2026: The Best Website Builder for SEO (Which Platform Makes Sense for You?)

Welcome to the great debate of the online business world 🙃

Ask any 5 business owners what website builder is the BEST one and you’ll get 7 different answers, plus a spicy side rant from someone who swears by their fave.

How do I know? Because I’m that person too LOL – I have opinions based on working with HUNDREDS of different businesses, as an SEO expert (and a previous web design/dev) for 10+ years.

Never mind how overwhelming it is to Google “best website builder for SEO” and get hit with hot takes like:

• “WordPress is the ONLY option.”
• “Squarespace is so underrated!”
• “Squarespace is TRASH for SEO”
• “Wix is THE BEST” – it’s not, I’m convinced they just have a good affiliate/sponsorship program lol
• “Website platforms don’t even matter for SEO!”

What’s interesting is that the answer to “what’s the best website platform for SEO” is NOT the same across the board.

Why?

Because it depends on your goals, your tech comfort level, and how much SEO work you’re actually planning to do (more on that later).

Note: This guide isn’t for developers building custom-coded masterpieces or massive enterprise sites with a full IT team on deck. It’s for small-to-midsize business owners who need a solid, SEO-friendly platform without spending a fortune or dealing with tech headaches. So don’t come @ me with your hand coded or vibe coded options lol.

Are you a creative, service provider, online business owner, or product-based brand trying to pick the best website platform for SEO so that you don’t sabotage your chances of showing up in Google?

Then you want something that works with you, not against you. (And ideally something you can actually update yourself without breaking into a cold sweat every time you log in.)

Cool, you’ve made it to the right blog post.

Let’s get you some clarity and set the record straight from the beginning…

You CAN Get SEO Results with Any of the Popular Platforms:

As an SEO expert that’s been in the online business space for over 10+ years, I’ve seen websites on just about every platform rank on page #1 of Google (and most recently, start to get recommended by AI bots).

🔥 My good friend Sara from BTL Copy has her website on Showit & she ranks #1 on Google, and gets a TON of monthly traffic to her site: Betweenthelinescopy.com 

🔥 One of my previous clients, DLH Screenprinting has their website on Squarespace, and they kill the game with their local SEO traffic: View SEO Results case study video here!

🔥 Growth Generators website is on Wix and it ranks on page #1 of Google: Growth-generators.com

🔥 My website, the one you’re reading this blog post on, is WordPress, and I’ve ranked on page #1 on Google for YEARS.

🔥 We’ve gotten one of my eCommerce clients using the Shopify platform on page #1 of Google too: Carlashawfashion.com

Why Are These Sites Getting Great SEO Results, Regardless of the Platform?

Because ranking on Google (and showing up in AI results) isn’t just about the platform you build your website on.

Yes, your website setup matters. But even the most “SEO-friendly” platform won’t magically rank you if you’re not doing the actual SEO work.

Before we break down what to look for in a platform, I want to zoom out for a sec and highlight what’s really moving the needle behind the scenes on all these high-performing websites.

Here’s what works across the board, even in the age of AI…

Things That Help Get Your Website to Page #1

1. Content Is King/Queen (Still!)

These sites are publishing valuable, original, and in-depth content that answers real questions people are searching for. Not fluff. Just helpful, strategic content. 

This content can be blog posts, product/collection pages, services pages, case studies, landing/sales pages, or a combination of a bunch of them.

But regardless, the CONTENT is good, and it’s FINDABLE because it’s connected to good keywords that match intent for the searcher (aka they have a good content + keyword strategy). Get out of the guessing game with my post on beginner-friendly SEO keyword research.

2. On-Page SEO Basics Are Covered

They’re optimizing the key spots:

• SEO Page titles
• Meta descriptions
• Headers (H1s, H2s, etc)
• Image file names & alt text
  These things still matter. And doing them well signals to Google, “Hey, this page is legit.”

3. Technical Aspects Aren’t Ignored

• Fast loading speeds (especially on mobile)
• A clear, clean website structure
• No broken links
• Proper use of 301 redirects when URLs change (something some course platforms don’t allow 👀)

4. Authority Building Through Backlinks

They’ve earned (or strategically acquired) backlinks from other trusted websites, which boosts credibility in Google’s eyes.

5. Smart Internal Linking

They’re linking between pages in a way that helps both humans and bots navigate the site AND spreads that good ol’ authority juice throughout.

The Bottom Line?

Even if you’re using a platform that has the SEO basics baked in…it’s what you do with that setup that determines your results.

And good news? That’s something you can control regardless of the platform you’re using.

Because the best website platform for SEO totally depends on your situation, like:

• How many pages you’ll need
• Which style of website you like/need
• Whether you want to DIY or hire help
• Whether you’ve got a dev or designer on your team
• How much control you want over SEO settings (and how much you even want to learn about them)
• Your tolerance for tech headaches

All of this matters when making the decision, so REGARDLESS of what I say below, I want you to keep this in mind.

