Best Website Builders for SEO: My Top Choices To Boost Visibility

Wix tops our list of the best SEO website builders because of its brilliant built-in tools, including AI features to help you generate SEO-optimized content and a beginner-friendly SEO Learning Hub to improve your general knowledge.

In our most recent round of website builder testing, we compared the top 12 website builders against 21 key SEO functions, including keyword support and schema markup. I’ve used these findings, along with my first-hand testing of each builder, to recommend the best solution for your business.

Quick Comparison: Find Your SEO Builder

You can compare our top SEO website builders side-by-side using the table below:

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		Today's best price	Free plan or free trial	Free custom domain	AI website builder	SEO
Wix	Squarespace	Hostinger	Shopify	GoDaddy
$17 $15.30 with code “TAKE10”	$19 $17.10 with code “WBE10”	$11.99 $2.99/month	$29 $1/mo for 3 months	$9.99
Free plan	14-day free trial	14-day free trial	3-day free trial	Free plan
Free for 1 year	Free for 1 year	Free for 1 year	No	Free for 1 year
check	check	check	check	check
Custom SEO checklist, Semrush integration, AI support, Google Business Profile, analytics, SEO Learning Hub	AIO Scanner, SEO Scanner, AI Site Scanner, SEO panel, search preview, Google Search Console integration	Fastest loading times, AI SEO assistant, SEO page settings	Shopify Sidekick, Shopify Magic, personalized title tags, Semrush integration, third-party apps	GoDaddy Airo, SEO Wizard, Google Business Profile, social media tools, SEO expert consultation

How Do I Choose an SEO Website Builder?

When choosing an SEO website builder, look for platforms that offer free SSL, mobile-responsive templates and elements, dependable performance, and customizable meta tags.

If you don’t tick those SEO boxes, search engines won’t be able to find and scan your pages, meaning visitors won’t be directed to your website.

Each platform in our list of recommendations includes the following benefits, but keep these factors in mind when choosing your builder:

• Can tweak aspects of your site’s SEO – edit important SEO elements, such as meta titles, meta descriptions, and URLs
• Website analytics – once your SEO strategy is underway, you’ll need to track your page’s analytics to see how it’s performing
• Mobile-friendly designs – our top website builders will automatically optimize your site for mobile devices, but not all platforms will let you edit your mobile design directly
• Optimized website speeds – slow load times can negatively impact SEO, so look for a builder with good servers and built-in support to optimize and compress content or images
• SEO integrations – a good SEO builder lets you connect your website with tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or even Semrush (see if these are available as built-in integrations, or if you need to use a third-party plugin from the builder’s app market)

1. Wix: Best All-in-One SEO Package

Wix is the best all-in-one SEO website builder because if offers built-in AI features for content and image generation, automated schema markup, and a dedicated SEO Learning Hub.

Wix also handles the SEO basics with its website builder, including customizable URLs and mobile-optimization. On top of that, you can create SEO logic and apply it to multiple pages, instead of working through them individually.

What Wix Does Well

• The custom SEO checklist suggests areas to improve and provides actionable tips, which is great for beginners
• Wix supports Google Business Profile, offering valuable insights to improve your site’s visibility, build customer engagement, and manage reviews
• The Semrush integration analyzes keywords and creates reports to help you create targeted and optimized content
• Wix’s AI meta tag creator helps you generate title tags and meta descriptions, ensuring your pages follow SEO best practices
• Understand and fix technical issues with Lumar (DeepCrawl) to prevent lost sales due to broken links, helping businesses protect their bottom line
• The Wix SEO Learning Hub is a one-stop destination to help bring you up to speed on the SEO basics (there are 10 online courses available in this hub)

Where Wix Could Improve

• Wix has slow load times and has continued to decline in our site speed tests, which could impact the user experience – I noticed a lot of lag when using Wix myself, and Wix achieved an average performance score of 73 out of 100 in our site speed testing (Google classifies anything below 90 as needing improvement)
• Wix offers so many features that it can be difficult to locate all of Wix’s SEO settings, which isn’t ideal for beginners or SEO novices

Do I Need To Pay Extra for Wix’s SEO Features?

You can access Wix’s SEO features across all plans, including the free forever plan. Wix’s pricing ranges $17 to $159 per month (billed annually):

2. Squarespace: SEO Support for Creatives

Squarespace is the easiest website builder I’ve tested, and its SEO features are intuitive and accessible for beginners.

While there are plenty of built-in SEO tools, including automatically generated schema markup, I was most impressed by Squarespace’s new scanners, which help you track search mentions and optimize your site for AI search engines, as well as traditional search channels.

