What are the advantages and disadvantages of using WIX to make a website compared to hosting my own?

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I read that websites made with WIX might not rank well on search engines because they’re built with JavaScript and have fewer options for SEO optimization. I’m thinking about where to create a website for my clothing brand with my limited budget. What are the good and bad sides of making my own website versus using a platform like WIX?

Thanks for any help!

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I’ve been looking at ways to build a website myself, and I’m wondering if Wix is the way to go. Here’s what I’ve found comparing Wix to hosting my own site:

Wix: Easy Button Bliss

  • Super Easy to Use: Wix is like the Legos of website building. Drag, drop, and customize – no coding knowledge required! This is perfect if you’re new to websites or just want something simple.
  • Eye-Catching Templates: Wix offers tons of beautiful pre-made templates to get you started. You can find something for almost any kind of website, and they’re easy to customize to your liking.
  • All-in-One Solution: Wix includes web hosting, domain name options (sometimes for free for a year), and various apps to add features to your site, like contact forms or online stores. It’s a one-stop shop for your website needs.

Wix: The Not-So-Bright Side

  • Less Flexibility: Wix gives you a lot of design freedom, but there are limits. You can’t stray too far from the chosen template’s basic structure. If you want something truly unique, you might be out of luck.
  • Vendor Lock-In: Once your site is on Wix, it’s tough to move it elsewhere. This means you’re kind of stuck with Wix’s platform and pricing.
  • Limited SEO Control: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps people find your website online. Wix offers some SEO tools, but they might not be as powerful as what you can do with a self-hosted site.

Hosting My Own Site: More Control, More Work

  • More Flexibility: Building your own website gives you ultimate control over the design and functionality. The sky’s the limit if you know how to code or hire someone who does.
  • Potentially Lower Costs: Over time, hosting your own site can be cheaper than Wix’s monthly fees, especially for simple websites. However, there are initial setup costs and ongoing maintenance needs to be considered.
  • SEO Power: You have complete control over your website’s code and structure, which gives you more freedom to optimize it for search engines. This can help your site rank higher in search results.

Hosting My Own Site: Not for the Faint of Heart

  • Steeper Learning Curve: Building and maintaining your own website requires some technical knowledge. There’s a learning curve involved, especially if you don’t have any coding experience.
  • Ongoing Maintenance: Security updates, software updates, and troubleshooting any issues all fall on you. It takes more time and effort to maintain a self-hosted website.

The Choice is Yours!

So, Wix or self-hosting? It depends on your priorities:

  • Easy & Fast: Wix is the clear winner for a user-friendly and speedy website creation process.
  • Unique & Powerful: If you crave complete design control, and SEO power, and are willing to learn or hire help, then self-hosting might be the better option in the long run.

I’m still figuring out which way to go myself, but hopefully, this breakdown helps you decide what’s best for your website needs.

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Wix is really simple to use. Since that is how things are intended to be. Years ago, I built my first website using it. The longer you continue to develop, the more evident the restrictions are. Not to add, they make every effort to force you to continue using their services.

Regarding their “freebies,” you can use WordPress and a hosting service to get the free counterpart. You don’t even need Wix for that; Bing and Google will send you those ad coupons as soon as you create an ad account.

In essence, Sitebooster is YOAST with water added.

Their “analytics” are essentially Google analytics with a few tweaks.

It comes to $240 annually.

In the meantime, $3 per month gets you Dreamhost + WordPress + theme + domain fees.

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Hosting your own has the following pros: no vendor lock, better SEO, and freedom to do whatever you want. With Wix you can only do what they allow you to do, they can up the price and you can pay or leave, and you have limited design options. With hosting your own, if you don’t like a company, you just pack up and move to another host, and you’re running again in no time.

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Avoid Wix; it is mostly meant for would-be businesses that do not want to spend a dollar on a real web presence and believe that some drag and drop is all that is required. Wix understands their market, which is rather large; they believe that people are familiar with Word, and that this is essentially the same as creating a website in Word. Then they upsell all of the other “Features” and charge them a nice large monthly fee. If you are a web developer, utilizing Wix will cause you a lot of issues because it is an extremely restrictive environment.

Even if you host with someone else, WordPress provides some control and has a rather robust ecosystem.