Wix or WordPress: Which is better for creating my website?

In an ever more digital age, many start-ups and family-run businesses alike utilise Wix to create their first websites. While there are certainly merits to Wix, no operation; whether it be an expanding retail business or an extensive blogging site, neither can realistically operate well in the long-term on Wix. Ultimately, the best option for a slick, responsive and worthwhile website is partnering with a web designer who uses WordPress.

What are WordPress and Wix?

WordPress (specifically wordpress.org and never wordpress.com) is an open-source content management system. Around 40% of websites are powered by WordPress, making it the most popular way to create a website. Originally favoured by bloggers, the countless updates and plug-ins released since the establishment of WordPress have made the programme a one-stop shop for designing any type of website; from eCommerce stores to social networks. Wix.com is a cloud-based website builder that also provides web hosting and design services. Wix is easily accessible for those without extensive technical knowledge but, as such, is a more basic package.

How does Wix operate and how does it differ from WordPress?

Wix is renowned for its ease-of-use and is ideal for self-run, small scale websites. There is no software to install and the editing process is as easy as drag-and-drop. These features make Wix ideal for portfolio-style websites. However, websites created on Wix are known to begin struggling and slowing down considerably if the site grows to have too many pages. Although Wix allows users to create a basic eCommerce platform, a store can significantly slow down the website. This can lead to frustrated customers struggling to navigate the website and can also damage SEO. Also, Wix websites only accommodate one sub-level, making it much harder to organise and navigate through larger catalogues of products.

How do Wix and WordPress compare in terms of SEO and using plug-ins?

Another feature of Wix which damages a site’s SEO is the random and unchangeable names Wix will attribute to images. This is especially damaging to image-based websites, as the most stunning or inspirational images are given names such as “e5ddec7841f5~mv6.png”. This would not be an issue on WordPress. For reasons such as this one, most industry insiders would recommend SEO plug-ins for Wix but this is far from an easy solution, due to the approach Wix takes to plug-ins. 

Plug-ins are incredibly vital on both Wix and WordPress to mould your website into exactly what you are envisioning. Although Wix does have a marketplace with over 300 options, overusing these can quickly damage the speed of your website. Where WordPress differs is that its open-source structure has always been utilised by user-made plug-ins. It is conceivable that someone could hit a brick wall while using Wix as they discover that their specific job could only be achieved by a non-existent plug-in. This would never be an issue on WordPress. If a specific plug-in to suit your needs did not exist, then a developer could make one for you. There is however an existing catalogue of thousands of WordPress plugins. Many of these are extremely successful and popular services in their own rights.

How much support do they offer?

Despite these problems, many point to the benefits of the extensive support Wix offers via their customer service phone lines, live chat feature, and the numerous forums, compared to the complete lack of support that WordPress offers. However, these support services offered by Wix fall short of the personalised approach an agency can offer. For many who lack the technical expertise to operate WordPress independently, a good agency can make all the difference.

How are they priced?

Although WordPress is initially free, there are additional unavoidable costs to bear. Securing a domain name and hosting the website are fees that can vary greatly depending on several factors but will be recurring either monthly or yearly. Using pre-made themes, certain plugins and extra security will also all undoubtedly incur costs. The Wix free service is very basic so you may have to consider one of the supplementary paid plans. Wix has 4 “Website Plans” which range from £3.50 to £19.00 a month as well as 3 “Business & eCommerce Plans” which range from £13.00 to £22.00 a month. These plans all offer different levels of customer support, storage space, and the amount of video time the website can host. Additionally, the cheaper options, as well as the free option ,will fill your website with Wix ads, the unattractive indirect cost of using the free Wix service.

While Wix is a good program to create basic websites or learn the ropes of web designing, WordPress is the premier destination for any ambitious website. These improved features do however come at the cost of requiring more technical knowledge. This issue of course disappears by utilising an agency.

It is clear in our minds, that to create a quality website that will consistently meet your visitors’ expectations, WordPress is the best option.

Link to Wix.com homepage Link to WordPress.org homepage Link to Leviated.co.uk homepage

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admin November 23, 2021 1 Comment

Reasons why you should invest in a professional logo design.

For most businesses, drafting and illustrating your logo is a good decision when taking your brand’s creativity to a new level. Whether you are based in finance, law or even a coffee shop, it does not matter. Your logo design is key to standing out from competitors within your market and something that your consumers can easily differentiate from competitors. It is highly important to look professional and clean.

