Your website is an incredibly important branding asset.
If you can’t code, a great site builder can knock up something professional in a short space of time.
Wix is here, just for you.
It’s a very popular web design tool, heads-and-shoulders above many others:
Squarespace- Weebly
SquarespaceOther than WordPress, Wix stands out as the most popular - by far - for the “everyday user.” You may notice less than Stellar customer reviews for this company, on some sites.
Wix is ideal for new businesses & individuals who simply want their website live - as quickly and easily as possible.
Our Verdict ⚖️
Mobile-Optimized But Annoyingly Limited Free Plan 🛴
| Pricing | Ease-of-use | Features |
|---|---|---|
| ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ | ★★★★★ |
Cheaper Than Weebly & Squarespace 🆚
Of all the drag-and-drop website builders, Wix is the largest company. 🐘
Millions of websites - small businesses and small online stores - as well as artists - are proof-perfect users.
Slap up a pre-templated website with your own furniture.
Allow Wix to handle all the security updates and hosting. This is also the cheapest of the two main alternatives - if you decide to jump up to a higher tier.
For example, Wix’s first paid level is more affordable than Weebly’s.
You also get a free subdomain. Still, we recommend that you use a paid Wix plan over the free plan. This is much better value-for-money and you don't get any intrusive advertisements.
Wix's paid plans are where it really shines as the UK's best website builder.
Irritating Limitations
Hosting is exclusive to their servers, unlike Weebly/Squarespace.
Customization tools are also a little bit limited, and massively so on the Free Plan. For example, ads, and there is no option to change the “favicon” - the Wix logo - to one of your own.
The Free Plan gives you little space for personal branding.
Massive advertisements are another problem. These require you to scroll down. If you want to continue creating your website, you have to face these.
PROS
CONS
Wix Review UK
Go for a Paid Plan & Get a Quick Good-Looking Site 👩
Wix is probably the optimal choice for beginner - to intermediate - users who want lots of design options, with customizability.
Blogging options won't be the best, however you will find great mobile optimizations and eCommerce capabilities.
Design capabilities do not quite reach the heights of Squarespace, which has a more high-class and visually stunning quality to it.
Related: Wix vs. Squarespace
It is somewhere in the middle between Squarespace & Weebly, with a very easy, intuitive user-experience and good value-for-money.
We don’t quite recommend the free plan, however.
Wix Pros and Cons
Under the Magnifying Glass 🕵️♀️
Drag-and-Drop Anywhere
Drag-and-drop editing is a very intuitive process for designing a site.
You can begin with a blank canvas, moving anything anywhere around the screen. Compared to other editors - like Squarespace - this is pretty awesome for speed.
Squarespace uses blocks where certain columns and rows can exist. But with Wix, you can drag information wherever you want.
Wix ShoutOut Email Marketing
A simple way to send newsletters and updates.
Email marketing is a critical aspect of converting customers into sales. According to HubSpot, 91% of consumers check emails daily.
More than half of those have made an online purchase due to an email marketing campaign. With Wix, you can create really good-looking newsletters and easily customize them with your own content.
There's also a cool feature integrated into your page that allows visitors to subscribe to your newsletter, by showing an interest in particular products.
Mobile Editor
We could not recommend Wix as one of the top website builders out there if it did not have a mobile editor. Fortunately it does… enhancing its library of mobile-optimized Wix templates even further.
Mobile phones have smaller screens, so they require a better organization of layout. Wix has been forward-thinking in this space, allowing you to rearrange your content.
Content will narrow down, rearrange, and the navigation menu bar compresses into a smaller button. Also, you can use the mobile editor to hide bits of content and make all sorts of alterations.
500 MB Bandwidth
Wix limits its bandwidth to only 500 megabytes on free website builder plans.
This will not do very well if you get a lot of visitors at a particular time. This is also a lot less than many of the other free website builders out there.
The Free Plan cannot be recommended for businesses who expect good traffic - particularly if there is engaging, data-rich media.
Loading speed is one of the most important factors for conversion. Low storage will negatively impact this.
Too-Long URL
You get a free subdomain when you sign up. It is a little bit longer than most, but beggars can't be choosers on Free Plans:
yourusername.wixsite.com/yourwebsite
The URL Is a lot longer than other websites, with added components. They could have just made it: mysite.wix.com
That would have been very short and attractive for a person typing in the URL. If you pay, you can get a custom Wix domain.
How to Use Wix?
