In this Wix review article, I look in detail at one of the most popular website building platforms. This article will help you if you plan to use Wix to create your website or want to know exactly what it is and what it does.
What is Wix?
Wix is a cloud-based service that lets you design and builds your own website without needing to know how to code.
Wix was founded in 2006 and is one of the largest website building companies, with 1,800 employees and 120 million users. It has several offices in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, but only one in Western Europe at the time (in Berlin, Germany).
Squarespace has about half the number of employees and millions of users, Jimdo, 200 employees and 20 million users, and Moonfruit, 5 million users (no data is available on the number of employees Moonfruit).
The large size of Wix provides long-term security (that is, it reduces the risk of your organization falling back and takes your website with it) and allows you to expect regular updates features.
Does Wix provide all the features I need for my website?
Wix lets users to create websites using a simple and intuitive drag-and-drop user website builder.
A Wix website can be used to:
- blogging
- hosting an online forum
- build an online store to sell digital and physical products
- Appointment
- collection of coordinates
- and more.
However, you will have to pay to use some of these features – which brings us to…
Pricing – Can I use Wix for free?
There are 9 Wix plans available – a free plan and 8 pay plans.
If you want to get an online presence, with a minimum of effort, for a temporary purpose, you may be able to get away with the free package. Think of the 50th birthday, a wedding or a garage sale in a small community. For just about everything else, you’ll need a premium plan (paid).
The free package does not allow you to connect your own domain, use an external mailbox, or collect online payment. There are also storage limits (the amount of content you can host on your site) and bandwidth (how many people can access it).
Each plan includes all the features of the cheapest plans. All packages include free and compulsory accommodation (more information about this “mandatory” later)
Free Wix Plan
The free trial for wix.com plan allows you to use the 500 Wix models and, as stated above, also provides free hosting. You can use images, clip art and icons provided by Wix and add apps from the Wix app market (which provides paid and free apps).
On the free plan, you get 500 MB of storage bandwidth and 500 MB of bandwidth. This should be enough for a new website with fewer than 2,000 visitors per month. The free plan allows you to play and create a website without disclosing your credit card details.
Pricing is also quite opaque: prices are reasonable, but once you start adding features and applications, upgrading to send more ShoutOuts, etc., allows you to easily see the increase in costs.
In the end, Wix is a good choice for a small business or individual with a relatively low budget and wanting to quickly create an attractive website with many features. If you are in this category, you will be satisfied with the range of ready-to-use functionality provided by Wix.
Wix is, however, much less attractive for companies that rely heavily on online sales, or for larger companies that are looking for highly personalized features on their website.
You will find below a summary of the main advantages and disadvantages of the platform. If you want to try Wix, you can also enjoy a free trial.
Wix Pros
- It’s easy to use.
- It is a reasonable price.
- It includes a wide range of photographs taken in a professional way to use on your site.
- Phone support is available, which is not the case with many other leading web-based tools.
- A wide range of models is provided (over 500), which are of high quality and contain an example of useful content.
- Many features are available ready to use.
- There is an integrated email marketing tool, which is currently not provided by most of Wix’s competitors.
- The SEO feature is very good.
- A reasonably well-supplied application store is available to enhance the functionality of your store.
- A totally free version is available, as is a free trial.
Wix Cons
- You cannot change your site to another template after creating it.
- You cannot export the data from your website.
- Although workarounds are available for the Wix site to display properly on a mobile, the sites you create with Wix are not fully responsive.
- The platform does not currently support the AMP format.
- The cost of “extras” and “upgrades” can add up, making the real cost of your site difficult to predict in advance.
- The e-mail marketing feature is basic compared to e-mail marketing applications.
- You cannot create a GDPR cookie authorization banner for Wix without using a third-party tool, such as CookiePro.
- If you want a higher level of support, you will have to pay for it.
Conclusion
Wix offers a number of affordable plans with levels that will meet the needs of individuals, small businesses and those looking to sell merchandise online. It is always cheaper to choose an annual subscription or two years instead of paying monthly. Long-term plans will save you a great deal on your monthly fee and have more features than a monthly subscription.