Which Website Platform Has the Best SEO?

It’s astounding - the number of business owners I meet who start out on one web platform, only to switch a year later.

The reason? 

Plenty of website builders claim to host the best, low cost solution for small businesses…

…but then they:

• Run a cost bait-and-switch: low entry fee, followed by a premium invoice in year 2

• Charge extra for a secure domain, a feature that most platforms simply include

• Don’t scale well for SEO

The worst part?

The extra time & expense that’s involved in switching platforms and building a whole new website…

…from scratch…

…after just one year!

I wrote this article to help you identify the best web platform for you, especially when it comes to the longevity and searchability of your website.

The Worst Offenders

First off, which platforms to stay away from! These are the sites that have the most frequent horror stories.

GoDaddy

Price

GoDaddy is fantastic at promoting its low entry costs…only to increase the price after a year and resulting in most small business owners to switch.

Minimal SEO Capabilities

At most, GoDaddy only allows you to edit the title and description you see in search results.

This isn’t enough to rank well on search engines or AI.

And with Google’s recent push toward natural language (goodbye AI-generated copy), GoDaddy’s history of promoting keyword stuffing will bury you in search engine rankings, making your content efforts a waste of time.

Instead, you need a more robust SEO toolset that allows you to do tech SEO, such as schema markup, the behind-the-scenes code that lets Google display display stars and cost right in search results.

GoDaddy just isn’t there.

Performance

Speed and ease of use is huge for Google’s algorithm.

Google found that when a mobile page’s load time creeps from one second to three, the probability of visitors leaving increases 32%.

Unfortunately, GoDaddy’s notoriously slow load times are a problem when it comes to ranking well.

Lack of an App Marketplace

Need a calendar or a better booking form? Well, with GoDaddy, you’re out of luck. 

Most web platforms have a wide range of apps to choose from on a marketplace. GoDaddy isn’t one of them.

Hostinger

Price

Like GoDaddy, Hostinger has low costs upfront and increased the price in the following years.

Inability to Change Themes

This is mindboggling. 

You are locked into a theme at the start!

If you want to switch (to update your website’s look or functionality), you need to rebuild your entire website, from scratch. Not cool!

Minimal SEO Capabilities 

SEO on Hostinger is also very lackluster. 

You can do a lot of the basics…but the scariest part, as an SEO specialist, is that there is no 301 redirect management.

In plain English, a 301 redirect is like a change of address form. It tells Google, “hey! this page lives over here now.”

Without a redirect, you lose webpage authority every time you change a URL…

...as in, Google stops surfacing your webpages in search results.

And most businesses update URLs more often than you might expect. 

Think about it: A consultant might start out with a single /services page and later split that page into /seo-services and /seo-audits.

With Hostinger, you are locked into that /services URL indefinitely.

Change it & Google doesn’t retain the information it had about your services and doesn’t pass it onto your updated URL.

Add Ons & Plugins

Like GoDaddy, Hostinger has a limited number of plugins, which, again, means that you don’t have many options for calendars, booking forms and more as you grow.

Bonus Points for Hostinger: Performance

Hostinger has surprisingly good site speed, which is a true bonus. 

Unfortunately, it doesn’t make up for the other areas where it’s lacking.

So Which Is the Best Website Platform for SEO?

There are so many factors to consider when choosing a website platform. You don’t know exactly how your website will perform in the long run or what changes you’ll make to your business in 3 years.

A lot of comparison guides look at which website builders perform best overall…

…but a website is more than just a pretty brochure.

You don’t necessarily want a website with the longest feature list either.

No, definitely not.

You want the one that aligns with your business’ goals.

I don’t know about you, but one of my big goals is to increase organic leads…

…you know, those leads that come in “off the street” (well, off of Google or ChatGPT) and say, “you do SEO? excellent, I’m ready to chat about your services!”

And what really moves the needle in obtaining new leads is how robust your website is with:

• Depth of SEO tools: Can you dive deeper than titles and meta descriptions? You don’t just need good looking words on Google’s search results, you also need to show up on Google. (Hello tech SEO, aka schema markup and redirects.)

