WIX and WordPress – a detailed review

I designed 2 website on WIX or WordPress within 3 months, decided to quit WIX after a year and this is my review

On the journey of building a personal brand or a business, it is important to have a website. I heard somewhere that a website is your virtual home. In 2024, I decided to consolidate everything on a website. In the first three months of 2024, I built two distinct websites: one is my blog, this website – thebrandlan.com, and the other is a family-based online platform for business purposes, vicomlanha.com.

I was so excited from the design stage because coding was one of my favourite modules I studied in art school, however, years had passed since I last engaged with this craft. Understandably, my focus had shifted towards brand and advertising design, distancing me from the intricacies of website development. In this article, I aim to share my experience on two these popular website-building platforms as a beginner. I believe my insights will be valuable to anyone who wants to build their blog, or a website for their shops.

For your information, WiX is younger than WordPress by three years and has garnered significant attention, especially in the UK (sorry I don’t know the other market). Although less prevalent in Vietnam, I became familiar with WiX through fellow art students who utilized it for their portfolios. However, my research revealed surprising statistics: WIX boasts over 160 million users, compared to WordPress’s 64 million*. And from the design perspective, I am inclined towards WiX. However, a quick update after one year of using both platforms, I quit the WIX membership and still maintained WordPress, the reasons why I will tell you in details in this article. *Data collected from WebCreate

Template and Customizability

WordPress

Initially, I launched Brandlan on WordPress through a Vietnamese hosting company, Nhan Hoa, with the assistance of a more knowledgeable friend. However, I soon found myself on the verge of abandoning WordPress altogether, leaving it stagnant for a year. Its multifaceted nature overwhelmed me, and amidst my professional and academic commitments, prioritizing my own blog became challenging. While there were available website templates, none aligned with my discerning taste. Despite being a novice, my expectations remained lofty; I aspired for a professional-grade website akin to her86m2’s blog. Although I meticulously planned the imagery for each section, the execution fell short of my vision, due to my beginner skills and also, and I can also blame for the shortage of free template options on WordPress. And then, after three times of redesigning this website, I decided to choose a template and replace images following its instructions, and I highly recommend you to do the same to save your time without coding as well as the platform knowledge like me. There are multiple template for your choice and if you prefer the better design, you can upgrade or buy an external template – like from Elementor

Elementor is a WordPress-based website builder that lets you design, manage and host websites with drag and drop.

Initially, I was frustrated with WordPress basic template until I stumbled upon Elementor, offering an array of visually appealing templates and simplified drag-and-drop functionality. Instantly drawn to its user-friendly interface, I selected a template and seamlessly integrated my personal photo collection into the design. Elementor is really a stress-relieving solution for me. Upon selecting a template, and ready-to-use Block options to drag and drop, the builder seamlessly extends its design across all menu pages, streamlining the process significantly. While WordPress offers several integrated website builders like Beaver, PageLayer, and Astra, you may need to upgrade to the Pro option to use all its functions.

WiX

Opposite to WordPress, my experience with WiX is easier and better than WordPress. While I did face some challenges and had to redo certain aspects with issues like language translation, text and block position on the top bar, some problems are remaining such as the font of the Login, however, WiX gave me a “better feeling” because I didn’t have to do much to have a satisfied outcome. The obstacles were relatively manageable compared to the frustrations I experienced with WordPress. WiX’s user-friendly interface allows for simple drag-and-drop actions, image replacements and design (It is easier to move objectives’ positions than Elementor). WiX’s user-friendly interface allows for simple drag-and-drop actions, and theme design, making it an ideal platform for newcomers like myself learning website development.

I appreciate the user-friendly icons in WIX, especially after encountering difficulties with WordPress. While designing with WordPress, I faced challenges when transitioning between desktop, mobile, and tablet views. Neither WIX nor WordPress automatically scaled for different device screens. However, WIX’s icons positioned conveniently at the top of the screen allowed me to easily identify and adjust elements as needed. Despite this advantage, I encountered a significant issue with the mobile view after completing the design phase. Upon researching solutions online, I discovered a small icon labelled “Responsive Mode” next to the “Update” button, enabling me to address the problem effectively.

WIX excels in optimizing user experience, catering well to individuals navigating the complexities of website building. As a designer drawn to modern and minimalist aesthetics, I appreciate the abundance of options for stylish typography on WIX. Moreover, as a new user, I find the platform streamlined and intuitive, with clear guidance and minimalistic functions. These factors contribute to why I favour WIX over WordPress, particularly in terms of design flexibility and ease of use.

n summary, for the ease of use, WiX 9/10 and WordPress 7/10 and for design and creativity, Wix 9/10 and WordPress with Plugin 9/10.

Blog Posts and SEO

I gave two platforms a thumbs-up for the ease of using blog posts, I can easily create a post, add some images arrange the layout, and adjust the text formatting. I have nothing to complain about. Initially, from the perspective of a designer, I loved WIX for the nice design of the layout and didn’t like WordPress. As mentioned above, I still appreciate WIX for its novice user-friendly interface. However, after quitting WIX and returning to WordPress, I realized that with WordPress, you have to design your layout yourself, this is a time-consuming process. Nevertheless, WordPress layout is not as plain and simple as I thought, especially, with the support of Elementor functions. Initially, the free user experience was frustrating. But if you are patient with the free functions and work seriously with the layout, the result is not that bad.

For SEO, I prefer WIX. It is very smart, its notification system constantly reminds me how to optimize SEO with detailed guidance, such as setting an SEO heading and descriptions with keywords for Google Search, I can easily follow its tips to create an SEO website and posts. However, for WordPress, you may have some background in SEO and I will come back to review after I do SEO on this platform.

However, WordPress offers a robust Content Management System (CMS) which is considered its unique selling point. I bet some recruiters may find a candidate who knows how to manage content on WordPress, particularly valuable. I can easily find and categorize content with multiple language options when I set up the Weglot plugin (which may charge a fee). On the other hand, WIX also has language options, but if I want my post to be visible in each language, I need to translate manually. However, this function is free on WIX and I love it ^^

Pricing and Plan

Yes, considering all the above functions and its user-friendly design, I initially thought I would choose WIX for every website. However, after spending much time learning WordPress, I decided to quit WIX because of its price. An event that changed my mind was my return to Vietnam. In the UK, WiX is popular, but WordPress is more popular in Vietnam.

For WordPress, I bought both Domain and Hosting via a Vietnamese agency, Nhan Hoa with a price of approximately 1,900,000 VND ($90.05) per year. However, I have to pay more with WIX. The most basic plan costs 180.000 VND ($7)/month with a free domain in the first year and if I run a business website, the price is triple. After considering the price and purposes of the website, I decided to quit WiX.

Conclusion

WordPress is more affordable than WiX, however, the choice of platform should depend on the purpose of your website. It is an important decision because a website takes time to design and build. I hope this review provides you with an overall perspective to help you choose which platform is better for you as a new user. I will learn more and update you on advanced functions when I become a more experience user 😀

both WiX and WordPress have their pros and cons. I love the nice design of WiX and its all-in-one package, but WordPress has many interesting functions to discover and learn in the future. For WordPress users, you can choose Elementor for your website design with numerous templates, and it is important to learn about Plugin to optimize your website design.

Cheers,

Lan Nguyen