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Published: May 19 2023
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Wordpress, WIX, or WebWave? Which Website Builder is Better? SEO Case Study
What's the website good for, if nobody visits it? When creating WebWave website creator, we always attach great importance to how projects created in our tool are positioned in Google. We were curious about the effects of our work in practice. That is why we've decided to conduct research on this subject. We've created 3 almost identical websites using 3 different tools - WebWave, WIX, and Wordpress. For several months, we'd been observing in what positions they are displayed in the Google search engine. We've analyzed and described the results of our study. What is the best website builder for small business SEO? Check out our case study!
The genesis of the study
Website Builder is a tool that allows you to create a website without having to write code by hand. Often you can meet with the statement that sites created in such tools rank poorly and that a site coded by hand, or created using CMS tools, such as Wordpress, perform better in the search results of Google.
At WebWave, we have been creating website builder for years. Our primary goal is to to leave developers free and not impose rigid schemes or templates on them. The idea is that without coding, you can build a site with a unique and exceptional design graphic design. However, what good is a website if no one visits it? That is why we pay special attention to how the sites created in our tool position themselves in the results of the Google search results.
So we decided to investigate how it really is with this positioning. Do actually pages created in the creator perform in Google results worse, or is this just a stereotype built at a time when website builders were still very simple and poor products suitable only for basic applications. We conducted a months-long study in which we compared how very similar pages would fare in the results of the Google search engine would perform very similar websites created in different tools. We tried to eliminate all external factors, so that the only reason that could affect the result was the quality of the tool used.
When it comes to website builders, each platform has its own strengths and weaknesses. However, if we talk about SEO case study for small businesses, it's important to consider factors such as code quality, page loading speed, and affordability. According to a study, websites created using WordPress have better code quality, are lighter, and load much faster than WIX sites. This can have a significant impact on SEO as Google takes page load speed into account when ranking websites. On the other hand, WebWave is considered to be more SEO-friendly than WIX and has an affordable price for small businesses.
The hypothesis of the study
As with any study, at the outset, we posed a hypothesis that we often hear from many people involved in building websites. Unfortunately, it is increasingly being repeated by other Internet users.
In addition, we will learn the answer to the question of what positioning looks like from a layman's point of view and we will show step by step how we arrived at it.
What were the main assumptions of the study?
We have devoted a lot of work to make our research impartial and authoritative. To do this, we've created a number of assumptions, the most important of which are:
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Keyword - We’ve come up with the fictional word 'risuskariasus'. The word has supposed to combine tai-chi and crossfit :). Google, before the start of our test, had not returned any results for this word.
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Random domain - We've generated a .pl domain of 10 random characters for each page.
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Page layout - Each site consists of a homepage and a blog page.
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Content - On each home page, the text was added that has been about 300 words long and the keyword density was 2%. We've placed one similar article on each blog.
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Pictures on the page - We've put one picture on each page. The graphics differ from each other, but they all depict the meditating person against the backdrop of nature.
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Research duration - We conducted the research for over 6 months. The idea was to get the results as accurate as possible.
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We’ve conducted the research from the perspective of a typical website builder. So we didn't use any advanced tricks far beyond the reach of such a person.
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Test procedure
After preparing the pages, the actual test has begun. The study schedule was as follows:
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Publication of pages, without blog texts;
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Google indexing pages;
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Adding a blog entry on each page;
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Works on SEO;
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Leaving pages for indexing;
- Further data collection.
Results
We've made observations in two ways. First of all, we've manually checked the results.Below you can see screen taken the day before the study was published .As you can see, the page created in WebWave has remained the first place of the results Wordpress has come second, followed by WIX.
Unamo
Based on the technical analysis of the created pages, we can clearly state that the page made in WebWave wins. It is the best in terms of quality of generated code, page loading speed and size, and position in Google search results (SERP).
However, second and third places may raise some doubts. Page created in Wordpress has better code quality, is lighter, and loads much faster than the WIX site. The page made in WIX has ranked higher in Google search results. So which of these two tools is better suited to creating well-positioned pages? In our opinion it's Wordpress. The position in Google search results can be impacted by many independent factors. One external link or even average visit length on the page may have changed the order of the results. Such factors in the conditions created by us could prove crucial, but in the real world, they wouldn't matter much compared to the quality of the generated code.
When creating WebWave website creator, we always attach great importance to how projects created in our tool are positioned in Google. We were curious about the effects of our work in practice.
Best website builders for SEO in 2023
Great website is not possible without SEO optimization. How to build a website that is SEO compliant and user-friendly? The key is to choose the right site builder and SEO apps. Many claim that Wix is the best in terms of SEO efforts. I, however, believe that WebWave has much better potential, as our experiment also confirmed. It is important that the website builder has SEO plugins. In the case of our website builder, SEO Analyzer can be considered such a tool, like Yoast SEO, with which you will perform a free audit of your site. Adapting to Google search ranking will allow you to create popular website. Bet on basic tools, like Google Search Console or Google Analytics. But don't forget that the better the optimization, the higher your site will rank. Advanced SEO tools such as Neuron Writer, Semstorm, Semrush, Ahrefs and many others will help you with basic SEO optimization.