What Squarespace Does Well

• Squarespace has three built-in SEO trackers (the AIO Scanner, SEO Scanner, and AI Site Scanner) to help you monitor brand mentions in AI search results and audit your site so you can make strategic optimizations
• Squarespace’s SEO panel offers detailed advice and guidance (like Wix’s personalized SEO checklist), providing the best possible foundation if you’re after results in the SERPs
• The search preview tool shows you exactly how your site will appear to users searching online, allowing you to make tweaks if necessary
• Squarespace was the first website builder to directly integrate with Google Search Console, helping you see what keywords customers and visitors use to find your site (so you can then optimize your content to target this audience)
• Squarespace’s social media integration helps to boost the visibility of your website and content, since you can display social posts directly on your site and automatically share website content when published

Where Squarespace Could Improve

• Some of Squarespace’s elements go against SEO best practices – for example, Squarespace set a testimonial element as a H2, confusing search engines about my test site’s page hierarchy
• There are limited SEO plugins (I could only see one SEO integration in the Squarespace Extensions library, whereas Shopify’s app store contains 300+ SEO-specific apps)
• Like Wix, Squarespace performed poorly in our site speed tests with one of the slowest average times – a slow website could severely harm the performance of your site

Do I Need To Pay Extra for Squarespace’s SEO Features?

Squarespace’s pricing ranges from $16 to $99 per month (billed annually), with SEO features available from the cheapest plan:

3. Hostinger: AI-Powered SEO Support

Based on our testing, Hostinger has the fastest loading times, so you can rest assured that your website is running optimally for both search engines and visitors. Plus, Hostinger is incredibly beginner-friendly and low-cost, with two very cheap website builder plans, meaning you can get key SEO features without breaking the bank.

What Hostinger Does Well

• Hostinger has the best site speed we’ve tested – this is a standout feature for this SEO website builder, helping your site run smoothly and reliably
• You can use Hostinger’s AI SEO assistant to help create title tags, meta descriptions, and suggest keywords
• Hostinger automatically manages select SEO factors, such as sitemaps and general performance
• I could tweak the SEO settings for individual product pages, ensuring products are seen by the right customers

Where Hostinger Could Improve

• Hostinger’s AI SEO assistant isn’t included on the cheapest plan – you’ll need to pay $3.99/mo for the Business Website Builder plan to unlock advanced SEO features and support
• Hostinger’s SEO features are limited and basic in comparison to other builders, such as Wix (for example, you can’t add schema markup with Hostinger)
• The SEO settings are hard to find when navigating the Hostinger dashboard – for a builder that does well at catering for beginners, this was disappointing to see

Do I Need To Pay Extra for Hostinger’s SEO Features?

SEO basics are available from Hostinger’s cheapest plan, but you’ll need the Business Website Builder plan to unlock the AI SEO assistant. Introductory pricing for Hostinger is low, ranging from $2.99 to $3.99 per month (for a 48-month term):

4. Shopify: Best SEO for Online Stores

Shopify handles ecommerce SEO best practices for your online store, such as generating optimized product descriptions and creating canonical tags automatically to prevent duplicate content appearing in the SERPs.

In addition, Shopify’s sales features can’t be beat, meaning you can run your small business with ease, grow your inventory, and market your store, while also optimizing your site for search engines and your target audience.

What Shopify Does Well

• The AI assistant, Shopify Sidekick, supports your business 24/7 – you can ask the AI chatbot for SEO advice or insights into your site’s performance
• Shopify’s suite of AI tools (Shopify Magic) helps your online store convert more customers with SEO-friendly product copy, email subject lines, headings, and more
• Get titles tags personalized to your store so search engines understand your site’s content and relevance
• Shopify automatically handles SEO basics, such as canonical tags, your site’s sitemap.xml, and robots.txt files
• Shopify integrates with SEO giant Semrush to provide merchants with a clear optimization plan (this includes an AI description editor and an image tool that can generate alt text)

Where Shopify Could Improve

• Shopify relies heavily on third-party apps – you’ll need to browse Shopify’s app market for advanced SEO tools, meaning you’ll also have to navigate between apps to oversee all of your SEO settings
• You can’t edit your sitemaps manually – these are automatically generated by Shopify, which is great for beginners, but not ideal if you want full control
• I found it tricky to find Shopify’s SEO settings, since they’re tucked away in your account settings
• Shopify performed poorly in our site speed tests, sitting just ahead of Squarespace

Do I Need To Pay Extra for Shopify’s SEO Features?

Every plan includes SEO support, with Shopify’s pricing ranging from $29 to $299 per month (billed annually):

5. GoDaddy: Quality SEO for Socials

GoDaddy is the best SEO website builder for beginners on a tight schedule, since it offers an automated SEO Wizard for support, integrated Google Business Profile management, and AI-powered social media tools.

That said, while GoDaddy provides the SEO basics you need to boost your traffic and visibility in the SERPs, it lacks the agentic commerce features provided by Wix and Shopify, which is critical for businesses selling in 2026.

