Use Magento or build up my current site

Magento site rework

[janoss]

ok, I am at the fork in the road. My online ecommerce site needs work -- Usability, look and feel, product categorization. I have been requesting proposals from web/marketing firms and individual consultants.

One proposal was to start new and just use Magento. This would mean I out source the work to them and the code would be new.

My current site is php with dynamic pages created from my products in my mysql database. I am the developer of this site which all started years ago from the Mambo code. I know the code real well, and know what mods I need to do to make the site more usable.

I have started widdling away at my new features list and am making progress. I would hate to lose all my inbound links, keyword rankings etc.

My question is, based on others experience, is it really a good idea to throw the current site out and just replace it with a Magento type E-Commerce solution?

[morehawes]

I tried Magento just over a year ago when in a similar position and from both a developers and administration point of view I found it overly complicated, so much so that I ruled it out as a candidate. Times may have changed as they roll out new versions but I would be wary of getting an external company to build the cart as you may be left relying on them for all future changes. Perhaps install Magento on a test server and see how you get on with it - see if you like it and feel it is worth the investment to learn the platform.

On a more general note I would only recommend a complete site overhaul when your current cart becomes unmanageable. If it works and you are able to write the new features yourself then I would favour sticking to the current version. There are lots of factors to consider but a big one is the search engines - there is no way of knowing how they will treat the new site when changed dramatically. Making your changes incrementally would avoid such issues.

There is a good thread on this here : [webmasterworld.com...]

So in summary, I would only recommend a complete site overhaul when absolutely necessary and if so make sure you are happy with the new software before you change - you could be stuck with it for a while.

[janoss]

Thanks. those are my concerns as well in totally redoing a site.

I do want to keep control of the code, minimize affect on search engine results and inbound links.

I have basically created a new features list and am doing my own programming to add these. I tackle a new one each week. So in a few months, I should have the site up to par. Mainly the searching needs to be beefed up. this is all mysql under the hood so that is almost simple. Just need to lay it out first and then code it. Sometimes all the features can seem overwhelming, so little by little helps.

I am speaking with a consultant and am looking to have him give me his suggested features and input on site usability refinement. But I will still do the code mods.

[morehawes]

Sounds like a good approach - divide and conquer always helps when things seem overwhelming.