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Writer's picturePaula Johnson

WiX's Bad SEO Reputation

If you have a website, you know (or should know) that SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) remains a critical factor for success. Historically, WiX faced criticism for its perceived shortcomings in SEO capabilities, particularly when compared to industry giants like WordPress.


Woman typing on laptop

Wix's Bad Rap

WiX has undergone significant transformations over the years, in all areas of its performance and structure, but it was particularly slated for it's poor SEO performance.


So, let’s explore how WiX’s SEO features have improved and lay it's bad rap to rest!


Learning from Feedback

When WiX first emerged as a user-friendly website builder, its primary focus was on empowering non-technical users to create visually appealing websites without needing coding knowledge. However, this ease of use came at a cost. Early critics pointed out limitations such as:

  • Non-customisable URL structures

  • Heavy reliance on JavaScript, which some search engines struggled to crawl

  • Lack of advanced SEO tools like schema markup


Game-Changing Improvements

Over the years, the has WiX made it a priority to address these concerns, resulting in a complete overhaul of its SEO infrastructure and how its sites are crawled.


Main improvements are:


  1. Customisable URL Structures

WiX now allows users to fully customise their URL slugs, ensuring they can create clean, descriptive, and search-engine-friendly URLs. This flexibility eliminates one of the most significant early criticisms of the platform.

  1. Improved Site Performance

WiX has significantly optimised its platform for speed, with features like automatic image compression, global CDN (Content Delivery Network) integration, and lightweight code. These enhancements help improve site speed, a critical ranking factor for Google. However, site owners still play a key role by ensuring that image and video files are appropriately optimised for the web in the first instance.

  1. Advanced SEO Tools

WiX offers built-in SEO tools that rival those of its competitors, including:

o   Schema markup integration to enhance rich results on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).

o   A robust SEO Wizard that guides users step-by-step in optimising their sites.

o   301 redirects and canonical tags for managing site structure and avoiding duplicate content issues.

  1. Integration with SEO Analytics Tools

WiX now integrates seamlessly with tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and third-party keyword trackers.

  1. Server-Side Rendering (SSR)

Addressing concerns about its reliance on JavaScript, WiX introduced server-side rendering, ensuring that search engines can effectively crawl and index its websites.


A New Era for WiX SEO

Thanks to its continuous innovation and responsiveness to user feedback, WiX has closed the gap between itself and other well-known platforms like WordPress. Its SEO capabilities are no longer a weak link but a core strength that empowers users to compete effectively in the digital landscape.


Case Study

A client had an old WordPress site that had been online for a number of years. However, it was tired and unappealing, and rather than spend thousands getting someone to redo the site, the client set up a new one on WiX. Within two weeks they were getting organic reach from their new site via Google!


Part of the reason for the fantastic fast response, was the keywords they were ranking for, and the area their business was in. This proves the point, that it doesn't so much matter what platform your site is designed on, it's all about your keywords and your competition.


Screen shot of Google analytics

There are many factors that make up the success of your organic reach, and you can find out more about that here.


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