anyone used wix.com before?

[Amazin]

I don't know any coding so was thinking of using wix.com. when i looked into it, there are also other website building services such as godaddy etc, how are they different from wordpress or joomela?

 

[fisicx]

I'd rather chop my toes off than use wix or any other site builder. They are horrible without exception. Fine if you just want a hobby site to share with your mates but useless for everything else.

They are nothing at all like wordpress or joomla.

You don't need to know any coding at all to use wordpress. Most hosts have a one-click installer. Once that's complete all you really need to do is add your content.

 

[ryedale]

We probably get around 1 new web design client a month who've previously invested money and time into a Wix or similar site before realising it was completely limited and a waste of valuable time.

As Fisicx said, if it's for anything but the most absolute basic of websites, then steer clear

 

[zigojacko]

I echo the above comments, stay clear at all costs if you're serious about a web presence to represent a business that trades online.

All site builders are abysmal, built poorly, have to rely on pretty much all styles and javascript inline, are major code bloat, near-on impossible to rank because they are so shockingly bad at the most basic of site structure and optimisation, face countless limitations, tied in to ridiculous reoccurring fees... The list of reasons not to use a DIY site builder, are endless.

There are plenty of sources online to backup any similar reasons you'll find in this thread...

https://superpixel.co/21-reasons-shouldnt-use-site-builder/
http://riweb.uk/blog/10-reasons-not-to-use-diy-website-builders
https://www.web-savvy-marketing.com/2011/09/diy-websites-horrible-mistake/
https://krauppinc.com/reasons-why-you-shouldnt-use-a-free-website-builder/
http://www.katlove.com/the-problem-with-that-diy-website-builder

 

[Graham Tyers]

I've moved dozens of sites away from Wix. Never had one go the other way. Ever.

 

[Paul Norman]

Like all the above, we get regular enquiries from clients for websites who have tried wix.

Bluntly, it is not suitable for a serious business website.

Frankly, I would get a quote from any of the above people, or even ourselves, before you conclude that building your own site is a good use of your time. But if you are wishing to go ahead - and many do, and do it very acceptably, I would suggest you use Wordpress.

 

[TODonnell]

Might be good for a placeholder website for John Plumber: name, address, phone number, picture of John with his van and a wrench in his hand.

For other niches, there will come a time when you want to do X and it'll be a problem.

Then later on you'll have to pay someone to set up a Wordpress site for you on your own hosting account.

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

I don't know any coding so was thinking of using wix.com. when i looked into it, there are also other website building services such as godaddy etc, how are they different from wordpress or joomela?

As everyone else said, wix is terrible. It's really bad for SEO, and these online site builders typically lock you in to expensive contracts for poor results.

Most decent web hosts will provide a site builder. These are different to online site builders in that (the good ones at least) produce responsive, HTML/CSS based sites, that you own and have full control over. So similar to building your own website using Serif or Dreamweaver and the like the uploading it to your web space.

These can be a good option if you find WordPress to difficult to use, and are adamant on building your own website.

Examples of these include RVSiteBuilder and Breezi Website Builder.

We normally recommend using WordPress to build your own website, at least if you're reasonably comfortable using the web and applications.

There's a bit more of a learning curve, especially in terms of turning it from the default blog into a normal website, but there are good tutorials out there, and lots of help.

To answer your question, the key difference is that WordPress and Joomla are open source Content Management Systems.

That means you can login and edit your pages, add plugins to easily add additional features like content forms, and so forth.

WordPress is good for SEO, especially with an SEO plugin.

The key advantage other than that, and being able to easily edit your website, is that with WordPress and the like, you can easily bring in a designer to take your website to the next level.

Unlike a website built with a site builder, the designer won't need to start from scratch, but can build on what you've made and your existing content.

WordPress is so widely used that there's a wealth of help available, and plenty of designers that use it.

So I'd recommend that with a decent web host over wix.

You can get help and support on UKBF, follow tutorials, or get your web host or a UKBF member or other designer to build your website for you. You'll then easily be able to change the text yourself, so you don't need to pay in the future just to edit a phone number or service information.

I hope that helps.

Best of luck,

Dan

 

[Tom_Dwan]

I was recently also dealing with Wix for the first time and the user experience is not that bad at all. It's true you don't need any coding skills and it is pretty easy to customize your site. In my case, however, we needed the website for online lessons for one specific niche (chess). So, starting from the scratch and with some serious competition worldwide Wix was not the right choice. I read some article and 95% of them said migrate to Wordpress and other platforms if you are serious about your business. It has some real obstacles when it comes to SEO.

 

[Deleted member 268094]

It's true that if you really want to kick on with a web site Wix is unlikely to be what you need but without knowing your requirements I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. Another alternative is Squarespace. Also if you're requirements are quite specific not knowing how to "code" isn't necessarily a problem. You need to produce a solid requirement document. That doesn't require any technical know how (although some is always a benefit). Armed with a well thought out written requirements document you can save yourself loads on a wordpress site with the right developer.

 

[Amazin]

thanks for the feedback guys, i learned alot from this thread. I guess wordpress is the way to go then

 

[Livai]

You are right, this will be the best choice

 

[TotalWebSolutions]

Also, just to add that if you using Wix and building an online store using Wix Stores the card processing methods are pretty limited (at present anyway). WordPress would get my vote as it offers a much better platform to build on with an abundance of themes and plugins.

 

[Dan_HiHosting]

Yes it's staggering to think how far WordPress has come; from a simple open source blogging platform, to probably the most popular CMS, and with WooCommerce, capable of running full eCommerce websites.

A WordPress website can organically and easily grow from a simple brochure websites to a full eCommerce website. You can easily add payment functionality, or use WooCommerce.

If you're thinking of going full eCommerce though, it's best to start with a WooCommerce compatible theme from the start, that'll certainly make things easier.

But by its very nature; a very widely used, open source, plugin driven, extensible platform, WordPress is very flexible.

Need certain functionality? Just add a plugin.

Need a certain look? Just change the theme.

But importantly over many highly marketed website builders, you'll own your website and have full control to do with it as you wish, and use whatever provider you like.

And you can easily have a responsive, modern website, built with SEO in mind.

Those are the key reasons for choosing it really I think.

And it's very easy to get up and running. Any decent web host will provide a one click installer so you can have it installed for you in seconds, and some even let you choose it when you order to have it installed for you automatically.

So you can be picking a theme and adding your content in minutes.

As you can probably tell, we're strong advocates

All the best,

Dan