Monthly ArchivesOctober 2022

Developing a business on the internet is easier than ever. Now, to launch your website, you do not need to learn how to code. You don’t have to hire a team of web developers. Today’s ecommerce platforms eliminate those needs.

Ecommerce platforms are site builders specifically designed to build ecommerce sites. And best of all, they are incredibly easy to learn.

Everyone loves to sell, and it’s becoming trendy — whether you have a side hustle or you’re a professional salesperson who wants to transition to online sales.

So why make it complicated?

In ecommerce platforms, you’ll find the functionality you need for a successful online store. Elements such as a shopping cart or payment processing are pre-installed and intuitive.

And, the process to get up and running is quicker than you may have thought. Creating a fully functional ecommerce site with multiple products is possible in one day.

On top of that, you don’t need any outside help. Usually, the best online store platforms have good documentation and a large community, so if you have questions, you can resolve them in minutes. This is incredible progress compared to 10 years ago, when an average person without training couldn’t even create a common website, let alone an online store.

Ready to get started? Keep reading to learn our recommendations for the best online store platforms for 2022 and beyond.

What makes a good ecommerce platform?

You can find dozens of ecommerce platforms in 2022, but there’s something special about the top five we’ve listed below. So what makes them so unique? Think of what’s most important in an ecommerce store. You could probably come up with a list of a hundred features. Selecting an ecommerce platform with the most critical features built in will make your life much easier. Even if you are a very experienced online seller, you will find the functionality you need only on the best platforms.

How to choose the right ecommerce platform for your store

Some strategic questions will help you understand what is right for you. Regardless of your business, asking these basic questions will help you make a decision. Here are the top 10 questions to choose the right ecommerce platform.

1. What are the pricing options?

Even the best service should have a fair price. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced seller, how justified is the price?

2. How easy is it to use?

For some, a steep learning curve can be discouraging. Fortunately, the best platforms have drag-and-drop tools, which make the design process easy and intuitive. You can build an entire site by simply dragging and dropping the elements you need onto the screen. Need a signup form, or want to add a slider with photos? Just select that element and put it where you want it without having to write a line of code.

3. If I need help, is there technical support?

It is not enough just to create a website. You need to maintain it constantly. There’s nothing scarier than finding out that your site isn’t working. It means anything you’re spending on advertising is going down the drain. And what will customers think about your reputation?

Technical support will help to keep your site in a stable state. Support can also help with updating programs, installing antivirus software, and keeping your site fast.

4. Does it come with marketing tools?

Built-in marketing tools can be helpful for expanding the reach of your online store — and increasing sales. SEO optimization is an example of a type of marketing tool that could be included in your ecommerce platform.

Or, there are solutions like OptinMonster. It offers more than 100 functions, such as email management and mobile-friendly popups, as well as unique forms and promotions that will help grow your email list.

5. How secure is it?

No one wants to enter a credit card number on a suspicious site. Visitors should feel confident in the online store, trusting their money and personal data will be safe. Ensure that the ecommerce platform offers built-in security, such as SSL, automatic backups, and more. These can help protect you from scammers and viruses.

6. What are the payment options?

Does it support payment gateways, including options like PayPal or Stripe? Offering more options to your customers is important — today’s shoppers expect online stores to offer multiple payment options.

7. What are the shopping cart features?

Another consideration in an ecommerce platform is whether it has abandoned shopping cart technology.

Shopping cart abandonment is a reality of online shopping — potential customers add items to their cart, but they fail to complete a purchase. This represents a lost opportunity for a sale and creates a gap in potential conversions.

It is not always possible to bring the purchase to completion, and customers can leave you even at the very last moment. Make sure your ecommerce platform will help you close the deal successfully.

8. How many products can you add, and how rich is the customization?

You don’t want to be limited with your online store. For example, if you sell clothes, it’s important for you to offer visitors unique styles and options to choose from. Make sure that the ecommerce platform you select does not limit how many product variations you can offer.

9. Can I add apps or integrate social media?

For example, if you have an active Instagram for your online store, you may want to show content from Instagram directly to your site. Or if you sell on several platforms, such as Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba, and you want to expose customers to all of your channels, this won’t be a problem.

10. Can I build a large and powerful ecommerce website?

You’ll want to be sure your ecommerce platform can scale with you as your online store grows. Not all platforms are suitable for creating large and professional ecommerce stores — but some are specifically designed for it. They can handle up to tens of thousands of visitors per hour without any problems and, in the case of increasing traffic, they can automatically allocate new servers if properly configured.

The 5 best ecommerce platforms in 2022

Shopify

You’ve probably heard about the platform at least once, especially as ecommerce and dropshipping have grown in popularity. Shopify continues to be a common option for ecommerce enthusiasts in 2022, and here are the main facts you need to know:

• More than a third of all online stores in America are made on Shopify, which equals more than 2.53 million stores.
• In most cases, people coming to Shopify create their business for the first time. But it’s not home to all newcomers. Big brands like Pepsi, Gymshark, and others also trust their business with Shopify.
• Shopify has an app store with more than 2000 applications to help you with design, marketing, and more.
• Shopify offers a free three-day trial period, with no credit card required. For $1, you can get a starter plan for three months.

Best for larger stores

The rapid development of ecommerce platforms creates opportunities for anyone to become an entrepreneur. Now, it’s more accessible than ever to create a simple store on the internet. Below you can see the monthly pricing options for Shopify plans.

Perhaps for some, you’re hearing about BigCommerce for the first time. That’s because it’s not as popular as, for example, Shopify. Shopify has a share of ecommerce websites in the region of 33%, whereas BigCommerce has only 3. But this does not stop it from being a strong player for a certain segment of the business.

What is BigCommerce? BigCommerce will help you create a quality ecommerce website. The company provides everything you need for a quick launch in one place: hosting, domain, SEO, website design tools such as Page Builder, and more.

And their newest offering, StoreBuilder by Hostdedi, is ideal for the rapid development of high-quality online stores.

Magento is a free, open-source program. Anyone can use this program and suggest improvements, which is a big plus. Many hosting providers offer servers to run a store built with Magento. Take Hostdedi, for example. Their fully managed Magento hosting plans offer servers and full 24/7/365 support for Magento stores.

