Magento (now Adobe Commerce) is one of the most popular eCommerce stores. It offers numerous benefits over other platforms. For instance, you can manage multiple brands/stores using a single interface. Secondly, it is highly customizable, thereby allowing users to set up a store that aligns with their brand. Thirdly, it makes it easier to optimize your store. Undoubtedly, after setting up your online store, the next step is to optimize it. It is the only way to bring organic traffic and improve the user experience. More organic traffic means higher revenue. According to several reports, the 1st organic position in a Google search result generates more than 10x clicks than a website on the 10th position. Magento offers a wide range of features that address all aspects of search engine optimization – on page, off page, and technical. This article lists the top 5 tips to improve your store’s ranking in Google Search. So, what's the buzz about Magento? Well, according to the folks at BuiltWith, there are over 500,000 websites cruising along with the power of Magento. And one big reason for its success? Its magical ability to adapt! Thanks to Magento 2 (now Adobe Commerce), this platform offers a world of possibilities through extensions and custom development that can seriously level up your online store experience.
Hey there, fellow e-commerce enthusiasts! Let's talk about spicing up your online business game with some top-notch solutions. If you've been on the lookout for ways to boost your online store's efficiency, you're in luck! Enter Magento - the superhero among e-commerce platforms that's been hitting the mark.
Hey, savvy e-commerce wizards! Are you ready for a whirlwind adventure into the vibrant world of online selling? Picture this: you're about to embark on a quest to find the ultimate e-commerce platform that'll skyrocket your business to the stars. Today, we're spilling the beans on the hottest topic around – the top alternatives to Magento in 2024.
Hey there, fellow Magento store managers!
Competition in the world of eCommerce is heating up due to the ease with which you can set up an online store these days. To offset this competition, online businesses are always on the lookout for expanding their reach. Magento is perfectly set up for this purpose. It is one of the most preferred and liked platforms for eCommerce sites that empowers thousands of retailers & brands across the globe. The platform offers greater scalability, security, and performance. How does it allow merchants to expand their reach? One of the most appealing features in Magento 2 is that you can create new websites, stores, store views and configure them for specific regions. In other words, you can create multiple websites and manage them all using a single Magento instance. Of course, this is a relatively complex job, and beginners may find it difficult to configure multiple websites, stores, store views and setting up their URLs. So here we are to provide a step-by-step tutorial to help you do this. Before we delve into the steps, let’s talk about the various benefits of a store switcher. This will help you grasp a deeper understanding of this function. Understanding the Benefits of a Store Switcher If you search for ‘store switcher Magento 2’, you will come across various Magento 2 store switcher extensions. But there’s no point in checking them out until you understand the benefits. So, let’s touch upon them briefly: Improved User Experience Suppose your store serves different geographical locations. These locations represent different languages and cultures. For instance, the US and China. Both are poles apart in terms of culture and language. If a customer from China lands on the US website, they won’t understand a thing since English is not their primary language. What would truly enhance his experience? Naturally, if they are automatically redirected to the store’s Chinese version, they can start browsing products right away. This improves chances of conversion. Expansion Its impossible to serve geographically diverse markets using a single website. Apart from the language, product preferences would vary. From a marketing perspective, the keywords will be quite different. You cannot optimise a single store for different markets. Thus, you need multiple stores that are localised to each market. It means the language, currency, products, and everything is based on the local requirements. This allows merchants to expand overseas efficiently. Adaptability The conditions vary in each market. Multiple stores allow you to adapt to the conditions of each market. For example, in the EU, you must adapt to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) . In California, US, you must comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act . With a single store, it is impossible to adapt to various markets. The Purpose of Creating Store Switcher & Website Switcher in Magento 2 Creating multiple websites, merchants can showcase products and services in various categories on the website with different checkout & shipping methods. Use the Store Switcher Extension by FME in order to add an auto store switcher functionality to your Magento 2 website. Store Switcher Magento 2 Store Switcher extension directs users to region-specific storefronts. Check it out! > Follow the steps below to setup multiple websites, stores & store views in Magento 2. Create Websites In order to add Magento 2 website switcher functionality, you need to create websites by following these steps: Log in to the Magento Admin Panel with an account authorized to create websites, stores, and store views. Click Stores > Settings > All Stores On the Stores page, click Create Website Once the page loads, fill in the following required fields. Name - Enter website name Code - Enter a unique code to identify the website, e.g. German website Sort Order - Set website sort order. Click Save Web Site Create