1C-Bitrix review: operating principle, advantages and disadvantages

Bitrix is a content management system (CMS), a leader among its analogues on the RuNet. The platform is popular and widely used because it is not only a powerful website builder, but also a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. You can use it to manage your site, create and optimize reports, distribute tasks among employees, maintain accounting records, attract customers, and develop relationships with them.

Bitrix costs a lot, especially when compared with such engines as WordPress, Wix, Joomla and others. Because of this, potential users often have questions: "Is it worth connecting this CMS?", "What business is the platform suitable for?", "What are the advantages and disadvantages?", "How much will the project cost on 1C-Bitrix?".

In this article, we will answer the most common questions, tell you about the functionality of bitrix, the pros and cons of using it, Tariffs, and much more.

What is bitrix?
If you are planning a large-scale project, say an online platform with more than a thousand products, pay attention to 1C-Bitrix. It is a commercial content management system that offers complete solutions for creating online projects of any complexity.

The target audience of this CMS is medium and large businesses. As a rule, the system is used for designing online hypermarkets, social networks, websites of large banks and news portals.

Small stores and blogs also run on this engine. Such an investment may seem unprofitable at first, but if you are focused on development, bitrix is the right decision. Editorial offices offer a lot of functionality. Some of them will not be useful when working on a small site, but as the project grows, you will need all the options.

1C-bitrix functionality
The functions of 1C-bitrix differ depending on the edition. The more expensive the license, the more modules and additional options there are.

1C-bitrix offers 5 editions (the cost is at the time of publication of the material). Let's look at each one separately:

Start – 4,320 rubles / year. This tariff is suitable for creating blogs, online stores with a small number of products, and single-page websites. The following extensions are available in the editorial office: multilingual module, search module, integration with Bitrix24, SEO module, technical support, cloud storage, automatic backup of 2 GB, DDoS protection, and much more. The "start" tariff allows you to work on two sites.
Standard-12,720 rubles / year. Forums and blogs are added to the functionality of the start tariff, where users can communicate with each other and leave feedback on the site. Subscription and mailing functions are also available. You can use this edition to launch the mobile app for Android and IOS. The number of sites is unlimited.
Small business-28,720 rubles / year. Starting with this edition, the user can design an online store with an unlimited number of products. Integration with CRM and Yandex.Market". A/B testing (evaluating the effectiveness of individual pages) and email marketing have been added from marketing tools.
Business-58,320 rubles / year. Among the advantages of the tariff, it is worth highlighting the following: estimating advertising costs, working with multiple warehouses, cumulative discounts, web analytics, the store's mobile app, a report builder, and many other CMS functions. This tariff closes all questions about creating a full-scale online store.
Enterprise - from 399,000 rubles / year. The main advantages of the plan are round - the-clock telephone VIP support, support at all stages and performance monitoring from 1C-bitrix.
Bitrix24-CRM No. 1 in Russia
Speaking about the functionality of 1C-bitrix, we cannot ignore Bitrix24. all editions include integration with this system, but you need to pay separately for using the platform.

Bitrix24 is a product from the developers of 1C-bitrix, represented by a set of tools for effective work of the company, whether it is an online store, bank or charity organization.

You can start working with the platform after registration. Prices depend on what features you need and at what level. The cheapest version will cost 752 rubles/month, the most expensive - 9,112 rubles/month. There is also a free package, but its functionality is very limited. By subscribing for a year, users get a 24% discount.

The main advantage of Bitrix24 is the built-in CRM, from the English Customer Relationship Management (Customer Relationship Management). This is a program that allows you to automate customer interaction and optimize marketing strategies. CRM integration leads to improved business processes and increased sales.

Advantages of Bitrix24 CRM:

Data organization. Every interaction with the client must be recorded. CRM collects data and places it in the cloud so that you and your employees have access to customer lists and any information related to them.
High-quality communication. Communication with customers often suffers because employees do not have access to data and communication channels do not function properly. Shared access to information from any device connected to the network and HD-quality video calls help you establish communication and consciously approach solving issues.
Automate everyday tasks. In order for a company to work as a well-oiled mechanism, many processes must be established: someone has to fill out forms, prepare reports, maintain accounting records, solve legal issues, organize document flow, and so on. By automating these processes, the CRM system leaves you time for more important tasks.
Analytical data and reporting. The CRM system stores information in one place, which allows you to optimize the analysis of data in general. You can create automatic reports, quickly find the necessary information about customers, goals, sales, and, as a result, make productive decisions.

Payment module for 1C-Bitrix
Regardless of the tariff, 1C-bitrix provides a high level of data protection. It is enough for the webmaster to install a "security scanner", and the system will monitor and prevent fraudulent operations in real time. Backup is another functional feature that ensures that all data remains intact.

To secure not only personal data, but also transactions, merchants are recommended to enable a reliable payment module. It is important that the payment solution provider complies with PCI DSS security standards. It is not superfluous to have the 3D Secure option, data tokenization and CVV/CVC verification.

Before making a decision about the payment module, carefully study the market. When choosing a provider, give preference to one with low installation costs and no complex monthly payments. Interkassa offers a payment module for bitrix for free. We charge a percentage for the transaction, and the amount depends on the cash turnover of your business.

Interkassa provides payment security and protection against unauthorized access to customer information through three-level fraud protection.