Now, let’s break down what actually makes a website platform SEO-friendly, so you know what to look for if you’re still in decision mode…

Features That Make a Website Platform SEO-Friendly  

If you’re choosing a platform with SEO in mind, here’s what to look for:

✅ SEO Basics

You should be able to add or edit:

• Page titles (aka SEO titles)
• Meta descriptions (those snippets that show up in Google)
• Alt text for images
• Different heading tags (h1, h2, h3, h4, etc)

As an SEO pro, I’d ALSO always like the option to add code to the header of a website. This helps with adding Google Analytics, connecting Google Search Console, and adding schema markup.

✅ Clean URL Structures

Good platforms let you customize your page URLs.
You want clean, readable links, like this /about instead of /page-id=13542

Bonus points if the platform automatically creates SEO-friendly URLs based on your page name —and lets you tweak them when needed.

✅ Redirect Capabilities (301s FTW)

This one’s huge. When you change a page’s URL (which will happen eventually), you need a way to redirect the old link to the new one.

If your platform doesn’t let you do 301 redirects?
You’re asking for broken links and lost traffic.

✅ Mobile-Responsive Templates

Google’s all-in on mobile-first indexing. That means your site better look good, and work well, on phones.

Choose a platform that uses responsive templates or themes that don’t break the second someone scrolls on an iPhone.

✅ Speed + Performance

Site speed is a ranking factor, and it also impacts user experience. A good platform should support:

• Fast hosting
• Image compression or lazy loading
• Clean, efficient code under the hood
  

✅ Blogging + Content Flexibility

Content = SEO fuel. You’ll want a platform that makes it easy to:

• Add blog posts
• Format headings (H1, H2, etc.)
• Internally link between pages
• Add categories or tags

Some platforms are great for product pages or static sites but aren’t the best when it comes to blogging. Keep that in mind if content is part of your SEO plan.

So, does the website builder/platform actually matter for SEO?

Yes and no. It depends on context.

Most popular platforms do handle the bare minimum SEO necessities for you (which is amazing, because no one wants to manually code a sitemap at 10pm while trying to launch their About page).

🛠 That includes things like:

• Mobile responsiveness (which is an SEO ranking factor)
• SSL certificates (you know, that little “secure” lock on your browser)
• Title tags and meta descriptions
• Sitemap generation
• Robots.txt files

The more SEO-friendly platforms have these built in and ready to go, no custom coding, no tech headaches. You just click around, fill out the boxes, and boom, you’re in the game.

BUT… there are platforms that don’t include those things by default. And that’s where people get tripped up.

For example: If you’re using GoDaddy Website Builder, you have to manually add code to every single page just to customize the SEO title and meta description. AND you’ve gotta double-check your mobile responsiveness because that part can be janky out of the box. Not great.

Compare that to platforms like:

• WordPress (self-hosted)
• Squarespace
• Shopify
• Showit
• Webflow
• Wix

👉 All of those have the ability to customize your metadata without touching code. You just type it in the SEO settings boxes that the platform provides.

Easy peasy.

That’s why I always say:

 It’s less about “which platform is best for SEO” and more about:

• Whether the platform gives you enough control
• If you’re comfortable updating it (or working with someone who is)
• If you’re actually going to implement SEO best practices

A site built on any platform can rank…but how much of that work do you want to do manually? And how much do you want the platform to handle for you?

A client of mine tried building her site on a website platform called Funnel Gorgeous Funnels (aka FG Funnels). It looked decent, visually, but it was a pain in the ass for SEO. She had to manually generate her sitemap if she wanted one and every time she added a page, she’d have to manually add that page to her sitemap. No other website platform I’ve ever worked on required that level of manual additions.

The Best Website Builders for SEO (from an SEO Expert).

🏆 WordPress (The Self-Hosted Version aka WordPress.org)

Let me just say it: WordPress is the OG SEO powerhouse.

I’ve been using it for over a decade, and while yes, it has a learning curve, it’s the most flexible, powerful, and future-proof option if you care about visibility, customization, and long-term growth.

✅ What’s great:

• Full control over your content, structure, and SEO settings
• Plugins like Yoast or Rank Math make SEO setup approachable
• Caching plugins & quality hosting can make it lightning fast
• Unlimited design + development customization (if you know what you’re doing)

🚫 Watch out for:

• Steeper learning curve if you’re not tech-y
• You have to manage updates, plugins, backups, etc.
• Can get bloated and slow if you treat it like a digital junk drawer

🎯 Best for:

Business owners who want full control, plan to grow, and aren’t afraid to learn, or outsource a few things.

