So, You need to either build a website or redesign an old website, and you have found yourself asking what should I use, Wix or WordPress, which one is better? You have heard that you can build a website using Wix and it can also be for free, but is that really the case? which one is the right choice, What about WordPress, is it the right choice, let’s dive in.
What is Wix
Wix is a web platform that allows every user, even without any coding skills to build their own website. The website building is being done by mostly Drag & Drop interface of existing wix elements. You take an element, drag it to it’s place, change some settings and move on to the next element and before you know it, you have a website. Furthermore, it didn’t cost anything unless you need the premium features, like your on domain, and well, you need your own domain. So is this the right choice, well, it depends.
What is WordPress
WordPress is an open source platform, which is free, that has started as a blogging platform, with time, it became possible to build general websites, and then e-commerce websites and today you can even build a server side for a mobile app using WordPress. WordPress also got the reputation that you can use it to build websites without knowing how to code at all, and you can even use WordPress.com to host an run your WordPress website which is a service that is similar in a way to Wix.
the whole system is based on Themes & Plugins, that is very easy to keep adding to your website to add functionality, from contact forms to ecommerce plugins (WooCommerce). But is this the right way to build a website? well, It depends.
Wix VS. WordPress – Platforms Comparison
The first and most bold downside to using Wix is that it is a close platform, where on the other hand WordPress is an open source platform, what does it mean? It means that your Wix website can only run on Wix, you do not own the code, and you can’t even move it to another hosting. If tomorrow they charge you double, you have only one choice, to accept it and pay, or rebuild your website on another platform from scratch. What about WordPress, well the code is yours, you can host it wherever you want, always.
Another big disadvantage for Wix, is that if you need a special feature or element, you are bound to Wix, if they developed it, great!, if not, you will need to wait and hope they develop it in the future. Opposing to WordPress, where the plugin base is widely created by the platform users and developers, and if you can’t find the feature or element you need, well you can develop it yourself by literarily any WordPress developer.
And the most important thing, The reason you are thinking about building a website, you want users, you need traffic in order to rich your goals whether they are selling products, or getting more work for your business. Where Wix stand with this, well, It is known that Wix has trouble with search engines, especially google, to say the least. Why? there are a lot of reasons, but mostly it all comes down to this. Any feature or element provided by Wix, was not meant just for you an your needs, It suppose to serve many users with different needs, which means the code there is more complex, slower that it can be, and as a result less friendly to search engines and your general SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). It’s not that you can’t do well in SEO with Wix, It’s just means that it will be harder when you compare it to a slim, clean code that was written for one specific goal.
So, does it mean that WordPress is better for SEO, Well, It’s highly dependent on who is building the website, It can go extremely well or very poorly. If the site is build by someone with no experience in web development in the spirit of “Well theres a plugin for that, and for that and for that…” Than you can end up with a very poor website, that runs slow, loads a ton of scripts, and with very poor SEO results.
So, does this means you should not use Wix at all? Well, no, Wix is a really great platform that just keeps growing and improve, but like anything else, it is a tool that fits only in some cases for specific needs.
So, when it is right to use Wix to build a website
The cases where you should use Wix for your web development needs, in our eyes, are the following:
First, if you don’t have a budget at all. If you need a website, maybe to present your business, and you just don’t have any budget at all to pay a developer, well, in that case, Wix, at least for the short term, is the solution for you.
Other reasons to choose Wix are for temporary websites, maybe a website for an event, or a short term landing page used for a facebook campaign or a google ad, If it’s for a short term, than in this case, you may not care it takes the page 2 more seconds to load, and the SEO is not even a factor, because you are going to kill the website in 4 weeks.
Who else, well, Graphic designers that have the ability to design everything by themselves, and use Wix to publish their website fast and without any need for a developer. Would we recommend them building their own business website using Wix, well, no, cause again they will be facing all of the downsides we already mentioned.
So, when it is right to use WordPress to build a website
Well WordPress is also a wonderful tool for building websites, but, and theres a big BUT here, The fact that you can build an awesome website using WordPress, doesn’t meant you can’t screw it up, you need to know how exactly to build a website correctly. Unfortunately the truth is that along side a lot of great websites that were built with WordPress, there are many really bad websites that were built using WordPress.
For a user with no development skills, It will be almost impossible to built a really great, fast, secure, seo-friendly website. It’s very easy to start, and throw in some plugins, and get a website, but is it SEO-Freindly, is it fast, secure and effective, probably not. Even an experienced developer it takes from hours to days to get the desired results and create a well sustained fast running website.
Furthermore, WordPress is a completely Swiss army knife, It may have started as a blogging platform, but it evolved to a complete eco-system to building websites. But is it always right to use WordPress for building websites, well, absolutely not.
WordPress also have some big disadvantages that should be considered before reaching out to it. Where you should consider using it, When you should not? Well We recommend you read this article that explains just that.
Conclusion
Every tool has a purpose, Wix and WordPress are no exception to the rule. If Wix is the right tool for you, at least for now, and it’s disadvantages does not interfere with your business goals, that go for it, It is a great platform.
If you have decided that it’s not for you and you’ve decided to go with WordPress, that’s great too. Just remember the general rule with WordPress is that you do need an experienced developer or a development company in order to get a WordPress website done right. and even more importantly, WordPress have disadvantages as well and it is not always the right tool for every job.
