Thinking of creating a website yourself, but confused if you should create it on WordPress or on Wix? Fair enough. We are here for your confusions with our solutions. In this blog we will go through all the aspects of creating a website and the differences between both the platforms. By the end of this blog you’ll be pretty clear about your needs and in which direction you have to step forward.
So first of all let us understand what is the purpose of platforms like Wix and WordPress. Basically these are the platforms which are used to create a website upon. It’s not necessary that we have to write a code for each and every single element that is present in the website, now there are tools that help us with them, some to an extent more than others. And that extent of ease creating a website is dependent upon the platform we choose.
Let’s start with Wix. Wix is a website building platform which allows even a tech noob to build a website without any hustle. All he has to do is use his cursor to drag and drop different elements throughout the screen (It’s not as easy as it seems here but it indeed is very easy). Can’t think of a layout for the website? Wix can do it for you, just select the template of your choice and start modifying it as per your needs and likes.
Coming to WordPress, it isn’t exactly a website building platform rather it is a CMS (Content Management System) which has a different approach in building a website as opposed to Wix. It offers way more themes and plugins (apps which can support various functionalities) compared to wix like literally way more. To start with WordPress you should know more than 101. Just like Wix WordPress also offers you drag and drop feature using various editors. You can get complete control of your website by only getting a grip on different sections like navigation menus, customiser, visual editor etc. So basically you will have to do some homework before you start creating your website with WordPress but no doubt the fruit will be worth the effort.
Points to Consider Before Choosing Your Platform
1. User-friendliness
Similarities
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Themes
- Wix has the drag and drop feature which allows the user to spare him the daunting coding part and start creating a beautiful website. Wix has hundreds of themes to offer the user at no cost but for some you have to upgrade to premium for better customisation and performance.
- Similarly WordPress gives thousands of themes to the user. Not all of them are free but the paid ones aren’t expensive either. WordPress also has the drag and drop feature using various editors available which allows the user to work in WYSIWYG environment.
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Plugin Benefits
- Wix offers the users with a wide range of Wix Apps (plugins) that are free of cost but for some you have to upgrade to Wix Premium and pay a few bucks from your pocket.
- Same is the case in WordPress as it allows thousands of plugins. These plugins can either be free of cost or paid depending upon your website purpose. Some might need paid plugins while some might be satisfied with the free ones.
Differences
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E-commerce
- Wix offers e-commerce options only to the paid members i.e free Wix users cannot run their online business without upgrading to Wix Premium. Also Wix offers payments only through PayPal or Authorize.net and not by any other means.
- Running an E-commerce store on WordPress is easy as there are many plugins available that allow you to run your business. Woocommerce is one of the best plugins for e-commerce business and around 42% of the sites on the internet use Woocommerce.
To conclude this topic, both Wix and WordPress have similarities between them as well as some fields where one is better than the other. Wix is a platform which is very easy to use but not so flexible when it comes to custom modification of the HTML and CSS elements. While on the other hand WordPress is extremely flexible in customisation of each and every element but it needs a steeper learning curve.
2. SEO, Performance & Scalability
There are many rumours and forum debates going on stating that the WordPress SEO is better than Wix’s and that websites created on Wix won’t rank anywhere in the Google Search Rankings. But let’s get rid of the myths and focus on the reality.
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Basic SEO
Wix also provides with SEO options that help you to improve the Search Ranking of your website. You can visit the Wix SEO Support page (https://support.wix.com/en/article/editing-seo-settings-for-products-in-wix-stores) and seek help from the Wix Assistant and improve your website’s SEO.
WordPress also has plugins and various other options that are useful in improving the SEO of your website. Also the developer you hire can help you out with the requirements to improve your SEO. Also there are various plugins in WordPress that helps you improve the SEO of your website which gives it an upper hand over Wix.
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SE Analysing
WordPress has numerous plugins like caching plugins that can improve the performance of your website and help it load faster than the rest. It also has plugins that analyses Search Engine Rank requirements and accordingly gives you reports that can help you climb the ladder of Search Engine Ranks.
Wix is also coming up with Wix Turbo as 5G is around the corner which claims to increase the performance of the website. We haven’t got 5G network in ur hands so we can expect some more time from Wix before it officially releases Wix Turbo. As of now Wix has nothing which can increase the performance of the website and speed up its loading.
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Hosting and Scope of Upgradation.
One of the many factors affecting the SEO is the loading speed of the website. So when you feel like the increasing traffic on your website is causing it to slow down there might be many factors affecting it. There might be the overloading of your site with uncompressed images, unnecessary CSS elements etc.
Wix provides a good host that can handle traffic on your website without increasing the loading time of the site. However if somehow your site’s loading time increases it offers some optimising options which can help reduce the loading time. Still if you have no other option but to change the host, Wix doesn’t have that option and you will be left with the host you have.
Unlike Wix, WordPress allows you to switch to a premium and better host which improves the loading speed of your website despite the increasing traffic. WordPress being open-source knows no boundaries or limitations and hence gives you the freedom of changing the host and improve the loading time and performance of your website as much as you want.
3. Help and Assistance
Be a newbie coder or tech savvy, everyone needs help and assistance sooner or later. Internet has answers to all of your questions but not all of them are true so it’s better to consult to man with the expertise.
- When working with Wix there is a group of dedicated support team with you for all your problems. You can contact the Support Team via phone call, email or through help centre.
- WordPress on the other hand is an open-source software and there is an entire community of developers available for you to reach out and solve your queries. You don’t have to go through any of the hassle of contacting anyone instead you can just find out the answers by yourself on the forums free of cost and save your time.
- Also almost every developer around you knows WordPress to pretty much extent so availing help for WordPress is easier than making a French Toast.
Conclusion
To conclude this there is no exact winner who aces all the aspects of website building. Both of them are leading somewhere or the other.
The platform you choose depends on your purpose for the website.
If you want a quick and casual website with no serious planning of the future then Wix might be a good option for you.
But if you are serious regarding your website and want to expand your business through by means of properly designed and developed online website then hiring a WordPress developer to help you with your needs might be the best option.
Contact us today and we’ll give you the best WordPress services you can ask for.