Risks Of Remaining On Magento 1
Although the Magento platform is optimized for eCommerce, it requires many resources to run and would, therefore, require slightly more to re-platform to Magento 2. However, remaining on a platform that uses outdated technology could cost you. Here’s how

Security risks – attention will shift from Magento 1 to Magento 2 once it is abandoned in June 2020. This means that security updates will not be available leaving your platform exposed to cyber-attacks, raising the possibility of your website being hacked. This means that your customers and business will be at a high-security risk as opposed to when they migrate to Magento 2.
Updating Modules – Developers will abandon the 1.0 platform. This means that updates will not be available. Your search for a Magento development company that works on 1.0 will yield no results because developers will be focusing on the new platform. This will cause the functionality of your website to deteriorate affecting how clients and visitors interact with your website. They will leave your store eventually for others that provide the best customer experience.
Reduction In The Numbers of Magento 1 developers – increased uptake of Magento 2 means that most developers are looking to master Magento 2. Very few will be willing to take on a project that involves Magento 1. This leaves your business in trouble because you cannot access the technicians you need to enhance the performance of your platform. This would slow down your progress and affects revenue targets.
Timeline Constraints during migration – completing the migration process can take several months, depending on the complexity of your business and clientele. By the time deadlines for migration arrive, you should have completed the migration process. Waiting until the last minute means that you will be rushing through the final stages. This affects the quality of the experience you provide to your clients. In case you lose them, they may never return. You have to consider the nature and size of your catalog to determine the ease and speed of migration. An ordinary store would require 3-7 months to migrate successfully. This is why quick action is required.

There are no benefits associated with remaining on the Magento 1 platform. One can only refer to the decision as complacency that will see you rushing at the last minute or being overtaken by events. Other than waiting until the migration deadline to re-platform your website, what should you look forward to while switching platforms? You can view the benefits from two angles. There are benefits that have a direct impact on customer experience. These benefits include:

Faster loading speed – Magento 2 is designed to load 50% faster than Magento 1. Visitors abandon slow sites. On the new platform, the speed of execution means that you keep all the clients who visit your site.
Increase in volume – the latest platform is designed to handle more orders on daily basis. It also accommodates a higher volume of SKUs. This means that you can serve more clients and manage the traffic during peak hours.
Mobile responsive – The Magento 2 eCommerce development platform allows you to provide your clients with a better mobile eCommerce experience. More people are making purchases and transactions through their mobile phones. You can attract more clients with an attractive and user-friendly design.
Easy content creation and management – content is part of the customer experience you provide your clients. On Magento 2, you can create and manage content with ease. This means that customers will find it easier to locate the information they need. Managing your website will not be a difficult task either.
Improved SEO and other search features – Magento 2 has been built with search engines in mind. Web spiders will find it easier to locate and crawl your website. This improves your ranking and exposure on search engines. This will boost your chances of having more clicks and customers.
Easier checkout steps – buyers abandon carts because when they face a long and tedious checkout process. With Magento 2, security of both the card and customer information are guaranteed. This leaves you with reduced steps in the checkout process. As a result, there will be fewer or no incidences of cart abandonment.

Additional benefits that website admins enjoy on Magento 2 include:

A more intuitive admin – your administrator can perform more tasks on the new Magento 2 platform. This gives them more control over transactions and the appearance of your website. An intuitive admin will also improve customer relations and thus enhance business.
Vetting by Magento Team – Input of the Magento Quality Assurance Team would help improve the quality of your website. The Magento development company you hire would be able to add more features from those offered on the new platform. With the assistance of the quality assurance team, you will have an effective website that meets the expectations of your clients.
Custom deployment on individual server environment – the aim is to make managing order easier. With a customized experience and enhanced security, customers will always return to your store.
Other benefits include PCI certification and the ease of developing other solutions that are beyond Magento.

Updating the technology you use is a part every major consideration that a brand should consider when enhancing their eCommerce development platform and its security. When you use out-dated systems, hackers have easier access to your website and greater access to compromise transactions with your clients. Strengthening your eCommerce business by migrating to the Magento 2 platform allows you to provide a better customer experience and added security.

The post Why You Need to Move From Magento 1 To Magento 2 appeared first on QualDev.

Magento provides a number of built-in security features. However, eCommerce stores need to adopt the best practices and use additional methods to secure consumer data and offer an enriching shopping experience.

