A Comprehensive Review of Wix

Wix is highly regarded as one of the top website builders available. Its widespread appeal among businesses stems from its versatility, and it is designed to meet the needs of a diverse user base. Whether you’re setting up a landing page for a marketing firm, an e-commerce platform, or any other type of business site, Wix offers a multifunctional toolkit. However, the real considerations are how effectively Wix can perform these tasks, its ease of setup, and its usability. This comprehensive review of Wix will explore various important aspects, including its advantages and disadvantages, pricing options, and more.

An Overview of Wix

Wix is a website builder designed to allow individuals without programming skills to create websites or online stores. Established in Israel in 2006, Wix has grown significantly, hosting around 8 million websites, including around 3.4 million e-commerce sites. The platform is a leader in the website builder market, combining user-friendly interfaces with advanced features to serve a wide range of users, from beginners to professional web developers. Its numerous customizable templates are central to Wix’s popularity, allowing users to shape their websites according to their tastes.

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It also features an easy-to-use drag-and-drop editor and innovative AI technology, such as Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), which simplifies the web creation process and offers personalized design and content recommendations. Wix offers over 900+ free templates that are adjustable and optimized for mobile viewing, though some tweaking might be necessary. The platform can also be expanded with various apps from its App Market.

Wix excels by offering comprehensive tools to boost website performance and visibility. These include SEO optimization to improve search engine rankings, powerful e-commerce solutions for online stores, and branding tools like Wix Logo Maker to help users craft a distinctive brand identity. These integrated tools provide users with all the necessary resources to manage and expand their online presence efficiently, making Wix suitable for various purposes, including small businesses, personal blogs, portfolios, and large e-commerce sites.

Review of Wix: Pros and Cons

Should You Use Wix?

Wix is designed to suit a broad range of users. You can develop a standard website, photo gallery, blog, or a basic e-commerce site. These options are suitable if your needs are straightforward. From individuals working on private projects to professionals in various fields such as restaurant management, online retail, music production, and photography, it offers an extensive selection of templates covering nearly every possible need and specialized valuable applications for tasks like selling online courses or scheduling appointments.

While Wix excels at creating straightforward websites or blogs and platforms designed for monetization, it is less suited for more complex projects like web directories. Wix may not be the best choice if your project requires highly specialized functionality.

Wix offers a basic structure you can personalize by selecting different themes and adding features like photo galleries and other applications, as explained in the Wix tutorial.

Key Features Offered by Wix

Wix provides a diverse suite of tools designed for users of all technical abilities and project scopes, enabling the effective creation of professional websites. Here’s an overview of its primary features:

• Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI)

Wix ADI leverages artificial intelligence to streamline the website design process. By inputting business goals and design preferences, users can utilize this tool, which draws from current trends and industry standards to quickly produce a tailored website design. This feature minimizes the need for deep technical expertise, and continuous enhancements keep it relevant for both novices and experienced users.

• Mobile Optimization

Wix ensures that websites perform excellently on both desktops and mobile devices through mobile-responsive templates. The platform provides over 900 templates, although it’s important to choose wisely as switching templates later is not supported, which may restrict design flexibility.

• App Market

The Wix App Market hosts a vast selection of both Wix and third-party apps, seamlessly integrating with websites to expand functionalities in e-commerce, marketing, booking systems, and more. This resource supports a tailored and effective website management and enhancement process.

• Enhanced HTTPS Security

Wix now offers HTTPS as a default feature to improve the security of user interactions on websites. This update supports Google’s initiative for a safer internet by awarding sites with HTTPS a security badge and potentially improving their search rankings. HTTPS is essential for securely conducting online transactions and managing private data exchanges.

• Customized Quotations

Wix introduces a customizable quotation tool for business users, including small enterprises and individual proprietors. This function enables you to create personalized quotes using a structured template where details about customers, terms, and offer expiration can be defined. This tool reflects Wix’s commitment to addressing the varied requirements of its users, even on free accounts.

• Logo Creation Tool

Wix also offers a logo maker, which is vital for any business requiring a rapid and effective logo solution. This tool integrates well with other website-building functionalities, providing a simple way to craft professional logos.

• Wix Editor

The Wix Editor offers an intuitive drag-and-drop interface for straightforward website customization. Users can easily incorporate text, images, and various elements, adjust layouts, modify themes, and add applications from the Wix App Market. Combined with SEO optimization tools and collaborative features, the Wix Editor is a comprehensive solution for building websites.

• Task and Reminder Management

Wix includes a task and reminder tool to facilitate efficient website management. This feature is valuable during a website’s developmental stages and throughout its ongoing administration.

