Wix HTML5 Website Builder – Is it really that good?

As the first maker of a website builder, Wix released their HTML5 editor by the end of March. Over the Easter holidays we finally took the ... Home»Blog»WixHTML5WebsiteBuilder–Isitreallythatgood?Wixhtml5WebsiteBuilder–Let’sCompareItwiththeFlashVersionRobertBrandlApr11,2012Asthefirstmakerofawebsitebuilder, WixreleasedtheirHTML5 editorbytheendofMarch.OvertheEasterholidayswefinallytookthetimetoexperimentwiththisnewpowerfultool.Here’swhatwethinkofit.FlashversusHTML5Thefactthatoneofthelargestwebsitebuildermakerscreatesaneweditorwithacompletelydifferenttechnologyfromscratchtellsusalotalready.EversinceApple refusedtoallowFlashonitsmobiledevices,thegloriousdaysofthistechnologyseemedtobeover.EvenmoresowhenAdobeannouncedlastyearthatit stopsthedevelopmentofmobilebrowserflash altogether.Understandably,WixneededtofindaFlashalternativeratherquickly.TheydostatethattheirFlashbuilder willalsobefullysupportedanddevelopedinthefuture,butourguesswouldbethattheywillnotputtoomuchenergyintoFlashinthelongrun.What’smore,Googlesaysinthis recentwebmastervideo thatFlashshouldatbestbea“decorativeelement”onwebsites.WhatbenefitsdoesthenewWixHTML5editoroffer?Flashwebsitesareusuallynotthefastestonestoload,whichcanleadtohighbounceratesandapooruserexperience.That’swhereHTML5comestotherescue:loadingtimesarenotonlyfasterbutitalsorunsonsmartphonesandtabletdevices.Forfullcompatibilityyourvisitorswillhavetobeabletouseoneofthenewerwebbrowsers.Youcancheckouthowwellyourbrowserdoesbyvisiting www.html5test.com.Inourtestsvia browsershots.org InternetExplorer6and7didn’tshowanythingofourWixwebsitewhileitseemedtobeworkingwithIE8.WixHTML5websitesandSEO(searchengineoptimization)Lookingatthesourcecodeofour testwebsite canbequiteconfusingifyouarenotusedtoHTML5markup(justlikeme).WhileresearchingthisarticleItriedSEOforumstoaskwhetherthissourcecodeissearch-enginefriendly.Mostpeoplewouldjustsayit’sterribleanddon’tevenbotherusingatoollikeWix.Icouldn’tbelieveitwasthatbad,soIasked ErikMoberg,awebdeveloperfriendofmine,forhisopinion.Here’smoreorlesswhathesaid:Thisisabittechnical;youcanfindtheshortversionbelow.Wixisusingthe“singlepagepattern”meaningthatthecompletewebsitecodeisessentiallyononepage.ThisworkswellforwebsitevisitorsbutnotnecessarilyforGoogleascontentswillbeshowndynamicallyusingJavascriptandDOMmanipulation.Tosolvethis,Googlesupportssomethingcalled‘escapedfragments’(oruglyURLs).WithregardstoWix,itmeansthatURLswillendlikethis:“#!wixseo|cqh1”.Googlereplacesthe“#!”by“?_escaped_fragment_=”andreceivesonlyaminimaltext-onlypagewithoutJavascript.AndthisworkswellforGoogle.Tryithere:http://www.html5-websitebuilder.com/?_escaped_fragment_=cqh1TheofficialpageIDis“cqh1”andnot“wixseo”.ButastheURLcontainsbothIDs,thevisitorcanevenseeadescriptionthat’sreadablebyhumans(andthat’simportantforSEO).YoumayhaveseenURLscontaining“#!”alreadyifyouareaTwitteruser.Inshort:thesourcecodedoeslookcomplicatedbutshouldbetotallyfineinGoogle’seyes.Yourvisitorscannowalsolinkdirectlyandeffortlesslytoanypagetheywant(deeplinking).What’smoreisthatWixnowallowspagetitlesandmetakeywordsforeachindividualpage,whichisabigstepforwardcomparedtotheFlashversion.(Althoughrightnowthetitleisnotbeingshowncorrectly–but Wixsays itwillberesolvedshortly).Also,itsupportsheadingtags(H1-H4)andalternativetextsforimages.SofromaSEOstandpointtheWixwebsitebuilderseemsprettygoodtous.ConclusionTheneweditorisstilllabeledbetaandsometimesitalsobehaveslikeit(e.g.wehadformattingissueswiththetexteditor,troublewhenmovingelementsaround,etc.).Butallinallitlookspromisingtous.Assoonasit’srunningsmoother,andmaybealsohassomeimportantfeatureslikebloggingandHTMLcodeinjectionadded,we’llupdateourdetailed Wixreview.UpdateApril232012:WixpointedoutthatitisalreadypossibletoaddexternalwidgetsviaHTMLcode.We’resorrytohavemissedthat!Youcanfindthisoptionunder“Addons”.UpdateOctober42012: PleasenotethatWix’HTML5-Websites willnotworkinInternetExplorer8orearlierversions.Approx.10%ofallwebusersarestillusingtheselegacyversions(Source).That’samajordisadvantageoftheirHTML5templates!TobuildaHTML5websiteyourself,simplysignupfora freeaccount andchooseoneoftheirHTML5templates.Imagecredit: W3CThestep-by-stepguideforbeginnersYoufeelallthisisquitenewtoyouandwanttolearnalittlemorefirst?Inourfreeebook,“WebsiteCreationforAbsoluteBeginners,”we’llshowyouthestepsyouneedtotaketocreateyourownprofessional-lookingwebsite.ChooseyourtypeofwebsiteEcommerceSmallbusiness&FreelanceServices&EventsPhotographers,Artists&PortfoliosNews&BlogsEducationPersonalOtherHerebyIagreetothefollowingterms&conditionsGetitnow!Pleasenote:Fromtimetotimewewillalsosendyouournewsletter.Wewillnevershareyouremailaddresswithanyoneotherthanouremailserviceprovider.AboutRobertBrandl,BA(Hons)MunichUniversityMUASHi,mynameisRobertBrandl,andIamthefounderofTooltester.IusedtoworkinadigitalmarketingagencywhereImanagedwebsiteandemailmarketingprojects.Tooptimizemyclient'scampaigns,Ialwayshadtofindtheoptimalwebtools.Tooltester(foundedin2010)opensthisknowledgetoyou,hopefullysavingyouendlesshoursofresearch.Ifyouhaveanyquestions,pleaseleaveacomment. YoucanalsofindmeonLinkedIn.Yourcomments   Weusecookiestoensurethatwegiveyouthebestexperienceonourwebsite.Ourworkissupportedbyaffiliatecommissions.Learnmore.OK