I want to focus on SEO again but I never liked WordPress, why does everyone still recommend it

I have been building websites since 2010. I even worked with Adobe Dreamweaver back in the day, but I never really got into WordPress. Now that I am coming back to SEO, I still see people recommending it as the go-to platform for SEO with RankMath, plugins, and all that. To me, it feels outdated, which is why I never used it much in my career.

Is WordPress really that necessary for SEO? Are there better alternatives? Can I still do well in SEO using a different platform like Framer? This is not a rant, just trying to understand why WordPress is still so dominant in SEO.

SEO isn’t tied to any one platform.

The reason WordPress is so common is that it makes it easy to apply SEO basics. Plus, WordPress is self-hosted, so you have full control over your site, unlike hosted platforms that can change pricing or policies at any time.

If Framer decided to increase its pricing tomorrow, you’d have no choice but to accept it or migrate your site elsewhere. With WordPress, you can move your site to any hosting provider without being locked into a specific ecosystem.

I never left WordPress and only use a few plugins. With the block editor, sites are much faster now, and you don’t need as many plugins as before.

@Shawn
This is exactly why I stick with WordPress.

I saw someone using Webflow, and their hosting bill jumped from $468 a year to $15,000. That’s a huge risk if you’re running a business website.

@Shawn
You mentioned using only a few plugins. Just curious, which ones do you use?

Gift said:
@Shawn
You mentioned using only a few plugins. Just curious, which ones do you use?

I’d love to know too.

Braden said:

Gift said:
@Shawn
You mentioned using only a few plugins. Just curious, which ones do you use?

I’d love to know too.

One of my blogs is running on a basic WordPress block theme.

I only use these plugins:

  • ConvertKit
  • Rank Math
  • Loginizer

I don’t use page builders anymore since block themes are much lighter and faster. I’ve also built my own hosting setup, but that’s still a work in progress.

@Shawn
Which plugins do you use? And do you have any best practices for optimizing WordPress?

WordPress is widely used, so there are more SEO tools available for it.

Most website owners are familiar with it, which makes it easier to manage. Plus, the new block editor works more like a modern component-based system, so it’s not as outdated as some people think.

You can also use WordPress as a headless CMS and build the frontend however you want with REST API or GraphQL. If you’re asking whether you can do SEO without WordPress, the answer is definitely yes. But if you use a different platform, you’ll need to find alternative ways to handle things like structured data, sitemaps, and performance optimization, which are easier to set up in WordPress.

WordPress has been around for over 20 years, which makes it reliable and well-supported. It’s also highly customizable, with a huge number of plugins that simplify SEO tasks.

You don’t need WordPress to succeed in SEO, but it does have a lot of tools that make optimization easier. There are plenty of alternatives like Webflow, Joomla, and Craft CMS, but WordPress remains a top choice because of its flexibility and strong community support.

@Emmanuel
Sounds like ChatGPT wrote this answer :joy:

WordPress is popular because it simplifies SEO. Even if you don’t know much about SEO, it guides you in the right direction.

With other platforms, you often have to figure things out yourself, like setting up meta tags, sitemaps, and structured data. If you already understand SEO, you can use any platform, but for beginners, WordPress is much easier to work with.

@Yosef
So you’re saying you need more technical knowledge to do SEO without WordPress? That makes sense.

I hate WordPress. Too many abandoned plugins, constant security risks, and it’s painfully slow for e-commerce.

I switched to Framer because it’s faster, easier to manage, and gives me full control. Even if they doubled the price, it would still be worth it.

@Quinton
Same here. WordPress is terrible for e-commerce. I like Framer too, but it still needs some work for online stores. SEO is taking me longer to figure out, but I think it will pay off in the long run.

@Happy
For SEO, just focus on structuring pages properly, using the right headings, and adding metadata. Schema markup is easy to add in Framer, and you can handle titles and descriptions manually.

I’m running an e-commerce store on Framer too. The Framer Commerce theme is pretty solid, though Shopify headless can be tricky with tracking data.

@Quinton
Didn’t know about the Framer Commerce theme. Thanks for sharing!

I was a WordPress developer for over 10 years but switched to Next.js. One of the reasons was that SEO teams would install tons of unnecessary plugins that slowed down the site and introduced security risks.

With Next.js, we have complete control over the code, better performance, and no plugin bloat. Instead of giving SEO teams full admin access, we build the necessary SEO tools into the CMS and let them manage content without touching the backend.

@Will
I thought I was the only one frustrated with WordPress plugin bloat. Good to hear others feel the same.

WordPress is popular for SEO because it has:

  • Clean code that search engines can easily crawl.
  • SEO plugins that handle meta tags, XML sitemaps, and other optimizations.
  • A large community that provides tutorials and support.
  • Regular updates that keep it aligned with SEO best practices.

You can achieve good SEO results with other platforms, but WordPress makes it easier for most people.