• Load speed

• Design flexibility

• Long-term costs

You want to build your website fast. Without sacrificing quality.

Scrolling through all of these platforms and their features can feel overwhelming.

At some point, it feels like picking one based on cost or a specific SEO feature is your best bet. 

Don’t settle. 

A choice like this can set the stage for your success.

Here’s a snapshot of how the main platforms stack up:

	Shopify	GoDaddy	Hostinger
Best for	E-commerce	Fast set-up	Budget hosting
Cost	$29 to $360 Has a free trial	Starts at $0.01 for a year $9.99 to $19.99 a month plus domain fees Hidden fees	Starts ~$2.99 / month Jumps to $7-$11 / month on renewal & higher tiers up to $24 / month
Strengths	Easy e-commerce Fast loading speeds Apps to improve SEO	Fast to use Everything is on one dashboard SEO assistance	Fast site speed Low upfront cost All-in-one hosting & builder dashboard
Weaknesses	Only a few apps Limited places to improve SEO	Price increases are high SEO is outdated Limited app marketplace	SEO limitations Locked into starting theme Price hike Limited app marketplace

	Wix	WordPress	Squarespace
Best for	SEO	In-depth website control	Simplicity
Cost	$17 to $159 per month Free plan for basic access to SEO features	$5 to $50 per month Offers a free plan	$25 to $139 a month Offers annual discounts Has a free trial
Strengths	Strong long-term value Good SEO Simple	Let’s you edit every detail Long-term use Tons of SEO features	Simple to use You can handle several SEO aspects in one place Has areas you can tweak SEO
Weaknesses	Slow website speeds Sometimes difficult to navigate	Can get complicated fast Needs constant upkeep	SEO limitations Slow website

Why We Suggest Wix for SEO

All five of these platforms offer SEO to some degree. But for emerging & growing businesses, I suggest Wix.

I know, Wix’s early SEO was rough…

…but it’s come a long way and offers some serious benefits when you use it for your business, especially for SEO:

• Built-in AI to assist with SEO best practices

• Provides SEO-friendly headlines, titles & meta tags

• Strong mobile design to bring in more people & improve SEO

• Customizable URLs

• SEO checklist & SEO optimization across all website pages

• GBP integration for local search

Look, we know as a small business, you have to be a jack-of-all-trades.

But with Wix, you don’t need to build your site from the ground up & it really is one of the best website platforms for SEO & usability.

Instead of using complicated plugins and code to create a website, you can simply drag and drop features and designs.

It takes a few hours and it looks professional.

Of course, even the best websites come with downsides. Wix offers a lot, but in return, you do have some negatives, such as:

• Slow website speed, which can affect your rankings

• With so many features, it’s overwhelming to find everything at first

Isn’t WordPress Still the Best Platform for SEO?

If you are just looking at SEO capabilities, WordPress is hard to beat. It has powerful SEO plugins such as Yoast and RankMath that give you a boost in search results.

There’s a reason it is heavily used by B2B and runs nearly half of the web. In addition to its plentiful plugins for all aspects of your website, it has:

• Fast load speeds for a big boost to SERP rankings

• A fully-customizable design, down to the code

Perfect, right? Unless you’re stretched thin already. 

Full customization sounds great, until you realize all the extra work that means for you.

And how much do you actually want to be in charge of?

You have to host your own website and build it from the ground up, which isn’t easy, and can take months to finalize. 

The last thing you should have to deal with is learning the ins and outs of WordPress while building your business from scratch. 

It can be great in the long run. But you have to be honest with yourself. Can you afford to take the time to learn and build your website on top of everything else?

Another problem is staying on top of the features and constant changes. 

All of those plugins? Epic. Amazing. 

In theory. 

In truth:

• Too many plugins slow down your website

• It’s easy to have too much going on for you & your customers

• All those plugins will need updates, and they can crash or stop working if you miss one

Is Shopify a Good Platform for SEO?

If Wix just isn’t calling to you, Shopify is another great alternative. Especially if your primary goal is e-commerce.

