Wix might be among the top five recommended site builders in your search query. The platform has enough features for quickly creating and launching a website for whatever purpose. It offers a huge choice of plans, with a free option included.
Thus, with an urgent project from an old friend, I subscribed to Wix and got down to work. I think the result of this experiment will interest beginners in the first place. It will let them answer the questions regarding Wix usage, simplicity, functionality, pros and cons as well as value for money.
So, off we go! Let’s overview how it all works on the platform.
Wix came to the site-building sphere in 2006. It was worked out as a practical solution to a real website project, and its initial goal was to be easy to use, fitting for any website type, and cost-effective. Wix has constantly been evolving and adding new features and possibilities. Now, the platform powers over 11,530,953 sites worldwide.
The platform’s drag-and-drop editor simplifies the design process, allowing users to customize their sites with ease. With over 900 designer-made templates available, users can find a style that suits their brand and personalize it to their liking.
Beyond its ease of use, Wix offers a comprehensive suite of features that cater to a wide range of website needs. The platform includes an extensive app market, which allows users to enhance their websites with additional functionalities such as contact forms, live chat, social media feeds. For businesses looking to sell online, Wix provides a fully integrated eCommerce and business solutions that make it possible to complete a variety of tasks to let the subscribers establish a professional online presence.
The vital benefits of Wix include the following:
However, you might have to meet the following challenges when using Wix for making a website:
Still, I found Wix quite a workable solution, thanks to its multiplicity and several unique options. You can take Wix as a special ecosystem via which users can easily interact and offer their professional apps and services for a fee. So, you can arm your website with everything necessary when planning to invest certain funds in your project.
Wix is a great platform from a pricing perspective. It offers several premium plans and there is also a completely free subscription here to test the system before upgrading to the paid one.
As for this zero-cost plan, do not expect much from it, however. It’s a nice option for exploring the Wix services and features, with a further subscription to a prepaid package. It can satisfy only a truly small business with a strictly limited budget.
If opting for a free Wix solution, you’ll have to put up with Wix ads popping up permanently on your website. But I think the most unfitting thing about the free plan is that your site will have a wixsite.com domain, as well as get access to a very limited number of features.
As for the Wix premium packages, there are 4 of them here:
All paid packages go with a 14-day free trial. So, when dissatisfied with the platform’s services, you can request a 100% refund.
I’d say that this pricing system of Wix would rather meet the needs of businesses and eCommerce websites. For a blogger, the cheapest plan might be too weak, while all-included ones are not cost-effective for a blog. At least, there exist a number of cheaper solutions than Wix.
Even a total beginner in website development can build a site with the help of Wix. The registration starts with a choice of site category. Among the options, there is an online store, a business site, a blog, a CV/portfolio, a designer/photographer studio, and several others. After your choice is made, you fill in a standard signup form with your contact data.
Then, the building process is pretty simple. You can use one of the two editors available on the platform: Wix ADI or Wix Editor.
Want to complete the whole procedure as fast as possible without complex customizations? Then, opt for ADI. The acronym stands for Artificial Design Intelligence. Click on Start Now, and the AI editor will ask a couple of questions about your future website. Next, it’ll create it according to your answers in no time. That’s it. No manual editing at all for this variant!
When tuning a template is necessary for your project, choose the Wix Editor. Here, everything is very easy as well. You pick a proper template, customize its design, and add all the necessary plugins to it by using a very simple technique of Drag & Drop.
The Wix interface is one of the most convenient. Users can open it in one of the 22 languages supported on the platform. But in terms of general usability, Wix is an absolute winner when compared with such builders as WordPress.
Work with the Wix editors can run smoothly, from the starting point up to your website’s publishing. This is true for a user with any level of site-building competence, including the complete novice level.
Surely, when you have no site-building skills at all, you’ll need to spend a certain amount of time learning the menu and its options before manually customizing a template. But the interface structure is tailored for 100% intuitive working. Its upper dashboard allows you to define the following options for your website:
A huge set of tools is accessible through the menu on the left. You choose a layout and connect all the necessary elements to it. The menu allows editing texts and adding pages, lists, galleries, buttons, specific forms, strips, and more. There will be a pop-up panel with customization instruments for changing text size, colors, shapes, and many more.