As you may notice, the pricing is a little higher, but there is a reason for that. The fact is that usually, Magento stores are larger than standard ones, and accordingly, the resources consumed will be much larger.

Now, let’s take a look at the features of fully managed Magento hosting from Hostdedi.

Of course, there are also more powerful plans, but in this case, it is better to contact the company itself to get the best and most personalized offer.

Best for flexible stores

There are several levels of customization in Magento. As mentioned earlier, you can hire developers to create a unique store where you can customize any business process or customer experience, including a special shopping cart with a recommendation system, payment options not available anywhere else, shipping options that only fit your business, or a recommendation system with a machine learning engine to increase conversion rates.

All of this can be done with code, but in case you want to use Magento but do not know how to code, you can use their intuitive drag-and-drop page builder.

Magento product attributes help you describe product features such as material, fit, and feel. You can use them to improve the online shopping experience by empowering your customers to find the products they want quickly.

But creating a Magento product attribute can be challenging. The Magento attribute creation form is dynamic, with several options that can confuse you. And if misconfigured, product attributes can hurt the buyer experience instead of improving it.

To help you do it right the first time, we’ve compiled this guide to adding a product attribute in Magento 2.

Here’s everything we’ll cover:

How to add a product attribute in Magento 2

You can add new Magento product attributes in two ways:

1. Using the product creation form.
2. Using the Stores menu.

The following tutorial covers the steps to add a Magento product attribute using the Stores menu. But you can follow the same process while working on a product, as both share the same workflow.

Step 1: Add a new attribute and configure basic properties

Set Values Required to Yes if you want to force customers to select an option before they purchase a product that uses the attribute — such as for Magento 2 configurable products. Alternatively, leave it as No and proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Configure the attribute input type

Choose an input type for your Magento product attribute using the Catalog Input Type for Store Owner dropdown menu. For this tutorial, we’ve chosen Visual Swatch.

After you select the input type, the page will update to display additional settings for that type. Use those settings to configure your attribute.

For instance, you can follow these steps to configure product swatches in Magento 2.

Set Update Product Preview Image to Yes to display the corresponding image when the attribute is selected and set Use Product Image for Swatch if Possible as No.

Then, in the Manage Swatch (Values of Your Attribute) section, click Add Swatch to add a custom swatch.

Although your Magento 2 theme usually determines the final swatch display size and dimensions, you should upload a square image to preserve details like pattern and aspect ratio.

Then, define where the attribute is used in the Scope dropdown menu. For example, you can assign the attribute to selective store views in a multi-store deployment. Alternatively, you can select Global to apply it to all store views.

Set Unique Value to Yes if you want the attribute value to differ from others within the same attribute. For instance, you should set this to Yes when creating an attribute such as SKU that will be used to identify products internally. Alternatively, set it as No.

You may notice that the Input Validation for Store Owner dropdown is grayed out. That’s because we’ve chosen the Visual Swatch input type. You can only configure input validation for compatible attribute types such as Text Field, Text Area, and Price.

Configure the following options to define how the attribute displays in the Magento admin Products list page:

• Add to Column Options: Set to Yes to display the attribute in a column on the Products list page.
• Use in Filter Options: Set to Yes to make the attribute filterable with the column header on the Products list page.

Step 4: Set the front end attribute label (optional)

If you want to configure Magento 2 cart price rules, set Use for Promo Rule Conditions to Yes. Alternatively, use the default No value.

Set Visible on Catalog Pages on Storefront to Yes to show the attribute on the product page on the front end.

Optionally, if your theme supports it, configure the following two settings as described below:

• Used in Product Listing: Set to Yes to include in product listings.
• Used for Sorting in Product Listing: Set to Yes to use as a sort parameter for product listings.

Finally, click Save Attribute to save your Magento product attribute.

How to create an attribute set in Magento 2

Once you create a Magento product attribute, you can add it to an existing attribute set or create a new attribute set of one or more product attributes. That way, you can assign attributes to specific products and create attribute sets for different product types.

Follow these steps to create an attribute set in Magento.

Step 1: Create an Attribute Set

Make sure your hosting can support the attributes you need before you implement them. Better yet, migrate to Managed Magento Hosting with Hostdedi and access flexible hosting plans that can scale with your ecommerce business.

Have you noticed a presence – an indescribable energy – when reading our Twitter feed lately? Maybe you’ve noticed a little more sass than usual. Perhaps you’ve thought, “Gee, I didn’t think Hostdedi was this cool.”

That breath of fresh air (that may smell faintly like Whataburger) isn’t because someone stole the keys to the truck … well, not entirely. We’ve given our favorite (and only) Field Marketing Manager, Christine Clauder, access to the company Twitter.

Christine was actually a Hostdedi customer first. Maybe you’ve seen our case study the experience that led her to us. TLDR, one of our highly intelligent and wonderful staff members (that absolutely isn’t writing this) caught wind of what was happening to her and suggested migrating over before her site went down again. It was a match made in hosting heaven.

A few months later, a position opened up that was a perfect fit for the hilarious, dynamic personality that Christine embodies.

We sat down with Stine (pronounced STEEN, tyvm) to ask her all about how she became the Face of Hostdedi, what her plans are, and what her typical coffee order is.

Here’s everything you want to know about Christine Clauder.

Hostdedi: You’re no stranger to social media. Where have we seen you before?

Christine: I’ve been a staple of the internet for almost as long as WordPress. I currently co-host a podcast for Fark.com, I’ve gone viral on TikTok for pranking a former boss. My Hank (the dog) experience got me on national television and a bunch of well known online media. I’m also a familiar face to people that participate in GISH. Most recently, if you’re in the WordPress community, you may have seen me at a few WordCamps in 2022.

Hostdedi: All of this is breaking news to me. I’m very impressed.

Christine: As you should be.

Hostdedi: Tell me about why we’re seeing changes here at Hostdedi.

