{"id":3523,"date":"2020-02-27T08:56:12","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T08:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jpress.com.my\/cn\/?p=3523"},"modified":"2020-08-27T08:58:16","modified_gmt":"2020-08-27T08:58:16","slug":"5-reasons-not-to-use-wix-for-your-website","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jpress.com.my\/cn\/5-reasons-not-to-use-wix-for-your-website\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Reasons Not To Use Wix For Your Website"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve often had clients come to me after using Wix or Weebly to build a website and ask for some help making their sites more visible. \u00a0And there lies the rub so to speak. \u00a0Wix makes it very easy to build a great looking website, and very easy to build a very badly performing website.<\/p>\n

So if Wix makes it easy to build a website why shouldn\u2019t you use it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. \u00a0Wix Makes It \u2018Easy\u2019 To Build A Website<\/h2>\n

So if Wix makes it easy to build a website why is that a negative? \u00a0If you approach building a website as an \u2018easy\u2019 task then you\u2019ve started off on the wrong foot. \u00a0I like to think I know what looks good but if I tried to design a brochure it would look shocking \u2013 I\u2019m not a graphic designer and would never pretend to be one, so\u00a0why should you pretend to be a website developer when your business depends on your website?<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

If it was \u2018easy\u2019 to build a website that works then there wouldn\u2019t be hundreds of thousands of blog articles about search engine optimisation (SEO), content structures, on and off site reputation management and conversion optimisation.<\/p>\n

Personally I think most companies, particularly small to medium ones, do not spend enough time on their website brief. \u00a0Quite often it\u2019s because they don\u2019t know what to ask about or the web agencies don\u2019t take the time to ask the right questions. \u00a0Business owners shouldn\u2019t necessarily know what questions to ask \u2013 your business is your speciality, you should be able to trust your web developer to ask the right questions.<\/p>\n

Wix makes it easy to jump right in, throw together a web page and publish it. \u00a0Before you do that you need to stop and think, and work out what your business needs for your online presence.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You need to consider how your content is going to be structured, what image sizes you upload, what page titles you will use, the header text for each page, the calls to action that appear in search engine results (SERPs) as well as conversion optimisation. \u00a0As well as that you need to ensure you have implemented some online tracking so you know how it\u2019s performing, and set up essential Google tools to get insights from your website that may drive your marketing decisions.<\/p>\n

Yes, I\u2019ve seen expensive websites without Google Analytics installed\u00a0\u2013 a fundamental oversight you shouldn\u2019t really get when spending thousands of dollars. \u00a0I\u2019ve also had someone call me to make their website more visible. \u00a0They spent $100 on their website with some random overseas company. \u00a0How much business has that \u2018cheap\u2019 website cost them? It probably turns out the website has cost them thousands in lost business \u2013 there\u2019s a worked example below.<\/p>\n

This is why it shouldn\u2019t be \u2018easy\u2019 to build a website. \u00a0What looks good doesn\u2019t necessarily perform well.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2.\u00a0Wix\u00a0Hides Complexities<\/h2>\n

Wooooaa! \u00a0That\u2019s another benefit I hear you shout! \u00a0Hiding complexities in website development is not necessarily a good thing. \u00a0Wix makes it easy to design websites like brochures and they\u2019re not. \u00a0What you see isn\u2019t what Google sees. \u00a0Although Google does take user experience into account it\u2019s mostly around content and mobile friendliness and things like that. \u00a0One of the most basic elements Google cares about are how your page titles are structured and what they tell about the page, yet for a few Wix websites I\u2019ve seen, there is no attention paid to this despite Wix supporting SEO settings for pages.<\/p>\n

Google doesn\u2019t really care if your button looks nice, or your image is stunning.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0The search result below is quite typical when you don\u2019t know what to do. \u00a0There\u2019s no call to action in the result, and the description doesn\u2019t say what the page is about. \u00a0If this is one of ten similar results I\u2019d probably click on a more enticing one.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

By hiding these complexities it makes it very easy to get really proud of your new website and go and shout about it to the world. \u00a0You better keep shouting as that may end up being the best way to get your website found as Google may not find it.<\/p>\n