More than just looking professional in presents trust and continuity to your customers, the importance of a logo is the main part of your branding and could be potentially the first thing that customers could notice about your company. It makes a great first impression and helps to build the recognisable brand for your customers. By making it recognisable creates an element of personality and relatability that your customers can understand. By designing virtual association, it has the power to speak to your clients even just by glancing through your social media platforms, publications or your website. The logo can present a form of emotion that relates to why you purchase from them. For example, McDonald’s for being yellow with a simple logo reflecting happiness, nostalgia and staff’s friendly nature and your logo should present the same. Depending on the company or business like a plumber your logo can present this with clean lines and simple shapes, speaking to your customers with more than just words with investing in such a logo design.

Ensure that your design is of course unique to you and your market, otherwise there may be several complications for customers when purchasing from your brand. Create something that really stands out and encompasses what you strive for as an operating business, that way by making it so unique this means that no one can complain you have stolen their design or elements from it.

As we have mentioned a logo is something that can be used throughout your company and within their platforms. Your logo can be implemented across all your online platforms, including website, social media and anywhere in a virtual space where you are operating. With commissioning a logo from a professional company ensures that you are able to receive the logo in various format types and in the correct file type you will need for the mentioned pages. This saves time for you trying to convert the files or having to re-work files that cannot be implemented and ending in the distortion of the file altogether.

By using designers that have years of experience and relevant qualifications, they as individuals have everything needed to create something amazing. And our role as the designer will be to create excellent products for customers, and everything will be drafted to the highest quality. By using a designer for your logo design, it ensures hard work to create exactly what you need.

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admin August 11, 2021 0 Comments

The importance of mental health care in the workplace, now more than ever.

Since we last posted a blog post regarding COVID-19 and the change in working environment it was clear nearly a year ago we were unaware when we would leave lockdown. Now nearly a year later here we are in the same position. However, we are now in the position of a vaccine that is being rolled out a fast pace to put us on a road to what seems the ever waiting normal. People are beginning to be frustrated with the lack of routine and structure to their day. As a team that have always worked on their laptop’s behind a desk, there is not much differentiation between pre and during COVID. Although we are not passing conversations over a coffee whilst the kettle boils. Not having human interaction has impacted our headspace.  Mental health has played a significant factor on individual’s motivations albeit understandably. It has been at the forefront of news and focusing on employer’s wellbeing whilst they are out of the office. Employers were never aware of the overriding situations some employees face outside of the workplace. 

CIPD have released statistics surrounding mental health and the workplace and the necessary support needed, and this was published pre COVID-19. Absences at work related to mental health was the most common cause of long-term sickness in UK workplaces. It was found that stress related absences were at an all time high within the last year since the pandemic had begun. Now there is no definite impact of our mental health combined with the COVID-19 scenario. 

We all are trying new things to take up our never-ending spare time, like baking, taking up a new sport, new hobby, crafts starting a new business we have all done it all. But however, what we need to do is all look out for one another. Stand tall, breathe, and text your friends and loved ones and continue checking in. One thing we can all take from this crazy year is that our jobs will continually enquire and check in with staff to see how they are doing. 

The importance in looking after staff is that this will help their motivation levels and to be understanding towards the concerns and needs of your staff whilst they work in a new and unexpected way. Like working from home and managing childcare whilst working in a different environment. We need to all help one another and understand if individuals need to take time off to look after a family member or loved one. 

Supporting employees and being open about difficult changes in the workplace along with the furlough scheme matters can be dealt with sensitively. As communication is important to be presented in a clear and calm way. Supporting your team is vital as your management style should suit the needs of each person and let them have preference to how they communicate whether it be via phone, video, or email. This channel of communication should be regular to see how they are coping.

You should always check:

  • How they are feeling
  • How their work is going and if they need any support
  • If they have the right set up when working from home

Spotting possible signs of mental health issues

  • Appearing tired, anxious, or withdrawn
  • Increase in sickness absence or being late to work
  • Changes in the standard of their work or the ability to focus on tasks
  • Being less interested in tasks they previously have enjoyed
  • Changes in usual behaviour, mood or how the person behaves with the people they work with.

The sooner employers spot these signs in their employees are working from home, you have minimal contact with them or when many can be feeling a heightened level of anxiety and stress. Always regularly ask your staff how they’ ae doing, and they will feel safe in an environment to be open and honest on how they’re feeling. Always be on hand for support, the sooner you speak up the happier you will feel.

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admin March 8, 2021 0 Comments

TOP PICKS FOR CHRISTMAS COCKTAIL RECIPES 2019

Top Picks for Christmas Cocktail Recipes

Now that the festivities are upon us, we want to share our favourite Christmas inspired cocktails here at Levitate. From sickly sweet indulgences, to bitter shorts, we’re ready to embrace the festivities with these exciting twists on the originals.

