Website Review: Wix.com Website Builder

For those who don't know, Wix is an online website builder that allows you to build a website for your own individual purposes or for your business. They offer templets so you don't have to start from scratch. They have a free version that gives you basic layouts to choose from and a web browser name to use. The offer a free and paid version of their site. The free version gives you the basic, while the paid version allows you to create your own domain and partners you with an online professional to help boost your website so that it can be found in searches like Google and Bing. Wikipedia.com defines domain name as "an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are used in various networking contexts and for application-specific naming and addressing purposes."

What I like about using this service is that you don't have to have a large amount of knowledge about how to build your website, you don't have to know about code writing or programming. Bring your content or products you want to share and build your site using their templates. You can change up your chosen templet as much or as little as you want, upload images, add text, link your blogs or create an online store. The possibilities are endless. I first heard about Wix while attending school in Santa Fe, NM. At the end of each semester our professor chose one student who showed exemplary performance or improvement and she would build a site to showcase their work. Even though I did not receive this award, it pushed me to work on my content and style of artwork to create something cohesive enough to share with others.

For the time being I use Wix as an online gallery space to showcases my artwork, although I am not technically offering my works for sales, I put my contact information out into the world and give viewers of my site the option to donate, if they so choose. Benefits to using the free version is no financial commitment, if and when I have the ability to do so, I would choose to upgrade to the paid version to increase my chances of being seen by more than the audience of family and friends I have brought to the table. This is a good tool for businesses, either small or large corporations, to utilize because it takes that initial grunt work of code writing and program writing and sets businesses and individuals on the path of getting started as quickly as possible. Once you've uploaded your content and connected all the services you'd like to offer you click the "Publish" button on the top right corner of the screen and you're website is live.

You can go back in and edit and add information whenever you need to do so. As you are building your site, Wix automatically saves your progress so you don't have to stress if your computer crashes or if your cat steps on the screen and logs you out. Just log back in and you can pick back up where you left off. And if you're still skeptical about auto-save, they have a button at the top right corner of the screen next to the "Publish" button that allows you to save your progress as well. Online video advertisements on Facebook and YouTube reinforced my desire to work with this website builder and they do exactly what they claim, make it easy to build and launch your site. They offer stock images to choose from or you can upload your own. If you upload your own images you have the ability to crop and edit those images before you upload them, using their system. It's not as in-depth as programs like Adobe Photoshop or other video and picture editing softwares, however, you can adjust basics like lighting, crop to fit, and adjust brightness and saturation levels.

They offer help tools if you get stuck or are unsure of what to do. Video tutorials can be found on YouTube to showcase other great things you can do.