The Quick Run-Through 🕹️
Wix is all about speed. From the very beginning, you can set up your account right away, using your Google or email information.
If you already logged in, this is just a matter of authorizing your Gmail account.
Remember, you cannot connect a pre-existing domain to your Wix account. Never mind... you can create a Wix domain.
For the next part of our Wix Review, let's hop on over to the homepage - and get started with building a website.
How to use Wix with 7 Easy Steps:
- Create an account & creation option
- Select a plan
- Choose a theme & features
- Arrange & fill out your Wix site
- Set up SEO & eCommerce
- Choose a Wix Domain Name
- Go live -- publish!
1. Create an Account & Creation Option
Choose “Sign In” - in the top right-hand section of the main menu of Wix's homepage. Register with your email address, Facebook account, or Google information.
Wix then gives you two options for creating a website:
- The Wix editor
- The Wix ADI, mentioned earlier in this Wix review - offers even more speed
The Wix editorBecause the ADI uses artificial intelligence, it is more automated - with creative limitations. This guide will focus on the editor (as the ADI is so straight-forward).
2. Select a Plan
This is a tad more complicated than Squarespace’s options.
There are 8 plans in total: 4 for each or two categories. The first is for regular websites and the second batch is optimized for business websites.
- Connect Domain (£2.20 /month)
- Combo (£4.40 /month)
- Unlimited (£6.60 /month)
- VIP (£12.10 /month)
- Business Basic (£8.70 /month)
- Business Unlimited (£11.30 /month)
- Business VIP (£13.30 /month)
3. Choose a Theme & Features
You'll be given a list of features, and you decide which ones you need.
The next selection of screens guide you through the different templates.
Please note, you cannot change your templates once selected. So take a bit of time to decide what the correct layout is.
Also note, there's quite a lot of creative room to edit the template you choose - to look the way you want it to.
4. Create & Edit Pages
You’ll be taken to a preview page for your chosen template. Everything is drag-and-drop, so it is very intuitive.
Edit the company name, header details, and so on.
If you want to edit the text, just hover over it, and begin rewriting. This requires few clicks to do - an awesome feature of drag-and-drop website creators.
Stylization options allow you to change the text colour, font, and style..
Total creative freedom.
Also:
- edit the background
- add pages
- integrate apps
- set up a blog
All of this can be done from the left-hand “Home Panel.”
5. Set Up SEO & eCommerce
You can add an online store by clicking the “+” button on the left-hand menu.
Instantly set up different eCommerce pages and start selling products.
SEO is also available. On the Home Panel, select “Menus and Pages” and then click on the ellipsis on the right-hand side - of whatever page name you are on.
Select “SEO Google,” and from there, you can work all of the basic SEO metrics.
Also, switch to mobile by hovering at the top of the menu.
6. Choose Your Domain Name
Before we can publish the website, the domain name needs to be created.
On the Wix Free Plan, you will have to use a subdomain:
yoursitename.wix.com
If you are running a business, we recommend you upgrade to one of the paid plans, where you can customize your domain name:
yoursitename.com looks more professional.
7. Go Live - Publish!
Wallah, you are ready to publish.
Have a last preview of your creation and then select “Publish” on the top-right corner - next to the “Preview” button.
To make changes, open the dashboard and click “Manage Site,” then press “Edit Site.”
Wix Pricing 💰
Close Overview 🤓
Let’s factor in getting your site hosted with the best web host possible.
Maybe you want the best general performance available, but don’t want to spend the time learning WordPress, then customizing WP templates...
Bad news for you 
You Cannot Host On a Third-Party Server
In other words, all of your content must be exclusively managed by Wix CMS.
You will have to rely on its servers and server management. Also, the content cannot be exported or migrated elsewhere at any time.
Forget about:
- Upgrading to a top VPS host
- Giving your site boost in speed by grabbing quality dedicated hosting
You have to trust that Wix hosting will have your website up and running - at a fast loading speed.
Wix hosting is always included in every plan. So, that at least makes sorting out the pricing a lot easier.
Let's have a look at what they offer.
Wix Available Plans 💳
Wix is slightly more complicated in how it organizes its plans, when compared to Squarespace.
Firstly you can choose between two categories: An ordinary website or a business & eCommerce website.
The first category has four tiers, while the second has three; it also makes Wix one of the best ecommerce platforms out there.
In some cases, there isn’t much difference between the plans (especially for Business & eCommerce - then again... the prices vary only a little too, in those cases).
Let's begin with the first category.
