Choosing a platform to build your website on can be daunting, especially when dozens to choose from. When you add in that some are better for ecommerce, others are good for taking orders, and the few that aren’t good for beginners, it’s challenging to know which platform you should choose.
Two website-building platforms, Wix and Godaddy, continue to be some of the top contenders when choosing which platforms to create your website on. While they both offer graphic freedom and inclusive plans, there is a big difference between their support, usability, and features.
So when it comes to Wix vs Godaddy, which are you to choose? And which would be better for your specific needs?
We’ll break down the pros and cons of each platform and give our overall opinion on which platform would be best for most small businesses.
Pros and Cons of Wix Website
There are many factors that come into play when choosing your website builder. What works for one company may not work for yours at all, so knowing all the pros and cons before deciding who to trust your business with is essential.
Wix is a free, user-friendly, website-building platform perfect for everyone from experts to, well, non-experts. Their technology and built-in features give users the freedom to design professional websites with ease. They even give you the option to edit for mobile devices without affecting your site’s desktop version.
Pros of Using Wix
Templates
Easy to use
Available for free
Comes with SEO
Good site speed
Excellent support
250+ plugins
Great security
Templates
Wix has one of the best template galleries around! And if you happen to not find what you’re looking for, it’s always easy to find more customizable templates through Etsy or platforms. We even have a gallery full of templates we have had great success with available on our website, such as the one below.
Easy to Use
If you’re a web design beginner, then Wix would be an excellent choice for you. It features drag and drop elements should you choose to build your own template, and you can easily input your brand fonts and colors for easy access.
Available for Free
Wix also offers a free version of their website designer platform for those who are testing the waters or have minimal budgets. While it does come with Wix branding, you still receive the same advantages of a paid website, including multiple pages, easy customer navigation, and SEO help.
Comes With SEO
Speaking of SEO, Wix knows not every business owner knows what they need to do to help index and rank their site. That’s why Wix has built-in SEO help, letting you know when and where your pages could use a boost. It even makes suggestions for items such as meta descriptions, to ensure you have the best chance to be seen.
Good Site Speed
Wix knows site speed is essential. According to a study conducted by Google in 2017, as page load time goes from one second to three seconds, the probability of a bounce increases by 32%. Wix website speeds often beat out those of WordPress, Godaddy, and Squarespace, making it an excellent choice for businesses that focus on mobile audiences.
Excellent Support
Wix is well-known for its helpful customer support/knowledge team. If you run into any issues with billing, site function, or anything else, they’ll be happy to help you. Because Wix is its own platform, it has to address issues within the website. You can contact someone via email or phone.
While Wix offers an element for almost every small business need, plugins are great for any small business looking to customize its website even further. You might use a website plugin to modify a visual element quickly, add extra details or content, install a chatbot, or even add a new feature and operation to your website. Whatever it may be for, Wix has got you covered.
Great Security
Recent WordPress security issues have raised the question, “are website builders really safe?” While keeping your site secure on some level is up to the owner, Wix deploys and maintains technical and organizational security measures to protect the company’s and our customer's data and assets. The Wix security team leads the facilitation and development of procedures, processes, and controls that govern the security and integrity of Wix and our users.
Cons of Using Wix
Free plan has Wix branding
Subpar analytics
Site isn't transferable
Blogging pages have limited templates and options
Free Plan Has Wix Branding
While Wix has a comprehensive free plan, the biggest downside is that the format of the free Wix site URL format is accountname.wixsite.com/siteaddress. This may come across as unprofessional to some audiences, especially when accompanied by Wix branding on each web page.
Subpar Analytics
Wix does offer basic insights and analytics, but it is behind the curve in a day and age where many companies depend on their insights to grow their brand and personalize their offerings. While Wix does give you step-by-step instructions to connect to Google Analytics for a deeper look into your insights, Wix analytics themselves are less than ideal.
Site Isn’t Transferable
Although transferring your website isn’t common, Wix doesn’t offer the option. Should you need to move your website to another platform for any reason, you would have to rebuild that website from scratch, versus transferring your data and layouts from Wix to your other platform.
