Is Wix still terrible for SEO?
-
In Australia, I hear it over and over again that Wix is literally the worst site builder you can use due to it's poor site build for SEO. Has anyone here got some tangible reasons for why this is? As I am constantly getting asked this by clients who are using Wix and want me to help with their SEO.
-
There are many famous and top-quality platforms available for e-commerce like Shopify, Big Commerce, Magento, etc. Learn more about it.
-
Even though our agency is representing the Wix SEO Haters, we must admit that they have made a ton of improvements.
Yes, historically, they were awful and often wouldn't even appear in SERPs.
Now, the issues they still face are the following:
- Poor page speed
- Non-customizable sitemap or robots.txt file
- Lack of structured data capabilities
- Not a ton of advanced SEO capabilities in the Wix SEO Wiz tool.
But, despite all of that, John Mueller from Google has said websites are websites for Google.
So, while it's not the ideal platform, it's a viable option for small businesses or freelancers with limited budget. However, I'd always recommend using a more advanced platform, such as WordPress.
-
It is possible to customize product urls, meta titles and meta descriptions. Seo settings for product page
-
The same content will get the exact same ranking regardless of the CMS that produced it.
John Mueller said websites are websites for Google on the post that @Casey mentioned.
For most sites out there, the available SEO settings on Wix are enough and switching a CMS will not boost their rankings. There are, for sure, sites that require a different CMS than Wix but SEO is rarely the reason for it.
-
I've got a Wix site that I'm pretty happy with. There have definitely been some frustrations, and it does seem like I've been missing out on some customization options that would help with SEO, but for certain key words my site is now showing up on Google in the top 3 of local results and page 1 of organic results. I'm admittedly pretty clueless regarding SEO, programming, and most of the stuff talked about on Moz, but I feel like Wix has been an easy and inexpensive way to get a good looking site that gets results.
-
Yes. Go for WordPress which is good for SEO. Wix is not good for SEO though they are trying to make it Search Engine Friendly to make their platform indexable.
-
The short answer is: Yes...but not "as" bad as previously. Should you choose it over Wordpress as an example? No, you should not.
Here's the long answer and an update of sorts:
The fixes...
- Wix uses "hashbangs" in their URL structure, which previously kept Google from indexing all the content but they fixed this in 2016.
- Wix previously suffered from an inability to customize page titles and add alt tags but it is my understanding that they've fixed these issues as well. And, Google's John Mueller says that Wix Websites do-in-fact "work fine" in search.
Regardless, in spite of the fixes, Wix still has what I feel are issues that render it inferior to WordPress. For instance;
- you can't customize canonical tags (or even add self-facing ones)
- you can't customize product URLs (relatively weak on all ecommerce stuff)
- you can't add customized Meta Description to product pages
- you also can't customize Page Titles for product pages
- Wix has a mobile editor, but that's just for smartphones, not tablets.
I find Wix especially unsuitable for use in ecommerce. Wix pulls SEO information for page titles, descriptions, etc. from the Product Information you initially enter and which cannot be edited at a later time. For me, that's probably the biggest reason that I prefer WordPress over Wix. You make a mistake, you are SCREWED down the road.
Bottom Line: If you can get the client to move to Wordpress, do it. It's just "better."
Hope that's helpful.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How do you implement an SEO site structure with content that falls under two silos?
We primarily produce two different types of content: concise fact sheets on topics and video briefings + transcripts of topics. Often these two content types cover the same topic area and since we're currently siloing by content type, these pages end up competing against each other for rankings. Advice on a site structure that'd avoid these issues?
On-Page Optimization | | jay_elsie1 -
Lost SEO contract, new SEO wants us to do the following - can you explain why?
1. Make prokem.co.uk the master domain rather than prokem-corrosion-protection.com 2. Ensure each http URL is 301 redirected to its https counterpart via htaccess rather than in plesk 3. 301 redirect each www.prokem-corrosion-protection.com URL to its co.uk counterpart via htaccess. I can provide a list of pages to redirect as there are a number of duplicate pages that will need removing. It probably makes sense to implement these other changes at the same time: Remove all of the canonical tags currently on the site. Leverage browser caching by following Google’s page speed recommendations - https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/insights/LeverageBrowserCaching Losslessly compress all of the website’s images. Combine and minify the website’s JavaScript
On-Page Optimization | | Simon_VO0 -
Changing existing URL's to improve SEO
Here's a general question: At what PR/page rank (or Moz 'page authority') would you no longer change an existing URL that's cryptic to one that includes the related page keyword or at least relevant terms? Does using a 301 redirect to the new URL preserve the page rank? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | flyntime_tx0 -
Looking for someone (not a huge company) to do SEO for my eCommerce Webshop.
Hi, the title pretty much explains everything. Just send me a message with an email adress and we'll get in contact! regards, Walter
On-Page Optimization | | Walterman0 -
SEO JOB
I am looking to hire someone who could help me to rank my page better: pediatric-dentist.org. If you are looking for a job and think you might be able to help me out please let me know thanks. I am looking to hire someone ASAP who could start ASAP. Good SEO practice for both of us. Thank you,
On-Page Optimization | | help4561 -
Optimization for allready indexed web without seo before
Hi, I have some questions. I have 2 Joomla web sites who needs seo optimization, but there are allready indexed in Google: 1/ Will rel=canonical fix the problem for duplicated content for allready indexed pages? I have read different solutions but I haven't tested them all. I puted rel=canonical on the first web site that I started to optimize, but Google WMT shows me very small or not at all decreasing of duplicated content. Would it need more time? 2/How can I show search engines to craw and change the cache for a page that is allready indexed faster than 1-2 months? 3/ What is your opinion and experience? With done changes for one website for a low competition keyword /the web site was not optimized for search engines before/ how much time will it take usually for Google to see the changes made and change the ranking for some keyword?
On-Page Optimization | | vladokan0 -
Generic domain for SEO versus Brand name
I am currently building a retail e-commerce site in a highly competitive area. We have a generic brand name; e.g. kitchen-knives.com and we also have another brand name, e.g. 'slycers.com' We have 3 options that I can see and I would like to know which is better for SEO. Build generic.com as a blog site. Link to brand.com 301 redirect from generic.com to brand.com. Use generic.com as anchor text in all links 301 redirect from brand.com to generic.com . Use generic.com as anchor text in all links Also, if there are other better options, then I would appreciate the input! thanks
On-Page Optimization | | cestor0