The Wix Trap: Wix or WordPress?

wix? noShould you rather use WordPress or is a Wix website enough? What are the advantages of WordPress over Wix? Is WordPress really harder than Wix ? Do you mess up when you choose Wix?Spoilers: yes, you mess things up with Wix.You have to decide for yourself what is important to you.If you still want to use a page builder after reading this article, go with Squarespace instead . They have a much better attitude than Wix. See the “Dirty Tricks” paragraph.

What a normal website needs today

If your website is going to make a difference, it needs to do more than just sit there. If acquiring new customers online is an important part of your marketing , then your website needs to be embedded in a system (this is commonly called a funnel ). A website alone does not bring new customers.What a normal website for a small business needs:

• Lead generation with lead magnets
• Optimisability for search engines
• Flexibility for changes (expandability)
• Integrations with marketing tools
• Independence from a single provider

In addition, of course, you have to find people who know the system and can offer support.Independence from a specific company is important – here, for example, Wix. One should have the freedom to move their website to any hosting partner. Too often we have experienced how individual services were discontinued - or suddenly became significantly more expensive. You don't want to be at the mercy of such "events".

Wix subscription a gag contract?

Yes, a Wix subscription can be seen as a gag contract because you don't have the option to switch to another provider. You regularly pay primarily for the fact that the first 20 minutes of website creation were easier. After that, you have limitations towards open systems (such as WordPress).You are also not allowed to take your designed website from Wix and rebuild it elsewhere with the same design! Wix excludes this possibility in its terms and conditions.

Should the website just look nice?

Well… if you just need a shop window. Enough for Wix for a long time.– Answer to one of my videos on the topic

Do you have goals with your website?Should it just look nice or should customers really find the website , like the content, recognize your competence, gain trust in you and become leads and customers?If all you need is a beautiful website - and not customers - then maybe choose Wix. In a few simple steps you will be guided through the start and 15 minutes later you will have your website. Exactly as they advertise in the YouTube ads. Cost: €12.50 per month plus the domain (for the medium subscription).Is it really that simple?Wix - simpler than WordPress? Yep... not so sure.Is an unvisited website without lead generation and a funnel really enough for you?No!At the latest when you have created the website, paid for the subscription to Wix and you realize after a few months: "I have a nice website but I am not gaining any leads and customers with it", you realize: you need more. Customers are not created out of thin air and love.And then the challenges with Wix begin.

With Wix you are a tenant

First you need to understand an important difference: Wix – like Jimdo, Squarespace or whatever they are called – is a proprietary building block system . You are a tenant - and your rental agreement can be changed (or terminated) at any time.

What is a website builder system? (And what are the downsides?)

Wix as a modular system runs on third-party servers. You rent yourself and then – as long as you pay and the company Wix exists and wants to work with you – have space on their web servers. You have a system that is easy to use on the surface and that gives you nice results (fixes you) quite quickly.You can use all the features that Wix makes available. But you're also limited to what Wix offers. And your data doesn't belong to you - you can't pick it up and immediately move on elsewhere. Good for Wix: you are dependent on your subscription and cannot switch without effort and costs.A modular system makes everything as simple as possible at first glance. Then once you have your subscription, you can't easily switch if you encounter difficulties and then force yourself to be satisfied with the features that the system offers you.

Modular systems like Wix are not good at everything. Why?

The functions are never “up front”.As a provider of all kinds of functions, a company (here: Wix) cannot be great everywhere. What they advertise is the ease of building a website. There are functions for e-mail marketing, automation, forms, etc. Other providers who only concentrate on these functions are much more passionate about it and accordingly much more mature.Particularly noteworthy: you should really manage your email list in a good system that can automate and offers visual workflows. This is the heart of your online marketing . This is where your future customers come from.

With WordPress, you are the owner

WordPress is open software that you can install on a web server and extend and change as you wish. It's the most popular website building tool - and it's very simple.You have all the data in your hands, nobody can turn that off for you or if you are not satisfied with your hosting provider, you can easily switch. If you are dissatisfied with your WordPress support (e.g. website agency), you can easily switch - all professional providers know WordPress.The extensibility of WordPress is a huge advantage - and a prerequisite for a lot of what you want to do in the future if you want to do real online marketing with a simple funnel.

Benefits of Wix

1. quick first result
2. all in one
3. you don't need to do any updates

Cons of Wix

1. Dependence on a company (“lock-in”, gag agreement)
2. little flexibility for integrations (important in the field of email marketing)
3. confusing operation (2 different, incompatible editors)
4. Rented third-party system (cannot be expanded or optimized at will)

Can you connect Wix to Google Analytics?

Yes. With a Wix Premium account, you can connect Google Analytics to your Wix site.To do this, go to "Marketing Integrations" in the Wix link menu and follow the step-by-step instructions for "Google Analytics". Note: you can also connect Google Tag Manager to Wix and then do all the necessary integrations directly in Google Tag Manager.

Can you connect Wix to Drip?

Yes, with tricks. There are third-party providers such as B. Zapier, which make such connections possible. Our recommendation for entry forms: you use Drip's own pop-up forms. This gives you an HTML link that you can embed into your Wix website.

To do this, go to “Forms” in Drip and create a new form of the “Popup Form” type. Under "Behaviour" you will then find the link that you need to integrate into your Wix website. Please note: first you must have integrated the Drip JavaScript snippet (we recommend doing this via Google Tag Manager). Only then will the link work properly and open the Drip popup.

Can you blog with Wix?

Yes, there is a built-in blog feature. You can create categories and manage blog posts in a list. You can create drafts, then publish them immediately or plan them in the future.

Is it possible to switch from Wix to WordPress?

no See also the “Dirty Tricks by Wix” below. Wix doesn't offer a good export feature to make your content ready for further use in WordPress. Attention: you are also not allowed to transfer your design from Wix to WordPress! This is what Wix has stated in the terms.

Wix Dirty Tricks

Wix's attitude is also interesting. Thanks Sylvan for the tip:On the one hand, they stole/taken over code from WordPress and used it against the GPL licenses. Then, as a for-profit corporation, they ran a smear campaign against WordPress – which is an open-source movement with thousands of volunteer developers. They also prevent the ability to export your content from Wix to switch to a different system or provider. From that perspective, I have to say: Ugh, Wix .If you really want to use a page builder, you 're better off using Squarespace , which also gives you the option to export your content so that you can use at least most of it in WordPress later. The Wix support reviews are also interesting . hands off it.

conclusion

Yes, you can make a website with Wix and connect it with external tools. You should make sure that you have a regular backup of the website content.Wix is ​​very quick and easy for the first creation of a website from a prepared template - this is the main advantage - after that it is rather more complex to use than WordPress, for example. Since you can integrate the Google Tag Manager, you can do most of the necessary script integrations that you need for your online marketing.Usually, you don't want to use the email marketing tool that comes with it. Email marketing with automation features is often the heart of online marketing today.For example, Drip can be integrated via the popups and forms provided by Drip. A direct integration into the design elements of Wix is ​​not possible without a detour via Zapier.I clearly recommend WordPress over Wix.what are your experiences I would love to hear from you in the comments below and will update this article with tips & tricks or even change my mind.