Whatever your business or industry, you definitely need a website to enhance your online presence. This process used to be hard, consuming much time, money, and efforts. Nowadays, you can establish a professional website, reflecting your identity and feel, in just a few hours. For example, Wix is distinguished in the market for its ease of use, high customization, and great templates. We’ve prepared a step-by-step guide to take you throughout the entire process until you conduct a respectable website. Shall we start?!

Sign up and create a Wix account

Wix has made it easy to build your website with just a few clicks, adding your email address and password. Or, you can just sign up using your Facebook or Google account. You will receive a verification email, click “Confirm email now,” and now you have an account. From the Wix homepage, click “Get Started” and then, answer a few questions to start the process. Now, you have access to Wix’s free plan, with a free hosting plan and a bit lengthy domain.

Let’s start your website. Firstly, you have to answer these questions:

• Who are you creating a website for?
• What type of website are you going to build?
• What is your level of expertise on building a website?

Regarding the type of website, choose the most relevant one from the following:

• Business
• Designer
• Blog
• Online Store
• Restaurants and Food
• Beauty and Wellness
• Photography
• Fitness
• Portfolio & CV
• Music
• Events
• Other

Wix gives you the opportunity to choose how to create your website; using Wix ADI or Wix Editor. Generally, if you don’t have the experience or time to create your website step-by-step, then ADI is your perfect choice. However, if you want to take your time to customize your website with specific features and themes, pick the Editor.

If you’re a bit confused, don’t worry – we’ve conducted an informative comparison to help you decide.

Wix Editor

Wix Editor helps you establish a well-crafted website in just a few hours, having control over the design elements. You can easily customize your website, leveraging the advanced features and services. It is perfect for:

• Online stores
• Bloggers
• Restaurants
• Photographers

As for the ADI, you get a professional website in a few minutes, with almost no effort at all. Just provide the website with some basic information and Wix will do the hard work. With ADI, you control the overall theme of the website, with high-quality design and layout. However, most of the advanced features are absent, in addition to limited access to Wix Apps. Unlike Wix Editor, you can’t use the drag and drop feature. The good thing is; you can build a catchy website, saving much time and efforts, but with some restrictions. ADI is perfect for:

• Busy business owners
• Users with no technology experience
• Low expertise in building websites

Whether you choose the Editor or ADI, you will have a well-crafted website easily. If you can’t decide which suits you the most, we are here to help. We will take you through the important steps, using both methods before you make your decision. Let’s start with the Wix Editor, shall we?!

Start your website using Wix Editor:

Choose a template

Once you choose the type of your website, Wix will provide you with relevant templates to choose what suits you. With more than 500 professional templates, you will definitely find the ideal match. Shift your focus upon the theme, font, and palette colour, making sure it matches your brand identity. You can always use the search bar to find whatever you want. In just a few minutes, you will be rewarded with a striking website. If you want to view the templates on a mobile screen, just click the smartphone icon and you’re ready to go.

From Wix Editor, click “Choose a Template” You can easily filter the templates using category and then, click “View” to view a demo for the website. When you make your decision, click “Edit,” and don’t worry, you can change some features, along with the images or texts. Some of the popular categories are:

• Advertising
• Consulting coaching
• Finance
• Law
• Fashion
• Cars
• Real estate
• Travel blog
• Graphic design portfolio

If you want to build your template from scratch, there are blank templates to start. However, the pre-designed templates are much better and more useful.

To choose the right template for your business, you must identify a few things:

• What is the purpose of your website?
• What layout or theme will match your vision?
• What features exactly do you need on your website?

Customize your website using Wix Editor:

Once you’ve chosen your template, you can easily edit and change to make it your own. You must know that after choosing your template, you can’t change it again. However, Wix Editor will spice up your template whenever you need to change something. From the left menu, add all the features you want to the template, using drag and drop functionality.

Start with the home page, adding all the important information, and change the background if you want. Also, under Add, you can add everything you need, including text boxes, image galleries, slideshows, buttons, and menus. Choose from a diversity of Wix images and videos. Or, you can upload your own media from your computer, Facebook, Instagram account, Google Drive, or Google photos. Wix also offers a Photo Studio to enhance your images and Video Maker to create your videos. Also, you can purchase high-quality stock images and videos from Shutterstock or use the free Unsplash photos. Here are other actions you can take when you customize your template:

• Edit the text
• Change the font
• Resize the images
• Change the background’s size
• Make some changes in the design
• Add some animated effects
• Replace any image or video
• Add or delete pages
• Add call-to-action buttons and link them to different pages
• Add your social accounts’ icons and URL of your pages
• Add lead generation forms
• Add some advanced features, including parallax, scrolling, and hover states
• Add extra strips such as customers’ testimonials
• Add some marketing features such as an online store or a booking system

Once you’ve made all the changes, you can duplicate, copy, rotate, or delete any additions from the right toolbar.

If you add e-commerce features, it may take up some time to set it up, adding some extra information. From the My Store icon, add images, prices, shipping regions, payment process, cart, and thank you pages. Finally, don’t forget the “About us” and “Contact us” pages, in addition to your social media accounts. You can connect your Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter accounts.