Check out here effective tips to make your online store more secure:

Select strong admin name and password

It is very important to choose a strong admin name and password to prevent any unauthorized and unwanted access to the admin panel of your Magento store. A unique name and a complicated password are always helpful in preventing online hackers from hacking your Magento store.

You can always use a unique combination of upper and lower-case letters, numbers and symbols to set the password for your store. Tracing the login details is very difficult when you have a strong combination of username and password.

This is one of the most crucial steps toward having a secure Magento store.

Use two-step verification to enhance protection

Two Factor Authentication is a best practice for Magento security check. It is one of the most important elements where the login process comprises of two parts. Anyone trying to gain access would need to provide the login credentials and then pass through the two-step verification process before they gain access.

Even if online hackers have stolen your login credentials, a two-step verification process will always prevent hackers from accessing your admin panel remotely. Using two-step verification is necessary if you want a secure login platform for your online store.

Use HTTPS for your online store

HTTPS is one of the most secure standards for online eCommerce portals these days. To maintain the overall security of user’s data, website owners should use HTTPS on their sites. Earlier HTTPS was used on the payment pages of a website and not on the overall website.

Now it is necessary to secure all the pages of a website using HTTPS. In order to initiate the process of switching over to HTTPS, you need to select an SSL certification. You can always purchase this from your hosting company or a third party SSL merchant.

The process is easy and important to get a secure Magento store. While shifting your site to HTTPS, set up 310 directs and update the internal links on your site as well.

Keep your online store updated and secured

Creating a regular backup of the Magento files and the database is very important to prevent yourself from big loss during heavy damage. You can always restore the information on your account with the help of a Magento development company. Back up your files easily by downloading them with the help of an FTP client.

Go for reputed Magento extensions

Your e-store makes use of a number of extensions to provide additional features. Often, the extensions can leave gaps that could result in a compromise of the security of your Magento store.

If the extensions installed were not developed according to the best security practices, it would be easy for attackers to enter and hack your store.

Before installing Magento extensions on your store, it is very important for you to check the reputation, customer reviews and track record of the developer of those extensions you plan to use. You need to select extensions from reputed sources that are regularly maintained and have a good track record.

Go for a unique admin URL

You need to set a unique URL to secure the admin panel of your Magento store. A unique URL is an important aspect of Magento security these days. It is always recommended to change the default admin URL, to something that cannot be easily identified by someone.

This would make it difficult to identify your URL and break through your store’s security.

Restrict admin access to your store

Limit access to the admin panel of your Magento store by allowing access from specific IP addresses that only you and other site administrators use. Limiting admin access is an important aspect of Magento security.

As attackers will not have access to those IP’s they will never reach the admin panel from other IP addresses. This will help you secure your Magento store against attacks from online hackers.

Use reliable scan mechanism for your Magento website

It is very important to run routine scans on your Magento website. Online scanning services identify potential security risk on your Magento store and provide you with the chance to fix them.

Online scanning services like MageReport and ForeGenix scans your website completely and sends a list of potential issues along with the scan report to your mail id. This kind of routine scans can help detect potential threats that even the scanner on your server may not detect.

Protect consumer information with SSL certification

An eCommerce store without SSL certification is always prone to attacks. Attackers can easily trace data sent via non-encrypted connections and steal it.

If SSL certification is not implemented on your Magento store, there is always the risk that consumer information like login credentials, credit card data or other details can be stolen.

SSL certification from a verified certified authority can help you protect consumer information.

Get in touch with the Magento community

Magento has a great community of techies who are always there to help you at times of need. You need to become a member of the Magento community portal and subscribe to their newsletter.

The security reports released by Magento on various versions of Magento are important as well. Also, go for a Magento development company who understand your needs and help you to get the right eCommerce portal always.

Sum Up

Use strong admin name and password, add two-step verification while login, and use HTTPS for your eCommerce store to make it more secure.

Also, use a unique admin URL, restrict admin access to limited IP’s, select reputed Magento extensions, and keep your online store updated to make it safe and secure from hackers.

You should also implement SSL certification to protect consumer information. Get regular scanning done for your Magento website along with getting in touch with Magento community for any sort of help that you require.

The post How to Improve the Security Of Magento Site appeared first on QualDev.