#ecommercetips

For many business owners, choosing between a custom WordPress website and a theme builder often appears simple. Theme builders seem cheaper, faster, and visually appealing. But in 2026, where user expectations, SEO rules, AI-driven search algorithms, and conversion standards have evolved drastically, this decision directly affects your lead generation, brand perception, and long-term digital growth.

Your website is not just something people visit. It is your primary marketing engine. It represents your brand globally, showcases your expertise, influences trust, and determines whether a visitor converts or walks away. Nothing impacts this more than the quality of your design, structure, performance, and UX — all of which depend on choosing between a custom WordPress build or a theme-based website.

This guide breaks down the difference and helps you choose what truly converts better for growing businesses in the USA, Europe, Middle East, Australia, and India.

Why Theme Builders Seem Attractive – But Fail in the Long Run Theme builders like Elementor, Divi, Avada, Astra starter templates, and pre-made themes are popular because they offer:

quick setup, drag-and-drop editing, and visually pleasing layouts without coding. They work for small businesses or temporary landing pages, but come with major drawbacks.

Theme builders often include:

bloated code, excessive CSS and JS files, unnecessary scripts, heavy page structures, and poor performance. Slow websites in 2026 severely impact:

SEO rankings, Core Web Vitals scores, bounce rates, conversions. Even a 1-second delay can reduce conversions by up to 7 percent.

Theme builders also restrict:

layout flexibility, custom features, marketing integrations, and unique branding. Your site risks looking similar to thousands of others using the same templates, making it harder to stand out or scale.

Why Custom WordPress Websites Convert Better – Especially in 2026 A custom WordPress website is built from scratch with your business goals, brand story, and conversion strategy in mind. It solves the limitations of theme builders through:

clean, optimized code, fast loading speed, refined UX flows, clear messaging hierarchy, optimized CTAs, AI-search readiness, and brand differentiation. Custom layouts are designed around your:

business narrative, product strengths, target audience behaviour, industry requirements. It is not just about making the website pretty. It is about creating a website that persuades, educates, and converts.

Custom builds integrate smoothly with:

CRMs, payment gateways, automation tools, marketing platforms, AI personalization systems. The clean structure improves Core Web Vitals, enhances SEO, and prepares your site for AI engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot that rely on high-quality structured content.

Which One Is Better for SEO, AI Search and Core Web Vitals? Custom WordPress websites outperform theme builders in SEO and AI search.

SEO relies on:

speed, structure, schema markup, crawlability, page experience, content clarity. Custom websites excel because they avoid clutter, redundant scripts, and heavy layouts.

AI search engines prefer websites that are:

structurally clean, text-rich, logically organized, schema-enabled, conversationally aligned, easy to interpret. Theme builders often hide important content in shortcodes or heavy front-end structures, making it harder for AI systems to understand.

In a world moving toward AI-driven search results, custom WordPress websites are far more future-proof.

Flexibility, Scalability and Long-Term Maintenance As your business grows, you will need:

new pages, new features, custom integrations, automation workflows, industry-specific functionality. Custom WordPress websites are built for long-term scalability and stability. They handle growth smoothly and cost-effectively.

Theme builders struggle with:

custom changes, scalability, complex features, large content structures. This is why major businesses worldwide prefer custom development.

FAQs Q1: Are custom WordPress websites better for Indian businesses? A: Yes. They load faster, perform better on mobile, and improve SEO in competitive markets.

Q2: Do theme builders affect rankings in Google India? A: Yes. Heavy themes slow performance and damage Core Web Vitals.

Q3: How much does a custom WordPress site cost in Chennai? A: Around ₹1.5 to ₹7 lakhs depending on requirements.

Q4: Are custom websites better for lead generation? A: Absolutely. Custom UX significantly improves conversions.

Q5: Can custom websites support multiple languages? A: Yes, including Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, and more.

Q6: Are theme builders good for small startups? A: They work initially but fail as needs grow.

Q7: Do theme builders slow down on Indian mobile networks? A: Yes, especially on 4G networks.

Q8: Can BlazeDream migrate a theme-builder site to custom WordPress? A: Yes, with SEO protection and performance upgrades.