1 Salted Caramel White Russian

For those with a sweeter tooth, this drink is effectively dessert in a glass!

40ml Absolut Vodka

40ml Kahlua

10ml Salted Caramel Syrup

80ml Single Cream

  1. Add kahlua and vodka to your glass. 
  2. Top the glass up with ice.
  3. Pour the cream over the ice.
  4. Top with salted caramel sauce

2 Spiced Gingerbread Espresso Martini

The bitterness from the coffee complements the sweet syrup perfectly to bring you a delicious concoction. 

25ml Absolut Vanilla Vodka

25ml Kahlua

25ml Fresh espresso

5-10ml Monin Gingerbread Syrup

  1. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker.
  2. Top the shaker up with ice.
  3. Shake well to create a nice foam.
  4. Pour into a chilled martini glass.

3 A Mexican Christmas

A punchy, exciting twist on an amaretto sour.

50ml Amaretto

25ml Bourbon

25ml Lemon Juice

20ml Sugar Syrup

25ml Egg white

1 birdseye chilli

  1. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker (cut the chilli in half)
  2. Top the shaker up with ice.
  3. Shake the cocktail vigorously. 
  4. Strain the cocktail to get rid of the ice.
  5. Shake the cocktail again, this time with no ice (dry shake) for 10-20 seconds.
  6. Serve over ice. Use another chilli and lemon peel to garnish.

4 Rhubarb and Ginger Negroni

A perfectly festive twist on the Italian classic.

25ml London Dry Gin

25ml Campari

25ml Red Vermouth

1 tsp Rhubarb Jam

5ml Ginger Syrup

  1. Combine all ingredients and stir.
  2. Fill glass with ice.
  3. Pour drink over ice. 
  4. Serve with candied rhubarb

5 Cardamom and Orange Martini

One on the bitter side, this martini is perfect for the long winter nights in.

2 Crushed Cardamom Pods

1 ½ tsp Orange Marmalade

50ml Vodka

20ml Cointreau 

15ml Lemon Juice

  1. Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker.
  2. Fill shaker with ice.
  3. Shake to combine and chill.
  4. Pour drink into a chilled martini glass.
  5. Garnish with a dehydrated orange wheel.

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admin January 9, 2021 1 Comment

HOW TO WRITE AN SEO BLOG POST TO INCREASE WEBSITE TRAFFIC

Ranking on Google can seem like an impossible task at times for some businesses, and despite your best efforts it still takes persistence and patience. However, well optimised blog posts can put you in good stead for improving your SEO ranking on Google.

Relevant and Engaging Content

Don’t just write any old waffle, know what your readers want to see and cater to that. Your blog posts should be well thought out, compelling and well researched to engage your audience and make them want to come back for more. 

Your content needs to be relevant to your business and niche and has to be something interesting to captivate your readers attention. Otherwise what’s the point?

Use Trending Topics

People want to read about relevant, new topics. Find out what is trending in your niche and write about it, putting your own unique perspective on the situation. 

Post Regularly

Writing one good blog post just isn’t enough. You need to keep on top of a blog to make it worthwhile. Keeping your most recent posts fresh and current is a great way to engage users and encourages them to flick through multiple posts.

Using Keywords

For each blog post, select a unique keyword relating to that topic and boost it throughout the post. As a general rule you ought to be featuring the key phrase every 100 words in some form or iteration. 

You can utilise free chrome extensions to find out what keywords are popular in your country, such as Keyword Surfer (https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/keyword-surfer/bafijghppfhdpldihckdcadbcobikaca?hl=en) which tells you the volume of searches per month for a phrase per country, and the cost of PPC for this term as well as other similar search terms and their popularity. 

Using Images

Text heavy blogs can be heavy on the eyes, so break up text with relevant and eye catching imagery to keep your readers entertained and brings the text to life! And adding Alt-Tags to these images that relate to your chosen key phrase will help boost your SEO even further.

You don’t need to go and spend a load of money on expensive imagery, or use poor quality iPhone images, you can find a plethora of free stock images to use on websites such as pexels.com or unsplash.com 

Links

Having good quality links in your post, showcasing your research and giving credible sources for certain information is also an SEO goldmine. Google encourages us to connect with one another and to feed into each other. By using links this will show your credibility and that you are essentially ‘paying your dues’.

