Is Wix or Squarespace Bad for SEO? The Honest Answer for Small Businesses

Is Wix bad for SEO? No, not on its own. Wix and Squarespace both give you the SEO basics Google needs, and plenty of small businesses rank well on them. The real problem is usually the DIY build sitting on top: vague copy, messy structure, slow pages and a site that stopped growing the day you hit publish.

You built it yourself three years ago at 11pm. It was fine. You picked a template, dropped in your logo and went to bed feeling like a legend.

Now it's not fine.

Your business has grown. Your best work isn't on there. And when you Google yourself, you find your Instagram and a competitor who is clearly worse at the job than you are. So you start wondering if the platform is the problem.

Is Wix bad for SEO, or is something else going on?

Here's the short version. The builder is rarely the villain. The build usually is.

Website builders earned a rough SEO reputation years ago. Both Wix and Squarespace have improved a lot since, and today they give you the fundamentals: editable page titles, meta descriptions, custom URLs, image alt text, automatic sitemaps, secure hosting and mobile layouts.

That means if your Wix or Squarespace site isn't showing up, the cause is probably one of these:

- Your page titles still say "Home" or your business name and nothing else

- Your headline is clever but doesn't say what you do or where you do it

- Your images are huge and slow the page down on mobile

- You have one paragraph of copy where Google needs context

- Nothing on the site has been updated since launch day

None of those are platform problems. They're DIY problems. And that's not a dig. You're running a business, not a web design studio.

What do Wix and Squarespace actually get right?

Let's be fair, because they deserve it.

Website builders let millions of small business owners get online without hiring anyone. For a brand new business testing an idea, a DIY website builder is a perfectly sensible first step.

What they do well:

- Speed to launch. You can have something live in a weekend.

- Low cost to start. A monthly plan is easier to swallow than a big agency quote.

- The SEO basics are there. Titles, descriptions, alt text and sitemaps are all editable if you know where to look.

- You control it. Want to change a phone number at midnight? Go for it.

That last point is also where the trouble starts. Everything is on you, including the parts nobody told you about.

So why isn't my DIY website showing up on Google?

Because good SEO isn't a setting you switch on. It's the result of a well-built site with clear, useful content.

Google (and, increasingly, AI tools like ChatGPT) want to know one thing: "Is this the best result for what someone just searched?" A typical DIY build struggles on a few fronts:

Structure. Templates come with placeholder sections, filled in the order they appear rather than the order a customer needs. Headings get picked for their size, not their meaning, so Google can't tell what the page is about.

Copy. Most DIY sites say "Welcome to my website" or "Passionate about helping you thrive." Lovely. Also useless to a search engine. If you never write "bookkeeper in Chilliwack" or "personal trainer for new mums," you're asking Google to guess.

Speed. Big photos, embedded feeds, widgets added one tired evening. Each one slows things down, especially on mobile, where most people browse.

Schema. Behind-the-scenes code that tells search engines and AI tools who you are, what you offer and where. Most DIY sites don't have it, because most people have never heard of it.

If you want the full breakdown on getting found, we wrote a plain-English guide on why your business isn't showing up on Google (or ChatGPT).

Is Squarespace SEO any better than Wix?

Honest answer: for a small, service-based business, the difference between Squarespace SEO and Wix SEO is much smaller than the difference between a well-built site and a rushed one.

Switching from one DIY website builder to another without changing the copy, structure and strategy is like repainting a car with a flat tyre. Looks fresher. Still not going anywhere.

What is an outgrown website actually costing me?

A website that "sort of works" feels free because you already paid for it. It isn't.

Lost enquiries. Someone looks you up, lands on a site that feels out of date and quietly books someone else. You never hear about it. The cost is invisible.

Lower prices. When your website looks like a side hustle, people expect side hustle rates. It's hard to charge premium prices from a template you picked in a hurry. We go deeper on this in Embarrassed by Your Website?

