Every business with a website needs a content management system, also known as a CMS. This system is what you’ll use to add content, update your blog, add images, and do your SEO.
In this blog, Head of Engineering, Lucas Dantas, will share the pros and cons of some of the most popular SEO CMS platforms so that you can make an informed decision about the best one for your business.
What’s Covered:
- The Importance of Choosing the Right CMS for SEO
- Key Features of an SEO-Friendly CMS
- Top CMS Platforms for SEO in 2025
- Choosing the Right CMS Based on Business Needs
- FAQs on the Best CMS for SEO
Expert Opinion on the Best CMS for SEO
When choosing the right CMS for SEO, you have to prioritize four critical factors:
- Technical performance
- Customization flexibility
- Content management capabilities
- Scalability
You want to choose a platform that your team, your site visitors, and the search engines will enjoy.
If you already have an existing site, remember that migration costs can be substantial so be sure to do your research and pick the right one that will support your business’s current needs and your future growth.
The Importance of Choosing the Right CMS for SEO
Everyone talks about having a strong SEO strategy, but one thing that gets overlooked is the difference your CMS platform plays in your ability to truly optimize your website.
Your CMS can affect everything from your website’s technical performance to your content delivery capabilities. Choosing the wrong platform can actually severely restrict your SEO efforts.
Not only will it impact your SEO efforts and affect your site’s search visibility, but it also plays a role in your user experience and your site performance. Some specific areas it can affect include:
- URL structure
- Metadata management (title tags and meta descriptions)
- Schema mark-up
- Mobile indexing
- Page speed optimization
- Indexability
- XML sitemap
You’ll also want to choose a platform that has built in controls that allow you to determine how your content is displayed, and offer the capabilities that your business needs, whether an RSS feed for your blog or a shopping cart for your ecommerce items.
Key Features of an SEO-Friendly CMS
When it comes to SEO, one of the most important, and sometimes overlooked factors, in site performance is a site’s technical SEO. This is directly impacted by its on page HTML and ability to be efficiently crawled. This includes implementing readable URLs, Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, Alt Tags, and optimized headings.
You can improve your site’s technical SEO by finding an SEO CMS that has the following features:
- Customizable URLs: A customizable URLcan help both users and search engines understand what your site is about. They can also help you attract more traffic. According to Backlinko, URLs with a keyword have a 45% higher click-through rate compared to generic URLs.
- Meta tags: Your meta description should be between 150-160 words and describe your entire page. Google has said that this is where snippets come from so make it count!
- Mobile Responsiveness: Mobile traffic accounts for 58.39% of all web traffic, so making sure your site is optimized for mobile is a key part of technical SEO.
- Fast Loading Speeds: The average webpage takes 10.3 seconds to load on desktop and 27.3 seconds to load on mobile. The best SEO CMS will make sure your site is in line, or better, than the average loading speed.
The best CMS platform for SEO will be one that has SEO tools integrated into the site itself. With SEO constantly evolving, the last thing a digital marketer needs is a system that is piece-mealed together. Having everything centralized into one platform will help you streamline your technical SEO process and catch errors before they become bigger problems.
Top CMS Platforms for SEO in 2025
Part of choosing the best CMS for SEO is knowing which options are available. Here are some of the most popular content management systems currently available, along with their ease of use and SEO compatibility ratings.
WordPress
With 43% of all sites on the internet hosted on WordPress, it is one of the most popular CMS platforms in the world. Originally introduced as a free and open source blogging platform, WordPress opened itself up with innovative widgets to be one of the most popular website platform, with over 25,000 customizable themes, 70,000 plugins, and tools that allow you to do nearly everything you could possibly want.
Thanks to plugins like Yoast SEO and Rank Math, you can access a comprehensive site of on-page optimization tools. The platform also offers top-of-the-line customization capabilities for URLs, meta tags, and content structure.
If you want the ability to update your website from your mobile device or tablet, WordPress offers several native applications that allow you to update your blog or content page on the fly, if necessary.
Even with all of its pros, WordPress can sometimes be hard to navigate for users who aren’t super tech savvy. Without proper optimization, WordPress sites sometimes suffer from performance issues.
It’s also gotten slack for not being inherently designed for ecommerce. However, there are several ecommerce and shopping cart plugins, such as WooCommerce, that allow this capability to be adopted.
Joomla!
