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puckman

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hey guys, I used to work at Google and have a perspective on this, but I wanted to get your input too.

Shoot down my theory and share your thoughts below.

My theory; managed website platforms are bad for SEO, platforms like Squarespace, Shopify, Wordpress.com hosted, Wix, Weebly, etc.

Solution; build and host your own site, index it correctly, and see better SEO.

Is this true of false? Do managed platforms suck for SEO?
 
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YoungBroward

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I've heard of plugins that you can use for managed website platforms. One very popular one is Yoast which is a plugin for wordpress sites.
 

puckman

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I've heard of plugins that you can use for managed website platforms. One very popular one is Yoast which is a plugin for wordpress sites.

Yes I've used these, but they are not really applicable to my question.

I will restate; are managed platforms worse for SEO?
 

TonyStark

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I’m curious about this too; @Fox what are your thoughts?

I know the websites you build get amazing results, is part of that because you use HTML?

What’s the secret? Copywriting?
 
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Twiizlar

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The platform you use to build your website has 0 direct affect on SEO. However, many of the platforms like Squarespace and Wix greatly limit what you can change in terms of on-page SEO which in turn affects it's optimizations.

It is greatly encouraged to avoid Wix, Squarespace, Blogger. In my experience Shopify has some limitations but I think it is not that big of a deal. I currently have a client on Shopify and we are doing well. WordPress essentially gives you 0 restrictions so this is the best choice.
 

MattR82

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The platform you use to build your website has 0 direct affect on SEO. However, many of the platforms like Squarespace and Wix greatly limit what you can change in terms of on-page SEO which in turn affects it's optimizations.

It is greatly encouraged to avoid Wix, Squarespace, Blogger. In my experience Shopify has some limitations but I think it is not that big of a deal. I currently have a client on Shopify and we are doing well. WordPress essentially gives you 0 restrictions so this is the best choice.
This is pretty much exactly what I've heard over the last year and a half learning web design. Except for shopify, never heard much about its issues or not with seo.
 
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Deleted50669

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Better off focusing on not putting out shit than what flavor of shit. Content is king. Whether you use wordpress, wix, or some other con-man hosting platform, results will be trivially different. If you put out something that people want, word will spread.
 
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rogue synthetic

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On-page SEO factors are mostly content issues.

You can fiddle with a few things like some of the meta and Open Graph tags and Schema.org markup, which may be easier with a self-hosted WP or static HTML site. (This is all that Yoast and other SEO plugins do on WordPress anyway.)

For the most part the platform you're using won't matter for this.
 

Yoda

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The OP's question is actually a bad question.

Different problems require different solutions.

A mom'n'pop corner shop can get by with whatever they want, really. Nothing is so restrictive you can't get by or even succeed in local.

Going to the other side of the earth and talking about nationwide or worldwide sites... yeah it's just a different animal. Probably don't want Wix.

For the vast majority, a Wordpress site with a legitimate framework like Bootstrap, Genesis, etc. with a theme on top will be more than sufficient, without a doubt.
 

Fox

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A website built manually by someone who knows what they are doing is always going to outrank a system that caters towards people of all levels.

It's like using an advanced video editing software versus some click + drag + add music software. One is going to be easier to set up but will lack the ability to go deeper and get the best results.

Wix and the like are made to be easy. They just want people to have a site online asap and locked in so they keep paying the subscription.

More advanced systems are going to give that extra level where you got more control and can get better results. That is their business model - cater to the pros.

You can get good results with either but a service like Wix is always going to be inferior because it needs to remain easy for everyone to use.
 
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Divine_Joker

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A website built manually by someone who knows what they are doing is always going to outrank a system that caters towards people of all levels.

It's like using an advanced video editing software versus some click + drag + add music software. One is going to be easier to set up but will lack the ability to go deeper and get the best results.

Wix and the like are made to be easy. They just want people to have a site online asap and locked in so they keep paying the subscription.

More advanced systems are going to give that extra level where you got more control and can get better results. That is their business model - cater to the pros.

You can get good results with either but a service like Wix is always going to be inferior because it needs to remain easy for everyone to use.

Hi Bro

Can You share your thoughts on the WordPress with the plugins like the Yoast SEO or All in one SEO ?

Waiting for your answer.
 

MythOfSisyphus

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My current Shopify store ranked for all the main keywords in my niche quite easily. If you do the basics right and build a good website I don't think it matters too much which platform you use (I've built plenty of WordPress sites too).

Google is getting better at detecting things like how engaging a website is to an end user so things like backlinks are becoming less important while user experience is becoming more so.
 

Pratik_ITpro

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True, these are Website Builders and have some limitations, hence developing own site and indexing it well; is a better practice

Sent from my Redmi Note 5 Pro using Tapatalk
 
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Isaac Oh

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Wordpress seems to have all the tools for SEO needs. I'm sure you could do even more but I'm also assuming it would be negligible.
 

DustinH

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For the vast majority, a Wordpress site with a legitimate framework like Bootstrap, Genesis, etc. with a theme on top will be more than sufficient, without a doubt.

This was my understanding and why I chose to build my website with Genesis framework and a Genesis Child Theme. From my research, page loading speed, mobile friendliness, simple optimized code, and no code "bloat" were things that Google's indexing looks for to have a more optimized website. I'm no expert on this stuff, but that was a case for Wordpress with the Genesis framework to be a good option for me.
 
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The Abundant Man

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Not sure about SEO but making a website using html + css + Java =More fun. Takes more time but it's more fun.

