[SaaS Review] How to Use Wix for Early Startups
For early start-ups, resources are always scarce. So, in order to focus design or development resources on the product, it is often efficient to use “no-code tools” other than the product. Because products change frequently, it is recommended to make product guides and homepages as light as possible in order to keep up with continuous changes. The reason why our team implemented Wix, a no-code tool, instead of hard-coding, is to avoid spending development resources. Our team has not been able to compare various tools because our team has not made a website professionally or much, but as a Wix user, I would like to leave an honest website creation and management experience.
[index] 1. How to make a website with Wix 2. How Deep BlueDot team made a website using Wix 3. How to operate and manage a website with Wix 4. Wix Plan
1. How to make a website with Wix
There are two main ways to create a website with Wix.
After making some initial settings on what kind of website you want to create, 1) select a template, or 2) select a custom-recommended design to create a basic website design.
When you do the initial setup, you will be asked what kind of website you are creating. The recommended design varies depending on the industry or shape.
You can also select necessary functions such as chatting, event registration, blogging, and input form and add them to the initial settings of the homepage.
With the initial setup, you choose the industry, service name, and required features, then you have to choose how you want to create the design.
1) Begin with a template
There are hundreds of template libraries for different industries, such as consulting, services, tech, travel, etc., so you just have to pick one you like.
Now, if you publish after editing additional elements in editor mode, you are done.
2) Get a custom-built site
Choose one of six themes. The design is automatically generated and displayed according to the selected theme.
Choose one of the three recommended designs.
Finally, select the pages you need to add them.
Now, if you publish after editing additional elements in editor mode, you are done.
[Editor Mode]
In editor mode, you can edit all elements, including fonts, colors, other elements, and pages.
Fonts can be uploaded as TTF, WOFF, and WOFF2 in addition to the basic font, and our team used the Inter font as shown in the image above.
Colors such as text and background can also be customized with hex values, so we added #2D50F9, which our team uses as a point color, and worked according to the brand color.
2. How Deep BlueDot team made a website using Wix
Meanwhile, our Deep BlueDot team created a website using Wix in a slightly different way. Rather than the existing template or Wix's recommended design, I first started designing with Figma, and then built it with Wix.
First, I removed all the Wix templates, made them scratch, and started working. I made it in such a way that I add necessary elements on a blank screen.
If you use the Toolbar in Tools, you can set the Size (px) Width, Height, and Position X, Y coordinates in units of pixels for each element, enabling fine design settings. By utilizing these editor functions, we were able to implement the Figma design pixel perfect.
[About Page Width of Wix Editor] Wix's Page Width is fixed at 980px, so it's good to design accordingly. The area inside 980px is exposed as vital content in a responsive manner according to the user's environment, but the area outside 980px may be cut off if the screen size is small.
3. How to operate and manage a website with Wix
Wix has various add-ons, so you can use necessary functions such as payment, marketing, chatting, and blog operation by attaching them to the homepage. Just select the app you need from the App Market and add it.
By default, it provides a traffic overview because it provides simple analytics and reporting functions. *The above image example is arbitrarily set data.
Also, if you go to Custom Code in Settings, you can put code snippets of analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Google Tag Manager, Mix Panel, and services such as Intercom and Channel Talk in the header or body.
It is attractive that the blog is also managed with SEO tools, or it is easy to manage as a multilingual blog by publishing it in different languages. When creating a website with Wix, despite the experience of “slow speed”, it provides such a vast number of functions, so there is no shortage of one-tool use.
As Wix is ranked at the top in the Website Builder area at G2, I have experienced that it is a web builder recognized in the industry and a tool worthy of its reputation.
However, from the point of view of creating a website quickly, there are tools such as Softr, which add blocks to make the website lighter and faster. If your goal is to make a quick MVP, other tools might be better.
4. Wix Plan
Lastly, let's see what the Wix's plan is. Our team is paying $12.75/month for the Combo plan among the Wix Premium Plans, so it is well used at a fairly low price.
In the free version, Wix ads are attached and you cannot connect to the desired domain. Therefore, it seems difficult to run a website with the free version. The free version is only available for testing, and the next cheapest plan is a case where only a domain is connected.
Paid plans allow you to pay monthly, yearly, or bi-yearly, and monthly payments are the most expensive at $12 a month.
Wrap-up
Wix may not be the best tool for quick MVP production. However, since it provides a vast design library and various functions, it is a no-code tool that allows you to quickly and easily create a website of the desired shape. Our team used Wix to make up for the lack of development resources in early startups, and now, as we mainly use blog and analytics functions, we feel that there is not much lacking.