Which is the Best CMS for SEO in 2024?

If you have been looking for a CMS that’s just perfect for SEO, you are not alone.

SEO is getting more attention in 2024, with many businesses looking to grab a prime spot in top search engine rankings. If your website fails to deliver on this front, you risk losing rankings and potential customers.

The good news is many Content Management Systems (CMSs) now come with built-in SEO features.

The only question is – which is the most SEO-friendly CMS in 2024?

That’s what we’ll reveal in this post.

But first, let’s understand what features make a CMS more SEO-friendly.

7 Must-Have Features for an SEO-friendly CMS in 2024

When it comes to search engine optimization, the CMS must have features like:

1. Intuitive Dashboard

An intuitive dashboard can pull data from different third-party plugins and SEO tools, making it easier to keep track of everything. Without such a dashboard, you will need to switch between SEO tools constantly, which is not only tedious but also time-consuming.

2. SEO Plugin Support

Popular SEO plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math offer advanced optimization features, such as keyword analysis, plagiarism checker, and automated suggestions. But more importantly, these plugins help you implement effective SEO strategies without tweaking the code.

3. Responsive Themes

A responsive theme helps your website work seamlessly on all devices, from desktops to mobiles. Selecting a CMS with a wide range of responsive themes means you can tap into more than half the web traffic coming from mobile phones and rank higher in local search results.

4. Page Speed

If your website’s load time goes from 1 second to 3 seconds, the bounce rate can increase by 32%. However, a CMS optimized for speed with features like caching and image compression can help reduce load times and improve overall user experience.

5. Quick Redirects

Search engine crawlers can’t crawl broken links, and you risk losing your rankings without redirects. But if your CMS supports an SEO plugin like Yoast or has built-in redirect features, you can quickly set up redirects and maintain your link equity.

6. Analytical Tools

SEO isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it strategy. In other words, you should look for a platform with built-in analytics, or at least the support plugins that offer advanced SEO analytics. This should help you track key SEO metrics and make adjustments whenever needed.

7. Security

We live in a world with growing cyber security risks, which means your website needs to stay safe from online attacks. The CMS should have security features, like regular backups, two-factor authentication, strong passwords, encryption, and a robust firewall. A secure CMS will not only protect your reputation but also help maintain your search engine rankings.

3 Best CMS for SEO 2024

Now that you what features an SEO-friendly CMS must have, let’s take a quick look at some of the best CMS for SEO in 2024.

WordPress

WordPress is hands down the most SEO-friendly CMS in 2024, powering over 62.7%of all the websites whose CMS is known, which equates to 43.4% of all websites. The platform is known for its flexibility and an extensive ecosystem with thousands of plugins and themes.

SEO Features

WordPress is equally impressive when it comes to SEO features, which include:

SEO Plugins: It supports SEO plugins like Yoast SEO and Rank Math, which offer advanced analytics and data insights. You can quickly tweak almost every aspect of your SEO, including keyword optimization, readability analysis, and XML sitemaps.

Responsive Themes: The WordPress ecosystem also includes hundreds of responsive themes, helping you design a website that works flawlessly on all devices.

Customizable URLs and Meta Tags: Whether blog posts or web pages, you can easily modify URLs, meta tags, meta descriptions, and image alt-texts.

What We Like:

• Intuitive user interface
• Easy to customize
• More than 59,000 free plugins
• Thousands of themes
• Extensive community support
• Secure and reliable

What Could Be Better:

• Built-in SEO features lack web analytics
• Needs at least one third-party SEO plugin
• Requires more technical knowledge
• Themes may not necessarily be SEO-friendly

Wix

Known for its drag-and-drop interface, Wix has quickly become a go-to website builder for solopreneurs, small businesses, and creatives. It allows you to build websites without writing a single code. But what tips the scale in its favor are its built-in SEO capabilities.

SEO Features

Built-in SEO Wiz Tool: If you want to keep your SEO in check without getting lost in technical jargon, Wix is the right choice. Its SEO Wiz tool provides a step-by-step guide to optimize your site.

Easy Integration with Google Analytics: It’s surprising how easy the Wiz tool makes connecting your site to Google Search Console and Google Analytics. This helps you monitor your SEO performance and make data-driven decisions effortlessly.

What We Like:

• User-friendly dashboard
• No coding skills required
• SEO Wiz tool for seamless optimization
• SSL protection
• Creates XML map automatically
• Regular updates
• Good customer support

What Could Be Better:

• Limited scalability and platform migration compatibility
• May face page speed issues
• Can’t change the template once applied
• Not all templates are responsive

Shopify

Shopify is an e-commerce-focused CMS with over 2 million live stores in 175 countries. The platform is revered for its easy-to-use interface, built-in e-commerce features, and reliable customer support. Like Wix, Shopify features a drag-and-drop dashboard, allowing you to build your online store without writing code.

SEO Features

Shopify does enough when it comes to SEO:

Built-in SEO Tools: Shopify offers built-in SEO features like editable meta tags, customizable URLs, and automatic XML sitemaps. It also offers responsive web design, making it SEO-friendly right out of the box.