Christine: Well, we’ve rebranded. We’ve got a great new look. That has to continue throughout our content and our personality as a brand. We wanted a mix of the corporate face which Devin Frachalla – our Social Media Specialist – does exceedingly well, as well as the sassy, energetic, and ridiculous side, which is where I come in. We’re here for our customers, and you’ll know that if you’re already a customer. But we’re also people — fun people with big personalities. Our customers don’t get to see us on Slack, doing group activities over Zoom or Google. They only get to see the service side of the company. The WordPress community IS fun, and since we’re part of the influence going into that community, our brand is going to better reflect that now. We want to be the table you want to sit at, and you won’t need an invitation for it. We want to make sure people know we’re experts — but we’re also approachable.

Hostdedi: I know you’ve run WordPress sites for some time, so you’ve been steeped in the industry – but what really prepared you for being the “Face of Hostdedi?”

Christine: Oh, where do I start? My childhood with a brutally honest Japanese mother is a testament to my success and ability to withstand the often harsh nature of social media. If I survived her critiques, eggs on Twitter are literally nothing to be concerned about. Hmmm. Being married for 20 years? That could do it. I’ve developed a thick skin, which is important when you’re customer-facing. But the fun part? I mean, I have shown up to work in a dinosaur costume just for “Casual Friday.” I am currently wearing a different Halloween costume every day in October. I BRING THE FUN.

Hostdedi: People that say they’re the fun one are usually not–

Christine: I AM VERY FUN.

Hostdedi: Okay, okay. So, on a scale of 1-10, how narcissistic do you think you are?

Christine: TWENTY. Someone has to advocate for me. No one else is going to.

Hostdedi: You know, that’s a good point. I feel the same way. It’s one of the many reasons I–

Christine: This is me time, Samantha. Try to focus.

Hostdedi: Jeez, alright. Ok, so, I follow you on various social media. You have a real knack for posting spicy content. What are your favorite types of posts?

Christine: I think it’s really important to take advantage of what’s going on right now. Keeping on trend and making sure content is relevant is what makes a great post. I love memes, they’re a great way to both capture attention with visuals and messaging. It’s also important to be authentic. That’s why posts detailing some of the very bizarre things that happen to me get a lot of attention.

Hostdedi: Agreed. I think you really nailed it, there.

Christine: I see what you did there, and I don’t like it.

Hostdedi: Tell me more about content. What works, and what should get tossed in the dumpster and set ablaze?

Christine: Well, you have to be almost a social media anthropologist in a way. Researching what’s going on, what people respond to. I don’t like clickbait, I don’t think anyone really does, even if people respond to it. There’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it, but–

Hostdedi: …it’s really about finding a balance.

[Editor’s note: I would like to add that Christine has rolled her eyes because she’s already seen that meme]

Christine: Anyway, buzzwords can be a bit much and overused. Like, I hate “circle back.” I think if you’re trying to work in a bunch of buzzwords just for clicks, ehhhhhhh.

Hostdedi: Absolutely. Your audience can tell and it gets stale, and it can do more harm than good sometimes. Social media strategy has to be effective. How do you feel social media assists brands?

Christine: Brand awareness, for sure. It’s a great place to distribute news about companies – whether to existing or new customers, but it’s the chance to show the audiences your personality. Our websites are for selling products, providing educational material, and sure – sites reflect brand personality, but your landing page isn’t updated every day. Social media gives us, all brands – not just Hostdedi – the opportunity to be in the moment, real, and interacting with our customers in a more personal way.

Hostdedi: That’s beautiful. I love it. Let’s talk about you again. This blog is supposed to be introducing you.

Christine: Great, that’s my favorite subject.

Hostdedi: What one thing on Earth do you love the most?

Christine: Food.

Hostdedi: Christine, you have a CHILD.

Christine: My child is not a thing!

Hostdedi: Ugh, you know what I meant. Fine, I’m really going to put “food” as your answer though.

Christine: Well, it’s accurate.

Hostdedi: What’s the craziest thing that ever happened to you? Besides aspirating a nail.

Christine: Ooh, there’s so much to choose from. So, okay. I grew up in Japan in the 70s – maybe don’t put the date.

Hostdedi: Ok.

Christine: Okay, put the date, because if you don’t maybe people will think you meant the 1920s. So, there I am in Japan, just an adorable little tot. Japan didn’t have standard toilets like we do stateside. It’s a hole in the floor. Traditionally, you get a big bucket of water, and after you’re done you wash the area. So, my little cousin, who was only just a bit older than me, was trying to help and poured out the bucket of water. And– well, as you could imagine, I slipped. Right into the hole.

Hostdedi: How big was that hole?!

Christine: Excuse you! Rude. I WAS A CHILD, remember? ANYWAY, I’ve been incredibly resourceful even as a child falling into a floor potty, and I caught myself. I was like Sylvester Stallone in Cliffhanger.

Hostdedi: Again, wildly impressed. I hope you never have to do that again. So, what advice would you give––

Christine: Well, to my husband, shut up. To my daughter? Keep it up, you’re AMAZING. To friends? Don’t believe me, 90% of what I say is BS. But I guess you probably meant for people in social media and other community managers. To them I say, be yourself. Be real, be loud, and take chances. Do things now, ask for forgiveness after.

Hostdedi: Wise words. Thanks for taking the time to chat with us today, Christine. One last question. How do you feel about your job?

Christine: I freaking love my job.

Stay in touch

To keep up with Stine, follow the @nexcess Twitter and Christine’s Twitter @NexStine.

Product reviews have always been an important driving force behind the buyer decision making process. With the rapid growth of the ecommerce industry, online store reviews become one of the only ways to learn about the quality of a product and make sure what you are planning to buy matches its description.

Studies have shown that over 70% of those shopping online consider customer reviews one of the most important factors that affect their purchase decision. Moreover, the absence of any online product reviews is likely to result in lower conversion rates.

In this Hostdedi guide to the importance of product reviews, you will learn how ecommerce reviews help attract new customers and build trust, and how to make the most of them for your online business.

What is a product review?

A product review is a piece of feedback received from a customer that includes their opinion on the purchased product. It is usually written in a custom format and focuses on the buyer experience, showing whether the product satisfies the customer’s expectations and matches the description provided by the seller.