H

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admin December 17, 2020 0 Comments

The Effects of Lockdown on Business

With lockdown coming to an end, we’ve had some time to reflect on what we’ve achieved as a business during this time. The term ‘achievement’, however, means something completely different as to what it did pre-pandemic. Simply surviving and keeping a steady client base is the new achieving, especially for the creative industry. 

As a company, we’re all well versed to remote working and so fortunately working from home during lockdown hasn’t affect our day to day running. But being isolated as a team always poses problems. From low staff morale, to rubbish Post Office wifi cutting off team calls, lockdown has certainly not been easy.

The key to surviving in such a time is adaptation. Understanding what our consumers needed (in our instance, a surge in e-commerce websites) and gearing our marketing to this was key to ensuring a flow of new clients during this pandemic. Adapting for retail brands meant a fast turnaround in setting up an online shop, if they didn’t have one already. Adapting for restaurants and pubs meant setting up a takeaway business to make sure they were still providing for their customers and preparing for gradual reopening.

Despite the best efforts of some businesses, COVID-19 has close to destroyed their chances of economical recovery. The arts, as a prime example, is suffering a massive hit as theatres are closed indefinitely and actors are unable to rehearse or perform together because of social distancing measures. At such a time it’s important we support each other, and support the struggling industries that are given little chance to adapt.  

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admin July 8, 2020 0 Comments

Why E-Commerce is so Important During the COVID-19 Outbreak

The current global pandemic has affected and will continue to affect practically every aspect of human life – how we interact with one another, how we work and our spending habits. With Europe and the US in critical lockdowns, we no longer have the option to go to the local clothes shop or hardware store for items. So many of these high street shops rely on a thriving premise with face-to-face customers. However, if these businesses are to prevail during this unprecedented global emergency, the need to harness e-commerce to continue making money is greater than ever.

Times are painfully uncertain, we don’t know whether normal life will be put on hold for a month or a year and so we have to accept our new isolation lifestyles for the long run. In the UK, all non-essential shops (i.e clothing, gift shops, homeware etc) are to be closed ‘until further notice’ – but when that is we don’t know. Times are painfully uncertain, we don’t know whether normal life will be put on hold for a month or a year and so we have to accept our new isolation lifestyles for the long run. In the UK, all non-essential shops (i.e clothing, gift shops, homeware etc) are to be closed ‘until further notice’ – but when that is we don’t know.

The nature of deliveries reduces human contact significantly, and so is a safe and viable way for people to still receive every essential they need from the comfort of their own home. Online shopping allows us to keep our distance from others to help prevent the spread of coronavirus by practising social distancing.

By promoting their presence online with an ecommerce store, shops can still make the sales they desperately need to keep themselves afloat and potentially thriving during the COVID-19 outbreak. Making your presence known is easier than ever by utilising social media to inform your local and nationwide customers about your new online store. In times of hardship the need to adapt is hugely important, and by harnessing e-commerce, so many businesses could prevent themselves from folding.

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admin March 28, 2020 0 Comments

HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIVE WEBSITE COPY

Write what they want to see

The absolutely paramount key to successful website copy is writing what your readers want to read. Writing useless jargon that is unrelated to their needs as a potential client is only going to harm your websites conversion rates. Instead of trying to be overly technical, get into the heads of your clients and think about what would impress you if you were in their shoes. 

Arrange your content effectively

Take some time to really think about what is the most important and relevant information that your clients want, and make sure this is the first information they come across. Your website should take users on a continuous journey, and so shouldn’t be disjointed or difficult to navigate. 

Don’t try to be smart

By overcomplicating your copy you can drive customers away. Web copy should be easy to digest, it isn’t a literary piece. You may think you’re impressing readers but it actually has the opposite effect and alienates them. Write your copy as you would speak to your customers normally – keep your copy true to your brand. 

Make sure your layout is optimised

Writing web copy has a unique format to help it convert. Keeping paragraphs on your website to an absolute maximum of 4 sentences is a priority. Additionally, making sure you don’t have any ‘wasted words’ is another important factor. Finally, using a second person voice makes text more appealing to readers – so using the words ‘you’, ‘you’re’ and ‘your’ makes copy more direct and engaging for readers.

Provide visual breaks for readers

Reading solid blocks of text can get boring for readers. By failing to break up text with engaging visuals your web copy can get lost in a solid block of unappealing text. Visuals can include graphics, unique formatting, images, and anything else to help distract the eye to a new element. However, making sure the visuals are relevant and add to the copy is important. Nobody wants to see the same overused stock photos they’ve seen on 10 other websites that day so be creative and use plenty of platforms. For some more unique stock photos take a look at https://unsplash.com/

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admin February 17, 2020 0 Comments

5 TIPS TO HELP IMPROVE YOUR WEBSITE’S SEO!

Everyone is talking about SEO – but what does it really mean? SEO is simply search engine optimisation. This means enhancing your website to make it more ‘Google’ friendly in an attempt to rank higher than your competitors in the market when people search for your relevant businesses. There are thousands of algorithms, but here are just a few achievable and simple tips to help boost your business on Google.

