Custom ecommerce solutions vs
Out of the Box ecommerce solutions

Custom ecommerce solutions can have numerous advantages vs out of the box ecommerce solutions. Whether to go with custom solutions or do it yourself ecommerce solutions depends on a variety of factors. Here are 5 questions to consider when deciding whether to go with out of the box solutions vs custom ecommerce solutions :

Custom ecommerce solutions refer to ecommerce websites that are built by professionals with years of design, programming, marketing and search engine optimization expertise. Out of the box ecommerce solutions refer to do it yourself template solutions that are automated so the ecommerce website can be built with little or no technical experience. There are also variants of these solutions.

Do you really need a custom ecommerce solution?

If you just want to sell a few items and have a minor presence on the web then there is no need for custom ecommerce solutions. However, if you are a larger company with lots of items in a competitive market and want to make an impact, then you should look at custom ecommerce solutions.

The expertise that comes with custom ecommerce solutions is the biggest advantage over doing it yourself. LeadHQ for example has professionals with decades of experience in internet market, optimized design, programming and SEO or search engine optimization. Experience can be a game changer in ecommerce.

How important is Optimization with ecommerce solutions?

Having a search engine friendly ecommerce website pays big long term dividends in free organic traffic vs paid traffic. One of the biggest problems with out of the box ecommerce solutions are very few of them were even designed with SEO in mind. The vast majority of out of the box ecommerce solutions do not have full built in SEO features. Generating organic traffic is another advantage of custom ecommerce solutions.

The search engines reward search engine friendly ecommerce websites with higher organic listings and free traffic. Without optimization the odds are you will have to pay for positioning in the search engines. Many people try and learn SEO themselves only to find that their out of the box solution simply does not have proper optimization features. In regards to SEO there is also another hidden advantage of customer ecommerce solutions.

What results can you expect with DIY SEO?

Your odds of success with DIY SEO primarily depend on the competition level of your online industry market. There is a lot more to SEO than most people realize, especially when it comes to ecommerce solutions. If you are in a highly competitive online market don't expect to pick up SEO in a few days and instantly compete with the major players. SEO has many layers and levels of expertise and this is why the dominant players in a competitive industry use custom ecommerce solutions.

Beware of the pitfalls of DIY SEO. It is not as easy as it appears. The search engines are constantly changing the rules and it takes time to keep up to date. There are hundreds of factors that search engines use to grade a page and an entire ecommerce web site. Very few of these factors are taken into account with the majority of out of the box ecommerce solutions.

What are the advantages of DIY ecommerce solutions?

Cost is the main advantage of DIY or out of the box ecommerce solutions. However, the majority of DIY ecommerce owners will go through the following 3 reality checks when using out of the box ecommerce solutions:

A ton of work is put into the ecommerce site using duplicate content based on the false belief, build it and they will come. It doesn't take long to realize that even though the ecommerce website looks nice there isn't any organic traffic. Then they start looking for solutions.

The owner starts buying traffic but the site never gains organic traction and never actually makes money. They also learn that paid traffic or PPC Pay Per Click costs are constantly rising and worst of all; when the budget runs out their site disappears from the search results. After riding the PPC roller coaster for a few months they then realize the PPC costs are eating up any profit lines. Losing money, they then start looking for quick solutions.

The owner then seeks marketing and SEO advice based on the cheapest source. After burning through more money the owner then realizes that traffic does not always equal conversions or more sales. They now understand what quality traffic means and the best way to get it, targeted organic traffic. It is usually at this point the owner starts seriously looking at custom ecommerce solutions.

What about ecommerce sales conversions?

Ecommerce conversions or converting traffic to sales is an art. Optimized design guides a customer through the sales process. Being stuck with templates is probably the biggest disadvantage for out of the box ecommerce solutions.

If you want to save yourself time, grief and money then you should consider customer ecommerce solutions. Give us a toll free call or schedule a free no obligation consultation on custom ecommerce solutions.