Our series of CMS showdowns, where we pit  popular site-building platforms against each other, continues with a look at how WordPress compares to Wix.

Both have their fans, and both can create attractive, professional websites, but it’s important to remember they’re designed for different types of users. We’ll keep this mind as we put the two head-to-head so we can provide a clearer picture of which one might be the best option for your business below.

A Marketer’s View: Comparing WordPress with Wix

In this section, we’ll run through the key features of both platforms and provide a fair review of the two before reaching a final verdict. Without further ado, let’s get started with round one.

Ease of use

WordPress

Although WordPress’ learning curve is on the steeper side at first, familiarising yourself with its dashboard post-setup can be hugely rewarding. As you get to grips with it more and more, it’s possible to have full control over every aspect of your business’ site – and since there are thousands of tutorials available, mastering WordPress is more than achievable than you might initially think.

Wix

By comparison, Wix is far more beginner friendly. Setup is faster, and the platform’s drag-and-drop editor is better suited to those who might lack technical knowledge to use WordPress effectively straight out of the box.

Verdict

As far as ease of use goes, we’re giving this one to Wix. For total beginners in need of a simple website made quickly, Wix wins hands down.

SEO Capabilities

WordPress

WordPress can make use of an arsenal of SEO-improving tools. Along with bolstering it with a variety of powerful SEO plugins, the platform gives you full control over metadata, features advanced schema implementation, lets you scale content and allows for greater flexibility over international SEO. Additionally, its tools deliver strong Core Web Vitals optimisation, so you can easily tweak loading performance, interactivity and visual stability – all of which improves Search rankings and optimises your overall site UX.  

Wix

As well as a built-in SEO wizard, and the inclusion of some basic optimisation tools, Wix has taken steps to improve its SEO in recent years. But while this feature has certainly improved, issues still linger. It’s a lot less flexible than WordPress, offering more limited technical SEO options in comparison, as well as restricted control over advanced optimisation. Your mileage with its SEO potential will depend on your own organic goals.

Verdict

In the Wix SEO vs. WordPress SEO face off, WordPress definitely comes out on top. If your business has its sights set on improving organic search as part of its strategy, then a WordPress website will go a long way towards enhancing performance.

Content Marketing

WordPress

For content marketing purposes, WordPress really excels – which makes sense since it was originally built as a publishing platform. As such, you’ll find plenty of advanced blogging capabilities to bolster things with. Through multi-author workflows, for example, multiple team members can track changes, share feedback and streamline collaboration. Content scheduling lets articles go live at key times without manual involvement, while category and tagging capabilities help with increasing the reach of your content.

Wix

Wix’s content marketing capabilities are a lot more pared back. Blog creation is simple and intuitive, and you can still optimise content engagement with SEO features and a robust media library, but its editorial functionality is limited in comparison, so it’s better suited to smaller blogs.

Verdict

If you have big plans for your business’ content marketing (and why wouldn’t you?), WordPress’ ability to drive leads is the way to go.

Design

WordPress

Designing without limits can really supercharge your business’ branding capabilities. WordPress’ near-unlimited customisation can push the boundaries of what’s possible thanks to thousands of themes to choose from, custom development capabilities, an intuitive block editor and page builders that let you design exactly how you want things to look across your site.

Wix

Wix has some impressive design potential, including excellent template designs and straightforward visual editing. But with less development flexibility making it harder to move beyond template limitations, there are restraints you’ll have to work to.

Verdict

If you want your brand to truly shine through, then creative freedom is important – and WordPress can offer plenty of it. We’d recommend it over Wix 100%.

Plugins and Integrations

WordPress

With over 60,000 plugins to make use of, WordPress integration capabilities never cease to impress us. Want to add CRM to a site? Create a membership or customer hub? Or start selling products across it? WordPress can do all of that and then some, including booking systems, contact forms and analytic functions.

