Wix
About Wix
Started in 2006, the Wix platform is one of the most versatile and well-known Content Management Systems (CMS) available on the market today. Lauded by users for its What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get (WYSIWYG) interface, Wix allows users to create a web page as easily as you might create a document or presentation.
Wix boasts powerful features such as the ability to drag-and-drop simple elements such as text, images, videos and even add pre-built elements like menus, interactive light boxes, blogs, and more. Users can create their own designs or choose from engaging and well-designed templates.
Wix offers a marketplace of apps users can tap into for payment services, interactive features like forms, and third-party integrations such as Paypal, Instragram, Mailchimp, and more!
Costs
While Wix has a free service, if you have any intention of launching a real website at a real web address, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid version. Free Wix does allow users access to their templates as well as tools like AI builder and site designer. However, to avoid their branding and access your site at your own URL, it’s recommended to compare the plans to determine which is most suited to your needs.
Why Use Wix?
Wix Pros
Wix offers its users many advantages, offering options and features that require little to no technical expertise to implement. By allowing users to work on their webpage in its graphical form rather than with code, Wix opens the door for more creativity, more ideas, and a more vibrant web on its platform. Read on to learn some of the benefits of Wix.
- Easy-to-use WYSIWYG interface
- Stunning pre-designed templates, themes, and elements
- Create your own design or complete a short Wizard
- No technical web development expertise required
- No design expertise required
Wix Cons
While Wix offers many benefits, it’s not without its challenges or sticking points for many users. It’s walled-garden of templates, designs, apps, and infrastructure are completely inaccessible from the outside. Furthermore, while Wix does offer a free option, the limitations are stifling for any serious website. Access to the Wix editor requires Wix host your site as well, so portability is piecemeal at best and impossible at worst.
- Users may not export their site from the Wix editor
- Users are unable to host their site with other providers
- Third-party applications, templates, and technology are limited, if not impossible
- No source code access for more technical users
- Doesn’t scale well as a business grows
What Now?
Whether or not Wix is the CMS for you depends on a number of factors. If you don’t have technical expertise, don’t intend on hosting or moving your site to another provider, and don’t need a large-scale, dynamic site, Wix may be for you, if it fits your budget. However, if your needs are more complex, you’re more technically inclined, or you need something more portable, you should probably consider another option.
Cover Photo by Davide Baraldi on Unsplash