Q9: Are custom websites secure for Indian payment gateways? A: Yes, including Razorpay, UPI, and NetBanking.

Q10: Which option converts better for Indian audiences? A: Custom WordPress — due to speed, UX, and messaging clarity.

For those who’ve just started a startup or are about to take the leap into entrepreneurship, this is an Online Advertising for Start-Ups, it can feel overwhelming trying to figure out where to start. Choosing a niche, picking the right business name, setting up your website, and figuring out how to bring in traffic — it's a lot.

One thing that helped me was breaking it down step-by-step. From learning about email marketing to figuring out how to use social media for growth, there are a lot of small things that come together to build a solid foundation.

If you’re feeling stuck, I’d suggest exploring resources that go into these details. It’s not just about knowing the theory — it’s about knowing the how-to. Focus on integrating strategies that align with your goals, and take it one step at a time.

Just a little something I’ve found useful on my own journey.

If you're looking to make money online, selling products through Digistore24 can be a great option. The platform provides a user-friendly and reliable way to sell or promote products to a wide audience. However, like any other business, making a sale on Digistore24 requires skills, knowledge, and strategy.

Good news is, these skills can be learned and improved by watching videos. With the plethora of information available on the internet, you can find tutorials, webinars, and training videos that can help you master the art of making sales on Digistore24. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced marketer, these videos can provide valuable insights, tips, and techniques to boost your sales and grow your business.

Here's a brief overview of the steps you need to follow to make a sale on Digistore24:

Sign up as an Affiliate or Seller on Digistore24 The first step to making a sale on Digistore24 is to create an account as an affiliate or seller. This process is quick and easy, and once you've signed up, you'll have access to a range of tools and resources that can help you succeed.

Choose a product to promote or create your own product to sell Next, you need to select a product to promote or create your own product to sell. Make sure to choose a product that aligns with your interests and expertise, as this will make it easier for you to promote it effectively.

Drive traffic to your unique affiliate or sales link To make a sale, you need to drive traffic to your unique affiliate or sales link. You can do this through a variety of marketing techniques, including social media marketing, content marketing, email marketing, and paid advertising.

Convert visitors into customers through effective marketing techniques Once you have visitors on your page, it's time to convert them into customers. This can be achieved through effective marketing techniques such as building rapport, providing value, creating a sense of urgency, and using psychological triggers.

Earn commission on sales made through your link Finally, when someone makes a purchase through your link, you'll earn a commission on the sale. The amount of commission you earn will depend on the product and the terms and conditions agreed upon by the vendor.

In conclusion, making a sale on Digistore24 requires a combination of skills and strategy. By watching videos and learning from experienced marketers, you can gain the knowledge and techniques needed to succeed as an affiliate or seller on the platform.

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Happy 2022, and welcome to my latest summary of the top news, studies and helpful resources for ecommerce, social media, SEO and content marketing (with a special focus on Etsy), compiled since my last update in November (although a few articles are older than that). I didn't get completely caught up from the holiday season, but will cover those missing topics in the next few updates.

Note the new format - I've grouped topics a bit differently, and added a few new ones. I like it a lot better than the previous one, but will probably make at least a few changes, so please let me know if you have any complaints or suggestions. Post your thoughts here on Tumblr, email me through my website, or connect on Twitter.

TOP NEWS & ARTICLES

Etsy is now refunding buyers out of seller funds almost immediately in some opened cases, including when the order’s tracking shows the package as delivered. Recent examples include:

a case (with full tracking via Royal Mail) in the UK; seller is escalating with Support

a US case with full tracking; Etsy did refund the seller eventually after they escalated their complaint “The solution is to request a call back from Etsy. Do not go through chat or email. I waited about 5 minutes to get a call back.” - what do those without access to call backs do?

a digital download case that may have been a scam; no word yet on a refund from Etsy

All payments had cleared. Some sellers have claimed that Etsy refused to refund them, even after the seller demonstrated compliance with Seller Protection rules. Most seem to involve “unauthorized use” but in some cases the buyer wants to pay the seller back. Speculation is that this is due to a new bot from Etsy, which wouldn’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention. This could also be related to the weird glut of order cancellations both buyers and sellers are complaining about: see here, here, and here.

US Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday were not quite as big as last year for online retail, possibly because some buyers heeded warnings and purchased holiday gifts earlier than usual. Amazon was up over the same period, however. Overall, US ecommerce sales were up over 2021, due to bigger totals before and after Cyber Week. While up from 2020, December sales did slow compared to November, possibly due to omicron. In the US, the areas with the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates had the highest amount of in-person shopping.

Amazon expects to become the largest delivery service in the United States by early 2022, leaving UPS and FedEx behind. “The retail giant now oversees thousands of last-mile delivery companies that deliver packages exclusively for Amazon, as well as a budding in-house network of planes, trucks and ships. It has also dotted the country with warehouses and air hubs that can speed along packages…By last August, Amazon was estimated to be delivering 66% of its own packages.”

ETSY NEWS

When Etsy made some minor upgrades to the payment account page on January 1, some sellers were confused by the changed terminology, and mistakenly thought that there had been a fee increase. In particular, Etsy previously hid the payment processing fee on the line with the total sale’s credit to your account, while it now places that charge on a separate line. Etsy is also finally breaking out the taxes that it collects on sellers behalf, which should have been the way it was done from the beginning. This should make things easier for at least some of us.

Some sellers with payment reserves have been unable to get their money released when they ship with tracking, as Etsy’s system isn’t recognizing the tracking. While the UK issue has been partially resolved, it went on for close to one month, and other countries such as Germany are still experiencing the same issue. This could also affect sellers elsewhere if shipping companies missed scans during the holiday season and the likely upcoming pandemic-related labour shortages.

Note that this lack of tracking is now happening with Etsy’s Pitney Bowes integration for letters in the US. See here and here.

Quite a few shop owners were surprised to find themselves with Star Seller badges in mid-December, even though they didn’t qualify. See here, here, here and here. Note that the badges all disappeared again in January, and no one who didn’t have at least 95% on shipping seemed to get one.

Klarna is now available for purchases from Spain and Australia.

Etsy was one of many large sites that went down due to the Google Cloud outage on November 16th.

The company continued to get good media mileage from Josh Silverman’s assertions that Etsy sellers mostly aren't affected by supply chain issues, including an invite to a conference with President Biden. Here are stories from Fox, the New York Times, and CNBC.

There is also more attention to the problem of false intellectual property claims and counterfeit takedowns. From the first article: “The takedowns spike around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and “it’s typically competitors trying to slow down someone else,” according to Brent Sausser, a partner at law firm Sausser Summers PC, which represents sellers in such disputes.” The second article: “List a secondhand product from fashion companies like Michael Kors, Dior, or YSL, and you could soon be facing down an IP notice trying to block or restrict the sale, say online sellers. These takedowns can destabilize independent merchants and jeopardize their livelihoods. And now, sellers say overzealous takedowns are getting more and more intense across different e-commerce platforms, just as consumers are beginning to embrace secondhand fashion over buying directly from manufacturers and big-box retailers...The INFORM Consumers Act, supported by Amazon, Etsy, and eBay, would require online marketplaces to take additional steps to verify the identities of high-volume third-party sellers. Meanwhile, the SHOP SAFE Act — which has received pushback from online selling platforms — would open platforms up to lawsuits unless they take certain steps to prevent counterfeit products. But Liebesman and critics of the bill say the legislation as-is could end individuals’ and small businesses’ ability to sell products online.”

At least a few Etsy sellers are in trouble with the IRS because the tax agency doesn’t believe that some of their PayPal sales in 2018 and ‘19 were actually made on Etsy. This Etsy forum thread tells one such story. If you know anyone affected, please have them contact me, as I can connect them with the others to share tactics on getting this fixed.

Speaking of the IRS, most US sellers will need to provide their tax information to Etsy under a new law that took effect January 1, 2022. See more here. As usual, a bunch of shops were put into vacation mode after following Etsy’s instructions. Making sure that your name is the exact same as on your SSN or EIN paperwork seems to help. If you are a non-US seller who received the messages, here is how to make sure Etsy doesn’t shut you down.