Wix

Although the marketing is growing, and its plugins cover most common needs, there’s a smaller ecosystem compared to WordPress. If there are more niche or specialist tools you want to integrate into your site, then Wix might not be capable. 

Verdict

It’s another win for WordPress. The sheer variety of plugins makes it well suited to any brand wanting to add depth to their marketing technology stack.

Ecommerce

WordPress

WordPress can easily help your business with its Ecommerce ambitions. Let’s say you have a large numbers of products to sell. Dedicated plugins let you create unlimited product catalogues. Subscription capabilities allow for straightforward repeat purchases, additional plugins streamline internal selling and checkout customisation, and marketplace integrations let third-party sellers manage their inventory and sales while you collect a commission.

Wix

For smaller online stores, Wix’s Ecommerce features will do the trick, especially since they’re easy to setup. But there’s little in the way of advanced Ecommerce functionality. If you’re planning to grow, this CMS might end up standing in your way.

Verdict

WordPress has Ecommerce covered on just about all fronts. For business expecting future growth, WordPress provides you with plenty of tools and add-ons to help nurture it.

Performance

WordPress

WordPress requires you to choose a hosting provider for it to work properly. With that said, there are plenty to choose from, and a quality hosting provider can help your site achieve excellent Core Web Vitals. Add CDN compatibility, image optimisation and advanced caching into the mix, and you’re looking at a site that runs with minimal errors that loads faster for users around the world.

Wix

Wix manages its hosting automatically, so it removes the need to find the right hosting provider. As such, its performance, maintenance and updates are handled for you, so you can expect consistency on that front. However, there are fewer opportunities to carry out more advanced optimisation, so you won’t be able to carry out deeper custom coding. If you also want to move your site to another hosting company, being locked into the Wix system can make doing this a struggle.   

Verdict

When properly hosted and optimised, WordPress can create sites that are fast, smooth and offer an incredible user experience. If you lack technical skills, then Wix does the job, but it comes with a lot more restrictions.

Scalability

WordPress

WordPress’ need for a hosting provider works to its benefits here. Since it can be hosted on any server that meets its requirements, you have total control over your hosting environment. This allows for more scaling.

So, if you need to accommodate higher traffic, for instance, you can do so with plugins and customisations. Or if you need to increase the number of pages (as high as the thousands), it’s more than capable with the right hosting and database queries.

Wix

What you get in simplicity with Wix, you lose out on in scalability. As you grow and need more custom functionality, Wix won’t be able to fully realise how much you need to scale. Like we said before, their app market is growing, but you’re limited by what’s there.

Verdict

For growing organisations, WordPress takes the win here. As far as simple business websites go, Wix can handle growth. But if you need more custom functionality, or spikes in traffic are a frequent occurrence, you might end up seeing performance issues – and little you can do about them should they happen.

Which is the best CMS for marketers?

We’d recommend WordPress if…

Your website is going to be a core marketing asset, and you plan on investing in SEO, content marketing, lead generation, Ecommerce or you have big plans for future business growth. When it comes to sustainable growth in particular, WordPress offers a stronger foundation – with a greater return on investment over time. And for marketers who want flexibility, performance, scalability and full control over their digital presence, WordPress grants users the capabilities to do so effectively and powerfully.

We’d recommend Wix if…

You’re in need of a simple website that’s easy to set up and maintain, requires limited technical resources, and don’t plan on seeing significant growth or complex marketing requirements. For the beginners or small brochure-style websites, it’s still an excellent choice.

How do I migrate Wix to WordPress?

If you’re business has outgrown its Wix website, then migrating it to WordPress can unlock new opportunities to increase growth and digital presence. Not sure where to start with the process? Our team of web developers can support you through the process. Get in touch with us today to discuss your needs and goals with us.

Going with WordPress for your new website? We’d love to have a quick chat about how we can design and develop a site that caters to your goals and speaks to your customers. Give us a call or drop us a message, and we’ll reply as soon as we can.