(and I am not just writing this because I design OTHER Types of Websites-I have done some WIX Sites as well for Clients, but they just do not perform well in Google Search Results-sorry to say!)
A Bad Start!
Most pages are using the url format .com/#!chauffeur-hire-brighton/c1ay9
As a web designer, I have a personal problem with a product when it sets the expectation that anyone can design and develop a website…even for free.
Wix.com boasts that all you need to do is choose a template, input some text and then you have a website that will get you found online.
Wrong!
Designing for the web is not that simple. Not only must you solve various visual problems and adhere to specific client branding, but you have to rise to the challenge of making hundreds of pages, blogs and downloadable pieces of content cohesive and relevant to the user across a plethora of different devices (desktop computers, tablets, mobile phones, etc.).
There are some concrete reasons that businesses should not rely on website builders like Wix.com for their website.
1. SEO
A search engine optimization (SEO) strategy is one of the most important pieces of any website. It’s one of the first things my customers focus on or ask for, before aesthetics and before Google analytics. The question always comes back to, “How do I rank higher?”
SEO is easy to tackle when building a website in a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal.
You can build an easy ‘flow’ throughout the Website.
With a Wix.com site, implementing an SEO strategy is nearly impossible. You do not have the ability to download an SEO boosting plugin. Instead, you simply have the on-page SEO that Wix.com offers. Yes, you can get the basics done here, but it doesn’t offer you any Search Engine previews or any help along the way like one of my favorite SEO plugins, WordPress SEO by Yoast does.
Most troubling is the link structure that Wix.com employs. In every single Wix.com site URL, you will notice a # or “hashbang” which is being served through javascript, and in turn is not readable by search engines.
Major fail!
Even worse, if a user has javascript disabled on their browser then the site will not render at all. Wix.com used to be built with Flash technology (which is not compatible with most mobile devices), and while that issue has been corrected, they have opened an entirely new can of worms.
How exactly is a business supposed to get “found online” when the basic structure of the site does not allow for search engine access? If you dive deeper into Wix.com’s page structure, you find that all pages are canonical, or simply tabs of the homepage, and therefore they could never rank on their own.
Does it allow you to build Sitemaps? Internal and external .xlm Sitemaps?
With Wix.com you can build an attractive website and it may be easy for you to update, but if your site isn’t search engine compatible, or potentially even view-able, how is it going to work for you?
2. Site Ownership
Site ownership is essential for every website.
Every business should own their own web property and they should have a relationship with their web host company. A company website is just as valuable and important for you to understand and maintain as any other business asset.
Wix.com states:
“Wix does not claim any intellectual property rights over the User Submissions. However, under the Wix.comTerms of Use, you grant Wix worldwide, royalty-free and non-exclusive license to use, distribute, reproduce, modify, adapt, publicly perform and publicly display such User Submissions.”
That is scary. By signing up for Wix.com web services, you are allowing Wix.com to modify your site and your site’s content simply by agreeing to the Terms of Use.
3. Mobile Sites
Mobile websites were cool and effective before your parents started using Facebook, but now they just don’t make any sense. In their place, responsive websites are not just the new trend, they have officially become the new standard. Having a completely separate site for mobile users with a completely separate editor leads to complications like two separate analytics accounts.(and possibly penalty for duplicate content)
Modern browsers like Google Chrome can pick up where a browsing experience leaves off on a different device. Having a totally different mobile site from your desktop site provides a user with a lot of inconsistencies and most of the time, irrelevant or outdated information.
The biggest disadvantage I see with Wix.com in the mobile category is that you have to specify that you would like to build a mobile site and then enter into the separate editor.
What if I am already on Wix.com?
Already have a website on Wix.com? Don’t worry! You aren’t a total sitting duck. Unfortunately, you don’t have the ability to pick up your site as is and move it to a new hosting company (you don’t own your site, remember?). But, you can have your website professionally designed and implemented on a proven platform like WordPress or Joomla (my two favorite CMS platforms). In doing so, you can even harness the SEO you have managed to build up on Wix.com by putting in place some 301 redirects.
I also find with WIX I cannot track/analyse sites correctly i.e. Google Goals, Analytics etc. Therefore it has left me with no other alternative but to re-construct some websites using traditional code (using Notepad+) or switching over to WP or Joomla.
Need Help porting? Contact me.