Stores Each Website must have at-least one store. In order to create a store, follow these steps: In the Magento Admin panel , click Stores > Settings > All Stores On the Stores page , click Create Store . Once the page loads, fill the required fields. Website - If you have multiple websites, then choose the website with which you want to associate this store Name - Enter Store name Code - Enter a unique code for each store Root Category - If you’re having multiple root categories, select a root category for this store. NOTE: Create a unique root category, if you want to have unique root category for each store/website. Create Store View Each store must have a store view. In order to create a store view, follow these steps: In Magento Admin panel, click Stores > Settings > All Stores . On the Stores page, click Create Store View . Once the page loads, fill the required fields. Store - If you have multiple stores, then choose the store with which you want to associate this store view. Name - Enter store view name, e.g. german store view Code - Enter a unique code for each store view, e.g. de for german store view Sort Order - Set store view sort order. Click Save Store View Change the Website Base URL To access a website using a unique URL like https://german.fmeplugins.net, you must change the Base URL for each website in the Magento Admin Panel. To change the Website Base URL, follow these steps: Open Magento Admin panel , click Stores > Settings > Configuration Now Click General > Web From the Store View list at the top of the page, click the name of one of your websites as shown below. Once the page loads, Click Base URLs section In the Base URLs section, Uncheck the Use Default Enter the URL in the Base URL and Base Link URL fields. E.g https://german.fmeplugins.net/ or https://example.com/magento/ Now Repeat the above steps for the Base URLs (Secure) section as well Click Save Config Change the Default Store View Base URL Open Magento Admin panel , click Stores > Settings > Configuration Now Click General > Web From the Store View list at the top of the page, click the Default Config Once the page loads, Click Base URLs section In the Base URLs section, Uncheck the Use system value Enter the Base URL in the Base URL and Base Link URL fields Now Repeat the above steps for the Base URLs (Secure) section Click Save Config Add the Store Code to the Base URL On the Admin sidebar, Click Stores. Then under Settings > choose Configuration In the left panel, Click & Expand General > Click Web From the Store View dropdown menu at the top of the page, Select Default Config Expand the URL Options section Uncheck the Use System Value against Add Store Code to Urls field Set Add Store Code to YES and Click Save Config Once configuration is saved, a prompt message will appear to flush cache Flush Magento 2 Cache: To Flush Magento cache , Click System > Cache Management on Admin sidebar. Once Cache Management page loads, Click Flush Magento Cache button on right top bar. URL with Store Code - http://www.yourdomain.com/magento/[store-code]/index.php/url-identifier URL without Store Code - http://www.yourdomain.com/magento/index.php/url-identifier For more information regarding Store Base URLs , see the Magento User Guide How to Add Auto Store Switcher in Magento 2 Website? In order to automate this process, I would recommend using Magento 2 GeoIP Default Store Switcher Extension , which enables you to create & configure multiple stores for different countries or regions. This extension automatically detects the visitor location from their IP address and redirect them to the region optimized store. Visitors can also manually switch to another store from the store switcher popup at the footer of the homepage. Key Features: Redirect Users to Relevant Store Based on Their Location Create Rules, Select Countries & Assign Stores to Diff. Countries Automatically Detects Visitors’ Locations by IP Address Setup Manual or Automatic Redirection Provide the IPs List to Exempt from Store Switching Rule Configure Auto Store Switcher in Magento 2 You can now configure and personalize a store for a specific country or region once you have created stores, store views & installed GeoIP Store Switcher extension for Magneto 2. For this you need to create a store switching rule. Creating a Store Switching Rule From Admin Sidebar Tap FMEextensions > Click Manage GeoIP Default Store Once GeoIP Default Store Information page loads, enter the following information: Title – Set title of the rule, e.g for redirecting European visitors to European store view, etc. Priority – Set priority of the store switcher rule Store Group – Select a store that you have created Status – Enable/Disable the Store Switcher rule IP Exceptions - Enter specific IP addresses to white-list/overrule the store switcher rule Description – Enter description of the store switcher rule Now on left side, click Countries tab , here you can select a country or countries that you want to redirect its visitors to the selected store Click Save Rule NOTE: You can update the country list by importing a latest Maxmind database. Store Switcher Extension Configurations: You can Enable/Disable the Store Switcher Extension Auto Redirect - If Enabled , the visitor will be redirected to the assigned store automatically & if Disabled , a store switcher popup will be prompted. Visitors can manually select a store. Popup Title - Enter Popup title Popup Button Text - Enter Text for Popup button, e.g. continue, enter, etc. Import Countries List - This extension uses Maxmind Country IP database for Geo Information. You can download the latest Maxmind database here and upload it at the Magento Admin panel. Final Thoughts on Magento 2 Store Switcher This concludes our article on setting up a Magento 2 website switcher. The article also touched upon GeoIP Magento 2 extension. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us . Thank You.