Excellent for E-commerce SEO: Shopify is e-commerce-focused and optimized for product pages and category structures. This helps your online store rank higher in the search results.

Optimized for Speed: Shopify has partnered with CloudFlare – a leading CDN provider. Additionally, the platform is a hosted solution, which provides you with better loading speeds.

What We Like:

• E-commerce focused
• Features essential SEO tools
• Creates canonical URLs, robots.txt, and sitemaps automatically
• Thousands of responsive themes
• Faster page loading speeds
• Easy to use
• Secure and reliable

What Could Be Better:

• Lacks native editing for sitemaps and robots.txt files
• Limited URL customizations
• Costs can quickly add up
• Not ideal for websites outside of e-commerce

Other Notable SEO-Friendly CMS You Can Look For

While these three are the best CMS for SEO in 2024, there are a few others with good enough capabilities. Let’s have a quick look at them.

Joomla

Joomla is a powerful open-source CMS with strong SEO capabilities, offering customizable URLs, meta tags, and a variety of SEO extensions. This platform is suitable for creating different websites – from simple blogs to e-commerce stores.

Joomla offers several SEO add-ons, which are just like plugins. Easy Frontend SEO, 4 SEO, and RSSeo are a few popular extensions you can use to optimize your website.

What We Like:

• More built-in SEO options
• Hands-off caching
• Built-in automatic gzip compression
• Responsive templates
• Thousands of extensions

What Could Be Better:

• Advanced features need a steeper learning curve
• Requires a plugin to create XML sitemaps
• Doesn’t include SSL certification
• Requires manual edits to the robots.txt fileto enable crawling

Squarespace

Squarespace is a drag-and-drop website builder known for its beautiful, professionally designed templates. It features strong enough SEO capabilities, such as customizable meta tags, clean URL structures, and built-in mobile optimization. Additionally, the platform can integrate with Google Analytics 4, which helps you track your website’s performance.

What We Like:

• Intuitive drag-and-drop interface
• Thousands of stunning, responsive templates
• Automatic XML sitemaps
• Seamless integration with Google Analytics 4
• Optimized for speed
• Easy-to-use SEO tools for non-technical users

What Could Be Better:

• Lacks built-in advanced SEO tools
• Comes with a steep learning curve
• Costs like hosting, development, and ongoing maintenance can add up
• Requires robust hosting solutions
• Some SEO features, like enabling rich snippets, may require manual configuration

Adobe Commerce (Formerly Magento)

Written in PHP, Adobe Commerce is a powerful, open-source e-commerce platform designed for businesses of all sizes. Known for its scalability and extensive feature set, Magento offers strong SEO capabilities. The platform provides customizable meta tags, clean URL structures, and automatic generation of XML sitemaps.

It also supports rich snippets, which can help your search engine listing display additional information like product reviews and prices. Adobe Commerce is a flexible CMS with ample room for customization if needed.

What We Like:

• Excellent built-in SEO tools
• Easy to scale
• Handles SEO on a large scale, especially for e-commerce sites
• Supports rich snippets
• Easy to set up canonical URLs
• Extensive customization
• Built-in XML site map
• A large community of developers

What Could Be Better:

• Like Joomla, it requires a steeper learning curve
• The premium version is quite expensive
• Requires extensions for advanced SEO
• May need specialized hosting solutions
• Needs support from expert developers

Which Can Be Your Favorite SEO-Friendly CMS?

There it is – a quick CMS comparison for SEO.

While WordPress remains a top choice for its flexibility and extensive ecosystem, other platforms like Wix and Shopify offer equally good SEO features. Joomla, Squarespace, and Adobe Commerce also offer strong SEO capabilities.

Whichever CMS you choose, your website will need ongoing SEO to keep attracting a steady flow of web traffic. That’s where Wahha Design comes in. We specialize in SEO that helps your business thrive and attract more traffic.

Want to know how? Get in touch with us today!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the best CMS for SEO in 2024?

While WordPress is the best CMS for SEO, Wix and Shopify offer unique SEO features.

How does WordPress compare to other CMSs for SEO?

It is highly customizable, reliable, and supported by extensive plugins and responsive themes, which other CMSs cannot compete with.

Are there any new CMS platforms in 2024 that offer better SEO features?

While new platforms may emerge, established CMS like WordPress, Wix, Shopify, Joomla, Squarespace, and Adobe Commerce continue to lead in SEO capabilities.

What SEO features should I look for in a CMS?

Look for features like customizable URLs, meta tags, intuitive dashboard, responsive design, page speed, and security.

How does Wix perform in terms of SEO in 2024?

It offers a user-friendly SEO Wiz tool and easy integration with Google Analytics 4, making it a good choice for beginners.

Is Shopify a good choice for SEO, especially for e-commerce?

Yes, Shopify is optimized for e-commerce SEO with excellent built-in tools and features.

How do CMS platforms like Joomla and Squarespace stack up for SEO?

Joomla offers excellent customization and SEO capabilities, while Squarespace provides an easy-to-use interface with good SEO features.

Can I switch my CMS without negatively affecting my SEO rankings?

Switching CMS can impact SEO if not done correctly. You will need to consult experienced developers and SEO experts to plan your migration.