WordPress is the most popular CMS, in use by over 60 million websites or 43% of all websites, while Magento is one of the most popular eCommerce platforms. If you run an online store with Magento and have a WordPress blog to promote your products, integrating the two platforms can be useful for many reasons, from smooth blog-to-cart functionality to better search engine optimization (SEO).
In this post, we show you how to go about Magento WordPress integration. You can set it up manually, use plugins, or hire an expert to get the job done flawlessly and quickly.
Why should you integrate Magento with WordPress?
Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform that allows you to sell products, manage orders and inventory, and configure payment and shipping methods. WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that lets you promote your products, share information on your products through blog posts, tutorials, reviews, and other content, do SEO, and engage with site visitors. It’s great for inbound marketing, helping send site visitors to your online store and hopefully convert to customers.
The rationale for Magento WordPress integration is the unified and seamless experience it creates for your target audience in these ways:
- Converting visitors to customers through your WordPress content by directly linking the products discussed on your WP site to the checkout page on your Magento store.
- Integrating the theme and content of both sites for a consistent user experience and better brand recall.
- Using WordPress SEO tactics to optimize your Magento store. WordPress is the best CMS for SEO!
- Putting in place a single sign-on for Magento and WordPress to provide customers convenience as they don’t have to enter their login information twice.
- Allowing visitors on your WordPress site to access their Magento cart and associated information such as the number of products added by simply pulling Magento blocks to your WP theme.
The CMS within Magento doesn’t have as many features or third-party plugins as WordPress. So, Magento WordPress integration is also a way to use the best of both worlds to boost traffic and convert rapidly. For example, you can utilize the many SEO tools and plugins that WordPress offers to boost traffic, and also monetize the traffic to your blog by directing them to product pages or the checkout page of your Magento site.
As Magento doesn’t have built-in integration with WordPress, you would have to connect the two manually or hire a WordPress developer. Here’s a look at the steps of Magento WordPress integration that you can carry out yourself, and a reliable way to achieve results the first time with external help.
Magento WordPress Integration: Your Options
Method 1: Installing WordPress on Magento
1. Download the free Magento WordPress Installation plugin.
This free plugin will allow you to have a WordPress blog on your Magento store.
2. Install WordPress on your Magento store.
b. Navigate to your Magento store installation folder and drag in your new WordPress installation folder
c. Magento recommends you rename the WordPress installation folder to ‘wp’. While it’s optional, you should avoid naming your WordPress installation folder something that you want to use as a frontend page URL, such as ‘blog’.
d. Go to yoursite.com/wp/ (or /install folder name/) and set up WordPress
3. Install the extension
a. Copy and paste the extracted plugin folder you downloaded from FishPig to app/code/FishPig/WordPress in your Magento directory
b. Activate the extension by running the following command in Terminal: php bin/magento module:enable FishPig_WordPress
4. Configure WordPress
a. In your Magento admin panel, navigate to WordPress > Settings and configure the database settings
b. Select whether or not Magento and WordPress share a database. You will have chosen this when you set up WordPress. If so, enter the WordPress table prefix, which is: wp_
c. Select whether you want to carry over your Magento theme on your WordPress blog page
d. Choose your blog URL, eg ‘blog’ for mystore.com/blog/
e. Finally, choose the path to your WordPress installation (if you followed step 2 properly, just write the name of the Magento install folder here. In our case, it’s ‘wp’.)
5. Change your WordPress URL
Navigate to Settings > General in the WordPress admin panel and change the Site Address (URL) to the URL of your Magento website. Include the subdirectory that you want your WordPress website to be accessed on: for example, mystore.com/blog/.
6. Restore your blog (optional)
If you have an existing WordPress blog that you wanted to port onto Magento, you can now restore a backup of your blog with a plugin like All-in-One Migration.
Method 2: Installing Magento on WordPress
This method is suitable if you want to use Magento’s eCommerce features on your existing WordPress site. In this case, using a plugin like M2WP plugin by Modern Modules, is recommended. The tool brings some of the features of Magento into WordPress, including Magento headers and product blocks. Follow this quick tutorial:
- Download the WordPress plugin
- Install the plugin through the WordPress admin panel or upload it into the plugins directory via FTP
- Activate the plugin from inside the admin panel
- Follow the plugin install instructions inside the plugin settings page
Notes on installation:
- For the above method to work, you must have both Magento and WordPress installed on the same database.
- Magento site not ready? Note that the Magento 2 installation process is pretty complex for non-technical users. Installing WordPress is far easier. It’s best to have a Magento developer build a custom eCommerce site for you.
- Your WordPress site exists to support sales on your Magento store. Good knowledge of the WP framework and functions is a prerequisite to leveraging the platform’s powerful capabilities. Here again, you may want to consider professional help, especially if you’re new to WordPress and not well-versed in coding.
