Update: 05/05/2020

The importance of SEO cannot be overstated, especially if you’re a small business owner looking to gain an advantage over your competitors. Done right, SEO will attract more visitors to your site – and more visitors means more chances of a sale.

But before you can get onto the business of search engine optimization, first, you need a website. There are tons of website building platforms out there; you might have heard of some of these names already thanks to their very aggressive marketing teams – WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace.

If the thought of putting together an entire website on your own doesn’t scare you, these content management systems promise to deliver you the same results that a professional can at a fraction of the cost. However, hiring a web developer – who has spent years training in the top techniques of the trade – is the best and only way to guarantee a professional, clean, and fully-functional website.

One benefit of hiring a web developer is that you won’t have to make the difficult decision of which web building platform is best for your website’s SEO – it’s our job to take care of that for you! Purple Tie Guys handles everything from website strategy, design, content development, and data analytics, saving you the trouble of doing that yourself.

But whether you go for a pro or decide to DIY, it’s helpful to know the difference between content management systems. Here’s a round-up of the three most popular website building platforms, and what SEO features each one has.

WordPress

WordPress began as a blogging platform way back when but has now grown to be one of the biggest and most flexible content management systems. It’s best known for its open source code, which allows developers full access to different customization options and features.

While the basic, out-of-the-box site already comes with enough tools to jumpstart your website, what really sets WordPress apart from the others is its database of tens of thousands of plug-ins and themes that you can use to truly make your site your own. This includes the ever-popular Yoast SEO plug-in that webmasters use to optimize their page for search engine rankings.

Because WordPress began as a blogging site, it’s incredibly easy to update your content regularly. As we say in the SEO industry, content is king, and being able to publish new content frequently is one key to better rankings.

With very little technical know-how, you can start your own WordPress website. The only cost is the service that’s required to host the site. Options for this can be found for less than $2/mo.

Best for

People who have a background in web development and design, or are willing to learn; businesses of any size; people who need easy and fast blogging capabilities

Pros

Option to add over 50,000+ plug-ins that can help boost SEO
Full customization options
Complete control over your website, including technical aspects like page speed
Flawless blogging integration
Customizable URLs, page titles, and metadata descriptions
Optimized for mobile
No monthly fee for using WordPress, only pay for your hosting

Cons

Takes time to learn, delaying your site launch
Less secure because of third-party apps and plug-ins
SEO-boosting plug-ins are necessary for added functionality; not built in

Wix

One of the original drag-and-drop website builders, Wix has moved on from its obsolete Flash-based platform to today’s HTML5 code. Wix’s claim to fame is that it makes it easy for anyone to build their own website from scratch.

Wix recognizes that just having a website isn’t enough in today’s competitive global market, so they launched the Wix SEO Wiz. It’s a complete search engine optimization toolkit that is intuitive and delivers quantifiable results, so much so that Google even acknowledged it in one of their conferences.

“The Wiz”, as its fondly called by the Wix community, analyzes your website and makes suggestions on what to tweak to improve your search engine rankings. It provides you with a thorough checklist of things you can do, such as adding important keywords and editing image alt texts. Wix offered some very convincing statistics for The Wiz: 82% of Wix-ers saw their rankings improve after using it, and over ⅔ of Wix websites have made it to the first search results page.

With options starting at $14/mo, this is a great way to get started.

Best for

Start-ups or small businesses that don’t need a complicated website, or have the time and resources to put one up

Pros

Easy drag-and-drop, all-inclusive website builder; can launch a site quickly
Access to SEO toolkit “The Wiz”
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
Automatic and instant indexing
Automatic site mapping for premium accounts
Automatic free SSL certification
Customizable URLs
Integration with Google Analytics and Google Search Console
Access to SEO add-ons from the Wix App Market
Wix Site Booster
Optimized for sharing on social networks
Optimized for mobile
Integrated blogging capabilities

Cons

Less flexibility in terms of functionalities
Not optimized for large businesses or websites that require multiple pages
Difficult to implement advanced SEO techniques
Design limited to what templates they have
Monthly fees

Squarespace

The newest player of the bunch, Squarespace is known for its gorgeous design above all else. Just like Wix, Squarespace allows you to build your own website based off of exclusive, customizable templates. It’s not particularly well-known for its SEO-boosting capabilities, but they do incorporate some tools that allow you to optimize your site for search engine rankings.

Starting at $16/mo (and discounts if you buy annually), this is a great option for anyone.

Best for

Creative content or design-oriented brands

Pros

Easy, drag-and-drop interface with inclusive domain and web hosting
Free SSL certificates
Automatically-generated sitemap and metadata
Automatic tagging
Clean URLs and HTML markup
Customizable URLs, titles, and page descriptions
Google Analytics integration
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
Optimized for mobile
Integrated blogging with third-party apps like Google Drive and Evernote

Cons

Less flexibility and control over your website
Fewer templates than Wix or WordPress
Limited e-commerce options
Not as friendly for SEO beginners
Design limited to what templates they have
Monthly fees

Conclusion

Ultimately, it’s not really about what website builder you choose, it’s about the content you create. Good content and quality backlinks are more important factors in your SEO ranking; in fact, Google itself has said that what website building platform you use doesn’t factor into your ranking.

Google ranks you based on how useful and authoritative your content is for your keywords. If people find your content relevant and trustworthy, you will rank higher. Most website builders provide pretty similar SEO features, so it’s really about how well you’re able to take advantage of them.

That being said, WordPress has a slight advantage over other content management systems. While it is more difficult to learn, it will provide you with more flexibility and SEO tools in the long run. With its blogging roots, it’s great for publishing lots of quality content and boosting your on-page SEO. Thousands of plug-ins can be incorporated into your site, letting you fine-tune your website for better rankings.

Go for the pros

SEO is way more than just what platform you use to build your website. Even if you go for a drag-and-drop website builder like Wix or Squarespace, there are still a ton of SEO techniques you’ll have to master if you want to get a much-coveted spot on the first search results page.

Good SEO combines web development, psychology, marketing, and so much more. Instead of spending the rest of your life getting the hang of it, it’s easier (and more cost-effective) to hire someone who’s already done all the difficult legwork for you.

Purple Tie Guys is a leading SEO specialist and web developer based in Huntsville, Al. We can not only build your website, but provide custom web strategies and solutions to boost your rankings, reach your customers, and increase your profits.