Wix vs WordPress is one of the most asked questions when you’re looking at setting up your own website.

Wix in the past has had a bad reputation in the web dev and SEO worlds but is frequently adding new features to try and change this. It’s great for people who have no or limited technical experience and can be a great stepping stone for new businesses or those with limited budgets/ requirements. WordPress will take longer to learn and set up but in the long term, it will save you a lot of money from migrations and gives you complete control over your website.

USABILITY

WIX USABILITY

Wix is a website builder that allows users to easily create and customise web pages using a drag-and-drop interface. The What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) feature allows users to see the changes they make in real-time and adjust the layout, add text, images, slideshows, and e-commerce elements such as shopping cart buttons with simple clicks which are perfect for beginner website makers.

While this feature can be beneficial to those with limited web development knowledge, it does mean Wix is not very flexible. Certain designs and features may not be possible to build in Wix. In addition, a lot of users report issues with updating content on their site as the interface can lack responsiveness, causing text overlaps, images and buttons floating, etc. – especially when trying to make a site that works on different device screen sizes.

WORDPRESS USABILITY

WordPress initially can be more difficult to use than Wix, especially for those with no technical knowledge. However, with a small amount of training or watching tutorials online, it is easy once you get the hang of it. WordPress offers much more flexibility and customisation when editing the back end or front end. You don’t have to be a coding expert to have a WordPress website functioning at a professional level, and in the long term, it is an easier platform to use as it doesn’t have the issues with responsiveness that Wix does. A popular front-end and back-end drag-and-drop builder is Elementor and the Pro version is even better.

DESIGN & CUSTOMISATION

WIX DESIGN & CUSTOMISATION

Although Wix has made advancements in custom capabilities it still does lack full customisation features. Wix offers a vast amount of website templates on the Free plan which are organised by industry. This is of course very convenient and helps significantly if designing is not your strength, but it can mean that the design and structure are the same as other sites on the internet. The Wix template is pre-populated with sample content to give a visual representation of what the website could look like which does make it easier and provides a starting point for something which can be a bit overwhelming. While Wix offers a large selection of templates, users are limited to the design and layout options provided by the templates, and customising beyond these can be difficult without knowledge of coding.

WORDPRESS DESIGN & CUSTOMISATION

WordPress is a powerful and flexible platform for website design and customisation, providing users with virtually unlimited design options. Unlike Wix, which relies on pre-made templates, WordPress allows users to create and customize their websites from scratch, providing complete control over every aspect of the design.

If you prefer the help that a theme or template offers, WordPress also offers a vast library of themes and plugins that can be used to customize the appearance and functionality of a website.

• Choose from over 200 WordPress-made themes
• Choose from over 5,000 WordPress-approved third-party-made themes
• Work with a developer to create a completely custom theme
• Enhance your site with over 55,000 plugins

The flexibility and customisability of WordPress can also be a double-edged sword with those with little coding knowledge maybe finding the platform daunting and it can be hard knowing where to start.

ECOMMERCE

WIX ECOMMERCE

Wix does offer eCommerce options. It currently has 3 plans with built-in eCommerce functionality which is great for small eCommerce companies but again, can be limited to what you’re able to achieve. Below are some features of Wix eCommerce (some features are unlimited or VIP only).

• Automated sales tax
• Limited storage space
• Unlimited products
• Limited to 3,000 reviews
• Ability to sell on marketplaces
• Ability to sell in multiple currencies
• Ability to dropship
• Customer care
• Subscriptions
• Customised reporting
• Loyalty programme functionality

Wix eCommerce is easy to use and set up which is fine for smaller businesses, but larger businesses may find the platform lacking in certain areas, such as inventory management or integration with other business systems.

You also need to consider that while Wix does not charge any additional fees for using its eCommerce features, it does charge a commission on every sale made through its platform. This can add up quickly, particularly for businesses with high sales volume.

WORDPRESS ECOMMERCE

WordPress offers a more advanced eCommerce option in the form of a plug-in called WooCommerce. This is one of the most popular platforms for eCommerce businesses as it offers a vast range of features, it’s open source, and has trusted payment protectors such as Paypal. The best bit about WordPress as a platform is that the scalability is endless.

• Wide range of features
• Open source (customisable)
• A large community of users and developers
• Easy setup and management
• Many free and paid extensions are available
• Secure and reliable
• Supports multiple payment options
• User-friendly interface
• Compatible with a variety of themes.
• Ability to sell on marketplaces (with the right plug-in)
• Ability to sell in multiple currencies
• Unlimited transactions

Again, the drawback to this is that it is more complex than Wix, meaning you may need some training or explainer videos to get the hang of it. Also while the platform is free, you may need to pay for additional plugins or themes to achieve the desired functionality or design. However, in our opinion, the benefits definitely outweigh this.

