Wix began in 2005 and has grown into one of the largest websites of its kind. There are now over 26 million Wix websites online, built by users from around the world. Wix includes an easy to use drag and drop editor and a host of features which anyone can try out completely free. Websites are highly customizable and new features are being added all the time. With the new HTML5 website builder, websites have the attractiveness of flash, but can be highly optimized for search engines.
Wix.com offers most of their features completely free. You may choose from hundreds of templates to create a unique website of your own, and customize it any way you want.
What are the premium features and is the premium upgrade worth the cost?
In regards to upgrading, you have to decide this on your own with regards to what you want to achieve online.
A premium website does make artists appear more professional – but if you are not using it to present artworks to art collectors, art galleries, and others, then it may not be for you. In my opinion, a free website is sufficient if just showcasing to family and friends.
Here are some reasons artists may decide to upgrade to a professional website.
Why Get a Professional Website?
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Record your artwork online
A portfolio website will help to showcase and record your artwork to the world. It will be something which you can share with others when they have questions about your work, or would like to learn more about you.
Simply give them your website link. (Incidentally, if you share the link to an online gallery, they might not be impressed)
It will help the artist maintain a professional appearance on the web – something they will be proud to show to art collectors and art fans.
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Branding yourself online
Online galleries have their logo or banner at the top. With your own website, visitors will see YOUR own logo and your name. They will have no doubt what this website is about – YOU and your art, not you and thousands of other artists (as with portfolio sites).
In some ways, you will be on the same level as the portfolio site itself!
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Promote yourself easier.
Imagine someone arriving on a free portfolio site chock full of ads then going to your website, only showcasing YOUR art and no-one else’s (with your own chosen domain and with no advertisements to be seen).
Which artist do you think they will be more inclined to buy from? You, of course.
The fact is, there are MILLIONS of people online who have availed of free websites and portfolios, but far less who have a website of their own.
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Have your own personal domain
Personal domains are easier to remember and share with others, especially if it is your name – and in my opinion, is the next best thing you can to promote yourself, besides having your own website. It looks professional, and is something you will be proud to place on business cards and promote everywhere online.
Here is an overview of the Wix premium prices and plans. (Note: all these plans have extra savings if you purchase them yearly)
WIX PREMIUM PLAN COSTS and COMPARISON
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Connect Domain – $4.95 a month
This plan allows you to connect your own domain from a service such as Godaddy. It comes with 500MB storage and 500 MB bandwidth, which I think is sufficient for most artists who are just starting out. There is always the option of upgrading to another package later when you need extra storage and bandwidth. It also allows Google Analytics integration and premium support. The only downside I see with this plan is the showing of Wix ads on your website.
If this bothers you, then you may want to select the next plan to have them removed.
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Combo - $9.90 a month
For that extra $5 a month, here is what you receive (along with the features of the Connect Domain plan):
☆ Free domain voucher
★ Free ad vouchers for Adwords and Facebook ads
☆ 1 GB of storage and 1 GB of bandwidth
★ Add a favicon (a favicon is the image you see beside the website name in your browser and are great for branding purposes)
☆ Wix ads will be removed from all Wix sites, including mobile.
If you are interested in branding yourself online, then this may be the plan for you.
The ability to add a favicon, along with removal of Wix ads and addition of a domain of your own, will help you to achieve a professional presence on the web.
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Unlimited – $14.90 a month
Receive all the above features, PLUS $250 in free ad vouchers, UNLIMITED bandwidth and 2.5 GB storage. This plan is recommended for those who have hundreds of images and videos to showcase and expect ALOT of visitors.
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Ecommerce – $19.90 a month
This plan is meant for those who want to create a shopping cart or online store, so that artworks will be easy to purchase safely and securely directly from your website. The bandwidth is 5GB, which is quite sufficient.
Summary
Personally, I think the Connect Domain plan is sufficient for most online artists, especially for a first website. My advice would be to keep image file sizes relatively small though. If you have a large amount of work, the Combo plan may be the choice for you. With this plan, you will have the added benefit of removal of the Wix ads.
Check out the Wix premium costs and plans chart for yourself by clicking here. After you login or signup, click the Premium link right at the top of the page. You may upgrade to a premium plan anytime from this page.
If you have any question, or need help, just ask. I will be glad to be of assistance!
What impresses me the most is how unbelievably cheap and easy it is for any artist these days to have a website of their own. I am trying to make it as easy as I can for you to build that website, and have devoted an entire series to the subject, as listed below.
What are the advantages of purchasing your own domain outside of Wix and connecting to them, vs. purchasing one from them directly?
ReplyDelete@ShadowandSoul
ReplyDeleteI think purchasing outside is better, as it gives complete control of the domain. If you ever want to switch the domain to another site, you can.
Seems like you're pretty sold on Wix, don't get me wrong it is a great product, but you do pay for those bells and whistles. It makes me feel bad that artists pay premium prices for "rented" sites when they can build and run their own. You can't own a Wix site (which you point out) and you can't keep the design you spent hours perfecting. Plus you can't move it to another hosting site if they suddenly decide to close their doors. Please write more about hosting your own site and Wordpress.org, which is way more flexible just as professional and is probably easier to use than Wix. It is cheap and easy (you pay for hosting and your domain name only) for creating any type of site and you get stunning results, no coding involved. Wordpress is also open source, so no one can hold your site ransom if they decide to raise their premium pricing. As Wordpress is free, has thousands of paid and free templates to choose from and thousands of plugins to get it to do exactly everything and anything you need it to do, there is really no excuse to use a paid service to make a website anymore.
ReplyDeleteBtw, love your blog and I always pass your info along! :)