You launch your new site yourself using a CMS known for its user-friendly qualities—everything looks perfect. But months later, traffic is stagnant. In your attempt to get your site up and running, optimizing for search engines never made it to your to-do list. What initially appeared to be a shortcut has turned into a setback, leaving you to fix the resulting issues.
There are many factors to consider when choosing a content management system (CMS) that works best for you and your team. However, SEO is rarely taken into account. Understanding what makes a CMS SEO-friendly can help you make a more informed choice.
Top CMS Features for SEO
So, how do you choose the right platform for your SEO needs? These are eight CMS features to look for that will help you make a smart choice for your business’s success online.
1. Customizable URLs
We know it’s not sexy, but your URL structure plays a key role in your site’s SEO. Like users, search engines prefer clean, concise URLs over long, complex ones. For optimal on-page SEO, your CMS should allow you to fully customize your URLs. Trust us, this is important.
For SEO, URLs should:
- Be descriptive, simple, and accurate, using real words to ensure they are understood by both users and search engines.
- Use only hyphens to separate words.
- Use only lowercase letters.
- Clearly indicate to users and search engines what they can expect to find on the page.
2. Meta Tag Management
This is an accessible one for the non-techie people out there. Meta tag management lets you control the information users and search engines use to understand your site. Optimizing these tags boosts your visibility, click-through rates, and ranking online. A CMS with easy meta tag management makes it simple to customize these elements for each page, so your content stays in line with SEO best practices and gets in front of the right people.
To optimize your site for search, meta tags should:
- Include the keywords and key phrases for each page.
- Explain to users and search engines what they can expect to find on the page.
- Be 50-60 characters for titles and 140-160 characters for descriptions.
- Be unique for each page.
3. Mobile Responsiveness
The majority of organic search visits now come from mobile devices, and Google prioritizes showing mobile-friendly results for these searches. To tap into this growing traffic, having a responsive site is essential. By choosing a CMS that offers mobile-optimized themes and templates, you ensure that every post and page on your site looks and performs well across all devices.
4. Fast Loading Times
A faster site keeps users happy, reduces bounce rates, and improves engagement. In turn, search engines reward that speed with better rankings. Choosing a CMS that supports quick loading helps boost your SEO and makes sure your visitors stick around.
CMS platforms that use heavy themes, bloated code, or too many plugins such as drag-and-drop website builders, tend to have slower performance, which affects their loading times. Additionally, platforms that don’t prioritize features like image compression, caching, or script minimization can also result in slower sites.
5. XML Sitemap Generation
An XML sitemap is a file that lists a website’s essential pages, making sure Google can find and crawl them. A CMS that automatically generates and updates this sitemap, ensures that new content or updates are quickly discovered and indexed, improving your chances of ranking well in search results. Plus, XML sitemap generation is one thing you can permanently check off your ‘to-do list’ for site management.
Without one, search engines will have a harder time finding and indexing all the pages on your site, especially if your site has a complex structure or pages that aren’t easily accessible through internal links.
6. Structured Data Support
Structured data helps Google understand your content better and display it more effectively in search results. This means your pages could show up in rich results, like star ratings, product details, or recipe information, making them more eye-catching and informative. Adding schema markup to your pages, which AI can help you with, makes it easier for Google to present your content in a way that grabs users’ attention. A CMS that supports structured data helps you set this up easily, making your search results more visible thus boosting user engagement on your site. This is a great task for AI to help you with.
7. 301 Redirects
301 redirects permanently redirect visitors and search engines from an old URL to a new one. This is important if you’ve moved or updated content on your site. Without 301 redirects, users might land on broken pages, leading to a poor experience. And, search engines might struggle to find your new content, which can hurt your rankings.
A CMS that offers easy management of 301 redirects helps you maintain a positive user experience (UX) and keep your rankings intact when making edits to your site.
