Wix

Good Flash Builder But Bottom-of-the-barrel Host

The best thing about Wix is the flash builder. It's super easy to use and you can create a really cute site. I like the sites I've made with it, but I really wish you could access your code. Wix is JUST a site builder. That's it.

As a writer, it works fine for what I need, but I don't recommend it if you've got a huge company or anything. Wix is not really a host in the usual sense. Nearly every other host out there offers more in terms of services: multiple emails, stat page, code access, the ability to move wordpress blog to .org and link it to your site, giving you more design options. At Wix, when you subscribe, you get a pretty, flash site without their ads, plus Google Analytics. Yippee. GA is a terrible stat tracker. I'd rather have the option of using my own. Stat Counter is way better and easier to navigate.

Plus, another huge concern is the site being unable to load on all Apple devices, since Apple is HTML5-based.

With Wix, you also cannot add too much media content, as it slows down page loading. And then there's the click factor, versus the ever-gaining popularity of touch. You also cannot create pages of different sizes nor can you put photos in areas or text boxes, so pics don't slide with the text. These factors cause some limitation with design and use.

It's not difficult to get a domain name and point the site to Wix if you take your time and double check the steps, as I've done that with a client. But it's very important to fill out descriptions, meta tags and to repeat those same phrases in the body text on the pages so bots can find your site. It can take several weeks to be crawled by Google and indexed, but I can honestly report that client's site had its domain pointed to Wix within the day and it was indexed and found with search words within one week.

If you want a cute site, but don't care about those negatives I mentioned, you can at least try it out for free. You can use the HTML widget to add statcounter so you can at least get an idea of traffic before you purchase a plan. Even if you're on it for FREE, fill out the meta tags, description and body text and also, don't republish, just hit save when you make changes.

I still have to link up to all his online stores, but here's my client's site if you want to see one live: http://www.whosjoewilson.com/

Friday, January 04, 2013

Reply from WIX

Thanks for the review, Courtney!

Most of the issues you mention in this review pertain to our Flash editor. These issues were addressed with our new HTML5 editor. This powerful, drag & drop new platform enables you to create amazing websites that are functional, usable, and fully accessible for everyone. Our new HTML 5 website builder brings together two unique qualities: the newest, most advanced technology and the same ease of use that makes nearly 28,000,000 users choose our products.

You should definitely check out all of our new templates, by clicking on Create at Wix.com