Why Choose WordPress over Wix?
WordPress and Wix are the two most popular website development/designing platforms. You had to question yourself which one is better for SEO? Let us answer your question. Over and All Solutions compare features, pros and cons and more of WordPress and Wix
Wix and WordPress are the two most popular website solutions available among website designers. According to Builtwith, WordPress is behind over 28 million websites while Wix is powering over 4.5 million websites.
Key Difference between WordPress and Wix.
- WordPress is an open source content management system (CMS)
- Wix is a website builder and hosted soltion.
The important decision you need to think through when deciding between WordPress and Wix is which one is better for SEO. In our blog, you’ll learn the pro’s and con’s of both platforms when it comes to SEO, along with some interesting facts and tips to help you make the right decision for your website.
Why Choos WordPress for SEO?
WordPress was one of the first widely used website solutions that made it relatively easy to get a site up and running. It’s also an open-source program that relies on contributions from the internet community.
Its basic functionality is free, but most modern site functions will require you to pay for plugins.
These plugins provide the functionality needed to perform all types of tasks, and they are also how you gain access to SEO tools. Examining these tools is where you should look when considering SEO.
WordPress also has more users, which means more forums and more professionals out there to help should you need it.
Why not Choose WordPress for SEO?
Plugins are built by different companies or groups so they don’t all communicate with each other the same or work in similar ways.
While Yoast is the most popular SEO tool on WordPress, there are many, many more.
These tools can work great at times, but also can conflict with one another and potentially cause problems. Like all plugins, they can introduce vulnerabilities and updates can cause other site elements to break.
Some say that WordPress has grown out of touch with publisher needs, based on built-in code bloat that hinders sites’ abilities to optimize for Core Web Vitals.
Even with that said, the sheer volume of WordPress plugins available has always been a strong selling point. New plugins are being added every day, and it’s entirely possible to create an SEO-optimized site within WordPress because of this.
In fact, Search Engine Journal has an entire guide on WordPress SEO.
Why Choose Wix for SEO?
Wix has been adding functionality like crazy, and some of the most recent additions has focused on SEO tools. The tools can get technical, but here are just a few examples of new Wix SEO capabilities:
- The ability to modify default URL structure, customize subdirectory names, edit, remove or add a prefix to URLs and even create a completely flat URL structure.
- Automatic sitemap updates via 301 redirects and by updating canonical and other relevant meta tags.
- Visualization of log files in the form of Bot Traffic Over Time, Bot Traffic by Page, and Response Status Over Time reports.
- In the past, you would need to rely on a lot of third-party tools to do all of this, which led to disorganization and usually less-than-optimal results.
The ability to have accurate reporting, in particular, was always a challenge previously. Having this built-in to Wix is a major upgrade. If you’re new to SEO or unfamiliar with these terms, learn more from Wix here.
Why not to Choose Wix for SEO?
There are several cons when it comes to Wix, and some of these impact important SEO factors.
- Wix uses an uncommon (weird) link structure that most SEO professionals don’t care for. In every URL, you will notice a #. This is served through JavaScript, which has a long history of being not ideal for search engine crawlability and indexation.
- Another big downside to Wix is the inability of more advanced users to add custom code. While they offer an HTML code element, it’s quite restricted.
- There is a great deal of code bloat. This can be a problem because it can result in less than ideal page speed scores.
WordPress vs Wix: The Verdict by Over and All Solutions
In the end, if you asked most SEO professionals what their favorite platform is, they’ll probably tell you whatever one they’ve used the most.
People prefer programs they have experience with and will find reasons to discredit other options. This is why you see so many varying opinions on what platform best sets you up for success.
As we look at these platforms today, Wix has made significant improvements to its solution. All the old complaints about a lack of control when using Wix do not apply as much as they once did, and the ease with which you can perform basic SEO optimizations is on par with WordPress.
For small businesses and sites, that might be the ticket. As John Mueller recently said, the content on the site is increasingly important regardless of what it’s built on. Unless you’re dealing with major technical issues, content is where you need to focus.
It all comes down to what you value. If your SEO requirements are minimal and you care about an easy-to-use website builder, then Wix may be your best choice.
For more advanced users seeking the best of both worlds with scalability and customization, as well as those planning to use SEO as a long-term strategy, WordPress wins hands-down.