WIX websites have had a poor reputation for SEO optimisation. However, if you have already built your website using this platform, don't despair! It's possible to optimise SEO for a WIX website.
As a certified SEO copywriter, I have written copy for many websites - both in my previous marketing leadership roles as well as through my business. I have used many website CMS (content management system) platforms to build websites, and for sheer ease of use, drag-and-drop design and pleasure of building something you can immediately see, WIX definitely has an enormous advantage over others, such as WordPress.
However, WIX has been dogged by a poor reputation for effective SEO. Having just finished re-launching a website for a client, Cycle Tours NSW, I can put some of those rumours to rest.
As a certified SEO copywriter, I have written copy for many websites - both in my previous marketing leadership roles as well as through my business. I have used many website CMS (content management system) platforms to build websites, and for sheer ease of use, drag-and-drop design and pleasure of building something you can immediately see, WIX definitely has an enormous advantage over others, such as WordPress.
However, WIX has been dogged by a poor reputation for effective SEO. Having just finished re-launching a website for a client, Cycle Tours NSW, I can put some of those rumours to rest.
Does WIX still deserve a poor SEO reputation?
According to a blog by Josep on Website Tool Tester, WIX got its reputation some years ago, when it was building on Flash (a technology platform by Adobe that supposedly will be killed by 2020). Most browsers don't like Flash, and Google's algorithm doesn't look favourably on it either.
There were other technical issues, such as:
However, all these issues have been fixed since 2016.
For some websites, such as ecommerce sites (those selling goods and services through a product store) should consider looking at other platforms, as this is where WIX does fall short, However, for most it will be fit for purpose 90% of the time.
Not SEO-related, but worth mentioning, is that WIX has also fixed a problem with linking Google Analytics and Google TagManager accounts - this is now embedded into the platform, rather than having to add HTML into the header or footer of every page. Much simpler, and makes tracking your results far easier.
There were other technical issues, such as:
- Not having good URL structure which would add strange characters
- Not allowing website designers to provide alternative text for images (called alt text) - this text allows the Google algorithm to understand the context of images, and improves your changes at ranking higher for SEO visibility
- Poor optimisation of blog content such as meta descriptions and editable URLs for each blog post - the single most important SEO ranking tool as website owners' disposal!
However, all these issues have been fixed since 2016.
For some websites, such as ecommerce sites (those selling goods and services through a product store) should consider looking at other platforms, as this is where WIX does fall short, However, for most it will be fit for purpose 90% of the time.
Not SEO-related, but worth mentioning, is that WIX has also fixed a problem with linking Google Analytics and Google TagManager accounts - this is now embedded into the platform, rather than having to add HTML into the header or footer of every page. Much simpler, and makes tracking your results far easier.
10 Tips to optimise SEO for your WIX website
So now that we have dispensed of the reputation issues, how can you make sure you optimise SEO for your WIX website?
If you follow these steps, you will cover all your bases. If you have trouble with the technicalities, or simply are unsure and would like to engage a consultant to be confident it's all tickety-boo, get in touch, I'd love to help!
1. Make sure you use Wix SEO Wiz
WIX has made it super simple to ensure you tick all the right SEO boxes. it will help you spot areas you might have missed during manual optimisation and routine updates. I even found I missed a small detail here and there - so it's definitely helpful even to the professionals!
You can also use the tool to brainstorm and improve your keyword selection, although I'd also recommend going with third party options that are specialised in keyword selection, such as SMERush, Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool or Ahrefs.
2. Select a description page title - this is shown on search engine results pages and should also feature your keyword or keyword phrase.
3. Fill out your page's meta description - this provides the little snippet overview you see when you get results for your keyword search. If you don't customise this, the WIX platform will simply select the first paragraph of your body text, and will truncate after 160 characters. While it may not directly influence your SEO ranking, it does help engage people making a decision on whether your website is relevant to their search.
4. Edit your page URL - again, making sure your keyword or phrase features at the beginning of the page URL will help SEO ranking.
