What’s the best CMS for SEO?
We analyzed 59,033 top-ranking domains to find out.
Here’s what we discovered.
Best CMS for SEO in 2023
We analyzed the top 100 keywords according to CPC data and discovered that 49% of the top-ranking domains are using WordPress.
This is a 175% increase from our original study in 2016, when only 18% of the top-ranking websites were using WordPress.
It’s safe to say:
WordPress is the best CMS for SEO.
2023 Winners 📈
1. WordPress
It’s no surprise that WordPress usage keeps growing among top websites in Google.
It’s the best CMS because it’s built for SEO, it’s easy to use, and you have complete control over your website.
I can’t recommend it enough.
2. Next.js
I’m not a developer, so Next.js was a surprise to me. It came out of nowhere and top-ranking websites seem to be loving it.
According to their website, it’s:
“Used by some of the world’s largest companies, Next.js enables you to create full-stack Web applications by extending the latest React features and integrating powerful Rust-based JavaScript tooling for the fastest builds.
3. Webflow
In 2016, only 0.06% of the top-ranking websites were using Webflow, and now it’s up to 1.54%, which is a 2548% increase.
They still have a lot of ground to make up, but still impressive.
40 Best CMSs for SEO for 2023
Here’s the complete list:
| CMS | 2023 | 2016 | (+/-) |
| WordPress | 49.94% | 18.19% | 175% |
| CMS Not Detected | 23.69% | 58.90% | -60% |
| Next.js | 2.43% | 0% | New |
| Drupal | 2.43% | 3.56% | -32% |
| SiteCore | 2.18% | 0.64% | 241% |
| Website down or unavailable | 1.79% | 1.15% | 56% |
| Duda | 1.67% | 0.05% | 3520% |
| WooCommerce | 1.54% | 0% | New |
| Webflow | 1.54% | 0.06% | 2548% |
| Wix | 1.28% | 0.22% | 487% |
| Adobe Experience Manager | 1.28% | 1.92% | -33% |
| Gatsby | 1.15% | 0.06% | 1820% |
| HubSpot | 1.02% | 0.46% | 124% |
| GoDaddy Website Builder | 0.77% | 0.07% | 997% |
| Laravel | 0.64% | 0.32% | 101% |
| Squarespace | 0.64% | 0.40% | 61% |
| Django Framework | 0.64% | 0.52% | 24% |
| dotCMS | 0.38% | 0.01% | 2643% |
| DNN | 0.38% | 0.11% | 240% |
| Brightspot | 0.38% | 0.29% | 34% |
| Joomla | 0.38% | 0.35% | 11% |
| Google My Business | 0.26% | 0% | New |
| DatoCMS | 0.26% | 0% | New |
| Craft CMS | 0.26% | 0.09% | 191% |
| Contentful | 0.26% | 0.10% | 153% |
| Weebly | 0.26% | 0.10% | 153% |
| ExpressionEngine | 0.26% | 0.12% | 117% |
| Sitefinity | 0.26% | 0.16% | 65% |
| Shopify | 0.26% | 0.40% | -35% |
| Ruby on Rails | 0.26% | 1.59% | -84% |
| MediaWiki | 0.26% | 4.07% | -94% |
| Wagtail | 0.13% | 0% | New |
| WebsiteBuilder | 0.13% | 0% | New |
| Statamic | 0.13% | 0.00% | 6300% |
| Episerver | 0.13% | 0.02% | 653% |
| OpenCart | 0.13% | 0.02% | 510% |
| Omni CMS | 0.13% | 0.05% | 142% |
| Zendesk | 0.13% | 0.07% | 78% |
| Umbraco | 0.13% | 0.18% | -27% |
| Medium | 0.13% | 0.20% | -35% ​ |
How We Conducted the Studies
2023
For our newest study, we analyzed the top commercial keywords based on CPC data. We analyzed 105 keywords and 781 unique domains.
2016
In the 2016 study, we created a list of seed keywords like “car,” “books,” and “travel.” Then we ran those keywords through Ahrefs’ Keyword Explorer tool and focused on the “Phrase Match” option (Ahrefs review).
From there, we exported 50 keywords and the top 10 results for each.
We repeated this process page by page. After we gathered 100,000 URLs from 10,000 keywords, we tested the URLs using What CMS’s API.
Limitations of Study
- Quantity of Results – We analyzed over 10,000 differences between the two studies. The results may change at scale.
- Keyword Selection – Selecting a batch of keywords in one industry, like e-commerce, may alter the percentages. For example, you may see a larger percentage of websites using Shopify.
- Your CMS Choice is Not a Ranking Factor – Some people may see this data and think, “WordPress ranks better.” To be clear, simply using WordPress is not an SEO advantage. It’s not the car, it’s the driver.
Your Turn
Do you agree, or are you surprised by this data?
Also, if this is valuable, please share it with a friend or colleague.
Thanks for reading!
