Have you ever published a Wix site, then decided maybe it wasn’t the best idea? Maybe there was better hosting. Perhaps you need to unpublish Wix site to see how it goes.
Whatever the reason, sometimes you need to unpublish site Wix. It might sound simple, but ironically, learning how to unpublish Wix website is a bit of a challenge for most people.
But we’re here to help with your Wix unpublish site needs. Below we explain everything you need to know on how to unpublish a Wix site.
Let’s dive in.
Can You Unpublish Wix Site?
The short answer is “yes,” you can unpublish Wix site, but there are some caveats.
Learning how to unpublish Wix is a little more complicated than most other website-building platforms. And if you want to unpublish Wix site from the Internet, you’ll have to do so manually.
What Happens When You Unpublish Wix Site?
When you unpublish your Wix site, it’s removed from the public eye but remains in the Wix system. Anyone who knows about your site can still access it via their dashboard or directly to your URL address.
Unpublish Your Wix Website in These Simple Steps:
It is possible to unpublish Wix site, but it’s not relatively as straightforward as publishing one.
However, you can take down a Wix site in these four steps:
- First, you must login to your Wix account and click on the settings option on your dashboard. This will take you to the ‘Publishing’ page.
- Once you enter the overview page, click on ‘Unpublish’ under ‘Publish Status’ to Wix unpublish the site from search engines and other web directories.
- Click the unpublish button in the popup window after ensuring everything is set up correctly.
- Once the screen loads, you’ll see that your Wix unpublish site is now unpublished. And that is how to unpublish Wix. Unpublishing your Wix site will remove it from search engines, but don’t worry: if you change your mind and want to republish later, follow these same steps and click on the publish button.
Alternatives to How to Unpublish Wix
Now that you know how to unpublish Wix site, here are other ways to make your Wix site disappear from the Internet.
Deleting Your Wix Site
You can delete your Wix website by selecting the Wix Editor > Move Site to Trash and selecting Move to Trash on the popup window. This will permanently remove all content from your site and will not allow you to restore it at a later date.
**Tip**: Do not pick this option if you have plans to reinstate your Wix website in the future.
Noindexing Your Wix Site
You can noindex your site, preventing it from appearing in search results. To do this:
- Select ‘Marketing & SEO’ from the sidebar of your Wix dashboard. Then choose ‘SEO Tools’ from that menu.
- Go to the bottom of the page and click on ‘General SEO Settings.’
- To keep search engines from reading your site, untick the box that reads “Let search engines read your site.” And you’re done.
If your site still appears in search engine results pages (SERPs) following the noindex command, don’t worry. Sometimes it may take a few days or weeks for search engines to pick up on the change.
Using a “Coming Soon” Page
You can use a “Coming Soon” option to set up a page on your website where visitors will see an image and text indicating that the site is coming soon. This gives you time to make changes without having your visitors see them.
You can also add links that go directly to specific pages on your website (like contact us) or links that take people somewhere else (like a social media site). This way, visitors won’t be lost or confused when they visit the site while it’s under construction.
The Bottom Line
Now that we’ve given you the steps on how to unpublish Wix, there are also a few things to note. You can’t edit your website while it’s unpublished — even changing your homepage will leave a redirect. So don’t be tempted to go in and add content willy-nilly. Otherwise, you won’t be able to erase it when you’re done. Contact us if you need help.