You need to be aware of all the trickier bits that make up your web presence like SEO, off site business listings, reviews and more. \u00a0A recent chart by specialist company MOZ showed your website only makes up an element of your online presence \u2013 there\u2019s backlinks, business listings, citations and your website. \u00a0Without all of those you may not get found by your customers, so unfortunately your pretty Wix website will fall short of the mark.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen briefs and quotes that don\u2019t reflect the most basic functionality a company needs, and they often treat SEO as an \u2018optional extra\u2019. \u00a0It is not. \u00a0It\u2019s essential and often implementing simple steps will make a huge difference to your visibility.<\/p>\n

3. \u00a0Wix Hosts Your Website<\/h2>\n

If your website starts performing slower than normal a decent web host is a good place to start. \u00a0If a website is based on one of the open source content management systems like WordPress or Silverstripe there\u2019s a whole bunch of hosting companies wanting your dollar to host your website. \u00a0Some are great, and some are bad.<\/p>\n

Generally I don\u2019t like the idea of using a proprietary content management system<\/strong>\u00a0whether its a platform like Wix, or one developed by your agency. \u00a0If you fall out with the third party or outgrow them you\u2019ll more than likely need to start again. \u00a0Whilst WordPress isn\u2019t the only available platform, I\u2019ve had business owners ask me if it\u2019s a decent option or does it \u2018only\u2019 get used by bloggers? \u00a0Techcrunch\u00a0use WordPress and\u00a0Mashable\u00a0used to use it \u2013 I can safely say their sites are probably bigger that yours.<\/p>\n

When you develop your website using Wix you have no place to go \u2013 they host your website and you can\u2019t go elsewhere<\/strong>, which brings me to the next point.<\/p>\n

4. \u00a0You Cannot Migrate Your Wix Data Elsewhere Easily<\/h2>\n

So you get lucky and your website is performing well and you want to add features to it that aren\u2019t supported within Wix, or want a major overhaul. \u00a0Essentially you\u2019ve outgrown your website.<\/p>\n

If this happens it is very difficult to move your content away from Wix. \u00a0If you had a WordPress based website you can keep all your content and apply another theme, or a customised theme (which is effectively a layout). \u00a0Your website looks completely different but you don\u2019t have to re-enter your content. \u00a0There is still work to be done when you switch themes as they all have their own way of working, different image sizes in different slots, but you can keep all your content.<\/p>\n

If you think you may outgrow Wix, maybe a full web development is outside of your budget right now, but\u00a0remember to factor in that potential cost in the future<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

5. Wix websites are notorious for\u00a0 loading slowly<\/h2>\n

Wix websites load slower than those built on platforms such as\u00a0WordPress. This can affect your website traffic because slow loading sites will discourage visitors. You don\u2019t want your\u00a0first impression on a potential customer to be ruined when they find they can\u2019t open your site easily. In addition,\u00a0slow loading\u00a0websites are penalized\u00a0by search engines because they see your site as providing a poor\u00a0user experience. This will directly affect your rankings.<\/p>\n

6. \u00a0Wix Isn\u2019t Free \u2013 It May Be More Expensive Than You Think<\/h2>\n

Wix is a very attractive initial platform as the base offering is free. \u00a0It\u2019s a very effective sales technique that gets customers in the door. \u00a0Mailchimp use a similar technique but even Mailchimp doesn\u2019t allow you access to automated email sequences in their base offering \u2013 this is an essential part of email marketing.<\/p>\n

With the free plans you have Wix branding on your site, and the little icon shown in the browser bar will be a Wix logo. \u00a0You also can\u2019t add in Google Analytics tracking until you get onto a premium plan.<\/p>\n

Premium plans start at a mere RM 20 or so per month so it\u2019s not expensive by any means, and they go up to RM 124 per month.<\/p>\n

When you start adding functionality Wix has an \u2018app store\u2019 so you can choose which apps to use. \u00a0There\u2019s loads of apps to choose from and many start with a \u2018freemium\u2019 offering with more functionality provided at a price so head back to that website brief and factor in what you want into your costs.<\/p>\n

The largest cost of using Wix for many people is a hidden one.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s the cost of websites built by users who may not know what makes a website really work, therefore it doesn\u2019t get found, or it doesn\u2019t function well. \u00a0That lack of functionality is probably costing you business.<\/p>\n

I compare this loss of business to a garage owner who had a cheap website built several years ago. \u00a0It couldn\u2019t be found. \u00a0When a new website and offsite business listings were put live he was inundated with work. \u00a0If you imagine he built that website in Wix (like some of his competitors have) without understanding the important elements of search engine visibility, the scenario below is an extremely conservative estimate of the amount of work lost :<\/p>\n