Released in 2005, Joomla! is a free, open source solution that hosts over 2 million websites. With 10,000+ extensions and templates, it is popular with consumers and small-to-medium sized ecommerce businesses.
The platform provides native URL rewriting, metadata control, and sitemap generation. Recent improvements in Joomla! 5.3.2 has enhanced its SEO framework, allowing for better structured data implementation and mobile optimization.
Although the site is flexible and comes with a large community of other Joomla! users, it’s not incredibly intuitive to use and has a steeper learning curve than WordPress or other CMS platforms.
Drupal
Drupal is one of the older CMS platforms out there. It is a tremendously powerful open-source system designed to be SEO-friendly.
It hosts over 400,000 websites and is best for large-scale enterprises. The platform can effortlessly handle hundreds of thousands of pages and thousands of users simultaneously.
When it comes to technical implementation, Drupal excels by offering taxonomy systems, content relationships, and custom content types to create rich internal linking structures. However, it has historically been known as a developer-centric platform that has a steep learning curve.
Since its appearance in the SEO market, it has been updated multiple times. Most recently, it launched Drupal CMS to make it easier to use for marketers and content creators.
This new phase of the platform boasts lightning fast launches, intuitive drag-and-droop tools, visual page building capabilities, and the ability to handle complex integrations effortlessly.
Adobe Commerce
Formerly known as Magento, Adobe Commerce is a cloud-native platform designed for global, multi-brand B2C and B2B enterprises. The platform holds 8% of the global market share, mostly in the US, Europe, Germany, and the Netherlands.
It specializes in providing SEO features specifically needed by product-based websites and businesses. It’s known for its flexibility, scalability, and extensive features that make it extremely user-friendly.
Its strengths include schema markup, canonical URL management for product variations, and category-based URL structures. However, the platform can also come with slower than average page speeds and high technical requirements, including official and third-party SEO extensions.
Shopify
Known for its user friendliness and ease of use, Shopify initially debuted as an online store CMS. It now powers 4.82 million stores worldwide.
The platform operates globally and offers streamlined SEO features specifically designed for ecommerce users. Some of the most popular features include essentials like customizable title tags, meta descriptions, and URL structures. It is, however, important to note that its URL structure customization can be pretty limited and needs to be delineated as a collections, products, pages, or blogs page, which can have some negative SEO results but nothing too major.
Webflow
Webflow combines visual design capabilities with solid SEO fundamentals to power almost 550,000 websites worldwide.
The platform excels in providing clean code output and exceptional page speed performance. It also offers the user complete control over on-page SEO elements, including meta tags, structured data, and customizable URLs. It is very straightforward and continues to improve and optimize the backend of its platform.
It lacks the extensive plugin ecosystem of other platforms, such as WordPress, which can make advanced SEO automation slightly more challenging. While it does seem more geared toward tech-savvy users, the platform offers a variety of webinars, live online training, and video tutorials to help less savvy marketers learn how to use its tools.
HubSpot
HubSpot CMS Hub allows users to make websites that are heavy into marketing integrations. The platform offers a variety of SEO tools, including comprehensive on-page SEO recommendations, content optimization suggestions, and integrated performance analytics. It prides itself on offering creative tools, flexible themes, and a drag-and-drop page editor.
One major highlight of the HubSpot platform is that it seamlessly integrates with other HubSpot products, including their Marketing, Sales, Service, Operations, and Commerce Hubs.
You can create a free site with a custom domain, but other advanced features often come at a higher cost compared to other CMS platforms. It can also be less flexible in terms of customizations outside of the HubSpot ecosystem.
Squarespace
Squarespace positions itself as a design-focused platform with growing SEO capabilities. Almost 5 million sites are hosted on the platform, a number that has been growing since 2018.
It offers clean, mobile-responsive templates that provide a quality user experience, which is a critical component of SEO success. The platform comes with SEO features including customizable title tags, meta descriptions, and canonical tags. Its 2024 update enhanced its SEO toolkit with improved schema markup and better integration with Google Business Profile.
However, the platform is limited when compared to other open-source alternatives like WordPress or Drupal. For example, its ability to customize URLs and other technical-SEO aspects like header code is very limited.
While Squarespace does have space to grow when it comes to advanced SEO controls, it is a good option for small businesses and creative professionals who prioritize design consistency and simplicity over more complex SEO customizations.