Etsy published their trends for 2022 in December with a look back at 2021 as well. You will discover that emerald green searches are already up 60% in the last 3 months, 70’s lighting is hot, and colourful weddings will be back (searches up 223%). They then followed up with “early 2022 trends”, focussing on Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Some recent search trends: “2,627% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for pastel room decor…177% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for squiggles…54% YoY increase in searches on Etsy for prisms or suncatchers…368% YoY increase in searches for ‘70s lighting.”

SEO: GOOGLE & OTHER SEARCH ENGINES

Google’s search algorithm spam update finished rolling out November 8th; you probably won’t see much impact if you don’t do spammy things. But then they started a core update on November 17th, which took 1-2 weeks to roll out completely. Google says they will reconsider timing for next year’s holiday shopping season after many SEOs complained. The last update seemed to hit some sites very hard, but Amazon, Walmart and Etsy were among the ecommerce winners, according to this study.

Google does recognize bold text on a page as a way of emphasizing the page’s real meaning. That doesn’t mean you should bold everything, though.

Moving a site or even just some pages? Google says to make sure you keep the redirect in place for at least a year [video], for SEO purposes.

Here is Google’s search news update for December. [video]

SOCIAL MEDIA - All Aspects, By Site

General

Shopping on social media is expected to grow much faster than website-based ecommerce in the next few years, making close to 20% of overall online sales, driven primarily by Gen Z and millennials.

Here’s a primer on social media advertising.

Facebook

Facebook ad targeting will no longer allow many types of controversial categories as of January 19 2022. “In other words, you won’t be able to target your ads based on topics like ‘World Diabetes Day’ or other health causes, nor will you be able to hone in on elements related to sexual orientation, political beliefs, etc….[however] Facebook says that brands will still be able to use Engagement Custom Audiences in order to reach people who’ve liked their Page, or Facebook users who’ve watched their videos, while you’ll also be able to use the same as the basis for Lookalike targeting, along with your own email lists.”

If you are using Facebook Ads to get signups/registrations, you probably should be using Lead Ads, which keep the registrant on Facebook & produced more signups for less spend in this A/B test.

Instagram

It looks like Instagram is going to push videos more than still images in the future, which could change traffic and engagement for some businesses.

They are also testing a reverse-chronological feed, but it can’t be set as the default, so users will have to select it each time they open Instagram.

Instagram hashtags are a crucial way to get noticed; learn how to use them and which ones are the most popular.

TikTok

TikTok is projected to have more than 1.5 billion users some time in 2022.

Twitter

Walmart was the first company to try out Twitter’s livestream shopping, on November 28.

YouTube

After some tests, YouTube made “dislikes” on videos private (only seen by the publisher).

How to get more followers on YouTube.

(CONTENT) MARKETING (includes blogging, emails, and strategies)

If you aren’t having much success with your email list, here are 17 tips that can improve your effectiveness.

ONLINE ADVERTISING (ALL EXCEPT SOCIAL MEDIA)

There was a Google Shopping ad bug on November 12-13 that hugely increased the cost-per-click. While it has long been fixed, check your reporting to see if you were affected, as you are likely eligible for refunds.

Google Ads’ “Performance Max” campaigns are now available to all advertisers. Here’s how to start using them. “Machine learning models then optimize bids for advertisers’ goals.”

Catch up on the most recent changes to Microsoft Ads here, including new countries where it is available. “Microsoft has removed the minimum spend requirement to use Customer Match targeting with email match. Microsoft said the removal of this requirement “makes it possible for more of you to use this feature that plays an important role in moving into the cookieless world…The Microsoft Audience Ads is now available to all customers in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Venezuela. Previously is was available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Germany.”

STATS, DATA, OTHER TRACKING

Google Analytics 4 will no longer track bounce rates; instead, it looks at engagement rates.

ECOMMERCE NEWS, IDEAS, TRENDS (minus social media)

Amazon

Amazon’s UK site will no longer accept UK-issued Visa cards as of January 19, 2022; they say it is due to the high Visa processing fees. Critics note that Amazon’s fees for its third party sellers can be as much as 20%.

US users will be able to pay with Venmo starting in 2022.

eBay

eBay had a disturbing “bug” in early December, where some buyer and seller accounts were closed for no reason.

