Wix has been running for years now, I remember looking at it a while back. Seeing it now, it's remarkable how its advanced in recent times! This says to me they are constantly updating it, improving it and adding new features to compete with its competitors. That is most certainly a good thing!
Wix websites are basically flash websites which have the capability to be all singing all dancing with animations etc etc. This is quite attractive to a photographer as it means your site could be very visual which is a definite bonus and helps to grab the eye of your audience.
The majority of people on Wix are in fact artists in one way or another, be it illustrators, photographers, graphic designers or painters. So theoretically this means that it's optimised for us, and it should be constantly improving for the likes of me and you.
I took the plunge and signed up for the free version of Wix myself. I managed to slap together a flash website using one of their many templates which is already quite aesthetically pleasing. To produce a site like this properly, from scratch using code would take months just to get it to the basic level ive managed in an hour or so.
The editor is very simple and it's basically a drag and drop interface which is perfect for people who aren't too confident with webdesign. You can clearly see that Wix isn't too word friendly, which for some people isn't a big deal. Flash websites dont tend to be wordy in general so this isnt a first.
The main problems with Flash websites are search engine optimisation (which shouldn't be a big problem as Wix is a substantial organisation and will be working to make the best of it), and the fact it wont work with mobile devices, such as iphones. Adobe has basically pulled Flash in favour of the new, lightning fast HTML5 and Javascript which IS mobile device friendly! To combat this problem, Wix provides a mobile site option too which is basically a simple interface specially designed for mobile devices, I must admit, this feature is utterly incredible and suddenly your worries about your site being compatible with your clients shiny new ipad vanish!
This all looks and feels very professional and you find yourself sold on the idea of Wix very quickly, untill you realise that youre being barraged with adverts! This is the unfortunate down side of the free version, and there is no way around it. This is a crying shame for those of us who wanted a nice, free, professional looking flash website. The adverts are simply too distracting and I think if you sent a potential client to a free Wix website, you would find them having great fun designing their own free wix site about their holiday in Benidorm rather than looking at your portfolio!!
