: E-commerce + CMS: 2 sites or one? Ok, let's say that a customer already has a CMS managed web site but now wants to sell goods online using an E-commerce platform (Magento in this case).

@Alves908

I would not advise doing it on 2 separate sites unless the content is not related. If they are related, customers will be inconvenienced navigating from 1 site to another. We had a client that did 2 separate sites and now combining to 1 because customers complain.

Of course it depends on your specific situation. But generally, doing both on the same domain is best. You can use subdomain for ecommerce, and as far as platform goes..try to stick to the language the primary developers are happy with coding in.. that way customizations and maintenance is easy to come by.

Will content on CMS need to be on product pages? If so, you need to have a way of bridging information between 2 systems easily.

Vote Up Vote Down

@Karen161

Having 2 different domains has no real consequence for SEO, Google will know soon enough that both site belong to the same company and will treat the links between the two sites in a different manner.

Aside from the technical issues that may arise if you have the CMS and ecommerce on the same domain, you have to think about a way to integrate the shop into the current site. The CMS may have only 10 or 20 pages with corporate text, in this case it will make no difference to have the shop on a separate domain.

If the CMS have many pages and publish new content on a regular basis, you will probably have many opportunities to integrate the products of the shop in the CMS and it will be easier and natural to have the shop on the same domain.

Vote Up Vote Down

@BetL925

I'd go with one domain. Some users might find it suspect if they have to switch domains to make a purchase. You can learn a lot by looking through a site like amazon.com - they have a lot of experience in e-commerce, and they put both content (products and reviews) and their shopping cart/checkout on the same domain.

If integration is an issue - aren't you able so set the root of your ecommerce app to something like mycompany.com/store ?

Vote Up Vote Down

@Ann8826881

I think the best way would be to integrate the shop in the current site (therefor under the same domain).

SEO: One domain for both would strengthen that domain (all links lead to this domain, so they are not splitted between info site domain and shop site domain).

Usability: Visitors could switch seamlessly between info pages about the company and the shop, because the shop could be one of the major navigation links.

Security: Visitors will know that they are at the right place, if they know the company already; if you'd use a different domain for the shop, some might think that it's a phishing site (not legitimately related to the company).

Costs: You'd only need one certificate, you'd only need to pay for one domain, you would not need an additional total new design.

However, if you don't want to integrate the shop in the current design, information architecture and navigation of the current site, I think the best way would be to use a subdomain (shop.example.com) for the shop, while the current site would be (www.)example.com.

Vote Up Vote Down