Just like Weebly and other site builders, Wix is used by millions of webmasters all over the world. However, there are also many people wondering that whether it is a good option to create and manage the entire online presence. To make it clear, we have worked out a comprehensive Wix review to check its usability and extensibility from its design, mobile optimization, eCommerce feature, blog & social media, SEO, support and hosting.
Before writing this review, we have hosted a Wix site with the hosting service Wix offers, and kept monitoring the site closely for about 6 months. Besides, we have read numerous verified feedbacks to learn other users’ real voice.
Design
No matter what type of website you plan to build using Wix, you have the ability to create a special website because there are hundreds of templates in more than 70 categories for you to use. With their 1-page templates, you are able to get your online presence up and running easily and add features and pages as your business grows.
If you want some templates that are not offered by Wix, you can host your site with the companies offering thousands of templates, such as HostGator that provides 4,500 free templates (learn more information about HostGator review). Moreover, you are able to make your site unique by taking their designs and changing the pictures, colors, fonts, backgrounds and text with just a few clicks.
Mobile optimization
Your site visitors are able to visit your site on mobile, because this software is mobile optimized. With just 1 click, the optimized mobile view will take your HTML5 website and create an optimized view for smartphone. In addition, your site has the chance to get high visibility in some of the most famous search engines. Another highlight is that you have the ability to reorder, resize and hide elements to make your site perfect on mobile, which doesn’t change the appearance of your desktop site.
eCommerce Feature
If you want to sell some products and service online, you can add a customizable online shop to your site. Then, import your online store to your Facebook page to promote your products and services. Additionally, you can manage your product inventory quickly without entering the editor every time, create product collections and set up product options flexibly.
More outstanding eCommerce features are listed as below.
- 100% compatible with mobile devices.
- Easy click-to-edit tools & endless styling options.
- Multiple payment methods, easy integration & coupons.
Blog & Social Media
You just need to click a few clicks to add an elegant blog with seamless look and feel. Equipped with special and customizable galleries, tag clouds, lists, and social feeds, your blog will appear as a separate page within your site automatically. To boost site traffic, you need to add relevant categorization tags to the posts at you blog to ensure search engine can find your blog content and website easily.
Moreover, to make your readers share your content, you can add some social icons to each of your posts, such as Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and so on. Besides, to grab your visitors’ attention, you can create some elegant images and elaborate videos at your blog. Moreover, add a social bar to the site homepage to enable visitors find your social sharing accounts in only one place.
SEO
There is a creative tool Wix offers running as an analysis on your site, providing useful advice on how to make your site search engine friendly. Furthermore, Wix works well with most of the popular search engines, such as Google, Bing, and much more, creating a good relationship between your site content and its search results, which helps you increase site traffic and run business better.
Support
The professional support staffs at Wix are standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to answer users’ questions. Therefore, no matter when you meet problem, you can contact them and get instant assistance. Moreover, in the knowledgebase, there are hundreds of walkthroughs and vide tutorials with sufficient information about this software and answers to common issues.
Hosting
Wix has released 4 different hosting packages to enable users to choose the most suitable one to build their exceptional Wix website. The solutions are named as Connect Domain, Combo, Unlimited and eCommerce, starting at $4.08/mo that is a little higher than the price of JustHost unlimited hosting (read JustHost review). Noted, JustHost shared hosting service is awarded as one of the best budget web hosting services.
Summary
According to the aspects we reviewed, it can be concluded that Wix is a deserved to be chosen for hosting a special and customizable website for business, online store, portfolio page, and so on. Besides, they offer multiple hosting choices. However, if you want to purchase a high quality shared hosting plan to host your Wix site, we suggest you go with BlueHost, HostMonster and JustHost.
Learn the highlights of these hosting companies in the following table.