Written reviews and star ratings

Online product reviews often contain more detailed information about the purchased item, including what is usually referred to as expectation vs reality. Buyers are often encouraged to rate a product on a scale of 1 to 5, which then helps calculate its star rating. Star ratings help filter out low-rated items on the initial stage, and focus on products with proven quality.

While some customers are eager to write long reviews, most are only willing to rate the product they received without providing any additional information. The ability to rate a product using a scale is much more effective and results in a higher number of online product reviews received.

The explanation for it is simple — most customers will leave written ecommerce reviews in two situations: when they are totally satisfied with the item or it exceeded their expectations, or if their buyer experience was overshadowed by the poor quality of the product or other negative experiences.

Star ratings are one of the ecommerce features buyers often look for. Make sure your store provides a way to leave customer reviews and rate the products purchased.

Video reviews

Video reviews have been gaining popularity over the years as a great marketing tool for boosting sales. As opposed to written reviews which can be left by bots or the seller to rig the competition, video reviews are often perceived as more credible.

This type of online customer review is often used when working with influencers to promote the product, making it look like they are providing honest feedback and sharing a recommendation. Although video reviews are usually a form of paid advertising, even top-quality products are often promoted this way. It helps increase sales when the product is first introduced to the market or you are looking to reach new market segments.

Benefits of product reviews for online stores

There are numerous benefits of online store reviews for all ecommerce businesses. Read on to understand the importance of product reviews for your online store and how to make the most of them to increase sales and win new customers.

Peer to peer information sharing

As sales have shifted online, the importance of comprehensive product descriptions is hard to underestimate. While sellers do their best to list all characteristics of the items on their product pages, it is almost impossible to proactively answer all questions potential customers may have. Customer reviews help address this issue by having buyers share their experience and ask questions about the sold item.

Many marketplaces allow potential buyers to ask questions about the product quality and its specific characteristics to those who have already purchased the product. As a seller, it’s good to highlight the benefits of your items from your customers. Buyers’ opinions are more likely to be unbiased and focused on the product’s usability. Use it to your advantage to let loyal customers influence those unsure if what you offer meets their requirements.

Provides proof of quality

While product pages often include photos and a detailed description of the item, there is no guarantee that it is actually worth buying. Product reviews provide an assurance that the product you are purchasing matches its description and is of acceptable quality.

Buyers are much more likely to write a long review if the product exceeded their expectations, or, on the other hand, if what they received is not at all what they expected in terms of quality. If you offer top-quality items and provide great product descriptions with high-resolution photos, positive product reviews will help you sway those near the bottom of the sales funnel.

Benefits search engine performance

Building a search engine optimization strategy is key, especially when it comes to ecommerce. Working on SEO helps you increase traffic to your online store by making you rank higher on search engines like Google. Numerous ecommerce SEO guides focus solely on the structure and the looks of your online store, which completely excludes external factors like product reviews.

While building a well-designed store and publishing high-quality content is a huge part of SEO efforts, product reviews can help you improve the visibility of your products and increase conversion rates. Remember that positive reviews are a good sign that both potential customers and search engines are looking for.

Can help you optimize your product

Product reviews are a priceless source of unbiased feedback and great ideas for making what you sell even better. It is not easy to create something that meets the diverse needs of multiple customer groups, and some negative reviews will confirm this hard truth. However, customer reviews can help you discover the negative aspects of your products and give recommendations on how to improve the situation.

Pay extra attention if certain downsides of a product are mentioned in more than one review. This will help you set priorities and identify what needs to be improved first. Responding to negative reviews is about taking responsibility and addressing the reported issues in a timely manner, showing that your customers’ feedback is heard and valued.

Reading negative online customer reviews can also be one of the other ways to do product research. Learn what features your competitors do not include. Customers frequently point these out. This is what you would want to include in your product to stand out from the competition and increase your market share.

Builds trust and loyalty with potential customers

Having product reviews published helps build trust and loyalty by showing that you are open and honest with your customers. Selling high-quality products will inevitably lead to receiving more and more positive online store reviews, which in turn will attract new buyers. Some sellers even offer discounts or gifts for leaving positive product reviews, which can be a great way to encourage your customers to leave feedback.

Customer communication is essential for any ecommerce business. Respond to all feedback you receive to build a strong relationship with your customers and increase your repeat purchase rates. Seeing the proactive approach you take to improving your products and making sure all negative reviews are addressed, those on the fence will be more likely to make a purchase and return for more.

Start selling today

Online product reviews are what keep you and your customers connected. They help you stand out in the saturated market. Let potential customers find the awesome products you are selling with an online store. Starting an ecommerce business is a great way to expand your reach and make more sales.

Today’s ecommerce hosting market offers a wide range of website builders and hosting plans, and it’s easy to get lost. High transaction fees, a limited number of monthly sales, and little to no control over your online store can be really frustrating. Do not let bad hosting discourage you from bringing your business online.

StoreBuilder by Hostdedi has been designed to break the limits and give you the powerful ecommerce store platform your business deserves. Build the storefront of your dreams with no design or coding skills required. With StoreBuilder, you can launch your online store in a matter of hours and start receiving orders.

Why StoreBuilder? Combining WordPress and WooCommerce with the best ecommerce solutions built-in, StoreBuilder makes it easy to launch and grow your online store. Endless customization options, with no transaction fees or limits on the number or products you sell or orders you receive — these are just some of the benefits StoreBuilder offers.

Check out StoreBuilder hosting plans to start selling online today.

According to a 2022 report by Veeam, 76% of businesses suffered at least one ransomware attack within the past year. More importantly, over one-third of the compromised data (36%) was unrecoverable after the attack.

Fortunately, if you’re a Magento store owner, you don’t need to worry about data loss because Magento offers a built-in backup tool that simplifies on-demand backups.

In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about Magento 2 backup, including how it works and how to back up Magento 2 correctly.

Here’s everything we’ll cover:

The basics of Magento 2 backup

Magento 2 Open Source offers an in-built backup module that lets you back up different parts of your store in two ways:

1. From the admin panel.
2. Using the Magento command line interface (CLI).

Adobe Commerce Cloud users can use the above methods and also create a snapshot of their application environment using the Project Web Interface. The snapshot creates a complete backup of all services running on the server, such as Redis, MySQL, and Magento.