We all know that shipping is an integral part of eCommerce. By offering the right shipping options, you can reduce the cart abandonment rate and foster greater customer loyalty. After all, who doesn’t love a store that offers a wide range of shipping options that match the budget and requires of multiple customer groups. This is the top reason online stores offer multiple shipping methods. Magento 2 Shipping Methods Currently, Magento 2 offers 7 shipping methods namely Free Shipping, Flat Rate, Table Rates, UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL. By default, only the Flat Rate shipping method is enabled. Other shipping methods can be enabled and configured manually. But did you notice a prominent shipping method from Magento 2’s default options? No? There’s no store pickup option. What is Store Pickup? You may know this option is as buy online pickup in store (BOPIS). This method allows customers to pick up their orders from the nearest physical store at a scheduled date & time. It saves them from the long delivery time and shipping cost. You might think only a handful of people use this option, but that’s not the case. BOPIS is quite popular globally as shown in the below image. Source: Statista The figure shows the number of people who BOPIS across in a few select countries. Now, look at the below image. Source: Statista The image shows the country and why people use BOPIS. As you can see, avoiding shipping costs is a popular reason for BOPIS. Furthermore, BOPIS is equally popular among all generations. Source: Statista The above image shows people by generation who opt for BOPIS. Therefore, we can conclude that there is a strong case for adding store pickup option. Read More: 5 Things Businesses Should Know About BOPIS Adding Magento 2 Pickup in Store Option When you try to search for Magento 2 store pickup shipping method, you’ll notice that there’s no way to add it through the admin panel. Since Magento does not allow adding new or customising the default shipping methods, we will use a third party extension such as Magento 2 Store Pickup Extension by FME extensions to add the store pickup shipping method. How to Use the Magento 2 Store Pickup Extension Login to the extension’s Back Office, Click FME Extensions -> Manage Stores . Click Add New Store to add a new store or click Select -> Edit to edit an existing store. The extension offers full features of an advanced store locator extension which allows merchants to add and display their physical stores with all the relevant details. Upon clicking Add New Store , a form appears asking for all the basic details about the store such as store title, description, address, phone etc as shown below. Create Tags for Each Store Location You can create tags for each store to let customers easily filter the stores listings. To do so, click FME Extensions from the back end -> Tags -> Add New Tag . Enter the Tag title, Tag description and upload an image (optional) as shown. Create Holidays for Each Store The extension lets you manage holidays for each store so that customers know the store is open before they visit. To create a new holiday, click FME Extensions -> Holiday -> Add New Holiday . Enter the holiday name, description, start & end date. Configure Daily Timetable To let customers know about the store’s working hours, it is important to be displayed on the store’s landing page. The extension allows you to do so. Click FME Extensions -> Timetable -> Add New Timetable The form lets you configure the timings for each day of the week. Frontend Demo | Backend Demo | Buy Now Display Store Pickup Shipping Method While Checking Out The extension displays store pickup as a shipping method along with the other methods. Upon choosing Store Pickup, a dropdown menu is loaded with all the store locations you have added. Customers can select any store to pick up their orders with the pickup date & time as shown below. The store pickup information is displayed in the order summary as well. Frontend Demo | Backend Demo | Buy Now Final Words on Magento 2 Store Pickup This concludes our article on adding Magento 2 store pickup method. If you have any questions related to this article or anything related to Magento, our Magento experts are always available to help you. Other Extensions You Might Be Interested In: Custom Checkout Fields Store Locator Language and Currency Switcher
If you are searching for ‘Magento 2 set canonical URL’, then you are at the right place. In this article, we will discuss everything there is to know about: Add canonical tag to product pages Add canonical tag to homepage & other CMS pages Add canonical tag to any category page Add cross domain canonical tag Add canonical tag to pagination & category filters Lots more So, let's get started by first developing an understanding of canonical URLs. What are Canonical URLs? By now, you know that if you upload duplicate content, search engines will deindex your website promptly or apply some other penalty. However, in some cases, website owners have no choice but to use duplicate content (we will discuss more about this in detail later). To avoid content duplication penalty from the search engines, the best course of action is to select one URL to index. Google and other search engines will only display the selected URL in search results. This allows you to keep multiple pages with duplicate content but without having to worry about any penalty. Reasons Behind Duplicate Content