1 – Blog Posts

Posting relevant, regular content via a blog medium can help boost your SEO monumentally. You can do so much with blog posts – by introducing keywords and relevant links you can impact your search engine ranking positively. 

Additionally, having a successful blog following increases the traffic to your website and user engagement which also boosts your SEO ranking massively. The longer people stay on your page the more of a positive effect the traffic will have on your SEO score. So writing engaging posts that people are more inclined to read till the end will be even more effective than just simple clickbait.

2 – Strong Social Media

Being active on social media is a crucial element of running any business. In addition to this helping promote a business’s online presence, this can also help increase an SEO ranking on google too. If links to a website are shared via social platforms this can increase its SEO rankings. 

3 – Fix any broken links

Broken links on a website can be extremely harmful to SEO rankings as it renders your website less current and less relevant.

You can address this issue in a couple of ways. First, you can spend the time yourself going through every link on your website to ensure they are relevant – but if you have a large site with a lot of hyperlinks this could take up a lot of time! In this instance you can use tools such as Dead Link Checker to be immediately notified when a link on your website goes dead so that you can address it straight away without having to scour through your site to find it.

4 – Mobile Optimise 

Without optimising your website for mobile, there’s very little point in having a website as over half of google searches come from mobile devices. Therefore, optimisation is key to increase engagement and how user-friendly your website is. If it is not mobile optimised then you will detriment your google ranking significantly. When considering your website design, make sure that you make mobile optimisation a priority

5 – Keywords

Using keywords can really help boost your rankings if done correctly. Don’t go overboard and fill your website with keywords that people will search when searching for your services or products, but make them fit into sentences contextually. Even change image tags to include keywords to help your website’s ranking.

There are a few keyword market research tools which allow you to find out what keywords are most regularly searched in your business field to help you along the way such as SEMrush.

Levitate is a website design consultancy in Cardiff, offering website design services as well as SEO services in Cardiff. To find out more, give us a call on +44 7494879520 or contact us today

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admin January 28, 2020 0 Comments

Cardiff Restaurants: The Best Restaurant Websites in Cardiff


We’ve reviewed some of the websites of independent restaurants in Cardiff and here is a shortlist of our favourite. Cardiff is a hub of unique restaurants and so we thought we’d share those who are not only excelling in making great food but also in having a stellar online presence!

1. Heaneys

1

Heaneys website embodies the restaurant perfectly. Offering a clean, distinct design focusing entirely on their professional and stunning images of both their venue and their food. https://www.heaneyscardiff.co.uk/

2. Le Monde

2

Le Monde offers a website exuberating class, perfectly representing their brand. Understated, well-balanced with a meticulous font selection. https://le-monde-restaurant.co.uk/

3. Anna Loka

Anna Loka’s no-nonsense website gets straight to the point. Vibrant, gorgeous food is highlighted on the homepage, enticing visitors as soon as they visit their website. This is a prime example of how to engage potential customers and get them through your doors by utilising your website! https://www.anna-loka.com/

4. The Dough Thrower

The Dough Thrower’s website is everything you want in a pizza restaurant website. It’s rustic and inviting – the second you open the site you’re looking into an authentic pizza oven with the perfect pizza bubbling away. A restaurant’s website that can you make you salivate is definitely doing its job. https://thedoughthrower.com/

5. Porro

Porro’s website feels almost like reading a handmade invitation with gorgeous watercolour-style backgrounds. This website feels unique and personal, all the while upkeeping a classy and clean design. https://www.porrocardiff.com/

Cardiff Restaurants
Cardiff Restaurants

6. The Early Bird

Early Bird’s website is almost as cute as the café itself. From the cute yellow icons filling the page background to their darling logo, this website is short and sweet, and everything it needs to be to sell this café and bakery as well as it can. http://www.earlybirdbakery.co.uk/

Cardiff Restaurants
Cardiff Restaurants

If you’re looking to improve your digital presence or website, get in touch with us today to discuss what we can do for you and a free quote for our services! We offer a 20% discount on all of our services to other Cardiff-based businesses. https://levitated.co.uk/contact-us/ #cardiffsmallbusinesses

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admin January 6, 2020 1 Comment