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Are you ready to build your website? We know how intimidating it can be, especially for complete beginners.
Fortunately, creating a website is not as complicated as it was anymore. Numerous platforms have made the process fast and simple, even for people who do not know anything about website development.
Today, we’ll compare Wix vs WordPress, two of the most popular platforms for website creation.
What Is a Content Management System?
In a nutshell, a content management system (or CMS) is a platform that allows its users to create, modify, and manage the content of a website.
While it doesn’t require coding skills, it is ideal for WordPress users to know the basics of web development. That’s because it will require installation into your hosting server.
Don’t worry, it’s not that complicated to do. There are a lot of resources online if you really want to give WordPress a try.
Website Builders vs CMS
Website builders and content management systems are two of the most popular methods of creating a website. They are commonly mistaken for one another since both are platforms that can create excellent websites.
In essence, though, a CMS is strikingly different from a website builder. To start, they both have different objectives.
A website builder’s primary purpose is to provide you with the tools needed to build a website. On the other hand, a CMS focuses on the processes involved in the publishing of content online. While it can certainly create a website for you, in the end, it is not its true purpose.
Both content management systems and website builders vary. Each platform offers its own set of unique features and perks. In this article, though, we’d like to focus on Wix and WordPress.
What Is Wix?
Wix is one of the most popular website builders today, and for a good reason. They offer a free plan that will already give you a generic domain, access to their templates, and up to 500MB of storage.
They offer several paid options, too, including four website plans and three eCommerce plans for those who want to open an online shop. Upgrading to any premium option will include a custom domain, up to 35GB of storage, and access to added features depending on your preferred plan.
What Is WordPress?
WordPress is another free website creation platform. Unlike Wix, though, WordPress is not a website builder. Instead, it is an open-source content management system that allows you to create different types of websites.
Open-source means that a single entity does not own it. That said, numerous developers and users have collaborated to create the software that we now know today. That also means it’s free to use by anyone.
Wix vs WordPress: A Rundown
We’ll feature seven categories below to see how Wix and WordPress compare with each other. These are ease of use, flexibility on customization, security, value for money, customer support, SEO, mobile accessibility, and other features.
Ease of Use
Creating your website on Wix is a straightforward process. It will even take you to the website building platform immediately after completing the sign-up process.
It will first ask you what kind of website you intend to build. Then, it will promptly send you to its template collection to let you choose the theme you want to apply. We recommend that you take your time since there are numerous options.
Once you’ve made your choice, Wix will then send you to its drag-and-drop editor. This is where you can start tweaking your template to make it your own.
Adding new pages is very easy as well. You won’t even have to leave the website editor page.
Meanwhile, you have to install WordPress into your database first before you can use it. Once you have completed the set-up and sign-up process, you should now be able to access your dashboard. It will contain all the tools that you will need to manage your website and its contents.
Feel free to explore the different parts of your dashboard to familiarize yourself further.
The Score: When it comes to ease of use, Wix is surely the clear winner.
Flexibility on Customization
As mentioned, template selection is one of the first things you will get access to upon completing your Wix sign-up. Meanwhile, you can click on “Appearance” in your WordPress dashboard to start building your website.
Each platform has its pros and cons when it comes to customization. Here are the main points of comparison:
Wix offers hundreds of themes which might seem like it’s the clear winner given that WordPress only has 15 official themes. That is until you find out that the latter has almost 12,000 options to choose from, thanks to third-party theme developers.
A lot of these themes are free, but we highly recommend investing in a premium one if you want to make your website look more professional.
All of Wix’s templates have been double-checked to be completely compatible with all of Wix’s features. On the other hand, there are WordPress templates with bugs and issues that will require some minor fixing.
Wix’s website editor allows you to customize your page while being on it. What you see is what you get.
However, there are still certain aspects that you can’t customize completely. It is the price you pay for its ease of use.
Meanwhile, you can customize every aspect of your WordPress-powered website as long as you have the technical knowledge in doing so. The depth of customization that this platform has to offer is endless.
The Score: WordPress offers more customization options compared to Wix.
Security
Wix and WordPress have different approaches to keeping a website safe. At the surface, Wix’s security will seem pretty basic.
They use a two-factor authentication along with your password. That’s because most of the action takes place behind the scenes. Wix has teams in charge of keeping your website safe.
In WordPress, the responsibility to keep your website safe entirely relies on you. You will be in charge of keeping up with all the core updates, error checks, and more. Fortunately, numerous plugins can make the tasks easier.
The Score: It’s a tie. We understand why most beginners will favor Wix when it comes to security. It’s hassle-free, after all.
Meanwhile, some people enjoy having full control over the security of their websites. In the end, it will all boil down to which one will give you better peace of mind.
Value for Money
It’s easy to think that WordPress offers more value for your money. After all, Wix’s free plan isn’t really ideal for business or professional use for a few reasons:
- Wix will display their ads on every page.
- You won’t be able to change the site favicon.
- Your website won’t come with a custom domain. Thus, its URL will look like this: yourusername.wixsite.com/sitename.
