Moving from WordPress to Wix: Is it actually the right move?

There is no secret that we love Wix at Web Goddess. We’re Wix Legend Partners and Certified Web Design Experts on the platform so you may be thinking that we would always recommend the Wix and tell every client to abandon WordPress.

But that’s not how we work.

In fact, we were building on WordPress well before Wix and still do, because as much as we love Wix, it’s not the perfect solution for every client. The decision of whether to move to Wix is always a strategic one and really depends on what you are trying to achieve.

And that’s what this blog post is all about!

If you’re considering the switch, here’s our honest breakdown – the pros, the cons, and how to approach it strategically (yes, you’ll see that word a lot!).

First things first…

If you’re thinking of moving a website from WordPress to Wix it’s important to note that it is not a simple “copy and paste” job. There is no export from WordPress and import to Wix option, and that’s actually a good thing.

Why?

Because if your website isn’t working in WordPress, just copying it to Wix is unlikely to fix it. Remember we said you’d see the word strategy a lot… Well, here’s its first outing.

Always start with Strategy

Before even considering a switch, we encourage you to:

Audit your current site - What’s working? What’s not? What’s ranking? What’s ignored? If you don’t measure this first, how will you know if the new site is working better than the old one?

Map your user journeys - Service users, donors, volunteers, customers – who needs what from you website and are they getting that on the current site or not. Knowing this will help you create a strategy and sitemap for the new site.

Redesign the structure – Use any rebuild or platform change to look at the structure of the site and don’t simply replicate a messy sitemap just because it already exists.

Review your tech stack - Forms, CRM, bookings, payments – what do you actually need? So many sites are bloated because they have too many backend functions that no-one ever uses – now is the time to get rid of these.

Plan redirects - This is crucial for SEO. When you decide on a new page structure and remove pages, it’s important to ensure that every existing page URL maps to a destination on the new site.

Skipping this strategy step is how traffic disappears and how companies then wonder why their new website isn’t working, even though it’s meant to be better, right?!

Why businesses consider leaving WordPress

This is a classic “it depends” answer, but at Web Goddess we’ve seen the same frustrations time and time again with WordPress and it usually comes down to three types of issue:

1. Technology issues - plugin chaos and endless updates that no-one told you about, which lead to security issues.
   

2. User issues - “We can’t edit anything without breaking it” is a standard one we hear a lot, because WordPress is not particularly user-friendly, especially if you’re not a tech bod.
   

3. Support issues – if your developer disappeared in 2019 and you can’t access the site, that’s an issue.

Yes, WordPress is powerful and perfect for some businesses, but it needs to be looked after properly. So, if your website feels stressful or impossible to manage internally, that’s not a tech issue. That’s a strategy issue. There’s that word again!

The advantages of moving to Wix

Simplicity

We’re happy to admit that a decade ago, Wix was awful. If you were a DIYer and needed a quick website it was OK. But a lot has changed in 10 years and Wix has grown up to become a brilliant website platform.

With Wix (and now Wix Studio & Wix Harmony), you get:

• Hosting included

• Security managed for you

• No plugin maintenance

• A visual editor that your team can actually use

• Built-in CRM, forms, events, bookings and automations

For many charities and service-based SMEs (that’s who we work best with), that simplicity is worth the move.

Everything lives in one ecosystem, and that’s a big win for small teams.

Stressless management

A website is usually just one part of a small business or charity and often doesn’t have a dedicated team working on it 24/7. Commonly, the person who says they like technology gets landed with the job, with little real-world experience.

With Wix that’s possible, because the technical side of the website is already handled for you. We’ve helped countless businesses gain enough confidence to run their Wix websites independently after a bit of training.

Built-In features that would cost extra on WordPress

On WordPress you might need a range of plugins, and most have paid-for upgrades to run things like booking systems, forms and event management, not to mention backups, security and caching.

On Wix? Most of that is native and included on different premium tiers so you only pay for the bits you actually use.

The disadvantages of Wix

Here’s where we are honest – Wix is not right for every business.

You’re moving into a closed ecosystem

With WordPress, you technically “own” the structure and can move hosts easily (as long as you stay on WordPress).

With Wix, you’re in Wix.

For some businesses, that feels restrictive. For others, it feels refreshingly contained.

Advanced custom websites

If you’re running complex bespoke systems, heavy custom PHP, or deeply integrated external tools, WordPress may still be the better fit.

Wix is powerful – but it’s not trying to be everything to everyone.

So, “it depends” is very much our answer to most platform questions because the strategy has to come first!

Back to Strategy…

Moving platform is not simply a tech task, nor should it be considered one. There is a step before the move that most businesses completely skip.

Strategy

This is where people go wrong.

They say: “Can you just move it to Wix?”

We say: “No”

Because if we’re rebuilding anyway, we start with:

• What pages are actually performing?

• What content is outdated?

• What do users struggle to find?

• What are we keeping?

• What are we deleting?

• What are we improving?

• What are we finally fixing?

If you’re going to rebuild, please make it count.

How to move without causing chaos

If you’ve done your strategy homework and decided that Wix is still the platform to move to, here is a 5-step process to do it the right way:

1. Build the new Wix site on a temporary domain - this is free to do with no time restrictions or credit card required so you can take your time
   

2. Keep the WordPress site live – this is also a good time not to tell any current website designer you are leaving as they can close down the site before you’re ready to leave (trust me, we’ve seen it happen!)
   

3. Test everything (forms, payments, automations) – you’ll have to pay for your hosting before this step, but will be almost ready to launch so go for it!
   

4. Set up redirects before launch – any old pages that didn’t make it onto the new site, check that they are pointing to relevant pages on your new site.
   

5. Switch DNS once everything is ready – your domain can stay where it is and just point it to Wix (that keeps your emails and other services working)

Take your time. Make sure you are not just replacing one thrown-together website with another – it will pay off in the long run.

But what about SEO

This is the bit that everyone panics about. “Will we lose all our rankings?” – if you do it badly, then you might.

If you take some time to plan (yup, it comes back to strategy yet again), you’ll be absolutely fine.

A rebuild allows you to take a look at your SEO and check whether it’s aligned with your company or organisation and make it even better than it was before (and you may not have ever touched it before so this may be a bonus).

Just make sure that URLs are mapped and redirected, your important content isn’t left behind because it’s old (that blog post from 2016 that drives lots of traffic to the site is worth keeping!), and you’ve thought about metadata as you rebuild the site (that’s all those pesky meta tags and Alt Text you need to build in)

So, see a rebuild as an opportunity rather than a curse.

So, should you move from WordPress to Wix?

The question isn’t: “Should we move from WordPress to Wix?”

It’s: “What platform supports our strategy, business and long-term growth?”

If Wix is the platform that offers this by giving your team clarity, control and confidence – brilliant.

If WordPress ticks more of the boxes and you’ve got a team that can make it run well – also brilliant.

Just don’t make the decision based on frustration alone. Make it based on where you’re going next.

And, if you need help making that decision and getting started on the strategy – that’s what we do at Web Goddess. Give us a call or book a meeting and we’d be happy to help you make the right decision for your business.