CMS is short for Content Management System. CMS’s are software that enable you to host and manage your website with ease and efficiency.
Choosing the best CMS platform is not only important as a crucial element in running your website effectively but also to boost your SEO. Your CMS can have an impact on your SEO with various features provided within the system, so it’s important to know what each one does it best so that you can make an informed decision about which one you want to use.
Understanding SEO and CMS
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is how you optimize your site in order to make it more visible in search engine results. With lots of potential traffic coming through search engines, SEO practices are crucial for you to achieve the best online success possible with your site.
Much of the discussion around SEO tends to focus on SEO keyword optimization and backlinks, but CMS can have an enormous impact on your SEO, too.
Key SEO factors influenced by CMS include:
- Mobile optimization
- Site speed
- SEO-friendly URLS
- Analytics
- Third-party integrations
Which CMS is best for SEO?
In order to make the most of these CMS influenced factors, you need to understand the top CMS platforms for SEO and their capabilities. Each CMS has different strengths and weaknesses, so it’s important to break down how each CMS works and what they are best at.
This way, rather than just asking which CMS is best for SEO, you can ask which CMS is best for your specific SEO needs.
- WordPress
WordPress is one of the most popular CMS, powering over 40% of websites globally. It is well known for its ease of use and customization options, as well as its great SEO friendly features. This is a great overall option for any business, making it the top contender when it comes to which CMS is best for SEO.
SEO Friendly Features:
- Plugins such as Yoast SEO, All in One SEO, and Rank Math help optimize pages with keyword suggestions and readability checks.
- Customizable meta tags in titles and descriptions for better indexing.
- Sitemaps to help search engines index sites efficiently.
- SEO-focused themes.
2. Drupal
Drupal is an open-source CMS that is well known for its flexibility and scalability. This makes it ideal for large and complex websites, such as those for large organizations or government agencies, as they are able to handle high traffic and large amounts of data.
Seo Friendly Features:
- Automatically generates SEO-friendly URLs with Pathauto.
- Allows easy management of meta tags.
- Automatically generates and submits sitemaps for indexing.
- Offers themes that are highly customizable for mobile responsiveness.
- Offers granular control over content, metadata, and layout, allowing for extensive customization.
3. Shopify
Shopify is specifically designed for online stores, with lots of features that enable you to customize your store while also ensuring secure transactions for your customers. It also provides marketing tools and inventory management.
SEO Friendly Features:
- Automatically includes structured data for products, making it easier for search engines to understand and display product information.
- Includes free SSL certificates, ensuring secure transactions.
- Enhances search results with additional product details like star ratings, prices, and availability.
4. Wix
Wix is designed to help those with minimal tech experience build websites with ease. Its simplicity means that beginners can use it while still taking advantage of the SEO features included in the platform.
SEO Friendly Features:
- Allows easy customization of meta titles and descriptions.
- Users can add alt-text to images, which is important for image and on-page SEO.
- All Wix templates are mobile-optimized.
- Offers seamless integration with Google Analytics, enabling you to track and analyze your SEO performance.
5. Joomla
Joomla is another great CMS for large and complex sites. It offers powerful tools for content management, user management, and customization. It’s a top choice for community-driven websites and social networks, thanks to its extensive customization options.
SEO Friendly Features:
- Allows for easy management of meta tags for individual pages and content.
- A wide range of SEO extensions are available to enhance Joomla’s SEO capabilities.
- Allows full control over URL structures, enabling businesses to create SEO-friendly, human-readable URLs.
6. HubSpot
Hubspot is an AI-powered platform focused on marketing, sales, and customer service. If you’re looking to streamline your sales and marketing for your business and raise your customer engagement, then this is the best CMS for you.
SEO Friendly Features:
- Provides a built-in set of SEO tools that help optimize on-page elements like titles and meta descriptions directly within the CMS.
- HubSpot’s SEO tool offers actionable on-page SEO recommendations, such as optimizing headers, improving readability, and adding internal links.
- Includes lead generation tools, such as forms, landing pages, and email automation.
7. Squarespace
Squarespace is best known for its design-focused templates, which allow you to drag and drop without having to understand coding. This makes it the perfect choice for beginners and creatives who want their site to focus on visuals.
SEO Friendly Features:
- Squarespace templates are designed with SEO in mind, with easy customization of metadata and title tags.
- Templates automatically adjust to mobile screens.
- Offers seamless integration with Google Analytics, enabling users to track SEO performance and providing valuable insights for optimization.
8. Adobe Commerce (Magento):
Adobe Commerce (formerly Magento) is a highly customizable e-commerce platform. This is one of the best options for large businesses with complex needs, as it provides multi-store functionality, customizable checkout processes, and extensive third-party integrations. This is ideal for those who want full control of their store’s design.
SEO Friendly Features:
- SEO-optimized templates provided.
- Mobile-friendly design is a key feature.
- Automatically generates XML sitemaps so search engines can index effectively.
- Supports structured data markup, allowing search engines to better understand product pages, which improves rich snippets in search results.
- Offers control over URL structure, allowing businesses to create SEO-friendly URLs.
Choosing the Right CMS for Your SEO Needs
As you can see, deciding which CMS is best for SEO depends partially on your specific requirements, so it’s important to think about what your goals for your site are.
Best CMS for small businesses and freelancers: Wix or Squarespace
Best CMS for bloggers and content creators: WordPress
Best CMS for E-commerce business: Shopify or Adobe Commerce
Best CMS for large businesses with customization needs: Joompla or Drupal
Best CMS for marketing and sales integration: Hubspot
Why Should You Work With SEO Baguette?
At SEO Baguette, we can work with you to make sure that you are utilizing your CMS to achieve the best possible SEO results. We can cover the basics of on-page SEO, such as keyword optimization, but we can also help you get the most out of your CMS by optimizing your technical SEO.
This includes working on elements of your site like:
- Site speed optimization
- Crawlability and indexability
- Mobile responsiveness
- Structured data markups
- XML sitemaps and robots.txt optimization
With our help, you can get help deciding which CMS is best for your SEO needs and then optimize it so it’s working to help your site perform at its highest potential.