Regular Website 🖥️
Below are the 4 plans Wix offers for regular website owners, sorted by pricing and number of advanced features:
Free Plan 🆓
Combo 💼
- Assigned URL
- Wix ads appear on every page
- Storage: Up to 500MB
- No eCommerce
- No Google Analytics
- Regular-Speed Customer Support
All for £2.20/month
You get a bit more with Combo... ➡️
- Custom Domain
- 2GB Bandwidth
- 3GB Storage
- Remove Wix Ads
- Google Analytics
- 30 Video Minutes
At £4.40/month
Unlimited adds more... ↙️
Unlimited ✨
- Everything you get with Combo
- UNLIMITED Bandwidth
- 10GB Storage
- 1 Video Hour
- Site Booster App - £60 Value
- Visitor Analytics App - £60 Value
£6.60/month
Finally, the ultimate plan ➡️
VIP 🍸
- 20GB Storage
- 2 Video Hours
- Professional Logo - £50 Value
- Social Media Logo files
- Priority Response
- VIP Support
Starting from £12.10 /month.
Need more? Check out Business ⬇️
Business & eCommerce 📲
Next, let's take a look at business plans that are aimed at users who plan to utilize Wix's services to make a profit.
Business Basic 👔
- Accept Online Payments
- UNLIMITED Bandwidth
- 50GB Storage
- Connect Your Domain
- Remove Wix Ads
- Unlimited Video Hours
- Google Analytics
- Free Domain for 1 Year
- Site Booster App - £60 Value
- Visitor Analytics App - £60 Value
Business Unlimited 🚀
Business VIP 🧧
Wix Review Top Tip 🌟
Wix’s advertisements can be very annoying on the free plan.
It's a good idea to hop onto the first paid level, at least. Also, unless you are on an incredible budget, we don't particularly recommend its Free Plan in terms of performance.
Those Free Plan issues are mostly due to the 500 MB limitation!
Is Wix Good for SEO? 🔍
How Optimized? ⚙️
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is critical for online success.
In order to stand out, ensure that Google algorithms view your site as useful to people searching for particular keywords.
Note 📝:
Google is very favorable to WordPress sites.
This is because WP offers a massive selection of mobile-responsive theme designs.
Tip 🧭:
Choose a responsive theme and you'll be doing yourself a favor in terms of SEO.
You also need to think about your host provider.
The speed of your website is a factor in determining its SEO ranking. Unfortunately, Wix hosting is your only option - they do not allow you to host elsewhere.
As you can see above, desktop usage is still large. Quite simply, both elements need to be factored in.
It is imperative that you have a highly mobile-optimized website, as Google will track this - and either uprank or downrank you.
Mobile-First Indexing 📶
Over the years, mobile web browsing has not only jumped up steadily... desktop-based browsing has declined steadily.
There was once a time when Google search algorithms ranked websites based on desktop-based page-loading speed alone.
As shown above, most browsing is now done from mobile devices - more broadly-speaking.
So, it only makes sense that page-loading speeds should prioritize the mobile experience over the desktop experience.
How Does Wix Fare? 🤖
While it's not the best-ever builder for mobile optimization, there are plenty of well-designed Wix templates that you can customize.
Is Wix Good Enough 💪🏼
You might be surprised to find out that Wix has no problem with getting to the top of search results rankings.
We must point out that other website builders out there may have more advanced features for SEO-boosting. For the typical needs of a smaller business, blog, or individual website, Wix should be good enough.
The top benefits include it being super-easy to connect to Google Analytics & Google Search Consoles.This allows you to do SEO checks as you further your website in the search rankings.
Other benefits ✌️
No Need To Mess Around With SEO Plugins 🖱️
This is why we recommend Wix for smaller businesses & personal blogger-type websites.
If you are looking to dominate a larger lane sometime in the future, it may not be wise to build your content using Wix
No Need for Coding #️⃣
This is the whole point of using a drag-and-drop website builder.
Wix has very intuitive and easy bits of infrastructure in place to help you optimize SEO without needing to code.
The same goes for having to download plug-ins & widgets.
The Wix dashboard has all of the tools you need to SEO-optimize your content. This includes fiddly work like 301 redirects. It is much easier with the Wix dashboard.
Wix Review Top Tips 🌟
Advanced SEO
Keep in mind that it will be tricky for you to take care of advanced SEO with Wix.
Alternatives
Something like Squarespace or even WordPress might be a better solution for you, if you want to barter for the number one - or number two - spot on Google search.
