Choosing the Right CMS Approach for Your Shopify Store
You’re likely no stranger to the challenge of choosing the best content management system (CMS) for your Shopify store. With a variety of options available, each promising to meet your unique needs, it can be overwhelming to decide between Shopify’s native CMS and third-party tools like page builders or external platforms like WordPress. In this article, we’ll dive into the pros and cons of each approach to help you make an informed decision for your store’s future.
The Benefits of Shopify’s Native CMS
When it comes to Shopify, the native CMS options are often the best choice for store owners who are looking for a solution that is optimized for performance and easy to manage. Shopify’s native CMS offers a seamless integration with the platform itself, ensuring that your content is fully optimized for the shopping experience. One of the most significant advantages is performance. Shopify’s native CMS operates within a heavily controlled ecosystem, meaning that your website will run smoothly and load quickly—two critical factors when it comes to user experience and SEO. Speed is especially important, as slower websites can increase bounce rates and negatively impact conversions. By sticking with Shopify’s built-in tools, you’re ensuring that your site is well-optimized for performance without adding extra layers of complexity.
Moreover, Shopify’s CMS is incredibly easy to use. It has been designed with non-technical users in mind, so you don’t need to be a developer to manage your site. Whether you’re updating product descriptions, adjusting content on your homepage, or adding new pages, everything can be done quickly through the intuitive admin interface. This ease of use is essential for ecommerce managers who may already be juggling multiple tasks and managing a team. Having a streamlined CMS that allows for simple content updates can save time and reduce the risk of errors.
Additionally, Shopify is constantly evolving and releasing new features that enhance its native CMS capabilities. This means that you can future-proof your store by relying on a platform that is continuously improving. With Shopify, you’re not only working with a reliable CMS, but also benefiting from ongoing updates and improvements to its features.
Shopify themes leverage Shopify’s liquid templating language. Liquid is used to dynamically output native shopify objects and their properties, and even metafields you define as custom data can be leveraged at the code and CMS levels. This environment allows for the development of frontend and admin tooling that has seamless, delivery-optimized access to complex data, providing virtually limitless possibilities for administrative control.
Why Third-Party Page Builders May Not Be the Best Option
While third-party page builders like Shogun or PageFly offer more flexibility in terms of content design, they come with several drawbacks that ecommerce managers should consider. One of the main disadvantages of using these tools is that they can slow down your site. Page builders often add extra code and bloated markup which may or may not adhere to your design system or globally applied styles. There may not be guardrails to keep your content team on brand, and the additional markup and potential for everything-but-the-kitchen-sink styles can impact your site’s load time and, ultimately, your conversion rates. If your primary goal is to provide a smooth shopping experience for your customers, using a page builder that adds unnecessary markup might not be the best solution.
In addition to performance issues, these third-party tools can create long-term maintenance challenges. Since page builders often generate messy code, it becomes difficult to manage and maintain your content in the long run. When it’s time to make updates or changes, the extra code can complicate matters and make troubleshooting more time-consuming. You want a CMS that not only works well now but will also remain easy to manage as your store grows.
Moreover, third-party page builders can lock you into a specific platform. If you ever decide to switch away from a page builder or move to another CMS, migrating your content could be a complex and costly process. This lock-in effect is something to keep in mind when making your decision.
When to Consider External CMS Solutions
In some cases, using an external CMS like WordPress or a headless CMS (e.g., Contentful, Sanity) may be the right choice, especially for stores that require complex content structures or are heavily focused on content marketing. If your store relies on a blog or other content-heavy components, an external CMS may provide the flexibility you need to scale and manage that content more effectively.
For instance, WordPress has long been a leader in the content management space, offering a wide range of tools for content creation and management. However, as WordPress has evolved, it has become more tied to the Gutenberg block editor, which may not make sense for ecommerce stores that don’t want to connect WordPress’s admin tools to their frontend. Using WordPress for the backend and Shopify for the frontend is possible but requires careful planning and development resources to integrate both platforms smoothly.
If you’re looking for ultimate flexibility and scalability, a headless CMS might be the best option. A headless CMS like Contentful allows you to manage content independently from the frontend of your website, meaning you can deliver that content to different channels, like mobile apps or even other ecommerce platforms. For example, a brand that operates multiple online stores and mobile apps could benefit from a headless CMS, as it allows for centralized content management across all channels. While headless CMSs offer more control, they also require more development resources and maintenance, so it’s important to weigh the cost and complexity against the benefits.
The Importance of Custom Themes in CMS Decisions
Regardless of which CMS you choose, the theme you build your store on will have a significant impact on your content management process. When working with Shopify, if you use a prebuilt theme, though it may seem that you’re limited, in reality prebuilt themes are extensible and offer a lot of room for flexibility and customization. It’s important to plan out your prebuilt theme with future growth in mind.
Custom themes can provide initial flexibility, but they come with their own set of challenges. It’s essential that your theme is designed with flexibility in mind from the outset. A well-designed custom theme will allow you to add new content types and structures without constantly needing to rely on developers. In our experience, one of the biggest issues we see with rescue clients—those who come to us after challenges with other agencies or sites with constant issues—is that their custom themes were not built with long-term flexibility in mind. If you’re working with a design and development team, make sure they understand that the theme should not be a rigid structure but rather a set of flexible options that can adapt as your content needs evolve.
Making the Right Decision for Your Store
Ultimately, the decision between using Shopify’s native CMS, a third-party page builder, or an external CMS depends on your business goals, the type of content you manage, and the resources available to you. If you’re running a Shopify store that doesn’t require complex content structures or heavy content management, sticking with Shopify’s native CMS is likely the best choice. It’s optimized for performance, easy to use, and designed with ecommerce in mind.
However, if you’re running a highly content-driven store with specific needs that Shopify’s native CMS can’t meet, then looking into third-party tools or external CMS solutions may be worth considering. Just be aware of the trade-offs in terms of performance, maintenance, and potential future migrations.
In any case, whether you’re using Shopify’s CMS or a third-party solution, it’s crucial to build your theme with flexibility and scalability in mind. Ensuring that your theme can easily adapt to your evolving content needs will save you time and headaches down the road.
Whatever CMS solution you choose, the key is to find a system that aligns with your goals while ensuring that your store remains fast, flexible, and scalable for the long term.