Quick Side Note: Favicon is the icon displayed on the browser tab beside the page title. It seeks to help online visitors find your page in their browser window, especially when they have several tabs open.
They are also included in bookmarks, history results, search bars, and other online locations. While tiny, it is an essential part of your branding since it gives your website an added visual signifier.
That said, we highly recommend one of Wix’s paid plans instead. Those who want to reduce their spending should consider getting an annual payment method over a monthly one. It can help you save between 17 to 24% per year, depending on your chosen package.
On the other hand, while WordPress is free to download and use, keep in mind that it’s not the only tool you need to put your website live. At the very least, you will need to pay for your hosting provider and domain name.
Professional WordPress themes and premium plugins will come with their own costs as well. It can be easy for these expenses to pile up and go unnoticed.
The Score: Wix’s packaged plans are still the better option, especially if you don’t want to go over your budget. It’s possible to create a more affordable website with WordPress, but keeping track of all the expenses involved can be a tedious process.
Customer Support
Wix has a comprehensive knowledge base and a support team that you can contact for queries and issues. Their response time usually takes less than 24 hours.
On the flip side, WordPress doesn’t really offer specialized customer support beyond their knowledge base. Hence, you will have to do extensive research to remedy any WordPress-related issue on your own.
However, if your issue concerns a certain plugin or theme, then rest assured that each of them has its own developers that you can contact for further support.
The Score: Wix’s customer support is definitely more reliable.
SEO
Search engine optimization (or SEO) is definitely one of the most important factors to consider when building a website. It is the process that makes sure your website gets listed on search engine result pages.
The better your SEO efforts are, the higher your website’s rank will be. Getting your website on the first page is invaluable for your online presence and reputation.
Wix has had a rough past regarding SEO due to their previous Flash-based website builder. That said, they are making massive improvements to catch up with their competition.
They are now offering numerous SEO options, including customizable URLs and meta tags. Loading speed is still a problem, but we’re sure that they’re already working on improving it.
WordPress, on the other hand, has a stellar reputation when it comes to SEO. You can do anything you want with the help of numerous SEO plugins in its library.
The Score: This round definitely goes to WordPress.
Mobile Responsiveness and Mobile Website Management
We live in a very hectic world, but if there’s one portable digital device that we never forget to bring, that would be our smartphone. That means a website’s success also heavily relies on its mobile responsiveness.
We also find it necessary to have a website management application handy to easily check and update our web content while on the go.
Fortunately, both platforms offer such services. Wix makes it really easy to make your website mobile-ready.
All you need to do is head over to the Mobile Settings tab and enable the Optimized Mobile View option. You can also enable a mobile view directly on its desktop website editor.
Those who want to edit their site through their mobile phone can download the Wix Owner app. It will allow you to change your site’s elements like the layout of its pages and contents.
Numerous plugins can make your WordPress website mobile-ready. AppPresser is the most popular choice, but there are equally impressive alternatives.
WordPress also comes with its own app. Just like the main platform, this mobile application is also open-source and completely free.
The Score: It’s a tie.
Other Features
Finally, here are other factors that you might also want to consider. Each of them can improve your building experience and the quality of your finished website.
WordPress refers to third-party extensions as plugins. Wix calls them apps.
There are almost 60,000 plugins available for you to explore in WordPress’ directory. Meanwhile, Wix has around 200 options.
It is unfair to compare the blogging features between the two platforms. WordPress is a CMS and performs best in content creation and management. In contrast, Wix only offers a plain text editor with limited formatting options.
As mentioned, Wix offers eCommerce plans specifically designed for online retailers. That includes access to their own payments system, inventory management, and analytics. They also allow working with third-party apps for additional payment gateways and store promotion.
On the other hand, WordPress relies on the help of a plugin to upgrade your website into a shop. WooCommerce, another open-source software, remains to be the best choice.
Member Press is another option to consider if you’re planning to sell digital products such as online courses and media subscriptions.
Want the freedom to move your content around just in case you want to switch platforms someday? That feature is called data portability.
Unfortunately, Wix has limited options to transfer your content elsewhere. Meanwhile, WordPress has multiple options to back up, export, and download your content. It is one of the perks you get when working with a CMS.
The Score: We can all probably agree that WordPress is king when it comes to added features.
The Verdict
Choosing the best platform to create your website on is an important decision that can determine its success. There is a wide variety, but the two that consistently stand out among the rest are Wix and WordPress.
We have prepared this quick review to help you choose between Wix vs WordPress using the following features as points of comparison: ease of use, flexibility on customization, security, value for money, customer support, SEO, mobile accessibility, and other features.
The result is a tie, but they don’t necessarily stand as equals. That’s because they were designed for two different website creators.
Wix is a better choice if you don’t have a lot of technical knowledge in website creation. However, you still want a professional-looking website for personal, professional, or business purposes.
On the other hand, WordPress is a better choice if you’re a little more confident with your technical expertise and you want to maximize the platforms’ flexibility and added features.
Good luck!
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