Migrating to Magento can be a daunting task, especially if you have never performed an e-commerce migration before. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be. There are many reasons why people want to migrate to Magento. Unlike other popular e-commerce sites, it is open source, with the original source code freely available online. This gives webmasters an unbelievably flexible and customizable online store, so that they can create an authentic store that fits both brand and target audience perfectly.
With the right preparations and support this doesn’t have to be a stressful or a time consuming enterprise and you can quickly begin to benefit from all the benefits that Magento brings to the table.
Prepare
The first step you need to do is to back up data from your current store. There are many reasons why this is a good idea, but it is an essential part of the migration. It:
- Prevents any data loss if your old store is dissolved and there is a problem with the new store;
- Allows you to have an extensive and comprehensive history of your products or inventory;
- Prevents against data security threats; and
- In case the new platform is unsupported and you cannot migrate data directly.
Create a Magento Store
Once you have all the data that you need backed up, you then need to create a Magento store. This is a pretty simple step – you just need to sign up to Magento, name your store and then fill out business details like the name as well as username, password, location and phone number. You will also have the option to enter the company’s industry and experience level.
Perform Data Migration
This is the most crucial step, which is why people employ dedicated Magento developers to help them do it properly. A Magento developer is also a good idea because, unless you are greatly experienced at coding, you won’t be able to yield the benefits of flexible development without them. Some, like magecloud.agency will even help to guide your creative marketing strategy to help you get the most value from your new platform. Either way – the migration should be done by a pro.
Theme Migration and Customization
This can be a great opportunity to update the look, layout and navigation of your store, so it can better represent your brand identity as well as appeal to your target audience. To speed up this process, Magento does also offer some core themes and templates. If you’re in a rush you can choose the best-suited theme for your store and customize it from there, but part of the beauty of Magneto is being able to develop one from scratch.
Post-Migration Checks
Post-migration checks are very useful at troubleshooting and preventing issues from becoming significant. It’s just a series of check to make sure everything is running as expected. While you’re at it, it’s a good idea to do general user experience and navigation checks too, as well as checking that all data has been migrated properly. You should compare the data in your Magento store with your original store before it is live to make sure that the migration was a success.
Development
You should continue to collaborate with your developer to make sure that your site meets your needs and that you are taking advantage of the platform.
