It is a necessity for every business nowadays to have their own website. Establishing an online presence is as important as any other form of marketing. Online marketing at this point may even be more important than other means.
As a business owner, I used to see building a website as a hurdle or even an unnecessary expenditure. Without any coding knowledge, my only option was to hire a developer. One thing I knew about websites is that developers cost a lot.
So for a couple more years, I continued with what I was doing until I noticed business was getting a bit slow. As each year passed, I had fewer and fewer clients. I had my old loyal customers, but I was not getting any new market.
My son told me “Dad, your business is slow coz you’re still living in the stone age.” So there it was again, someone, and that someone was my son, was telling me I needed a website for my business.
I said “Hell NO.” It sounded like it had to do something with the principle, but truth is I was just scared. I knew newer business are opening up here and there. But I couldn’t keep up with these young entrepreneurs because they had the advantage of technology.
So my son, the smart guy that he is, knew why I did not want to build my own site. So he said “look, dad, my friend’s dad is just like you and is in the sandblasting business. He doesn’t know squat about programming. But he has a website and no he did not hire a developer. He used Wix.”
Wix? I did not know that time who or what Wix was. But my son said to give it a try, and so I did.
WHAT IS WIX?
Wix is an online platform that helps you build websites that are responsive to all devices without having any coding knowledge or programming skills. To get to know it a bit more, here are some features that I like.
Visually Stunning Websites
Have you ever had a moment where you needed to write something but spend hours looking at a blank piece of paper? Same thing goes when trying to design a page. With Wix, I did not have to go through that process. Wix offers hundreds of visually stunning templates that cover every niche or industry. I looked at virtually all of them, and they are even more amazing compared to other sites that I know.
Drag n’ Drop Builder
This is something I really enjoyed. I wouldn’t have been able to build my website had it not for the drag and drop builder. It is so user-friendly that adding pictures, effects, links and videos were all a blast.
I kept publishing my work to view how it did on my phone and my desktop. The what-you-see-is-what-you-get function kept me excited to continue building my website.
With hundreds of pictures, clipart, objects and other elements to add, I did not have to download anything further. All I did was hover at something, wait for the menu to show, choose what I wanted to do, right click and view. That was basically my whole process.
The buttons to the left let me change my store’s background, add elements, buy apps from the market to increase the features in my store, view my uploads and edit my blog. It felt like I was using Photoshop which was nothing I expected from a website builder.
Mobile Device Responsive
As I was designing my shop, I got a bit worried because I knew people were shopping on their mobile phones and the way I was designing my website, it only looked good on a desktop. Then I saw the toggle button at the upper right corner of the screen that looked like a mobile device. That was when I found out that I can edit the appearance of my mobile site as well. I was even surprised that 90% of the job was done. I just had to move some elements a bit to make the site look better.
App Store
When I started of building my website, I did not have a clear plan on what I really wanted with it. I thought I just needed something to post online, advertise on my Facebook and let people see. I just wanted something to introduce my brand online. Which is why I chose the free trial plan.
As I was going along, I noticed the app market and checked out what these applications are. I was amazed at all the apps that can be integrated with Wix. I could add a signup form for to create a mailing list for email marketing, watch visitor live though WebStat, add my products to my store through Ecwid, and even chat to my sties visitors through virtual live chat.
All of the apps that you can add makes Wix a one stop shop for all your website building needs. What made me really happy is that I was able to easily build a store right out of my website.
Google Friendly
This was something I had to learn through customer support. I did not know that you have to do a lot of stuff so that your website is visible online. The friendly customer reps showed me how to add URLs, descriptions, content and much more so that I could increase my rankings.
Business is good, so I guess whatever I did work.
Dedicated Support
As I mentioned earlier, they have a tremendously friendly support team that got me all the answers that I needed. Also, the tutorials were organized that whenever I got lost with I was doing; I could just quickly look for the topic that I needed.
The Top Questions section and Wix Forum are both helpful especially after I launched my website. I appreciate the help that I get from the Wix community.
Secure and Reliable Hosting
The best thing about Wix’s hosting is it is already included in the package. I do not have to pay extra anymore, and I need not worry about managing hosting services. Wix takes care of all other issues like security upgrades and SSL certificates.
In my experience, my website has never had any downtime. I enjoy 99.9% uptime which is good for my business.
WHO SHOULD USE WIX?
I’m turning 57 this year, and I never thought that I would ever have the capability of building my website. It has been up for a while now, and it has done wonders for my business.
A lot of you folks maybe wondering who really needs a website? Anyone who is in business or who just wants to establish an online presence should build a website. Not only that but artists, bands, photographers and many other creative users will find Wix as a great way to present themselves with style. Only marketers, bloggers and people who offer services would also benefit from Wix.
Wix is one for the best website builders out there with its affordable rate and awesome features.
BENEFITS OF USING WIX
Knowing what the features here, I have listed a few reasons how you can benefit from these features.
Easy to Use – Yes it is quite obvious as my very reason to use Wix was that I did not know anything about programming. But because Wix is so easy to use, I now have a stunning website
Cost Effective – You can start a website for free, or you can pay for better features. What is surprising is that the most expensive plan is only $20.
24/7 support – Get unlimited help and support from the Wix team and the Wix community
App Market – This list has all that you need to improve the features of your own website.
PRICING
You can try Wix for free or click here to see the different Premium plans that they offer.
