The Ugly Truth About Wix: Are Their Websites Actually Any Good?

I’ve been seeing a lot of Wix ads on YouTube lately. Most of them say you can build websites in no time, and that Wix websites are fast-loading, mobile-responsive, and SEO-friendly — all for just $15 per month.

If I were a small business owner, it would seem like a pretty good offer.

But I am Web Developer and I know what it takes to create a high-performing website. So, I decided to dig deeper and see if any of these Wix claims are actually true.

I searched Google for the ‘best Wix websites’ and found a Wix blog titled ‘18 Best Wix Website Examples‘. I tested the top 4 websites they recommended to avoid any bias.

I focused on three of Wix’s claims: Fast Loading Speed, Mobile Responsiveness, and SEO Friendliness.

1. Fast Loading Website

Wix claims that their websites are much faster. They say this is because they host their sites on a globally distributed CDN (Content Delivery Network), which allows for automatic caching of all site resources, including HTML. They also claim to optimise for LCP (Largest Contentful Paint). But in reality, that’s not true.

Here’s what I found:

Wendy Ju

Wendy Ju is at the top of Wix’s list. However, it takes 12.7 seconds to load on mobile. Google recommends a loading time of 2.5 seconds, so this website is very slow. The only reason it has a performance score of 71 is that there’s very little content on the page, which reduces issues like Total Blocking Time (TBT).

Animal Music

Animal Music is another site proudly listed as one of Wix’s best. But this site is in a terrible state—it takes 47 seconds to load on mobile. The worst part is that the mobile version doesn’t even have any images. If it did, the LCP would likely be even slower than 47 seconds.

Izzy Wheels

Izzy Wheels is third on the list, taking 7.4 seconds to load the page’s main content. This is still below Google’s recommended speed.

Mane Ethical Hairdressing

Mane Ethical Hairdressing loads its main content in 5.6 seconds, which is better than the other three websites. However, the landing page only has three sections. If the designer adds more sections, the loading speed will likely decrease.

2. Mobile Responsiveness

Wix does provide an editor that allows you to create mobile-responsive websites using breakpoints. However, implementing these breakpoints effectively requires some knowledge of web design. If you’re not familiar with web design concepts like flex boxes or grids, your website might not end up being fully responsive.

Let’s see how these Wix websites perform in terms of mobile responsiveness:

Wendy Ju

While the site is technically mobile-responsive, there are parts of the page that overflow horizontally. The close icon overlaps with the hamburger menu, which negatively impacts accessibility and can cause users to lose trust in the website.

Animal Music

This website performs better than Wendy Ju in terms of mobile responsiveness. However, the mobile navigation bar doesn’t have a background colour, making it hard to distinguish the navbar logo from other website elements. There’s also a large gap between the footer’s call to action and the “Follow Us” menu.

Izzy Wheels

This website handles mobile responsiveness well. The only issue is the absence of a logo in the mobile navigation bar.

Mane Ethical Hairdressing

This is the only website in the list that has no issues with mobile responsiveness.

3. SEO

Wix proudly claims that their websites are SEO-friendly, and to some extent, that’s true. They offer an SEO section in their editor where you can add meta titles and descriptions, making the website technically SEO-friendly. However, many factors determine how well a web page ranks in Google search results, and one of the most critical factors is content.

Although Wix has a CMS (Content Management System) capability, it’s not as robust as WordPress or other systems specifically designed for content management. So, if you’re aiming to rank high in Google search results in a competitive market with a scalable website, Wix might not be the best choice.

Wendy Ju

This website doesn’t have a location info, so can’t do local search.

Animal Music

When I searched for “sound design Miami” Animal Music didn’t appear in the first three results, which is a sign that it’s not performing well in terms of SEO.

Izzy Wheels

This website ranks first in Google results for “wheelchair wheel covers.” It has good content, few responsiveness issues, and is relatively faster than the other Wix websites.

Mane Ethical Hairdressing

This website doesn’t rank for “hairdresser in Burleigh Queensland.” This is common among Wix websites, which often struggle to rank high for high-volume keywords.

These aren’t the only issues with Wix, though:

4. It is too easy to build a website with Wix

You might think, “How is that a bad thing?” Well, if you’ve ever managed a high-performing website, you know that building a website is not an easy task. Creating a website is just the first piece of the puzzle in developing an efficient sales or lead generation system.

• You need to optimise your conversion rates.
• You need to A/B test your landing pages to see which ones bring in more conversions.
• You need a fast-loading website to reduce bounce rates.
• You need to implement a content strategy for inbound marketing.
• You need to easily manage content in the backend.

Many of these tasks either can’t be done with Wix or are limited in their functionality. If your website isn’t performing well or has accessibility issues, your business is losing money and the trust of your users.

5. You Can’t Migrate Your Website to Another Hosting Provider

As your business grows, its needs may outgrow what Wix can offer. Unfortunately, migrating to another platform or hosting provider isn’t possible with Wix. This also means you don’t fully own your website —Wix does. So, if you’ve spent hundreds of hours designing your website, all that work could go to waste if you stop paying Wix.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Wix’s claims don’t hold up. It might sound appealing to quickly build a website with the drag-and-drop Wix builder, but if you research high-ranking websites on Google across any industry, you’ll find that none of them are built using Wix—or, for that matter, any drag-and-drop builder.

So, before you jump on the Wix bandwagon, take a closer look at what truly makes a website perform well. While Wix might be easy and affordable, it’s not always the best choice if you want your website to be fast, mobile-responsive, and SEO-friendly. Remember, your website is an investment in your business—make sure it’s one that pays off.