When it comes to building a website, Wix offers a user-friendly platform that allows individuals and businesses to create stunning web pages without the need for advanced coding skills. However, despite its many advantages, Wix sites often face challenges in achieving high rankings on search engine result pages (SERPs). In this article, we will explore some common (but outdated) Wix SEO problem perceptions and provide effective solutions to help you optimise your Wix site and improve its search engine visibility.
Three Common Outdated Wix SEO Perceptions
1. Lack of Customisation Options
Wix provides users with a wide range of templates and design options to choose from. While this can be beneficial for those seeking a quick and easy website setup, it can also result in a lack of customisation. Search engines favour websites that offer unique and original content. Therefore, if your Wix site looks similar to hundreds of others, it may struggle to stand out and rank higher in search results.
2. Limited SEO Features
Wix provides built-in SEO features to help users optimise their websites. However, these features are often limited compared to dedicated SEO tools or platforms. While Wix allows you to add meta titles, descriptions, and SEM to your pages, it may not offer advanced features such as structured data markup or comprehensive SEO analysis.
3. Lack of Multilingual Support
One of the common challenges faced by Wix websites is the lack of robust multilingual support. In today's globalised world, catering to a diverse audience is crucial for expanding your reach and improving your site's SEO performance. If your Wix site doesn't provide adequate multilingual capabilities, you may be missing out on valuable international traffic and potential customers.
Investigating Wix SEO Issues
When faced with low search engine rankings, it is crucial to identify the specific SEO issues that may be affecting your Wix site's performance. Let's explore some common problems.
Poorly Optimised Meta Tags: Check if your Wix site has unique and relevant meta tags for each page. Ensure that the title tags are descriptive and include target keywords, and meta descriptions accurately summarise the page's content.
Lack of Keyword Optimisation: Analyse your site's content to see if it incorporates target keywords effectively. Conduct keyword research to identify relevant terms and phrases that your target audience may use when searching. Optimise your content by including these keywords naturally throughout your pages.
Slow Page Speed: Page loading speed is a critical factor for both user experience and search engine rankings. Test your Wix site's speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix.
Inadequate Mobile Optimisation: Ensure that your Wix site is mobile-friendly and displays correctly on various mobile devices. Use responsive design techniques to adapt your site's layout and content to different screen sizes. Test your site on mobile devices and address any issues like text readability or misaligned elements.
Lack of High-Quality Content: Examine the quality and relevance of your website's content. Ensure that it provides value to your audience and is unique, informative, and engaging. Aim for longer-form content where appropriate and avoid duplicate or thin content that offers little value.
Non-optimised URL Structure: Evaluate the structure of your Wix site's URLs. Ensure they are concise, descriptive, and include relevant keywords. Use the Wix SEO settings to customise your URL structure and make it more search engine-friendly.
Missing XML Sitemap: Verify that your Wix site has an XML sitemap, which helps search engines crawl and index your pages effectively. Wix automatically generates a sitemap for you. Ensure it's submitted to search engines like Google through their respective webmaster tools.
Poor Internal Linking: Assess the internal linking structure within your site. Make sure that pages are interconnected using descriptive anchor text. Internal links help search engines understand the hierarchy and relationships between your pages, improving crawlability and indexing.
Limited Content Updates: Search engines favour fresh and regularly updated content. Evaluate if your site lacks frequent updates or new content. Consider implementing a content strategy that includes publishing new blog posts, updating existing content, or adding relevant multimedia content.
It's important to note that SEO is an ongoing process, and improvements may take time to reflect in search engine rankings. By addressing these common issues, you can enhance the SEO performance of your Wix site and improve its visibility in search results.
Solutions for Your Wix SEO Problems
To address the SEO challenges specific to Wix websites, we have compiled a set of actionable solutions that can help you improve your site's search engine rankings:
Personalise Your Wix Site
Customise templates, design elements, and content to create a unique and visually appealing website.
Optimise for Mobile
Ensure your Wix site is mobile-friendly by using responsive design techniques and optimising elements for mobile viewing.
Responsive Design: Wix templates are designed to be mobile-responsive by default. However, it's essential to preview and test your site on various mobile devices to ensure it displays correctly. Check for any layout issues, overlapping elements, or content that is cut off.
Simplify the Design: Mobile screens have limited space, so simplify your design for better mobile viewing. Consider removing unnecessary elements, reducing the number of columns, and using concise text. Prioritise the most important content and make it easily accessible.
Font Size and Readability: Ensure that your text is legible on mobile devices. Use a font size that is comfortable to read without zooming in. Opt for clear and easily readable fonts, and maintain sufficient contrast between the text and background colours.
