Which Ecommerce Platform is Best for SEO in 2023?
Choosing the right ecommerce platform is a crucial decision that will impact your business’s ability to drive traffic and sales over the long-term. With SEO being a key growth channel for online stores, it’s important to understand which platforms provide the most SEO advantages out of the box.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll compare the built-in SEO capabilities of the top ecommerce platforms:
Shopify
WooCommerce
BigCommerce
Magento
Squarespace
We’ll examine the core SEO features, extensions and optimization capabilities of each platform to help you determine which is the best fit for your ecommerce SEO needs.
Speed & Performance
Site speed is a ranking factor - the faster your pages load, the better for SEO. Here’s how the platforms compare for speed optimization:
Shopify - Very fast performance with average load times under 2 seconds on a good host. Easy CDN integration.
WooCommerce - Load times depend on WordPress hosting. Managed WP sites with caching plugins can achieve good speeds.
BigCommerce - Fast proprietary hosting and CDN make speeds very good. Average load time is 1.5 seconds.
Magento - Self-hosted sites can struggle with speed without proper caching/hosting. Speed modules are required.
Squarespace - Page builder results in slower load times around 3 seconds on average. Limited speed optimization options.
When it comes to site speed and performance, Shopify and BigCommerce have a noticeable advantage out of the box. WooCommerce and Magento speeds are dependent on hosting server configuration.
Mobile Optimization
With mobile representing over 50% of ecommerce traffic, having a site optimized for mobile UX is key for SEO. Here’s how the platforms fare for mobile optimization:
Shopify - Fully mobile responsive. Mobile-first indexed. Mobile UX focus.
WooCommerce - Mobile responsive with themes. Additional mobile plugins can further optimize UX.
BigCommerce - Fully mobile-optimized and responsive. Great mobile checkout experience.
Magento - Responsive with default theme. Modules like Magento Mobile and PWA Studio enhance mobile experience.
Squarespace - Excellent responsive mobile templates and page builder tools. Simple mobile UX.
All five platforms provide responsive mobile-friendly themes and convenience features like Apple Pay integration, making them decent choices for mobile SEO needs out of the box. Shopify and BigCommerce have a slight advantage.
URL Structure
Search-friendly URL structure is important for SEO. Here is how platforms handle product and page URLs:
Shopify - Uses clean, keyword-rich product URLs with product name slugs. Easy to customize.
WooCommerce - Default URLs not ideal but can be customized using plugins like Yoast SEO.
BigCommerce - Clean product and category URLs by default. Easy URL management.
Magento - URL keys can be customized for SEO. Default URLs are indexed. Path optimization available.
Squarespace - Pages have long ID-based URLs by default. Some customization available.
For out-of-the-box SEO-friendly url structures, Shopify and BigCommerce are again ahead versus default URL setup on other platforms. But proper plugins can customize URLs on sites like WooCommerce and Magento.
Site Search
Having an on-site search is not only convenient for customers, but also important for SEO. Here are the site search capabilities:
Shopify - Integrated search powered by AI for accuracy and speed. Fully customizable.
WooCommerce - Plugin required for site search functionality. SearchWP recommended.
BigCommerce - Built-in fast site search with customization options.
Magento - Elasticsearch site search engine comes built-in. Additional relevance tools available.
Squarespace - Limited default site search. Third-party integrations like Swiftype required for more robust search.
Built-in intelligent site search comes standard on Shopify and BigCommerce, while WooCommerce and Squarespace require third-party search integrations. Magento offers search but added customization is recommended.
SEO Integrations
Third-party SEO tools integrations are important for optimization. Here are some of the top supported apps:
Shopify - Supports hundreds of SEO apps like Yoast, Rank Math, SEMrush and Google Analytics.
WooCommerce - Compatible with popular SEO plugins like Yoast, All in One SEO Pack and Google Analytics.
BigCommerce - Apps available including SEMrush, Moz Pro and Google Analytics. APIs enable custom integrations.
Magento - Integrates with SEMrush, Moz Pro, Google Analytics and more through apps and extensions.
Squarespace - Limited SEO integrations. Google Analytics built-in but other tools have partial or no integration.
Shopify and WooCommerce have the most robust SEO integrations thanks to their wide app ecosystems. BigCommerce enables integrations through its API. Magento has solid extensions for major tools while Squarespace has gaps.
Onsite SEO Customization
Editing SEO title tags, meta descriptions and other on-page elements is key for optimization. Here is how the platforms fare for onsite SEO editing and customization:
Shopify - Title, meta, alt text and other on-page SEO fully customizable. Additional apps enable advanced SEO editing.
