Bluehost VS Wix – Which Is Better For Blogging?
A lot of people wonder which is better for blogging, a website hosted on Bluehost vs Wix website builder.
Starting your blog on the right blogging platform is super important because you don’t want to have a successful blog and then discover that you can’t keep growing because your blogging platform doesn’t have the functionality you need.
In this detailed Bluehost vs Wix review I’ll show you what the difference is between Bluehost and Wix so you can make the right choice for your blog or online business.
If you’re new to blogging and want to learn how to start a money making blog, make sure to enrol in my free course:
Kickstart Your Money Making Blog
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Bluehost vs Wix
Comparing Bluehost and Wix is a bit like comparing apples and oranges because they are not quite the same thing.
The difference between Bluehost and Wix is:
Wix is a website builder with an easy to use drag & drop interface that lets you build your own website without having any coding or web design skills.
Bluehost is a web host on which you can publish your website files. To be able to build your website you need a platform like WordPress.org or Joomla.
Bluehost also has its own website builder, which is fine to use for hobby blogs but it’s more limited than the Wix website builder and not really suitable for professional websites.
So the real question is…
Is Wix or WordPress better?
Wix has the advantage that it’s easier to use with its front end drag & drop builder, and is therefore very tempting for beginners.
But is it better overall?
No. Definitely not.
Wix is fine to use for small websites and hobby blogs but not as the foundation of an ever evolving and growing business, this is when you need WordPress.org.
(Don’t get Worpress.org mixed up with WordPress.com.
WordPress.com is comparable with Wix in that they are both free to use, and hosted by their provider. This means you are not in full control of your site and your site can be shut down. This is not what you want for a professional business website.)
WordPress.org is the professional standard for web design and development, here is why…
A WordPress Site hosted on Bluehost Is Better Than Wix For The Following Reasons:
1. You own your website.
When you build your website with WordPress.org you own your website and you can host it anywhere you want. If you build your website with Wix, it is hosted on Wix and it’s very tricky (or impossible) to move it elsewhere. If Wix were to go bankrupt, you’d lose your website.
2. You get unlimited functionality
Most pro bloggers and online businesses build their website on WordPress.org. This is because it has the most functionality available in the form of plugins, widgets and themes and it’s compatible with most third party apps.
WordPress is open source, which means that anyone can create a WordPress plugin. So if you need a certain functionality that isn’t available, you could create a plugin for this.
Wix does not have unlimited functionality. Wix is also not open source, meaning that the public can’t create plugins and therefore has a lot less functionality.
3. WordPress is highly customisable
Because in WordPress.org you get access to the code, you can customise your site as much as you want. You can tweak the design with CSS or you can edit PHP functions. Of course not everyone is comfortable editing code, but at least you know it’s possible and you can get your site to look exactly how you want.
You can’t access the code in Wix, so customising your site is limited to what the editor has on offer.
4. More design templates available
WordPress has over 11000 themes available to help you kickstart your website design. Wix has just under 1000 website templates available, which might result in your site looking very similar to someone else’s.
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5. WordPress is more affordable
Wix might have a free plan, but it comes with limitations.
The free Wix plan is only suitable for a non-professional website because it displays Wix ads and you don’t get your own domain name.
Your domain name will look like this: username.wixsite.com/siteaddress.
This does not look professional and is hard to remember for your clients.
If you take your online business seriously, you need to have a professional looking domain name that looks like this: www.mybusiness.com
To get a professional domain name on Wix, you need to upgrade to the Combo plan for $10USD per month. This is quite pricy if you compare it to Bluehost hosting plans.
You can host a WordPress website with Bluehost for as little as $2.95 p/m and this includes all the extra functionality mentioned above.
With other web hosts you’d have to buy your domain name separately for about $18, but if you host with Bluehost they’ll give you a free domain name for the first year.
Click here to host your website with Bluehost and get your domain name for free!
So what is better, a WordPress site on Bluehost or a Wix site?
If you want to start a hobby blog or a simple website and have no technical skills whatsoever, Wix could be the best option for you. It is easy to build a site with one of the templates available and you’ll be able to have your site up and running in no time.
You Can Start A Free Wix Website Here.
However, if you want to build a business website or a blog that has no limits on functionality, design or monetisation, your best option is to start a self hosted WordPress website on Bluehost.
It is not that hard to do.
To help you out I’ve created a step by step guide that shows you how to set up your website on Bluehost in 10 minutes, you can read it here:
How To Start A WordPress Blog On Bluehost
Is Bluehost good for beginners
Yes Bluehost is especially good for beginners because they do all the technical stuff for you.
Where most other web hosts don’t help you with the tech side of things, Bluehost has pre-empted all the problems you might run into and done it all for you!
Bluehost is good for beginners because:
- They give you a free domain name and link it up for you,
- They activate a free SSL certificate (which shows Google your site is secure)
- They even install WordPress for you if you sign up to Bluehost with this special link.
This will save you so much time and technical hassles!
Other great Bluehost features are:
- You get a free webmail email address
- 24/7 dedicated support
- 30 days money back guarantee
They’ve even created a beginner friendly portal that guides you through the first few steps of starting your blog or website.
With most other web host you’ll be fiddling around for hours, or even days, with all this tech stuff, but with Bluehost you can literally start blogging within 20 minutes.
Are you ready to start your WordPress blog or website with Bluehost?
Check out their affordable hosting plans here and…
Follow this step by step hosting set up tutorial and have your site set up in 10 minutes flat!
Bluehost vs Wix – Features compared
Let’s compare some features of Bluehost and Wix.