8. Plugins and Extensions
When evaluating a platform it is always worth considering the available add-ons. SEO tools can greatly improve your site’s performance in areas like speed, search rankings, and click-through rates. For instance, Yoast SEO for WordPress is a powerful plugin that helps with meta tags, 301 redirects, and more. RankMath also streamlines content optimization by offering suggestions based on best practices.
The Best CMS’ for SEO: Pros and Cons
With so many options available, you may be left wondering which CMS is the best for SEO. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of some of the most popular platforms to help you make the right decision.
WordPress
WordPress (WP) is the world’s most popular CMS platform and powers more than 40% of the Internet’s websites.
Pros:
- Offers complete control over the customization of URLs, categories, and tags for your posts.
- Offers SEO plugins such as Yoast and RankMath which support all eight SEO features listed above.
- Offers thousands of themes that support your UX and you don’t need to be a technical expert to manage the site.
- Offers editing of the site’s theme files, HTML code, and CSS code, making the site very customizable.
- Provides the tools to optimize site speed, such as caching plugins and image optimization tools.
Cons:
- The user is responsible for setting up hosting as well as ongoing maintenance and security.
- Plugins and extensions are required for full SEO capabilities which can lead to slower page load times.
- Offers very little customer support.
Shopify
Shopify is an intuitive e-commerce CMS that simplifies online store management.
Pros:
- Important SEO features are all included in Shopify, with no need for additional plugins or extensions.
- Uses a content delivery network (CDN) to serve your site from locations closest to the user, improving site speed.
- Unlike WP, hosting and update management are taken care of for you.
- Shopify has 24/7 technical support through live chat, email, phone, and Twitter.
- Shopify themes are automatically mobile-responsive.
Cons:
- Shopify’s functionality is limited compared to WP in terms of customization.
- Although the important SEO features are available, there are limitations as follows:
- URL structure is somewhat rigid, which can be restrictive for creating fully optimized, keyword-rich URLs.
- Shopify sites can experience slower loading times due to the platform’s architecture and the need for third-party apps, which can negatively impact SEO.
- While Shopify allows for some code customization, access to the underlying code is more restricted compared to open-source CMSs.
Wix
Wix is a popular, free website-building platform known for its ease of use.
Pros:
- Offers built-in SEO tools which guide users through setting up SEO elements like meta tags, alt text, and page titles– all of which are fully customizable.
- Automatically optimizes websites for mobile devices.
- Provides the tools to improve site speed, like optimized hosting and image compression.
- Includes an SSL certificate.
- Supports structured data markup.
Cons:
- While it offers decent SEO tools, it can lack the flexibility that more advanced users might need for in-depth customization and optimization.
- Automatically generates certain parts of URLs which can limit the ability to create SEO-friendly, clean URLs.
- Contains a lot of media or third-party apps which can cause slower loading times.
- Compared to platforms like WordPress, Wix has fewer SEO plugin options.
Webflow
Webflow is a visual-first platform backed by enterprise-grade hosting and security.
Pros:
- Very customizable, allowing you to fine-tune your site for SEO markup, indexing rules, and redirects, without relying on web developers.
- Includes automated SEO features like meta tag management.
- Offers easy control over sitemaps and 301 redirects.
- Offers quick loading with 100+ data centers worldwide.
- Includes built-in SSL for all sites, and no need to manage or update risk-prone plugins.
Cons:
- It is a hosted platform, meaning users do not have access to the underlying code.
- Despite having data centers around the globe, Webflow’s automatic code generation can result in overly complex code, which can cause slower load times.
- Limited access to helpful plugins and extensions.
Make Your CMS Work for You
With so many website builders to choose from, it’s important to assess your website goals to ensure you select a CMS that fits your needs now and in the future as your business grows and evolves. From an SEO standpoint, it’s crucial to implement the criteria mentioned above to help your website reach its full potential.
Not sure if your CMS is working for you? Reach out and share the challenges you’re facing. Method and Metric is here to help with all your SEO needs and ensure your CMS supports your business goals.
