Wix vs WordPress: Choosing your website platform

When making a website, a common first question is, “Wix vs WordPress, which is better?” With these two platforms being incredibly popular options for business owners to create their website with, choosing the right one for you is a pretty big deal. 

If this is all new to you, let’s start with what you’re comparing. Wix and WordPress are both website platforms. They store all the 0s and 1s that make up what your website looks like. It’s there to store your photos and videos and allow you to build your very own site and online store. 

Site builders aren’t all built the same, though. Some have different capabilities, work in different ways, and come at different costs. Picking the right one from the get-go is important. 

Ideally, when you get a business site set up, you’ll want something that will stand the test of time. A little like when builders say, “measure twice, cut once”, when it comes to your website, making the right choice initially can save you time, money and effort in the future. 

How do we do that? Well, mate, you’ll need to go in with a plan. Knowing what each can offer and whether those fit what you’re aiming to achieve is the best place to start, and we’re here to clear up a few things to make that decision easier. 

While there are plenty of website builders out there, let’s start with the age-old question of two of the most popular: Wix vs WordPress.

wix home page on laptop

Wix

What is Wix?

Wix, by design, is easy to use, putting the ability to make a website from scratch in your hands. It’s customisable and can make a fully functional business website and storefront. 

There are templates you can choose from to get you started when you’re designing your pages and the layout of your site. The Wix editor also gives you the ability to edit the themes and templates. Shuffle bits around and create something unique to you (and your business!). If that sounds a bit like too much hard work, there’s also a feature that’ll take the hassle out. You can get a free website layout made by Wix Artificial Design Intelligence.

Wix pricing and plans

Like any service, Wix offers different plans (Starting from $15 AUD to $179 AUD plus GST, as of December 2023) and options depending on your needs and budget. There’s a free option that you can use that includes hosting as well. One thing to note, though, is that the free version has a Wix subdomain. That means you won’t have your domain name (like ours is truegreen.au). 

They’ll also have ad spaces on your website whether you like it or not. If you’re putting together a business site, you’ll want to consider their paid plans instead. Not having ads is better for business! You don’t want people clicking away from your site. 

No matter which paid plan you go for, you’ll get hosting, your domain name and none of their Wix branding.  While there are a few cheaper options in their Basic and Core packages, if you’re in e-commerce, you’ll need something a little more diverse. 

Their Business and Business Elite packages give you the levelled-up versions of the basic packages. You’ll be able to create a digital storefront and process payments, and you’ll get a lot more space for storage. 

Storage is a big one for online businesses. How come? People love pictures. You’ll need images of your products or services, and depending on how many you offer, that can knock onto needing a lot more digital space. 

We measure that space in gigabytes, and with the Business packages, you can have anywhere between 100GB and unlimited storage space. That’s handy to remember if you will be adding images and videos to your website. You’ll get your domain for free for the first year but will need to pay for it after that. Depending on the domain itself, these can range significantly in cost, which is something to be mindful of when budgeting. If you already have a domain name elsewhere on another provider, you can also transfer it over to Wix. Or, you can buy domains from Wix themselves.

Wix pros

  • Wix offers a wide range of pricing plans to suit various needs. Depending on how many products you’ve got, how much space you’ll need and your priorities, something will likely fit pretty well. 
  • Their interface was created to be as user-friendly as possible. Building websites can be daunting so that the drag-and-drop capability will relieve much of that stress. It makes for easier editing, and the templates do a pretty good job of quickly getting you up and running with a site.
  • Your site will be hosted exclusively on Wix’s servers. Hosting is included as a part of your plan, meaning there’s one less thing for you to organise when it comes to getting your site up and running. 
  • Along with drag and drop design, there are a lot of free templates for you to choose from.
  • If you aim to get up and running faster than an energetic kangaroo, Wix is pretty good at that. You can get a domain, design your layout and quickly press that ‘live’ button.
  • Being responsive on mobile is super important these days. More than half of all website visits are completed from a mobile phone. Wix has optimisation for mobile devices, so you know things will look good regardless of whether someone’s on their phone or a desktop.
  • Another important factor is which browser people access your site from. Wix automatically adapts for accessibility for various browsers, so whether they’re on Safari or Chrome, they can view your site how you want them to. Although, at times, this can still be clunky.
  • Slow sites lose traffic. With everyone expecting super fast loading times, Wix has optimised for speed on their servers.
  • Your site is only as safe as the strength of your security. It’s something you’ll need to have and Wix takes care of security for you.
  • Trends and changes to what people expect from websites is a constantly evolving thing. Wix keeps up with these trends, giving you ongoing product improvement as a part of the package.
  • Wix support is easy to access, and a Facebook community is available, meaning you can chat with others online, too.

