Wix has come a long way as a platform since it was first released in 2006, including its search engine optimization (SEO) capabilities.
After a lot of dedicated work, Wix’s SEO performance has surpassed expectations. When we reviewed it a few years ago, it lacked user-friendly SEO tools, ran on Flash, and had an unoptimized URL structure that required search engine clarification.
But what a difference a few years and a dedication to improvement made! Wix has since transformed itself into an SEO powerhouse. Let’s take a look at the strides Wix has made. Features discussed here are relevant as of April 2024.
Wix addressed the original SEO issues and made more improvements to keep up with changes, making the Wix platform a great solution for website owners and, in many cases, a strong contender against WordPress.
An Overview of Wix
Wix was founded in 2006 by Avishai Abrahami, Nadav Abrahami, and Giora Kaplan after discovering how difficult and time-consuming it was to build a website. To help others create websites easier, they created a platform to help business owners design without needing coding skills.
In 2007, Wix entered open beta and was based on Adobe Flash. While Flash wasn’t phased out entirely until 2020, Wix made other improvements quickly. By 2012, Wix switched to a new HTML5 builder and then expanded into third-party apps and e-commerce.
The changes were popular and succeeded in making Wix an accessible, easy-to-use website builder. However, it still lacked basic SEO tools to help with digital marketing, and it had less flexibility than platforms like WordPress, leading to complaints.
Over time, Wix has continually improved, including significant SEO capability overhauls in 2016 and 2021.
Though the first batch of changes still had some marked issues, Wix continued making adjustments to ensure anyone could successfully use Wix for SEO.
Wix recently implemented an SEO advisory board and instituted major SEO-friendly changes. The advisory board includes industry professionals like Loren Baker, the founder of Search Engine Journal, Tasha Antwi, search director at BrightonSEO, and Mordy Oberstein, the head of SEO Branding at Wix. Oberstein provided a testimonial for Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style as well:
The advisory board put several improvements into place, including:
- Increasing the ratio of Wix websites in the Google CrUX report with good scores for all three Core Web Vitals 10 times over.
- Improving multilingual support.
- Enhancing accessibility for screen readers and increasing compliance with WCAG 2.0.
- Adding the ability to add metadata like meta descriptions and ALT tags.
- Implementing multiple SEO tools and a setup checklist that make it easy to identify SEO issues.
Thanks to these efforts, Wix has become a well-rounded platform and a great choice for individuals and small businesses who want to rank higher in search results.
Is Wix Good for SEO?
Wix’s dedication to improving SEO has paid off, and it is now a strong choice that helps Wix users rank in the SERPs in conjunction with a solid planned SEO strategy.
Since considerably speeding up its code base, making it more accessible, and adding new features, Wix for SEO is a solid choice.
Furthermore, Wix implemented several new tools to help users integrate websites with social media and platforms like Google Business Profiles (GBP).
These days, Wix is an absolute SEO powerhouse.
Wix SEO Review: How Wix SEO Has Improved
Over the years, Wix has had plenty of SEO issues that led to some pretty bad Wix SEO reviews. Even after they dropped Flash and switched to an HTML5 builder, there were still issues like poor accessibility, little to no support for multilingual websites, and problematic URL structure.
Moving forward, Wix has spent several years focused on improving SEO tools to remedy those issues. Let’s review the platform’s old SEO issues and how they were fixed to make Wix good for SEO.
Page Speed Improvements
Wix was long considered the slowest of all popular website builders and CMSes. Before Wix improved its page speed, enhanced media delivery, and optimized for the latest algorithm updates like Core Web Vitals, only 8% of Wix websites loaded quickly, according to Search Engine Journal, compared to 31% of WordPress sites.
Now, Wix loads faster than even WordPress, Weebly, and Squarespace.
Don’t take our word for it; you can see the data for yourself. Google’s Core Web Vitals are a key metric to rank user experience, especially page speed.
Compared to other website builders and content management systems (CMS), Wix now ranks #1 for mobile speed and second for desktop speed.
Wix has come a long way in the past few years.
Cleaner code and better caching make up part of the equation. And in response to the internet’s demand for all the cat photos, Wix addressed the need for more and faster image loading.
Wix now automatically optimizes images up to 25MB and converts them to WebP, which cuts out a primary cause of slow-loading websites. So, if your homepage is full of images, it can still load faster than your cat chases the laser pointer.
If you’re curious about all the details, check out the Wix webinar explaining how they climbed to the top of Core Web Vitals.
Accessibility and Metadata
Past accessibility problems made it difficult for those using assistive technology to browse websites built with Wix and also caused issues like being unable to set metadata for your blog posts and pages.