Editor Loading Time
WIX
The Wix editor takes a while to load, every time I click on Edit Site it takes at least 10-15 seconds.
BLUEHOST
The WordPress editor loads pretty much instantly.
Bluehost vs Wix – Functionality
WIX
In the site editor you can access the Wix App Market. On the free plan you can add functionality like:
- Online Bookings
- Event Calendar
- Stream & Sell Audio
- Dropshipping
- Email Marketing (only free up to 200 subscribers)
The following functionality requires a premium site:
- Ecommerce
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Email Pop Up Forms
- Site Translation
- Add Your Own Affiliate Program
- Connect A Domain Email Address
- Email Marketing (with over 200 subscribers)
BLUEHOST
With a WordPress site on Bluehost you get all the functionality you need. You get free functionality from WordPress itself, from widgets, from plugins and from your WordPress theme.
Functionality you can get for free is:
- Email Marketing (with Mailerlite)
- Ecommerce
- Sell Digital Downloads
- Stream & Sell Audio
- Dropshipping
- Abandoned Cart Recovery
- Email Pop Up Forms
- Site Translation
- Online Bookings
- Event Calendar
- Connect A Domain Email Address
- And lots more…
Bluehost vs Wix – Ease Of Use
WIX
Wix is a front end WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, which basically means you can drag and drop elements on the page itself. This makes Wix easier to use for beginners and fairly intuitive to figure out.
There will still be a bit of a learning curve to find out where everything is in the dashboard, and how to do certain things, like optimise your site for SEO, but the learning curve will be less steep than if you were using WordPress.
BLUEHOST
A WordPress site on Bluehost is a bit harder to create. You have to edit your pages in the back end and don’t always know what it’s going to look like in the front end until you check it.
You can make your design process a lot easier by installing a quality premium theme. Premium themes add a lot of functionality to your site and often come with demo pages, drag and drop elements and support.
Two top quality themes are Generate Press and Astra.
Both these themes have a free version available, so make sure to give them a try before struggling too long with a free theme.
Try Generate Press for free here.
Try Astra Theme for free here.
SEO optimisation
WIX
Wix has the “Get Found In Google” function which walks you through an SEO optimisation process for your entire site. You can set your keywords for your homepage and all other pages.
In SEO Tools you can verify your site in Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Center, Yandex Webmaster and Pinterest.
Wix automatically creates a sitemap of all your pages and updates it when changes are made.
BLUEHOST
WordPress has great SEO plugins available that will help you optimise your site for search engines.
I use the free version of the Yoast plugin, and it’s helped me get several blog posts on the first page of Google.
You’ll have to verify your site with Google Search Console yourself, this is pretty easy to do, here’s a tutorial that shows you how.
With WordPress you also have to create your own site map, but if you install the Yoast SEO plugin, it automatically creates a site map for you.
If you want to promote your blog on Pinterest you can also claim your website with help of the Yoast plugin, you can read how to do this here:
How To Claim Your Website On Pinterest.
I’ve heard rumours that WordPress websites are much better for SEO than Wix sites, but I can’t confirm if this is true…
Bluehost vs Wix Pricing Plans
WIX
Wix might look like it has an advantage with their free plan, but don’t be fooled…
This free plan has a lot of limitations.
As soon as you want to connect your own domain name you need to upgrade to the Combo Plan for $10 p/m.
If you want to have access to your site’s visitor analytics you need to upgrade to the Unlimited Plan for $14 p/m.
And if you want to add ecommerce to your site you need a business Basic Plan for a minimum of $18 p/m.
Here’s and overview of the Wix pricing plans. To view the Business Plans click here.
WORDPRESS WITH BLUEHOST
As you can see, adding extra functionality in Wix always makes the price go up another level. This is not the case with Bluehost. With Bluehost you pay one hosting fee of $2.95 p/m and all functionality is included.
It includes:
- Your own domain name
- Free webmail email addresses
- Google analytics
- Ecommerce
- Email marketing (free up to 1000 subscribers with Mailerlite)
- Design flexibility
- Unlimited functionality in the form of free plugins and widgets and some paid plugins.
All you need to start a blog or website is the Bluehost Basic Plan for $2.95 p/m.
Disadvantages of Wix
The biggest disadvantage of Wix is that you can’t export your website to another hosting provider. So if your hobby blog turns into a business and you want to add functionality that isn’t available on Wix, you can’t move your site over to WordPress.
You’d have to start your site all over again.
Another disadvantage of Wix is the price. An ecommerce site on Wix costs more than 4 times as much compared to an ecommerce site on Bluehost.
Disadvantages of Bluehost
The disadvantage of starting a blog on Bluehost is that it takes a bit more effort to create a site with WordPress. There is a lot to learn and it can be overwhelming when you first start out.
To help you out, I’ve created a free course in which I show you all the steps to starting your first WordPress blog on Bluehost.
Free Blogging Course For Beginners
You can check out the course details here or sign up with the form below.
Bluehost vs Wix – Conclusion
I hope this Bluehost vs Wix review has helped you make the right decision for your blog or website.
Basically if you’re starting a blog as a hobby with no intent of turning it into a business later on, Wix is the easier option to start with.
You can start a free Wix site here.
But if you think you might want to make some money with your blog or website down the track, a self hosted WordPress blog on Bluehost is definitely the best option for you.
Start your blog with Bluehost here.
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below, and tell me which option you’ve chosen for your blog or biz!
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Bluehost and Wix are two high quality – but super different – ways to get a website up and running. Bluehost is better for those who want more security and design freedom. Wix is better for those who want an easier-to-use platform that still has plenty of style.
Cheers 🙂