For years, the question of whether WordPress websites can beat Wix & Squarespace has been a subject of debate among website designers.
So let’s compare Wix vs WordPress.
This debate has brought about mixed reactions from different parties that have eventually seen WordPress taking the lead. If you are about to start a business and are wondering which way to go, then you are in the right place.
This guide looks at the top 10 reasons why WordPress Websites are the to-go deal as opposed to the new website builders on the block, Wix and Squarespace.
10 Reasons Why WordPress Wins
Here are the top reasons why WordPress websites are winning over Wix, Squarespace.
1. Content Ownership
When it comes to Wix and Squarespace, you do not own your content as these website builders work under a rent mechanism.
Here, you rent the website and everything else related to it, including your content. This means that you do not have control over your content, including your site’s most crucial aspects, such as customization and hosting.
On the other hand, in WordPress, you retain your content ownership and have full control over your site. You do not only have access and control over your content, but you can also control your database, codes, files, and all other aspects of your site.
The biggest difference to understand is that WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) not a website builder.
2. Hosting
With any website, one of the most crucial factors that you should never overlook is hosting. Poor hosting can affect the loading speed of your site as well as its SEO value. As earlier mentioned, with Wix and Squarespace, your site’s control is limited. And as such, you stick with whatever is provided by the builder. If the hosting is poor, you have to bear with it.
When it comes to WordPress, you have control of your domain hosting. You can change the hosting company to one that suits your needs. Hosting control is a plus for WordPress websites.
3. Upgrades
Have you heard of the famous saying that cheap is expensive? Well, this is the case with Wix and Squarespace. Getting started with these sites, hosting, and using their templates and other site stuff is very cheap. However, when it comes to add ons, it becomes an expensive affair. The upgrades here are costly.
On the other hand, WordPress requires a higher outlay of fees for professional design. However, maintaining this site through upgrades and add ons is relatively cheap.
4. Functionality
When it comes to maintaining a website, certain features need to be changed or upgraded from time to time. Whether you want to change your site’s theme, add an SEO tool, a plugin, or just mere add ons, you need to work with a wide range of tools. With Wix and Squarespace, the tools are limited. The functionality here is limited as you only utilize whatever the builder provides.
The functionality with WordPress is unmatched. WordPress provides you with a wide array (an almost endless selection) of tools to choose from.
5. Customization
To customize your website, you need access to files and databases. With the limited access and control offered by Wix and Squarespace, customization becomes hard. However, with WordPress, you have access to various customization tools such as CSS, PHP, and jQuery, among others. You have unlimited customization options to suit your site’s needs.
6. Designer and Developer Network
Creating a website on your own is easy with a website builder like Wix or Squarespace, but at some point, you might need to hire a designer or developer to take it to the next level. Most website designers and developers prefer working on platforms that are rich in functionality and customization.
For Wix and Squarespace sites, it is pretty hard to find a designer or developer to work on them. On the other hand, with WordPress, getting a developer to work on your site is easy.
WordPress has an extensive network of website designers and developers.
7. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Wix and Squarespace built websites seem to suffer in terms of their google rankings. Seemingly due to their limitations.
However, WordPress is made for SEO. It meets most of Google’s site ranking requirements, such as SEO optimization, HTML basics, mobile responsiveness, and ability to abide by Google best practices. Therefore, if you are looking for an SEO friendly website, go for WordPress.
8. Changing Platforms
Sites are not permanent; they, too, are prone to changes. You may decide to move your site from one platform to the other. When it comes to Wix and Squarespace, moving a site is a nightmare. It is a hectic affair! Since you lack full control over your site here, moving is hard.
In most cases, business owners end up hiring a professional website designer if they want to move from the aforementioned site builders to a more robust platform like WordPress. The idea of copying content from one platform to the other can apply here, though it does not always work out well.
However, with WordPress, moving is an easy and swift move. Being open-source software, WordPress is compatible with most platforms making it easier to move. It is also easy to export content from the WordPress platform to another.
9. User and Support Community
Being able to create a website is not all that is needed when it comes to building and maintaining a website. A good user and support community is also important. This community comes in handy in offering help related to issues affecting your site. Wix and Squarespace lack a community, therefore no external support and help expect that offered by them.
However, WordPress, on the other hand, has a massive community of designers, developers, and website users ready to offer help when need be.
10. Cost
Wix and Squarespace come with a lot of upgrades and maintenance costs. They are cheap to set up but relatively expensive to upgrade and maintain. Additionally, they are also expensive because you lose a lot in terms of Google SEO ranking due to poor hosting and optimization. Sites under these builders generate little traffic with low conversion rates,
But most importantly, if you are serious about getting results for your business, the inability for Wix and Squarespace websites to scale as you grow is a price you likely can’t afford to pay.
In conclusion, Wix and Squarespace are good DIY site builders but may not be the best in the long run. WordPress is the sure way to go if you want to grow your website and business with complete customisation and without restriction.
Remember the rent analogy, if your site is on a website builder you do not own it. And if for some reason they no longer operate, neither does your website.