If you’re going to do something, do it right the first time around. Apart from my full-time job here at MOJO Marketplace, I have quite a few side projects and this is the approach I’ve taken with all of them. That’s why, when I first decided to build a website several years ago, I chose WordPress vs. Wix or any other site builder.
There are many factors to account for when choosing a platform, between WordPress or site builders. This article is about the the search engine optimization (SEO) features of WordPress and Wix, so I’m not going to compare all the features of the platforms. But I hope this post helps you decide what the best platform is for you based on SEO features.
WordPress or Wix: What’s Your Destination?
When creating a website for the first time, it’s difficult to fully grasp the scope of your project. Most of the time it’s daunting to take that first step, especially when you don’t have much experience as a “website developer.” It’s typical for people to land on site builders like Wix because they advertise it as “easy and free” and “drag and drop.” And that’s fine, up to a point.
But this is where I want to encourage you to examine your project’s destination. What’s your goal? What do you want from your website? If the goal is to create a simple website quickly, then honestly Wix is probably your best bet.
However, maybe your goal isn’t just to build a website. You may have bigger aspirations. Or perhaps you run a business, and you’re trying to get more customers.
Also, I can guarantee that, if you chooseWordPress, you will learn more about actual web development with every minute you work on your website. And you can still do it without writing a single piece of code (if you don’t want to).
SEO Features with WordPress Vs. Wix
The advantage with Wix is their drag and drop system, which is easy to use. But the ceiling is pretty low in terms of full customization and management.
At face value, there’s no glaring differences in SEO between a website built on WordPress and a website built with Wix. However, your ability to customize and scale your website is much more feasible with WordPress than with a site builder. Which means that, with a more robust site, you can find more ways to get traffic.
This is where WordPress outperforms Wix in SEO. The more you design and detail your website with content and functionality, the more you can leverage structured data, rich snippets, and rich cards to rank better in Google and other search engines. Wix does not have these capabilities. But the sky’s the limit with WordPress in terms of customization.
WordPress Plugins Let You SEO Like A Pro
Schema markup is a universal coding language that organizes and distinguishes pieces of your website to be better recognized by all search engines. A benefit of structured data is that your website is more likely to rank for relevant keywords in every search engine. The problem is that this is typically something that’s hard-coded into a site by a developer.
But with WordPress, you don’t have to know how to manually change and update your website’s source code to create schema markups. That’s what plugins are for.
WordPress is an open source software, meaning it was developed by an international community of web developers and programmers. More and more WordPress products and plugins are created by the WordPress community everyday. If you need a feature, it’s a safe bet to say that there’s a plugin out there that meets your needs.
Wix isn’t an open source software. So, the community of developers that create plugins is much smaller than the WordPress community. Just search the plugin library on WordPress and compare it with Wix apps, and you’ll see there’s more room for growth.
The platform you choose should be based on your goals. Wix and other site builders work for a short-term, simple solution and will get your site on the web and into search engines. But WordPress will give you the tools for a long-term strategy and more robust ways to improve your SEO. Plus, as you use WordPress and learn it’s features, you’ll begin to understand this whole website thing a lot better.
What you learn today lays the foundation for what you’ll learn tomorrow.