In contrast, the methods for Magento Open Source let you backup the following three parts of the system:

• File system (excluding the var/ and pub/static directories).
• Database.
• Media files stored in the pub/media directory.

When you backup Magento 2 using the built-in backup system, Magento creates a .sql file for the database and a .tgz compressed archive file for the file system and media backup files. It places the backup files inside the var/backups directory until you delete them manually.

How to backup Magento 2

1. Enable the Magento 2 backup tool.
2. Set the open files’ limit value.
3. Backup Magento 2.
4. Schedule Magento 2 backups (Optional).
5. Verify the Magento 2 backup.

Note: Adobe deprecated the built-in backup feature of Magento 2, starting with version 2.3.0 and above. Make sure you test the Magento 2 backup functionality in a staging environment before using it on a production server.

Step 1: Enable the Magento 2 backup tool

Log in to your Magento server as the filesystem owner and navigate to the project root directory. Then, run the following CLI command to enable the Magento backup utility:

$ bin/magento config:set system/backup/functionality_enabled 1

Step 2: Set the open files’ limit value

Before creating a backup, make sure you update the open files’ limit value for the Magento file system user. A low open files limit value can lead to failed backups and rollbacks using the Magento backup tool.

Adobe recommends setting the open files limit value to 65536 or more. However, you can use a larger value if your system supports it.

Run the following command as the Magento filesystem user to update the open files limit:

$ ulimit -s 65536

Verify the ulimit is updated using:

$ ulimit -n

Step 3: Backup Magento 2

You can backup Magento 2 from the terminal using the following CLI command syntax:

$ php bin/magento setup:backup [--code] [--media] [--db]

You can also specify one or more options to back up different parts of your Magento store. For instance, you can create a backup of the database and file system using the following command:

$ php bin/magento setup:backup --code --db

Once the command executes successfully, you should see the following output:

On the Backup options page, enter a name for your backup and tick the Maintenance mode checkbox to switch your online store to maintenance mode during the backup process. Once you’ve configured the backup options, click Ok to initiate the backup.

The backup process can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes, depending on the size of your store, your server configuration, and the type of backup you’ve selected. Once it completes, you’ll see a message confirming the backup is complete as follows:

$ php bin/magento info:backups:list

$ php bin/magento info:backups:list

$ php bin/magento setup:rollback -d <backup_filename>

$ php bin/magento setup:rollback -c <backup_filename>

$ php bin/magento setup:rollback -m <backup_filename>

Don’t wait until then to explore an alternative backup solution for your Magento store. Sign up for managed Magento hosting with Hostdedi today and access on-demand and automated nightly backups at no extra cost.

Browse our plans to get started today.

Like every website owner, you’ve surely heard the term CDN being used. If not, then maybe a brand name such as Cloudflare sounds more familiar. In this article, we’ll explain why you should be using a WordPress CDN. We’ll cover the benefits of CDNs for WordPress. We’ll also review the best CDNs for WordPress below.

What is a WordPress CDN?

You may be wondering about WordPress CDNs. In short, there’s no such thing as a WordPress CDN. That’s because CDNs aren’t built for specific content management systems. Instead, they are intended for use with a wide range of website types.

So, what is a CDN and how does it work? Let’s take a look.

What is a content delivery network (CDN)?

A content delivery network, or CDN, is a network of servers that are distributed worldwide to improve the loading speed of your website or online service. It achieves this by reducing the distance between servers and visitors.

Sounds promising, right? It is, and that’s why most of today’s internet traffic is being served by CDN networks. That includes Netflix and Amazon, for example.

How a CDN works in WordPress

Using a CDN with your WordPress website is not much different than using it with another website type. There is one added benefit, however, and that’s the ability to set it up automatically with plugins. This can save the average user a lot of time and effort, especially if they lack website development skills.

Next up, we’re going to explore all the benefits of using a CDN and show you how to install it.

Benefits of using a CDN with WordPress

There are many benefits to using a CDN with your WordPress website, and it’s not all about speed improvements either.

Below we give you the six most important benefits and then dig deeper into each one.

• Reduce bandwidth usage and costs
• Improved traffic spike handling
• Decrease your site’s loading time
• Improved website security
• More uptime
• Better rankings for SEO

Reduce bandwidth usage and costs

The CDN does most of the heavy lifting by serving your website’s largest files, such as images and videos. That’s why you can expect a significant reduction in your hosting bandwidth usage and costs.

Even better, CDN networks charge a very affordable flat fee and often come with unlimited bandwidth. So you no longer need to worry about reaching your hosting bandwidth limits and having to pay additional fees.

Improved traffic spike handling

Every now and then, our websites experience an increase in traffic, leading to a spike in resource usage. This can cause your server to slow down and sometimes even freeze.

Since no one likes downtime, especially if they just paid for an advertising campaign, spikes can be a major hassle. CDNs do a good job of tackling this issue by reducing your origin server’s resource usage and preventing DDoS attacks.

Decrease your site’s loading time

We hear it all the time — people expect your website to load almost instantly. So you can’t afford to make them wait for more than a second or so. That’s why speed improvement is the number one benefit of CDNs.

But how do CDNs improve speed exactly? In three ways.

First, by using globally distributed servers to reduce the distance between your website and its visitors. Then, by applying the latest file compression to your data to reduce its size. And finally, by equipping their data centers with high-end technology such as SSDs and load balancers.

Improved website security

This is where CDNs come in handy with their DDoS protection and programmable rules for your WordPress login page, xmlrpc vulnerabilities, and more.

Another important security benefit is that a CDN will hide your origin server’s IP address. That makes your website harder to target and less vulnerable to attack attempts.

More uptime

Thanks to the CDN’s security measures and the offloading effect on your origin server’s resources, you can also expect better website uptime.

Better rankings for SEO

Believe it or not, even your website SEO can benefit from using a CDN. And not just for the obvious reason of speeding up your website to keep organic visitors engaged. It’s also an official ranking factor used by Google to serve the best search results.

Hearing about all these CDN benefits is pretty convincing, right? Great, then read on to see our speed test, and to learn how to set up a CDN for yourself.

