Wix has done a good job convincing people that websites are easy. Drag something here, click something there, £15 a month and you're live. For some businesses that's genuinely fine.
For a tradesperson trying to rank on Google in a competitive Sussex town and convert visitors into paying customers, it's worth understanding what the trade-offs actually are.
What Wix Gets Right
It's fast to get something live. The templates look professional. You don't need a developer. For a sole trader who needs a basic online presence (somewhere for existing customers to find a number and see previous work), Wix does the job.
If budget is genuinely tight and the alternative is no website at all, Wix beats nothing every time.
Where Wix Falls Short for Trade Businesses
The problems show up when you try to get the site doing real work.
| Wix | Custom-Built | |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly cost | £10–30 | £10–30 hosting only (after build) |
| Page speed on mobile | Moderate (heavy JS runtime) | Fast (purpose-built) |
| Schema markup control | Limited | Full |
| Local SEO flexibility | Basic | Complete |
| Custom lead capture | Workarounds needed | Built in |
| You own the code | No | Yes |
Page speed
Google uses mobile load time as a ranking signal. Wix runs a JavaScript framework on every page load, and that's overhead a static or purpose-built site doesn't carry. On a 4G signal in a customer's driveway, the difference is noticeable.
Schema markup
Schema is structured data that tells Google exactly what your business does, where you serve, and what your reviews say. On a properly built trade site, every service and location page carries schema. Wix's schema options are surface-level by comparison.
Local pages
A dedicated page for "electrician in Burgess Hill" is very different from a homepage that mentions Burgess Hill once. Building out proper location and service pages in Wix requires workarounds that a custom site handles natively.
Not sure where you stand? Run a free website audit and I'll tell you exactly what to fix.
The Verdict
Wix isn't bad. It's just not built for what most tradespeople actually need their website to do.
If your website's job is to rank for local trade searches, load fast on mobile, and convert that traffic into enquiries, a custom-built site does all of that better.
The cost difference also narrows quickly. After two or three years, you've often spent more on Wix than a custom build would have cost, while getting worse SEO outcomes.
The tradespeople I build sites for don't care what platform it runs on. They care that it generates enquiries. That's what it should be optimised for.
Want to talk it through? Message me directly, no forms, no waiting.
