Knowband Blog | Ecommerce Modules

Are you eager to push your eCommerce sales to new horizons? Is your online store offering limited features and functionalities to your customers? Or Are you thinking about migrating the back end platform of your eCommerce store? If the answer to these questions are in affirmative, it is certainly time to think about a power packed eCommerce store.There are plenty of options available in the form of eCommerce platforms for fulfilling your customer expectations and business aspirations. However, the problem arises due to the steep prices that arrive with these platforms.

If the price of the platform is your ultimate concern, here are the list of free open source eCommerce platforms that can help out the sagging fortunes of your online store. Take a look at them one by one.

1. OpenCart– 

If you are an owner of a small company who don’t have a staff with an expert programming knowledge, OpenCart is the ideal platform for you. The eCommerce platform comes with a simple easy to use interface and functionalities for any beginner involved in the field of eCommerce business. It is a PHP based open source eCommerce software that can offer amazing services to online merchants. Some of the wonderful features of this OpenCart platform are as follows:

• It is easy to manage, install and configure.

• The platform has an active community of OpenCart developers and users that can provide the support for various issues on your site.

• It ensures secure and easy online payment through its more than 20 payment gateways.

• The platform can ensure quick and timely product delivery to customers through multiple shipping options.

• It has the capability to handle multiple stores through a single admin interface.

• This open source platform can enhance the functionality of your OpenCart store with around 2,700 themes and numerous other OpenCart extensions.

2. PrestaShop–

PrestaShop is an open source eCommerce platform which is based on the PHP and Smarty template engine. This open source platform is very popular in the field of online business as it is used by over 250,000 stores around the world. Take a look at some of the wonderful features and functionalities of this PrestaShop platform.

• This open source eCommerce platform is easy to install and configure.

• The platform has a bundle of 310 integrated features along with 3,500 PrestaShop Addons and templates.

• It offers multiple features like cross selling, downloadable products, one page checkout, exporting of product, shipping discounts and much more.

• It is one of the widely used open source software among various eCommerce platforms with around 4 million downloads and an active 600,000 community members.

• This open source PrestaShop platform supports translation facility in 63 languages and has been used in around 160 countries worldwide.

3. Magento Community Edition– 

It is one of the most popular open source and free eCommerce platform that has made a significant impact on the online businesses around the world. This platform is definitely a major step ahead from its competitors when it comes to wonderful features and functionalities. It is constantly expanding due to its flexible structure, high scalability and diverse range of Magento extensions. Inspite of the wide range of functionalities of this free version, if you are looking for more advanced features for your business, you can avail the expert services of Magento Enterprise Edition. Here is a brief study of the various features and functionalities of this Magento platform.

• It provides a wide range of themes and Magento extensions to Magento store owners with the help of Magento Connect marketplace store. For other third party extensions for Magento site, you can avail the help of various Knowband extensions that are packed with wide range of features and functionalities.

• Although, Magento Community Edition does not offer technical support but Magento users can find their solutions through Magento user forums.

• It is one of the most preferred eCommerce platform that supports more than 200,000 customer sites.

• This platform provides a wide range of features like easy store management, compatibility with multiple languages/currencies and other such features.

4. osCommerce– 

This osCommerce is one of the most trusted open source eCommerce platform that has gained much popularity in the last fifteen years. It consists of more than 7,000 addons created by the osCommerce community that can help in improving the performance of your eCommerce store. Some of the amazing features of this eCommerce platform are:

• The platform has become the first preference for more than 260,000 store owners, developers and service providers due to the presence of its extensive support.

• It has a vast community strength of approximately 280,000 members that have made their contribution in 1.5 million forum postings for ensuring a quick issue resolution.

• The platform is used by around 13,000 registered sites and the number is continuously increasing.

• It also offers direct communication with other osCommerce community members with the help of Live Chat room facility.