From the Homepage, don’t miss these options:

• SEO: Add metadata to each of your pages to rank higher in the search engines.
• Social Share: Add the caption and images that will appear on sharing any page on social media.
• Permissions: You get to choose you can view each of your pages or create restricted content for some members.

Add extra features with CSS and HTML code

Wix Editor gives you the opportunity to add features and elements as much as you want. However, there are certain services or functionalities that can’t be simply added. So, follow the upcoming steps to add custom code to your template.

From the Editor’s left menu, click “Add.”

Click “Embed,” and then drag the custom element into your website.

Click “Choose Source,” select the Server URL, and paste the matching URL. Then, enter a tag name.

Finally, click “Set Attributes.”

If you want to add an HTML frame or an external site, follow the same process. It is really easy!

Add a blog

Keep your audience hooked through relevant blog posts that stir their interest. With Wix, you can craft a professional fully-integrated blogging page in no time. Follow the upcoming steps:

• Click the “pen-shaped” icon to open the Blog Manager.
• Click “Create New Post” to add and publish your blog posts.

You can add some blog apps through the “Add Apps” button but we always recommend Wix blog as it is easy and intuitive. If you want to add some useful features, including Instagram feed, Events, or RSS button, click “Add blog elements.” You can manage your posts easily by selecting My Blog and then, clicking “Manage Posts.”

Use Wix apps

If you want to add some extra services and functionalities to your website, visit the Wix App market place. You get to choose from a wide range of options, offering both free and premium apps. Access the marketplace through the Apps icon and then, browse to find the suitable one for you. Install an application by clicking “Add to Site.” Here are some examples of the famous applications available in the marketplace:

• Wix Events
• Instagram Feed
• Online Store
• Sales Pop
• Wix Bookings
• Social Media Stream
• Visitor Analytics
• Wix Blog

Add an online store

If you want to start an online store, then you’ve come to the right place. Wix can build a professionally-crafted online store, adding powerful e-commerce features. From the “+” icon, click Store. Wix will automatically add all the essential e-commerce features, boosting your sales. You can add product galleries, product widget, shopping cart, Add to Cart button, and more.

Start your website using Wix ADI

1. Answer a few questions

On using the ADI, the first step is to answer a few questions concerning your business. You have to provide accurate information so that Wix ADI can conduct the right website for you. Wix ADI will need the following information:

• Your business/website name
• What is the type of your website?
• What features and functionality do you need?
• What is your preferred design or shape?
• Do you want to import specific texts, images, or any other content?
• Do you want Wix to use your logo colours or create a new colour palette?
• Do you want to link your social media accounts?
• The links of your existing website or any relevant page
• Your logo
• Address, phone number, and fax

Design your website

Design a unique website using the ADI feature, but choose some input first. Remember to pick what suits your brand identity and complements your website’s look and feel. At first, choose a suitable theme from six great options, taking into consideration the colours and fonts. And, don’t worry; you can always change these later on.

Once you’ve picked your theme, Wix ADI will represent three homepage designs to choose from, according to your previous choices. Each design has its own content and visuals. Choose the most relevant one, matching your business the most. Just click “Use this design” and you are ready to go!

Customize your website

Now, you can make any changes you want to enhance your website from changing fonts and colour palettes to adding or replacing content. Besides, you can add pages or sections in pages. You can also edit the texts, change the theme, and use the drag and drop functionality. You get to choose whether you want to show or hide some features such as photo galleries.

From the Wix ADI market, you can start an online store, activate a blog, or add new features using HTML code. If you want to access more advanced features not available on ADI, you can click “Go to Editor.” However, you must know that when you switch back to the ADI, you will lose the edits already done on the editor.

Optimize your website for different devices

Of course, you know that most of your audience will access your website through their mobile phones. That’s why it is important to optimize your website for different devices; desktop and mobile phones. Luckily, Wix is here to help! With Wix, you can easily optimize your web design for mobile phones. Simply, click on the upper mobile icon to switch between desktop view and mobile editing. Always make sure to check the changes you’ve made on both versions and go through the pages.

Choose your domain

Before you publish your website, you need to connect your domain name at first. From your dashboard, click “Connect Domain.”

Your domain name will automatically follow this format:  yourusername.wixsite.com/mysite.

However, you must know that this domain name doesn’t show much credibility and your website won’t rank high in the search engines. If you want to customize a more professional domain name, you may want to consider Wix’s premium plans.

Publish your website

After you complete all the previous steps, preview your website to see if anything needs some improvements. Once you’re done, you are free to publish your website so that your audience can easily access it.

Wix Premium Plans

You can depend completely on Wix free plan. However, if you want to access more advanced services, consider its premium plans and decide which is better for you. Wix’s paid plans start from $11 per month up to $35 per month. Premium plans come with:

• Free domain for one year
• Unlimited bandwidth
• $300 ad vouchers
• 50 GB storage
• Online payments
• You can connect your already customized domain name

Is Wix worth your time?

With free hosting and unlimited customization, Wix can help you build a professional website, even using the free plan only. Wix is fast, easy, reliable, and secure, storing your bank accounts with the highest security standards. It is also affordable, with a free plan and plenty of premium plans that fit every budget. So, yes, Wix is totally worth your time, ensuring a positive end-user experience. Are you ready to start your Wix website?!