Here at IDCO Studio, we try not to play favorites. But when it comes to web design, we’ve decided Wix is the best website platform for interior designers, hands-down. As an agency specializing in creative marketing services, we’ve launched hundreds of websites and have built out our designs on Squarespace, Showit, Shopify and WordPress. While each platform has its benefits, Wix wins out every time. Using Wix, our clients have full control of their sites, aren’t limited to templates, and can run all their invoicing, appointments and bookings through the platform.
Maybe you’ve never heard of Wix, or you feel uneasy about leaving your current set-up, but we’re ready to convince you otherwise. We’re outlining 10 reasons why Wix is the best website platform for interior designers, plus sharing insight from a recent client who made the switch.
Photography: Madeline Harper for IDCO Studio
10 Reasons Wix is our Favorite
Website Platform for Interior Designers
1. You aren't limited to a template.
First, we love that Wix never limits you to using a template. Your website can be as custom as you can imagine. With other website platforms, you are often confined to customizing a theme or template. Even in Squarespace, everything has to fit within a grid of squares. Extensive developer experience is required to make custom changes to WordPress themes, and custom CSS is needed to modify Squarespace templates.
In Wix, you have the freedom to start from a customizable Wix template, or from a clean slate. Elements can be easily layered over each other. Animations and hover elements instantly elevate the design above anything Squarespace or Showit offers. If you’re hiring a web designer, you’ll be getting the highest level of custom design possible.
2. No coding required for updates.
Unlike WordPress or Squarespace, you don’t need complicated coding skills to customize your new website design in Wix. Using an entirely visual platform, making edits in Wix is as simple as using Adobe InDesign, Microsoft Publisher or even Microsoft Word. There’s also no coding required to make design or content changes.
This leaves interior designers in full control of their site once it launches. Have a portfolio project you’d like to feature? Simply add it to your gallery page. Has your pricing structure changed? Simply log in and make the change to your services page.
3. Wix runs on HTML 5.
A common misconception about Wix is that it runs on Flash, and won’t perform well in Google. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth! Wix converted to a full HTML editor years ago. Therefore, it performs just as well (more on that later) in Google search engine results as other web platforms.
If you’ve read an article that Wix runs on Flash and won’t rank on Google, it’s outdated, or the author hasn’t done their research.
4. User-friendly feedback capabilities.
As a creative agency for interior designers, providing our clients a fully functioning preview of their website is key. Even better, Wix lets clients provide feedback directly on their site by adding sticky notes to the areas that require changes. Both desktop and mobile versions are visible at the link we provide our clients for review. As we make the changes, we’re able to check off the revision requests while Wix keeps a written record.
Lexi Parker, our Creative Director said, “My clients ALWAYS enjoy the feedback section. It’s easier on them instead of writing a long email for everything they want to address and it keeps clear communication throughout the process.”
5. Extensive SEO guidance.
Wix has developed an incredibly insightful, extremely simple-to-use SEO Wizard. It’s built directly into your Wix website and walks you through the exact steps to optimize your website and rank higher in search engine results. From which photos on your site need alt tags added and what the alt tags should be, the Wix SEO Wizard is the most robust SEO solution available on a web platform.
Our IDCO website templates for interior designers take it a step further with an additional SEO Guide we crafted exclusively for the industry. Paired with the included copywriting guide, we tell you exactly what to say, where. To learn more about our luxury Wix website templates and accompanying resource library, head this way.
6. The blog is beautiful.
Contrary to popular belief, a Wix blog can be as beautiful and unique as a WordPress or Showit blog. You can select from various blog post layouts and even design your own custom sidebar. Wix also allows you to link to blog category pages from anywhere else on the site. With endless customization options and strategic design, your Wix blog can help increase the length of time visitors spend on your site.
7. Wix makes it easy to sell products.
While Wix is the best website platform for interior designers, it isn’t one-size fits all. If you have a large e-commerce company, Shopify is likely your best bet. What we love about Wix Stores is that you can beautifully combine your shop and your services. We’ve found this to be critical for our interior design clients who want both on a single website.
Wix Stores is a fantastic solution for designers looking to add an e-commerce shop. You can customize product options like size, color, materials, while tracking inventory. You can set shipping charges and tax considerations. There is also the benefit of the SEO Wizard for your shop products, to help your store appear in search engine results. The interface is clean, simple to follow and the design is entirely customizable. Our clients have particularly liked it for the multiple payment options via Stripe, Square or PayPal.
When it comes to building out your store, we’ve made this part easy! Just purchase your Wix website template and set up your store. At the studio, select the Auburn template that allows designers to integrate all of the above:
8. The mobile site is customizable.
Unlike Squarespace, you’re in control of what content appears on your website’s mobile view and exactly how it looks. For example, You may not need all 12 images of your home page to appear on mobile. So, simply hide the element and resize them as appropriate. You can resize fonts, change paragraph justifications, and update colors to look most beautiful on your custom Wix website. If you had your eye on one of our website templates for interior designers, rest assured the mobile site is already optimized for you.
9. Hundreds of Apps are built in.
From accordion-style FAQ drop-down menus to custom databases built by your designer, Wix has an extensive library of apps built right into the platform. Ready to finally open an online shop and start selling your curated collection of home goods? You can take payments directly within the site – never having to direct traffic away from your business online. Does your interior design business also have cute AirBnbs you rent out? Wix has an accommodations booking app for that.
Anything you could possibly need, Wix has an app available to solve it. Better yet, if you find you need something beyond what’s offered, your Wix design expert can custom code it right in for you.
10. It's affordable.
Wix is the best website platform for interior designers for so many reasons, but one that can’t be overlooked is the cost-efficiency. Wix is entirely self-contained and their annual cost is under $200 for a standard site. If you have an e-commerce store, the annual fee is slightly higher, but still less than Squarespace, WordPress, Shopify or Showit.
Wix provides you a free domain each year. When you go to “upgrade your site,” Wix includes any domain that’s available ending in .com. If you already own a domain, it’s super simple to connect it to your Wix site.
Most substantially, you will save thousands of dollars a year in retaining design fees. If you’ve ever had a WordPress site, you likely had to pay your web developer a monthly fee to maintain your site or make any requested changes. With Wix, you won’t need a designer on retainer. You’re in full control of your website and can easily make changes as necessary.
TESTIMONIAL FROM AN INTERIOR DESIGNER:
“I cannot say enough about how happy I am that I switched from WordPress to Wix. WordPress has an astounding amount of features and customizations and for many it works beautifully. With WordPress, it was A LOT just to publish a blog post on my own, and if I wanted to change anything else on my site – forget it. I was constantly having to pay my web developer for updates, tweaks, etc. I love now having full control over my own site and not having to rely on someone else (or their schedule) to get things done. Since making the switch, I’ve been able to publish blog posts, update my portfolio, and update my shop pages without training, paying a web developer, or learning web code. I did however read the step-by-step template guide (unique to my custom Wix template) provided by IDCO Studio. This guide walks you through how to update most anything and it’s also comforting to know IDCO is nearby if you need additional support. I also love that Wix provides help with SEO and is more of a one-stop-shop platform. Whereas with WordPress, you have to deal with outside hosting and additional vendors. All of this to say if you’re on the fence about switching to Wix from WordPress, I’m still trying to figure out why I didn’t make the switch sooner!”
-Lauren of Well X Design