WordPress speed tests: with and without a CDN

Now it’s time to take the Cloudflare CDN for a test drive. To do that, we created a simple dummy WordPress website using a popular theme and builder. After that, we used the GTMetrix site performance tool and took screenshots of the state before and after the CDN was implemented.

Below are the results our site got before implementing the Cloudflare CDN.

Want to keep it simple and avoid having to configure all of this manually? Don’t worry, some hosting companies provide an integrated one-click CDN feature. Here at Hostdedi, we take care of the CDN configuration for you so you can spend more time focusing on what matters most. Learn more about our Hostdedi Edge CDN.

Integrating WordPress with Cloudflare

First, you need to create a Cloudflare account and add your domain to it. Once the domain is added, you will be asked to review and confirm your DNS records and click continue. You will then need to update your NS (nameserver) records at your domain registrar by replacing them with the ones Cloudflare provides on the next page. It might take a little while for this change to take effect.

And as a final step, you need to test if everything works properly. While there are plenty of ways to check if a CDN is enabled and working properly, we will show you the simplest one. There’s a tool called CDN Finder on the CDN Planet website. You can use it by clicking here, typing in your website’s domain name, and then clicking on Run CDN Finder. As you can see in the image below, Amazon is using the Fastly CDN.

Note: For more detailed instructions on how to set all of this up, see the official Cloudflare video instructions.

WordPress CDN without a plugin

At this point you may wonder, do I need a plugin? Don’t worry, using a plugin is completely optional, and the CDN works out-of-the-box. It basically allows you to manage some features without having to go to the official Cloudflare website. That includes clearing cache, SSL options, and more.

Use a CDN for better WordPress performance

If there’s just one thing we want to stress, it’s that everyone should consider using a CDN with their WordPress website. As you can see from reading this article, the benefits are outstanding. From increased page speed to a wide range of security improvements, it’s clear that no one should miss out on this technology.

Are you a WordPress user? Would you like to experience the best managed WordPress hosting? Then switch to Hostdedi for the smoothest support experience and the fastest page load times.

Check out our fully managed WordPress hosting plans to get started today.

This blog was originally published in August 2021. It has since been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

WordPress isn’t just for blogging. Many big brands use WordPress as an ecommerce solution.

WordPress offers powerful and customizable solutions for businesses of any size from small start-up retailers to multinational enterprise companies.

Looking for inspiration to build your online store with WordPress? Keep reading to learn about big brand websites using WordPress, why they like selling on the platform, and see five WordPress online store examples.

Explore WordPress ecommerce solutions >>

Websites using WordPress: Why big brands like it

WordPress runs nearly half of the websites on the internet. What makes the content management system so popular? As an open source ecommerce platform, WordPress offers benefits and flexibility that proprietary website builders and ecommerce platforms cannot.

Benefits of using WordPress include:

• Cost. WordPress is free. You only pay for WordPress hosting and any premium themes or plugins. Proprietary web platforms often require annual or monthly subscriptions. They also limit the number of visitors, transactions, or user accounts.
• Ease of Use. WordPress is easy and fast to set up, especially if you purchase a managed WordPress hosting package. The learning curve for WordPress isn’t too steep either. Most people can figure out how to update a WordPress site with minimal training.
• Control. With WordPress, you maintain complete control and ownership of your data.
• Customization. When it comes to open source vs. proprietary solutions, open source lets enterprises can modify the code as needed. Being open source, WordPress is infinitely customizable. Even if you’re uncomfortable with modifying the core WordPress code, you can still customize your site with plugins.
• Themes and Plugin Options. Because of WordPress’s popularity, the platform has one of the largest markets for premium themes and plugins. With so many choices, WordPress users don’t have any problems picking the perfect theme or finding a plugin to activate a certain feature or complete an integration.
• Community. WordPress has a robust and active user community. User communities help companies in two ways. First, when troubleshooting an issue, you can find a solution on a support forum or YouTube channel. Many developers and agencies create quality content and tutorials to help you learn how to use WordPress. You can also find tutorials from the Hostdedi team on this blog, including how to set up a WordPress store. Second, an active community helps with recruiting. The larger a platform’s user base, the easier it is to find and hire developers.
• Scalability. WordPress and WooCommerce offer limitless possibilities. Assuming you have quality hosting and plugins, you shouldn’t experience problems with scaling WooCommerce for enterprise-level sales volumes.

Top 5 big brand websites that use WordPress

WordPress’ versatile platform powers everything from food blogs to major news sites. Here are five WordPress online store examples from big brands. Each of these sites uses the WooCommerce plugin. WooCommerce enables businesses to add ecommerce functionality to any WordPress site.

1. Dr. Scholl’s

Setting up a WordPress ecommerce website doesn’t require hiring a team of developers or spending hours writing code. Hostdedi offers feature-rich WordPress solutions that work with you — whether you already have an online store, or you need to start building one.

With StoreBuilder by Hostdedi, just answer a few simple questions about your business, and StoreBuilder installs and activates all the plugins you need to build a beautiful and functional store. StoreBuilder also includes a selection of premium themes to ensure your site looks as good as the ecommerce examples above from big brands.

StoreBuilder, along with Hostdedi’ WordPress hosting services, can support your business as your online store grows. It’s the easiest way to open an online store with WordPress.

Check out our WordPress ecommerce and StoreBuilder plans to get started today.

You’ve decided to build an ecommerce business and zeroed in on the type of products you’d like to sell online. But where do you find them? After all, you have a range of options to choose from depending on your business goals.

If you’re trying to get the ball rolling but don’t know where to start, don’t fret.

Here, we’ll show you how to get products for your online store and what to consider before sourcing products for your ecommerce business.

Product sourcing: what is it?

Product sourcing is the process of buying products from suppliers, in the event that you don’t make your own, to sell in your online store.

It’s usually the last step after determining the product’s potential customer demand and assessing your capacity for investment, storage, and stock replenishment.

There are a few ways to get products for your online store, which we’ll discuss below. Let’s dive into it.

1. Make your own products

If you’re a creative entrepreneur, hobbyist, or want to be a part of the rapidly growing maker economy, then you could opt to create your own products.

