Have you ever shopped at an online store? Chances are, you have and every part of your shopping experience, from browsing products to looking at your shopping cart, was built into the eCommerce website you shopped at using something similar to Magento.
Anyone interested in building eCommerce stores should take some time to learn Magento. With this guide, you will find all of the resources you need to do just that. Whether you prefer online classes or reading informational books, we have you covered.
What Is Magento?
Magento is an open-source eCommerce platform created in the PHP coding language. It was designed for coders to easily build eCommerce websites, which is what businesses use to allow their customers to shop online.
Magento is often seen as the eCommerce solution, as it offers easy third-party integration, the ability to customize everything, and many other useful features such as inventory management. Basically, for anything eCommerce, Magento and Magento extensions will have all you need.
What Is Magento Used For?
Though Magento is technically only used for building Magento eCommerce websites, it is actually quite a useful tool. From product management to customer service, Magento is used for pretty much everything.
- Product Management. Magento offers easy product management for eCommerce business owners, making it one of the most popular uses of the platform. With options to show product images, reviews, and inventory, Magento makes it easy to keep up with your products.
- Analyzing and Reporting Data. One of the coolest features of the Magento platform is that it can be integrated with Google Analytics to easily provide data analyses and reports. This is extremely useful to business owners, as it provides important information regarding the business and its finances.
- Managing Payment Methods. Anyone who shops online knows there are about a million different ways to pay for your merchandise, and Magento makes it easy to manage those. Whether it is adding new payment options, managing current ones, or even saving customer’s payment methods for easier shopping in the future, Magento makes it a simple process.
- Customer Service. Customer service is one of the most important aspects of a business and Magento helps you provide the best. Offering Magento themes to make customer service more user-friendly, options for email services and automated customer follow-ups, and many other features, using this platform will guarantee good customer service.
Magento Skills
There are a few skills you will need to learn to become an expert at using Magento. While these skills may seem basic, they are crucial to your learning of the platform. All of these can easily be learned from watching video tutorials, taking classes, or even reading books.
Theme Integration, Design, and Development
If you want your eCommerce website to look unique and aesthetically pleasing, you’ll want to learn all about Magento themes and how to integrate them into your design. There are many premade themes available that can be used with various design options to develop your perfect storefront.
Monitoring, Testing, and Maintenance
Though monitoring, testing, and performing maintenance is not nearly as fun as designing your eCommerce store, it is extremely important to know how to do it. Being able to monitor your storefront and test it for bugs is vital in preventing issues in the first place, and being able to perform necessary maintenance makes those issues an easy fix.
Integration of Third-Party Software
As we discussed above, using Google Analytics to generate data reports is a unique feature in the Magento platform. This is one skill you will definitely want to master, as many of the features you will likely want from your eCommerce store will come from third-party software.
Learning Magento
Whether you want to learn eCommerce from scratch or simply want to add another eCommerce weapon to your arsenal as an entrepreneur, learning Magento is the way to go. In fact, learning how to operate Magento is an essential business skill for any eCommerce entrepreneur.
There is a way to learn Magento for every type of learner. Whether you do your best learning in online courses or from reading books, we have you covered with all of our favorite Magento learning resources.
How Long Does It Take to Learn Magento?
On average, Magento users report being able to successfully learn how to use the platform in about one month. However, this is something that truly does vary from person to person.
If you are able to study for six to eight hours a day, every day, you can easily learn Magento in one month or even less. For others who don’t have that time, it could take a few months.
The great thing about learning Magento is that you don’t have to put yourself under any time constraints. You can go as fast or as slow as you want, and as long as you feel comfortable in your skills, you will be set.
How to Learn Magento: Step-by-Step
Regardless of the learning path you choose to follow, these five steps can be used as a guide to help you along the way. Whether you follow them exactly or decide to switch them up a bit, these steps are sure to help you learn Magento.