• Enhanced Payment Integration

Wix enhances e-commerce capabilities with integrated payment options like PayPal and traditional methods such as cash or check. Users can explore additional apps in the Wix App Market for broader payment features, which provide services including credit card processing, payment reminders, and invoicing. However, it’s important to note that Wix Payments is limited to certain regions, primarily within the eurozone.

• Automated Response Features

Wix supports functionalities for automated responses, such as chatbots and automated email acknowledgments. These enhance customer interaction by ensuring quick responses to inquiries. This capability is especially useful for businesses aiming to improve their customer service and engagement levels.

• E-commerce Tools

Wix excels in e-commerce functionality, offering tools for online stores of any scale. It facilitates product display, inventory management, secure payment processing, efficient checkout processes, and shipping coordination, enhancing the overall functionality and scalability of e-commerce operations.

E-Commerce With Wix Website Builder

All the plans include key sales features such as discount options, abandoned cart recovery, social media sales, and notifications for items back in stock. Exclusive to the Business and Business Elite plans are additional functionalities like customer product reviews, enhanced shipping options, and support for multiple currencies.

While Wix is a good e-commerce option, it may not compare with Shopify regarding bigger organizations with thousands or millions of sales. Shopify excels with its comprehensive sales capabilities, allowing unlimited products and international sales tools starting from its most basic plan. While Shopify is ideal for expanding businesses into major market players, Wix better suits smaller ventures and simple product lines.

Blogging With Wix Website Builder

When creating a blog with Wix, the platform provides a variety of features suitable for both novice and experienced users. Initiating a blog is simple; during setup, you can choose the “Blog” option, and Wix will automatically include the required sections on your site. You can also easily add a blog later using the editor.

The blog editor on Wix is straightforward to use. It offers templates for different post types, which help ensure a uniform and professional look across your blog. These templates include categories such as “How to,” “Ultimate Guide,” and product reviews, which can help you organize your content more effectively.

Wix offers extensive customization options. You can create detailed posts incorporating text, images, videos, GIFs, and more. The platform supports adding downloadable files, buttons, and even polls, providing you the flexibility to produce engaging content. For e-commerce sites, you can add product descriptions directly in your posts, enabling readers to book services or make appointments.

Despite these benefits, Wix has some drawbacks, such as the inability to add multiple authors to a single post, which may be inconvenient for blogs run by teams. Additionally, while the “Monetize” feature is handy for creating paid content, other functionalities like the WordPress import tool and translation services may experience issues.

Nevertheless, Wix is an effective and accessible blogging platform that is appropriate for most users. If blogging capabilities are a priority, it is advisable to try out Wix with a free account to assess its suitability for your needs.

Ease of Use of Wix Website Builder

Wix provides an intuitive interface ideal for users without previous website-building experience. Its drag-and-drop editor is one of the easiest to use, allowing you to easily add, remove, and rearrange elements on your page without needing to write any code. Additionally, Wix handles web hosting and SSL certificates, ensuring that setting up your site is straightforward. The platform is accessible to users regardless of their web development experience, offering advanced features in a manageable format.

Users can design their site from the ground up or opt for a simpler approach where Wix’s AI generates a customized website based on a few initial questions. Wix also provides various industry-specific templates, enabling quick and effective website creation tailored to your business needs. Customization is easy, with options available through a simple click on each page element.

The platform is designed for convenience, featuring accessible help resources directly from the Wix Editor or the site dashboard. Signing up is fast and free, and you can use your email, Facebook, or Google credentials to begin building your website immediately.

Furthermore, Wix manages all website hosting and security, ensuring your site runs smoothly. If you encounter any problems, Wix offers round-the-clock support on all paid plans.

SEO and Marketing Tools of Wix

Wix distinguishes itself with robust SEO tools that can elevate your site’s Google ranking. The platform’s Wix SEO Wiz provides a personalized, detailed plan to enhance your content and boost your site’s visibility. Additionally, while all sites are automatically optimized for mobile viewing, you can tweak these settings further.

Wix also supports various marketing initiatives. You can conduct email campaigns to send offers or newsletters and promote your content on Facebook and Instagram directly from Wix.

For those looking to expand their capabilities, Wix Ascend offers a comprehensive suite of business tools spanning 20 product categories, including a free plan that is part of all existing Wix subscriptions. For additional features, users can explore and upgrade to one of the premium Ascend plans available through the “See Ascend Plans” option, noting that login is required to access these plans.

Performance & Reliability of Wix

Wix emphasizes performance to enhance the user experience and the search engine ranking of websites. The platform ensures quick load times and reliable availability for the websites it hosts. Utilizing a global content delivery network (CDN), Wix achieves fast page loading times, regardless of a visitor’s location. It also maintains a consistent uptime of 99.9%, keeping websites operational and accessible.