Bonus Features 🤩
One From Each Plan, Starting From the First Paid Tier 🆒
We’ve organized Wix’s most standout features, according to the plan level. Look out for these perks
30 Video Minutes (Combo Plan)
Videos are one of the best ways to grab the attention of your audience.
“If content is King, videos are the crown jewels.” - Shutterstock.com
Video content-marketing is such a trend that 99% of marketers who used it in 2017, continued in 2018.
Roughly 50% of consumers search for videos - on products they are looking to buy - before purchasing.
People also remember much more about videos, than graphics or text.
Lastly, more than 5 billion YouTube videos are consumed every single day, not to mention Facebook videos.
On the Combo Plan, you get to insert 30 minutes of video into your website.
This increases to 1 hour in the next plan up, and then 2 hours - up from that. Help your visitors make a good buying-decision, by taking advantage of Wix’s video-integrations.
Visitor Analytics App - 45 GBP Value (Unlimited Plan)
You can grab this application in the Wix App Store.
Get insight into your monthly traffic, which is measured in page visits. Wix Analytics tracks this, unless you tell it to stop.
Track up to 100,000 visits with the Unlimited Plan.
Visitor Recordings
There is an incredibly cool feature called Visitor Recordings, which lets you playback the activity of your visitors - individually - as they frequent your website.
This is very useful, in terms of planning out better ways to give them a better user-experience, and optimizing conversions. You are limited to 15 recordings on this plan.
The dashboard has cards that show you your website's overall performance.
This gives you a quick glimpse into what is happening. Get very useful data on traffic spikes during the week and at specific hours.
Grab recent viewer information, including the geolocation and amount of time spent on your website.
There is much more, but the last thing we’ll mention is that you can study data about what pages viewers are most attracted to.
Wix Logo Maker (VIP Plan)
This is in-house made. The logo maker can design in every language.
Once you've designed your logo, it can be downloaded. Wix lets you obtain business cards using the design.
Keep in mind that you have to pay each time you request your logo files.
This isn't a professional level graphics application. This is a simple logo maker. Don't expect exquisite lettering, but you can create quite complex designs with the Wizard.
Wix allows you to generate logo ideas using its artificial intelligence.
Sometimes you will find the AI generates logos that perfectly match what you are looking for.
Create a free website as a sample of what you have created, before you download and pay for it.
Overall, the customisation options are quite impressive.
Lastly, Wix offers you the option to have a professional designer refine whatever you create.
Accept Online Payments (Business Basic Plan)
Wix Payments lets you manage your orders in one section of the application.
It is a very quick setup - accept payments, with receipts, directly on your website. If you have any issues, contact the Dedicated Support Team 24-hours a day.
Each transaction has a 2.9% charge, with a small additional number of pennies.
Wix Payments is available in Great Britain and allows you to pay in many currencies, including dollars, and those of many countries in Europe.
Currently, you cannot accept PayPal, but all major credit cards are accepted.
Your products must be at the price of at least 1 Great British Pound. All earnings go into your account each Monday.
Wait 3-5 business days for the funds to appear in your bank account.
Wix Website Examples 👑
Example #1 - Monica Pack Pilates
If your jaw is dropping just looking at the cover page, you are not the only one.
This fitness and exercise website uses a very cool parallax effect to merge its three sections. So much information is given, in a small amount of space.
This gives you an example of how powerful the Wix platform is - a very professional and sleek website, done through a very simple drag-and-drop method.
Animated Layout
More than this, moving between sections reveals very cool animations. Windows slide up and down, left-and-right, as the page transitions from one section to the other
Very, very cool stuff.
We recommend that you check out this website and go through the different sections. You will probably be pleasantly surprised at how mobile-responsive it is
In terms of the level of business, this is an example of a small personal branding business done to a high level.
The contact form is nice and simple, and appropriate for the branding
Example #2 - Animal Music Web (Animated Portfolio Site)
You won't be able to tell from the screenshot, but the intro page has a video running in the background. Give their website a look - to see why our Wix UK review team thinks it is so cool.
Every aspect of the website is animated. It advertises a collective of artists and musicians - all creating original content.
Extended Functionality
The second of our Wix examples - Animal Music Web - shows how good Wix is, if used well. Not only is this particular website very original-looking, the functionality also extends to full mobile-responsiveness
The design scheme rivals what you could get from WordPress or Squarespace. And the video is an awesome way to capture attention immediately.
In our browser, the website loads very quickly.