5. Zen Cart–

It is another open source eCommerce platform that is based on the PHP language. This eCommerce platform is a sub division of the osCommerce platform that was launched in year 2003 and arrived with a more template based solution. The platform offers a good product management facility to its numerous store owners around the world. Some of the various features that are provided by this Zen Cart platform are as follows:

• This eCommerce platform arrive with more than 1,800 addons that are available in 16 categories for optimizing the performance of Zen Cart store.

• It can provide a quick solution to customer issues with its huge 150,000 community support members and 200,000 threads.

• The platform can help in handling an online store in a better way through facilities like easy inventory control, creation of special sales and other such store activities.

Don’t just choose anything in the name of eCommerce platform for giving a new direction to your online store. You need to be vigilant, informed and sensible enough to make a quiet introspection of the various available eCommerce platforms to make the right choice.

For any added functionality in your eCommerce store based on Magento, PrestaShop or OpenCart platforms, you can grab the amazing Magento extensions, PrestaShop Addons and OpenCart extensions from our Knowband store. Do send us your valuable comments about this blog.

It’s still so early to judge the new threats and risks Google Penguin 4.0 update would bring to your business. But it’s never so early to get armed to face the worst. No major ups and down have been notified as of now. Bests are still the best.

The real time aspect of Penguin 4.0 indeed has some outcomes yet to be faced. Let’s see how in future this new nature would affect the Google’s SERPs. Hopefully, there is a massive fluctuation yet to come.

How the real-time Penguin would affect your ranking in Google’s SERPs?

I have done some research on this aspect. It can be seen in my post “Unlock the secrets of how penalties would work in Google Penguin 4.0 update?”

However, I would like to add some points to it.

1. The importance of your SEO provider is exponentially massive at the moment. You must expect them, to provide you a detail report about the recent fluctuations that is being observed in the past few days.
2. It too early to judge, but if your reports suggest any negative influence from the Penguin 4.0, then its a right time to act and look into your site and particular pages experiencing the fluctuations. As Google says, Penguin 4.0 would not affect your whole site ranking if it finds a violation, but it is also important to note that it is never the whole site. It is the ranking of your individual pages that decides the whole ranking structure of the site.
3. Because of granularity, its is now harder to diagnose the small penalties by Penguin 4.0. So, the role of your SEO service provider becomes more paramount here to diagnose them and act accordingly.
4. Links could hurt you if gone wrong. Penguin 4.0 update has some positive and negative aspects which I have also mentioned in my post “What does the “real-time” aspect of Google Penguin 4.0 means for your business?”. These aspects are just based on the initial understanding of the new Penguin 4.0 update. However, they clearly suggest that a regular housekeeping is now performed by the Penguin and might also be possible that you won’t notice it in action.
5. Penguin 4.0 is Google’s first major update since 2015, and it has certain things in its trunk which we would see when it is finally rolled out.
6. In short, Penguin 4.0 is a mix of certain positive and negative implications. The positive implications for those who play by the rules and also follow the standards laid for other 200 signals used by Google to rank the pages. The negative implication should be strictly analyzed as it will really affect your strategies if you want to play by the rogue rules.

You can get notified about my updated research and learn:

• Google Penguin 4.0 is live with real-time core algorithm.
• What the “real-time” aspect of Google Penguin 4.0 update means for your business?
• How will link penalties work in the future?
• How can you best adapt with the new Google Penguin 4.0 update?
• How the “Big Plan of Google” finally comes together in 2016 with Penguin 4.0?

By rolling out the new Google Penguin Update 4.0, Google has made itself very clear that link penalties would be more vigorous now. However, a major tweak in its nature was seen when Google announced that “Penguin is real time now.” Unlike the previous versions of Penguin like Penguin 3.0 and all past versions, the new Penguin would not wait for an update to get refreshed. The penguin 4.0 would now refresh in real time and without any notification like every part of Google’s core algorithm. To know more about the notification from Google, you can have a look at my previous researches this week.

How would the penalties go on from now?

Granularity:Granular approach, as suggested by Google’s blog post says that spamming will be more devalued now. The new Penguin 4.0 is competent to catch the spamming signals and penalize the pages accordingly.