The biggest advantage of DIY products is that they are unique, and competitors cannot replicate them easily. You have complete control over the quality of your products and how you brand them.

Your potential customers would love your handmade clothes, jewelry, household items, artwork, or beauty products because they carry your personal touch and uniqueness.

If you’ve got excellent skill sets for specific product niches, you could build an impressive online business with your target audience’s help.

On the flip side, manually making products is time-consuming, labor-intensive, and difficult to scale. Also, it’s challenging for a small business to earn a higher profit margin after investing in sourcing materials, packaging, warehousing, and paying yourself a wage for your efforts.

It’s also a lucrative way to build your online business. The global dropshipping market stood at $162.5 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20.7% between 2022–2028, reaching $621 billion.

Dropshipping helps you open an online store instantly by letting you team up with manufacturers and distributors to sell their products without buying them beforehand.

According to a report by E-DSS.org, around 27% of online retailers have chosen to dropship as their primary order fulfillment method.

As a dropshipper, you get complete access to the catalogs of your dropshipping suppliers and can select the type of products you’d like to sell.

When a customer places an order to buy a product in your ecommerce store, you send the order and shipping details to your dropshipping supplier.

Your supplier handles the products’ manufacturing, packaging, and shipping and charges a commission from you in return. You’ll get paid the wholesale prices for the products you sell through your online store.

With a dropshipping business, you can eliminate some of the startup costs. Dropshipping could be the best solution if you’re short on cash to invest in inventory, storage, or delivery.

With the money saved from startup costs, you could focus on researching the best types of products for dropshipping and designing and branding your website to appeal to your target audience.

You could scale up your business easily through dropshipping. Over time, you could begin offering additional products. If you have several partners, then you gain access to all their inventories without the responsibility of handling or storing the stock yourself.

However, even though you wouldn’t have control over the quality or supply chain management of the products you sell, you’d still be held accountable by the customers who buy from your ecommerce website.

Moreover, since the barriers to entry for dropshipping are low, you could face stiff competition. And the competition isn’t just down to other stores, but manufacturers as well.

Since manufacturers and distributors are in charge of producing and delivering the orders, they might get more credit if a product does well. Your potential customers may decide to bypass you, the dropshipper, and instead, deal with the manufacturer directly.

Still, that doesn’t mean that you cannot succeed in dropshipping. If you remain dedicated to your business, build a strong brand image, negotiate with the right suppliers, and adapt to the changing market trends, you could become a huge success as a dropshipper.

You must thoroughly research dropshipping suppliers before partnering with one. Check for reliability, product standard, subscription fees, and the extent to which you can customize your products to differentiate them from the other dropshippers.

3. Find a manufacturer

Getting products for your online store from a manufacturer is ideal when you have a unique product idea and have done enough research to ensure demand for your new product.

Finding a manufacturing partner relieves you of the scalability problems that come with making your own products.

There are two types of manufacturers to choose from:

• Private label: Here, the manufacturer creates unique packaging and labeling. It’s suitable for specialized products like designer dresses, cosmetics, and jewelry.
• White label: This is common for products sold through retailers to a larger group of customers.

Manufacturing lets you control the branding and pricing. It also lets you play around with product ideas and add new products to your catalog of offerings.

The drawback is that you have to pay significant setup fees and need to order a minimum order quantity (MOQ). That might lead to a huge upfront cost at the onset.

However, your new business could eventually scale up despite the higher initial investment, leading to lower unit costs and higher margins long term. You could also receive discounts from the manufacturer for bulk orders.

The only risk is that your manufacturer might create similar products for your competitors. You need to protect your unique products’ IP legally. Also, consider licensing your products to receive a royalty for each unit sold.

You can find manufacturers for sourcing products in online or offline business directories.

• B2B marketplaces: These are online marketplaces like Amazon and Alibaba that let you buy different types of products from across the globe and sell them in your ecommerce store. As of 2022, the U.S. B2B marketplaces continue to grow significantly. The Digital Commerce 360 report involved 400 U.S. B2B online marketplaces. In 2021, these online marketplaces witnessed 131% year-on-year growth in sales to $56.5 billion. Sales are projected to grow at the same rate and reach $130 billion in 2022.
• Traditional wholesalers: These are offline wholesalers who let you visit their warehouses and check the quality of products in person.

The pandemic caused a setback to trade shows. The global exhibition industry declined by 68% in 2020. That amounted to around $330 billion worth of missed trades.

But things are back in force now. A survey by Display Wizard found that over 59% of respondents wanted to display at trade shows again.

Since its reopening, the Las Vegas Convention Center has hosted more than 50 expos and events with more than 700,000 attendees.

However, in the aftermath of the pandemic, more decision makers are adopting the hybrid model of in-person meetings combined with virtual ones. According to a 2021 PCMA study, 65% of planners mentioned favoring more hybrid events.

Before visiting a trade fair, make sure you research the trade show’s credibility and your desired products’ market demands.

The Trade Fair Dates website is a great platform to learn about trade fairs across the globe.

Keep in mind trade shows might be overwhelming for first-time buyers who aren’t experienced enough to handle multiple sellers at a time.

Additionally, some sellers prefer working with well-known partners, so if you’re a new business or a small ecommerce platform, you might miss out on partnering with reputed names.

There are expenses and efforts involved in visiting trade shows.

Start today by building your own website with StoreBuilder by Hostdedi.

Magento is a powerful ecommerce platform.

But learning how to use Magento correctly can be challenging. To simplify this task, Adobe provides a sample data module for Magento 2 that transforms a Magento installation into a demo Magento 2 store.

This guide explains the basics of the Magento 2 sample data module and teaches you how to install it correctly.

Here’s what we cover in this tutorial:

Magento 2 sample data 101

Magento sample data is a module that transforms a Magento instance into a demo store. That store comes with sample data such as customers, orders, categories, CMS pages, and pricing rules. Besides that, it installs the free Luma Magento 2 theme and adds over 250 Magento 2 products.

The sample data module is a collection of 19 packages for Magento Open Source and 24 packages for Adobe Commerce.

