The Ultimate Guide to SEO Strategies for Free Website Builders

Free website builders are platforms that allow you to create a website without any coding or design skills. They usually offer drag-and-drop features, templates, and hosting services that make it easy to launch your site in minutes.

However, there’s a catch: free website builders often come with limitations that can affect your site’s performance, functionality, and SEO (search engine optimization).

SEO is the process of improving your site’s visibility and relevance for search engines like Google and Bing. It involves optimizing your site’s content, structure, speed, usability, and authority to match the search intent and expectations of your target audience.

SEO is crucial for any website, but especially for free website builders. That’s because free website builders often have disadvantages that can hurt your SEO, such as:

• Limited customization options: Free website builders may not allow you to customize your site’s design, layout, URL structure, navigation, or meta tags. These elements are important for creating a user-friendly and search engine-friendly site that reflects your brand identity and value proposition.
• Low-quality or duplicate content: Free website builders may offer generic or pre-written content that is not relevant or unique to your niche. This can result in low-quality or duplicate content that can harm your site’s ranking and reputation.
• Ads and branding: Free website builders may display ads or branding on your site that can distract your visitors and reduce your credibility. These ads or branding may also interfere with your site’s loading speed and mobile-friendliness, which are key factors for SEO.
• Shared or subdomain hosting: Free website builders may host your site on a shared server or a subdomain of their own domain. This can affect your site’s security, speed, and authority. For example, if your site is hosted on a subdomain like example.freewebsitebuilder.com, it will be harder for search engines and users to find and trust your site than if it was hosted on a custom domain like example.com.

These limitations can make it challenging to rank well on search engines and attract organic traffic to your site. However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t use a free website builder and still have a successful SEO strategy.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to create an effective SEO strategy for free website builders in 2023. We’ll cover the following steps:

1. Choose the right free website builder for your needs
2. Set up your site with SEO best practices
3. Conduct keyword research and optimize your content
4. Build links and authority for your site
5. Measure and improve your SEO performance

By following these steps, you’ll be able to create a website that looks great, works well, and ranks high on search engines.

1. Choose the right free website builder for your needs

The first step in creating an SEO strategy for free website builders is to choose the right platform for your needs. Not all free website builders are created equal; some offer more features, flexibility, and SEO-friendliness than others.

To choose the right free website builder for your needs, you should consider the following factors:

• Your goals and budget: What are you trying to achieve with your website? How much are you willing to spend on it? If you’re just starting out or testing an idea, a free website builder may be enough for you. However, if you’re serious about growing your online presence and generating revenue from your site, you may want to invest in a paid plan or a different platform that offers more options and support.
• Your niche and audience: Who are you targeting with your website? What are their needs and preferences? You should choose a free website builder that offers templates and features that suit your niche and audience. For example, if you’re running an online store, you should look for a platform that supports e-commerce functionality and payment options.
• Your skills and experience: How comfortable are you with web design and development? How much time and effort are you willing to put into creating and maintaining your site? You should choose a free website builder that matches your skill level and experience. For example, if you’re a beginner or have limited time, you should look for a platform that offers easy-to-use drag-and-drop features and pre-made templates. However, if you’re more advanced or have more time, you may prefer a platform that allows you to customize your site with code and plugins.

To help you choose the right free website builder for your needs, here are some of the most popular and SEO-friendly platforms in 2023:

• Wix: Wix is one of the most popular and user-friendly free website builders. It offers hundreds of templates, drag-and-drop features, and a variety of apps and integrations. Wix also has a built-in SEO Wiz tool that helps you optimize your site for search engines. However, Wix has some limitations, such as ads, branding, and subdomain hosting on its free plan. To remove these limitations, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan that starts from $14 per month.
• WordPress.com: WordPress.com is the free version of WordPress.org, the most widely used and SEO-friendly website platform. WordPress.com offers thousands of themes, plugins, and features that allow you to create any type of website. WordPress.com also has a powerful SEO plugin called Yoast SEO that helps you optimize your site for search engines. However, WordPress.com has some restrictions, such as limited storage space, customization options, and monetization opportunities on its free plan. To unlock these features, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan that starts from $4 per month.
• Weebly: Weebly is another popular and easy-to-use free website builder. It offers dozens of templates, drag-and-drop features, and a variety of apps and integrations. Weebly also has a basic SEO tool that helps you edit your site’s title, description, and keywords. However, Weebly has some drawbacks, such as ads, branding, and subdomain hosting on its free plan. To remove these drawbacks, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan that starts from $6 per month.
• Webfity: Webfity is a new and innovative free website builder that aims to provide the best SEO experience for its users. Webfity offers unique features, such as AI-powered content creation, keyword research, and link building. Webfity also allows you to host your site on a custom domain without any ads or branding. Webfity is completely free to use; however, it has some limitations, such as limited design options, storage space, and support.

