Wix or a web designer: which is right for your business?

Wix or a web designer: which is better for a small business?

Wix is fine if you have the time to build, write and look after the site yourself, and you’re happy learning how to get it found on Google. A web designer is better value when your time is worth more than the saving, or when you want the site built around how your customers search and book from day one. Both can work. The real difference is who does the work, and what that work costs you in hours and in customers.

How much does a Wix website cost in the UK?

Website builders like Wix, Squarespace and GoDaddy usually cost somewhere around £0–£30 a month, according to UK price guides (more on that in what a website costs in the UK). The free plans put the builder’s own branding on your site and give you an address like yourname.wixsite.com rather than your own domain, so most businesses end up on a paid plan.

The bigger cost is your time. Picking a template is quick; writing every page, taking and sizing the photos, setting up bookings, and getting it to say clearly what you do and which town you’re in takes most owners days, not hours. And the monthly fee never stops, and the site only works on that builder: you can’t take it with you if you leave.

What a Wix site often misses

Wix itself can be found on Google. What usually holds a do-it-yourself site back is what nobody set up:

• Pages that match searches. One page that says “Welcome to our business” won’t come up for “[what you do] [your town]”. Each main service needs its own clear page.
• The Google side. A Google Business Profile in the right category, Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools connected, and your name, phone and hours the same everywhere.
• Phone speed. Templates full of big images and effects can be slow on a phone, which is where most of your customers are.

When I check Teesside businesses, the well-reviewed ones that don’t show up often have a free builder page or an old builder site that never says what they do and where. It’s not the tool; it’s that nobody had time to finish the job. More on that in why a business isn’t showing on Google.

What a web designer costs with me

I’m Jack, a web designer from Eston. My prices are fixed and on the page, so you can compare them with a year of a builder plan plus your own time:

• Starter, £295: up to 3 pages, live in 7 days.
• Business, £595: up to 6 pages with bookings or enquiries, live in 10 working days.
• Care, £40 a month: hosting, updates and 30 minutes of changes, month to month.

I write the words with you, set up the Google side, and build it for phones first. The site and the domain are in your name, so you can take them anywhere. See who owns your website for why that matters, or web design in Middlesbrough for what’s included.

Already on Wix?

You don’t have to start again. If your Wix site looks fine but nobody finds it, the £149 Search Fix sorts your Google profile, listings and website basics in 5 days, and if I can’t find 5 things holding you back, you get your money back. If it’s time for a new site, I can rebuild it and point your domain at it without losing your address.

Prices

Care (hosting, updates and 30 minutes of changes) is £40 a month. Websites are 50% to start and 50% before launch.