WIX is a website building platform that unfortunately got a bad reputation early on in life. This reputation, unfortunately, seems to continue to persecute the platform and that ends up misleading countless people, especially the most lay people in the subject of websites.
Many customers question us if it really is a good option.
Having already worked with platforms like Wordpress and Squarespace and being a Software Engineer by training, I think it's important to share why I recommend the WIX platform as well as demystify all the prejudices that exist in relation to the website editing platform.
The truth is that most of the template-based website platforms out there today are pretty good. I like Squarespace too, I've used Wordpress several times, and Shopify is a great on for e-commerce.
That said, I've been using WIX, creating WIX sites for my clients, and selling WIX site templates for a few years now and I couldn't be happier with the platform. It's intuitive, easy to use, and a wonderful foundation for creating an impressive website.
WHY DOES WIX HAVE A BAD REPUTATION?
WIX started out as a Flash website building platform. This was before the time of responsive design and when Flash was still widely supported by all major browsers.
When Flash started to lose appeal due to its massive security vulnerabilities, WIX found itself in big trouble which led to a rapid redesign of its model.
In fact initially it was very difficult to recommend WIX for SEO. There were many issues that made it difficult to compete on Google and other search engines, including:
A bad URL structure. Extraneous characters were added to the URL (eg mysite.com/#!about/xis9). Which is not SEO friendly at all.
Adding alt attributes (alternative text for images) was not possible.
The blog was an absolute disaster as it was not possible to optimize the title tag, the URL or the meta description of the posts.
All this contributed to create a bad reputation that still spreads through the internet today. If you have researched this topic and found several articles, we strongly recommend that you look for the date of publication as many are completely out of date.
CURRENTLY HOW IS WIX FOR SEO
One of the reasons why I really support this platform is its ability to improve and respond to the needs of its users. Since 2016, WIX has made fundamental changes to improve its performance by implementing advanced SEO options such as canonical URLs and Rich Results, making WIX a pioneer in SEO for website builders.
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Currently, WIX is positioned side by side with the best (e.g. Wordpress) when it comes to SEO.
CREATIVE DESIGN
In addition to the platform providing a multitude of beautiful and professional templates, the ability to customize and change the design is one of the great advantages when the goal is to have something really differentiating.
In addition, you can create text animation effects and other elements that really elevate the website's visual aesthetic.
Interestingly, the freedom you have is so much that sometimes this is an aspect criticized in some reviews as this freedom can lead to inconsistencies in the design and even lead to spending too much time designing the sites so that they look really good. The fact that, at Studio Suvelle, we already have many years of experience and many websites developed, makes us feel at ease and allows us to offer design at very competitive prices.
VERSION MANAGEMENT AND AUTOMATIC SAVE
One of the advantages compared to some other editors on the market is the possibility of having version management and the fact that the platform automatically saves the site as we make changes. Furthermore, only after publishing the changes are they reflected on the published website. This is particularly interesting when we decide to completely change the template of a website e.g. but also when, once the site is delivered to the client, he decides to start making some small changes, as he will be able to do so with some freedom without the fear of completely ruining what he has done.
ADAPTATION TO USER REQUESTS
Over the years WIX has done an excellent job of listening to users' needs and transcribing those needs into effective functionality. This demonstrates that the platform is committed to growing and accompanying its customers and at the same time generates a feeling of trust which, in my view, is very important. In addition to the community forums and the extensive online library, there is also a process that allows users to vote on new features, which leads the team to assess whether or not it is a very required need or not.
WIX vote Pool for new functionality
EASE OF USABILITY, MAINTENANCE AND SAFETY
Whenever we design a website for a client, we make it a point to hand over full control of it to that client. The fact that the platform is extremely easy to use even for beginners makes the whole process much easier and more appealing. This way our customers know that they won't have to constantly pay for basic changes or small extras that they decide to implement over time. Furthermore, since the sites are hosted on WIX servers, this means that the servers are optimized and the professionals ensure that the sites are and remain fast and secure without the user having to constantly "follow" technological changes and/or or security.
When we finalize the delivery of a website, we ensure a smooth transition and provide the necessary information for the customer to feel perfectly comfortable using your website.
POSSIBILITY OF EXTRA WITH THE MARKET APP
The App Market offers more than 250 extra applications, the vast majority of which offer a free option. Online appointments, event management or real-time chat are some of the applications that are available and that can be integrated quickly and simply. Furthermore, as most of these applications are developed by WIX itself, this ensures that they will be supported in the future.
WIX App Market
DOMAIN AND ACCOMMODATION AT ONCE
The platform allows, through its premium plans, to have the hosting and the domain at once, which makes the process much simpler than, for example, having to pay for these services in other entities. Of course, in the same way, it is possible to simply transfer an own domain that has already been acquired previously.
POSSIBILITY OF DEEPER ADAPTATIONS IN CODE
Some of the strongest voices against the WIX platform are precisely the programmers. This is because it is perfectly possible to have a website without the real need for a programmer to build a website from scratch. As a programmer and computer engineer myself, I can see this defensive posture. However, I can say that, although it is true that a programmer is not required to have a website, it is always an asset to have input from someone who can go deeper into the code and introduce those extras that are really unique and personalized to concrete needs. And WIX allows precisely that with WIX CORVID (formerly WIX CODE).
NEW IMPROVED BLOG
Unlike the rest of the WIX philosophy, the blog component is simple and minimalistic - as a blogging platform should be. Allows you to customize the URL of each post (perfect for SEO), add images and galleries and define categories and tags and even add meta descriptions and title tag. In addition, it presents a simple form of search, allows multiple contributors to the blog and with the launch of WIX TURBO, the pages load much faster which makes the blog (and the site in general) more appealing from the reader's point of view.
There is even the option to choose between different layouts of presentation of the various posts for a more customizable look.
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THE CONS
Of course, like any platform, WIX also has its cons such as:
Inability to export site content - one of the major limitations of wix is that it does not allow exporting the site and/or blog to other platforms and/or hosts.
Unable to change the site template - Once a template is applied to a site, it is not possible to change it. However, everything is completely adaptable, so changing the design completely is perfectly possible for someone more specialized.
Free plan implies WIX branding - which means that on a site without a premium plan there will be a slash at the top of WIX and the domain will look something like mysite.wixsite.com. That's why we always recommend upgrading to a premium plan.
CONCLUSION
It is important to bear in mind that there are several very good options on the market and in fact it is necessary to have a good assessment of the client/brand objective to identify the best option for your website. However, for small brands and small businesses whose goal is to have a visually beautiful website, sell online, for photographers, artists, or other types of entrepreneurs who want to showcase their portfolios then WIX is definitely an excellent option.
Disclaimer: This article was written in October 2020 and we will try to update it as the platform evolves.
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