The best of Wix platform updates summer 2020 – Everything you need to know
It’s no secret that here at Website Builder Ninja we love the Wix platform. After extensively testing Wix and other website builder platforms, we found that time and time again, Wix comes out on top. However, like any website builder or online tool, Wix is not perfect. That’s why the team at Wix works hard behind the scenes to update the platform to make sure they remain the top-rated website builder platform. The competition is fierce with new platforms coming onto the scene and other respected brands doing their best to outperform Wix.
Wix releases numerous updates every week that improve various aspects of the platform such as design capabilities, marketing features, ecommerce tools, SEO features, payment options, and much more. It’s hard to keep up with everything and if you miss an email from Wix, you might not even know about a feature that could be used to help improve your website, boost sales, or develop your business further.
In the northern hemisphere, winter is coming. So, we decided to do a round-up of the most important updates that happened over the summer of 2020 to make sure that you don’t miss anything significant. Despite a global pandemic and a remote workforce, Wix has been busy. Read the rest of the review to find out the details!
Design capabilities
It’s important to update the look and feel of your website every so often to keep up with new competitors and to keep your site looking fresh. Here’s a list of updates that Wix has made to the editor over the summer to help you make your website stand out from the crowd:
COVID-19 related design features
Towards the start of the summer, Wix released some new design features that allow you to add Corona Virus themed design features to your website. This will show your visitors that you care about what’s going on and help to make your web design relevant to the time we are all living through at the moment.
Wix released COVID-19 badges in May which enables you to update your visitors visually about any changes to your business that might be in place because of restrictions from local governments. You can share that you are open for business as usual, ready to take online orders, or that you’re closed for the time being, and much more.
To access this feature you need to install the site badges app that’s available on the app store.
Alt text for background images
This one’s simple but effective. You can now add alt text to your background images, hover boxes, slideshows, and lightboxes. This will improve your website’s accessibility for visually impaired visitors and slightly improve your SEO. Anyone who uses a screen reader will hear the alt text to help them understand the images displayed on their screen and the context around them. Additionally, search bots use alt text to match images with specific search queries. So, this update gives you the chance to provide a better user experience and more opportunities to show up in search results, it’s a win-win.
To access this feature click on the background image > click change background strip > select settings > input alt text into the image text field.
Shared gallery app
As of June 2020, you can add a shared gallery to your Wix site where your visitors and members can share pictures, videos & gifs, write comments, tag other members, and more. This is a great feature if you want to develop a community of visitors and will drive engagement on your site. To access this feature you’ll need to install the shared gallery app from the marketplace and find it in the editor to configure the settings to your needs.
Wix challenges – design and sell challenges to your members
This one is another app released in June 2020. It allows you to create and sell challenges to your audience to help them achieve their goals and keep them engaged with your website and other content. It’s perfect for designing fitness challenges, reading challenges, diet challenges, and much more. The app allows you to split your challenges up into simple steps, manage participants, and keep track of their progress. Head to the app store if you want to add this feature to your website.
Marketing tools & features
Create subscription plans for premium content
This feature was released in August and allows Wix site owners to monetize their blog content by charging a subscription fee for access to premium and exclusive content. You can also set up free plans to encourage sign-ups so that you can collect email addresses for an email marketing campaign. This is a great way to earn money while you build a loyal following and community on your site.
If you would like to set up a paywall for exclusive content you need to head to your Dashboard> Blog > Create new post > Sell subscriptions > Select or create a subscription plan
Set up product subscriptions
We’re going to stick with subscription features for another update. In July, Wix released a payment feature update which now allows Wix store owners to collect a steady income from their customers by selling product subscriptions to their customers. You can now get recurring orders from your customers which works great for products like books, coffee, candles, toiletries, and much more.