💬 My candid take:

It’s the “least SEO nightmare” platform in my opinion (but also, I grew up on WordPress). The SEO plugins like RankMath & Yoast are truly incredible, and unmatched on any other platform. If you’re serious about SEO and want flexibility, it’s my top recommendation IF you feel comfortable updating plugins, themes, etc, yourself OR outsourcing.

If you don’t want to worry about having to update the software of your website (and potentially breaking it), OR if you don’t want to outsource updates to a WordPress management agency/expert, my next suggestion would usually be Squarespace.

💡 Squarespace

Squarespace gets a lot of flack in the dev world, but honestly? I think they’ve done an amazing job creating a user-friendly, clean, decently SEO-friendly platform, especially for folks who don’t want to mess with tech.

✅ What’s great:

• Easy to update and manage on your own
• Built-in SEO tools (title tags, meta descriptions, redirects)
• Fast loading and good performance out of the box
• Beautiful templates that don’t look like templates

🚫 Watch out for:

• Limited customization depending on your template
• No access to theme files or plugins
• You don’t have full control over the technical side of SEO

🎯 Best for:

Service-based business owners, coaches, or creatives who want a beautiful site that’s easy to manage, with enough SEO tools to get found (if you use them right).

Squarespace doesn’t have Yoast or RankMath, but you CAN use SEOSpace. I’ve tested this tool/plugin for client websites and was impressed with the level of depth it offers (checkout my SEOSpace review video on YouTube here!)

💬 My candid take:

I’m a fan. Their support team is great, the platform is intuitive, and if you don’t want to deal with having to worry about theme, plugin, and server updates (like you do with WordPress), this is a solid choice. Just make sure the template you choose has strong SEO structure (headers, clean nav, mobile-friendly). 

🛍 Shopify

This one’s easy: If you sell physical or digital products, Shopify is chef’s kiss.

They’re built for eCommerce and it shows. From inventory to checkout to built-in SEO basics, they’ve got what you need.

✅ What’s great:

• Designed for selling—product pages are built to perform
• Fast hosting, secure checkout, mobile-ready
• Basic SEO controls are included
• Integrates easily with marketing tools, email, Pinterest, etc.

🚫 Watch out for:

• Blog and content features are pretty meh
• Less flexibility compared to WordPress
• Apps can add up quickly in price

🎯 Best for:

Product-based businesses that prioritize selling (and want a smooth setup).

💬 My candid take:

If you’re not selling products, Shopify was NOT made for you. But if you ARE? Shopify is an incredible option. Just note, it CAN get quite pricey if you add a bunch of apps to your store to customize it.

🧩 Webflow

I’ll be honest, Webflow isn’t a platform that I personally have any experience with, BUT I’ve got colleagues who swear by it and love the balance of design freedom and SEO control.

If you’re someone who cares deeply about design and visibility, Webflow could be your sweet spot. Just be ready for a bit of a learning curve (or a designer/dev who’s already fluent in Webflow logic).

✅ What’s great:

• Super clean code output, which is great for performance and SEO
• Full control over technical SEO settings (title tags, meta descriptions, canonical tags, etc.)
• Excellent site speed and responsiveness
• Visual CMS for easy content edits

🚫 Watch out for:

• Not super beginner-friendly if you’re DIY-ing with no background
• You’ll likely need to hire a Webflow-savvy designer if you want advanced customizations

🎯 Best for:

Design-forward brands that want a sleek, custom site without sacrificing SEO. Great for startups, agencies, SaaS brands, and businesses scaling up.

💬 My candid take:

I haven’t used Webflow personally (yet), but from what I’ve seen and heard? It’s pretty legit. It’s definitely a step up in complexity, but if you’ve got the resources, or you’re working with a Webflow designer who knows SEO, it can be a killer combo of form and function.

🤔 Wix

Honestly? I used to side-eye Wix. But they’ve come a LONG way.

A few years ago, they hired one of the top SEO experts in the industry to help them improve their platform, and you can tell. The SEO features are solid now, and for someone who wants a drag-and-drop builder with low commitment? It’s worth a look.

✅ What’s great:

• Built-in SEO tools that are actually useful
• SEO checklist/setup is helpful
• Hosting and security handled for you
• More flexible than it used to be

🚫 Watch out for:

• The builder still feels a little clunky to me
• Can get chaotic if you’re not careful with structure
• Some templates are better than others, SEO-wise

🎯 Best for:

Small business owners who want to DIY with an all-in-one solution, and are willing to do a bit of research to use it well.

💬 My candid take:

Not my personal favorite simply because I have more experience with other platforms, but I’m impressed with how far they’ve come. If your site is small, you’re on a budget, and you don’t mind the editor? Go for it. OR if you’re working with a Wix design pro that understands SEO best-practices, it can be a great platform.

🎨 Showit

Okay. Deep breath.

This platform is polarizing in the SEO world, and for good reason.

