Wix Review – Create Stunning Flash Sites as if You where a Professional Designer

Today, it seems that everyone has a website, including businesses, individuals and even babies! Due to the high demand of people wanting to create their own websites, there has been a spike in the number of companies that offer free website building tools. One of the newer companies to offer users a “free” website builder” is Wix.com. After attempting to build a website on Wix, this is what I have gathered about the site and its website building program.

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Wix Review of main features

Wix’ “Claim to Fame”

Wix describes its website building tool as something that allows users to “create a free Flash website” within a matter of minutes. While this is technically true, it takes a little more than dragging and dropping to create an effective website. The idea of creating a free website, with the trendiest Flash features, grabbed my attention. On the other hand, after a few days of trying to learn the “drag and drop” editor, I still don’t have the website I envisioned. I would agree though that it is powerful and I will get there.

User-Friendliness

When using one of the Wix.com templates to build a website, you literally can click on any element within the page and a drop-down menu, with multiple options, appears. There are thousands of full-customizable templates that users can choose from. The menu options are very self-explanatory if you know what you want to do. For example, if you want to replace a picture within a template with your own picture, then you just click on the existing picture and choose the “Change Photo” option. You will then be directed to find and upload the picture you want from the files on your computer.

With this being said, the simplest tasks are easy to do without any knowledge of website building or programming languages. However, when you attempt to build a Wix website from scratch (not using a template) you must know what features are necessary when creating a website, what those features are referred to as and how to manipulate the program to achieve the desired results. I have found that this is difficult, even for a person that builds and manages a variety of blogs.

Once you have completed your design process the site can be published with a click on the Publish button.

Quality of Design

This is definitely one of the strongest points of Wix. The builder offers a ton of free design elements to its users, from unique backgrounds to interactive slideshows, which have the ability to make your own website stand out. The fact that a “drag and drop” website editor can incorporate custom Flash features into your website is amazing. When first looking at the Wix.com website builder, I figured that there were only a few Flash features that users are able to choose from. I was impressed with the wide variety of interactive elements that can be put into your website.

Variety of Templates

The variety of templates that Wix.com offers is actually overwhelming, in a good way. There are templates that have been created for every type of website imaginable, from artist portfolios to eCommerce-ready sites. You can tell that these templates were created by true web designers.

Due to not knowing what exactly I was looking for in a website, the huge library of templates made me even more uncertain about how I wanted my website to look. Despite my indecisiveness, Wix.com has, by far, the most extensive selection of high-quality templates that I have seen among website building companies.

Affordability

When it comes to price, Wix takes the cake. Users can create their own website for free with the Wix tool package. All you have to do is create a user account, which takes about 30 seconds. Wix.com also offers “premium” accounts that come with a monthly or yearly subscription. These premium sites allow you to choose your own domain (free of the domain.wix.com suffix), incorporate ecommerce features on your site and remove all Wix.com advertisements from your site. Premium account packages offer different features and range from $4.08 to $16.17 per month. Obviously, the more you pay- the more you get.

In conclusion, it seems that the Wix.com website builder is an extremely effective tool in building professional looking websites. It seems a free Wix website is best for creative types wishing to build a personal portfolio, or small businesses/organizations looking for a way to promote themselves. It doesn’t seem like the website building tool and support offered would be able to handle sites like a large, online store with hundreds of pages. But for the typical online user with little to no experience in coding, Wix offers a ton of value.

Examples of websites running on Wix.com

This company is selling Magnesium Sulphate (EPSOM SALT) used as a addition to your bath water to add relaxation and relieve fatigued muscles. A free Wix solution looks great, but I would go for a solution with my own domain.

When dealing with monkeys made out of socks, you can’t afford taking yourselves too seriously. This beautiful, fun, and playful website uses circus motives, showcasing the variety of stylish monkeys and their maker, who proudly call herself “crazy munky lady”. Check out her munky of the day’s sports munkys extrordinaire!

Good example that proves how intelligent design decisions can make all the difference. A golden fish is a symbol that relates to fairytales and childhood stories. The decision to make it a portal to this illustrator’s website is fascinating. The clean “sketchbook” background emphasis it even more.

This photography website invites the visitor to a world of unabashed creativity and personal expression. notice the homepage and how it provides a warm welcome, with a colorful mixed-media drawing set as the background.

Visitors can learn all about this art director on the neatly arranged pages of his website. Everything is presented clearly, as the artist was able to combine his innovative love of design with an appreciation for function and usability.