Wix Designer – Sunshine Coast and Brisbane

Sunshine Design specialises in content-managed websites using Divi WordPress, but we are now offering designs using the Wix website platform due to overwhelming demand from small businesses.

The principles of easy navigation, functionality, speed and responsive design are appealing across the Wix and WordPress web design platforms, with subtle differences between the two.

I get a kick out of designing beautiful, streamlined websites which convert visits into money for my clients. An excellent website solution can come down to good design but depends on choosing the right platform.

So it’s essential to find whichever platform is going to work for your type of business.

For example, Wix and Shopify websites may have better e-commerce solutions, whereas WordPress or Coded sites may suit someone wanting more google traffic or more specific design requirements.

Wix website design cost

So how much does a Wix website cost?

Landing and home pages start from $500 while average priced websites, SEO and social sharing range from $1,500 to $3,000 based on hours.

Pros and cons of Wix websites versus WordPress

Designing websites in Wix

The client can start it on a free account on Wix. It can be upgraded with a personalised domain at any stage. SEO is reasonably easy to set up, but I have not seen great results to date compared to my WordPress counterparts. I did make a case study on WIX SEO ranking compared to WordPress.

Wix is reasonably powerful, with lots of tools and features, however, these features are monopolised by Wix and not open-sourced. Therefore it’s hard to leave the platform without starting again from scratch. I find that Wix websites are hard to back up externally and rely on the cloud, making me slightly nervous. In my experience, Wix crashes frequently as the site grows so I’d recommend it for smaller sites.

On the positive side, Wix sites are intuitive to use and fast to learn. I’d say that Wix is a good starting point, however, templates are difficult to customise so you need to pick a theme and go with it.

I do like the smooth transitions between pages and scrolls.

Wix conclusion

My conclusion is that Wix is fun to use for small builds on a budget. The design editing is easy but not as flexible as WordPress. Wix websites are a good starting point but I would hesitate to recommend them for big build or for managing your website’s SEO. 

Wix versus WordPress SEO
Aura drafting

Wix website case study

Jack and Knife — Sydney restaurant

Based in Darlinghurst Sydney. The owner already had an existing web site with wix and wanted to transfer the hosting to the new site. The benefit of using wix over WordPress for this particular job was the integration of reservations, analytics of visitors, menu databases and booking forms. The owner of the domain already had experience in editing this format so it worked out well for them to continue on the wix platform.

Wix compared to WordPress Divi.

For starters, WordPress requires a domain and hosting provider.

WordPress uses open-sourced design and plugins

WordPress is an open-sourced platform, which means the themes and plugins are from contributors worldwide with constant updates. 3rd party companies contribute with free and premium upgrades to the software.

Why I use Divi for and my website theme

One of the best reasons to use Divi as my builder and theme is that it’s the most popular theme in 2020, and for a good reason.

Div has been used by millions of people worldwide, and I’ve personally used it to build 95% if my sites, including this one, over the last six years.

Intuitive website design

Divi is the most intuitive theme that I’ve used for website development. The theme and builder, which can be used separately, integrate with 3rd party software and can be hosted and maintained through a Cpanel.

Web backups can be transferred between hosting servers. I find the WordPress platform is more stable than Wix and with minimal crashes.

Divi websites and pages are easy to duplicate and mix and match elements.

Divi templates, which include multiple page designs and images, are available for most types of businesses. These are very editable and flexible and can be added or integrated into your designs.

Divi WordPress Conclusion

Div WordPress is more stable for bigger builds. There is more control over backups. Divi makes it easier to edit the overall style of the website, plus I find there are more options for free SEO by using 3rd party plugins such as Yoast.

Elegant themes layout packs as starting points for page design

At Sunshine Design we only use the best quality themes, builders and plug ins from Elegant Themes. The page design shown here is one the many free layout design packs from Elegant Themes.

There are hundreds of pages and design templates to get you inspired. Of course you don’t just go and use the same design that thousands of others might have. I generally start my sites with a clean slate, but this is a good example of the Divi theme the quality that is possible. All of the images, colours and icons can be used in your own web pages. Every element, colour, font and arrangement is completely editable.

So if you love something about this web page template, it could be the starting point of your page design.

Pockets the Clown
Pockets the Clown

Music Production landing page design using Divi Builder – WordPress

A funky brand and landing page design for music producer – Stufly. This music collaborator is young at heart, but in his late 50s, so he is not overly keen to promote his face on marketing material. Think of Fat Boy Slim as an example who is a 50 something producer.

