In this article we’re going to do an in-depth comparison of WordPress vs Wix, and hopefully give you the clarification you need in order to make the right choice for your next website. Let’s get started!
Beginning of the new year, 2020. New year, new you, new website. But how to choose what website builder you will use for your personal or business purposes? As with most of the things on the market, there are just so many options you have to choose from, that people tend to end up in a blind alley, not sure of what to do next. It is a frustrating feeling when you know there is a bunch of articles on the same topic while you do not know where to exactly start digging for reliable information. This post will focus on providing you with relevant facts on the mentioned topic, yet you have to do some of the work by yourself. It is extremely important to write what you want to accomplish with the website builder and decide on the level of flexibility and freedom you want to have after you choose the platform for your business. You have probably heard about WordPress as it powers up more than 30% of all the websites in the world. If you have heard about Wix, on the other hand, it is because of their massive marketing campaign. Just go to Youtube and an ad will pop up with the Wix logo on it. They have invested millions of dollars into positioning themselves as an A-platform for any businesses wanting to start building their online presence.
What is Wix?
Wix is a relatively new website builder that has grown its popularity after using starring stars like Gal Gadot or Heidi Klum, as a part of their marketing campaign. It hosts over 160 million websites in the world, and it reached one million users a lot faster than Squarespace. It’s popularity is also based on its beautiful template designs, aimed for small businesses, artists, bloggers, and online stores. It is somewhat like Squarespace in a way you are offered a site with already established fundamental structure, but you have much more freedom when it comes to designing the template and other site’s elements.
It is easy to understand, intuitive, and user-friendly options with flexible designs and does not require any technical knowledge. It is a perfect solution for individuals or small businesses as a site tends to become slower with too many pages. Similar to WordPress themes, you can find designs for almost every niche, from photographers, event coordinators, wedding planners, dog walkers, chiropractors, marketing coaches, and many more. People love it because you can choose how are you going to build the site, either by using the Wix ADI that will create the site for you or by using the Wix Editor where you use drag-and-drop functionality to position the elements on the site. Combined with professional, stylish and visually appealing website designs, Wix offers a lot to its customers and it running to become a popular option for many business owners.
Still, will it catch the most popular choice of many individuals and entrepreneurs, the almighty WordPress? The main difference between them is their approach to the technical aspect of the site. Wix package offers hosting and tech support, while you are mostly on your own if using WordPress. However, with so many tutorials and guidelines about WordPress, this is not something to worry about if choosing it for your website builder. Also, some people tend to say Wix is the easiest website builder because you do not need to know anything to create a site. WordPress does require certain knowledge, especially when you have to install or implement plugins. But this is something you can easily find out online, or just hire an expert who will build you the website of your dreams.
WordPress vs Wix: COST
When you want to build a website, the pricing falls into an important category. This part depends entirely on your needs (and pocket). WordPress is an opensource software, so it is available for anyone to use it freely. Of course, the catch lies in the fact you need to own your domain and host it before installing WordPress. But you have the freedom to choose from really cheap web hosting providers, and depending on your budget, you can start with either the basic or premium plan of WordPress hosting providers if you want. Even if you choose the premium plan, you can reduce your overall cost by choosing free themes and plugins.
Wix also offers a basic plan for free, but you will be exposed to two big downsides: you will have Wix advertisements on your site + you will not be able to choose a custom domain name. You will not have necessary add-ons, and any change or additional features will require you to upgrade to premium plans. There are a couple of plans with different storage and limitations. You can choose either a monthly or yearly plan, and they do not include any apps so you will have to purchase them separately from the Wix store. On the site, you will see that the most popular option is to choose Unlimited plan ($12.50 / month), so if you compare this to WordPress hosting, you will see that having a flexible plan with WP will provide you with more freedom to run the business as you want to.