There are several reasons why a website may have duplicate content. Let’s examine a few of them in detail. Region Variants The topmost reason why websites have duplicate content is because there are two same webpages but for different regions. Suppose your store sells in the UK and the US. For whatever reason, you have two separate pages – one for the UK audience, and one for the US. It makes little sense to have different content for both pages since both pages serve the same purpose. Device Variants Similarly, a few websites have set up different versions for desktop and mobile phone users. Again, although they are two different pages, they have the same content. Protocol Variants Additionally, your website may have two webpages – one with HTTP and the other with HTTPS. From the crawler’s perspective, they are two different pages. So, you’ll have to determine which one to index. Other Reasons Other common reasons include failing to remove demo or test pages before getting the website live. Content Duplication in eCommerce Content duplication is a common issue in e-commerce stores. This is because e-commerce stores have a lot of unique pages with almost the same content. For example, multiple products or category pages may have the same or very similar content i.e. product descriptions, features, guidelines, etc. This can also happen if you have a snippet of text that appears on multiple pages. Having a short duplicate content is OK but if it exceeds 100 words, Google may think of it as a copy of another page with a distinct URL leading to content duplication issue. This is where the concept of canonical tags comes into play. A canonical tag on a page tells search engines that this page is an exact copy of the destination URL and hence should not be treated as a unique page. Best Practices for Magento 2 Set Canonical URL Keep in mind that setting a canonical URL does not indicate the crawler will accept your request. Remember, the canonical URL is a hint, not a rule. To improve the probability of the crawler accepting the canonical URL, follow these best practices: Never use the robots.txt file for setting a canonical URL since it serves a very different purpose. When interlinking on your website, always link to the canonical URL. Don’t use a URL removal tool as it removes all URLs. When using multiple canonical methods, don’t set different URLs as the canonical URL. How to Use the Extension to Add Canonical Tags in Magento 2? Although Magento 2 allows adding/implementing canonical tags from within its admin panel, the choices are very limited. Therefore, we believe that the best way to add canonical tags in Magento 2 is through a third-party extension. For this article, we will implement the canonical URLs using the Magento 2 Canonical URL Extension that offers some advanced features when it comes to adding a canonical tag. 1. Add Canonical Tag To Product Pages The extension allows you to add a canonical tag for each product page from the product edit sheet with the following options. Custom URL Use Config (Canonical tag you have set for all products from configurations options) Canonical URL with Category Tree Canonical URL without Category Tree Go to any product from backend and expand the Search Engine Optimization section. 2. Add Canonical to CMS Pages To add canonical URL to CMS page in Magento 2, Open: Admin Panel, navigate to Content -> Pages Click on Edit page & expand the Search Engine Optimization section Enter a custom URL to override the default canonical URL In this way, you can easily add canonical URL to homepage as well. 3. Add Canonical Tag to Any Category Page To add canonical URL to category page in Magento 2, Open: Admin Panel, navigate to Catalog -> Categories Select any Category & tap the Search Engine Optimization tab Enter a custom URL to override the default canonical URL 4. Configure Cross Domain Canonical Tag You can configure the addition of canonical Meta tag to a storefront, store view, or a custom URL as well. 5. Exclude Specific Pages From Canonical Tags Application With the help of the extension, you can exclude specific product or category pages from canonical tags application. 6. Add Canonical Tag For Pagination & Category Filters This feature allows you to add a canonical tag to pagination pages. You can also elaborate relativity of layered navigation pages to products and category pages. Enable/Disable Canonical Meta tag to catalog pagination pages Allow/Disallow Canonical Meta tag to catalog layered navigation – for filtered or current category page 7. Add Trailing Slashes To make the most of this extension in terms of SEO, add trailing slash for canonical Meta tag. This will make your store’s URLs user and search engine friendly. This Magento 2 Canonical URL extension is a complete content duplication solution. It makes canonicalization super easy to implement. With the introduction of the above extra features, it makes your pages more crawlable and search engine friendly while improving the ranking signals for content available through multiple URL structures. Conclusion That’s it for this tutorial. If you have any issue in adding canonical tags in Magento 2, then ask our expert Magento support team . Related Articles: Magento 2 SEO – A Practical & Easy Guide Add Image Alt text in Magento 2 with a Ready Made Extension Create & Manage Gift Card Products in Magento 2 Automatically Add Internal Links in Magento 2 Add Store Pickup Shipping Method in Magento 2