2. Set up your site with SEO best practices

The second step in creating an SEO strategy for free website builders is to set up your site with SEO best practices. This involves optimizing your site’s technical aspects, such as:

• Domain name: Your domain name is the address of your website on the internet. It should be relevant, memorable, and easy to spell and type. If possible, you should use a custom domain name instead of a subdomain provided by your free website builder. A custom domain name will help you establish your brand identity and authority on search engines and users. To get a custom domain name, you’ll need to register it with a domain registrar service and connect it to your free website builder.
• URL structure: Your URL structure is the way your web pages are organized and named on your website. It should be simple, descriptive, and consistent. You should use keywords in your URLs to indicate what each page is about and use hyphens (-) to separate words. You should also avoid using unnecessary parameters or characters in your URLs that can confuse search engines and users.
•  For example, instead of using a URL like example.freewebsitebuilder.com/page?id=123&cat=456&sort=789 you should use a URL like example.com/blog/how-to-optimize-your-site-for-seo
• Site speed: Your site speed is how fast your web pages load on different devices and browsers. It affects your site’s user experience and ranking on search engines. You should aim to make your site as fast as possible by reducing the size of your images, videos, and other files; using a caching plugin or service; enabling compression; and minimizing redirects. You can use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to measure and improve your site speed.
• Mobile-friendliness: Your mobile-friendliness is how well your site adapts to different screen sizes and devices. It affects your site’s user experience and ranking on search engines. You should make sure that your site is responsive, meaning that it automatically adjusts its layout and content to fit different screen sizes and orientations. You should also avoid using elements that are not compatible with mobile devices, such as Flash or pop-ups. You can use tools like Google Mobile-Friendly Test or Bing Mobile Friendliness Test Tool to check and improve your mobile-friendliness.
• Navigation: Your navigation is how users can move around your site and find what they are looking for. It affects your site’s user experience and ranking on search engines. You should make sure that your navigation is clear, intuitive, and consistent across all pages. You should also use descriptive labels for your menu items and links that match the content of each page. You should also
• Sitemap: Your sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your website and how they are linked together. It helps search engines understand the structure and content of your site and crawl it more efficiently. You should create and submit a sitemap to search engines using tools like Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools. You should also update your sitemap whenever you add, remove, or change any pages on your site.
• Meta tags: Your meta tags are snippets of code that provide information about your web pages to search engines and users. They include your title tag, meta description, and meta keywords. Your title tag is the main headline of your page that appears on search results and browser tabs. It should be unique, relevant, and catchy. Your meta description is the summary of your page that appears below your title tag on search results. It should be concise, informative, and persuasive. Your meta keywords are the words or phrases that describe the main topic of your page. They should be relevant, specific, and not too competitive. You should use tools like Moz Title Tag Preview Tool or Yoast SEO Plugin to create and optimize your meta tags.

3. Conduct keyword research and optimize your content

The third step in creating an SEO strategy for free website builders is to conduct keyword research and optimize your content. This involves finding and using the words and phrases that your target audience is searching for on search engines.

Keyword research is the process of discovering what keywords your potential customers are using to find products, services, or information related to your niche. Keyword optimization is the process of using those keywords strategically in your content to match the search intent and expectations of your audience.