WooCommerce - SEO fields built-in with option for plugins like Yoast for advanced optimization.
BigCommerce - SEO Manager app allows bulk editing of titles, meta descriptions, etc. Built-in SEO customization also available.
Magento - Fields available for custom SEO attributes. Additional extensions like Ryviu needed for advanced management.
Squarespace - Limited built-in SEO customization. Title and description fields but no advanced SEO capabilities.
Shopify enables the greatest degree of advanced SEO content editing and customization out of the box. WooCommerce and BigCommerce also provide SEO content flexibility, especially with add-ons.
Structured Data
Structured data markup enables rich results and better integration with search engines. Here is how the platforms handle structured data:
Shopify - Products marked up with schema out of the box. Easy integration for other data like FAQs.
WooCommerce - Multiple plugins available for adding product schema, reviews, breadcrumbs etc.
BigCommerce - Defaults to basic product schema. Added apps enable expanded structured data.
Magento - Minimal default schemas but extensions like Ryviu enable rich markup addition.
Squarespace - No built-in schema but supports some third-party extensions for markup.
Shopify automates key product schema markup, giving it the advantage for out-of-the-box structured data capabilities. WooCommerce and BigCommerce have extensive structured data support through plugins and apps.
Content Optimization
On-page content and blogging are important for SEO. Here are the built-in capabilities of each platform:
Shopify - Integrated blogging platform. Decent CMS and content tools. Many blog app integrations.
WooCommerce - Content creation fully flexible using WordPress CMS. Plugin ecosystem for SEO content optimization.
BigCommerce - Built-in CMS for pages and blogs. Plugins expand content features and SEO optimization.
Magento - Limited built-in CMS and content tools. External connection to WordPress required.
Squarespace - Includes website builder tools and CMS for optimized content creation.
WooCommerce rules for content thanks to the WordPress foundation. Shopify, BigCommerce and Squarespace have internal CMS tools but lack the content ecosystem of WordPress. Magento lags for built-in content features.
Reporting & Analytics
Analytics integration is vital for tracking SEO metrics and performance. Here’s an overview:
Shopify – Google Analytics integration built-in for in-depth SEO data. Other analytics app integrations available.
WooCommerce - Google Analytics easy to connect. SEO analytics also available through plugin ecosystem.
BigCommerce - Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager come built-in. Additional analytics app integration.
Magento - Comes with built-in analytics. Also supports Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager integration.
Squarespace - Google Analytics integrated by default. Dashboards provide insights into key metrics.
All five platforms offer integration with Google Analytics, either built-in or through configuration, to provide robust ecommerce tracking and SEO data.
Ease of Use
A platform that is easier to use and optimize can indirectly benefit SEO through proper implementation. Here is how they compare for usability:
Shopify – Very intuitive and easy to use even for beginners. User-friendly with little technical expertise required.
WooCommerce – More learning curve required given WordPress foundation. Requires web development and SEO knowledge.
BigCommerce – Clean dashboard with guided onboarding. SEO setup still requires moderate technical proficiency.
Magento – Steep learning curve due to complexity. Prior development and SEO experience recommended.
Squarespace – Very simple drag-and-drop builder. SEO limitations but easy for beginners without coding skills.
Shopify is the clear leader when it comes to simplicity and ease of use, even for SEO beginners. WooCommerce and Magento have steeper learning curves that require more web expertise.
The Verdict: Which Platform is Best for Ecommerce SEO?
While all five platforms have their strengths and shortcomings, overall Shopify emerges as the best ecommerce platform for managing SEO out of the box.
The main SEO advantages Shopify provides are:
Speed and performance optimization
Inherently mobile-friendly
Customizable SEO URLs
Built-in intelligent site search
Support for all major SEO app integrations
Easy implementation of structured data
Built-in blogging platform
Deep Google Analytics integration
Easy to use even for SEO beginners
With Shopify, it’s easier to get a new ecommerce store up to speed on SEO best practices quickly. SEO customization, content integration and analytics are handled right from the start. Expanding SEO capabilities with apps and integrations is also seamless.
Platforms like WooCommerce, BigCommerce and Magento offer many SEO strengths as well, but require more customization. Squarespace trails the rest for advanced on-site SEO needs.
Much comes down to execution in the end. But for small ecommerce stores that want SEO to be as simple as possible, Shopify provides the most well-rounded solution. The combination of usability and built-in SEO functionality gives Shopify merchants an advantage when it comes to search engine visibility.