WordPress and Wix are both tools for building websites, but they have completely different approaches. So, which is the best for your business website?
Basically, if you’re a beginner who needs a bit of a hand creating your first website, Wix can get you up and running online quickly. It is a drag-and-drop editor and comes with a wide range of free templates to get a reasonably professional-looking website without breaking too much cost or hassle.
However, for high-traffic websites that generate income, WordPress remains the best content management system. Ahrefs, a leading all-around SEO tool, has analysed 6.4 million websites, and the results show that WordPress sites have higher domain authority, backlinks, and traffic than their Wix counterparts.
Let’s unpack that a bit
Wix is easier to use but is less customisable than WordPress. In fact, it is one of the easiest website builders out there. Wix is an all-in-one hosted website platform and all the software you need to manage your website content, design and functionality is provided. You don’t have to install any software, and you edit everything in your browser.
Your site lives on their site
You build your site on their software with their tools. Your website lives on their servers, and you can only access your site via the Wix admin panel.
You won’t have to set up a web host yourself, but and it is a big BUT, because Wix websites are hosted in their infrastructure, once you create a website with them, it’s stuck there. Moving your website off Wix and on to a new web host is a real drama.
With Wix you can create and publish a free website, but it will display advertising and you cannot use your own custom domain name. Your domain name will be an extension of Wix such as, I-don’t-actually-own-this-website.wix.com.
To use your own domain name and have full functionality, you have to pay for a premium plan and then pay more to remove Wix ads from your site. Using Wix for more than a few months adds up.
Google loves new content
Wix is ideal for portfolio-type of websites but not so great for building large websites as they tend to become slow. That’s why you should think hard about what your website needs to do, because as we know, when it comes to Google and SEO, content is king.
Wix does shopping sites
Wix has a dedicated online store section with plenty of options for payments. However, because Wix sites can be slower to load, they don’t make for the ideal shopping experience and a slow site can hurt SEO. Also, as the navigation is limited to one sub-level, it’s difficult to organise larger product groupings, so Wix is not great for very large stores.
Wix is easy
As a drag-and-drop builder, Wix lets you create simple sites and is a popular choice among do-it-yourselfers. But, if you’re looking for increased flexibility and loads of features, we think a self-hosted WordPress is a much better option.
WordPress is loved by millions, not just us
WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system (CMS): there are around 70 million installations worldwide, give or take the odd million. We reckon that if you’re using the CMS the majority of website owners in the world are also using, then there has to be something pretty good about it.
WordPress lets you stand out from the crowd
When it comes to websites, we think looks are all important; your business needs to reflect who you are and what makes you special. We also think you should be in full control of your site and your data without on-going subscription costs.
WordPress lets you run, edit and host your own website yourself. The custom development of our WordPress themes means you get something that suits your business.
Our web developers can make your business site all yours, in every way. Because we know CSS and HTML, we can give you exactly the website you want.
WordPress is good for SEO
WordPress lets you install Yoast, the world’s most popular SEO plugin. This tool helps websites improve they appear on search results and boost their rankings in the long run.
Web design services
Google Wix websites, you’ll often come across people asking for help to make their sites more visible (better SEO) and reporting issues with the Wix interface. From what we understand, there is not much support out there to help you right when you need it.
Everybody’s got their “go-to” person for services they either don’t want to or just shouldn’t be doing themselves, like haircuts, plumbing, or electrical repairs. Building a website from scratch would either fall into the “service you shouldn’t be doing yourself” or “why would you want to” category.
Many people, for very good reasons, are much more interested in putting their precious time into learning about the latest developments in their business, or having a well-deserved snooze, rather than learning how to build a website, which could take weeks or years, out of their lives.
WordPress vs Wix: Our Conclusion
For business, we think WordPress is a smart decision. A WordPress site is easily scaleable so can grow with your business. WordPress is, in our opinion, the most future-proofed solution because what you can do and add to it is almost limitless. Get Woodswork web design to build it and we’ll make your website stand out.
We can take care of the website design and build for you. At WoodsWork Web Design, we can give you the control over your website design that no “free” website builders can so you own and control all your content.
WordPress is a content management system for those who value flexibility and versatility. Wix is great for beginners who want to whip up a basic website that does not need advanced features. It’s an entry-level tool with an intuitive drag-and-drop editor so you can churn out a website in minutes without much technical know-how.
Convenience vs control
Wix may be easier to use than WordPress, but that comes at a price. When deciding on the best fit for your business, we suggest you think carefully about the trade-offs: convenience for control, customisable design, the ability to grow and the fact you own your own website. In our view, the winner would be WordPress and we know how to make really good-looking WordPress websites.
Let us build your website for you. You won’t have to use your valuable time doing so and you will own all your files. That’s the difference between WordPress and Wix.
Design And Build Package
Our packages cover the total design, build and care of your website. We can host your website using your domain name and an SSL Certificate. We’ll take care of the SEO, DNS, E-commerce carts, payment gateways, mobile responsiveness and all the other web stuff.
You won’t have to worry about asking the right questions, because you shouldn’t necessarily have to know what they are – your business is your specialty, web design is ours. As an experienced web developer, you can trust us as to tell you the right answers. If you’d like to get a no obligation website proposal, call 021 158 1400 or email us and we’ll be back in touch ASAP.
Our guest writer, Clare Woods
