Happy Thursday! I’m PUMPED to talk about today’s topic so you’re getting two blog posts today! As a web developer, there are many, many intricacies and complications that can pop up when creating a new website for a client.
SO, let’s talk about Wix! Why do I, and most web developers, not recommend it – like ever? First and foremost, Wix sites typically have a very uniform look, meaning you can almost always tell it’s a Wix website right when you land on it. Wix is typically used by people who are looking to get a site up easily and with no complications, which is totally understandable and totally okay. But you should keep in mind that if you’re using Wix, there is likely someone out there who has a site that looks pretty dang identical to yours – font, structures, colors, etc. There is zero brand uniqueness when it comes to Wix.
Furthermore, Wix’s website speed is significantly lower than other platforms. The reasoning behind this is kind of unknown, but a quick Google search will show you all the charts and visuals you need to see on this.
Next up – SEO. If you read my recent blogpost about SEO optimization you’ll totally understand this (and I definitely recommend reading for more details) but Wix uses a “done for you” SEO system. This means the creator of the site cannot edit their SEO. They market this as a good thing, because SEO can seem big and scary, but because the user has no control over it, you can’t really optimize it. For example, I had a client who transferred over from Wix to Showit and within three months she was the #1 appearing to search for her location and occupation! I will say, I have heard through the grapevine that Wix has recently optimized their SEO feature, but I can’t speak to the validity of this or how well it actually works. But regardless, my next point is the main reason why I will absolutely never recommend Wix.
For some background, most clients I work with already have some sort of website presence when they start working with me. One of the steps in creating their new site is migrating the content from their old site over to the new platform. This is where things can get complicated, especially if they previously used Wix.
Wix offers no migration process. Meaning, when a client comes to me with a website previously hosted through Wix, I have to manually enter all of their website copy to the new site. This obviously isn’t the worst thing in the world – it’s part of my job, duh! But it can present many problems when it comes to timeliness. For example, I once had a client who had over 200 blog posts on her Wix site. And every single one of those blogs had to be manually transferred over to the new platform. But, the key component here isn’t that it’s impossible to transfer platforms, because it is. Wix intentionally does this in an effort to keep people on their platform, which may be a marketing tactic of sorts, but I question how ethical it may be if that’s the case.
So, now that you’ve read all of the behind-the-scenes dirt on Wix, what do you think?! Do you think it’s worth it to use as a new entrepreneur just trying to land a website? Let me know your thoughts 🙂
