Website Builder Review: Wix

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, I get it now. All those other website builders are trying to look like Wix, one of the big gorilla website builders. Got it.

Industry Specific?
Wix’ website builder can be used for any industry. They have a lovely sampling of templates on their home page. If you click on a thumbnail, it takes you to the live version of the theme with demo content in it. And guess what? They have nicely designed themes.

Pricing
There are four pricing options. The basic tier is $4.08 a month if you pay for a year in advance.  The highest tier is $16.17 a month if you pay for a year in advance. The biggest difference between the tiers is e-commerce, an ad-free site, and storage space. It’s a very fair pricing structure. Learn more about Wix’ pricing plans here. Wix advertises a free website. I don’t know what you get for free because it isn’t listed on the pricing page but they say you can have a free site from them on their home page; I would like to know what you get exactly for free.

Would you like some free help preparing for your site? Cool. Here’s a free download I created just for you.
Mobile?
Well, I am not sure. Regarding Mobile, their Features page reads, “Go Mobile, be available from anywhere, anytime.” So what does this mean? I haven’t a clue. I checked out one of their templates and one of their featured client sites and neither of them had a mobile-specific version. When the sites loads on my phone, a mobile-friendly navigation bar is available. The sites look the same other than the mobile navigation. So there are mobile features, but it isn’t responsive design.

In What Browser Does the Website Builder Work?
Pretty much any browser out there works with this tool as far as I can tell.

Search Engine Optimization?
Wix website builder allows custom meta information and custom titles. It is also Google Analytics friendly. Yay!

Blog Features?
Yes, yes, yes! Yay!

Ease of Use
Oh man, They have a lovely intro video on how to use the Wix website builder, and holy cow, it looks great! Nice work, Wix!

Use Your Own URL?
Yes.

My Initial Impression
Okay, so here’s the thing I didn’t tell you. I had a client show me their Wix site a year ago and I really, really didn’t want to ever see their tool again. It was awful. It was Flash-based. It was terrible for search engines. But what I see there today is a completely different story. Wix is search-engine friendly. Wix has well-documented, easy-to-use support. Wix has beautiful designs. Wix has a new fan :)
Click here to grab my free download to help you get all your ducks in a row before your build your site.
Even though I made it for people who are getting ready to hire a web pro, 80% of it will help you if you are building your site on your own.