Advanced SEO Website Builder - Important Features to Optimize your Site
As a result of the study, we not only proved that positioning of pages created in s is both possible and very effective. Thanks to it, we have introduced a number of new features to our application that are sure to help you achieve higher positions in search results. Here are some of the features we've added. PWA We have introduced the capabilities of the PWA application to pages created in WebWave. What is it? A Progressive Web App is a web application that uses modern web capabilities to provide users with an experience similar to a dedicated mobile app. These apps must meet certain requirements, are deployed on servers, accessed via URLs and indexed by search engines. As you know, Google looks with a favorable eye on such an option, and thus we can raise the position of our site with the mere introduction of such an option. In Lighthouse reports, this is one of the 5 points that the Mountain View giant checks.
WebP
Also some time ago, we added automatic conversion of image files to WebP format. This is an image file format created to replace older formats such as JPEG, PNG and GIF. It was developed by Google based on the work of On2 Technologies, which, incidentally, was later bought out by them. This technology is designed to reduce the size of images. Thanks to it, page loading can be significantly shortened, and as a result, positions in search results will go up.
Technology to speed up page loading
The survey allowed us to draw attention to a particularly important aspect related to SEO - page loading time. Thanks to our efforts and many lines of code, we can confidently say that we have made many improvements that allow pages published in WebWave to show up faster. Here are some of them.
Loading lower quality images first
When loading a page, a lower-quality image (in the form of a rendered thumbnail) is loaded first, and only later in its target appearance. Thanks to this functionality, we gain a reduction in the amount of transfer that is needed to load the page in the first view.
Improved image compression
When an image is uploaded to the , it is optimized for fast loading and converted to WebP already during publication. This is convenient for the user, as you don't have to make changes to the uploaded graphic material yourself, and the will take care of the proper preparation of the files.
Loading JavaScript code at the end (asynchronously)
The JavaScript code is loaded at the end of the page loading, so as not to delay the showing of other elements. The site responds faster to user queries, and there is no "white page" effect."
Dynamic image loading (LazyLoad)
The image dynamically recharges as the page scrolls. This has the effect of reducing the transfer needed to load the first view of the page.
Improved image conversion
For each RWD mode, images are cropped independently. As a result, smaller images will load on mobile devices, while larger ones will load on computers and laptops.
SEO best practices
Wix and Squarespace have their advantages. They are website builders, so positioning pages created with them will also bring results. However, you won't find the ability to create your own SEO analysis and proprietary tools for this. Our SEO Analyzer has a huge range of SEO for your website.
SEO Features
In your SEO strategy, it should be possible to integrate google analytics. It's a huge tool for analyzing and collecting data about your site. In WebWave, this integration is fast and seamless, so anyone can handle it.
WebWave SEO Tool
WebWave has its own seo analysis tool - SEO Analyzer. This is a huge convenience, especially for novice users. With it you can easily check if your site is SEO friendly. In 2023, this is very important because google robots pay a lot of attention to how the site looks, what it has, and whether it is user-friendly. With us, you can do the Search Engine Optimization analysis yourself in our tool. I think that WebWave is the best SEO website builder!
SEO case study conclusion
As you can see, the pages created in website builders can be high in Google Search Engine ranking. They can even achieve a better result than pages created in WordPress. Building websites with the use of website creators do not interfere with SEO. At the same time, it significantly speeds up and streamlines the process of creating and maintaining the site. Professional website built in WebWave wins in the race for top positions in search results. All you have to do is create an SEO checklist and act according to white-hat SEO.
FAQ.
What is the importance of having a SEO-friendly website?
Having a SEO-friendly website is vital for improving your website's visibility in search engine results and driving organic traffic to your site. It helps search engines understand your content better and rank it higher, resulting in more visits and potential customers.
How can a good SEO website builder help with search engine optimization?
A good SEO website builder provides built-in SEO features and tools that help optimize your website for search engines. It allows you to easily optimize meta tags, headings, URLs, and other on-page elements without technical knowledge. This helps improve your website's search engine rankings.
Can a website builder provide SEO support and guidance?
Yes, many website builders offer SEO guides, tutorials, and support to help you optimize your website for search engines. They provide tips and best practices for improving your website's SEO and offer support to address any specific concerns or questions you may have.
How important is it to choose the right website builder for SEO?
Choosing the right website builder for SEO is crucial as it determines the ease of optimizing your website for search engines. A website builder with dedicated SEO features and options, along with SEO-friendly templates, can greatly simplify the process of building and optimizing a website for search engines.
What are some important SEO features to look for in a website builder?
Some important SEO features to look for in a website builder include on-page SEO tools, control over your site's SEO settings, integration with SEO tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics, and the ability to customize SEO titles, meta descriptions, and URLs.
Which website builder is considered the best for Google ranking?
When it comes to Google ranking, Wix is often considered one of the best website builders. It offers advanced SEO features and options, such as the SEO Wizard, that help optimize your website for better Google rankings and increased organic traffic.
Is it possible to find a cheap website builder that is also good for SEO?
Yes, there are website builders available that offer competitive pricing while still providing excellent SEO capabilities. It's important to compare features and SEO options offered by different builders to find the best affordable option for your needs.
What are some basic SEO tips to keep in mind when building a website?
Some basic SEO tips to keep in mind when building a website include using relevant keywords in your content, optimizing meta tags and headings, creating unique and valuable content, having a user-friendly navigation structure, and regularly updating and maintaining your website.
How can a SEO-friendly website builder help increase website traffic?
A SEO-friendly website builder can help increase website traffic by optimizing your website for search engines. By improving your website's search engine rankings, it becomes more visible to potential visitors who are actively searching for relevant information or products.
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