SEO FUNCTIONALITY

WIX SEO FUNCTIONALITY

Wix does offer some SEO features, and this is something it is working on improving. The platform provides users with step-by-step guidance on how to optimise their website, including on-page SEO, such as meta tags and descriptions, as well as off-page SEO, such as backlinks and social media integration.

Wix also offers a range of SEO apps and tools, such as the Wix SEO Wiz, which guides users through the process of optimizing their website for search engines, and offers integration with Google Analytics and Google Search Console, allowing users to track their website’s performance and monitor search engine rankings

However, as an SEO agency Solve would never recommend Wix to anyone that is looking to achieve long-term results through organic search. There are a few reasons for this:

1. Limited customisation options – some more advanced SEO techniques may not be available without the use of third-party apps or custom coding.
2. Poor URL structure – Wix’s default URL structure is not optimised for search engines, making it harder for your pages to be found.
3. Lack of technical control – because Wix is a closed platform, users may not have the same level of control over their website’s technical SEO, error fixing or website speed.
4. No HTML or CSS access – No direct access to the HTML or CSS, making it harder to make on-page optimisations for SEO.

WORDPRESS SEO FUNCTIONALITY

WordPress is great for SEO and is Solve’s chosen platform for all of our websites largely due to this.

1. Unrivalled customisation options – Great for custom themes and plugins to optimise website structure, meta information, and content.
2. Great SEO Plugins – Yoast and Rankmath are two options that easily allow users to optimise the core parts of their website.
3. Search engine-friendly URL structure – WordPress automatically creates optimized URLs easily readable by search engines.
4. User-friendly content management – Making it easy to create, manage, and update content to maintain relevance and freshness.
5. Built-in blog functionality – WordPress was initially designed as a blogging platform, making it ideal for writing relevant and engaging blogs that increase your keyword targeting options, which is crucial for SEO.
6. Large community – The community of developers and users provides abundant resources and support for website optimisation.
7. Access to source code – The open-source nature of WordPress provides direct access to the source code, allowing for technical optimisation, fixes, and custom development.

WordPress is a better platform for SEO which can really have a great impact on your business for long-term results.

MAINTENANCE

WIX MAINTENANCE

Wix is great with handling updates that are automatically applied to your website making it simple for non-technical people. It offers automatic updates and backups, as well as website monitoring and security features, to help ensure the reliability and security of users’ websites. However, because Wix is a closed platform, users may not have the same level of control over their website’s maintenance as they would with an open-source platform like WordPress. Some users have reported issues with website speed and performance when using certain Wix features which cannot be controlled easily on Wix.

WORDPRESS MAINTENANCE

As WordPress is open source you’re left to your own requirements for doing theme updates, plugin security fixes and bug fixing. There will be a few times a year when you will be required to update things and you’ll receive a message on your WordPress dashboard when this happens.

If your theme and plug-ins are not updated alongside the website then you risk causing problems and damaging the performance of your website. However, you also have to consider that when updating one plugin, may cause conflicts with another, which then need to be reviewed. This is why we usually suggest an expert carries out WordPress Maintenance for you. At Solve we offer a WordPress maintenance service which allows you to focus on building your business and not fixing the website.

BLOGGING

WIX BLOGGING

Wix offers a range of user-friendly and accessible features for bloggers looking to create and manage their own, simple blogs. Users should though be aware of the platform’s limitations and pricing model when considering Wix for their blog and also should monitor website speed which some users have reported issues with when using certain Wix features, which can affect the user experience of their blog.

WORDPRESS BLOGGING

After initially starting out as a platform specifically for blogs, WordPress is blogging heaven, offering robust capabilities for publishing and organising a large database of blog content covering all of Wix features and more. Blogs on WordPress also benefit from its advanced SEO functionality and customisability. Just some of the great unique features of WordPress blogging include:

• A private mode for hiding certain posts from readers
• A native commenting section for WordPress account holders
• The ability to backdate posts
• The option to feature a single image across a blog post
• Multi-language support

WordPress has also recently implemented a copyright-free image database that you can use on your website.

 

BestWeb –

For further enquiries on any of our expertise or services, whether it is for website design & development, mobile application development, or digital media marketing, please feel free to contact or WhatsApp +6010-2200 660, email welcome@bestweb.com.hk or visit https://bestweb.com.hk Thank you.