How to get a Wix template designed

Learn how to fully customize your Wix template beyonds its drag and drop builder

If you want to be noticed in a crowd, you need to do something unique. Wave your arms, walk in the opposite direction, do something different to everyone else. Designing a Wix website is no different, if you want to stand out, you can't use the same template design everyone else is using. 

Even if you modify your Wix template with its drag and drop builder, a competitor is only a few element arrangements away from outshining your design. To prevent this, you need to make your Wix template design almost impossible to emulate with a deeper level of customization.

To learn how to modify your Wix template beyond its drag and drop capabilities, read on. 

How Customizable are Wix templates?

Wix is a pretty powerful drag and drop builder , so that means you can create any template design you can dream of right?

Wrong.

Like most drag and drop builders, Wix has limitations, and if you have audacious design aspirations, you'll eventually hit a brick wall. 

But Wix offers a portal to a deeper level of customization.The only catch is that you need Javascript, HTML and CSS knowledge to venture through it, a problem that's easily solved with a web developer by your side.

There are three different ways you can customize your Wix template beyond its drag and drop limitations.

iFrames

iFrames allows you to embed content from other websites on your web page with some fancy HTML coding, Some examples include documents, videos and interactive media.

Custom elements

If an element you need in your template design is not available in Wix's element library you can create your own via custom elements. WIth a little HTML and CSS knowledge, you can create things like custom animations, scroll interactions, charts and more. 

To use custom elements, you'll need to upgrade to Wix's Premium plan, connect your own Domain and remove all Wix ads.

Wix Corvid

Wix Corvid offers the most advanced customization options, it's a complete open development platform integrated into the Wix editor. With Wix Corvid you can transform your ordinary Wix website into a powerful web application.

What exactly can you do with Wix Corvid?

With Wix Corvid, you drag user interface elements into place like you would via its conventional editor, but you have the ability to specify element behaviors and interactions with custom Javascript coding.

If you plan to work with web developers or web designers, they'll most likely be editing your Wix website through Wix Corvid. 

You can even access specific databases from your Wix website to create dynamic web pages that represent the specific information you want to display to visitors. Wix Corvid also offers a range of APIs that integrate third party apps such as Zapier, Facebook, Google drive etc. Wix Corvid removes the common customization limits of most drag and drop builders and empowers web developers to build highly complex web apps from the seemingly simplistic Wix platform. 

Here is a nice summary of Wix Corvid and its capabilities

Here are some examples of functions you can create with Wix Corvid:

And much more!

How to activate Wix Corvid mode

Wix Corvid cannot be activated on websites built with Wix ADI (Wix's AI builder), it can only be enabled via the Wix Editor. You are given the option of getting set up on the Wix Editor when you create a new website

If your website was created with Wix ADI, you should convert it to the classic editor. 

To activate Wix Corvid, navigate to 'Dev Mode' in the top menu and then click 'Turn on Dev mode'

Once activated, a side bar will appear listing all of your web pages. This makes navigating to the pages you want to modify much easier.

The IDE, or the window you code in, is located at the bottom.

Source: websiteplanet.com

If you'll be working with Web developers to customize your Wix template, you need to grant them access to your Wix portal. Here's how you do it.

Form the top menu, navigate to settings > roles and permissions.

Then, input their email address, choose their role and hit 'Send Invite'. Web Developers and Web designers will need the highest permission level, so they need to be Admins.

Should you hire a web developer or a web designer for your Wix website?

Web developer and web designers are two separate professions, although sometimes their capabilities intersect.

Web designers focus on how a website looks. This includes how all of the functions are presented. The best web designers don't just aim to make a website look pretty, they strategize their designs to make website navigation intuitive, and therefore enjoyable. This is also known as UX design (user experience design) and its effective engineering, alongside a stellar SEO strategy , will boost your website to the first page of Google. 

Web developers, on the other hand, focus on functionality. So web designers focus how a website 'looks' and a web developer focus on what a website 'does'

They both code in different languages. Web designers code in CSS and web developers code in HTML and Javascript.

