Wix App market<\/a> has literally thousands of applications, free and paid, for practically any functionality or properties the user would like the site to have. Unlike some website builder platforms, the applications can be used even for websites using a Wix free plan for truly great value. If there\u2019s a function that the user wishes to have not available for free, it is almost sure to be offered using an upgraded or premium plan and for a very reasonable price.<\/p>\nA quick glance at the app store shows nearly any functionality a website owner could want. There are applications for social media functions, online event scheduling, calendars, forms, comments, and mailing lists. Data gathering utilities like statistics and analytics tools are also available. Wix users can even convert their website into an ecommerce store, or add a store to the site, free within minutes.<\/p>\n
With so many applications and extensions available to extend and modify Wix, it\u2019s easy to see how the platform can easily be used from everything from a simple recipe blog to a large ecommerce store. Wix offers a quality ecommerce solution, Wix Stores, with a lot of useful features like, inventory management, product management, sales capabilities, coupons, set shipping rate tools, and more. Wix Stores are commission free \u2013 a very attractive feature.<\/p>\n
Another must-have feature for today\u2019s websites is optimization for mobile. With over half of all online searches being conducted on smartphones and tablets, it\u2019s imperative that websites display and function well across all devices. Wix was among the first site builders to offer tools so users could format their sites for mobile. To keep things simple, Wix doesn\u2019t create a separate version of a given site for mobile. Their platform displays the correct version of a single site for the device it\u2019s being displayed on.<\/p>\n
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), Wix provides basic SEO tools for users to set titles, page descriptions, and keywords. Wix not only offers a number of interactive tutorials on SEO for their users, there are also several SEO apps that can be used to help get Wix sites ranked on the search engines.<\/p>\n
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Design Capabilities<\/h3>\n
Design is one of the things Wix does best. With a large selection of gorgeous templates, they offer their users the perfect way to create appealing, eye-catching sites with all the latest features. There are several options for layouts and there\u2019s a color guide for matching the site\u2019s colors to an existing logo or banner. Wix even allows users to upload the fonts they want to use. Using their partnership with Big Stock, Wix provides a way for users (for a small fee) to search a huge library of stock images if they need such. Users can select from video backgrounds, hover effects, parallax scrolling, and more. The sky\u2019s the limit when it comes to designing and customizing a site\u2019s look using the Wix platform.<\/p>\n
One small drawback on the templates offered by Wix, you can\u2019t fully alter them. Colors, backgrounds, and some superficial elements can be changed. The basic template itself, its structure, can\u2019t be altered. The templates are, however, organized well so users can find what they are looking for quickly. Categories include business, online store, events, blog, fashion and beauty, and so many others.<\/p>\n
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Using Wix for Free<\/h2>\n
What exactly does Wix offer for free plans? Free Wix sites give you 500 MB of storage space for your pages, images, and everything else housed on your account. You also get 500 MB of bandwith. Bandwidth determines how much data your visitors can view over time. Wix, as of this writing, doesn\u2019t offer tools for users to monitor storage space or bandwidth on sites but they do send notifications for sites that are approaching their limits. For many sites, reaching and exceeding those limits isn\u2019t a problem. For sites that gain success quickly and steadily increase in traffic, it may be necessary to upgrade to a premium account to accommodate the site\u2019s growth. Wix paid plans are quite reasonable in price.<\/p>\n
Wix free plans also display Wix logos and are given Wix site URLS (example: username.wixsite.com\/sitename\/page-url). The sites are hosted free of charge and users can easily create an optimized mobile version of their website. Free site users have access to the Wix Help Center.<\/p>\n
Domain names can be connected to a Wix account but in order to do so, the account must be upgraded to a paid, premium site.<\/p>\n
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Wix Premium Plans<\/h2>\n
While free Wix plans offer a great deal of value, the paid sites offer even more features and may be a better fit for a larger or rapidly growing site. All paid Wix plans allow you to connect a domain name to your account.<\/p>\n
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Connect Domain<\/h3>\n$5 per month<\/h4>\n
While this most basic Wix plan is called \u201cconnect domain\u201d you do actually get an increased amount of bandwidth (doubled to 1 GB per month) as well. This plan allows the user to attach a domain to their Wix account that they purchased from Wix or from a third-party. It\u2019s important to note that even though this is a paid account, Wix brand ads will still display on the site.<\/p>\n
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Combo<\/h3>\n$10 per month<\/h4>\n
The Combo plan not only allows you to connect a domain name to your Wix site, they will give it to you for free if you pay a year in advance and if it\u2019s available and meets all of Wix\u2019s legalese on domain names offered with premium accounts. There is an impressive increase in storage space to 3 GB and an increase in bandwidth to 2 GB. No Wix ads appear on sites at this level and above.<\/p>\n
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Unlimited<\/h3>\n$14 per month<\/h4>\n
Wix lists their Unlimited plan as their most popular and there\u2019s a good reason for that. With this plan, you get a free domain name (if you upgrade for the year in advance) connected to your site. There are no Wix ads appearing on sites at this level. The storage space for this particular plan is increased to a very generous 10 GB. At this level, bandwidth is unlimited.<\/p>\n
With the Unlimited plan, if you pay a year in advance, you also get $300 of advertising vouchers to get your site off to a strong start with some paid advertising. With this plan users get a $75 Google Ads credit (requires a $25 purchase and then you get the credit), a $100 Bing Ads credit, and a $125 local listing credit. Also included is the Site Booster App (listed as a $60 value) which drives traffic to your site and helps in SEO efforts. The Unlimited plan also includes a form builder app (a $48 value) which provides forms for contacts and leads.<\/p>\n
