Introduction
This article will provide you with our list of the best website builders for SEO, which you can check out via our conversion chart below. Also, we will cover each website builder on our list in more detail, and you will be able to learn about the features, prices, and services each builder offers.
Check Our Top 6 Best SEO Website Builders:
- Squarespace – best for business websites
- Wix Website Builder – best overall website builder for SEO
How Do We Test and Rank?
When making our list, we do not just pick random website builders and put them on it in whatever order we like. Determining which builders are the best and offer the services takes time and a lot of research. Also, not many people can do the needed research and understand which builder is better than the other since doing so requires knowledge about building websites and the industry in general.
That is why we have a team of experts who conduct the necessary research and put each website builder through a series of tests to determine which builders are the best. That is how we created our ranking system. Also, our team of experts buys plans from each website builder and tests out the features it offers directly.
We rank each SEO builder based on five factors that are important for SEO. Also, we assign specific percentages to each factor depending on how important they are for SEO.
- Ease-of-use (20%): how easy it is to use the builder, how steep is the learning curve, do you need to have coding or other tech-related knowledge to use the builder, is the builder’s Control Panel easy to navigate through, is the dashboard well organized
- SEO features (30%): does the builder offer enough SEO features and guides, how good are the builder’s SEO features, will your website be optimized for SEO
- Price (25%): does the builder offer good value for money, do you get a good amount of features and tools for the price you are paying, is there a free plan, is there a free trial, will you be able to get your money back if you don’t like the services from the builder
- Customer Support (10%): what kind of support does the builder offer (live chat, email, phone, ticketing system), how long does the builder take to respond to customers, does the builder’s support team possess the skills and ability to solve problems efficiently, does the builder offer any tutorials or guides,
- Features (15%): what kind of features does the builder offer in its plans, are the features valuable and efficient, are the features enough to build a fully-functioning website, are the features easy to use and add to your website
How to Pick the Best Website Builder for SEO
When picking the best website builder for SEO, there are a few essential factors you need to consider. First and foremost, you should look for a builder that is easy to use and suitable for everyone, including people who are not familiar with the tech industry and have not created a website in the past.
When gauging a builder’s ease of use, you need to consider a few things:
- The builder’s intuitiveness: usually, the easiest builders to use are those that offer a simple interface with drag-and-drop functionality. Drag-and-drop editors are easy to use because they allow users to drag the elements you want to put on your website and drop them wherever you want.
- Learning curve: the learning curve indicates how long it will take you to learn how to set up and manage your website. Some builders are easier to use than others, so you will not have to spend a lot of time learning how to use them.
- Speed of the setup process: if you want to get online as fast as possible, you should look for a builder that can help you do so fast – in a few hours.
The next factor you should consider when picking a website builder is scalability. Most website builders use standardized code for building websites which allows you to create a site with various features they offer. However, when judging the scalability of a website builder, you need to consider whether you will need to be able to write your own code or add your own custom features. Another thing to consider when it comes to the scalability of a website builder is third-party integrations. Namely, for a website builder to be truly scalable, it needs to be able to integrate with many third-party apps so that you can get the best functionality for your website.
Other factors you should look out for include the following:
- Marketing tools;
- Analytics tools;
- Niche features;
- Design;
The Top 6 Best SEO Website Builders
- Overall Score: 4.9
- Ease-of-use: 4.9
- SEO Features: 4.9
- Price: 4.8
- Customer Support: 5.0
- Features: 4.9
Squarespace is a popular website builder that has been the top pick for those looking to create a design-centered website. With Squarespace, you can build a website, add eCommerce features to it or build a fully-functioning eCommerce website, create a blog, and add advertisements to your website.
Also, Squarespace offers a good range of SEO tools that can help your website’s rankings and can help you fully optimize your website for SEO.
Pros:
- Design-centered builder
- Drag-and-drop builder
- Integration with more than 30 social media platforms
- Ability to access the source files
Cons:
- Not as beginner-friendly compared to its competitors
- No free plan
Squarespace is best known for its excellent designs and ease of use. It is best for those who want to showcase their business online and advertise it to a large audience.
