Even if you lack the necessary technical skills, website builders are do-it-yourself tools that can help you rapidly set together a professional website. Website builders at the very least offer a selection of templates that you may use to alter the appearance and feel of your website. Then, they provide a drag-and-drop editor that enables you to add different aspects to your websites, such as contacts, maps, and testimonials. One of the most sophisticated website builders you are likely to find is Wix, which offers hundreds of themes, support for more than two dozen languages, and hundreds of widgets to connect third-party websites and services to your website. However, despite the variety of options, it is still simple to use and practical for both beginners and experts.
Wix review
In the field of creating websites, Wix is a titan. Its share price recently increased 20% after the business revealed it was on track to produce $500 million in free cash flow and added 4.7 million new members in the most recent quarter. He has become a household figure and a competitor of companies like Godaddy thanks to his marketing initiatives across all major media.
The answers to this achievement are readily apparent on his website. There is much to enjoy about everyone from a design beginner to a huge business to experienced web developers, and the service is not only jam-packed with appealing features, but the company goes to great measures to outdo everyone else.
Wix offers more than 500 templates, but some firms just offer a few. 40 Instagram-inspired filters are available in the built-in image editor. The blog is available in 26 languages. More than 200 widgets are available in the App Market to improve your website and integrate third-party websites and services.
- Interested in Wix? Check out the website here
Do you intend to establish an online shop? Additionally, Wix offers a range of eCommerce designs. Additionally, the business does not impose transaction fees on your sales (Weebly, for instance, charges 3% on select accounts).
Many of these are free to attempt for beginners. Experts, however, may go much further thanks to tools like Wix Code, which give them the ability to handle database collections, make dynamic sites and unique forms, use native JavaScript, access APIs, and more.
But not everything is flawless. Although the effect is quite similar, templates are not responsive in the traditional sense (Wix can create a separate mobile version of the site and use it when necessary). Some functions, like the ability to create forms, are offered as applications that demand additional fees to operate fully. But even so, it is a strong and complete service with a lot to offer to all user groups.
What Are Wix’s Benefits and Drawbacks?
In our testing and analysis, Wix received an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5, making it the best website builder available. If you want a builder that is simple to use, has a tonne of extra options and gives you a lot of creative power, this is the one. See all of its benefits and drawbacks below:
Benefits
- Even for beginners without prior technical knowledge, Wix’s editor is incredibly simple to use because of its drag-and-drop features.
- Excellent deal for an online retailer. Wix is the ideal option if you want to launch an online business because it provides a vast array of e-commerce solutions.
- everything you require to scale and grow. No of the size of the website you’re constructing, it has all the tools you need thanks to its remarkable features and wide-ranging app store.
- You may quickly alter your design to look precisely as you want because it offers a tonne of flexibility and creative freedom.
Drawbacks
- After your site has been published, changing your template requires starting over from scratch.
- You might have to pay more to install third-party apps if you want advanced capabilities.
- When you initially download the Wix Editor, it may appear intimidating because there are so many functionality and design possibilities available.
Getting Started
Wix strives to get you up and running as soon as possible. Entering your email address and password is all that is required to create an account. You’ll be prompted to decide whether you want Wix to develop your website from scratch or if you’d be better off choosing the type of site you want to build (business, photography, music, blog, etc.).
Automating the Wix process can help you save time, whether your requirements are straightforward, you’ve never used a website builder before, or you’re simply pressed for time.
Editor
There are numerous ways to modify your website. The editing and redesign buttons for a part are shown when the mouse hovers over it. Alternatively, you can click on something to view and modify its sidebar properties. However, you cannot resize or drag things onto the page with the automatic editor. However, because the majority of the design work has already been done for you, you can create a website quickly, fill your online store with items, write blog articles, evaluate and test your pages, and publish them online.
The issue is that you can’t switch back and save your changes once you’ve entered the full Wix editor (which you also get if you don’t choose the automatic approach at first). Unfortunately, there isn’t a method to mix the two options; it’s either the Wix easy approach or its full power.
