Maybe you have been updating your website every few years, using the same platform that you have been since your company put up a website. By tweaking a thing here and there, you are not getting the most out of your website, especially if it is an e-commerce site. Here are some reasons why it is a good idea to migrate your e-commerce site to a new platform over just updating it.

Why it is Vital to Migrate Your E-Commerce Website.

Migration or “replatforming” is when an e-commerce site relocates from one platform to another. There are good reasons to move to platforms such as WordPress so that you can integrate WooCommerce or Shopify. Here are some of the reasons you should migrate or replatform your e-commerce website.

• Migrating to another platform means not always having to update your shopping cart manually.
• Migrating to a platform that allows scaling means that your site can grow with your business.
• Migrating to a more secure platform which is more secure means your company is less likely to suffer a data breach.
• Migrating to a platform that allows more integration expands the potential functionality of your company’s site.
• The developer no longer supports your platform.
• It takes days to fix simple problems that should be solved in hours.
• A new company owns your e-commerce site’s platform and is selling your customer’s data.
• Your platform does not work with the latest browser updates.
• Your platform is consistently slow.

Make Sure the Migration is Seamless

It takes time, effort, and capital to ensure the migration is done correctly. Here are a few issues that can occur if migration is not done by an individual or company that has expertise in migrating websites.

• Data can be lost in the migration from one platform to another. This issue usually happens when an amateur attempts to perform the migration, or a negligent party migrates your behalf.
• Your company’s SEO and page rankings can be hurt during the migration from one website to another. The longer the site is down, the worse you’re ranking with search engines.
• Your website may be down for an extended period during replatforming.
• Links can be broken during the migration of your website.
• The Drawbacks of Updating Your Website.
• Your shopping cart won’t automatically update, leading to lost revenue.
• Inability to integrate new tools.
• Your website will lag behind other websites in functionality and apperance.

Final Thoughts

Without a doubt, migration has many advantages over updating when it comes to functionality, ease of use, and integration. While moving your website from an outdated platform can bring about instant benefits, moving to another e-commerce platform is not so clear. Transitioning from self-hosted eCommerce checkout platforms like WooCommerce, BigCommerce, because of their flawless integration with WordPress to a non-self hosted platform such as Shopify may be daunting, but it can remove potential headaches. 

If your company does not have the resources for an IT department, you may be tempted to perform the migration of your site from one platform to another, but that would be a mistake. Professional web designers who have experience in migrating a website should be used if you want to ensure there are no problems with the move from one site to another. Web design professionals who are familiar with the intricacies of eCommerce migration will finish the task in more quickly than you and will have your website running at optimum levels.