Plan | Personal | Business | Commerce (Basic) | Commerce (Advanced) |
Price | US $19/month | US $33/month | US $36/month | US $65/month |
Number of Products | None | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Free Trials | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Additional Feature |
|
|
|
|
Unique features:
SEO tools
Building your website with Squarespace will allow you to have a suite of integrated SEO features that will help your website rank better on Google and other search engines. You will also get helpful SEO guides that will tell you what you need to do to improve your overall SEO. With Squarespace, you will get the following SEO capabilities:
- The ability to add different page titles to every web page;
- The Ability to add different meta descriptions to every web page;
- Customize the URLs of every web page;
- Add headings (H1, H2, and H3);
- The ability to edit image alt tags;
- 301 redirects;
- SSL encryption is available in all Squarespace plans;
- Search engine instructions;
- Built-in integration with Google Analytics;
- Ability to connect your website with Google Search Console;
- The ability to hide a page from search engines;
- Sitemaps in the .xml format.
With Squarespace, you can also inject your own code and implement more complex SEO techniques into your website. However, to do so, you will need to know how to write the code yourself and have a certain level of technical knowledge.
Squarespace Extensions
Squarespace offers integration with many third-party apps, including apps for shipping and fulfillment, finance, inventory and products, and sales and marketing. Although its offer is not as extensive as Wix’s, you can find many useful third-party apps to add to your website and boost its functionality.
You can also use Squarespace’s logo maker, marketing tools, email marketing tools, scheduling tools, and social media tools for your website.
Squarespace is an excellent website builder ideal for those looking for unique designs and templates. It also comes with helpful SEO features and guides that can help your website be seen and rank higher on the Internet. If you want to learn more about Squarespace, you can read our expert review on the builder.
- Overall Score: 5.0
- Ease-of-use: 5.0
- SEO Features: 5.0
- Price: 5.0
- Customer Support: 4.9
- Features: 5.0
Wix is one of the most prominent website builders we have available today. It comes packed with excellent features and customization tools that allow users to build amazing websites. But is it good for SEO?
Wix is a website builder that takes SEO quite seriously, as every builder should. It has its own Wix SEO Wiz that helps users get their website ready for SEO and offers great SEO-centered tools.
Pros:
- 800+ high-quality templates
- Easy to use
- Wix ADI Builder
- Wix SEO Wiz
Cons:
- The free and Connect Domain plans show Wix branded ads on websites
- No migration
Wix is best known for its large amount of high-quality templates and features. It is best for small business websites and personal websites.
Plan | Connect Domain | Combo | Unlimited | VIP |
Price | US $4.50/month | US $8.50/month | US $12.50/month | US $24.50/month |
Number Of Products | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
Free Trial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Additional Feature |
|
|
|
|
Unique features:
Wix SEO Wiz
Wix’s SEO Wiz creates a personalized SEO plan for Wix users. Out of the essential SEO elements that you need to have, Wix checks quite a few boxes. Namely, it provides:
- Page titles are available for all of your website pages;
- Meta descriptions for all of your website pages;
- The ability to customize the URLs on all of your website pages;
- The ability to add headings (from H1 to H6);
- Editable image alt tags;
- 301 redirects;
- SSL encryption in all of its plans;
- Search engine instructions that are available for web pages;
- Integration with Google Search Console;
- Personalized SEO Setup checklist;
- Integration with Google Analytics;
- An automatic Google indexing feature.
In addition to the features and tools we mentioned above, Wix also provides good loading speeds, which is also essential for SEO. It also has a huge app market where you can find hundreds of apps to add to your website.
Also, you can find numerous guides and tutorials on SEO on Wix’s website. So, you can learn and find solutions to many potential issues you might face without having to contact Wix’s support team at all.
Wix ADI
Wix is one of the most beginner-friendly website builders out there. Not only does it provide numerous helpful tutorials and guides, but it also offers users the option to use its ADI to create their website. With Wix’s ADI, you will not have to build your website yourself.
Namely, you will have to answer a few questions about your website and your business, and the ADI will build your website based on those answers. What’s best, the ADI will create your website in a matter of minutes, and you’ll be ready to go online sooner rather than later.
Wix is a website builder that offers everything you need to create an excellent fully-functioning website. It has also been improving its SEO tools and is currently one of the best overall website builders for SEO on the market. If you want to learn, you can do so by reading our expert review on Wix.
