Thinking of Using Wix For Your Small Business Website? Here’s What You Should Know.

Google “small business website design” and Wix is front and center of the search results. That’s fair enough: the platform does have over 200 million users worldwide, offers a free plan, and has a drag-and-drop editor that virtually anyone could operate. But “easy” and “free” in this case are 1) misleading and 2) a double-edged sword.

Your small business deserves a custom website design with plenty of flexibility and access to a dedicated, experienced design professional – not a faceless tech support entity who’s never met you and doesn’t know your business. If you’re serious about having a respectable, beautiful, functional site, steer clear of Wix. Here’s why.

You’re locked in to whatever template you choose.

True, Wix has over 800 templates to choose from, and many – such as restaurants and hotels – come with built-in essentials like a booking tool. The trouble comes when your business begins to grow.

If you want a new look or improved functionality, you’re out of luck – unless you want to start all over. Once your site is published, you’re stuck forever with the template you chose; if you choose a new one, all your content is lost and you’re looking (again) at a blank site.

It’s easy to outgrow what Wix offers.

The low cost (there’s even an ad-supported free option) can be tempting, but business owners end up paying more in the long run due to limitations in functionality – even add-ons!

Wix doesn’t allow users to edit HTML or CSS (the code that makes a website “work”) and is not compatible with third-party apps and plugins not already part of its App Market. In short, you may find that Wix is adequate for when you first open your business, but not once you become successful and need serious scalability.

You’re swapping control for “convenience”

You can be up and running on Wix in under an hour thanks in large part to its all-in-one approach (design + hosting), Wix ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence), and the simple drag-and-drop editor. But what they don’t tell you is what you’re sacrificing, which is substantial. Consider that:

● Wix does not allow users to export their website content. That means that if you ever do want to move platforms, you’ll have to manually scrape the content yourself, and you’ll lose out on your layout entirely.
● All Wix users are required to host with Wix. If you want to leave – because loading times are slow, the customer service is bad, or you need more space – you’re stuck (and so is your website).
● Wix’s SEO tools are severely limited. Since you can’t edit code, you’re heavily reliant upon basics like alt text, user experience, and keyword-rich text – none of which will get you very far with Google. You may have the most beautiful site ever designed on Wix, but it may not show up in search results.

It’s a tool specifically for people who aren’t web developers.

And that’s a serious problem. Would you let your mechanic perform heart surgery on you? Of course not. Fully Charged Media sums it up perfectly (emphasis in the original):

“The largest cost of using Wix for many people is a hidden one. It’s the cost of
websites built by users who may not know what makes a website really work,
therefore it doesn’t get found, or it doesn’t function well. That lack of functionality is
probably costing you business.”

Don’t be tempted by Wix’s “free” and “easy” sales pitch. If you’re serious about establishing a solid online reputation and growing your small business, get in touch! Red Tree Designs can help you turn your small business website into a powerful marketing tool that looks and performs spectacularly well.

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