Wix provides hosting on its secure, cloud-based servers, removing the need for users to find external hosting services. The premium plans include unlimited bandwidth and storage, allowing for substantial website growth. For smaller websites, the free plans, which offer 500MB of storage and 1GB of bandwidth, are sufficient.

Security is a key concern for Wix, which offers a free SSL certificate for all hosted websites. This certificate secures the data exchanged between the website and its visitors. SSL certificates also boost search rankings on platforms like Google, which prefer secure websites.

Wix protects user data with automatic backups, safeguarding against data loss or unwanted changes. The Wix Site History feature lets users restore previous versions of their website when needed. However, it’s important to note that Wix does not offer a full backup solution; some customizations and content may not be saved in the site history, and users might need to consider additional backup options.

Wix provides various plans to suit different needs, with the option to upgrade as a website grows to access more resources and features. The scalability of Wix’s cloud infrastructure ensures it can handle increased traffic and demands, making it a dependable choice for users aiming to grow their online presence.

Template Options With Wix

Wix offers a large selection of templates, with over 900 options organized into five main categories: Business & Services, Store, Creative, Community, and Blog. This variety ensures you can find a template that suits the style and purpose of your website.

While the templates are generally high-quality and designed to present well on both desktops and mobile devices, some may not be fully responsive, which could result in occasional display issues on mobile.

The design quality of the templates varies, which might reflect personal taste. It’s important to note that you cannot change the template once your site is published. This limitation requires careful selection upfront to avoid issues later. For those who find the standard options unsuitable, Wix also offers numerous blank templates. These provide various layouts without pre-set images or text, allowing you to design from scratch.

Additionally, Wix makes all its templates available to browse without signing up, allowing full transparency from the start.

Design and Customization Options With Wix

Wix provides a wide range of design and customization options for beginners and professionals. Unlike many website builders that limit your design to a grid-based layout, Wix’s editor offers the freedom to position elements anywhere, allowing for detailed adjustments at the pixel level. Each element features its customization menu, which includes options for animations, scroll effects, and more, allowing you to customize your site to meet your specific requirements.

Wix accommodates adding custom elements using HTML and JavaScript for users proficient in coding. It also enhances functionality through Wix Velo, enabling the integration of advanced JavaScript or Wix APIs for detailed customization of element interactions on your site.

Wix also includes visual aids like grid lines and boundary indicators to align elements. This allows those without extensive design expertise to achieve a clean, professional website appearance. For more complex needs, Wix offers Editor X, a tool tailored for professionals with CSS grids, custom breakpoints, and sophisticated design capabilities suited for intricate, responsive website designs.

However, it’s important to note that Editor X can be challenging to master, making it better suited for users with design experience or those managing large-scale projects. Meanwhile, Wix remains an excellent option for those seeking a straightforward yet customizable platform.

Pricing of Wix Website Builder

Plan Name	Price per Month
Business Elite	$159
Business	$36
Core	$29
Light	$17
Free Plan	$0

Wix offers a variety of pricing plans catering to different needs, from hobbyists to large enterprise-level businesses. The Business Elite plan, priced at $159 per month, is designed for high-level users managing large-scale international sites. It supports up to 15 collaborators and provides unlimited storage space, an advanced marketing suite, advanced site analytics, payment acceptance capabilities, advanced e-commerce features, and an advanced developer platform.

The Core and Business plans provide enhanced features for more comprehensive requirements, such as setting up an online store or a business-centric website; these plans include tools for analytics, e-commerce, live site chat, and more. The Business plan, available at $36 per month, aims to grow brands. It accommodates ten collaborators and offers 100 GB of storage, a standard marketing suite, site analytics, and e-commerce functionalities.

This plan also allows for payment processing. The Core plan, priced at $29 per month, is designed to engage an audience. It includes space for 5 collaborators, 50 GB of storage, an essential marketing suite, basic site analytics, and basic e-commerce features. Like the others, this plan supports payment acceptance.

At $17 per month, the Light plan provides the essential features for smaller projects. It allows for two collaborators and includes 2 GB of storage and a light marketing suite. The Light plan eliminates ads and bandwidth constraints, allowing for the use of a custom domain. However, it does not support e-commerce or analytics. Other limitations include one automatic monthly backup (with up to three manual backups), a 30-minute video stream cap, and no live chat capability.

Lastly, Wix has a limited free plan that displays ads, does not support custom domains, and restricts users to 500MB of storage and 500MB of monthly bandwidth. This plan is ideal for testing Wix’s capabilities without financial commitment, though it’s unsuitable for professional websites.

Payment Gateways and Payment Processing

Payment gateways facilitate transactions on your online store through specific software. Wix offers compatibility with numerous third-party payment gateways, providing over 80 options. These options include well-known services like PayPal, Stripe, Square, and WorldPay, though available gateways may differ by location.