Get Your Website SEO-Ready
To get your website SEO-ready, you need to include the following essential elements in your website:
- Meta title and meta description: the meta title is the title that will be shown in Google search results. The meta description is a short summary of your content and will also be shown in Google search results. Both the meta title and meta description should be short and to the point, and both should contain the primary keyword you choose for your content. For example, if you are writing an article about the best website builders for SEO, you probably want it to show up when people search for SEO-optimized SEO builders. Thus, your meta title and meta description should contain the keyword by which people will find your article.
- URL structure: you can also edit the URL of your website or article to contain words that you want. When editing your URL, you should also put your main keyword in the URL and keep it short. That way, you will boost your SEO even more and rank up on Google and other search engines.
- Image alt text: if you put photos on your website, blog, or article, you need to put alt text on all your images that will appear instead of the images if they fail to load. If you have more than one image on your website, you should include the main keyword in most of them to boost your SEO.
- Backlinks: backlinks are external links you can add that link back to your website and help you add credibility to your content.
- Site speed: a fast site speed will improve your users’ experience while using your website and thus help it rank better on Google. Search engines, in general, take into account how fast your site loads when ranking it, so having a fast and reliable site speed is a must for every website.
- Mobile-responsiveness: search engines also take into account whether your website is optimized for mobile when ranking it, so using a website builder that allows you to create a fully mobile-optimized website is the way to go.
Website Builders’ SEO & Their Limitations
Most website builders do not fully integrate SEO into their process of creating a website. Their guides usually consist of some basic SEO tips that don’t tell the whole story. SEO elements like a call-to-action or capturing email addresses are not even mentioned in most guides, and those are elements your website needs for its SEO optimization.
Your website’s design affects SEO more than you think. Thus, most website builders need to boost their SEO integration for you to be able to create a fully-integrated SEO website. The limitations of website builders’ SEO include:
- Global title tags: as we mentioned, meta titles and meta descriptions are the core of SEO, and without having unique meta titles and meta descriptions on all of your website’s pages, you will find yourself at a disadvantage from the start.
You place your keywords in your title tags, and title tags are what you see in the SERPs, in your browser, and on other websites. If your website builder does not allow you to change your title tags, your site’s keywords and phrases will be limited. Each title tag should reflect what is on each page, and with global title tags, you will miss out on opportunities to be found under multiple keywords and phrases.
- No integration with Google Analytics: Google Analytics is an essential tool for every website. It shows you what people are doing when they visit your website, what they’re clicking on, and how long they stay on your website. Most website builders (more specifically, free website builders) do not allow you to integrate Google Analytics into your website, leaving you at a significant disadvantage. Without it, you won’t be able to track the number of visitors, how long they stay on your website, which pages they visit, and other essential statistics. Tracking those statistics can help you improve your website and make it even more attractive to people, but without Google Analytics, you won’t be able to do any of that.
Do I Need Any Other Tools Besides My Website Builder?
The answer to this question depends on which website builder you choose and what kind of SEO tools and features it offers. However, if you opt for a free website builder or one with limited SEO features, you will need more tools to boost your SEO and make your website fully SEO-optimized. Some of those tools include:
- Web analytics: the most popular tool for web analytics is Google Analytics because it is a powerful tool that is free to use. However, you have to make sure that your website builder allows you to use it on your website and offers an easy way to install it.
- Google Search Console: since Google is the most popular search engine out there, it’s worth it to install Google Search Console and add it to your website. With it, you can see what your SEO issues are, and you will speed up the Google indexation process of your website.
- SERP tracking tool: with a SERP tracking tool, you will be able to keep track of a large number of keywords at the same time. Also, some SERP tracking tools send notifications, send warnings when you are behind and losing ground, and notify you when you’re ahead of your competition. They also provide an in-depth analysis of how your keywords are ranking.
- MozBar: This tool allows you to access crucial SEO and social metrics and performs page analysis where you can check your SEO titles, descriptions, alt text, and more.
All of the tools we mentioned above are free to install and use and can significantly help your site’s SEO and overall rank on Google and other search engines.
Last Words on SEO Website Builders
Deciding whether a particular website builder will satisfy all your needs and provide all the tools and features you need to build a fully SEO-integrated website can be impossible to do on your own. However, by using our recommendation system, you can easily find the ideal website builder for you and get started with creating your website.
So, to save time, you can pick one of the ten website builders from our list that you deem is the best for you. You can also use the tips we provided above to determine what you need from your website builder and what to look out for when choosing a builder.