Comparative Analysis Table
So, which CMS is best for SEO? It really depends on what you need it for. Here are some highlights to help you understand the differences between the most popular platforms.
| SEO Feature | WordPress | Joomla! | Drupal | Adobe Commerce (Magento) | Shopify | Webflow | HubSpot | Squarespace |
| SEO Plugins | Extensive (60,000+) | Moderate (8,000+) | Extensive (53,000+) | Limited (1,800+) | App Store (6,000+) | None (built-in tools only) | None (built-in tools only) | None (built-in tools only) |
| URL Customization | Complete control | Complete control | Complete control | High control | Limited (fixed structure) | Complete control | High control | Limited Control |
| Metadata Control | Excellent | Very good | Complete control | Very good | Good | Very good | Excellent | Good |
| Mobile Responsiveness | Theme dependent | Good | Excellent | Very good | Good | Very good | Excellent | Good |
| Schema Markup Support | Via plugins | Basic built-in | Advanced Built-in | Advanced Built-in | Basic built-in | Basic built-in | Advanced Built-in | Basic built-in |
| XML Sitemap Generation | Via plugins | Built-in | Built-in | Built-in | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Redirect Management | Via plugins | Built-in | Built-in | Built-in | Built-in | Built-in | Built-in | Limited Built-in |
| Content Organization | Good | Good | Excellent | Good for products | Good for products | Good | Excellent | Basic |
| Technical SEO Flexibility | High | Moderate | Very High | High | Limited | Moderate | Moderate | Limited |
| SEO Analytics Integration | Via plugins | Via extensions | Via modules | Built-in + extensions | Built-in | Built-in | Comprehensive | Basic |
Looking at this chart, you can see that sometimes when a CMS is really good at something, say ease-of-use, they might offer less technical SEO flexibility than more complex systems.
No one CMS is the best for SEO. It all depends on your industry and which site features you value more. The comparison above highlights the importance of pairing your business’s technical capabilities, resources, and specific SEO requirements with the platform that matches your needs.
Choosing the Right CMS Based on Business Needs
When it comes to choosing the right CMS platform, you have to balance the ease of use with the amount of SEO functionality you need.
As you can see, each CMS has its pros and cons. Each one is good for a certain purpose. Consider these recommendations when doing your research on which CMS is best for SEO:
- WordPress: Best for small to large sites with technical resources
- Joomla!: Best for mid-sized organizations
- Drupal: Best for enterprise and complex sites
- Adobe Commerce (Magento): Best for large ecommerce operations
- Shopify: Best for ecommerce businesses
- Webflow: Best for design-focused businesses
- HubSpot: Best for marketing-focused businesses
- Squarespace: Best for small businesses and creatives
If you’re still stuck, you can also ask other companies in your industry, or seek the advice of a professional web development agency.
FAQs on the Best CMS for SEO
1. Are headless CMS platforms good for SEO?
Headless CMS platforms can be really good for SEO, if they are implemented correctly. However, they require more technical expertise to implement SEO best practices than other platforms. Without built-in SEO tools, your team will have to manually configure metadata, schema markup, and URL structures.
2. How do I choose the right CMS for my business?
Choosing the right CMS for your business requires research. Consider things like your business size, your technical resources, and your future scalability plans. You also need to consider each platform’s SEO capabilities against your industry’s specific needs.
3. What SEO features should I look for in a CMS?
When looking for a CMS, look for these SEO features:
- Technical foundations like URL structures, XML sitemap generation, and canonical tag implementations
- On-page optimization tools like title tags, meta descriptions, heading structures, and built-in content analysis
- User experience features like mobile responsiveness, page speed optimization, and Core Web Vitals monitoring
Can I migrate my existing website to a more SEO-friendly CMS?
Yes, you can migrate an existing website into a more SEO-friendly CMS, but the process takes time. Working with a professional agency can ensure a more streamlined process and a reduction in traffic loss.
Streamline Your Content Management with the Help of Ignite Visibility
Whether you want to find the best CMS for SEO for your small business or your large, multi-state franchise, Ignite Visibility has you covered.
Our award-winning agency can help you:
- Choose and develop the right CMS for your business
- Develop a fully-customized WordPress website
- Create a robust SEO strategy to get your website the attention it deserves
Are you ready to optimize your website?
Start with a free proposal today!
