Webflow vs. Wix: What's the Best Website Builder for SEO?

Considering moving from Webflow to Wix - or vice versa? In this post, we'll compare the two platforms with a focus on SEO.
What Is Webflow?
Webflow is a website builder that centers on providing an intuitive and coding-free website creation experience without compromising on customization and control over the design. It also emphasizes SEO, allowing the generation of clean HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, which can enhance site performance and improve SEO rankings.
What Is Wix?
Wix is a cloud-based website builder known for its drag-and-drop functionality, making it easy for users to design visually appealing sites without technical expertise. Wix offers numerous customizable templates and a wide range of add-ons through its App Market, catering to diverse needs such as e-commerce, blogging, and portfolios.
The platform also includes built-in SEO tools, mobile optimization, and hosting services, allowing users to launch their sites quickly. Wix's intuitive interface and design freedom make it popular among small businesses and individuals looking to establish an online presence. Webflow and Wix are at the two ends of the SEO spectrum.
Webflow has a solid track record as the go-to website builder for SEO-conscious marketing teams. Wix? Well, getting a Wix website to rank is notoriously hard. So much so that a couple of years ago, the company hosted an SEO competition in an attempt to debunk that belief.
Webflow vs. Wix for SEO
Webflow and Wix each come with SEO-friendly features and attributes out-of-the-box. In this part, we'll compare their:
- Built-in SEO features
- Integrations (with a focus on SEO optimizations & contentOps)
- Performance & speed
- Content optimization
- Localization
Built-in SEO Features
🏆 Winner: Webflow
Webflow and Wix provide basic SEO features, like customizable meta tags and clean URL structure. However, Webflow stands out with more advanced SEO abilities, such as:
- 301 redirects
- Custom canonical tags
- More granular control over code & on-page SEO
Webflow offers custom code embeds, allowing seamless integration with advanced SEO tools and platforms. This provides users with enhanced SEO capabilities and streamlined workflow automation. Additionally, Webflow integrates with platforms like Zapier to facilitate workflow automation, improving content publishing and distribution.
Wix, on the other hand, while offering features like site verification and meta tag customization, lacks advanced SEO capabilities.
SEO-focused Integrations
🤝 Tie
When it comes to optimizing your SEO through integrations, both Webflow and Wix offer valuable tools.
Webflow's custom code embeds enable seamless integration with analytics and optimization platforms. Plus, its App Marketplace offers third-party plugins for everything from keyword optimization to technical SEO monitoring.
Wix also has a robust App Market, featuring various SEO and marketing tools. Additionally, Wix offers a developer-focused platform called "Velo by Wix", which provides developers with advanced tools to create custom web applications. Velo by Wix allows for serverless coding, integrates APIs, and offers a robust environment for building dynamic and sophisticated websites with more control over functionality. The platform's serverless coding and dynamic environment facilitate creating fast-loading pages, improving site performance and user experience, which are crucial for SEO.
Performance and Speed
🏆 Winner: Webflow
In terms of performance and speed, Webflow is generally considered superior to Wix. The platform's effective code generation and advanced content delivery networks (CDNs) often result in faster loading times, a crucial factor for SEO success.
While Wix provides reliable performance, it can't quite match Webflow's customized efficiencies.
Content Optimization
🏆 Winner: Webflow
Both platforms support content optimization strategies. However, Webflow's flexibility and more precise control over on-page SEO give it an advantage over Wix.
Though Wix simplifies content management for non-developers, more experienced developers and marketers might find it somewhat restrictive.
Localization
🏆 Winner: Webflow
For businesses with a global audience, localization is crucial. Here, too, Webflow provides more advanced features, such as automatic site routing. Wix supports basic localization features but lacks the granularity that Webflow offers.
So, Which Is Better?
Each platform has its pros and cons. Your ideal site builder will depend on your specific needs. Webflow tends to offer more advanced SEO features and integration capabilities, while Wix offers a simpler, more user-friendly platform.
If enhancing your organic traffic is your paramount concern, and you want full control over your on-page SEO, Webflow could be the best choice. But if you're looking for an easy-to-use platform with basic SEO support, Wix might be the right call.
In either case, having a robust SEO strategy in place is essential to attracting traffic to your website and converting visitors into customers.
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