Which Website Platform has the Best SEO?
When it comes to building a website, there are countless great options. Wordpress is the default for most business owners, but Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace are all starting to make a rise in the small business space. ShowIt is used by a lot of creatives and photographers, and I’m sure there are countless others I haven’t even mentioned! I get asked a lot about which platform is the best for Search Engine Optimization, so I’m here to give a very definitive answer:
None of them are. And all of them are.
I could finish my blog with that, but let me explain a little bit further! There are a few considerations when choosing a website platform in the first place before we even dive into the question of SEO:
What can you afford to build?
What can you afford to maintain?
Can your website grow with you for the next 1-2 years?
The platform that will give you the most control over content, design, and ultimately your SEO (in some ways) is Wordpress…but that does NOT mean it’s the right option for you! In fact, over 7 years into business, I still operate on Squarespace for a number of reasons…
1) Wordpress is ideal for those who can afford to pay for good website design. I’m currently in a place to be able to pay for that, but I most definitely was not for many years. I needed a solid, well-designed website on a very low budget, and Wordpress is one of the more complicated platforms to use. I chose Squarespace because it’s easy to make it look good with no web knowledge, and while there are definitely some limitations as a result, I wanted to be able to maintain control over my web presence without always having to pay for design upgrades. At the time, Wix and Weebly did not have great templates, but that’s changed now - I would seriously consider either one if I was building a website now!
2) Platforms with an ‘out-of-the-box ready’ option are often easier to use when integrating SEO. Again, Wordpress has some amazing options and plugins that can absolutely help your search engine marketing, but they are better for tech-savvy entrepreneurs or web designers. On the more ready-to-use platforms, there are simple places where you can input SEO keywords and tags, rather than having to search and figure out for yourself what works.
3) Website design is important, but content can be created on any platform. Don’t get me wrong - it’s extremely important for website visitors to have a good experience with a website that loads quickly, and in 2021 this will become even more important. However, you can create excellent content - and therefore improve your search engine rankings - on any platform.
If you’re not sure where to start, just start! There is no ‘wrong’ choice, and in the future when/if you can afford to pay a web developer, content can be migrated and websites can always be redesigned. Focus on serving your target market, and your SEO is bound to improve no matter what platform you choose.
I’d love to hear from you - what web platform are you using and why? Do you love it, or wish you had gone a different direction?