Disclaimer: Codeable is not affiliated with any of the (plugins) recommendations detailed in the post.
Method 3: Hire a WordPress Expert
The steps involved in manual Magento WordPress integration are far from simple. There’s no web wizard installation that makes things easy. You’ll need a foundational understanding of both platforms before you attempt to integrate the two, and even then things can go wrong. Without a good knowledge of FTP, databases, and tables, the margin of error tends to be large and can bring your Magento WordPress integration to a grinding halt.
If you’ve previously hired developers to set up your WP and Magento sites, continuing on this route for the integration is a safe bet. In fact, if you don’t feel confident enough to DIY and prefer to avoid any risks hiring a WordPress expert who will oversee the entire Magento WordPress integration process is the best option.
Hiring an expert with a deep knowledge of both WordPress and Magento will give you peace of mind that your project is in good hands and you’ll get the integration you want. It will also greatly reduce the risk of having to spend more money and time to fix any potential problems that may arise when you try Magento WordPress integration yourself. So, how do you get the right expert for the job without having to spend substantial effort or time?
You may think of using one of the freelance platforms available online. But before you do, consider these points:
Do you have the time to vet freelancers yourself?
As your sales and customer experience are on the line here, you want someone with appropriate technical chops and ideally, experience with Magento WordPress integration. And finding that expert through an online freelance site isn’t as quick or easy as it might appear!
Going through dozens of profiles and checking freelancers’ portfolios and references to ensure they can do the job is time-consuming. It can be even more difficult when you have only so much time to spare as other aspects of your eCommerce business require your attention. Knowing what to look for is also important, and for that, you need to be able to speak directly with freelancers and ask them the right questions.
Do you know where to look?
It’s harder to find the right match for your needs on generic online freelance platforms. You’re bound to have better luck finding technical experts on a platform that specializes in connecting you to tech talent. However, these sites seldom allow you to engage directly with freelancers and position a hiring manager between the two parties. This isn’t always a comfortable arrangement as store owners would also want the option to have a direct line to freelancers and be absolutely sure they understand their requirements.
Do you want to compare bids?
On bidding online platforms, you engage directly with freelancers. But you’ll also need to review their profiles and bids to select a developer for your project. So, you’ll have to both vet freelancers and compare bids. It’s usually a tedious process and puts you under pressure to make the right technical and financial decision.
If you can’t see yourself vetting talent and comparing bids, you can consider a non-bidding platform whose staff selects freelancers based on their skill and experience, or has a project manager who vets talent and manages the project. From here on, all further interactions occur between you and the freelancer.
Codeable is an example of a non-bidding, single-price online outsourcing platform. It is a niche site focusing on WordPress talent but is also able to handle a wide ambit of technical projects involving WordPress integrations with eCommerce platforms and thousands of plugins. Codeable is an excellent solution to zero in on talent for your Magento WordPress integration. Here’s why finding the right talent on Codeable takes less time and guarantees better results than freelance platforms:
- All Codeable experts are carefully vetted in advance, so you don’t have to check their skills or previous work yourself.
- Codeable only connects you with a small number of experts who have the skills, expertise, and availability to work on your project, so there are no surprises.
- Experts work based on fixed price agreements – you get an estimate for the project, and you’re free to accept or reject it.
- You manage the relationship on your own and engage the individual on other projects or on a needs-basis if you’re impressed with their work and have built a rapport with them.
- You’re under no obligation to hire a Codeable expert: submitting a project doesn’t mean you have to go ahead and sign an agreement if you’re not sure about going ahead.
Build the Magento WordPress integration you want easily
Integrating a WordPress blog in Magento or vice-versa can be overwhelming for non-technical eCommerce store owners. It’s not a DIY task even if you have some technical knowledge but not relating specifically to FTP, databases, and tables. If you’re confident of merging the two platforms manually, be sure to factor in the time and effort to complete the job within a reasonable timeframe, without sacrificing quality.
Engaging a WordPress expert to achieve Magento WordPress integration and the key features of each platform is the safer option. Not only can you expect the desired result but also get back hours of your time for higher priority business activities. Moreover, you can expect the expert to finish the project sooner than you might have been able to on your own.
You can set about finding a WordPress expert on Codeable. You’ll be engaging with 3-5 vetted freelancers who, in accordance with Codeable’s guidelines, choose projects they know they can work on. You only need to consider a single price that compensates the expert fairly on the basis of their skills and experience. This will help you save time on comparing bids while also giving you peace of mind knowing that you’ll be interacting with an individual qualified to take on your project.
Submit your project on Codeable to see how the process works. You don’t have to hire a WordPress expert if you’re not comfortable implementing your Magento WordPress integration right away. And if your project can’t wait, you’ll be able to onboard the right expert quickly.