Wix cons

  • Remember how we said it’s a good idea to choose the right provider from day dot? Well, if you do choose to leave Wix, you can’t take your data with you. They don’t currently offer you the ability to export your site’s data to upload to another provider at this stage. 
  • While their servers are optimised, they still have a slower loading time than other options. This can make it more likely for website visitors to get bored and click away if your page takes too long to respond. 
  • While hosting is included, you may pay more than you need. Having a more custom plan can be beneficial when you’re managing costs. 
  • As we mentioned, you’ll have Wix ads on your website if you don’t go for the paid options. If you’re not paying for a product, there’s often some cost, and ideally, you don’t want ads on your site unless you’ve chosen to put them there yourself. 
  • While they have plenty of templates, you might struggle if you want something more unique. Adapting and creating custom design elements can be time-consuming and difficult. This can mean you’ll need to learn how to do things yourself or pay a developer to do those more techy bits for you. 
  • If you opt for a template on your Wix site, it can’t be changed or edited once your site is live and you’ve added content to the page. 
  • Apps aren’t just for your phone; websites have them, too. They add extra capability to your site, but unfortunately, Wix has limited options in this department.

Is Wix SEO friendly?

If you’ve never heard of SEO before, you’ll need to buckle down and do a little bit of research. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation, and it’s the method of making sure your website has the right kind of content that’ll help people find you and your site. Things like keywords relating to your business are especially important. Where and how you include them on your site is another key thing to consider. 

Knowing whether or not your website’s platform is good for SEO needs to be a major consideration. Wix didn’t used to be fantastic for SEO but over the years, they’ve tightened things up a bit. 

Since 2016, they’ve added a lot more capability to make sure your site looks good in Google’s eyes. Things like adding alt text to images, creating custom URLs and adding meta titles are now standard. 

There’s also now a tool that helps you ensure your site is as SEO-friendly as possible. It’s called the Wix SEO Wiz tool. While that’s one aspect, you’ll still need to use this in conjunction with a strong plan to make sure you’re getting those SEO gains. Here is an in-depth look at SEO for Wix if you want some more context about the before and after.

Kate Toon from Recipe for SEO success says:

“I’m a WordPress woman through and through (I have 8 WordPress websites) but I would say that there is an argument for Wix on some occasions. If you’re just starting out and want a quick easy website then the learning curve for Wix is much easier, at first you’ll be driving traffic mostly via socials and word of mouth so Wix helps you get to market faster. I recently compared the SEO features between WordPress and the gap is shrinking.

But the truth is as time goes on, as your business grows and you need traffic from outside your immediate circle in a more competitive space, you may wish to migrate to WordPress. Wix is a great starting point but possibly not the best end point.”

WordPress

What is self-hosted WordPress?

Before, we mentioned that Wix has its own hosting. That’s one big difference in the Wix vs WordPress debate, and it may sway you one way over the other. When it comes to WordPress, you’ve got two options. For the sake of this blog, we’ll cover the self-hosted option. That’s where you’ll need to download and add the WordPress content management system (CMS) to your own web address. 

WordPress is an open source platform meaning its users create it. If you go to WordPress.org, you can start by downloading their CMS. From there, it can easily be added to the domain of your choice. You’ll also need to get your domain name, unlike with Wix where you’ll get one included for the first year of your package. Hosting and support are separate from WordPress, and you’ll need to choose a provider that suits your needs. That’s where we come in, of course. We give you all the options you could need, as well as making WordPress updates easier with our Smart Plugin tool.

wix vs wordpress dashboard

WordPress site builders

Once you have your hosting and domain set up with WordPress, you’ll be ready build some pages. Unlike the more limited options on Wix, with WordPress, you’re spoiled for choice. 

Gutenberg is one of the optional additions to the WordPress CMS. It’s a site builder that makes the process of adding rich content a lot simpler. Who doesn’t love simplicity? Instead of using customised HTML, which requires code knowledge, content is added within this visual editor using content blocks.

It enables more advanced layouts using a drag and drop method, which is great news for users at the beginner’s end of the spectrum. It gives you more control over the look of your site and access to an array of new features.

The one we recommend the most for WordPress sites is Elementor. Like Gutenberg, it also has a drag and drop editor. This gives you the choice to add many extra fun bits like text, images, contact forms, footers and more. 