Selecting a standard editor provides you with complete control over the design. Objects don’t have to be automatically aligned to blocks or columns; they can be put at the pixel level instead. Complex blocks, such as contact forms with titles, buttons, and text, can be moved about, their components can be ungrouped, and the alignment can even be changed.
You can assign a variety of functions to the majority of objects, and the visual settings include attractive animation and color filters for photographs. In a few clicks, you can quickly add all the common parts to your page. There’s stuff to look into.
The visual preview function of the editor, which lets you see any component before adding it, is one of its key features. If you choose “Gallery,” for instance, you will see other elements like “Collage” and “Grid” in addition to text ones. Instead, the editor shows thumbnails of how each option will appear, assisting you in selecting the appropriate element right away. Wix always lays you exactly what you’re going to receive when you look at buttons, menu styles, or audio and video players.
The primary editing tools are equally nicely made and have a native app-like feel as opposed to a typical website builder. For instance, the right mouse button menus display the relevant commands for the various controls. You can precisely position and resize objects with the aid of alignment guides and on-screen height and width controls while floating toolbars offer rapid access to important options and functions.
The editor supports a tonne of keyboard shortcuts, which is great if you frequently use them in other programs. To select multiple items, hold down Shift or Ctrl while clicking on them. Then, use the standard keyboard shortcuts to delete, copy, and paste the selected items, move them to the top or bottom of the page, save the project, view it, undo your changes if necessary, and redo them if you change your mind.
When everything is put together, the Wix Editor appears polished and expert, with the visual cues beginner users desire and the shortcuts and workflow tools seasoned users demand.
Media
Wix has native components for displaying single photos, slideshows, image galleries, audio, and video files in all popular formats, along with rich media capabilities.
Direct media import and playback from a variety of sources are supported, including Facebook, Instagram, Dropbox, Google Drive, Flickr, Google Photos, YouTube, Vimeo, Dailymotion, SoundCloud, and Spotify.
You can build your cloud media storage in the “My Downloads” section. You may upload all ten of your photographs to Wix, for instance, if you want to use them on several websites or pages. Then, instead of downloading the files each time you need them, you may access them straight from the Add Images dialogue. Additionally, you have access to the Unsplash and Shutterstock libraries in addition to Wix’s own media collection (the latter are not free).
Extra playback choices, more bandwidth, user statistics, document viewers (for PDF, Google Docs, Sheets, Drawings, and Slides), and other add-ons are available in the Wix App Market. They are welcomed, but be aware that while most of them are offered for free in one way or another, it is frequently necessary to pay more to receive the finest features or to have the branding removed.
Blogging
Using the default button on the left toolbar, it is simple to access the Wix blogging platform. You can create a new blog article, change the layout, or alter how the blog functions with just one or two clicks.
A streamlined editor is used to write blog articles, but it still includes a respectable selection of capabilities, such as the ability to include photographs, galleries, videos, audio, GIFs, and custom HTML.
A post can be customized in numerous ways. You can create categories and tags, specify related topics, and specify specific titles or meta descriptions for mobile devices. When you’re finished, posts can be published right away or at a later time.
E-commerce
With Wix, opening an online store appears to be quite simple. It’s simple to define the style of your store by choosing from the many templates, adding any extra components you require, and using visual previews and sample photos. But don’t let it fool you—there’s a lot of strength hidden inside.
For instance, Wix offers services as well as both physical and digital products.
Videos can be used in place of photos to illustrate products. You can provide them with specific specifications (size, color, weight, or SKU) (product code for automatic stock management). Coupons can be used to advertise them, collections can be created, and shipping and tax policies can be altered. Wix accepts a variety of payment methods and even only displays ones that are nearby, including their own.