Lastly, in the “Team” section, cards transition into images of each team member, once you hover your mouse over it.
On the top left-hand side, the writing is animated, transitioning to different words.
-- There's no excuse to not create a very good-looking website using Wix. As long as you strategize, you can do something remarkable.
Example #3 - Michael Oren Jewelry (eCommerce Site)
The last in our list of Wix examples is a more “DIY” site.
When you first login to, it presents you with a mailing list pop-up on the top panel that is non-invasive.
It even knows what part of the country you are living in, and automatically provides the correct mobile phone extension, in case you want to include your number.
This website is not terrifically sculpted.
Still, you get the feeling that the user is creating something unique and personal. Hand-made.
Similar to Weebly, this is an example of how a drag-and-drop website can create a homely feel for which to brand your hand-crafted products.
There are lots of categories in which to organize your products, making everything very findable.
The basket is interactive and animates open, providing you with an automatic subtotal. Our Wix UK review team summary: Functional & capable.
Wix FAQ 🙋
We Have the Truth 📝
Before we draw to an end, let's put all of your final questions to rest.
This is a quick-fire round, dealing with the most common questions related to making a decision about Wix.
Do Professionals Use Wix?
The short answer is yes. You will find a range of professionals using Wix, from financial planners to musicians.
However, you do tend to notice a trend… It's mostly independent entrepreneurs - with a homely, “indy” feel.
For WP, there are so many themes available, by comparison to Wix. 500 Vs. thousands…
For the highest-level people, it is difficult to compete with the level customizability that you get with WordPress.
Each WP theme can be so specifically customized - and highly refined over time.
Branding is a very complicated subject. You need to investigate yourself, in order to work out how you want to present to your viewership.
If it is important to look like an Elite in your industry, then you may need to spend more time developing an infrastructure with WP.
Overall, the Wix UK review team recommends this for small business & individuals happy to present themselves as smaller entities.
Is Wix Better Than WordPress?
There's absolutely no question that WordPress is much better.
This is even more true if you find an awesome WordPress host.
Even if you just want to blog, you will find that Wix lacks several features, including the ability to:
- Backdate posts
- Create private posts
- Feature images
The text editor is almost so very limited for formatting.
On the other hand, WP started out as a blogging tool. Only later did it become a fully-comprehensive website builder.
You can create stunning layouts for your blog posts.
And there are so many features & plugins that it would take another article to list them all. Wix comes with over 500 pre-made templates, to select from. WordPress has thousands.
You will also find many less restrictions in terms of customizing those themes.
Advantages Over WordPress
Despite Wix being more used than Squarespace and Weebly, WordPress is way bigger than any of them.
So we have to ask the question: Why bother using Wix, when WordPress has more firepower? The massive directory of native WordPress & plugin tools, can enhance your online branding & site functionality.
These plugin-codes carry out specific functions, from:
- Galleries
- Contact Forms
- Shopping Carts
That said, Wix is one of the easiest to use website builders on the market.
Let's rephrase that - Wix is the simplest drag-and-dropper, and it's not even close… This is how they've eaten their market-share…other than through fun marketing campaigns, featuring good-looking celebrities.
Is Wix Really Free?
An excellent free web host delivers what it says on the tin. So does Wix.
If you choose the Free Plan, you can access a free subdomain and a free website - with free templates.
You also have these limitations:
- Wix ads appear on every page - & favicon in the URL
- Storage: Up to 500MB
- No eCommerce
- No Google Analytics
- Regular-Speed Customer Support
Understand that you will have a longer URL, and there'll be many restrictions in the tools you can use to design your site.
In the “Elements” window, you will find that only a few tools have the lightning bolt sign, which indicates that you can manipulate them for website creation purposes.
You will not be able to integrate any video into your site. And eCommerce features - like shopping carts - will not be accessible by you.
Conclusion? ⛱️
For the speed of creation that Wix offers, it is surprisingly capable.
Create beautiful, fully-animated websites. Particularly if you have an eye for creative design, you can end up with a massive accomplice to your branding strategy.
This tool is similar to Weebly, in that, small businesses and individuals can benefit most.
If you do fall into this category, you can expect to get good value-for-money, with no coding required.
Even with templates that have videos running in the background, websites seem to load quickly.
There is also little in the way of glitches. We think this is a potentially awesome solution. But you have to use Wix hosting sensibly.
-- 💻 That’s the Wix review over… We hope it has been useful. If you are a new business - or on the smaller side - this is a company to seriously consider.
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