- Explore Magento Website. Before fully committing to learning Magento, take some time to explore the Magento website and decide if it is truly the best option for you. If you decide it is, fantastic. If not, there are plenty of other eCommerce platforms to test out.
- Sign Up for Free Trial. Since Magento is a bit costly, it is always a good idea to start with the free trial. This allows you to begin to learn how the platform works without investing any money into it. Doing it this way allows you to test the waters a bit more before jumping in.
- Watch Tutorials. Since Magento was bought by Adobe, there are plenty of tutorials you can watch on Adobe’s website to learn the basics. Doing this may seem like an unimportant step, but if you jump right into classes without knowing the very basics, you may find yourself floundering.
- Take Magento Classes. After you have begun to learn the basics of Magento, we recommend enrolling in a few online classes. Taught by experts in a format that makes it easy to learn at your own pace, online courses are a great way to learn new platforms.
- Read Books and Practice. The last step we recommend taking during your Magento learning journey is to read some books and keep practicing. Reading books about Magento will help you learn new things and keep your skills sharp, while practicing will allow you to learn through trial and error, and perfect your craft.
The Best Magento Courses and Training
Since taking a class or two is the best way to learn a new platform such as Magento, we have compiled all of our favorite online and free Magento training courses. If you are unsure of courses, we suggest taking one just to feel it out. After all, you’ll never know what you’re missing out on unless you try it.
Best Online Magento Courses
Online courses are one of the best ways to learn, especially if you want to learn at your own speed and on your own time. We recommend these three online Magento classes, but if they don’t cover what you’re looking for, there are plenty more available.
Learning Path: Magento: Master and Test Magento 2 with Ease
- Provider: Udemy
- Time: 6 hours
- Prerequisites: None
- Cost: $129.99
Udemy is one of the best resources for online courses regarding anything tech, so it is no surprise to see this Learning Path: Magento course listed as one of our favorites. This $129.99 course consists of around 6 hours of on-demand video lessons that aim to teach you all about how to create using Magento.
Magento 2 Theme Development
- Provider: Udemy
- Time: 3 hours
- Prerequisites: None
- Cost: $54.99
Another fantastic Udemy course is this Magento 2 Theme Development course for $54.99. This course consists of about 3 hours of on-demand video lessons that will teach you everything you need to know about using Magento themes and customizing them to fit your perfect eCommerce storefront.
Magento Fundamentals
- Provider: envato tuts+
- Time: 2.5 hours
- Prerequisites: None
This Magento Fundamentals course offered by envato tuts+ takes around 2.5 hours to complete and covers all of the basics of Magento. Starting at the very beginning of the Magento learning journey, this course takes you from installing the software to creating modules and controllers.
Best Free Magento Courses
Free courses are one of the best things you can find as a student of any subject, and we are happy to report that there are many free Magento courses. While these are our 3 favorites, there are many others out there worth checking out.
The Beginner’s Guide to Magento
- Provider: OSTraining
- Time: 6 hours
- Prerequisites: None
- Cost: Free
OSTraining offers The Beginner’s Guide to Magento as a totally free course lasting about 6 hours. This course is designed for total beginners and teaches all of the basics needed to build an eCommerce site. Offering use of a free version of Magento, this course helps you create an eCommerce website that sells coffee products, to give you some real-world experience as you learn.
Building Magento 2 Themes
- Provider: InLearning
- Time: 3 hours
- Prerequisites: None
- Cost: Free
Though you do have to pay for a membership to Linkedin’s InLearning website, you can access this course as part of a free 1-month trial. This course consists of three hours of video lectures and teaches you everything you need to know about building, designing, and customizing themes in Magento.
Theming Magento Series
- Provider: LevelUp
- Prerequisites: None
- Cost: Free
This series of video tutorials offered by LevelUp provides students with an in-depth look into theming in Magento. From demonstrating how to use pre-built themes to explaining how to design and customize your own, this course will teach you all of the ins and outs of theming in Magento.