Shopify

Shopify is testing a product search app that would include all websites built with Shopify. Businesses would have to opt in.

In the meantime, outside search engine traffic is still a way to get more eyes on your Shopify site; here is a somewhat-advanced set of tips for technical SEO on Shopify.

Linktree now offers the ability to feature Shopify items on your page. “Once users link their Shopify accounts with Linktree, they’ll be able to choose which products or collections to promote. There’s also an option to live sync Shopify collections onto Linktree, so that any changes made on Shopify are reflected on Linktree automatically. Users can display up to six products at a time and host multiple links for different collections or stores.”

All Other Marketplaces

ArtFire closed, but didn't bother to notify its sellers directly. It just posted a notice on the website instead of sending an email. It’s not clear if sellers can get their data now that the site has shut.

All Other Website Builders

GoDaddy experienced a large data breach, which may have exposed the information of 1.2 million customers. “...the company detected unauthorized access to its systems where it hosts and manages its customers’ WordPress servers...the unauthorized person used a compromised password to get access to GoDaddy’s systems around September 6. GoDaddy said it discovered the breach last week on November 17. It’s not clear if the compromised password was protected with two-factor authentication.”

Wix now offers a buy now, pay later option, through PayPal’s Pay Later.

Payment Processing

Klarna, a leader in “buy now, pay later” (BNPL), is introducing “pay now” options, and will soon have a physical card available to US users. “Though behind in market share versus competitors like PayPal, Klarna’s approach as a way to pay online and its share of checkout is providing some competition. Merchants are telling Klarna that its share of checkout is steadily growing after being in the U.S. market for just two years.”

Afterpay says its own BNPL services were up 34% during Cyber Week.

Not wanting to be beaten at the name game by Meta/Facebook, Square is now called Block, although the merchant services will still be known as Square.

Shipping

Stamps has rebranded as Auctane, which is the name of one of Stamps’ subsidiaries. The new corp also owns Endicia, MetaPack, ShipStation and several other shipping applications.

BUSINESS & CONSUMER TRENDS, STATS & REPORTS; SOCIOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY, CUSTOMER SERVICE

Resale continues to increase in popularity, with some seeing it as a way to locate rare items, while others are all about sustainability. “Carolyn Thomas, president and CEO of Aravenda, a consignment software company, noted that the resale industry is growing 11 times faster than traditional retail, citing ThredUp data. This trend is likely linked to two factors: supply chain logistics and the consumer’s shift to a sustainable mindset.” However, the popularity means there is a glut in some types of items, and people may struggle to find someone to take their items on consignment or even as donations. “There’s not much demand for that perfect pencil skirt, or other things that seem so ‘yesterday.' Why invest in cashmere sweaters to wear around the house?" Corlett said. "They’re only going to accept what their client base is going to take.” Instead, timeless pieces — including handbags, totes and accessories — are selling well, as are items with sentimental value.”

Shipping prices have gone up everywhere, and the frequent push for low or even no shipping fees in ecommerce means some sellers might be seeing more complaints about those fees. While not everyone can find cheaper shipping methods, many will benefit from tips on reducing and dealing with shipping cost complaints.

No matter how good you are at running your business, sometimes you will need to apologize to a customer. Here are some really good tips, and 5 example letters. My favourite is “Explain what you’ll do differently” - as a customer, I want to know how you are going to prevent this from happening to others (or to me in the future).

IMAGES, VIDEO, GRAPHIC DESIGN, & FREE ONLINE TOOLS

Part of an ongoing series on product photography, here are articles on basic photo composition and then advanced photo composition.

To pull your social media posts and ads together, check out these simple design tips to remember. [infographic and text]

Creative Cloud Express is a new app from Adobe that has a free version as well as paid options. Adobe claims it is easier to learn than Photoshop, and it comes with templates as well as the ability to edit videos and images. “The app seems to be designed for social media managers, small business owners, and anyone else who has something to promote but isn’t a pro at graphic design.”

Here is a good collection of pdf, video, image and other tools with a simple interface, for free. I used a few of the pdf tools with great success.

Looking for new fonts? Check out 20 new ones that are free for commercial use.

MISCELLANEOUS (including humour)