Your evenings. Every fix is another late night of dragging boxes around and watching tutorials.

Visibility. If Google doesn't understand your site, you rely on referrals and social media to fill the calendar. Both are great. Neither should be your only option.

Add those up and the "cheap" website starts looking pretty expensive.

How do I know I've outgrown my website builder?

Not every DIY site needs replacing. Some just need a tidy up. But if you nod along to three or more of these, you've probably outgrown it:

- You cringe a little every time you send someone the link

- Your services, prices or location have changed and the site hasn't caught up

- Your site looks broken or cramped on your own phone

- You don't show up when you search for what you do plus your town

- Nobody ever fills in your contact form

- You send people to your Instagram bio instead because it looks better

- Your work is great, and your website doesn't show it

- You keep meaning to "fix it this weekend" and it's been a year

Should I fix my Wix site or switch to a custom website?

Fix what you have if your site is fairly new, your offer hasn't changed much and the main issues are small: a few missing page titles, some slow images, a headline that needs sharpening. A focused afternoon can go a long way.

Switch to a custom website if the problem is bigger than a few settings. If your positioning has changed, your site doesn't reflect the quality of your work, or you've patched it so many times it feels like a garden shed held together with tape, starting fresh is often faster than fixing.

A custom build starts from your business, not from whatever the template included. That's where the SEO wins come from: clear headings, copy written around real searches, fast load times and schema from day one.

Custom website vs website builder: how do the options compare?

Here's how the main paths stack up.

DIY builder (Wix, Squarespace and friends).
Live "if you find the time." Costs your time and sanity. Templates only. Copy and hosting are all on you. No refund on the weekends you lose.

Freelancer.
Usually 4 to 12 weeks and $3k to $8k upfront. Custom design depends on who you hire. Copy and hosting are rarely included, and a guarantee is rare too.

Agency.
Often 3 to 6 months or more, and $10k to $30k or more upfront. Custom design, yes. Copy and hosting are almost always extra. Guarantees are rare.

ProjectOne.
Live in about 14 working days. $100 USD a month. Always custom. Copy and hosting included. 100% money-back guarantee if you're not happy with the design direction.

For a deeper look at each route, read Freelancer vs Agency vs DIY: Who Should Build Your Small Business Website? And if you want the real numbers behind those price ranges, see How Much Should a Small Business Website Cost in 2026?

What is Framer, and why build on it instead?

Framer is a design-first website platform, the sweet spot between a DIY website builder and a fully coded site. Designers get real creative control, so sites look crafted rather than templated. They're genuinely fast, and updating text and images is simple.

For SEO, Framer covers the essentials, from page titles to sitemaps. But Framer isn't magic either. A badly built Framer site will struggle just like a badly built Wix site. The platform is the foundation. The build is what makes it work.

Will switching platforms hurt my Google rankings?

It can, if the move is done carelessly. Done properly, most small businesses come out ahead, because the new site is clearer, faster and better structured than the old one.

Here's what a careful switch looks like:

- Keep your domain. Your domain name is yours, not your builder's. You can point it at a new site or transfer it to another registrar.

- Map your old URLs. If your old site had pages that ranked or got shared, set up redirects so those links land somewhere useful.

- Set up the SEO fundamentals from day one. Page titles, meta descriptions, schema and a mobile layout that loads fast.

- Tell Google. Submit your new sitemap through Google Search Console and update your Google Business Profile link.

Expect a little movement for a few weeks while search engines catch up. That's normal.

How does ProjectOne help when you've outgrown DIY?

This is exactly why we built ProjectOne. You're busy actually running the business, so we take the whole website off your plate:

- One plan. $100 USD a month for 24 months, with hosting included the whole time. No lump sum upfront.

- One focused site. A fully custom one-page website, designed around your business, never a retrofitted template.

- Copy written for you. Built from a simple onboarding form, shaped with the StoryBrand framework and refined by a senior copywriter. Design is 100% human-made.

