WooCommerce and Shopify are two of the biggest names in the eCommerce platform world. More and more online shop owners are choosing to migrate to Shopify. Some of the reasons are its ease of use, customisable templates, and 24/7 customer support.
This article will go through how to migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify, when you as an online vendor should choose Shopify vs WooCommerce and what to consider before the migration.
Why migrate to Shopify?
Some people may feel that choosing WooCommerce gives you more for your money, and while it is certainly affordable, Shopify has several different pricing options and many useful functions to improve your webshop.
If you’re not sure a migration to Shopify is worth it, let’s start by looking at some of the benefits of Shopify compared to WooCommerce.
Simple and user-friendly
The Shopify platform is renowned for being easy to use with a drag-and-drop website builder, which requires zero coding knowledge. This also means you can build your online store faster and get your shop “live” in less time.
In contrast, creating an online store website with WooCommerce will be a challenge for people without technical web development experience.
Another reason Shopify has a great user experience is that it’s a complete eCommerce solution which takes care of hosting and security, unlike WooCommerce which must be used with WordPress.
Thought-through templates
Shopify has a large supply of beautiful and stylish themes. You can’t go wrong when picking one of the finished Shopify themes. Your store will look professional no matter which one you choose. You can, of course, also create your own theme or customise existing basic themes to get your online shop on brand.
On the other hand, WooCommerce is an open-source platform, which means that it offers limitless customisation when it comes to themes and designs. That means the sky's the limit—if you know how to code.
However, figuring out how to design the perfect theme for an online store isn’t easy. Unless you’re a professional website designer, the chance is that it won’t look as professional or stylish as a Shopify theme.
Great security by default
Another Shopify benefit is that it's the most secure eCommerce platform right now. It has strict payment card industry security. No doubt, businesses also appreciate that Shopify has automatic SSL certificates and is PCI-DSS compliant by default.
With WooCommerce, you’ll have to acquire any sales certificates you need yourself.
Built-in sales features
Shopify has many built-in sales features, such as abandoned cart recovery, unlimited products, multichannel selling, over 100 payment options, discount codes, and custom checkout.
When using WooCommerce, you’ll need to use plugins and extensions to access sales features, and these can rack up costs.
WooCommerce vs Shopify—when to choose which?
There’s no denying that both WooCommerce and Shopify are popular platforms with many benefits, so when is WooCommerce a good option for you? And when is Shopify the way to go?
When to choose Shopify
If you want a complete eCommerce platform package that doesn’t require web development experience, Shopify is the way to go.
It's a complete online store solution that takes care of hosting and has security certificates. The built-in features provide solutions for all your online store needs and the templates are stunning and easy to customise.
When to choose WooCommerce
WooCommerce shines when it comes to customisation, but it requires a certain degree of coding knowledge and technical competence.
If you’re willing to spend long hours and a lot of work to realise your vision of a perfectly personalised online store, WooCommerce can be a great option.
What to consider before your migration from WooCommerce to Shopify
There are many factors to consider before you migrate from WooCommerce to Shopify.
You’ll want to evaluate whether you would like to get professional help with your migration, or if you plan to take care of the migration yourself.
You should also consider the SEO impact a website migration will have. Finally, you’ll also have to consider which of Shopify’s four subscriptions is the best for you.
Migration methods
When migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify, you can choose between three main methods:
- Manual migration—You copy-paste all your data yourself
- Automated migration—You use an automated eCommerce platform migration tool
- Assisted migration—You hire a Shopify migration professional service to help you move
If you don’t have prior web development knowledge, a manual migration will be complex and can involve data loss risks. Getting help from an expert with web development experience means that a professional will oversee the migration. This means less risk for losing your precious data in the process.
With professional help, all your data, including any underlying backend data will be safely transferred from WooCommerce to Shopify. Furthermore, hiring professional Shopify migration experts can reduce the SEO impact when migrating to Shopify.
Shopify Migration SEO impact
One of the reasons Shopify has become such a popular eCommerce platform is because of their SEO compatibility. It has been called the easiest platform to operate and manage SEO on. The built-in SEO features are easy to use and can improve your online store's SEO ranking.
That said, migrating from one website to another always involves some traffic loss, which generally has a negative impact on your SEO. Some measures can be taken to avoid a bigger hit to your SEO scores, such as creating 301 redirects.
If you hire Shopify migration experts, they can maintain your SEO during the migration.
Which Shopify subscription is for you?
Finally, before migrating, you should decide which of Shopify's four subscription packages is the best for your eCommerce. Shopify offers the following packages:
- Basic Shopify
- Shopify
- Advanced Shopify
- Shopify Plus
None of these subscriptions are bad options, as they all include zero transaction fees and unlimited products and file storage. The more expensive Shopify packages do, however, have some perks.
Shopify Plus is the most expensive option, but it’s also the best option when you're a growing business and looking to scale up. Among other things, Shopify Plus offers advanced apps for vendors aiming for growth. Shopify Plus also has unlimited staff accounts, meaning you can increase your personnel without additional costs for more people.
How to migrate to Shopify from WooCommerce
Are you considering taking care of the migration from WooCommerce to Shopify yourself? Here are the steps you need to take when migrating from WooCommerce to Shopify. These steps will vary depending on the method you choose, but we’ll list some basic steps below:
- Export your data
First, export all the data from your WooCommerce store to a spreadsheet. Keep this sheet as a reference document so that all the data that will be transferred to Shopify is in one place.
- Notify customers and pause campaigns
Use a pop-up, a newsletter, or another way to inform your customers about the upcoming migration. This prepares customers for any potential disruptions. This is also an excellent time to pause existing marketing campaigns until the migration is complete.
- Back up your data
You also need to create a backup of your WooCommerce store to ensure that all your data from your previous store is safe in case something goes wrong.
- Prepare your Shopify store
Time to create and prepare your new online shop at Shopify. Depending on your subscription package, you can choose one of Shopify’s many themes or create a Shopify Plus theme.
- Create redirects
An essential part of Shopify SEO migration is to create redirects to avoid broken URL links. Shopify has 301 redirect links which will lead visitors to a Shopify page after your migration. This combats the negative SEO impact which a website migration might otherwise have.
- Test and audit
Finally, you should perform some testing and auditing to improve your newly launched Shopify store. With split testing, also called A/B testing, visitors can see various versions of your website and choose which they prefer.
A recommended final step would also be an audit. This lets you view the SEO statistics from your migration to Shopify to see where adjustments should be made.
Final words on a WooCommerce to Shopify migration
Some of the many benefits you’ll get from a WooCommerce to Shopify migration are an easy and user-friendly platform, beautiful templates, fantastic security by default, and included built-in sales features.
Creating and launching a stunning store is beginner-friendly and quick using Shopify, whereas you need to spend a lot of time and have coding knowledge to do so with WooCommerce.
If you don't have web development experience, you might consider an assisted migration or hire a professional to decrease data loss risks. Hiring our team of Shopify migration experts means we'll help you maintain your online store's SEO during the Shopify migration for a quicker and smoother migration.
