Which is the best CMS for SEO and why?
Search engine optimization is not the same for all CMS platforms. These eight options will allow you to excel in SEO and be ranked on search engines. Your content is probably the most important element of your website, other than your product catalog. It allows people who don’t know you to visit your website and learn more about you, your company, and what products might interest them.
However, they will only read your content if they can locate it. With billions upon indexed pages, this is not an easy task. You must drive search engine traffic to your website. This is the best SEO (Search Engine Optimization) practice.
A content management platform (CMS) will allow you to do many things well and ensure that your site has a steady stream. However, the eight platforms we reviewed are especially good for this purpose if you are focused on SEO.
Best content management systems for SEO:
- WordPress CMS
- HubSpot CMS
- Drupal
- Wix
- Squarespace
- Kentico
What are the key features of a great content management platform for SEO?
Although content management platforms have many great CMS features, they are not equally adept at SEO. While some focus on the structure of your website and how it ranks with search engines and others focus on improving your ability to optimize your content, others will help you. These three elements are essential for SEO in a CMS platform.
1. Page optimization
A good CMS system should be able to create SEO-friendly pages. This is especially important if it helps you design your website and not just manage its content. When designing your website, you should look for a solution that can create HTML pages that search engines can easily crawl and also create SEO-friendly URLs.
This is particularly important if your SEO knowledge is not extensive. SEO-friendly site structure can make a big difference.
2. SEO tools
You will also find it helpful if the platform offers many additional tools and features that can be used to improve your website’s search engine optimization. Some platforms offer their tools, while others provide access to third-party options that you can use.
3. SEO Support
Customer support is essential if you are new to SEO or don’t believe you have the right expertise. Having a platform that provides personalized coaching and other assistance is a huge advantage. This will allow you more time for other things.
Our top choices for content management systems that can be used for SEO
Although there are many great CMS platforms that The Ascent has reviewed, these eight top-rated options will be of particular interest to those who want to focus on SEO.
- WordPress CMS
WordPress is a top-rated website hosting platform. Its SEO-friendly CMS platform makes it a leader in this field. WordPress was specifically designed to perform SEO. It creates HTML pages that search engines and permalinks can easily read. It does much of the backend stuff so that you can concentrate on your content. Additionally, it offers free integrations to other WordPress SEO tools.
Who is it best for? WordPress’s powerful SEO tools and a wide range of integrations make it a great choice. It’s best for an experienced SEO professional who wants to learn more advanced tools.
WordPress SEO Basics: Getting Started
To ensure that your WordPress website is well-built, you must learn how to optimize it.
- Select a reliable hosting provider
- Install an SEO-friendly WordPress theme
- Install a free WordPress SEO plugin
- Get your preferred domain
- Check the visibility settings for your site
- Allow SEO-Friendly Permalinks
- Google Search Console: Verify Your Site & Submit Your Sitemap XML
WordPress SEO Tips: Optimizing Pages and Posts
After you’ve learned the basics of WordPress SEO, you can start optimizing your website and working on the things that will impact how you rank. Before we share a few advanced tactics and tips to help your site reach the next level, let’s first look at SEO.
- HubSpot CMS
HubSpot, a user-friendly CMS, is perfect for SEO beginners. It analyzes pages and provides coaching. This software allows you to take its advice, adjust your website as you create content, and improve your rank in search engines.
It takes much work and experimentation to rank well, so it is helpful to have professionals familiar with the process.
Who is it best for? HubSpot works well for people who need lots of help optimizing their websites for SEO. You can fix SEO issues with your website by getting personal coaching or page analysis.
- GoDaddy Website Builder
GoDaddy provides SEO tools through its Websites & Marketing service. Clicking on the drop-down menu will open an SEO wizard. This wizard suggests keywords and phrases and populates your website with the appropriate titles and meta tags. Although you will still need some SEO knowledge to make the most of this tool, it gives you an advantage.
Who is it best for? Newbies can also use GoDaddy. However, it takes the self-help route. The SEO wizard is a great tool for optimizing your website for search engines.
- Drupal
Drupal has the SEO Tools module for reporting, analysis, and optimization. This dashboard provides analytics tools that show you how your SEO practices are performing. It also gives you suggestions on how to improve them to achieve better rankings. This module will allow you to manage auto-linking and reports, tagging, keyword extract, and many other things.
Who is it best for? Drupal, an open-source CMS platform, is better suited to technical-savvy people. This also applies to Drupal’s SEO tools. Drupal is a great choice if you have some experience and are keen to customize.
- Weebly
Weebly provides helpful content for SEO beginners. It also includes an SEO checklist that you can use to ensure you do everything correctly when creating your site and filling it with content. The Ultimate SEO Guide can be divided into four sections: getting started, keyword research, growth, and tracking. This guide will help you create your comprehensive SEO plan.
Who is it best for? Weebly’s extensive SEO guide starts with the basics and moves on to more advanced concepts. This makes Weebly a great choice for people who are new to SEO but want to continue to learn.
- Wix
Wix is known for its simple platform that helps anyone make a clean and professional-looking website from scratch, but it also has SEO tools. Wix helps you rank in search engines by making websites load quickly and optimizing them for mobile. It also lets you get your site listed on Google in under a minute. Advanced SEO features include a robots.txt editor and SEO patterns.
Who is it best for? Wix was designed for people with little coding experience. The platform’s SEO tool is more geared towards those looking to have the platform do most of the SEO work. It does many things to increase your rank, so you don’t need to focus on keywords.
- Squarespace
Squarespace, like Wix, is well-known for helping businesses create websites from scratch. You can also get SEO-friendly features such as an automatically generated website map and SSL certificates.
These are the essentials that search engines will not penalize you for missing meta tags or other information. However, you can use the Search Keywords panel to identify keywords driving traffic.
Who is it best for? Squarespace automates many behind-the-scenes SEO tasks so you can concentrate on the content. It also allows you to search keywords. This makes Squarespace a good choice for people who only need basic SEO functions, but not too much.
- Kentico
Kentico’s Xperience platform focuses on increasing traffic using superior SEO techniques. This includes creating URLs that are easy to navigate, optimizing HTML code, and complying with important web standards. The Kentico dashboard has a tab called “settings” that allows you to access SEO tools.
Who is it best for? Kentico can be used by those who want to use advanced SEO functions. Although it has some complex features, it is powerful enough to get the job done.
An SEO plan is essential
Effective website management requires good SEO. Although a CMS for small businesses can provide tools that will help you, it cannot replace your SEO knowledge.
Software tools won’t create an SEO plan for you. Get started on your plan by gathering information about your business.