5. Use the right heading structure on your pages - Google's algorithm punishes copy that looks dense and unstructured, and rewards copy that is structured and easily readable. Keep your content on each page well organised by using the heading structures available (H1, H2, etc)
6. Images - this almost deserves its own blog post, but for the sake of completeness, we'll include the major "gotchas".
a) Make sure you compress your images before uploading. Wix free platform doesn't have an image resizer, so it's imperative to make sure you don't have massive images that affect your page loading times.
b) Name your images property - use this opportunity to include your keyword phrase again on all images on each page. Try not to have spaces for file names - use dashes or hyphens between words.
c) Use your keyword phrase in all alt descriptions (alternative descriptions) and make sure you give meaningful descriptions.
d) Provide captions and descriptions for galleries - this is another opportunity to use your keyword phrase and alternatives.
7. Use 301 redirects if you rename any pages - creating redirects avoids any broken links and also makes sure you keep your SEO rankings from the old page to the new one.
8. Make it mobile friendly - WIX now has a mobile editor to ensure your beautiful website can be easily read and actioned in mobile formats. Note, this is only for smartphones so far, tablet design is yet to come.
9. Make it Google-Friendly - there are a number of things you can do to make your website more visible to Google:
a) Submit a sitemap via Google's Search Console
b) Submit your website to GoogleMyBusiness
c) Add Google Analytics to measure your results over time, get to know your audience better and improve your content
10. Get backlinks - the key to ranking higher is to reach out to high authority websites that will link back to your website. It must be relevant and the more highly ranked the website who links to yours, the better your SEO ranking will be.
I hope you found this article useful - good luck and happy SEO ranking!
Natash
If you follow these steps, you will cover all your bases. If you have trouble with the technicalities, or simply are unsure and would like to engage a consultant to be confident it's all tickety-boo, get in touch, I'd love to help!
1. Make sure you use Wix SEO Wiz
WIX has made it super simple to ensure you tick all the right SEO boxes. it will help you spot areas you might have missed during manual optimisation and routine updates. I even found I missed a small detail here and there - so it's definitely helpful even to the professionals!
You can also use the tool to brainstorm and improve your keyword selection, although I'd also recommend going with third party options that are specialised in keyword selection, such as SMERush, Google Adwords Keyword Research Tool or Ahrefs.
2. Select a description page title - this is shown on search engine results pages and should also feature your keyword or keyword phrase.
3. Fill out your page's meta description - this provides the little snippet overview you see when you get results for your keyword search. If you don't customise this, the WIX platform will simply select the first paragraph of your body text, and will truncate after 160 characters. While it may not directly influence your SEO ranking, it does help engage people making a decision on whether your website is relevant to their search.
4. Edit your page URL - again, making sure your keyword or phrase features at the beginning of the page URL will help SEO ranking.
5. Use the right heading structure on your pages - Google's algorithm punishes copy that looks dense and unstructured, and rewards copy that is structured and easily readable. Keep your content on each page well organised by using the heading structures available (H1, H2, etc)
6. Images - this almost deserves its own blog post, but for the sake of completeness, we'll include the major "gotchas".
a) Make sure you compress your images before uploading. Wix free platform doesn't have an image resizer, so it's imperative to make sure you don't have massive images that affect your page loading times.
b) Name your images property - use this opportunity to include your keyword phrase again on all images on each page. Try not to have spaces for file names - use dashes or hyphens between words.
c) Use your keyword phrase in all alt descriptions (alternative descriptions) and make sure you give meaningful descriptions.
d) Provide captions and descriptions for galleries - this is another opportunity to use your keyword phrase and alternatives.
7. Use 301 redirects if you rename any pages - creating redirects avoids any broken links and also makes sure you keep your SEO rankings from the old page to the new one.
8. Make it mobile friendly - WIX now has a mobile editor to ensure your beautiful website can be easily read and actioned in mobile formats. Note, this is only for smartphones so far, tablet design is yet to come.
9. Make it Google-Friendly - there are a number of things you can do to make your website more visible to Google:
a) Submit a sitemap via Google's Search Console
b) Submit your website to GoogleMyBusiness
c) Add Google Analytics to measure your results over time, get to know your audience better and improve your content
10. Get backlinks - the key to ranking higher is to reach out to high authority websites that will link back to your website. It must be relevant and the more highly ranked the website who links to yours, the better your SEO ranking will be.
I hope you found this article useful - good luck and happy SEO ranking!
Natash