What GoDaddy Does Well

• Use GoDaddy Airo to generate an SEO-optimized website, as well as content, emails, and social media posts, helping your business engage with its target audience and boost visibility (the content calendar and AI social post creator is especially good for social media SEO)
• The Google Business Profile integration syncs opening hours, your business contact number, and directions to Google Search and Google Maps – this is hugely beneficial for small businesses looking to build a personalized local presence
• GoDaddy’s SEO wizard is very straightforward – you’ll be asked questions to optimize your site, such as where your customers are located, and the feature even suggests industry-relevant keywords to target
• Get a free consultation with an SEO expert – this is a premium service offered by GoDaddy (pricing is determined during your consultation, based on your budget), where experienced SEO professionals can help you optimize your site and offer onsite recommendations

Where GoDaddy Could Improve

• After testing GoDaddy, clearer SEO guidance is needed – the SEO wizard is useful but quite basic, and GoDaddy doesn’t offer any tooltips or advice when tweaking your SEO settings
• There’s a risk of keyword stuffing (overusing keywords in your content) – after setting my keywords, I couldn’t mark one as my primary keyword, and GoDaddy requested I add all three of my keywords throughout my copy, which felt a bit unnatural at points
• It was difficult to find all of GoDaddy’s SEO settings, since broad site tools are located under GoDaddy’s “Marketing” tab, but if you want to list your business on Google, you’ll have to navigate to the “Social” tab

Do I Need To Pay Extra for GoDaddy’s SEO Features?

Built-in SEO is available from GoDaddy’s cheapest Basic plan. You can get started with the free forever plan, before upgrading to one of GoDaddy’s premium plans, ranging from $9.99 to $20.99 per month (billed annually):

How We Test SEO Website Builders

We carried out in-depth research into the top 12 website builders on the market so we can bring you the freshest rankings and insights.

We’ve used each website builder ourselves to experience its pros and cons, and to deliver first-hand insights within our reviews. Our research team also analyzes each platform against six core categories, with unique weighting for SEO builders:

• Website functionality (35%): What features are available to market your site, boost online visibility, generate content, and engage with your audience?
• Design features (25%): Is there AI design support? Are the templates good quality?
• Pricing (15%): How much do you need to pay for good SEO tools? Is there a free plan or trial?
• User experience (15%): How easy is the builder to use and navigate?
• Help and support (5%): Can you get in contact with the builder 24/7, and which support channels are available?
• Reputation (5%): Is the builder popular in your market? How do existing customers feel about it, and can it compete with other SEO builders?

When determining the best SEO website builders, our ranking focuses on the 21 SEO tests within the website functionality category (making up 20% of this research area).

For this, we review the SEO features on offer and check to see if the website builder follows best practices, such as sitemap management, the ability to add metadata, and mobile-friendliness. We also carried out site speed testing across desktop and mobile to measure overall performance.

Which Is the Best SEO Website Builder?

Wix is our top SEO website builder if you want the best range of built-in SEO tools, such as Semrush keyword support and an AI meta tag creator.

Of course, Wix won’t be ideal for everyone. Want AI to handle the bulk of the SEO work? Choose Hostinger. Looking for strong SEO support for your online store? Choose Shopify. Whichever builder you pick, remember to make the most of available free plans or trials to test out their SEO features before you commit to a subscription.

SEO Website Builders: FAQs

Written By

Emma Ryan

Emma is Deputy Editor of MVF’s B2B brands, specializing in website builders, ecommerce, marketing, and vibe coding. Emma combines her wealth of knowledge and years of hands-on testing with a passion for helping small businesses and website owners navigate the highs and lows of being online. Her work has been featured in Newsweek, Digiday, TechRound, and Industry Today.

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Reviewed By

Oliver Simpson Senior Research Executive

After three years of refining his skills in data analysis, Oliver transitioned to a role as a researcher to help understand reader preferences, decision making factors, pain points, and needs when it comes to building an online presence.

Oliver’s professional journey started out as a researcher in law enforcement, where he developed strong analytical abilities. He later moved into operations, which strengthened his understanding of quantitative data.

Now, Oliver blends his quantitative analysis skills with qualitative research to explore both audience preferences and product nuances.

In his three years at Website Builder Expert, Oliver has used his skills to provide up to date, unbiased insights into the products we review, to help ensure the best possible recommendations for readers. Oliver regularly assesses and iterates our website builder research methodology, staying on top of industry trends, digging into platform features and UX, and prioritizing areas that matter most to business owners. This provides web builder and ecommerce rankings you can trust.

In 2025 alone, Oliver’s conducted over 100 hours of data collection across website builder and ecommerce testing, and investigated 283 individual areas in the ecommerce methodology. He’s overseen 54 individual user tests of website builders, to assess how easy they are to use, and compiled the data into clear ratings for each builder.

You’ll find Oliver’s research referenced across all of our key pages; our content team use it to determine the ranking orders of pages such as the Best Website Builders of 2025, or comparisons like Wix vs Squarespace. We don’t decide who “wins” on personal preference; Oliver’s thorough research clearly outlines which platforms are best for different user needs.

Equipped with a UX design diploma, Oliver translates complex research findings into actionable insights that facilitate informed decision-making.

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