The pros and cons of building a website with Wix

Is Wix the Right Platform for Your Small Business Website?

If you’re thinking about building your small business website on the Wix platform, you’re not alone. In recent months, Wix has become very popular among creatives and entrepreneurs because it’s quick to set up, easy to use, and very effective.

So, let’s look at some key advantages of choosing Wix to build your website or portfolio.

What type of business website is Wix for?

Almost any small business can build an online presence using Wix. You can choose from hundreds of templates designed for small shops, service-based businesses, artist and craft websites, photography portfolios, restaurants, etc. And if you don’t find exactly what you’re looking for, you can always modify the template or use a variety of apps in the Wix App Market to personalize it.

In general, Wix is for creatives and entrepreneurs who want a beautiful website up fast, and don’t want to spend much time on security updates. The Wix platform is not as flexible as WordPress, for example, but it is easier to use and requires less maintenance.

Think of it this way: building a website with Wix is like interior decorating. You lease a house (your website template) and you fill it with all the things that you need in the style that best matches your personality. Someone else handles the safety of the structure, the maintenance, the utilities, all the tedious stuff.

How much does building a website with Wix cost?

If you’re using it for a personal website, it’s free for as long as you want. But if you’re building a business website, you’re going to have to pay a monthly subscription. After all, you’re renting space on the Wix platform, and the more space and features you need, the bigger the rent.

Wix prices start at $12.50/month for an ad-free subscription with unlimited bandwidth.

The pros of building a website with Wix

Let’s look at 5 reasons why Wix might be the right choice for your small business website.

1. Wix is easy to use.

From creating an account to signing up for a monthly plan, and then building your website in the website editor, everything is intuitive and well explained in a comprehensive FAQ section and video tutorials.

But even a person with no technical knowledge whatsoever can easily build their Wix business website in just a few minutes thanks to the excellent Wix ADI. This Artificial Design Intelligence will ask you a series of questions and put together the first draft of your website in seconds. You can then tinker with the design and functionality as much or as little as you want. If you’re thinking “wow, that’s so cool!”, you’re absolutely right! It’s very cool.

2. Wix offers beautiful templates and flexible design options.

In addition to having access to beautiful designs and flexible editing, building your website with Wix ensures that your website is mobile-friendly from the start.

You can choose from a variety of industry-specific layouts, from e-commerce to service-based businesses to portfolios to blogs, all website templates look professional. Plus, you can move elements around as much as you want and still get a pixel-perfect website when you’re done.

Other customization options include video embedded in the background, uploading your own fonts, and animating text or other elements.

3. The Wix App Market most likely has the widgets you’re looking for.

Just like you’d install plugins on your WordPress website, you can install apps on your Wix website, to add more functionality and help you develop your online business strategies: invoicing, shipping, email marketing, chat, advertising, accounting, etc.

There are over 100 apps on the Wix App Market, all of them easy to install.

4. Wix has Blog and SEO capabilities.

Yes, your Wix website will be SEO optimized. You’ll be able to edit page titles, alt tags, and meta descriptions, as well as implement more advanced SEO strategies thanks to the Wix SEO Wiz. So your website will be visible on Google quickly.

The blog is also SEO optimized and includes all the usual categories, RSS, tags, everything you’d expect from a blog. You can also post content and edit articles from the Wix mobile app, which is another super-useful feature.

5. Your Wix website has automatic backup.

Building a website with Wix means that you don’t have to think about backups, security checks, and updates. It’s all done automatically. And, if you make a mistake, like when you delete a photo and it turns out that you need it, don’t stress about it. Wix has something called Site History, which will restore your website to a previous version of your choosing with a single click.

The cons of building a website with Wix

Now let’s look at 3 reasons why building a website with Wix might not be the best idea for your business.

1. Once you choose your template, that’s it.

Wix templates aren’t interchangeable. That means that after you’ve decided on a template, you can only customize and edit it, you cannot switch to a new template. If you want more flexibility in going from one template to another, you should look at using WordPress instead.

So, choose your template wisely! Switching to another template later will mean recreating all existing content.

2. All the cool features require a paid plan.

The SEO and Google Analytics features are only accessible after upgrading your subscription from free to paid. That’s also how you get rid of the annoying Wix ads which appear on top of your website pages.

3. Once built, you can’t move your website.

Right now, Wix might be the best way to build your website. It’s fast enough, flexible enough, and doesn’t break your budget. But what if your business outgrows the Wix capabilities in a few months? You’ll just take your website and move?

Unfortunately, you can’t do that. Wix doesn’t want people to export websites using their tech, and for good reason. What that means for you, though, is that when the time comes to move away from Wix, you’ll need to rebuild your entire website on a different platform. You’ll definitely need a developer to help you out.

Conclusion

Our developers recommend Wix for small websites, suitable for local businesses, restaurants, hotels, creatives, tiny online shops, and so on. If your site has less than 30 pages, you need it fast, and you need it to look really-really pretty, Wix is a very good choice.

However, if you’re building a bigger, more complex website, or you think you’ll be expanding soon, Wix might not be what you need, because you’re going to spend more time and money to rebuild your website when that time comes. You’re better off looking at WordPress, Shopify, or a custom-made website.

Whatever you choose, know that we have your back. You can always contact us with questions and even rely on us for any Wix customizations and updates you may need.