Migrating from Wix for Better Local SEO

At Lillian Purge, we specialise in Local SEO Services and have written Migrating from Wix for Better Local SEO: How & Why to Move to WordPress or Webflow for those considering a move to platforms that give better search and growth outcomes.

When I look at the businesses that finally decide to take local SEO seriously I often notice the same turning point. They realise the platform they built their website on is holding them back. In my experience Wix is the most common platform people migrate away from for this reason. It feels simple at the beginning which is why so many small businesses start there but once they need stronger rankings, faster performance and full SEO control they start to feel trapped.

I have helped many local businesses move from Wix to platforms that are built for speed and scalability. Every time the same thing happens. Their rankings increase, their engagement improves, their Google Business Profile performs better and their overall visibility grows. This is not because we changed their branding or their content. It is simply because their new platform allows their SEO to breathe properly.

In this article I want to explain why migrating from Wix can transform local SEO performance, what problems Wix causes behind the scenes and how a well structured migration can unlock much stronger long term visibility.

Why Many Businesses Outgrow Wix Without Realising It

When a business is new it needs something quick and simple. Wix does that brilliantly. I always say I do not blame anyone for starting there. But local SEO requires more than a drag and drop builder. It needs precise control. It needs speed. It needs the ability to create as many location pages, service pages and topical clusters as you need without being restricted.

In my experience Wix becomes limiting because:

• it slows down as your site grows

• it restricts technical SEO

• it forces dynamic pages once you hit around 100 static pages

• those dynamic pages share metadata which ruins optimisation

• URLs become long and messy

• mobile performance suffers

• Core Web Vitals are difficult to fix

• the backend editor slows productivity

A business does not notice these problems in the first few months. The trouble begins when rankings suddenly stop moving or begin dropping. They publish more content yet see no improvement. They improve their Google Business Profile yet the website still holds them back. That is normally when they contact me and say something feels wrong.

In most cases the problem is not their strategy or their content. It is Wix.

Why Migrating Away From Wix Improves Local Rankings

Whenever I migrate a client from Wix to a more powerful platform I see the same pattern of improvements within weeks. Their site speed increases, their pages become more indexable, their structure becomes cleaner and their authority improves.

I believe migration helps because it solves the foundational problems that Wix cannot overcome. Local SEO is built on three things: speed, relevance and technical clarity. Wix makes each of those harder than they should be.

When you leave Wix you gain:

• faster mobile speed which reduces bounce rate

• cleaner code which makes crawling easier

• properly controlled metadata for every page

• custom URL structures

• improved internal linking

• enhanced schema markup

• the ability to scale beyond 100 pages

• more freedom to build topical clusters

• better control of caching, compression and scripts

These are the changes that tell Google your site is trustworthy, well structured and authoritative.

Many businesses are shocked at how quickly their rankings improve after migration because they never realised how much Wix held them back.

The Speed Boost That Comes with Migration

Speed is one of the most important ranking signals for local SEO. When someone searches for a service in their town they expect fast results. Google rewards sites that load quickly especially on mobile.

Wix sites often load slowly because the platform uses heavy code and loads multiple scripts whether you need them or not. You cannot remove or optimise most of these scripts which means you are stuck with a slow foundation no matter what you do.

After migrating to a platform like WordPress or Webflow the speed difference is immediate. Pages load faster, mobile performance improves and Core Web Vitals become easier to meet. Users stay longer and interact more which sends positive signals to Google.

I have seen local businesses jump multiple positions in map results purely because their mobile speed improved after migration.

Gaining Full Control Over Technical SEO

Wix hides technical SEO in order to simplify the editing experience but that simplicity stops businesses from performing well in competitive markets. To rank locally you need complete control.

A proper platform allows you to:

• edit metadata without restrictions

• set custom canonical tags

• adjust robots.txt

• compress and lazy load images properly

• control URL structure

• edit schema markup in detail

• manage redirects cleanly

• improve server level caching

These are all small technical adjustments that add up to major ranking benefits. On Wix you simply cannot do most of them.

Once you migrate you finally gain the tools needed to tune your SEO properly. When I help businesses migrate I often see technical improvements within the first week that Wix had been holding back for months or even years.

The Broken Dynamic Page System That Punishes Growth

One of the biggest reasons I recommend migrating is the way Wix handles page limits. You only get around 100 normal pages. After that everything becomes a dynamic page inside a dataset.

This means:

• shared metadata across groups

• long URLs

• restricted page layouts

• limited indexing control

• reduced optimisation flexibility

Local SEO relies heavily on content clusters and location pages. These require unique metadata and structured URLs. Wix destroys that strategy because dynamic pages cannot be optimised individually.