So, I’m pretty sure that even a newbie can cope with the Wix interface. They can create a personalized website without smashing their head over tricky tools – there aren’t any in this builder.
The platform offers a variety of themes – there are over 900 of them at present. The good news is that you’ll be able to use one of the 9 blank templates available at Wix. The preset themes mostly have a professional look.
There are five main categories on the platform: Business and Services, Blog, Store, Creative, and Community. You can easily sort out the most suitable themes for your project by clicking on a category and choosing a proper subgroup.
For instance, I needed a template for a food delivery website. I clicked Business & Services, proceeded with Restaurants & Food, and my final choice was the Food & Drinks section. Here, I found sixteen smart-looking templates ready to be customized.
A significant drawback of Wix templates is that you should make the right choice at once. In case you don’t like the look after providing your chosen theme with all the required content, you won’t be able to switch to another without a complete loss of all the data uploaded! There’s no chance to change the site’s theme without full reconstruction either after it has been applied to your website.
Designing with Wix is affordable for users with any website-building experience. In fact, there are six ways to build a site:
When engaging Wix ADI, you get a ready website with a predetermined structure and all the content uploaded. What you’ll need to do is pick a template and edit its design features. They include color schemes, fonts, personal images, and more. This will let you make your site look original.
The Wix Editor will grant you more freedom in customization. Since it allows access to coding, there’s no limit to your creativity, and you can build a unique website from scratch. Of course, good knowledge of site development is required for this option.
Yet, a beginner can also use Wix Editor as well when no complicated manipulations with code are needed. No matter which element is under construction, you can change its color, size, place on the page, etc. There are thousands of instruments available. Not all of them are easy to get into. However, the editor’s basic functions won’t take you much time to cope with.
It’s a big plus that all the changes are made with the help of Drag & Drop in real time – right before your eyes. So, the result is always under control. The preview option will also be at your disposal.
Need professional code editing? Then Editor X will be the best solution. It is tailored for designers and web professionals who require advanced design capabilities. It offers a highly flexible design environment with a focus on responsive design, ensuring that websites look stunning on any device.
Editor X includes CSS grid and flexbox layouts, which allow for precise control over complex layouts. The platform supports fluid and breakpoint-based design, enabling designers to create sites that adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes.
Velo by Wix (formerly known as Corvid) is another comprehensive web development platform that allows users to build advanced web applications within the Wix environment. Velo provides a full-stack development experience, offering serverless computing, integrated databases, and advanced coding capabilities. Developers can write custom JavaScript to enhance site functionality, create dynamic pages, and manage data with ease. The platform also integrates with a variety of APIs, making it possible to connect Wix sites with external services.
Professional web developers will also benefit from working with Wix Studio platform. This is an all-in-one suite designed to streamline the workflow of web designers and developers working within the Wix ecosystem. This suite includes a range of tools and features that enhance productivity and collaboration.
Wix Studio comes with a range of project management tools, team collaboration features, and client management capabilities, allowing web professionals to manage their projects efficiently from start to finish. It also integrates seamlessly with other Wix tools such as Editor X and Velo, providing a cohesive and comprehensive platform for creating, managing, and deploying high-quality websites. Wix Studio is ideal for agencies and teams looking to maximize their efficiency and deliver exceptional web experiences to their clients.
Finally, hiring an expert through the Wix Marketplace is a great option for a complete newbie. The platform unites a huge community of Wix users, many of which are site developers and professional web designers. So, you are free to order a fully customizable Wix website from a Wix Partner.
When ready to subscribe to one of the premium plans with business focus, you can expect solid marketing features and an abundance of eCommerce plugins available for your online store. Even the Basic package can satisfy a small online shop by providing it with features like these:
Mind that Wix gives quite impressive uptime (99.98%) and Core Web Vitals, which are crucial for a properly working eCommerce website. My experience with the platform proved that Wix sites do load fast and this is one of those features that distinguish the platform from other eCommerce alternatives (read Wix vs Etsy comparison). The platform ensures secure payments for its users as well.