You can view the packages for Magento Open Source inside the sample data repository.

Adobe Commerce users get access to those packages plus the following five modules for Commerce-specific features:

• magento/module-target-rule-sample-data.
• magento/module-customer-balance-sample-data.
• magento/module-gift-registry-sample-data.
• magento/module-gift-card-sample-data.
• magento/module-multiple-wishlist-sample-data.

You can install Magento sample data in three ways:

1. Using the Magento Command Line Interface (CLI).
2. Using Composer.
3. By cloning the Magento GitHub repository.

The Magento CLI and Composer installation methods can be used when you’ve installed Magento 2 using an archive file from Adobe or a Composer metapackage.

But those methods won’t work if you’ve installed Magento by cloning its GitHub archive.

That’s because the composer.json file in the GitHub archive doesn’t contain the “https://repo.magento.com” URL. If you’ve installed Magento 2 by cloning a GitHub archive, you’ll need to install sample data by cloning its GitHub repository.

Adobe provides you with the sampledata:remove CLI command to uninstall sample data modules. However, that command doesn’t delete Magento database entries.

The only way to remove the Magento 2 sample data module entirely is by dropping the database and reinstalling Magento 2 with a new database.

How to install sample data in Magento

1. Log in to your server and enable developer mode.
2. Execute the sample data installation command.
3. Update the database and schema and clear the Magento cache.
4. Verify the sample data installation.

Follow these steps to install sample data in Magento 2.

Note: Do not install sample data on a production server, as you cannot uninstall the module without deleting the Magento database and reinstalling Magento.

Step 1: log in to your server and enable developer mode

Log in to your server over SSH, switch to the Magento file system user, and navigate to the Magento root directory. Then, enable developer mode using:

$ php bin/magento deploy:mode:set developer

Then, clear previously generated classes and proxies using the following command:

$ rm -rf generated/code/* generated/metadata/*

Step 2: execute the sample data installation command

Install the Magento 2 sample data module using the following command:

$ php bin/magento sampledata:deploy

You should see the following terminal output:

Note: You may need to enter your Magento authentication keys at this point. Follow Adobe’s guide to retrieve the public and private keys used to install your Magento application and use the same keys for the sample data module installation.

Step 3: update the database and schema and clear the Magento cache

Once the Magento 2 sample data installation command executes successfully, update the Magento database and schema using the below command:

$ php bin/magento setup:upgrade

After that, clear all Magento cache types using:

$ php bin/magento cache:clean
$ php bin/magento cache:flush

The Magento sample data module installation process is a resource-intensive task. Depending on your server configuration, it can take anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes.

Sometimes, it can fail silently when the max_execution_time in your PHP configuration file is inadequate for the sample data script.

To fix this issue, switch to a user with root privileges and edit the php.ini file using your preferred text editor.

For instance, if your PHP version is 7.4, you can run this code:

$ nano /etc/php/7.4/fpm/php.ini

Find the max_execution_time setting and update its value to 600 or more. Save the file and restart PHP to update its configuration.

After that, run the sampledata:deploy command and reset the max_execution_time value to the original value once the Magento 2 sample data installation is completed.

Final thoughts: how to install Magento 2 sample data

We’ve explained the basics of the Magento 2 sample data module, demonstrated a step-by-step installation process, and shared tips to fix common errors.

It’s important to remember that you can’t uninstall sample data without reinstalling Magento. So make sure you only install it in a staging environment.

Don’t have a test server?

Sign up for managed Magento hosting with Hostdedi and get access to dedicated staging sites at no extra cost.

Browse our plans to learn more.

Atlanta, GA — Hostdedi, the premium provider of managed hosting and cloud solutions optimized for managed WordPress, WooCommerce, and Magento, announced today a new partnership with Object Cache Pro, the leading enterprise plugin for Redis object caching.

Valued at $95 a month, the premium plugin will be included free of charge on Managed WordPress, Managed WooCommerce, dedicated WordPress clusters, and flexible cloud plans. The partnership brings together Hostdedi’ highly performant managed hosting solutions with the reliability of Object Cache Pro, giving every customer a premium, enterprise-grade caching experience — not just the higher tier accounts.

Object Cache Pro will be installed on all new Hostdedi sites with a valid plan and available for existing customers to activate.

“Every site and store owner is looking to improve speed and performance, especially when their livelihood depends on their site performing well,” says Carrie Wheeler, EVP and Chief Operating Officer.

“Object Cache Pro is a premium caching plugin that eases the load on customer databases and server hardware to deliver queries faster and thus, speed up application performance. And because we know it is so important to help our WordPress customers run faster, more performant sites, we’re building it into our plans — for free,” says Wheeler.

Caching content is one way site owners can reduce latency and increase page speed. Dynamic content, such as carts and forms, cannot be cached in the same manner that static content like blogs can. High-traffic websites with many products need a reliable and fast solution that those standard solutions simply do not cover. Object Cache Pro provides users with improved performance using lossless compression technologies — delivering queries faster without bogging down the database.

“We’re all about reliability and performance, so partnering with the like-minded team at Hostdedi was a natural fit,” says Till Krüss, the developer of Object Cache Pro. “We love seeing them push Object Cache Pro to its edge.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with high-quality solutions like Object Cache Pro to enable better performance and profitability for our customers. Our mission is to make WordPress easier for SMBs and their creators and part of that is taking performance concerns off the table. It’s a great example of how we’re using our expertise to drive continuous innovation for WordPress and WooCommerce so that Hostdedi is the best place for SMBs and creators to build, manage, and grow their sites and stores online,” says Wheeler.

Object Cache Pro is the latest offering to an already robust lineup of new and free features added to Hostdedi Managed WordPress and WooCommerce plans, including these Hostdedi exclusives:

• Plugin Performance Monitor which provides actionable and prescriptive insights to improve site performance.
• WooCommerce Automated Testing which runs nightly tests and displays the status of critical tests at a glance.
• Sales Performance Monitor provides critical insights into online store revenue and sales trends, and its intelligence engine alerts store owners if sales slow down.

To learn more about the Object Cache Pro plugin, visit their site. For more information about Hostdedi, visit nexcess.net.