1C-bitrix: pros and cons
1C-bitrix is a multifunctional system that allows you to create an online project of any complexity. Regardless of the chosen editorial board, you can be sure that you will implement your project. The system has many advantages, among the main ones we note the following::

Easy-to-understand "admin panel". When the system offers such a variety of functions, it seems that you don't know which side to approach, especially at the beginning of work. An intuitive admin panel will help you quickly understand all the features of bitrix.
Built-in SEO plugin. Your site will promote itself in search engines. Read More About Search Engine Optimization in the article below.
Open API. The bitrix CMS is good just because it doesn't need to be modified or plugins installed. But if the webmaster wants to add something of his own or integrate services and systems, this can be done through the software interface.
Security. Bitrix has built-in data protection tools. The webmaster can purchase additional extensions if you need to strengthen the security of the resource.
Update. By purchasing a license, you get functional extensions and engine updates within a year. e
Fast page loading. While other CMS systems have problems uploading files due to the accumulation of plugins, Bitrix, despite the huge amount of functionality, provides high download speeds. This is possible thanks to its own system for speeding up page display.
The purpose of this article is not to advertise bitrix, but to provide honest and complete information about the platform. Therefore, we move on to the disadvantages.

Bitrix is a system for professionals, not amateurs. A basic understanding of HTML won't help. If you don't have any programming skills, be prepared to ask developers for help.
Even if you are willing to pay programmers who specialize in bitrix projects, they are not so easy to find. There is little information on working with the engine on the internet. There are several reviews and some advertising articles from partners in the public domain. The site does not have detailed documentation, but developers are offered to take paid courses. Therefore, there are not many people who want to master the platform.
Bitrix closes questions about all the tasks that may arise during the creation of the site, even if not the most common ones. The system has a lot of extra functionality that you probably won't use.
Using bitrix is impossible without a serious budget. You need to pay for the license, updates, as well as additional modules and hosting. By the way, the best hosting for bitrix according to users is VPS. This provider is included in the list of hosting services offered by bitrix itself.
Design and work with templates
When the bitrix CMS installation is complete, the webmaster selects the design option and theme. A template is a ready-made design and layout, meaning that the site interface, the location of images and content will depend on it. One template contains several themes that differ in colors and fonts.

You can change the site's appearance depending on your goals, preferences, and individual requirements. The following methods are suitable::

Make changes to the standard template using visual editing mode. This method offers basic customization options: placing banners, moving blocks, changing text or images, and configuring the "menu"section.
Self-customization of the template via Files. All of them are publicly available, so customization options are unlimited. This method is suitable for those who have programming skills, as you will have to work with the code.
Order a ready-made layout. If you've never had to edit templates yourself, you can contact a professional. As we have already said, when working with bitrix, be prepared to pay webmasters who will develop, design, optimize the site, update components, and much more.
Buying a template for 1C-bitrix. There are free templates, but they are hard to find. You can buy ready-made ones on the bitrix website.
Pay for the development of a unique template, use a standard one, or customize the layout yourself - the choice is yours. It all depends on your budget and programming skills. To create a completely good website, a standard template is enough for many people. The site design will be non-unique, but it has nothing to do with functionality.

Search engine optimization (SEO) and website promotion
In order for the project to be profitable and the investment to pay off, as many users as possible should get to the site. High traffic is possible if the site is in the first positions of the search results.

Bitrix provides everything. The SEO optimization module is included in every tariff, even in the "start"edition. It will help you raise your site to the top of search results. It is convenient that all processes are automated.

Functionality of the SEO optimization module:

Sitemap (Site Map) in real time. The Site Map displays links to all pages of the resource. If it is compiled correctly, the site has a better chance of rising to the top of the search results. Search bots scan the site on the map and decide how good it is, that is, how quickly and easily the user will find the necessary information. The bitrix SEO module automatically generates a map, and the user only specifies the sections that need to be indexed. You can do this in the settings.
Meta titles and meta descriptions. Meta tags significantly affect page ranking. They are designed to help search engines understand what the site's function and benefits are for visitors. Putting down meta tags is not difficult, but it is a painstaking and time-consuming task. The SEO module allows the user to set a template, and meta tags will be generated automatically.
Automatic configuration of robots.txt. This is a service file that tells search robots which pages to scan. You don't need to create the file manually, as the system will do everything for you. If there are pages that should not be indexed, include them in the list.
Image optimization. Images simplify the perception of information for site users. Images also help you optimize your resource and promote it in search results. This is possible if each image on the site has a clear name and alt description. By "clear" we mean something that carries information to the user. The module creates such descriptions automatically.
High download speed. The SEO module has a built-in scanning system that identifies pages with low speed and reports the causes of malfunctions.
In addition to the module, marketing tools such as email marketing and advertising contribute to site promotion. We remind you that they are available starting from the small business editorial office.

Cost of creating a website on 1C-Bitrix
Working with bitrix requires investment. This is a commercial system that is designed for large projects that are ready to allocate a serious budget.

You will have to pay not only for the license (we described the prices for tariffs above in the section "1C-bitrix functionality"), but also for each year of working with the engine. You pay for the license once, but you pay approximately 60% of the original price of the tariff used annually for renewal. You can do without an update, but this is a bad idea, because some features may stop working.

You can always change your license if it becomes clear during your work that it is not suitable for you. To switch from one edition to another, pay the difference between your own and the new tariff, and the system will be updated. The validity period of the revision is not attached. If you have 3 months left before the deadline for receiving updates, you will need to pay for them again at the end of this period.

Before creating a site on bitrix, be sure to try the demo version.