Best Magento Books
Reading a book or two is a fantastic way for many people to learn. That’s why we have included our top three picks for books to help you learn Magento in this guide.
Magento: Beginner’s Guide, Robbert Ravensbergen & Sander Schoneville
Written specifically for those non-techies trying to learn Magento, Magento: Beginner’s Guide by Robbert Ravensbergen and Sander Schoneville is a fantastic resource for complete newbies in the world of eCommerce and development. This book makes learning Magento easy and way less daunting for those of you who are inexperienced in the tech world.
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Magento 2 Development Essentials, Fernando J Miguel
Fernando J Miguel’s Magento 2 Development Essentials is more of a guide for web developers to up their game by learning how to develop Magento eCommerce websites. This guide helps web developers build upon their skills and learn the fundamentals of Magento, and how to use these skills to implement new features and quickly solve problems.
Magento Best Practices, Alessandro Ronchi
Alessandro Ronchi wrote Magento Best Practices as a compilation of Magento-related advice for those who have already learned the software. Filled with years worth of advice regarding both simple and complex scenarios you may run into while using Magento, this is one book you won’t want to forget about.
Magento Certifications
Since Magento can be a bit challenging to learn, you might as well earn a certificate to prove your knowledge. Not only will it impress potential employers, but it will make you feel good about yourself and this stunning accomplishment. These are a couple of the certifications we recommend earning.
Adobe Certified Expert- Magento Commerce Developer
Offered as an official Adobe certification, this Adobe Certified Expert- Magento Commerce Developer certificate demonstrates your ability to use Magento 2 in a few different areas. Specifically focused on your abilities to make UI modifications, database changes, order management integrations, and a few other areas, this is a specialized certification.
In order to earn this certification, it is recommended that you have at least 1.5 years of Magento experience under your belt. You will need to be well versed in customizing things within the different areas of Magento, and of course, you will have to pass the certification exam.
Adobe Certified Master- Magento Commerce Architect
Another one of the official Adobe certifications is the Adobe Certified Master- Magento Commerce Architect certificate. This certificate is aimed to prove your expertise in customizing different areas, leading teams and projects, and working with customers to build the perfect product.
In order to earn this certification, you will need to have at least two years of experience performing various types of Magento work and will need to have worked with various customers prior. You will also have to take and pass the certification exam.
Best Online Magento Resources
Everyone from, beginners to experts, loves a good online resource. Whether you need help learning or a bit of a brush up on a certain skill, these online resources will help you find everything you are looking for.
Mage Mastery
Mage Mastery is an awesome website offering a plethora of Magento learning resources. Whether you are looking for courses, training, or even practice exams, Mage Mastery has it all. While you do have to pay for most of the courses, you can check out the blog to find new information about Magento and possibly the answers to your questions.
Adobe
Adobe is fantastic when it comes to providing useful learning materials on its website. For Magento, you can find dozens of tutorials, classes, and certifications available to help you in your Magento career. With an Access Learning Subscription, you can register for all of the classes for free, and you can even request in-person training.
Lynda
Lynda is often said to be the best website when it comes to learning anything Adobe, and Magento is no different. Through this extension of Linkedin, you can access dozens of online tutorials and courses to help you learn just about anything you need to know about Magento. While there is a cost for a membership, you can sign up for a free trial before deciding if a membership is worth it to you.
Should You Study Magento?
Even though Magento can be a difficult platform to fully learn and understand, we at Career Karma highly recommend all web developers and business owners alike take some time to study it. This platform is one of the best eCommerce solutions out there, and learning how to use it is a gamechanger in many careers.
Whether you choose to learn by taking online courses, reading books, or simply browsing online resources, you are sure to benefit from studying Magento. As an entrepreneur, you will be able to build the perfect eCommerce store for your business, and as a developer, you will become nearly irresistible to potential employers. When all is said and done, studying Magento is one thing you won’t regret.
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