There is a myth that SEO is impossible on websites developed with builders. They say that you can get a large flow of customers for them only through advertising, social networks, etc., but not with the help of search engines.
Is it really so? Let’s figure it out.
Key benefits of website builders
If you have never encountered constructors, it will be useful to learn about their advantages.
- Low cost of website development. It can be completely minimal, since website design is available to every user, even those who are far from programming.
- You can assemble a website using the constructor very quickly – in just a few hours or days.
- Simple content management – if any problems occur or you decide to change something, you can always do it yourself without involving a programmer.
It is also worth understanding that a website builder is not a template site. Many services offer unique development that can compete with other projects that are not made with a designer.
Opportunities for website promotion on the constructor
As with regular sites, many constructors allow you to set a hierarchy of headings (H1, H2, H3, and so on), fill in description and keywords meta tags, add alts to images, generate Sitemap and Robots.txt, and also interact with various services, for example Yandex .Webmaster and Google Search Console.
Along with this, there are a number of disadvantages:
- Slow loading of the site. There are a number of builders that succeed in optimizing pages, but this is not the case for all. If a constructor like Craftum can render heavy content on a page in just a second, then conditional uKit will make it 5x slower.
- Third-party plugins and modules cannot be injected. If on the CMS we can install additional plugins for SEO-promotion, then on the constructors this, as a rule, is impossible. But designers often offer proprietary solutions!
As you can see, there are not many disadvantages. A few years ago, it was difficult to talk about SEO promotion on a website builder, but today these services offer us opportunities to bring a resource to the top 3.
The best builders for SEO promotion
Craftum
The Craftum builder invites users to create websites both based on responsive templates and using unique design blocks.
Among the SEO capabilities of the constructor, I would like to highlight:
- adding your own HTML code,
- using the rel = “canonical” attribute,
- setting up meta tags (including keywords),
- a ban on domain indexing by search engines,
- automatic generation of sitemap.xml and robots.txt files.
In addition, the builder allows you to connect a free SSL certificate and gives customers a free domain when they pay for a year.
All SEO manipulations occur directly through the settings of the selected page:
You can customize the display of the site on social networks and insert a Yandex.Metrica counter or any other analytics service.
There is only one of the tariff plans, but it allows you to host up to 5 sites for a modest amount.
Official page: Craftum
Wix
Wix is one of the most popular services for designing landing pages, online stores, multi-pages and simple business cards. It includes a standard set for promotion – this is the automatic generation of a sitemap.xml sitemap, adaptive layout, 301 redirects, setting up canonical tags.
There is also built-in integration with Yandex.Metrica and Google Search Console services.
It is also possible to exclude the required page from the search engine through the robots.txt file. It can be said that there is no access to it – exceptions are configured using the “Hide page in search results” function.
Wix provides good promotion functionality, but only when it comes to small sites. Large-scale projects will be difficult to promote, but landing pages and blog sites are quite.
Tariff plans start at 90 rubles per month.
Official page: Wix
uKit
uKit is another builder with good SEO capabilities. It allows you to add a site to Yandex.Webmaster and Google Search Console, connect Yandex.Metrica and Goolge Analytics analytics services, and work with Yandex.Directory through your personal account.
But this, of course, is not all – we can also prohibit the indexing of the site and add canonical links. All this is done in a separate section “SEO settings”:
In addition, there are separate settings for each page that set the title, description and keywords tags.
You can also add an SSL certificate, index pages directly through the admin panel and write your own HTML code (alas, for an additional fee).
This is where uKit’s capabilities end. As with many builders, editing the robots.txt file is not possible.
Pricing plans start at $ 5 per month.
Official page: uKit
Tilda
Tilda includes a standard set of settings for SEO promotion: from filling in alts to connecting Yandex.Webmaster and Google Search Console.
In the SEO subsection of the Settings section, we can establish a secure SSL connection, view SEO recommendations, set up a 301 redirect, prohibit indexing, and much more.
In the Analytics subsection, you can connect metrics, as well as view the statistics of the selected site.
To customize pages, there is a separate section where you can customize the display on Facebook and fill in the necessary metadata.
If we talk about online stores, then everything is not so rosy here: there is no markup or separate pages for products. Tilda is more suitable for landing pages, small multi-pages and business card sites.
Tariffs start at 750 rubles.
Official page: Tilda
LPgenerator
LPgenerator is a popular website development service used by companies such as Aviasales, Channel One, ITMGroup and Mentor TV.
LPgenerator allows you to add meta tags, as well as customize the robots.txt file through the page settings:
The assignment of violas to images is done directly through the editor itself.
And, of course, we can customize H1 headers, create a sitemap.xml sitemap, and also sync with various analytics services.
The cost starts at 690 rubles per month.
Official page: LPgenerator
Setup
One of the veterans of website design. He can hardly boast of some incredible solutions in terms of web design, but the functionality for SEO promotion is quite wide. We can set meta tags, select a region and add analytics systems.
There is also a Domains section where you can connect an SSL certificate, make a 301 redirect, and add a domain name.
The robots.txt and sitemap.xml files are generated automatically, and the meta tags are filled inside each page.
Tariff plans:
Official page: Setup
uCOZ
uCOz is the brother of the uKit constructor we talked about above. It also allows for various SEO manipulations. In particular, you can customize the standard parameters: add title, description and keywords. To activate this functionality, you need to set the slider in the parameters:
After that, an additional item “Set individual Title, Description, Keywords” will be displayed on the site pages. By clicking on it, all the required fields for filling will appear.
Other functions:
- Prohibition of domain indexing by search engines.
- Using the rel = “canonical” attribute.
- Disable 301 redirect for pagination pages.
- Editing the robots.txt file.
Tariff plans:
Official page: uCoz
What else is important to know about SEO promotion
Although the capabilities of the designers allow you to promote the site, this does not guarantee that it will definitely get to the top if you just fill in all the required fields. You should also take care of the following:
- It is important to work through all the content – do not forget about the keys placed in the text. You should place relevant keywords and try to completely cover all the pains of the reader. When a search engine sees that a page does not solve users’ problems, it lowers its place in search results.
- Use the constructor’s capabilities – go through all the SEO functionality and do not be lazy to fill in each parameter.
- Headings – It’s very important to have a hierarchy on the page. It is bad if the very first heading is marked as H3, and less important as H1. Indicate everything clearly – first there is H1, then H2, and so on. All this is strongly looked at by search engines, which do not like it when on the pages of “porridge”.
- Connect services like Yandex.Webmaster and Google Console Search. In them, you can send pages for indexing, as well as see which pages have already been added to the search results. Through them, you can also search for site errors, as well as check the correct setting of the sitemap.xml and robots.txt files.
- Analyze behavioral factors – you can do this using Google Analytics and Yandex.Metrics, which are synchronized with almost all the constructors discussed above. With their help, you can track site traffic, find out how much time users spend on the pages, where they came from, and much more.
- Engage in self-promotion – if you provide any services, then tell them about them on thematic forums or reference books. A large flow of customers can affect search results – the search engine will start offering the site to users, since there is a demand for it.
You can use the listed methods for sites made on any website builders. The most important thing is to fill in the main parameters – title, description, alt and the heading hierarchy. Without their existence, it is difficult to talk about any progress, even in theory.