How Wix Makes Site Building and SEO Easy

Starting a website on the internet today is extremely fast, simple and easy. When I first started making sites online back in the mid-90s, it was a huge headache and task in itself. Now it takes literally seconds to go live with a site of your own, and there is no need for additional software. Depending on your preferred method and needs for starting a site, you might not even need to setup web hosting or have any costs either. Many site builders now offer to the option to host content right off their main domain, while also giving you the full ability to create content of your own.

Once such website builder that has been getting a lot of attention lately is Wix.com. I’m sure you’ve seen their commercials and how they make the process of setting up a website or blog so easy. Not only do they make the process of going live with a site easy, their built-in SEO features also make the process of ranking sites in Google easier as well. The model is working out extremely well for them, as it’s allowing anyone to get live with a site of their own in just minutes — all without the need to complications or learning how to use new software.

How to Start a Website with Wix

There are plenty of ways to get started with a website or blog, but if you just want to get online and start creating content fast, Wix makes this extremely easy.

When creating an account with Wix, there is no need to mess around with server options or database files, as each customer is provided with an easy to use interface which never requires coding, software or the need for direct FTP or database files. This is one of the biggest attractions for newbie site owners that simply want to get started with a site of their own and not mess with upgrades and features they don’t need.

I could break this all down and explain it in detail, but I think the video below will do it more justice.

With millions of customers actively using the Wix platform, it’s been quite a powerful and resource tool for them to continually tweak and improve their platform over the years. Wix isn’t just for anyone looking to start a website or blog, it’s also for bloggers as well.

Wix Features to Help Sites Rank in Google

With over a billion active sites on the internet today, it’s not just about going live with a website, it’s also about ranking in the search results. For new site owners and bloggers, this is something that may come as a surprise. Once you create a site, it will get listed in Google, but it likely won’t come up anywhere near the first page. For this to happen, you will need to know how to create content that ranks, build backlinks, monitor your search rankings and also work on your on-site/off-site SEO.

This is yet another area that Wix has focused a lot of effort on over the years. Having helped millions of people get online with a site, it would only make sense for them to provide the tools and training to rank in the search results as well.

Here are some of the latest features that Wix has offered to help sites rank higher in Google.

• Page Meta tags – Setting your page meta tags, such as title and description tags, are crucial for letting Google know what your website’s pages are about. You may not be able to see them on your site, however they will come up in the search engine results page. Wix has put in a simple and user-friendly way of updating these on your own website by accessing the SEO Page settings of your Wix site.

• Heading Tags – The formatting of site content isn’t just for visual use, it’s also for Google and search rankings as well. Using H1 or Heading tags within your content makes it easier for Google to see what type of content you are creating, and where/how it best belongs in the search ranking. Always use header tags (1, 2, 3) when breaking apart your site content into smaller sections. You can view how to do this over here.

• Site Verification – When launching a site of your own, it’s important to make sure you have all of the necessary site verification codes in place. This can be quite annoying if you are using HTML or a non-WYSIWYG site editor. To make this process easy, Wix has a simple process in place to allow for verification tags for Google Search Console, Google+, Bing Webmaster Tools, Pinterest and more to be added right into the header section of your site!

• 301 Redirects – If you ever went to a website and came across an error or redirect message, it simply means the site owner didn’t have the necessary settings in place. A 301 redirect will make sure all of your existing pages are found or redirected should you be moving an existing site over to a new one on the Wix platform. This will also help with any URL changes you might make over time.

• Elimination of the Canonical Tag – When trying to rank websites in Google, you want to make it as easy and clean as possible. With Google now improving how they crawl Javascript, Wix has removed canonical tags that pointed to the home page. This was put in place to avoid any possible negative effect and fully conform to Google’s guidelines.

• Loading Time Improvements – Wix has always been known for their flashy and attractive site designs. The more flashy and image heavy a site is, the more likely it is to cost more in loading resources and time. This is something Wix has also revamped recently, making sure all of their sites and templates load as fast as possible — as this is also an important factor when ranking sites in the search results.

• Mobile-Optimized Templates – With more people accessing the internet and site content through their mobile devices, it’s extremely important to make sure your site is mobile-responsive and ready. Wix desktop sites automatically converted to fully responsive and mobile-friendly templates. This is also an important factor in the ranking process, as Google is pushing down sites in the rankings that aren’t mobile friendly.

As mentioned earlier, Wix is continually making improvements to their platform all the time. You can see their latest feature updates here, broken down on a monthly basis.

When compared to other all-in-one solutions, it’s hard to find a more robust and active platform with features. In addition to everything mentioned above, customers will also have the ability to integrate traffic and marketing features into their sites as well. These types of tools can help with increasing traffic to sites, management of ad campaigns, SEO, and Google Analytics.

Quick Tips for Creating a Site with Wix that Ranks

At the end of the day, Wix.com is a great platform for getting your website, blog or brand online. However, if you don’t have the necessary content and promotional efforts in place, you will likely just end up with another site on the internet. SEO is one of the best ways to grow a website, brand or business online. Not only is it great for long-term growth, it’s also something that won’t necessarily cost you any money, as it’s all about the content creation and outreach process.

To effectively rank your Wix site in Google, be sure to use each of the actionable SEO tips and features mentioned above. No matter where your site is hosted, how it was created or what your content or business model is… SEO is all about creating quality content and ranking for relevant keywords. Ask yourself the following questions to help create a solid SEO plan for your website or blog.

• Who is your target audience? – Knowing who your audience and target customer is, is key. Once you know who is coming to your site and why you can then build a solid content and marketing campaign around your site.
• How will you provide value within your content? – People are going to come to your site for one of three reasons. They either want information, to be entertained, or to buy something. No matter which of the three it is, make sure you provide the best content and user experience possible.
• Where will your site rank in the search results? – If you want your site to rank in the search results, you will need to have valuable content and gain powerful backlinks to your site. These links can be through social media, references on other sites and also getting listed in local directories. The more high-quality backlinks to your site, the more likely you are to rank (higher and more often) in Google.

These are just a few of the things all site owners and content creators will need to think about when running their sites. If all of this seems too confusing or way over your head, these aspects are things Wix manage as well. Contact them here for more information on how they can help.