Which CMS is Best for SEO? (After 700 Websites, Here’s My Take)

If there’s one thing I know after 20 years of building websites, it’s this: CMS platforms are like relationships. Some are smooth and easy-going, some are high-maintenance divas, and some make you want to pull your hair out while questioning every life choice.

I’ve built and managed over 700 websites. That means I’ve spent countless nights wrestling with Sitecore, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Adobe Experience Manager, Wix, SDL Tridion, Umbraco, Shopify, and even a few bizarre custom CMS nightmares that should have been left in the depths of GitHub purgatory.

But which one is the best for SEO? Let me take you on a ride through my war stories and lessons learned.

The CMS Battlefield: Who Brings What to the SEO Fight?

Joomla: The Ex That Had Potential But Needed Too Much Work

Joomla was my first real CMS relationship. We had good times. It gave me SEO-friendly URLs and some decent metadata controls. But like a high-maintenance partner, every little improvement required an extra plugin, a workaround, or, worse—custom code. If I wanted canonical tags or advanced redirects, I had to go plugin hunting like Indiana Jones in an abandoned PHP temple.

Joomla, we had fun, but I needed something easier.

Drupal: The Powerhouse That Requires a Degree in Rocket Science

Drupal is strong, scalable, and has enterprise-level SEO baked in. But let’s be honest: it’s not for the faint of heart. You don’t just use Drupal—you commit to it, like signing up for a Ph.D. in "Website Management with a Side of Pain."

Want to tweak your SEO settings? You better have a developer on speed dial. It’s got power, but it’s a bit like owning a Ferrari—you better know how to drive it, or you’ll crash into a wall of confusing admin panels.

Adobe Experience Manager & Sitecore: The Fortune 500 Flex

These platforms are like luxury yachts—designed for the rich and famous (a.k.a. corporations with marketing budgets bigger than my entire career earnings). SEO tools? Built-in. Customization? Sky-high. Usability? Well… let’s just say if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.

If you’re running a massive global brand and have a team of developers and SEO experts, these are fantastic. But if you’re a one-person team trying to rank your blog? This is overkill.

Shopify: The E-Commerce Powerhouse

Shopify is a fantastic platform for online stores, but when it comes to SEO, it has both strengths and limitations. It handles structured data well and offers clean URLs, but its rigid URL structure and limited control over technical SEO elements (like full control over robots.txt) can sometimes be frustrating. Luckily, with the right apps and optimizations, Shopify stores can rank well.

Wix: The Guy Who Says, "Trust Me, I’m Improving"

Wix is like the friendly neighbor who tries really hard but keeps making rookie mistakes. Early on, Wix had some serious SEO limitations—bad URL structures, limited customization, and the kind of code Google bots side-eyed with suspicion.

But credit where it’s due, Wix has improved a lot. It’s great for beginners, but if you want full control over SEO elements like structured data, redirects, and page speed, you’ll eventually feel its limitations.

Umbraco: The Indie Darling That’s Awesome (If You Know What You’re Doing)

Umbraco is open-source, flexible, and pretty SEO-friendly, but it’s not beginner-friendly. It gives you a clean slate to build a well-optimized site, but like Drupal, it often requires custom development to unlock its full potential.

If you’re a developer who loves flexibility, Umbraco is fantastic. If you just want to rank higher on Google without breaking your brain, maybe look elsewhere.

And Then… There’s WordPress (The Love of My Digital Life)

Ah, WordPress. The CMS that’s been with me through thick and thin. The one I keep coming back to, no matter how many others I try. The peanut butter to my SEO jelly.

WordPress is the perfect balance of power and simplicity. Straight out of the box, it’s decent for SEO—clean URLs, easy content management, and solid performance. But where it truly shines is its plugin ecosystem.

With plugins like Yoast SEO and Rank Math, you can optimize metadata, improve readability, generate XML sitemaps, and even add structured data—all without writing a single line of code. Want to speed up your site? Install a caching plugin. Need advanced schema markup? There’s a plugin for that too.

And the best part? Unlike some CMS platforms that lock you into their ecosystem, WordPress gives you complete control. You can tweak, optimize, and fine-tune every aspect of SEO without being held hostage by a closed platform.

The Verdict: Which CMS Wins for SEO?

If you’re a massive corporation with an army of developers and a healthy marketing budget, Sitecore, Adobe Experience Manager, or Drupal might be your best bet.

If you just want a simple, hands-off approach with decent SEO capabilities, Wix or Umbraco can work.

If you're running an e-commerce store, Shopify is a strong contender, but with some SEO limitations to keep in mind.

But if you want a flexible, scalable, and powerful SEO-friendly CMS that doesn’t make you lose sleep at night, WordPress is the clear winner.

After two decades of building websites and battling algorithms, WordPress remains my go-to CMS for SEO. It’s powerful yet simple, endlessly customizable, and always evolving.

So, if you’re looking to build a site that ranks without needing a Ph.D. in web development, my advice? Go with WordPress.

Need Help with SEO or Want Me to Review Your CMS?

If you’re struggling with SEO or wondering if your CMS is the right fit, reach out! I’d be happy to help you optimize your website for better rankings and performance.