Magento is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms available; it is an open source product that integrates with WordPress. It supports shopping carts, reporting, cross-selling, up-selling, SEO and mobile commerce, and you can build on it to add full-fledged customer service features.
Unlike its main rivals, it can also integrate with ERP systems and bank payment systems as well as multiple WordPress blogs. The question for many is how to properly integrate WordPress with Magento.
Consider Your Configuration Options
There are several ways you could configure your website to integrate a WordPress blog into an existing Magento site. You could put either it in the root folder of the website and the other in a subfolder. They could be in separate subdirectories. You could install both in a single database, though this requires a separate database table prefix for Magento and WordPress. Or you can use two different databases.
Magento WordPress Integration by Magento works best if WordPress and Magento are in two different directories. Regardless of the structure, they need to be running on the same server, though they don’t have to be on the same domain name. Whatever configuration you choose, the next step is installing Magento per your chosen configuration.
Configure WordPress for Magento
The Magento WordPress Integration plugin needs to be installed on the WordPress blog. This plugin incorporates Magento blocks or modules into the WordPress blog. Simply go to WordPress Dashboard, Plugins, Add New and then Activate it. The next step is configuring the Magento plugin for WordPress. You’ll need to set the full absolute path for the Magento configuration file; that’s found in the app folder of the Magento installation directory. The package name needs to be set; this is usually default or base. Then you need to set the Magento theme. This is usually found in the default folder, but that depends on the theme.
Plan for Growth
As your product catalog grows, you may want to shift ecommerce from your blog to a dedicated server or cloud service. Otherwise, the ecommerce function will slow down your website to the point search engines will penalize it. One of the challenges for building up Magento as your ecommerce site grows is finding developers. There are fewer Magento developers than WordPress developers, but there are quite a few Magento Agency London that will be able to assist you.
For example, if you’ve set up the free and default Magento and WordPress themes, you may want to add category listings and shortcode buttons as your product catalog grows. Or you may want to install other plugins that let you associate WordPress blog posts with specific products. Or you’ll want to add plugins that deliver your ecommerce page in other languages so that you can truly become a global retailer.
Magento allows you to set up a polished and fully-functional ecommerce site and integrate it seamlessly into your WordPress site(s). There are several configurations you can choose from, though there is some effort installing the right plugins on each site and then configuring them. From there, the options are endless.