- SEO and AEO fundamentals built in. Page titles, meta descriptions, schema, llms.txt and a mobile-friendly build, so Google and AI tools can understand what you do.

- A two-week sprint. About 14 working days from onboarding to launch, with one consolidated round of revisions.

- A real guarantee. At the First Look, if you're not happy with the design direction, you get a 100% refund. No questions, no hard feelings.

Want someone to keep it fresh after launch? Framer Care+ is a $30 USD a month add-on for text and image updates, new sections, a 24hr response turnaround and a monthly site health check. At the end of 24 months, you can take ownership and we transfer the site to your own Framer account, or renew and we redesign it from scratch.

And every site we launch sends $100 to Hungry For Life, a 100% model charity where every dollar goes directly to clean water, food and shelter projects.

ProjectOne is a sub-brand of KHULA Studio, an award-winning design studio founded by Jamie Windell, with 100+ custom sites launched. For the bigger picture, see how to get a custom website built fast without doing it all yourself.

You can see the plans and what's included on our pricing page.

FAQs

Should I switch from Wix to a custom website?

Switch if your Wix site no longer reflects your business: your offer has changed, it looks dated, it's slow on mobile, or nobody enquires through it. If the issues are small, like missing page titles, fix them first. If the gap is bigger than a few settings, a custom website usually gets you further, faster.

Will I lose my Google rankings if I change platforms?

Not if the move is handled carefully. Keep your domain, redirect old pages that got traffic, carry over language that already works and set up titles, meta descriptions and schema from day one. Expect small ups and downs for a few weeks while Google recrawls. A clearer, faster site often ranks better afterwards.

Can I keep my domain if I leave Squarespace?

Yes. Your domain belongs to you, not to your website builder. You can either point your existing domain at your new site or transfer it to another registrar. The main thing is knowing which account holds it, so find those login details before you start the switch and keep them somewhere safe.

Is Framer good for SEO?

Yes. Framer gives you editable page titles and meta descriptions, clean URLs, automatic sitemaps, fast hosting and responsive layouts. Like any platform, results depend on the build. With clear structure, useful copy and schema set up properly, a Framer site gives search engines and AI tools everything they need to understand and recommend your business.

Why do you build on Framer and not WordPress, Squarespace, or Webflow?

Framer is a design-first platform, so we can build sites that look crafted, not templated. It's genuinely fast, which helps both visitors and search engines. And it's easy to update once you have it, so you're not stuck calling a developer every time you want to change a photo or a line of text.

Is this actually custom or just a template?

It's fully custom. Every ProjectOne site is designed from scratch around your business, your audience and your goals. We never take a template and swap in your logo. The only thing that stays the same from client to client is the process, which is what lets us deliver a custom site in about two weeks.

How long does the process take?

Around 14 working days from start to live site. That covers onboarding, design, a First Look checkpoint, one consolidated round of revisions, Framer development and launch. Sprints are scheduled at least three weeks ahead, so you can choose a window when you're able to respond to emails and send feedback.

Do I need a Framer account?

No, you don't need a Framer account to get started. We build your site in our account and host it for you for the full length of your plan. When the time comes to take ownership, we transfer it to your own Framer account, which takes about five minutes. After that, Framer hosting runs around $10 USD a month, billed annually.

Ready for ONE site that finally pulls its weight?

So, is Wix bad for SEO? Not really. Neither is Squarespace. But if your DIY site has fallen behind your business, the builder was never going to fix that on its own. A clear, custom, well-structured site will.

We're based in Chilliwack, BC, Canada, and we work with founder-led businesses across the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

If you're ready to stop patching and start fresh, take a look at the plans and pick a sprint date that suits you. No pressure, no hard sell. Just one less thing on your plate.

Reserve Your Spot →

✅ 100% Money-Back Guarantee.

One site. One plan. One less job for your 11pm self.