Wix is a good choice if you have the time, enjoy that kind of work and need a simple site. Hiring someone makes more sense if your time is worth more on the job, you want it to look professional without the learning curve, or you don’t want to be the one keeping it updated.
Every small business owner hears the same advice: “Just make one on Wix.” And for some businesses, that’s exactly right. For others, it turns into a half-finished site that sits there for years. Here’s how to tell which one you are.
What Wix does well
Credit where it’s due. Wix (and Squarespace, which works much the same way) is a solid product:
- It’s affordable. The main plans run about $17–$39 a month billed yearly, or about $24–$46 month to month.
- No coding. You drag, drop and type.
- Lots of templates, including ones made for contractors, salons and restaurants.
- Hosting and security are handled. You don’t need a separate host.
If you like tinkering and have a free weekend or two, you can absolutely build something decent.
What people underestimate
The monthly price is the easy part. The hard part is everything else:
- Time. For a first-timer, a basic 4–5 page site often takes 20–40 hours: choosing a template, writing every page, finding photos, setting up forms and making it look right on phones.
- Writing. A template gives you a layout, not words. Explaining what you do, where you work and why someone should call you is harder than it looks.
- Phones. Most people looking for a local service business are on their phone. Wix sites need separate tweaking to look good on mobile, and it’s easy to miss.
- Keeping it current. New prices, new services, holiday hours. If updating the site is on your to-do list, it tends to stay there.
- Getting found. Page titles, descriptions and mentioning your city in the right places don’t happen automatically.
The real math
Say Wix costs you about $350 a year, and building the site takes 25 hours of your time. If your time is worth $50 an hour on the job, that’s another $1,250 you didn’t bill, before counting the hours you’ll spend updating it.
The question isn’t “is Wix cheaper?” It’s “is my time cheaper than paying someone?” For some owners the answer is yes. For a contractor booked out three weeks, it usually isn’t.
What half-finished Wix sites look like
Looking at local business websites around Chico and Redding, the same problems come up again and again on DIY sites that were started and never finished:
- The free plan’s “Built with Wix” banner still at the top
- A footer that still shows the template designer’s name instead of the business
- Menu links that just reload the homepage
- Social icons linking to Wix’s own pages instead of the business’s
- Contact forms with no fields, or pages with no phone number at all
None of these are Wix’s fault. They happen when a busy owner runs out of time halfway through. But to a customer, they make the business look less established than it is.
Build it yourself if…
- You enjoy design and writing, or you’re curious to learn
- You have a few free weekends right now
- Your site only needs the basics: what you do, where, and how to reach you
- You’ll actually log in to keep it updated
Hire someone if…
- You’re busy enough that the site would sit half-done
- You want it to look professional the first time
- You’d rather text someone “change my hours” than do it yourself
- You want someone keeping an eye on it so forms and buttons keep working
The middle option
Hiring someone doesn’t have to mean a $3,000 invoice. Some services, including Sitewell, build, host and maintain your site for one monthly price, about what a higher Wix plan costs plus the hours you’d spend. For a full price comparison, see how much a website costs in Chico.
Common questions
Can I switch from Wix to a different website later?
Yes, but Wix doesn’t let you export your site to move it somewhere else, so switching usually means rebuilding it. Your domain name and your content (text and photos) can come with you.
Is Wix bad for showing up on Google?
No. Wix sites can rank fine. Most Google problems come from setup and content, like missing page titles, no city or service area mentioned, thin pages and no Google Business Profile, not from Wix itself.
Do I own my Wix website?
You own your content, and your domain if it’s registered in your name. The site itself runs on Wix’s platform, so it only stays up while you keep paying for a plan.
Not sure which way to go? I’ll build a free demo of your site so you can see what a finished version looks like before deciding anything. Request a free demo.