Blogging Pages Have Limited Templates and Options
If blogging is a big part of your brand, then Wix may not be for you. There is no difference between Wix and other platforms from an SEO perspective. Still, their blog layouts and templates are limited and do not offer the customization that some audiences may be expecting.
Pros and Cons of Godaddy Website
We’ve all seen Godaddy commercials; they’re ridiculous, over-the-top, and include celebrities such as Naomi Osaka and Danica Patrick. And while Godaddy has now become a household name, does that mean their websites are worth trying?
Overall, Godaddy is a good website hosting platform. They’re affordable, fast, and offer a huge domain registry to help you find the perfect name for your website. If you’re looking for a website delivered the same day, Godaddy is for you!
Pros of Using Godaddy
Large domain name registry
Unlimited bandwidth and space
Quick setup
Large Domain Name Registry
If you’re looking for a website that ends in something other than .com, Godaddy offers a white variety of options, including .co, .shop, .me, and more. And if you need to register multiple domains at once, you have the opportunity to create and register up to 500 at a time! For companies with multiple locations, this can make or break your web hosting decision for companies with multiple locations.
Unlimited Bandwidth and Space
One of the biggest pros of Godaddy is its unlimited Bandwidth and space. Website bandwidth refers to the measure of maximum data that can be transferred in a specified time, usually in seconds. Unlike other website platforms, Godaddy will not limit the amount of data you send to and from your customers.
Quick Setup
If you need a website made in under a day - Godaddy is for you. While they may not have as many customizable template choices as Wix, you’re able to set up and launch a website in as little as just a few hours.
Cons of Using Godaddy
Subpar support
Slow speeds
Lots of upsells
Creative freedom is limited
Subpar Support
Godaddy customer support is notorious for being complicated, unclear, and hard to reach. If you’re new to the web design game and will a little bit of extra help and assistance, Godaddy might not be the best option for you.
Slow Speeds
As we mentioned earlier, loading speeds is one of the most important factors to some audiences. A slow loading time can decrease conversions, increase bounce rates, and cost you thousands of dollars in revenue each year. Because Godaddy allows their customer's unlimited bandwidth, this sometimes can cause slower loading times than other website platforms.
Lots of Upsells
Godaddy has become rather infamous for upselling. The reason for offering so many upsells is to raise the final price that you’re going to pay, as the basic plan prices are much lower than other platforms. These upsells include things such as SSL certificates, backups, and essential security features.
Creative Freedom Is Limited
Godaddy doesn’t have nearly the amount of templates or drag-and-drop options that Wix has. In fact, one of the biggest cons amongst web designers is the fact that it’s hard to customize a Godaddy website. If you’re looking for a unique and high-end-looking website that’ll impress your audience, choose Wix.
Wix vs Godaddy Overview
Wix is the more all-around. It gives you more imaginative control, more features, and a better customer support experience. GoDaddy, however, is a much faster solution. It takes care of a lot of the legwork for you, meaning you can get a site live in just a few hours.
If you’re not a person who needs a lot of assistance with setup, who knows about SEO and where to optimize your website, and need a website cheap and fast - Choose Godaddy.
If you’re looking for amazing support, tons of customizable templates and designs, and a better chance at ranking and driving organic traffic to your website - Choose Wix.
Key Takeaways
Building a website is hard, no matter which platform you choose! Regardless of if you need it in a few hours, or can wait a few weeks, there are many factors to take into consideration to make sure you’re getting the best features for your specific needs.
We personally build our customer websites on Wix due to the reliability of their support and the amount of features and elements we can include in our builds. The fact that their site speed is often faster than those built on WordPress, Godaddy, or Squarespace, Wix just makes sense for us!
If you’re looking for a trusted website builder for your next project, give us a call. We offer free web design calls to figure out the best plan for your needs and can offer other add-ons such as SEO and Graphic Design to help take your online presence to the next level.
Kellyann Doyle is a Content Marketing Writer at Zoek, an SEO, Web Design, and Digital Marketing Agency that assists small and medium-sized businesses with their online footprint. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in 2013 from the University of Houston with a Major in Communications and a Minor in Marketing and has been working in the Digital Marketing world ever since. When not working, you can find Kellyann trying new recipes, enjoying a good nap, or watching Friends for the 500th time.