Wix makes managing the on-page website optimisation elements simple, even for those who know only the basics of SEO, by providing a comprehensive range of SEO tools. The Wix SEO Wiz also provides you with a personalised checklist that reminds you to incorporate key SEO elements guiding you through the process.
Whether you’re setting up a website for the first time, or have been around the block before, it’s easy to forget about those all-important ranking factors. Wix SEO ensures that you will always be reminded of what needs to be optimised on your website and where.
If you’re new to Wix, here’s the SEO tasks you should consider to ensure your website has the very best chance of getting ranked above as well as outperforming competitors:
1. Title-tags and headings
When editing pages in the Wix website builder, you will be able to add title tags using headings.
Title tags and headings are an important on-page SEO factor because they provide structure to your content which makes it easier for search engines to understand what your content is about.
Including title tags and headings in your webpage content is also essential for a good user experience as many users simply scan content to find what information they want the most.
Good title tags or headings will enable users to quickly find that information. This will, in turn, improve the performance of content, suggesting to Google that your content delivers on search intent for targeted keywords.
2. Meta-descriptions
Although meta-descriptions directly is not a ranking factor, they’re still important. A meta description is an HTML element of a web page that provides the user and search engines with a summary of the content of an individual web page.
When writing meta descriptions, ensure that you naturally include the primary keywords you are attempting to rank for.
Wix gives users complete control over meta-descriptions and you can easily add or edit them directly within the editor.
3. Alt-text and image optimisation
You can add alt-text to images in your Wix website simply by clicking the relevant image and navigating to the settings icon, where you will then be prompted to add alt-text.
The other most important element of image optimisation is image size. Image size has a massive impact on user experience, especially when it comes to mobile. So, it’s crucial that all images are sized correctly for different versions of your website. Luckily for you, Wix does this automatically when you add an image to your website so you do not have to worry about the size of image you upload. That is as long as the image size is higher than you want it to be. If however, you upload an image that is smaller than you need it to be displayed on your website, the image quality will distort.
4. 301 redirects
301 redirects enhance the user’s experience as the user will never be met with pages that used to exist that have now been deleted.
You may need to create a 301 redirect on your website if:
You have discovered a broken URL
You’ve moved a page to a new location
You’re changing your domain name
You are deleting a page
Although creating 301 redirects may sound complicated, you can find the URL Redirect Manager directly within the SEO Tools. Never lose another potential new customer by sending them to your 404 (page no longer exists) page.
5. Structured data
Structured data is important because it ensures all relevant data across your website is properly organised, helping search engines deliver more relevant search results.
Structured data includes rich snippets, featured snippets and image and video carousels. Wix has the capabilities to easily inject structured data into your web pages with writing code. This streamlines the process of adding structured data to your website.
If this sounds complicated to you, have a read of my three-step Wix structured data user guide where I walk you through the process.
6. Custom URLs
While you don’t have to use custom URLs for every page and blog post you publish, it’s good practice to get into the habit of using them for a couple of reasons:
Custom URLs makes your links seem more trustworthy on socials
You can ensure that your URLs incorporate primary targeted keywords
Finding the perfect domain name is crucial in reflecting your brand's identity
You can create custom URLs (change your URL) directly within the SEO Basics tab within the Wix editor.
7. XML Sitemaps
When building a website from scratch, it is important that your website includes an XML sitemap. However, this worry has been taken away from you as Wix automatically create an XML sitemap for your website and ensure it is kept updated as an when you add or even delete new pages or blog posts.
Sitemaps are important for SEO because they tell search engines what pages you want indexing and which pages are the most important.
Although you don’t have to personally create one for your Wix website, you will need to add your XML sitemap URL (sitemap.xml) into Google Search Console. This saves you the hassle of finding a good site map generator, while also giving you the flexibility to tell search engines which pages are most important.
8. Canonical tags
In some cases, websites can show multiple pages to a search engine that contain the same information. Search engines will view these pages as separate, even though the data is the same.
You don’t want to have duplicate pages on your website because it will harm your site’s performance, which consequently prevents your pages from ranking in search results. Canonical tags resolve this issue by telling Google and other search engines what page is the original and what pages should be ignored.
The canonical tag is automatically set for each page, but if you have two pages on your website with the same content, you will have to decide which one of these two pages you wish to rank for its related keywords and set that one as the canonical tag.
9. SSL Encryption (HTTPS)
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) adds another dimension of security to your website by generating a secure, encrypted link between a web server and a browser.
Every Wix website comes with HTTPS and subsequent SSL certificates, which is great for website owners as Google gives extra weight to websites that are SSL enabled.
10. Social media integration
People don’t inherently associate SEO with social media because social activity does not directly contribute to rankings. However, using social media will increase brand exposure which drives organic traffic to your website.
Wix has integrated social media features, meaning you can seamlessly share social posts and advertise social channels on your Wix website.
11. Mobile optimization
Chances are, a large chunk of your users will come from mobile, so it’s crucial your website is mobile-friendly. When editing your Wix website, you will also be able to edit your mobile site so you never have to worry about a bad mobile site again.
A study conducted by Statista shows the percentage of mobile users back in 2013 was a limited 27% rising up to 61% in 2021. These figures are however an overview and each industry will vary. For example, if your target audience are business owners, you might see the mobile percentage less than desktop as business owners will search for a service they need on their desktop PC during working hours. Use your own logical thinking.
12. Website speed and uptime
Website speed has a huge impact on user experience. Low speed can be caused by factors like adding loads of plug-ins or Wix apps to your website that you just do not need. Wix websites are both fast and reliable, so you don’t need to worry about users clicking away because your website is taking too long to load.
If, for some reason, your Wix site is suffering from slow speeds specifically, you can follow the Wix site performance best practices.
Need a WIX SEO Expert?
If you need further help optimising your Wix website, look no further than Wix SEO Guy. We are Wix SEO experts who have helped over 200 Wix-built websites rank number one on Google. If you however want to learn more about how to rank your own website at the top of Google, take a look at our Wix SEO Course taking your SEO knowledge to a whole different level.