The fact that Wix Stores may not be completely competitive with dedicated eCommerce solutions (or the top web hosting companies, for that matter) is not shocking. However, the program enables retail and small business customers to begin selling online, which is a very big incentive given the modest amount you pay.
Support
There is a tonne of built-in support in Wix. Any object in the editor can be left-clicked to reveal a toolbar with a help icon, and the help menu is always visible on the editor’s own toolbar. The top right corner of each screen, including the Blog Manager, always has a help icon.
Plans and pricing
The drag-and-drop editor is available to you as part of the free Wix plan, which also theoretically supports an infinite number of pages. However, in reality, this is only appropriate for extremely small sites due to a 500MB storage limit and a 500MB monthly data transfer cap.
With the Connect Domain plan, you can utilize your own domain and have a higher bandwidth cap of 1GB, but Wix branding is still present. The monthly cost of the annual bundle is $4.25 (£3). However, keep in mind that the US and other nations do not offer this option.
Finally, the Combo plan forgoes branding and provides 2GB bandwidth and 3GB storage. You can utilize the custom icon and get $75 in promotional vouchers with the free domain. You can get it for $14 (£6) every month.
You get unlimited bandwidth, 10 GB of storage, the ability to create premium forms, and Site Builder software as part of the unlimited plan, which costs $18 (£8.50) per month.
At $39 (£18) per month, the VIP plan rounds out the selection on the Website by boosting storage to 20GB, including a few benefits, and providing “priority response” VIP support.
Additionally, there are three “Business and eCommerce” programs, each of which enables online product sales.
The cheapest option is Business Basic, which costs $23 (£13) a month and offers storage comparable to VIP but without the extras.
The next plan is Business Unlimited, which costs $27 (£16) per month and offers 35GB of additional storage.
The last option is Business VIP, which costs $49 (£22) per month and provides 50GB of storage in addition to “fast response” and VIP assistance.
You have as much time as you need to test out the essential features of Wix Free after signing up, but Wix also offers a 14-day, no-questions-asked money-back guarantee for its Premium products.
Conclusion
Even design beginners may develop a stunning and effective website thanks to attractive Wix templates and a great editor. Although Wix may not have the help desks that large websites need, the platform’s basic capabilities are so strong that you should still test them out.
Wix free website builder FAQs
Is Wix appropriate for beginners?
Without knowing a single line of code, creating professional websites is simple with Wix’s drag-and-drop editor! Wix is great for everything from small business websites to personal online portfolios since it is expandable and user-friendly.
What makes Wix bad?
You shouldn’t use Wix to create your website mostly because you aren’t a qualified web designer. With a DIY website builder, you are most likely not designing a website with a good user experience, which will deteriorate your user experience and lead to a loss of visitors and money.
WordPress vs Wix?
When it comes to web publishing platforms, WordPress easily outperforms Wix. While Wix has a user-friendly website builder, in the long term WordPress offers much greater potential.
Can Wix help with SEO?
To help websites rank highly in search results, Wix provides a wide variety of excellent SEO tools. Your website’s meta tags, URL structure, canonical tags, structured data markup, robots.txt file, and other features may all be customized using Wix.
Can you move from Wix to WordPress?
Your Wix site can be converted to WordPress in one of two methods. The first method is to use the auto migration plugin, and the second method is to manually transfer your website’s pages, photos, and other information after importing all of your posts from an RSS feed. The automatic migration plugin from CMS2CMS is available to website owners who have started a new Wix Blog.
Are Wix websites visible on Google?
Wix websites are search engine optimized, and regardless of whether you have a premium site or not, Wix makes sure that all of your website content can be scanned and indexed by search engines (such as Google and Bing).
How secure are Wix payments?
Wix Payments does adhere to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards and is secure (PCI DSS).
Wix’s lag is a mystery.
The graphics and media that are being used on your website can be the cause of its poor loading. HD photos and movies take up a lot of space if you choose to use them. High-quality photos and videos will take longer to load because the server must first download them before the site can be loaded.
