With so many website hosting and building platforms it can be hard to know which one to choose.
WordPress and Wix are arguably the two most famous, but which is better? We look at what each one can offer, and which might be best for you.
What is WordPress?
WordPress is more than just a website builder, it is a content management system (CMS), which offers more freedom in what you can do, but requires some technical know-how that excludes those with no knowledge of coding from using it to its full potential.
The flexibility that WordPress offers takes some beating, from its range of plugins and extensions to the ability to create a scalable website that looks and works exactly as you imagined, however, it’s not without some drawbacks, especially for beginners with little to no website design or building experience.
You’ll have to sort out web hosting yourself, and if you have any technical issues, you’ll have to deal with those yourself too.
What is Wix?
Wix is a website builder that offers simplicity above all. Its drag and drop approach to website building means that you can organise your website layout and piece together an attractive website quickly and easily, with no knowledge of coding or web design.
Wix is a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) interface, so there will be few surprises when you come to publish what you’ve been building.
This ease of use does come with a drawback and Wix lacks some of the sophistication of WordPress, so if you’re looking to develop your website into a large, complicated site, you may find yourself outgrowing it eventually.
Difference between WordPress and Wix
The difference between WordPress and Wix boils down to their potential. Wix offers a quick start with its straightforward website building tools, but it plateaus as the flexibility of WordPress outstrips that of Wix.
Both services are becoming more sophisticated all the time and offer things such as the tools to build a mobile app, but we’ll look at the key points of comparison below.
Ease of use
Wix offers a drag and drop website builder that can have you up and running with your own website very quickly. There are hundreds of pre-made templates for you to choose from to base your site around and getting to grips with system is quick and easy.
WordPress requires some knowledge of coding to get the best from it. When building with Wix, WYSIWYG, but using the editor in WordPress means you’ll have to keep using ‘preview’ to see how your site will actually appear.
However, you have much more freedom when building and access to thousands of themes, and you can even hire a web designer to build your own custom theme.
Ecommerce
Wix offers a solid ecommerce system, however it’s suited better to a small range of a few products rather than a full online store.
You will have to decide on and install a plugin to begin ecommerce on WordPress, however it’s better suited to a fully-fledged online store.
If you want to maximise your E-commerce presence, take a look at our pages on E-commerce web design and E-commerce SEO services.
SEO
Wix and WordPress both have a number of SEO tools which offer things like keyword research and help your site to be found. Those offered by WordPress do have the potential to be more powerful, however the best are paid plugins and Wix includes one for free in several of their monthly plans.
Blogging
Content writing is an important aspect of a website and can boost its visibility.
Wix offers a basic blogging service that works well if a blog isn’t going to be the central aspect of your site.
WordPress has blogging at its fundamental core and if a blog is to be the primary feature of your site, it’s the clear winner. However, it doesn’t have its own dedicated archive of images and videos like Wix, so you’ll need to source these yourself.
Which is better to use?
While WordPress can boast that a hefty percentage of websites have been built using it, it’s not for everyone, you’ll need a basic knowledge of coding and be prepared to put work into it to ensure you’re getting the best out of it.
Wix is a quick and easy alternative that, if you don’t want a large, complex website with a full online store, will suit your needs and get you up and running quickly.
Don’t forget, a great website isn’t all you need to make your business a success. You’ll need to factor in things such as email marketing to make sure you’re attracting and retaining clients.
If you’d like help making the most of your website, want to unlock the best features to help your business flourish, or are looking for a first-class design service, MaxWeb are Google Partners with an experienced team of dedicated developers, designers, SEO consultants and project managers.
You can contact our services based close to you for a design that’s right for you. Click below for more information:
Posted on Friday, August 20th, 2021 in Web Development.