It carries the load when it comes to selling products online. 

• It offers a multi-currency purchase option so you can make sales all around the globe

• It also translates your website into different languages

Of course, Shopify’s built-in SEO features are also a perk

• SEO apps focus on improving meta tags, links, image alt text & boosting traffic

• The sitemap lets you easily adjust all of your information to improve search results

• The features allow Google to display star ratings, prices & availability from your site for quick results with schema

• Works well on mobile devices

• Loads fast

• AI tools make the process even easier

Shopify’s simple SEO layout means it is easy to get the information you need onto your website without any headaches

It’s a great choice if you need your e-commerce established quickly...

...especially if you don’t have time to work through designing and perfecting your pages & SEO. 

This quick setup also leads to its negatives.

A small business owner may find the platform helpful initially. But when it comes to fine-tuning your website & SEO, Shopify starts showing its weaknesses. 

Especially when it comes to expanding. 

• The features are based on app usage, but apps are limited

• Can’t edit sitemaps, which means you’re depending on Shopify for them to be accurate & useful

• URLs, blogs & SEO structures are similarly limited

What about Squarespace for SEO?

Squarespace is best known for its simplicity. A big draw for small businesses looking for a good website builder.

• It needs no technical knowledge

• Your domain, hosting & SSL are all handled from the same spot

• In a few hours, you can have a fully functional website by using its drag-and-drop features

• You can improve your SEO with custom tags, titles, headers, descriptions & alt text

It also has some great SEO tools, like:

• Registering & managing domains

• Setting up email marketing

• Social media integration

• Amazing mobile platforms

All of these features make it perfect for someone just figuring out how to build their own website. 

You can attract clients and share information without having to go above and beyond in figuring out how all the technical aspects work. 

There’s one serious flaw to note. 

Squarespace & redirects are not friends. Unlike many other website platforms, it doesn’t set up redirect links for you, which can easily break your page if you don’t account for this issue.

When it comes to more complex SEO, it also starts to show some flaws

• You can’t customize information much - what you see is what you get

• Has limitations that can slow down a business relatively early on

• The website doesn’t load fast, hurting your SERP rankings

• Changes in layout may remove mobile compatibility 

Case Study: B2B Squarespace Website & Tech SEO

We like to find the biggest bang for our clients' buck to maximize their online presence.

In a recent SEO project, we did the unthinkable.

We obtained 5 new leads for a B2B client on Squarespace...

...in just 1 month!

That's right. It's often unheard of to gain new leads in <3 months, let alone FIVE!

How did we do it?

By publishing just 2 pages of content & bringing their Ahrefs SEO score from Poor to Good.

And much of this work was fixing broken links (setting up redirects).

Just these small tech SEO changes had an enormous impact on our client's bottom line!

The moral of this story?

Don't underestimate the effect of redirects!

And don't underestimate how much another platform - with automated redirects - can boost your leads.

Because business owners have enough to take care of.

Can I Switch Website Platforms Without Losing My SEO?

Sometimes, you need to change up what platform you’re using for your business, but it’s scary to think about losing all your hard work. SEO takes time to build, & you don’t want to lose it all. 

The truth is, switching platforms causes a dip in your traffic.

However, if you take the time to do it correctly, it will be a small setback. 

To minimize the damage, you want to:

• Carry over your domain name

• Keep your slugs the same 

• Retain your titles, meta descriptions & pages

• Set up 301 redirects from every old URL

• Use the opportunity to improve your SEO

• Figure out what keywords are getting your business noticed

The redirect step is the one people skip and the one that hurts most. It is the difference between Google following you to your new address and Google losing track of you entirely.

The Right Website Platform Depends on Your SEO Needs

Overall, we recommend Wix for most small & medium businesses.

However, no two companies are alike. You may find that one of the others works best for you right now. All of these platforms are viable choices.

But don’t just think about the present. 

Consider what your business might need in the future.

You can change platforms down the line, but you don’t want to invest heavily in something you’re only going to use for a year or two.