To access this feature go to Dashboard > Products > Create a new or edit existing product > Scroll down & find create a subscription
Facebook Ads by Wix
This feature has been set up for over a year now, however in July, Wix made some updates to their algorithm to make it more effective. The idea behind it is that once you set up your Wix store with Facebook ads, the Wix algorithm will do all of the hard work for you by running A/B tests, optimizing the ads, creating lookalike audiences from your customer list, and much more. The fact that they are still working on the algorithm to improve it is a good sign and hopefully something that continues. If you’re someone that hasn’t had time to look into Facebook ads or if you don’t have the budget to pay a PPC specialist, then this is a could be a good option for you.
SEO
Verify your site on Google, Bing, and other search engines
A common problem that some Wix users experience is the length of time it takes for Google and other search engines to index their site and web pages. Some users have reported it taking up to three months for their site to show up in search engine results which is far too long. During September, among other updates to the Wix SEO tools, the platform released a site verification tool that allows you to verify your website on Google Search Console, Pinterest, Bing Webmaster Center, and Yandex Webmaster. This should hopefully speed things up a bit and get your site listed within days rather than months of publishing. Additionally, you’ll then be able to gain access to the insights available from the data collected from these search engine webmaster tools.
To find this feature go to your Dashboard > SEO tools > Site verification.
Wix SEO patterns
In August Wix released SEO patters. This feature allows you to apply the same SEO rules to whole sections of your website to save you time without comprising on SEO best practices. Rather than editing each page’s settings, you can apply specific rules to different types of pages. This is great for larger sites with hundreds or thousands of pages, especially ecommerce sites that regularly update their product listings. You can customize Google settings, social share settings, SEO tags, and more.
To find this feature go to your Dashboard > SEO tools > SEO patterns.
301 redirect updates
In August this year, Wix made a couple of updates to their 301 redirect features. The first thing they did was release an update that allows users to create a group 301 redirect to redirect website traffic from numerous URLs with the same URL path. This will help reduce some of the work involved if you’re migrating your site over to Wix. Additionally, there is now a feature that allows you to import or export up to 500 redirects via a CSV file which again speeds up and streamlines your workload when dealing with 301 redirects.
To locate these features go to Dashboard > SEO tools > URL redirect manager.
Eccomerce
Product image ‘zoom-in’ available for desktop visitors
Something that stops some shoppers from buying products online is the fact that you can’t get a close up look at what you are buying. Wix has installed a feature that has been available on other ecommerce sites for some time and that is, the ability to zoom in on product images. This will help shoppers get a better look and what they are buying and in-turn drive conversions. You don’t need to do anything to activate this feature, it now comes as standard on all product listing images and works for desktop visitors only.
Dropshipping with Spocket
In August Wix doubled their dropshipping offer with the addition of Sprocket. Sprocket joins Modalyst on the app marketplace and offers Wix users the chance to list millions of products to sell to their audience without the need to manage an inventory, fulfill orders, or to arrange shipping. Sprocket claims to list a massive range of high-quality US and EU based products, with cheap wholesale prices and fast shipping. Prices start from as little as $19 a month and you can set up an online store within 30 minutes.
Sync your products with AdScale for Google Shopping
The Google Shopping app AdScale has been available on the Wix app market place since August. The app allows you to sync your product inventory with Google Shopping so that you can create a multi-platform ecommerce store with minimal effort. The app will auto-optimize Google Shopping ads for you to bring more traffic and sales to your online store. Of course, Google will charge you on a PPC basis for the additional traffic but it’s a great way to boost your revenue.
To access this feature find AdScale in the app marketplace > install the app and register > configure your AdScale account.
Final thoughts
Hopefully, this has shone a light on some of the great updates released on the Wix platform over the summer that might have otherwise been missed. If you’re an existing customer these are all brand new things that you can use to boost your business, make more sales, and develop an even larger loyal following. If you’ve yet to sign up to Wix, these are just a few of many great features that you get access to with a Wix account.
If you want to find out more about recent Wix updates then check out the updates and releases page for all of the latest updates. Alternatively, if you want to find out more about the Wix platform read our full review which goes into detail about the pros and cons of the platform.
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