WORDPRESS VS. WIX: WHY WORDPRESS IS MORE BENEFICIAL?

Websites are essential tools in business web marketing strategies. But, between a lack of resources and skills, it is not easy to find the right solutions.

CMS (Content Delivery System), like WordPress and Wix, have made it possible to democratize the development of websites. We explain why it is still better to opt for WordPress, even if it means calling on a professional.

What do WordPress and Wix offer?

WordPress is an open source CMS, that is, developed to be free and freely redistribution. In other words, you can install WordPress on any host. The latter then allows you to install a theme (free or paid) and plug-ins to enhance it with additional features.

However, the WordPress CMS requires to have some technical skills, in particular in “Back End” (the non visible part of your site).

Wix works a little differently. It is a turnkey solution that allows you to build websites without having to write a single line of code. It works through a “click-and-drop” system, with customization options (colors, fonts, etc.).

Wix sites are therefore already hosted, you have no choice. It can be used for free in a very limited version. To have a professional and optimized site, you will have to pay.

More flexible

Wix has the advantage of being easy to use and intuitive. It offers more than 300 templates to customize. But it’s not as flexible and scalable as WordPress. WordPress offers thousands of themes with easy to run customization options.

And if you take the time to read some tutorials, it is possible to free yourself from the basic customization options of your theme, to create a unique site. Which will never be the case with Wix.

Thanks to extensions (called plug-ins), it is easy to enhance your WordPress site with multiple features, such as complex contact forms, multilingual options or to transform it into a merchant site.

This extension system therefore allows you to develop your site more easily according to your needs. While some options of this order exist at Wix, some such as e-commerce are chargeable in addition to your subscription.

More efficient

You should know that Wix sites are not responsive from the ground up. For your site to adapt to the size of your screen, you will have to pay for an additional mobile version. Most WordPress themes already have a responsive design. You hardly have to worry about it.

Wix sites are also very heavy, because they are developed in Javascript. They are hosted on shared servers. The response time of the latter can therefore be quite long. It is difficult to reduce it without affecting the user experience. The loading time is a parameter that greatly affects your SEO.

At the same time, sites running on WordPress are thus lighter, because they are based on other technologies. It is possible to optimize them through cache extensions or some technical adjustments, if you call in a professional.

On the e-commerce side, Wix can be a solution for a small business starting up. But you will soon be limited. The shipping and tax options there are quite limited. Their e-commerce solution is also not entirely in accordance with French law, which can become a problem in the long term. With WordPress, installing the Woo-commerce plugin should give you a lot of possibilities… and very few limitations if you’re willing to use a bit of code.

Better referenced

As mentioned above, Wix is ​​based on JavaScript technology. A large part of the tags are thus used for graphic purposes. Which does not help search engines like Google to index and reference these sites. Likewise, the free version does not allow any SEO optimization: URLs are not customizable, alt tags, title and meta tags and redirects, robot.txt file are not editable, etc.

Many Wix sites never reach the first page of search results. With WordPress most of these options are free natively or with the installation of a plugin.

Your site belongs to you

With Wix your site never really belongs to you. As long as you use their service there is no problem. But if one day you decide to upgrade your site and you want to change web host, you will not be able to migrate your site. It will be necessary to start all over again.

With WordPress, your domain name and your website are yours. You can change web hosting without having to start all over again.

WordPress: best value for money

In short, Wix may seem like a good solution for small businesses: intuitive and easy to use, fast. But it has too many flaws to be an effective communication medium: too rigid, well referenced, not very scalable … Not to mention the fact that to have a sufficiently professional site (without advertising, with a domain name), you will have to pay (up to around € 200 per year)! With a strong supportive community and a little elbow grease, WordPress offers more possibilities for a much lower cost (90 to 140 € / year).