I’ve been working with websites for quite a few years now and have enabled small businesses to show up in Google searches. When I first started, HTML had to be edited with the plain text editor. Business owners have many more options and tools available to them today. Ten-plus years ago I discovered WordPress. It has become a very powerful and Industry standard tool. I have to admit I was a little snobby in that I used WordPress to build and maintain websites. I just had a new client come to me I soon found out that I used Wix. How dare they…
Since then, I changed my tune quite a bit. Wix is a standard business tool today. No one paid me to write or come up with these bullet points. I just had to share as this platform impressed me so much. Business owners don’t have time to learn HTML and set up websites. Small business owners don’t have thousands of dollars to hire agencies to build their online presence. I really am shocked a Wix. The power behind this product is the ability to write blog posts, be in control of page SEO, build multiple locations for businesses, have easy internal linking, social media optimization, accessibility tools, and so much more. The only problem with learning new software is finding out where you navigate to get things done. The biggest plus to Wix is its user community. If you need to find out where to click to do something, just search YouTube. Some friendly contributor has built a web page that will show you exactly where to click and you’ll be on to your next step.
Let me quickly cover some of the tools within Wix that I discovered while optimizing a website for a local business:
Tag Editing:
We all know the power of SEO is in the tags. Being able to quickly get access to each title and meta description within a web page is very easy. There’s even a preview window that’ll give you a snapshot of the search results for the page once you set those titles and meta tags.
Menu & Site Navigation:
My biggest fear and learning a new website tool is how easy is it to make pages to control the main menu navigation. Being able to hide pages from the main menu navigation is key. I’ll have to admit Wicks has this down to a science. You can easily set up web pages to track “the user Journey” to measure events within Google Analytics and measure conversions.
Marketing and SEO:
Within the main navigation bar of each web page is a section dedicated to marketing and search engine optimization. There you have access to SEO tools, email marketing, Google ads, social marketing, Google My Business Page, and more. To have access to something like this in WordPress you need to explore & research countless plugins, pay for them, activate, configure them, and then navigate to each tool individually to use them.
Blog:
So here’s the kicker. How easy is it to make a Blog in WordPress? What kind of granular controls does the editor have over the blog? and how easy is it to edit, promote, and publish individual articles? Well, this is where Wix does not have this much granular control over the blog. But we all know there’s a balance to everything. The balance here is the ease of use in confidence that the blog is up and running as expected. the uniform tools to edit and maintain blog postings are surprisingly efficient and Powerful. There’s even the ability to integrate SEO tools into the blog Such as Json scripting and adding structured markups to have blog postings readily found in multiple ways by search engines.
E-Commerce:
What product or service do you SELL? Next, the power behind Wix is its e-commerce platform. I think this tool was built with this first in mind. Native support exists for business owners to sell downloadable documents, services to be scheduled on a calendar, products to be delivered and shipped, or other virtual services delivered through video conferencing.
Local SEO Strategy:
Consistency is the big feature here. Listing and referring to your business information in a uniform manner. (SEO strategy MUST) You have to rank at the top of search results to be found by your potential customer. The key element here is the ability to list a specific location for a brick-and-mortar business or a general service area in a regional market. Wix has an inherent ability to include company name, address and phone numbers, website, email, and even across multiple brick-and-mortar locations. The real Beauty here is how it seamlessly connects to search engines listing these business locations in a Manor that search algorithms understand. I have not found this inherent to creating local content in WordPress. I’m sure it exists out there but I bet you probably have to pay a monthly subscription for it.
Accessibility Checker:
Here’s the most beautiful part: a built-in tool to check a website’s accessibility. Not only does this tool notify you of issues but it prompts you with specific steps to in the moment fix accessibility problems. Remember following usability standards not only increases accessibility, but this process can confirm your site follows best practices for SEO strategy. the biggest one is setting H tags in confirming to the editor which headlines should be prioritized based on their message.
Google my business listing:
Google’s “Power Tool” for small business owners is their business profile manager. Google is obviously taking over as the number one search engine and therefore is the priority business listing tool. decades ago it was impossible to do business without yellow-page ads. Today it’s impossible to do business without a Google business profile. Wick’s has again built-in inherent tools the interface and connect your business listings with your Google business account. You are two clicks away from Gaining access to this from the main panel.
Submission Forms:
I used to think WordPress had a leg up on other platforms when it came to submission forms. I’ve since learned but I could not be more mistaken. Yes, submission forms are easy to set up in WordPress but the inherent feature is to have the email be sent and that data is not archived are categorized for future access. Again you’ve got to research, test, pay for, configure, and use a third-party plug-in so that your WordPress webpage can get the full functionality that Wix has inherently built in.
Visitor Notifications:
So when my first client meeting they showed me real-time alerts they were receiving on their mobile phone as mysterious website visitors were landing on their page. Not only were they notified but they were told what region in the country or World these visitors could be coming from. This was simply amazing. Next, if the User submitted their information uniform, the business owner was again notified in real-time by a mobile push notification that they had somebody to follow up with. And of course, this notification feature was built into the platform as potential customers scheduled and booked in-person visits to their brick-and-mortar location.
Web Stats:
Again I tend to be a little snobby when it comes to web analytics. Since I’ve been using Google analytics for a decade-plus I’m very proud of my ability to track the customer Journey. well, then Google had to come in and retool the industry with ga4 Analytics. So I’m now in the process of relearning Google Analytics, but it still remains an industry-standard tool with the most flexibility and Power. But this is where again Wix comes into play and set itself apart. What business owner has time to learn GA-4 Analytics? Just about every web stat report a business owner needs are readily available with two clicks from the main menu. Again this is where WordPress falls short and you have to research, configure, and pay for a third-party plugin to get to the granular details the webmaster may need to deliver. Oh yeah integrating custom text in the name server of the Wix website is also a painless process. documenting ownership with Google my business listing and other tools are again Made Simple by Wix.
So this is where I have to cut myself off. I feel like I am a paid Wix employee extolling the glory of the website platform. I am only a proponent for the small business owner. If you live in North Texas we need to connect. I would like to highlight my recent fork for Liberty IV. I have spent 200 hours polishing the Integrated Marketing Strategy for the regional business in North Texas. They need to stand out from 368 business locations Nation-Wide. Next, they have to shine bright among 65+ local brick-and-mortar locations. You can view some of my behind the scene progress and discover what it takes to break down a business sector, learn the features and benefits, and concisely document them in a cohesive marketing strategy.
And yes, I will be going back to the business partners I have collaborated with and pitching that they consider Wix as a marketing platform.