That being said, there are plenty of web designers and web developers that are skilled in both ends of the web development spectrum. Perusing their skill sets and portfolio of completed work will reveal whether this is the case (more on that shortly).

How to hire a web developer or a web designer for your Wix template

You have three primary options to choose from when hiring a web developer and web designer.

The average web designer salary  in the United States is $52,691

The average salary of a web developer  in the United States is $68,924

The price of a simple custom website design by an agency  ranges from $15,000 - $20,000.

Complicated custom website design pricing ranges from $20,000 - $40,000

The average web design project on Freelancer is completed for $220.94 USD

The average web development project on Freelancer is completed for $294.06 USD.

Hiring freelancers is by far the cheapest option. You're also not obligated to keep them on board for the entire year, simply hire them when you need them, for however long you need them.

What skills to look for in a web designer and web developer

As mentioned designers and developers are two separate skill sets but sometimes their capabilities intersect. Below is a summary of the key skills each should possess to effectively customize your Wix template. 

If a prospective candidate is skilled in all of these areas, they could potentially complete the role of both a developer and a designer.

Key web designer skills

A competent web developer should have the following list of skills

The other benefit to hiring freelancers is that you get to view a portfolio of their completed work on their profile, this will justify their listed skills and give you a clear indication of what they're capable of.

Communicating your Wix template requirements with web designers and developers

The smooth completion of your Wix template project depends on how effectively you communicate your requirements, but to communicate your requirements effectively you first need a crystal clear understanding of them.

This begins with thorough research. Create a spreadsheet titled 'Functions'. In that spreadsheet create 3 columns each titled 'Essential', Desirable' and 'Examples' respectively.

In the first column list all of the essential functions your Wix template needs to have. These are the non-negotiable basic functions you need implemented. In the next column list all of the functions that are not necessary but would be nice to have. In the final column insert the URLs of websites that exemplify any of your listed functions.

Follow the same process with a new sheet titled 'Design'. By separating your features into 'Essential' and 'Desirable' columns like this, you'll avoid accidentally overlooking any important features that might get eclipsed by fancy, non essential, additions. 

Once you're done, you can then provide your web designer and / or web developer with the sheet to support your project brief.

But you'll need to deliver more than that to communicate your design requirements. Graphics are best communicated with graphics.

Web page design requirements are represented via a series of wireframes. Wireframes indicate the position of all the elements on a web page.

Here is an example of a low-fidelity wireframe design,

As you can see, it's incredibly basic. All of the elements are represented by simple symbols. The key is to communicate how a website should be structured and not the details of its aesthetics. 

Once the structure of your website is understood, you web designer can either jump straight into coding it up, or create a high-fidelity wireframe for your approval first. This is a HD upgrade of your low-fidelity wireframe that represents exactly how your Wix template will look. The emphasis with this wireframe is to communicate the finer details of each of the design elements.

Taking your Wix template design to an elite level

By working with multiple freelancers, you can leverage the talents of experts across a wide spectrum of industries to give your website an unprecedented advantage over your competitors.  

And unlike the logistical nightmare of working with multiple businesses, you can manage your numerous projects and their associated payments under the one convenient platform, Freelancer.com . 

Here are some ways uniquely skilled freelancers can help you:

A web developer  can upgrade your Wix template with custom functionality and also ensure all of its components are set up and communicating with each other correctly. 

A content writer  can write compelling website content that will convince visitors of the benefits of slipping through your sales funnel.

An SEO expert  will help you rank on the first page of Google for thousands of keywords through a custom tailored SEO strategy.

An SEM expert  will help you drive paid traffic to your website in the most cost effective manner, to keep your ROI margins irresistibly plump. 

A social media marketing expert  can create entertaining social posts that will incentify engagement and drive traffic to your Wix website.

Final thoughts

Anyone can choose a template from Wix's library and modify it with its drag and drop builder, but only a few can modify its DNA to create functions and aesthetics that will blow visitors away. In a world where you can be anything, be different.