Designers LOVE Showit for the creative freedom. I, on the other hand, have had to untangle more SEO messes on Showit than I can count. But if you know what to watch for, it can work.

✅ What’s great:

• Gorgeous design options (drag and drop for the win)
• Easy to build a brand-forward, unique site
• Integrates with WordPress for blogging

🚫 Watch out for:

• Tech quirks that affect SEO, like URL changes when you rename pages (WHY??)
• Accessibility issues (Images coded as ‘div’ so the ALT text, even if it’s filled out, is ignored by search engine bots  & lack of semantic HTML elements)
• Hidden elements are part of the page code (aka Google & bots can see it)
• No option for parent/child pages or hierarchical URLs
• Blogging uses WordPress, so a different platform completely, and if you’re not careful, a LOT can slip through the cracks over there
• Can be clunky for mobile 

🎯 Best for:

Visual creatives who LOVE the look and feel of Showit and are willing to put in (or pay for) extra SEO setup work.

💬 My candid take::

This is the platform I have to tweak the MOST for SEO clients. You can rank, but you have to be on your A-game. If you want to dive deeper, this post from another SEO pro I trust breaks it down: Showit SEO Review

⚠️ Additional Mentions (a.k.a. What I Don’t Recommend for SEO)

These platforms pop up a lot, but I wouldn’t recommend them if SEO is a REAL priority:

• Weebly: I just think there are better options (aka Wix or Squarespace lol)
• GoDaddy or Google Website Builder: Looks quick and easy, but has major limitations and performance issues.
• Canva Sites: Cool idea for quick one-pagers or link-in-bio pages, but not SEO-friendly enough for a legit site.

What About Course Platforms Like Kajabi, Kartra, and Podia?

Ah yes, the “you can build your whole website here too!” pitch. 😅

Course platforms like Kajabi, Kartra, Podia, Teachable, and similar all technically let you build basic website pages in addition to your course, membership, or digital product setup.

And honestly? If you’re bootstrapping your business and just need a place to host your offers, content, and a couple landing pages, these platforms are fine in the beginning.

But just remember…

They’re course platforms first, not website platforms.

So while you’ll get some essential features like:

• SEO title and meta description fields
• Clean URLs
• Basic templated pages
• Mobile-responsive themes
• SSL
• Header tags (H1-H6)
• Image alt text
• Google Analytics integration

That’s kinda where the good stuff ends.

Here’s what you’re missing out on if you try to use a course platform as your main website hub:

🚫 No access to technical SEO settings

• No ability to manage or customize your sitemap or robots.txt (at all, or sometimes you need a more expensive plan to do this)
• No access to schema or structured data settings (at all, or sometimes you need a more expensive plan to do this)

🚫 No built-in 301 redirects

• This is a big one. If you ever need to delete or change a page URL (which happens all the time as your site evolves), you can’t set up a redirect—which means you’ll end up with broken links, lost traffic, and annoyed users (and Google 😬).

🚫 Limited design + navigation flexibility

• You’re working within templates made for course delivery, not full-service websites. So things like advanced menus, custom page layouts, and navigation logic can feel clunky or super restricted.

🚫 Harder to scale SEO strategy over time

• You’re basically stuck doing the bare minimum SEO-wise, which can limit your growth if you start blogging, building landing pages, or trying to rank for different types of content.

💬 My candid take:

Course platforms are great for delivering paid content and offers. But if long-term SEO visibility, content marketing, or brand building is your goal, you’re better off pairing your course platform with a separate, SEO-friendly website platform (like WordPress, Webflow, Squarespace, Wix, or Shopify, depending on your needs).

Here’s the quick Breakdown:

• For Maximum Control & Scale: WordPress
• For Ease of Use & Strong Basics: Squarespace or Wix.
• For Code-Friendly Designers/Devs: Webflow.
• For Designers: Showit, Squarespace, or WordPress.
• For E-commerce: Shopify.

So, Which Platform Should You Use?

Instead of asking “What’s the BEST platform for SEO?” — ask this instead:

✨ What platform gives ME the right balance of control, ease, and flexibility for what I want to build and rank?

By reading up to this point, you’ve learned that you can rank on ANY platform…if you:

• Understand SEO basics
• Structure your site properly
• Write helpful content that speaks to your people
• Take care of the techy stuff (or hire someone who can)

It’s not about finding the “perfect” platform.

It’s about using the one you choose, and using it WELL.

Want to Know How Your Current Website Stacks Up?

Already have a site live and wondering how it’s actually performing when it comes to SEO?

👀 Is Google even noticing it?
Are AI bots understanding what your site’s about?
Are you missing any easy wins?

✨ Grab my free SEO Assessment & Scorecard to find out!

It’s a quick, non-techy way to check your site’s visibility, structure, and SEO potential — so you can stop guessing and start making small changes that move the needle.

➡️ Click here to get the SEO Assessment & Scorecard