Before Wix improved its accessibility, you couldn’t create image ALT tags or add metadata, such as meta titles or meta descriptions for blog posts. That resulted in lower rankings in relevant search engine result pages (SERPs) and made articles bland for those using readers as they had no context for the media on the page, instead relying on ALT tag functions for image descriptions.
Wix now complies with WCAG 2.0, and you can make your website accessible to screen readers by using ALT text. Better accessibility standards also mean better SEO and the ability for bots to index your website.
Wix also released the accessibility wizard, which takes the guesswork out of SEO and walks you through getting your website up to par.
Crawlability and Indexability
Poor crawlability and indexing also impacted Wix’s SEO. Wix had its biggest issues when it ran on Flash, but problems remained even after Flash was phased out.
For example:
- You couldn’t edit your robots.txt or customize the SEO settings to make adjustments to the XML sitemap, including hiding pages you don’t want to be indexed.
- You could only use H1-H3 on blog posts and H1-H6 on pages, granting limited control over your webpage’s structure.
- Unnecessary characters like “%” were added to the URL structure, which impacted SEO and could lower SERPs.
Now, these issues are fixed, and Wix no longer plays hide and seek from Google’s bots. Users can edit robots.txt, use the complete list of headers, and change the URL structure at will.
Improved Multilingual Support
Prior to the update, Wix needed more multilingual support. Now, it offers URL structure customization for multilingual sites, so search engines know what a translated version of existing content is.
Before those changes, a website with content in multiple languages wouldn’t be served adequately to native speakers via the SERPs, and some search engines would punish translated versions of pages as “duplicate content.”
Wix Multilingual eliminated those issues and now supports over 180 languages plus auto-translation for your website.
Wix SEO Tools and Features
Now that you’ve seen the issues Wix had in the past and how it overcame them, let’s look at Wix’s SEO tools, including recently introduced SEO features.
On-Page SEO
Wix cleaned up their back-end SEO with regard to overall crawlability and code performance, plus they optimized how the page builder works behind the scenes and made on-page SEO improvements as well.
On-page SEO means optimizing your website’s content to draw in organic traffic and increase search ranking.
This includes changing visible aspects like the editor used for content writing, breadcrumbs, headings, and URL structure. It also consists of internal elements like ALT tags and other metadata.
Here are a few examples of how you can use Wix for SEO to gain control over on-page optimization.
- Metadata – Wix allows you to add meta tags, including title tags and meta descriptions. With these, you can change how your webpages appear in search engines.
- ALT tags – You can add ALT text to any image. This describes an image to screen readers and presents an opportunity to use your target keyword to help rank in Google Image Search.
- Google Analytics integration – Wix integrates with Google Analytics 4. While this doesn’t directly affect SEO, it’s essential for small business owners when tracking and improving poorly ranking parts of a website.
- Google Search Console integration – Wix integrates with Google Search Console so you can verify domain ownership and set up a Knowledge Panel by inserting the appropriate metadata onto your website. This removes the guesswork for business owners in some of the more complex parts of website setup, maintenance, and tracking.
- Rich results and structured data markup – If you’ve seen star ratings, recipe overviews, image sliders, or featured snippets in Google, you’ve seen the coveted rich results. Wix helps you add structured data markup to your pages so they have a chance of ranking as a rich result.
- H1-H6 headings – Wix gives you access to all six blog post and page subheadings. Properly structuring your page helps search engines parse its content.
- Breadcrumbs – Breadcrumb navigation displays a user’s current location on the website within a hierarchy, for instance, “Home > Store > Jewelry > Necklaces.” Note that it’s not currently available to Editor X users, the drag-and-drop editor targeted toward freelancers and agencies that will soon transition to Wix Studio, but this could change soon.
- URL structure – Wix lets you easily change URL structure across different page types. However, Wix’s default URL structure is search-engine-friendly.
- Canonical tags – If your website has duplicate content across different links, you can set up canonical tags to consolidate duplicate pages. Be careful, as this can damage your SEO if incorrectly used.
Technical SEO
Wix’s front-end SEO looks great, but the technical SEO functions are even better. Technical SEO is a type of on-page SEO that focuses on improving the technical aspects of your website, mainly under-the-hood adjustments.
This is a step above typical SEO, so it’s not for total beginners. But with the technical know-how to make the right changes, you can squeeze a lot more SEO power out of your website.
- SSL encryption – SSL encryption lets you handle sensitive customer data more safely when running an online store.
- Noindex tags – You can add a noindex tag to pages you don’t want crawled. This prevents test pages and other non-public pages from being crawled by search engines and damaging your SEO.