Touch-Friendly Elements: Make sure buttons, links, and interactive elements on your site are easy to tap with a finger. Provide enough spacing between elements to prevent accidental clicks. Use larger buttons and ensure they are properly sized for mobile devices.
Optimised Media: Compress images without compromising quality to reduce loading times on mobile devices. Use appropriate image formats, such as JPEG or WebP, and consider using lazy loading to prioritise the display of visible content.
Minimise Content and Code: Mobile users may have limited data plans, so optimise your site by minimising unnecessary content and code. Remove any large or non-essential files that can slow down page loading times on mobile devices.
Mobile-Specific Features: Take advantage of Wix's mobile-specific features to enhance the mobile experience. Add mobile-specific menus, hide certain elements on mobile, or use mobile-specific apps and widgets to optimise functionality.
Test and Preview: Use the Wix Editor's preview feature to see how your site looks on different mobile devices. Test the site's functionality, navigation, and loading speed on various screen sizes. Make necessary adjustments to ensure a smooth mobile experience.
Mobile SEO: Optimise your Wix mobile website for SEO by following the same best practises as for desktop SEO. Ensure your mobile site has proper meta tags, mobile-friendly URLs, and relevant content. Aim for fast loading times, as it is a ranking factor for mobile search.
Regular Updates: As mobile devices and user behaviours evolve, regularly review and update your mobile optimisation strategies. Stay up-to-date with new mobile design trends, technologies, and best practises to provide the best possible experience for mobile users.
By optimising your Wix site for mobile devices, you'll ensure that your website is accessible, user-friendly, and provides an excellent experience across different screen sizes.
Limited SEO Features
Solution: Supplement Wix SEO Features.
To enhance your Wix site's SEO capabilities, consider integrating additional Wix SEO tools and Wix plugins. There are several third-party tools available that can help you conduct keyword research, analyse your site's performance, and optimise your content for search engines such as AHREF’s and SEMrush. By leveraging these external resources, you can supplement Wix's built-in SEO features and gain a competitive edge in search rankings.
Lack of Multilingual Support
Solution: Implement Multilingual SEO Strategies.
To overcome this limitation, there are a few strategies you can employ:
Translate Key Content: Identify your target markets and translate essential content into different languages. This includes not only the textual content but also meta tags, URLs, and image alt text.
Hreflang Tags: Implement hreflang tags to indicate to search engines the language and regional targeting of your web pages. This helps search engines understand the language variations and direct users to the most relevant version based on their location and language preferences.
Language Switcher: Incorporate a language switcher on your website, allowing users to easily switch between different language versions. This enhances the user experience and ensures that visitors can access content in their preferred language.
Localised Content: Consider creating local SEO versions of your website with content specifically tailored to different regions. This demonstrates your commitment to serving local audiences and improves your chances of ranking higher in localised search results.
Lack of Customisation Options
Solution: Personalise Your Wix Site
To overcome this challenge, it is essential to personalise your Wix site and make it visually distinct. Customise the templates, colours, fonts, and layouts to reflect your brand identity. Additionally, focus on creating original content that is relevant to your target audience. By incorporating unique elements into your website design and offering valuable content, you can increase the chances of attracting search engine attention and improving your site's rankings.
Thin Content
Solution: Create Quality Content
Focus on creating high-quality, relevant content that offers value to your audience. Conduct thorough research on your target keywords and provide comprehensive information in your articles and blog posts. Utilise headings, subheadings, and bullet points to improve readability and structure. Regularly update your content and add fresh insights to maintain relevance and encourage search engines to crawl and index your pages frequently.
Slow Page Speed
Solution: Optimise Page Speed
To improve your Wix site's page speed, start by optimising your images and multimedia elements. Compress images without compromising their quality and ensure that videos are properly encoded. Additionally, minimise the use of external scripts and plugins that can slow down your site. Regularly monitor your site's speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix and make necessary adjustments to enhance performance.
Inadequate Mobile Responsiveness
Solution: Optimise for Mobile
Ensure that your Wix site is mobile-friendly by using responsive design techniques. Test your site on various mobile devices and screen sizes to verify its responsiveness. Optimise images and fonts for mobile viewing and make sure that buttons and links are easy to tap. By prioritising mobile optimisation, you can cater to the needs of mobile users and improve your site's search visibility.
By implementing these solutions, you can overcome common Wix SEO problems and elevate your site's rankings on Google and other search engines.
If you're eager to acquire advanced SEO techniques and enhance the optimisation of your Wix website, we invite you to explore Wix SEO Course. Elevate your understanding and expertise to new heights.