Stufly prefers to market his music to a younger audience, so I’ve used modern imagery to achieve this, keeping the artist’s age more ambiguous but keeping the brand design looking young and current. The music style is modern electronic, chill and pop.

I love website design. I get to combine lot of different design and software skills. While you’re here check out the rest of the folio to get a feel for some of the endless possibilities we can achieve with your website design.

Paediatrics branding and fitout

Paediatrics branding and fitout

Midjourney cartoons and emojis

Midjourney cartoons and emojis

Animated logos

Animated logos

Cattle illustration

Cattle illustration

Unique Illustration technique using Photoshop on existing images.

Unique Illustration technique using Photoshop on existing images.

Researching premium fonts to suit the design project

Researching premium fonts to suit the design project

Flower Empath – Book Design including Photoshop Illustration

Flower Empath – Book Design including Photoshop Illustration

Picnic Place

Picnic Place

Abstract Paintings

Abstract Paintings

50 Shades of Stu

50 Shades of Stu

Johnny Jukebox – Logo and Pull up banner

Johnny Jukebox – Logo and Pull up banner

Jack and Knife postcard

Jack and Knife postcard

Logo design development – Security Company

Logo design development – Security Company

Logo Design folio

Logo Design folio

Buderim Pizza Company

Buderim Pizza Company

Photoshop Sunshine Coast – Paint colour selection

Photoshop Sunshine Coast – Paint colour selection

Placing images on 3D objects – Adobe Dimension

Placing images on 3D objects – Adobe Dimension

Logo and illustration work

Logo and illustration work

Book design – Mary Lyons  – A Beautiful Unfolding

Book design – Mary Lyons – A Beautiful Unfolding

Back to Earth Mulching

Back to Earth Mulching

Armchair Property Investments

Armchair Property Investments

Logo design method – Jack and Knife

Logo design method – Jack and Knife

Logo design – Slight Edge

Logo design – Slight Edge

Valentines Poster

Valentines Poster

Video editing

Video editing

Flower retouching

Flower retouching

Unique DJs

Unique DJs

Extreme nouns – Brainstorming ebook

Extreme nouns – Brainstorming ebook

Promotion DL brochure

Promotion DL brochure

Retouching staff photo

Retouching staff photo

T-shirt design – Chemo patient

T-shirt design – Chemo patient

Poster design – party

Poster design – party

Competition poster

Competition poster

Cancer – Book cover

Cancer – Book cover

Cartoon sketch

Cartoon sketch

Retouching for Dairy Farmers

Retouching for Dairy Farmers

Inking style illustration

Inking style illustration

Teaching kids – logo

Teaching kids – logo

Facebook banner

Facebook banner

Lamb brochure holder

Lamb brochure holder

Stufly – website

Stufly – website

Face retouching

Face retouching

XXXX Gold

XXXX Gold

Novel – Book cover

Novel – Book cover

Accountancy website

Logo, branding, colours, look and feel for this simple WordPress page design.

Brainstorming ebook website

A showcase for a brainstorming ebook. The web page contains video footage and a downloadable pdf.

Bowls Club Website

Club Maroochy is a bowls club on the Sunshine Coast. This was website redesign and revamp using existing content.

My website design philosophy

Everything we do in web design is aimed at increasing traffic and retaining potential customers. From there we want to have an easy to navigate relevant web site that leads to subscription sign ups, enquiries and phone calls. Combining commercial design and responsive online optimisation, we tread the fine line between, functionality, speed, beauty, SEO and user experience. Website design is definitely a challenge to achieve that perfect balance, but this is why I love it so much. At Sunshine Design we’re passionate about sharing experience, wisdom and love for online advertising. At the end of the day we want achieve an easy to find and relevant website for your potential clients. Whether it’s a WordPress or a Wix solution we’re here to help.
Business owners are often time poor, but a good website can help duplicate your time and therefore increase leads with out any extra effort. As a designer, my business would be dead in the water without an online folio of work. Online is such an immediate medium for summing up and showcasing what your business is about. It allows immediate interaction with the client and works quietly day and night while you’re doing other productive things in the business. I love that web design is fluid, intuitive and flexible. Changing your brand or message is a only a few clicks away with new post an content.
If you were drawn into this site and have found it easy to navigate, that should tell you a lot. For a no obligation chat please call me Stu Flynn: 0414505393
Web page design with Divi - Brisbane

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