Keyword research and optimization are essential for creating content that ranks well on search engines and attracts organic traffic to your site. To conduct keyword research and optimize your content, you should follow these steps:

1. Identify your niche and audience: Before you start looking for keywords, you should have a clear idea of what your niche is and who your audience is. You should know what problems they have, what solutions they need, and what language they use. You can use tools like Google Analytics or Facebook Audience Insights to learn more about your audience’s demographics, interests, and behavior.
2. Brainstorm keyword ideas: Next, you should brainstorm some keyword ideas that relate to your niche and audience. You can use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Moz Keyword Explorer to generate keyword suggestions based on your topic, industry, or competitors. You can also use tools like AnswerThePublic or Quora to find questions that people are asking about your niche.
3. Analyze keyword difficulty and search volume: Once you have a list of keyword ideas, you should analyze how difficult and popular they are. Keyword difficulty is a measure of how hard it is to rank for a keyword on search engines. It depends on factors such as competition, relevance, and authority. Keyword search volume is a measure of how many people are searching for a keyword on search engines per month. It indicates the demand and potential traffic for a keyword. You can use tools like Moz Keyword Difficulty Tool or SEMrush Keyword Overview Tool to analyze keyword difficulty and search volume.
4. Choose target keywords: Based on your analysis, you should choose target keywords that are relevant to your niche and audience, have high search volume and low difficulty, and match the intent and expectations of your audience. You should also consider the different types of keywords, such as head keywords (one-word terms), body keywords (two- or three-word phrases), and long-tail keywords (four or more words). Generally, head keywords are more competitive and generic, while long-tail keywords are less competitive and specific. You should aim for a mix of different types of keywords that cover different stages of the buyer’s journey (awareness, consideration, decision).
5. Create and optimize content: Finally, you should create and optimize content based on your target keywords. You should use your keywords naturally and strategically in your content elements, such as headlines, subheadings, paragraphs, images, videos, links and meta tags. You should also make sure that your content is original, valuable, and engaging for your audience. You should use tools like Grammarly or Hemingway to check and improve your content quality and readability.

4. Build links and authority for your site

The fourth step in creating an SEO strategy for free website builders is to build links and authority for your site. This involves getting other websites to link to your site and increasing your site’s trustworthiness and reputation.

Link building is the process of acquiring backlinks from other websites to your site. Backlinks are links that point from one website to another. They act as votes of confidence and recommendations for your site. They help search engines determine the relevance, popularity, and authority of your site.

Link building is one of the most important and challenging aspects of SEO. It can boost your site’s ranking and traffic significantly if done right. However, it can also harm your site’s ranking and reputation if done wrong.

To build links and authority for your site, you should follow these steps:

1. Audit your existing backlinks: Before you start looking for new backlinks, you should audit your existing ones. You should check how many backlinks you have, where they come from, what anchor text they use, and how relevant and authoritative they are. You should also identify any toxic or spammy backlinks that could hurt your site’s ranking and reputation. You can use tools like Moz Link Explorer or Ahrefs Site Explorer to audit your backlinks.
2. Research your competitors’ backlinks: Next, you should research your competitors’ backlinks. You should find out who is linking to them, what type of content they are linking to, and how they are acquiring those links. You can use tools like Moz Link Intersect or Ahrefs Content Explorer to research your competitors’ backlinks.
3. Find link opportunities: Based on your research, you should find link opportunities for your site. You should look for websites that are relevant to your niche and audience, have high authority and traffic, and have a history of linking to similar content or sites. You can use tools like Moz Link Opportunities or Ahrefs Link Opportunities to find link opportunities.
4. Outreach and build relationships: Once you have a list of link prospects, you should outreach and build relationships with them. You should contact them via email, social media, or other channels and pitch them your content or site. You should be polite, professional, and personalized in your communication. You should also provide value and incentive for them to link to you, such as offering a guest post, a testimonial, a resource, or a collaboration. You can use tools like Mailshake or BuzzStream to manage your outreach campaigns.
5. Monitor and analyze your link performance: Finally, you should monitor and analyze your link performance. You should track how many backlinks you have gained, how they have affected your site’s ranking and traffic, and how they have influenced your site’s authority and reputation. You should also measure the return on investment (ROI) of your link building efforts and optimize them accordingly. You can use tools like Google Analytics or Moz Pro Campaigns to monitor and analyze your link performance.