Punishing the particular link instead of the whole site-

If a page is found violate the game rules, the penalties would be imposed on the page itself rather than punishing the whole site for it.

Spamming signals would be checked in all sections, not just the pages-

The spamming signals will be now searched in every part of the site, including the pages, images, tags, links, back links, folders, directories, etc. The page level focus of Penguin 4.0 update would make sure that granularity is maintained in the core algorithm.

Localized spammy links would also be in focus-

The new Penguin 4.0 update would focus on spammy links and rogue players in localized links. The localized links would be accumulated to verify the game rules.

How would strategies for Penguin proof SEO go now?

Link building for website pages-

You should start link building for your inner website pages. The more you focus on link building them with relevant backlinks, the more visibility you would get in SERPs.

Local SEO is more important now-

Localized spammy links are more in focus now. Make your local searches more and more relevant and useful to the users. Target the local users as much as possible.

Off page, SEO would be helpful-

On page SEO is more important, but neglecting the off page SEO would not be a great idea in this case. The off page practices in combination to Penguin 4.0 friendly practices would help a lot. Off page, strategies should be adopted considering the needs and requirements of Google Hummingbird.

It not only Penguin 4.0, but there are also total 200 more signals –

It is not only Penguin that affects your ranking on Google SERPs. Remember, Penguin 4.0 is a part pf Core algorithm now, so the Google’s core algorithm is more resourceful than ever. Google uses a total of 200 signals to judge the pages and links; Penguin is just one of them. So, do not overlook other signals in the presence of a Penguin proof strategy.

Do not buy links, rely on organic traffic-

Rouge links are always the prime focus of any Penguin update that has come so far. Try to build more relevant links by social sharing, blog posting, forum participation, testimonials, interviews, etc. In short, make your off-page presence fruitful.

Some key facts about Google’s Penguin-

• It was first rolled out in 2012 to fight against web spam.
• It penalized several websites with spammy links.
• The penalties were imposed by wiping the rouge links from Google’s SERPs.
• It used to penalize the whole site if caught in foul play. (but now the rules are changed)
• Websites penalized by a Penguin update would only get refreshed by the next Penguin update.

Get notified about my updated research on Penguin 4.0 Update and learn:

• Google Penguin 4.0 is live with real-time core algorithm
• What the “real-time” aspect of Google Penguin 4.0 means for your business?
• How the “Big Plan of Google” finally comes together in 2016 with Penguin 4.0?
• What new risks and threats to your business the Google Penguin 4.0 update brings?
• How can you best adapt with the new Google Penguin 4.0 update?

Penguin update 4.0 is still rolling out, but its effects are at best at the moment; Not regarding SERPs but in SEO world. It makes me wonder if it is still rolling out or have already hit the floor? The evening of 23 September 2016 was shaken by the massive tremor when Google finally announced that they are rolling out the Penguin update 4.0. Google made itself clear about some significant tweaks in its official blog post “Penguin is now part of our core algorithm.” However, there are still some points which are confusing the webmasters across the globe.

Points that were made clear:

1. Penguin is a part of Google’s core algorithm now- It means, Google won’t be feeding any more update versions for Penguin from now. It also makes clear that Penguin will always be in constant action now. But, that does not mean that Penguin will not evolve now. Hopefully, being a part of Google’s core algorithm makes it more susceptible to frequent updates and evolution. The difference is, they won’t tag it with a version number now.
2. Penguin is real-time now- With the first point, Google also made it clear that Penguin update 4.0 is a real- time algorithm. Earlier, when a Penguin update was rolled out, it had to wait for the next update to be refreshed again. With becoming a core part of the main algorithm, Penguin 4.0 would now be refreshed frequently in real-time. So, the changes now reflect much faster with the new Penguin update.
3. Granularity in Penguin’s algorithm- There was a one liner from Google regarding this concept. It is something like “Penguin would now devalue spam by ranking on the basis of spam signals, instead of affecting the whole site.” According to what I perceived, the spamming signals would now be in a more strict surveillance. Spamming would affect your ranking in parts. The spamming signals combined with all the other 200 signals used by Google to ranking the pages, would together decide the new rank of your pages rather than affecting the whole site.