Elementor is a plugin (an app) that can be added to your WordPress backend. One of the biggest benefits of these plugins is that even when you have content on a page, you can still edit the templates, which you miss out on with Wix.

WordPress pricing

WordPress is free to download. You will need to pay a web host for your hosting package and your domain name. The costs of these can vary depending on what sort of domain you want and the space in gigabytes you need to maintain your site. 

When it comes to plugins and templates, WordPress is unrivalled here. There are plenty of free templates for you to use, some of which also have upgraded paid versions. Likewise, when it comes to plugins, there are over 54,000 to choose from. Some are paid options right off the bat, but plenty are free if you just need the basic level. These plugins give you so much more versatility and nifty features to make your site the perfect destination for your customers.

WordPress pros

  • WordPress is free to download and offers a basic CMS platform. It gives you access to templates and thousands of plugins that allow you to make yourself something truly unique.
  • You can add WooCommerce as a plugin to create a store and have custom product pages, plus enable more payment options. 
  • If you decide to move to another platform for any reason, WordPress allows you to download your site’s data. Flexibility is always good in case you decide your website would be better off elsewhere.
  • You can dream when it comes to design. There are so many templates to choose from and you have the ability to edit those templates to fit your needs. You also have the option to create your designs from scratch without having to employ someone else to do it for you.
  • You won’t have any WordPress ads on your site, giving you that clean and professional look.
  • The backend of your WordPress site is incredibly easy to navigate. This is especially important for newer site owners learning as they go. 
  • Likewise with operating in the backend, it’s also super simple to set up. You can DIY every aspect of your website with a custom theme, regardless of whether you want something simple or with all the bells and whistles. 
  • Updates are readily available to fix bugs. You can do this yourself, or get someone to manage your site for you to keep things ticking over. 
  • Unlike Wix, WordPress has very quick page loading times. This does depend somewhat on the content you add. We always recommend optimising your images and compressing them where possible so your site isn’t slowed down. Likewise for videos, embedding them from an external site like YouTube keeps that speed running smoothly. 
  • As we mentioned, WordPress is an open source platform. They also have a large developer community who both create and update new plugins and templates constantly.
  • WordPress is also optimised for mobile devices, allowing all that mobile traffic to view your site as intended.
  • You have plenty of online resources available at your fingertips. There are also Facebook groups and tutorial videos for you to follow.

WordPress cons

  • WordPress doesn’t have a free hosting option, meaning you’ll need to find a hosting plan to go with your site.
  • As the site owner, you’re responsible for any installations and updates for themes as well as the CMS and plugins.
  • You’ll need to do some research and get some practice using WordPress if you’re not familiar with navigating the platform.
  • With so much versatility, if you want something extra unique you might want (or need) a web developer for customisation, plugin conflicts or other issues.
  • WordPress needs regular updates to prevent breakages or security issues. You’ll also need to provide your own security – that includes your SSL certificate which is also a must-have for SEO.

Is WordPress SEO friendly?

WordPress is one of the best options for SEO. Like with Wix you’ll still need a content plan to look for the key search terms customers might use to find a site like yours. WordPress makes it easier to optimise your content with apps like WordPress SEO by Yoast. It gives you tips and tricks for both readability and SEO all in one neat little package. 

There are plenty of others to choose from as well when it comes to maximising your SEO potential. When you add SEO plugins, they can be accessed via the plugin option on your dashboard. Unlike many other site builders, WordPress gives you the ability to make custom code changes to your site. That translates to even more potential to improve your SEO! 

working on a laptop

Wix vs WordPress: which is better for SEO?

Is Wix better than WordPress? Let’s break it down into two easy to follow lists to help you choose. 

If you want to: 

  • Create a simple website and get it live as quickly as possible.
  • Intend on sticking with the same CMS for a while. 
  • Create a shop with the usual online storefront and payment options. 
  • Don’t want to customise your site too much. 
  • Have everything all in one place when it comes to hosting, your domain and website content. 

Wix may be a good option for you! 

However, if you’re looking more along the lines of: 

  • Something that allows for major customisation. 
  • A platform that gives you more payment options and more versatility on product pages. 
  • Gives you the freedom to choose your hosting, domain names and security. 
  • A platform with plenty of plugins to add new features. 
  • An SEO optimised site builder with tools to improve your content. 

WordPress should be your go-to.

Ready to dive in?

At True Green, we can take care of all things WordPress for you. We’ve got you covered with web hosting, domain names, security and can even make managing your WordPress plugins and themes easier too.

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