Migration removes this limitation instantly. Businesses can build hundreds of pages, each with custom metadata, clean URLs and proper structure. This is how you build authority in multiple towns or across multiple services.

In my experience the ability to scale content is one of the most important steps in dominating local search.

The Productivity Boost That Comes From Leaving Wix

People rarely talk about this but I will say it plainly. Working inside Wix is slow. The editor lags constantly. It freezes. It loads slowly. It takes ages to switch between pages. When I am updating content on Wix I spend more time watching loading wheels than doing actual work.

This matters because SEO requires momentum. When a business publishes content regularly they grow faster. When every update feels painful productivity drops and SEO stagnates.

Migration gives you a faster editor with smoother workflows. This alone speeds up your SEO progress because you can produce more content in less time without fighting the platform.

How Migration Helps Google Understand Your Website Better

Google rewards clarity. When your structure is clean Google crawls your website more efficiently and understands your services better. Wix makes this process harder because of its bloated code and restrictive structure.

After migrating to a better platform your website becomes:

• easier to crawl

• easier to understand

• easier to categorise

• easier to match with search intent

Google begins ranking you more confidently because your website provides clear signals about who you are and who you serve.

Local SEO is heavily influenced by these clarity signals. Migrating removes the noise that Wix creates around your site.

More Freedom to Build Location Pages and Service Pages

Local SEO relies on strong landing pages that target specific towns, services and user intent. Wix limits your freedom to create these pages properly especially once you start approaching the 100-page limit.

Migration removes that ceiling completely. You can build:

• pages for every town you serve

• variations of each service

• individual pages for different client types

• topical clusters with supporting blogs

• targeted pages for local events or seasonal demand

This ability to expand is what separates high ranking businesses from those that remain invisible.

In my opinion migration gives you the freedom to build your website the way Google expects a serious business to operate.

Improved Internal Linking After Migration

Internal linking is the backbone of local SEO because it helps Google understand how your pages relate to each other. Wix makes internal linking difficult to scale because of slow editing, limited metadata fields and restricted page groupings.

After migrating you can build clean internal pathways that connect:

• service pages to blog articles

• location pages to main services

• FAQs to core services

• topical clusters to authority content

This is how you build topical relevance which is essential for ranking across multiple locations and services.

How Migration Supports Stronger Schema Markup

Schema markup is one of the most powerful tools for local SEO. It tells Google exactly what your business does, where you operate, what your opening hours are and what your key services include. Wix provides only basic schema options which often conflict with the theme or apps.

After migrating you can implement full LocalBusiness schema which improves:

• map visibility

• rich result eligibility

• trust signals

• clarity

• ranking strength

In my experience adding proper schema alone can improve rankings by several positions.

Better Hosting Means Better Rankings

Wix hosting is built for convenience not performance. When you migrate to a platform where you can choose your hosting you gain far better speed and reliability.

Fast hosting improves crawl rates, page load times, mobile speed and engagement. This all contributes to stronger rankings in local search.

Migration Helps You Compete With Stronger Local Businesses

Your competitors are improving their websites, publishing better content, investing in speed and building authority. Wix limits your ability to keep up. Migration puts your business on equal footing in terms of performance and structure.

The moment you move away from Wix you stop competing with a disadvantage.

How to Migrate Properly Without Losing Rankings

I always follow a structured migration plan which includes:

• auditing the existing Wix site

• redirecting all URLs

• rebuilding structure properly

• testing mobile performance

• migrating metadata

• preserving internal links

• improving schema

• resubmitting sitemaps

• monitoring crawl activity

When done correctly businesses do not lose rankings. In fact they usually improve within weeks because Google sees a faster and better structured website.

Why Migration Is the Turning Point for Many Local Businesses

I have seen businesses spend months trying to fix their SEO on Wix without realising the platform is the real problem. Once they migrate everything becomes easier. Speed improves. Rankings increase. Content becomes more scalable. Technical SEO becomes manageable. Google reads the website properly. Productivity increases. Engagement improves. Conversions rise.

Migration is often the moment a business finally feels in control of its search visibility.

Why Migrating from Wix Is Often the Best SEO Decision You Can Make

When I put everything together I genuinely believe that Wix is a starter platform and nothing more. It is ideal for simple sites that do not depend on Google visibility but it fails local businesses that need growth, speed and authority.

Migrating from Wix gives you a clean foundation, faster performance, better technical control and unlimited scalability. These are the qualities that help a business outrank competitors and dominate local search.

We have also written in depth articles on Why Wix Fails Local Businesses: A Local SEO Breakdown and How Wix’s slow speed damages your local search rankings as well as our Wix Hub to give you further guidance.