Are plain HTML/CSS websites much better for SEO than using website builders?

BlueCatServices · Jul 16, 2021

As someone who makes a living developing websites both in plain code but mainly through a certain website builder, i'm kind of annoyed by the several limits of the latter.

Plain HTML/CSS sites give you much more flexibility and you can do in-depth work SEO side.

Thinking about making niche sites, I'm pondering the option of going the code way.
Sure, blogging might seems annoying, but at the end of the day, you can just set up a normal page, have you "blog post" template ready, write the article on notion, export it as html and paste it in the new page.

Not that big of a deal if you then benefit from a better SEO.

What's your experience/thought on it?

BlueCatServices · Jul 16, 2021

Well, short version.

Do you rank faster/better with plain code websites?
Does having AMP implemented make a good difference?

Topiano · Jul 16, 2021

BlueCatServices said:
Do you rank faster/better with plain code websites?

Projects on HTML/CSS loads 100% lots faster compared to CMS builders with tons of bloatwares that drags the Technical optimization of the website to plummet.

They both have pros and cons but it's a better advantage working with CMS like WP. Allows easy management gets you almost same results with lots of development.

Adam Weston · Jul 17, 2021

Plain HTML/CSS sites give you much more flexibility and you can do in-depth work SEO side.

Stitches and Burns · Jul 17, 2021

I don't want to put up with all that effort just to get a slight edge in technical SEO. Why bother with that when I can just beat competitors with my superior content and off-page SEO?

jackteam · Jul 17, 2021

BlueCatServices said:
As someone who makes a living developing websites both in plain code but mainly through a certain website builder, i'm kind of annoyed by the several limits of the latter.

Plain HTML/CSS sites give you much more flexibility and you can do in-depth work SEO side.

Thinking about making niche sites, I'm pondering the option of going the code way.
Sure, blogging might seems annoying, but at the end of the day, you can just set up a normal page, have you "blog post" template ready, write the article on notion, export it as html and paste it in the new page.

Not that big of a deal if you then benefit from a better SEO.

What's your experience/thought on it?

Yes, as you mentioned, A plain Coded website is faster than a Content Management website. But when it comes to security, build it very strong and secure. Lots of sites are being hacked nowadays. Yes, it's happening even in WP via some plugins. So if you are very strong in coding and security, you can build it yourself or use some lightweight WP templates.

Avoid using mythemeshop. Sites are very slow in loading.

crnack · Jul 17, 2021

Nope. It's just that you don't know how to optimize and minimize time to the first byte.

Starblazer · Jul 17, 2021

If you're using shared hosting, then plain html sites could be an advantage for better speed. These are good for sites with just a few pages. I've coded several such pages myself. But for blogging and regular posting, it's difficult to maintain them and you have to manually change all pages if you want to change theme. These things come handy while using a CMS. So, I use both plain html and WP sites depending on the purpose.

crnack · Jul 17, 2021

Starblazer said:
If you're using shared hosting, then plain html sites could be an advantage for better speed. These are good for sites with just a few pages. I've coded several such pages myself. But for blogging and regular posting, it's difficult to maintain them and you have to manually change all pages if you want to change theme. These things come handy while using a CMS. So, I use both plain html and WP sites depending on the purpose.

Maybe just use api, gatsby or some other lightweight solution. Plain html is not Professional at all.

seigell971 · Jul 17, 2021

BlueCatServices said:
Plain HTML/CSS websites perform better than website builder websites. HTML/ CSS code web pages have good text to code ratio. Google easily understand the content of the website. So, It ranks higher than website builder websites. You can do the live practical. Just search for any keywords in all the industry then analyze the coding and technology of all websites ranking in top 10. You will find that no any website rank in top 10 which has built using website builders.

crnack · Jul 17, 2021

Nobody who is into web dev will not say to make a website without admin panel unless it's just a name and phone number single page website.

Mops · Jul 17, 2021

I think it makes sense to look at the statistics of sites in the first positions in search results. I'm sure most of them will be wordpress.

Doing with your own hands what is already done in the cms - is a waste of time.

"Speed and woprdpress" - is not a problem for a long time.

Starblazer · Jul 17, 2021

crnack said:
Maybe just use api, gatsby or some other lightweight solution. Plain html is not Professional at all.

I just use them for either CPA, affiliate landers, doorway pages etc. Some of my pages are as small as 50kb. When you drive a ton of traffic (10k-20k/day) on shared hosting, plain html saves a lot of bandwidth and reduces load on server.

Stitches and Burns · Jul 17, 2021

You can use Gatsby, Hugo or Jekyll if you want a fast static site.

bladee4r · Jul 17, 2021

BlueCatServices said:
Well, short version.

Do you rank faster/better with plain code websites?
Does having AMP implemented make a good difference?

Plain HTML/CSS has lower footprint so it's good for PBN

noellarkin · Jul 17, 2021

Check out static sites. Much faster than anything else I've built using WP etc

https://jamstack.org/generators/

BlueCatServices · Jul 17, 2021

Stitches and Burns said:
I don't want to put up with all that effort just to get a slight edge in technical SEO. Why bother with that when I can just beat competitors with my superior content and off-page SEO?

good point

In the end, I was curious if the efforts of building from scratch were worth it in terms of advantages gained.

---

I don't use WP but another website builder and usually site speed is 90+, so it's not really the problem.

Main limits are absence of AMP dev (which is a must to have nowadays i think) and expensive hosting (which would be super cheap with a plain coded site)

Are plain HTML/CSS websites much better for SEO than using website builders?

BlueCatServices

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BlueCatServices

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Topiano

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Adam Weston

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jackteam

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crnack

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Starblazer

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crnack

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seigell971

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crnack

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Mops

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Starblazer

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BlueCatServices

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