Website Builds vs Wix: which suits a tradesperson?
Wix is a good product, and plenty of small businesses build a decent site on it themselves. The real question for a tradesperson is not whether Wix works, but whether building and looking after a site yourself is a good use of your time.
Here is an honest side-by-side. For the full three-year cost comparison across Wix and Squarespace, see the guide on doing it yourself versus paying someone.
Doing it yourself on Wix
You pick a template, add your text and photos, and publish. The cost is a monthly subscription, plus your time. Check Wix's current plans directly, because the features you need for a business (your own domain, no Wix branding, enough storage) usually sit on the paid tiers.
The hidden cost is time. Learning the editor, writing every page, sizing photos, making it work on a phone, setting it up for Google and keeping it up to date all land on you, usually in the evenings after work.
Having it built
I write and build the site around your trade: what you do, where you work, your own photos and reviews, and a quick way to get a quote. It is linked to your Google Business Profile and set up so Google can read it properly. After launch I host it, make changes when you ask and keep it updated.
£249.99 to build, then £49.99 a month for a sole trader, with no minimum term. The domain is registered in your name.
Which to choose
Choose Wix if you enjoy that kind of work, have the time, and are happy to keep it up yourself.
Choose to have it built if your time is better spent on jobs, you want a site written for how your customers search, and you would rather send a text saying 'can you add this job' than log in and do it.
Common questions
- Can you take over my existing Wix site?
- Wix sites cannot be moved off Wix as working sites. I rebuild the site, carrying over your words and photos, and point your domain at the new one.
- Is a hand-built site faster than Wix?
- The sites I build are plain, lightweight pages, which load quickly on a phone. Speed depends on how any site is built, so test both on your own phone.
- Do I need to know anything technical?
- No. You send photos and answer a few questions about your work; I do the rest.
If you would rather somebody just did it
I build websites for self-employed tradesmen and small businesses across the UK: £249.99 to build, then £49.99 a month to host, maintain and update it. The sites I have built show on page one of Google for 103 searches between them, in Search Console.