What SEO Features and Limitations Do Website Builders Have? Six Tools Compared (2024 Data)

Website builders differ in which SEO settings you can change, whether plugins are needed, and what limitations apply to advanced features. According to a 2024 Semrush article, Wix and Squarespace offer basic on-page optimization; WordPress can be extended through plugins; Shopify focuses on ecommerce; HubSpot offers bulk management and redirects; and GoDaddy has limitations on editing headings and URLs. The comparison below covers these six tools and reflects only the material from that period, not necessarily their current plans or features.

Wix and Squarespace: Clearly Outlined Basic Settings

• Wix: The article lists SEO Wiz, which provides step-by-step optimization guidance, along with customizable meta tags and URLs and automatic mobile optimization. The free plan includes branding and uses a subdomain; removing the branding and connecting an existing domain requires payment.
• Squarespace: You can adjust meta tags, URL structure, and image alt text, with built-in XML sitemaps and responsive templates. The article describes it as suitable for basic to intermediate SEO, but with a narrower range of features than the WordPress plugin ecosystem.

For example, if your work mainly involves editing page descriptions, organizing URLs, and adding image alt text, the material on Squarespace explicitly lists these capabilities. That does not mean it provides access to every technical setting.

WordPress and Shopify: Distinguish Platform Features from Extensions

WordPress stands out for its choice of plugins. The article lists plugin capabilities such as monitoring 404 errors, setting up 301 redirects, adding missing meta descriptions, tracking indexing status, and generating structured data. These are capabilities plugins can provide, not features every website has by default or functions necessarily covered by a single plugin.

WordPress.com is a service offering free and paid plans, whereas WordPress.org requires you to arrange hosting separately. The material does not detail the conditions for using plugins on each plan, so the two should not be compared as though they have identical configurations.

Shopify focuses on ecommerce website building. In addition to blogging and SEO tools, the article mentions advanced add-on features such as breadcrumb navigation, keyword identification, and internal and external link building. These should be treated as extension options, not built-in features already enabled for every store.

GoDaddy and HubSpot: Different Editing Limitations and Management Features

• GoDaddy: The article lists keyword research guidance, mobile optimization, Google Analytics integration, and automatic XML sitemaps. However, H1 and H2 headings are difficult to customize, and URLs generated from page titles are also difficult to change. These are limitations on editing flexibility, not a complete inability to make changes.
• HubSpot: Listed features include meta tag and URL management, sitemaps, bulk page editing, custom redirects, and Google Search Console integration. The free plan has limited features, and the material does not specify which plan includes each of the features above.

Which Settings Should You Check Before Choosing?

The article recommends checking support for canonical tags, robots.txt, redirects, and loading speed. However, the supplied material does not detail the level of access to these capabilities for each tool, so it cannot establish an overall winner. Check features and limitations against your project’s needs rather than choosing solely because a platform “has SEO tools.”