Product Management
Wix allows the selling of both physical and digital products. It’s simple to add a new product and supply it with a picture, a video, price, shipping conditions, and more. You can subdivide all goods into categories. Your customers will be able to search for a certain product group on your website then.
Selling Services on Wix
Wix is a convenient tool for building a service-selling website, too. Here, the Wix Booking toolkit is very useful. It will let you organize your schedule and manage orders. Thanks to the option, you won’t miss any booking. You can add a convenient signup form to your website.
The only downside is that you’ll need to pay extra cost for full access to all the options of Wix Booking. But there’s no need to get upset. I ducked the problem easily. So, you can do this as well by integrating your online store with such add-ons as Schedulista Booking, Event Viewer, or Boom Calendar without spending a dime.
Ascend by Wix
Ascend by Wix is a complex of tools designed for smart emailing and connecting to your audience in a couple of clicks. You can reach your potential and real-existing clients on social media using original content. It can be created right in the place!
AI Tools
As mentioned above, Wix pays special attention to the use of artificial intelligence tools in the process of website creation. Its WIX ADI tool was the first step in this direction, having demonstrated great results. Realizing that, the system developers have introduced a set of innovative AI tools that can contribute to the creation of professional full-featured websites for your business success.
Recently, Wix has released its AI portfolio creator that allows users to set up unique portfolios online by using the power of Artificial Intelligence. The tool now makes it possible to upload extensive image collections with one click, organize and generate project options with clustered images, titles and descriptions, select the preferred portfolio type and manage it as required.
And that’s not it. Wix has also launched a series of AI-powered image enhancement and creation tools, empowering users to create impressive visuals. These include an advanced image generator, an object eraser as well as an image editor that allows adding and replacing objects to improve the visual presentation of your project.
Other Wix AI tools include text creator, section creator, layout switch and image auto-enhancement tools, auto-background removal and resolution upscale options.
Although most site builders do not offer perfect SEO instruments, Wix is good enough at it. Besides an easy integration with third-party tools, at your disposal will be the following options:
Many SEO tools work automatically. Thus, Wix will add structured data markup to all your pages, blogs, posts, etc. You are free to customize it. You can supply your pages with multiple structured data markups as well.
One more auto option is SSR technology applied to all websites based on the platform. Thanks to it, you may not doubt that your website will be correctly scanned by bots and search engines.
Additionally, you can use the Bot Log Reports tools to observe how bots and search engines work out your website’s content. Wix can send you these detailed reports via email on a regular basis.
Publishing a Wix website is very simple. You can preview it before clicking on the Publish icon placed at the upper right corner of the Wix Editor. Even after your site is launched, it is open to modifications. As long as you press Publish, your site becomes visible to search engines and online customers.
There can be reasons to cancel the publication. When wishing to close your website to public access, you can prohibit search engines from crawling the site’s content and including your site in search results. It is done via the SEO menu. You go to the SEO Settings and opt for Site Preferences. Next to the ‘Let search engines index your website,’ you need to put the toggle into a deactivated position.
When needing assistance while creating a website on Wix, you can expect to have enough options to get it. First of all, you can ask a question or request help using the following communication means:
In my experience, neither tickets nor chat are very helpful. For a beginner, there’ll be a lack of information when addressing their request to a Wix bot. So, I recommend using the phone line to contact a human assistant.
The platform also offers a massive Help Center menu with all the site’s options explained in detail. I found it well structured and full of quite exhaustive explanations. When ready to spend a definite time reading tutorials, you can quickly hone your skills in using the Wix features.
Wix is one of the leaders in the site-building market. Its popularity is based on tangible advantages. They include the site builder’s ability to create any sort of website, a huge choice of design and marketing tools, and excellent integrations. Wix is easy to use. It allows the development of a professional website manually as well as using artificial intelligence.
Wix will suit both beginners and experts. It offers a free plan and seven premium packages with free trial options, so an adequate solution can be found for almost any project. The platform has certain drawbacks – like non-interchangeable templates, but in all other respects, Wix is a decent website builder with good value for your money.
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