It's like woodworking where I built a birdhouse out of my own hands. This feeling of pride and satisfaction and accomplishment.

People also call it "flow" where you're just so into something that's all you're focused on. You ignore all the distractions.

It's alot like what Peter describes in this video:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBtf8Yglw2w
 

puckman

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Hey all, have an update. Working at my 9-5 and wanting to leave shortly after starting, I wanted to just launch. So I decided to launch with Wordpress.com. It was super easy, and for anyone just wanting to get off the ground, I would recommend this approach.

www.zealist.io

I built the site myself and hired a designer on Fiverr to help with a few small things, and that has cost me less than $100. I just wanted to get the site launched, so I opted for www.wordpress.com, rather than build and host on my own.

So my business is launched, and I left my 9-5 full-time job. Progress. My desire to launch far outweighed building for SEO, esp. for this type of site.

Thanks for all of the suggestions and input.
 
Last edited:

Barry_M

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hey guys, I used to work at Google and have a perspective on this, but I wanted to get your input too.

Shoot down my theory and share your thoughts below.

My theory; managed website platforms are bad for SEO, platforms like Squarespace, Shopify, Wordpress.com hosted, Wix, Weebly, etc.

Solution; build and host your own site, index it correctly, and see better SEO.

Is this true of false? Do managed platforms suck for SEO?


I can prove without a doubt that all of the above is 100% true. I would not use any of these if I were doing any decent type of SEO. This is also why I built my own CMS from scratch - Google is your friend. Give it what it wants.
 
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puckman

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I can prove without a doubt that all of the above is 100% true. I would not use any of these if I were doing any decent type of SEO. This is also why I built my own CMS from scratch - Google is your friend. Give it what it wants.

Thanks Barry, I haven't spent too much time looking for research into this, call it an educated guess.
 

Barry_M

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I’m curious about this too; @Fox what are your thoughts?

I know the websites you build get amazing results, is part of that because you use HTML?

What’s the secret? Copywriting?

All websites are built with HTML. If the website is dynamic in any way using php, ASP or similar server side languages, the HTML is generated from that and maybe info from a database.

If the HTML is generated from Javascript, the search engines will not be able to read it as it is generated after the fact so to speak, but the browser will still present it as normal. This is why you dont see posts from Facebook in search results (among other reasons).
 

Barry_M

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The platform you use to build your website has 0 direct affect on SEO. However, many of the platforms like Squarespace and Wix greatly limit what you can change in terms of on-page SEO which in turn affects it's optimizations.

It is greatly encouraged to avoid Wix, Squarespace, Blogger. In my experience Shopify has some limitations but I think it is not that big of a deal. I currently have a client on Shopify and we are doing well. WordPress essentially gives you 0 restrictions so this is the best choice.

This is completely untrue. I have been providing SEO for around 18 years and I can assure you that the CMS you choose will effect your SEO. Wordpress is NOT the best choice. It is the EASY choice.
 
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Barry_M

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Just out of curiosity, what does Google want that something like Wordpress can't provide?

Wordpress loads slowly. Google hates slow loading websites. I was on a page from one of the forums users today (his link was in his sig although I cant remember who it was) and his site took 18 seconds to load. Have a look at this link:


Also do some research on Above The Fold SEO. This is just some basics to look at.
 

JB92

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hey guys, I used to work at Google and have a perspective on this, but I wanted to get your input too.

Shoot down my theory and share your thoughts below.

My theory; managed website platforms are bad for SEO, platforms like Squarespace, Shopify, Wordpress.com hosted, Wix, Weebly, etc.

Solution; build and host your own site, index it correctly, and see better SEO.

Is this true of false? Do managed platforms suck for SEO?

Somewhat correct, however WordPress can be heavily optimised if you build it bespoke, rather than using a theme or WordPress' hosted platform.

Personally, I've never seen a client have SEO issues due to WordPress.

The other platforms you have mentioned I would agree with.
 
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puckman

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Somewhat correct, however WordPress can be heavily optimised if you build it bespoke, rather than using a theme or WordPress' hosted platform.

Personally, I've never seen a client have SEO issues due to WordPress.

The other platforms you have mentioned I would agree with.

I was referring to Wordpress.com, not self hosted Wordpress.
 

MattR82

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I know people who get every wordpress site they build to load in under a second though, every time, with good optimisation and hosting.

I'm still falling out of love with wordpress more and more every day though.
 

Barry_M

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I know people who get every wordpress site they build to load in under a second though, every time, with good optimisation and hosting.

I'm still falling out of love with wordpress more and more every day though.

I know some people can get some great results from Wordpress but they have stripped allot of the bloat out of it and have them hosted on servers like mine (shit hot dedicated).

But most people who make and have wordpress sites are banging out seriously bloated templates that load slower than the trusty flintlock of old.

26218
 
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MattR82

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I Agree with you there are far better alternatives to wordpress but for me speed is nowhere near as important as stability and security. It's not hard to have a 2 second load time with wordpress on cheap siteground.

I'll be working with someone soon that will be using Kirby instead of wordpress and yeah it's easier to make it faster but for me not having to use all those plugins and their issues is the best reason.
 

Barry_M

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I Agree with you there are far better alternatives to wordpress but for me speed is nowhere near as important as stability and security. It's not hard to have a 2 second load time with wordpress on cheap siteground.

I'll be working with someone soon that will be using Kirby instead of wordpress and yeah it's easier to make it faster but for me not having to use all those plugins and their issues is the best reason.

sure I seen someone mention Kirby here a few days ago. Ive never seen it. Might have a look in to it just to see what its all about.
 

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