Wix and WordPress are both solid options for building a website that ranks on Google – but which one is actually better for SEO and why?
According to BuiltWith, WordPress dominates the market with over 34 million websites and controls 44% of the content management system (CMS) market. Wix runs just over 8 million sites with an 11% market share.
But here’s the thing: These platforms aren’t as different as you might think.
Wix is built as an all-in-one solution. You get your hosting, build your website, and manage everything in one place.
You can connect all your SEO tools like Google Analytics and Search Console, link your social media, and handle email lists right from one dashboard.
For small business owners, especially those who aren’t super technical, this setup makes a lot of sense.
WordPress works differently. As an open-source CMS, it lets you build your site exactly how you want. You get complete control over your site structure, theme, and content – but you’ll need to find your own hosting provider.
While WordPress isn’t going anywhere as the market leader, Wix keeps getting better.
In this guide, we’ll break down the pros and cons of both platforms for SEO, and help you figure out which one makes the most sense for your website.
Why Wix Deserves A Second Look
Remember when WordPress was the only real choice for SEO? Those days are gone. New website builders have changed the game, and Wix should be a major consideration.
Wix started out as just an easy way to build good-looking websites. Tech-savvy users usually passed it by because they wanted more control over their sites. But that’s changed in a big way over the last few years.
Wix has been rolling out serious improvements, with a lot of focus on SEO tools. Here’s what they’ve added:
- Custom URL Control: You can now change your URL structure however you want, add or remove prefixes, and create flat URLs that look clean and professional.
- Smart Sitemap Management: The platform automatically updates sitemaps when you set up 301 redirects or change canonical tags.
- Real-Time Tracking: You can see how search engines interact with your site through Bot Traffic reports that show you activity over time and by page.
- AI-Powered SEO Help: Its new assistant analyzes your pages and suggests specific improvements.
- Built-In Structured Data: Product pages and blog posts automatically get the right markup to help you show up in rich results.
- Server Side Rendering: This helps search engines read and index your content more effectively.
- Developer Tools: The Velo API lets developers customize things on the technical side.
- SEO Checklist: A built-in guide helps you optimize your site step by step.
Back in the day, you’d need a bunch of different tools to handle all this. Getting accurate reports was especially tricky. Having everything built into Wix makes life much easier.
The Drawbacks Of Wix For SEO
Of course, Wix isn’t perfect. Here are the main SEO drawbacks from customers:
- Code bloat is still a problem, which can slow down your pages.
- Even with recent updates, you’re still somewhat limited in how much you can customize your site’s structure. Plus, since hosting and building are tied together, moving your site elsewhere can be a headache.
- Some developers aren’t happy with Wix Studio, its new platform for high-end projects. One Reddit user recently called it “completely unreliable.”
The Argument For WordPress
WordPress started by making it relatively easy to build a website. Its open-source nature means it’s theoretically getting better thanks to its huge community of developers.
While the basic platform is free, you’ll probably need to pay for some plugins to get modern features.
These plugins are how you’ll handle most of your SEO work. WordPress also has more users than any other platform, which means more help is available when you need it.
The WordPress SEO Challenges
WordPress isn’t without its problems:
- Plugins don’t always play nice together. While Yoast SEO might be the most popular tool, there are tons of options – and they can conflict with each other and cause issues.
- Like any plugin, security vulnerabilities can pop up, and updates sometimes break other parts of your site.
- Some people think WordPress has lost touch with what publishers need, pointing to bloated code in themes and plugins that make it harder to score well on Core Web Vitals.
That said, the huge number of available plugins is still a major plus. New ones come out daily, making it possible to build highly optimized sites.
Check out Search Engine Journal’s WordPress SEO guide for more details.
Head-To-Head Comparison
Both platforms nail the SEO basics. You get:
- Title tags and meta descriptions.
- All the heading tags you need (H1-H6).
- XML sitemaps.
- Alt tags for images.
- 301 redirects.
- No-index options.
- Schema markup.
- Mobile-friendly designs.
- Easy connection to Google Search Console, Analytics, and Bing Webmaster Tools.
The real differences show up when you need more advanced SEO features. That’s where WordPress’s flexibility gives it the edge.
But, for many small businesses that just need the basics, either platform will do the job.
Making SEO Work
Both platforms have their own way of handling SEO tasks you’ll need to tackle:
Content Management
While WordPress gives you more control over your content structure with custom post types and taxonomies, Wix makes it simple with built-in blog and product page tools that come pre-optimized.
Both platforms handle the basics well – like meta descriptions, title tags, and image optimization.
Speed And Mobile
WordPress lets you fine-tune your site’s performance through hosting choices and optimization plugins.
Wix handles this differently, with built-in mobile optimization and automatic speed improvements, though you have less control over the technical details.
Ecommerce SEO
If you’re selling online, both platforms can handle product schema and category structure.
WordPress + WooCommerce gives you more flexibility but requires more setup, while Wix’s e-commerce tools come ready to go with built-in SEO features.
Wix Vs. WordPress: The Verdict
Wix has come a long way. Many old complaints about lack of control don’t hold up anymore, and their basic SEO setup rivals WordPress.
For small businesses and online stores, Wix might be exactly what you need.
As Google’s John Mueller put it:
“Wix is fine for SEO. A few years back, it was pretty bad, but they’ve made fantastic progress. The old reputation lingers, but don’t let that sway you. They’ve done great work recently, including making it easy to have a fast site. If Wix works for you and meets your needs, there’s no reason to switch.”
Your choice really comes down to what matters most for your business. If you need deep customization and complete control over your website’s technical setup, WordPress is your best bet.
But if you want a simpler path to getting online while still maintaining strong SEO capabilities, Wix could be perfect – especially with its all-in-one approach that handles the technical details for you.
More Resources:
- The 10 Best Website Builders To Consider
- CMS Market Share Trends: Top Content Management Systems (Nov. 2024)
- The Complete Technical SEO Audit Workbook
Featured Image: TierneyMJ/Shutterstock