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Ecommerce<\/h3>\n$17 per month<\/h4>\n
The Ecommerce plan offered by Wix doesn\u2019t offer all of the bells and whistles of Shopify but for the price and services their users do receive, Wix gives them a run for their money. The Ecommerce plan, if paid in advance for a year, gives the user a free domain name, the $300 advertising vouchers, and the site booster and form builder apps. No Wix ads appear on sites at this level.<\/p>\n
Storage space for this plan goes up to 20 GB. While that\u2019s a generous amount of storage, it should be noted that since the intention here is to set up an online store, that's not a huge amount of space for such with product images, etc. Bandwidth for the Ecommerce plan, however, is not<\/i> unlimited. It is set at 20 GB.<\/p>\n
This plan includes the Wix online store. Wix Stores feature an online shopping cart where customers can order multiple products with different options (size, color, messages, etc), inventory tools, the ability to offer coupons, shipping and tax rules for domestic sales or worldwide. Again, it doesn\u2019t offer all of the shopping features that Shopify or Magento can, but for what it offers and the price, it\u2019s a very good deal.<\/p>\n
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VIP<\/h3>\n$25 per month<\/h4>\n
The VIP plan is the premium plan at Wix and it\u2019s a great offer at a great price. VIP includes everything you get with the Ecommerce plan with one notable change and several really useful additions.<\/p>\n
The VIP plan offers 20 GB of storage space like Ecommerce but it has unlimited<\/i> bandwidth. It\u2019s an important distinction because if you start out with the Ecommerce plan but find you need more bandwidth, you can upgrade to VIP because it also includes the online store. Considering that the basic Shopify plan is $29 per month, the Wix plan can be of real value for someone who wants a strong online store.<\/p>\n
What else do you get with the VIP plan? If you pay ahead for a year, you get VIP phone support Monday \u2013 Thursday 6 AM \u2013 5 PM PST. Your issue gets priority and considering there\u2019s 100 million users, that\u2019s a wonderful thing. You also get Priority Response which means when you submit a question on the Wix Answers page, your inquiry will be answered before those from the general population. You also get a Professional Site Review which is a one-time request to have Wix experts to evaluate your site and your site\u2019s SEO to make sure you have the best web presence you possibly can.<\/p>\n
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Wix Customer Support<\/h2>\n
Wix rates well for customer support. Wix already has a strong library of tutorials, videos, and how-to articles available. The interface itself comes with onboard instructions, tips, and incentives which is a great service as it allows the user to learn as they build or edit their sites. If users encounter problems that they can\u2019t find a solution for, however, there\u2019s a support center and forums to go to for help.<\/p>\n
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Wix Advantages<\/h2>\n
For users with little to no experience in HTML, and a small budget, Wix is a wonderful service. The user interface allows anyone to design a site with the latest features, maintain it themselves, and extend its functionality. Wix provides a vast library of eye-catching templates and an app store for users so they can have a site up and running literally within minutes.<\/p>\n
For those who invest in a premium account and pay for a year of service, not including Connect Domain, they get a free domain name for a year. For those upgrading to the Unlimited Account or above, and pay for a year in advance, not only is there a free domain name in the deal but special apps for traffic and forms and $300 in advertising vouchers to help launch the site successfully and jump start SEO efforts.<\/p>\n
For those interested in an ecommerce solution, Wix offers a great option that\u2019s on par with Shopify on cost and easy to establish. There are a lot of ways to get help on support issues at Wix via phone, online ticket system, and forums.<\/p>\n
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Wix Disadvantages<\/h2>\n
While Wix offers many great advantages for some users, there are some distinct disadvantages.<\/p>\n
With a free Wix site, users have to use a Wix site URL which isn\u2019t easy for folks to remember and is not SEO friendly. Free Wix sites feature the Wix logo and Wix brand ads which can be annoying to your audience or give the impression that since your site has ads, it's cheap and your business must be the same.<\/p>\n
Wix offers a lot of gorgeous templates for their sites but they can\u2019t be completely altered and that lack of complete customization can cramp the style of some. The same is true for their drag and drop interface. While it\u2019s great for some who will always want that ease of use, others may develop an interest in learning the actual code and outgrown the complete control that Wix exerts over its sites. There\u2019s no way to do in-depth customizations to a Wix site.<\/p>\n
Finally, for the free sites, users of such need to remember that their free site is being provided to them by a third party. At any time, for any reason, that third party could make changes to the site without the user\u2019s say, delete the account entirely, or start asking for money. If the account were to be deleted, there\u2019s a strong possibility that the site files would be completely lost leaving the user with no site and having to start over from scratch.<\/p>\n
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Wrapping It Up<\/h2>\n
Wix provides an excellent service. Those with no experience and little to no budget will be able to use this service to create and maintain a quality website for themselves or their business. Wix also has advantages for some as a place to start. It\u2019s an excellent venue for a beginner and offers a lot of educational tools, tutorials, videos, and forum threads. Not only can someone with little experience learn about website development, they could come away with knowledge about site promotion and SEO, extended functions like social media venues, and more.<\/p>\n
Wix, however, is not for everyone. When considering a solution for a website or online store, users should take a look at several options and even give the services they believe are a close match to their skills and budget a try. Many, like Wix for premium plans, offer a 14-day trial period. The important thing is for users to select a platform that best suits their needs, abilities, and resources.<\/p>\n
There are a lot of website services and platforms out there. Wix, in this reviewer\u2019s opinion, is one of the better options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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