Compared to its competitors, Wix’s range of payment gateways is broader than Squarespace, which only integrates with Stripe, PayPal, and its proprietary Squarespace Payments, yet slightly fewer than Shopify, which supports over 105 payment gateways.

Wix also allows payments through Apple Pay and Google Pay, an advantage not available with other platforms such as Squarespace.

Additionally, Wix has its payment gateway, which charges transaction fees of 2.9% plus an additional $0.30 per transaction.

What Is Wix Editor X and Wix Studio?

Wix Editor X is currently transitioning to Wix Studio, a new platform designed to cater specifically to the needs of agencies, freelancers, and enterprise clients. This transition is part of Wix’s strategy to enhance the web creation experience by offering more advanced tools and a more streamlined workspace.

Wix Studio introduces several improvements over Editor X, including AI-powered design features, enhanced CSS customization, and a new responsive layout system that simplifies creating intricate web designs. This platform is also designed to integrate more seamlessly with business solutions, offering features like real-time collaboration, reusable components, and a dedicated mobile app for on-the-go site management.

The transition from Editor X to Wix Studio began in early 2024, and the plan is to migrate all Editor X sites to the new platform over the coming months. While accessing and working on existing Editor X sites is still possible, creating new ones on Editor X is no longer an option. Wix encourages users to start new projects on Wix Studio to take advantage of its expanded capabilities.

As part of this transition, Wix has ensured that the migration process will be smooth, with no significant impact on live sites. However, some features and interactions may need adjustments post-migration, and Wix provides ample resources and support to assist users during this period.

Wix Security Features

Wix stands out from other CMS platforms by handling all user security concerns. As a hosted solution, Wix ensures website safety and security by maintaining PCI compliance, which meets the stringent security standards required by credit card companies. Each Wix website has an SSL certificate and benefits from automatic backups. Additionally, Wix employs a dedicated team to monitor its servers continuously and mitigate any security threats.

However, Wix users should still prioritize setting strong passwords, as this is one of the platform’s limited security risks.

Customer Support Options From Wix Website Builder

You can reach Wix support agents by email or phone. The phone support operates from Monday to Thursday, 6 AM to 5 PM EST, but no live chat service is available. Customers with VIP plans receive priority support, and those on the Enterprise plan have a dedicated agent for specialized technical help. Although agents respond quickly and effectively to queries, the absence of live chat and round-the-clock phone support is noticeable.

Despite some gaps in direct support, Wix offers extensive self-help resources. The help center is thorough and user-friendly, enabling users to find answers to most questions easily. Additionally, Wix incorporates a unique support feature within the site editor. Almost every element of the editor includes a question mark icon; clicking on it provides detailed information about that feature. This includes written and video guides on using the tools available. This integrated help system is directly accessible within the editor, enhancing the user experience.

Customer Reviews of Wix Website Builder

Wix is well-regarded in the public domain and is considered one of the top website builders available today. It is known for being a flexible and easy-to-use platform for website building and e-commerce. Its broad range of templates, though fixed post-selection, and its customizable drag-and-drop editor allow for the quick creation of unique, professional websites.

Wix is often commended for its excellent customer service. While the platform is generally easy to use, some users encounter issues. In such cases, Wix’s customer support team is known for being accessible, helpful, and persistent. They offer real-time help through various means, such as live chat, phone support, and even screen-sharing sessions that provide detailed assistance.

Many find that video tutorials or articles from the help center are sufficient for less complex problems. The consistent theme is Wix’s commitment to substantially supporting its users.

Like any service, Wix has its shortcomings. Some users report problems with the billing system, including unexpected fees, especially following subscription cancellations. Additionally, there is no option to change templates or transfer sites to other services without starting over. There are also criticisms regarding slow website performance, unexpected price increases, and sudden changes to service plans, which push users towards more expensive options.

Conclusion

Wix remains a versatile and user-friendly platform that caters to a broad spectrum of website-building needs, from simple blogs to advanced e-commerce sites. Its drag-and-drop interface, extensive template library, and AI-powered design tools make it accessible to users with varying technical expertise. While Wix offers robust features for website customization, SEO, and e-commerce, it has some limitations, such as the inability to switch templates once a site is published and higher costs for advanced plans. A few good alternatives to Wix offer better features at a lower price.

However, Wix’s ongoing updates, such as the transition to Wix Studio, reflect its commitment to evolving with the demands of modern web design. For small to medium-sized businesses and individuals seeking a flexible, all-in-one solution, Wix remains a strong contender. Although it may not be the best fit for highly complex projects or large-scale e-commerce operations, it provides a solid foundation for most users looking to establish and grow their online presence effectively.

Frequently Asked Questions