Measure and improve your SEO performance

The fifth and final step in creating an SEO strategy for free website builders is to measure and improve your SEO performance. This involves tracking and evaluating the results of your SEO efforts and making adjustments as needed.

Measuring and improving your SEO performance is essential for ensuring that you are achieving your goals and maximizing your ROI. It also helps you identify any issues or opportunities that may arise along the way.

To measure and improve your SEO performance, you should follow these steps:

1. Define your SEO goals and KPIs: Before you start measuring anything, you should define what you want to achieve with your SEO strategy and how you will measure it. You should set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) goals for your SEO strategy, such as increasing your organic traffic, conversions, or revenue. You should also choose key performance indicators (KPIs) that will help you track your progress and success, such as ranking positions, click-through rates (CTRs), bounce rates, or conversion rates. You should align your SEO goals and KPIs with your overall business objectives and strategy.
2. Set up your SEO tools and analytics: Next, you should set up your SEO tools and analytics that will help you measure and improve your SEO performance. You should use a combination of tools that cover different aspects of SEO, such as technical SEO, content SEO, link building, and SEO reporting. Some of the most popular and useful SEO tools and analytics are:

• Google Search Console: Google Search Console is a free tool that helps you monitor and optimize your site’s presence on Google search results. It allows you to submit your sitemap, check your site’s health and performance, discover and fix any issues or errors, and analyze your site’s traffic and impressions.
• Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a free tool that helps you measure and understand your site’s traffic and behavior. It allows you to track your site’s visitors, sessions, page views, bounce rates, conversion rates, and more. It also helps you segment your traffic by source, channel, device, location, and other dimensions.
• Moz Pro: Moz Pro is a paid tool that helps you improve your site’s ranking and visibility on search engines. It offers a suite of features that cover keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, link analysis, and SEO reporting. It also provides insights and recommendations to help you optimize your site for SEO.
• Ahrefs: Ahrefs is a paid tool that helps you grow your search traffic and outrank your competitors. It offers a suite of features that cover keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, link analysis, content analysis, and SEO reporting. It also provides insights and recommendations to help you optimize your site for SEO.

1. Monitor and analyze your SEO data: Once you have set up your SEO tools and analytics, you should monitor and analyze your SEO data on a regular basis. You should check how your site is performing on search engines and how it is meeting your SEO goals and KPIs. You should also compare your data with your competitors’ data and industry benchmarks to see how you are doing in relation to them. You should use tools like Moz Pro Dashboard or Ahrefs Site Explorer to monitor and analyze your SEO data.
2. Implement and test SEO changes: Based on your monitoring and analysis, you should implement and test SEO changes that will help you improve your site’s ranking and traffic. You should prioritize the changes that will have the most impact on your SEO performance and ROI. You should also test the changes before and after implementing them to see if they are working as expected or if they need further adjustments. You should use tools like Google Optimize or Visual Website Optimizer to implement and test SEO changes.
3. Repeat the process: Finally, you should repeat the process of measuring and improving your SEO performance on a regular basis. You should keep track of your results and progress over time and make adjustments as needed. You should also stay updated with the latest SEO trends and best practices to ensure that your site is always optimized for search engines.

Conclusion

Creating an effective SEO strategy for free website builders is not impossible; it just requires some planning, research and implementation. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you’ll be able to create a website that looks great, works well, and ranks high on search engines.

However, if you want to take your SEO strategy to the next level, you may want to consider using a free website builder that offers more SEO features and benefits than others. One such platform is Webfity, a new and innovative free website builder that aims to provide the best SEO experience for its users.

Webfity offers unique features, such as AI-powered content creation, keyword research, and link building. Webfity also allows you to host your site on a custom domain without any ads or branding. Webfity is completely free to use; however, it has some limitations, such as limited design options, storage space, and support.

If you’re interested in trying out Webfity, you can sign up for a free account and start creating your website today. You can also check out some of the websites created by Webfity users and see how they rank on search engines.

Webfity is not just a free website builder; it’s a free SEO solution. Try it out and see for yourself how Webfity can help you create an effective SEO strategy for your website.