Why Now is the Time to Migrate to Magento 2
With time running out for official support and upgrades, NOW is the time to migrate to Magento 2.
Although the latest version was released in 2015, many businesses have delayed the decision to migrate to Magento 2 but with tangible benefits in speed and performance as well as architectural enhancements, improved security and better SEO we think the time to act is now.
In this quick feature, we give you a summary of the main reasons you should migrate to Magento 2.
Why Migrate to Magento 2?
Okay, so the original Magento 2 upgrade was released (merchant beta version) in 2015. This, despite being originally planned for launch in 2011. After several years of fixes, enhancements and adaptations, the company is now on version 2.3.1 so why is now the time to migrate to Magento 2?
The most pressing reason to migrate is one of support and Magento has now confirmed that it will no longer support Magento 1.9x (and all previous versions) with effect from June 2020. At the time of writing, that’s just over 12 months away which gives you a limited window before technical support, official updates and security patches are withdrawn.
Not only could this leave your eCommerce site vulnerable to major cybersecurity issues but it could prevent your online business from being compatible with other important component features such as online payment processing, order fulfilment, consumer review sites etc.
The fact is that the clock is now ticking on upgrading your eCommerce platform but why does that mean you should migrate to Magento 2 instead of simply starting afresh with a different solution?
Speed is one of the biggest differences between Magento 1 and Magento 2.
Best Reasons to Migrate to Magento 2
If you are already operating your eCommerce site on Magento 1 then migration to Magento 2 is a relatively simple process and one that is far less costly and time consuming than redesigning your online store from scratch. As with Magento 1, Magento 2 comes with similar benefits, namely:
- Magento is open source and free to use with the flexibility of extending the functionality with plenty of add-ons and extensions.
- Highly customisable, Magento 2 expands the amount of features your online store can offer making your web design wholly bespoke to your business’s needs.
- The architecture of Magento 2 continues the trend of being search engine friendly and offers powerful SEO tools to help you achieve greater online visibility and higher SERP rankings.
- Magento 2 has built-in CMS capabilities so your eCommerce store can deliver exceptional content.
- With a huge global community of developers, contributors and other users, the extended Magento family offers a huge network of support for all levels of web designer and operators.
Magento 1 vs Magento 2: Main Differences
Released ten years after the original launch of Magento, Magento 2 is a much faster, more secure and feature-rich platform than its predecessor. Thanks to its active community and open source environment, Magento 2 has been developed with the benefit of the user in mind; both the end-customer and the store operators.
As a result, any decision to migrate to Magento 2 comes with some great benefits.
The main differences between the two core versions of Magento are architectural with the addition of new technologies (Symfony, Composer, Apache etc), security improvements (now supports latest PHP) and faster site speed delivery (minimised JavaScript, better caching etc).
Another big difference is the compatibility of extensions developed by third party. Although Magento 1 supported the addition of custom extensions, these could cause conflict with core code, particularly when two or more extensions were vying for the same functionality. When you migrate to Magento 2, plugins allow code to overlap as opposed to overriding it.
And, because Magento 2 supports HTML5, CSS3 and Require.js, the addition of extensions is cheaper and easier.
Improvements have also been made to security algorithms as well as the addition of rich snippet data for better SEO performance. The new interface (or dashboard) is more intuitive than in Magneto 1 and makes store-management and navigation much more user-friendly.
A comprehensive management tool, Magento 2 offers in-depth information about sales, orders, tax, shipping and your customer database so you can access important reporting and analytics data for your online business.
Security is a big improvement for Magento 2 and helps protect your business and customers against cybercrime.
Migrate to Magento 2: Now or Later?
If the additional benefits (speed, security and performance) offered aren’t enough on their own to persuade you to upgrade then there are still two clear reasons why now is the time to migrate to Magento 2.
With the withdrawal of support solutions and ongoing development, eCommerce sites hosted on a Magento 1 platform will:
- be vulnerable to security issues.
- stagnate without the innovation offered by new technology developments.
Can your business afford to expose customers to data security breaches? Do you want to hand your competition the edge when it comes to design, speed and functionality?
Opace and Magento Web Design
Opace is an accredited Magento agency utilising years of experience in supporting eCommerce based online businesses. Our tailor-made services are jargon-free, fully transparent and offered with full SEO back-up. Our business is making your business better.
To find out more about why 100% of our customers are happy with the services we provide, contact us today.
Image credits: Linux Screenshots/Flickr, MagePlaza/Wikimedia and TheDigitalWay/Pixabay.
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