WordPress vs Wix: FLEXIBILITY
Unlike Squarespace, both platforms give you the freedom to design the site as you want. You do not need to hire anybody else to do that job for you. In Wix you can easily drag-and-drop elements and rearrange them how you think is best. Some of the users claim Wix is much better because you do not need to know anything about navigation menus, post editor, etc. WordPress does require you to have a little bit of technical knowledge and understand its basics, but you have thousands of plugins on your plate that can help you to build the site as you want. Plugins like Divi or Beaver Builder offer you more powerful features and finally enable you to have much more flexibility when it comes to certain actions than the Wix builder, which leads many people to choose WordPress for their building platform.
WordPress vs Wix: CONTROL
Wix offers the hosting and domain to its users, if you take a premium plan, so it can make your life easier as you do not need to search for a hosting company on your own. You do not need to worry about updates, or maintaining your site, and you can focus on creating the content that will attract new customers to use your services or buy your products. However, what you see is what you get. If you want to change something, you will not be able to do that. If you are not satisfied with poor hosting, you are stuck with the given option. Wix also allows you to use only the tools that are created by their team, and even if they are working on growing the resources, it cannot be compared to what WordPress is offering to its community.
WordPress, on the other hand, is purely self-hosted and you have to decide on your domain and hosting company, meaning you are in charge of your site completely. For some people, especially beginners, it may look like a scary job, but it just means a little bit of practice and research online. You can also hire an expert to help you with WordPress website design. Finally, if you are not satisfied with the chosen provider, you can easily switch between hosts as you like, without any boundaries. Moreover, there is a dashboard where you are reminded if you need to update a certain plugin (with one click) so it isn’t much of a challenge to be in charge of the site’s functionality after all.
WordPress vs Wix: eCOMMERCE
As mentioned before, you can use Wix for free for some basic websites. However, if you want to run an online store, you will have to choose a premium plan. Of course, you get access to a lot of professionally designed templates that can cause your clients to go into an awe-inspiring mode. But you are bounded to use payments from PayPal and Authorize.net, and if you want to use other apps, you will have to pay even more. Even with these options, you will have limited gateways and functionality.
WooCommerce is a powerful WordPress eCommerce plugin that is used on more than 40% of all eCommerce websites in the world. It offers a great deal of flexibility, freedom, themes, and features you can use to fully grow your online store. When you are starting your business you want to be in charge of many things, and some of them are really important, like payment methods, where you do not want to restrict your clients on just a couple of options. WordPress allows you to choose among various methods, popular among people around the world so you do not need to worry about losing clients because they do not use the payment service you offer on your website.
WordPress vs Wix: SEO
Most online marketers believe Wix SEO is terrible. This was such a general opinion that in 2017 Wix launched a campaign offering a $50,000 prize to anyone who can outrank them. Recent studies show that there is a huge difference in organic search traffic as a whole, where WordPress sites are gaining significantly higher ranks. Moreover, the number of domains pointing at WordPress websites are higher than the ones at Wix websites. Wix is doing a lot to change the outcomes, but WordPress seems unbeatable to this day. Of course, you still have to provide helpful and resourceful content if you want to retain the higher rank, no matter which builder you choose. If you are providing content that is shareable, liked and discussed, search engines will love you a lot, even if you use the Wix builder. To gain the rank you want, you can use the help of internet specialists who will assist you on the way.
Wix is on to a great way to become the popular builder for new business owners, but cannot outrank far superior web publishing platforms like WordPress. And while it offers easy-to-use solutions, you can accomplish a lot more with the freedom you gain when using WordPress. If we look over the long run, WordPress is definitely the choice for most businesses. But the perfect builder depends on your specific needs. If you are a smaller business maybe you will be far more inclined to go with Wix. If you want more powerful options, you will want to have WordPress on your side. If you are frustrated because you still do not know what to choose, that is also fine. You can continue to search for the answers, or you can contact our team for help.
Innovative Solutions Group provides its customers with the right help, right when they need it. Staying updated with the latest trends, and supplying their clients with quality, strong and cost-effective support, they enable them to focus on their business growth while boosting their online presence and authority in their industry. Contact us today for more information about WordPress web design and we will be more than happy to help you with any of your questions.
