerce made with a CMS that offers more options. Shopify is not the best option in terms of SEO, but it offers other non-SEO related advantages.
Between Woocommerce and Shopify, I would pick Woocommerce because as an SEO, there are more options for customisation. I have more room to get you results. It does not mean that it is impossible to optimise Shopify, it means that it is more complicated.
Shopify summary
Quick Setup: Launch your e-commerce store in just a few days without needing web development or design skills.
Low Barrier to Entry: No need for a development or design team, making it accessible for beginners.
E-Commerce Focused: Built specifically for e-commerce, addressing a wide range of basic needs.
Cost-Effective: Ideal for those without a budget for developers or SEO specialists.
Reliable Hosting: Hosting is included and highly dependable.
Robots.txt Limitations: The robots.txt file is automatically generated and cannot be customised.
Category Structure: Categories are all placed at the root level with no option for subcategories. Lack of hierarchy limits search engines’ understanding of content and reduces SEO effectiveness. It is not possible to create a structured URL like example.ch/parent-category/child-category/. Without hierarchical categories, creating effective breadcrumbs is difficult. This reduces the ability to transfer link equity and hinders search engines from fully understanding the category structure.
Breadcrumbs:
Category URLs: All category URLs include /collection/, and this cannot be changed. Product URLs always include the category, which is not ideal for SEO.
Canonical Tags: Product canonical tags point to URLs without the category, which aligns with SEO best practices. However, including the category in the actual product URL results in URL duplication at scale, complicating SEO management and reducing the efficient transfer of link equity.
Product Filters: It is challenging to control which filters search engines can crawl. All filters are canonicalised to the base category URL, limiting flexibility.
Filters are valuable for targeting long-tail keywords, but Shopify does not allow granular control over their organisation or access for search engines.
SEO Management Challenges: The inability to customise robots.txt and the rigid URL structure make SEO tracking and optimisation more complex.
Search engines face unnecessary complications in crawling and understanding the website structure.
Is Big Commerce a good e-commerce CMS?
Similar to Shopify, BigCommerce is a SaaS platform, which brings a set of advantages and limitations inherent to this model. It offers more flexibility than Shopify but falls short of the customisation capabilities provided by WooCommerce.
Key features of BigCommerce include:
– SaaS structure, offering ease of use and maintenance (like Shopify),
– Greater control over structured data for SEO purposes,
– Limited third-party integrations compared to other platforms (API).
Is Odoo a good e-commerce CMS?
Similar to Shopify and BigCommerce, Odoo is a SaaS platform, which brings a set of advantages and limitations inherent to this model. Odoo is a centralised ERP and CRM (comparable to SAP), that offers e-commerce functionality. In terms of SEO, it offers little granularity and customisation in its basic version.
As an SEO, I have found it difficult to optimise Odoo on a technical level as any improvement is faced with the development team answer ‘It is not possible in the basic version, we need to see if what you requested is possible. It might imply further development’. This lack of flexibility made any decision more expensive than necessary turning down even standard SEO optimisation. If you want to use Odoo, I suggest comparing in details the technical possibilities of the plans and other CMS. Odoo can be introduced as a great way to have a quick e-commerce set up, but if you do not have a solid marketing strategy in place to drive traffic and revenue, you might end up with a poor return on investment as organic traffic might be an issue, depending on your industry.
Is Woocommerce a good e-commerce CMS?
WooCommerce is the ecommerce plugin for anyone looking to create an online store on WordPress. From an SEO perspective, it offers granularity and flexibility. Shopify is like lego with a manual, Woocommerce is like a big bag of Lego without instructions. With Shopify it is what it is, you get what you get, you don’t get to think about the issues. With Woocommerce you have flexibility, but then you could do it very badly.
Woocommerce plus
Default URL Structure: WooCommerce uses /product-category/ as the default subfolder for categories. While functional, a simpler structure, such as /c/, is more practical. It keeps URLs concise, leaving more room for clear category names and ensuring the development team understands the structure easily.
Product URLs: WooCommerce gives you flexibility in how product URLs are structured. You can place them at the root or include the category in the URL path. Including the category is generally not recommended. Unlike Shopify, WooCommerce allows you to make this choice.
Breadcrumbs and Hierarchy: WooCommerce displays breadcrumbs that include all subcategories, even up to four levels deep. These breadcrumbs are visible and clickable on the product page, improving site architecture, structured markup, and link equity distribution.
Filter Crawling: Out of the box, WooCommerce allows search engines to crawl all filter options, which is not ideal for SEO. Shopify, by contrast, automatically addresses this issue.
Canonical URLs: Filters in WooCommerce can be canonicalised to their unfiltered versions (e.g., canonicalised to the root category or product page), reducing duplicate content issues.
Product Variations: Internal links to product variations automatically point to their canonical URL, making the structure cleaner and easier for search engines to understand and index effectively. It is a small thing that makes it cleaner and easier for search engines.
Woocommerce minus:
WooCommerce requires deliberate effort to be built with SEO in mind, as it isn’t SEO-friendly out of the box like a Saas e-commerce where choices have been made for you. If you have a development budget and are looking for a powerful, customisable SEO tool, it is an excellent choice.
Good to know: SEO plugins make it easier to tweak and modify the SEO framework. It is not enough to install a plugin. It needs to be configured correctly
Is Magento a good e-commerce CMS?
Magento is often regarded as the “Microsoft” of e-commerce, favoured by large corporations for its robustness and scalability. It offers extensive customisation options and granular control, but this comes with a trade-off: it doesn’t perform optimally straight out of the box. Magento is costly, and it requires the expertise of certified Magento developers to fully unlock its potential.
Round up – Summary
Every e-commerce platform comes with its own advantages, limitations, costs, and compatibility factors. Start by identifying your business’s specific needs and priorities for a CMS, and then select one that aligns with those requirements. Avoid choosing a CMS first and trying to adapt your business around it.
Keep in mind, no CMS is perfect—there will always be trade-offs. The key is to select a CMS that minimizes drawbacks while supporting your business goals effectively for the next five years.
More on e-commerce and SEO: I wrote this article while I was studying with Blue Array and Luke Carthy. I recommend the course.