- XML sitemap – Wix automatically creates an XML sitemap and updates it after you make any changes to SEO settings. Images are also automatically added to the sitemap so that they can rank in Google Images.
- 301 redirects – When you permanently move a page or even a domain, it’s necessary to use a 301 redirect. This will preserve your SEO and domain authority. Wix automatically creates a 301 redirect when you update your page slug (though this can be turned off).
- Mobile responsiveness – As people continue to ditch their desktops in favor of handheld devices, mobile responsiveness remains one of the most important functions of your website. It’s the most popular way people will access it, after all. Wix templates are responsive, and you can edit your website’s appearance for your website’s mobile version.
- Image optimization – Wix automatically compresses images without sacrificing quality and implements lazy loading.
- Page speed – As you’re using a page builder, Wix delivers a clean, solid code back end. It also uses page caching via a CDN to keep things smooth.
Local SEO
Local SEO is the process of increasing visibility in your local area. While this primarily applies to businesses with a physical presence, it can also affect bloggers and e-commerce stores.
- Automatic Local Business Markup – For stores with a physical location, Wix helps you by creating Local Business Markup to give you a chance to appear in rich results. It displays a Knowledge Panel with business hours, reviews, and directions.
- Google Business Profile – Wix partnered with Google to offer easy GBP integration.
- Maps and location data – Setting up maps and location data helps you localize your website and improve SEO for nearby visitors.
SEO Toolkit
Over the past few years, Wix has released many SEO toolkits for various tasks. From initial set-up to in-depth examination, each one has a unique purpose.
- SEO Wiz – Best for beginners, the SEO Wiz walks you step by step through setting up your SEO, including setting up your Google Business Profile.
- SEO Assistant – A tool that flags issues on your webpages and offers recommendations for content optimization.
- SEO Dashboard – This dashboard integrates with Google Search Console to track your website performance and gives you access to all of Wix’s SEO tools in one place.
- Website Inspection – Scans all of your pages for issues that impact SEO, such as crawling indexing statuses or monitoring mobile performance.
- Edit by Page – Wix’s new edit-by-page feature lets you handle SEO from one dashboard rather than page-by-page.
- Semrush integration – Wix partnered with Semrush to help you conduct better keyword research for your content.
How to Make the Most of Wix SEO
Before we complete this Wix SEO review, let’s go over how to get the most out of Wix’s new SEO features.
Use Wix’s Built-in SEO Tools
Wix has released a powerful suite of tools that make it easy to meet SEO standards, so you should definitely make use of them to optimize your website.
Start with the SEO Wiz when you first set up your website, and it will walk you through the basics.
From there, use the SEO Assistant and Edit by Page features to optimize individual pages, as well as the SEO Dashboard and Site Inspection for an overview of sitewide issues.
Then, polish your content using the Semrush integration to help fill in any coverage gaps.
Leverage Local SEO
If you have a physical store, set up Local Business Markup, location data, and manage customer reviews on GBP.
This helps people in your area find your business easily in search engine result maps. Wix isn’t just for e-commerce; it can help your physical business flourish.
Make It Accessible
While accessibility doesn’t directly impact SEO as it’s difficult to quantify, many aspects of accessibility do influence SEO. Plus, it creates a better user experience, and it’s the right thing to do.
Follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines to ensure all users can use your website. For example, adding alt text and using clean, screen-reader-friendly code help ensure accessibility.
Slow websites bog down experiences for humans and robots. Core Web Vitals measure page speed and UX and impact SEO. So keeping your codebase clean and WCAG-compliant and your website fast are good ways to maximize your SEO potential.
Wix even has an Accessibility Checklist to help you get started.
Set Up a Link-Building Strategy
A static website often isn’t enough these days. You need to attract organic links by creating high-quality, relevant content.
Set up a Wix blog and populate it with great optimized content that matches your area of expertise. Using relevant keywords and topics will naturally lead people to your website and help you generate backlinks.
Get Found by Using Wix for SEO
Despite its previous reputation for less-than-stellar SEO, Wix has grown into an excellent choice for individuals, small businesses, and other website owners.
Wix addressed previous issues with limited SEO options and poor page speed, leading to dramatic SEO function improvements and climbing to the top in Core Web Vitals.
Wix also added a suite of SEO tools to streamline setting up SEO and identifying common issues, including the SEO Wiz and SEO Assistant.
After a lot of hard work, Wix has completely turned itself around, and using Wix for SEO has become a top-tier option. However, successful SEO takes work and a strong content strategy as well.
Need help creating a successful content strategy? Check out The Blogsmith’s SEO Content Strategy services. You’re certain to find the qualified assistance you need to create better content. And paired with Wix? A perfect match.