Things which seems to be unclear as of now –

• Google says, it has tested the Penguin Update 4.0. I wonder how much long it was tested.
• Is Penguin update 4.0 still in rolling put phase yet? What if It has already hit the floor?
• The sites which were affected by Penguin 3.0, have they recovered or will they recover anytime sooner or later?
• No major signs have been noticed yet. Just a battle to rank on the keyword, like every other day of the year, could be noticed until now.
• How frequently the Penguin 4.0 would refresh in real-time?
• If no more updates on Penguin in future, then how the major changes in its algorithm would be conveyed? Or, it will remain silent and do its job?

These are some question that strikes my mind when I think of this Google Penguin Update 4.0. Hopefully, my future researches would have answers to these questions.

You can get notified about my updated research and learn:

• Google Penguin 4.0 is live with real-time core algorithm.
• What the “real-time” aspect of Google Penguin 4.0 update means for your business?
• How will link penalties work in the future?
• How can you best adapt with the new Google Penguin 4.0 update?
• What new risks and threats to your business the Google Penguin 4.0 update brings?

It was in 2012 when Google First launched its Penguin update. A complete upside down was seen in its SERPs. We have seen some high ranking companies suffer a huge loss due to Penguin update. Was It really necessary? What was the cause that encouraged Google to hit these high ranking companies?

Well, Google did not have any personal grudge against these wiped out links. The whole campaign led by Google in Penguin update was to improve the quality of its SERPs with more relevant signals to be encouraged. It was a time when Google had to act in order to save those links/signals who were actually relevant. Most of the links and pages that were wiped out from Google’s SERPs were caught by the Penguin Update doing something that was degrading the relevancy and accuracy of results in its SERPs. Buying links, Keyword stuffing, Bad links, irrelevant backlinks etc. were some of the so-called malpractices that were affecting the relevancy of its SERPs.

Earlier, when your website was once hit by the Penguin update, it was the next Penguin update itself that could help you recover your ranking; the condition is, you manage to rectify your mistakes in the mean time. Penguin update is more like a decontamination of Google’s SERPs from the rouge links and results that were affecting the quality of it SERPs. Google has released four Penguin updates till now. You can have a look at my Post “Google Penguin 4.0 is live with real-time core algorithm” to know more about the dates of release of previous Penguin updates by Google.

As it’s trending now that “Penguin 4.0 update 2016 is live now as a real-time core algorithm”, It makes me wonder; What exactly the real time mean to you and your business?

According to the official blog post at Google Webmaster blog, they have made the Penguin as an integral part of the Google’s core algorithm. It means that no more Penguin updates from this point would come. There are certain implications that tease me with this new nature of Google Penguin.

One of the major implications of this notification from Google also signifies that Penguin would not be a seasonal hazard now. It would be more like a frequent “dacoit” that would rob your wealth if you don’t play by the rules. Being a part of the core algorithm also means that you would get penalized with an immediate effect if Google catches you violating its terms.

People are also calling it as ‘Webspam Update’. Penguin is a tool of Google using which it penalizes the websites that were being optimized in an unnatural way. Let’s say these websites had tons of bad links, irrespective of their relevance. Google used its ‘Penguin’ as a contract killer to wipe out these rogue links/signals and websites, and it really worked. Penguin would always terrify such rouge malpractices. It was so unconventional to present such a cute bird as a massive tool of decontamination; Just a personal comment.

1. If Penguin is real time now, it means you would get penalized frequently if malpractices are caught by Google. But you will also get the fair chances to rectify your mistakes and regain the ranking without waiting for next Penguin update.
2. If you are playing by the rules, you don’t have to fear the other rogue players as everyone would be now under a constant monitor.  This is just a personal expectation from this new update, let’s see what happens in the future.