The low-code/no-code movement is growing. We’re seeing new platforms that embrace low-code and no-code every day. And everywhere we look, designers and marketing teams are embracing no-code as the key to building better websites, faster.
If you’re an SEO expert collaborating with a low-code team, you may be wondering how these new tools affect your work.
In this guide, we’ll share:
- A quick look into the low-code/no-code movement
- How low-code/no-code makes SEO easier
- How a low-code approach could hurt your SEO efforts
- The best low-code platforms to build SEO-optimized websites
Ready? Let’s dive in!
A Look into the Low-Code, No-Code Movement: What Is It All About?
Low-Code/No-Code is the name given to a movement in software, web development, and business analytics that started a few years ago. Notable tools include:
- Webflow
- Bubble
- Wix
- Framer
- Zapier
The market for Low-Code/No-Code market is primarily composed of tools that allow users to build websites, apps, and automations with little to no code.
Who Benefits from Low-Code/No-Code?
The low-code/ no-code movement proposes agile and cost-effective processes, with no developer reliance. So, low-code and no-code tools were mostly adopted by:
- Marketing professionals, who needed to create assets and automate processes without involving developers
- “Bootstrapers” and indie startup founders who didn’t have to budget to hire developers
Low-Code vs. No-Code
At this point, you may be wondering what’s the difference between low-code and no-code.
With no-code platforms, you have access to simple visual building blocks and simple, intuitive user interfaces. These tools are meant to help you reach your goals without coding, so they’re ideal for non-developers.
A great example of a no-code platform is Zapier, a tool that allows users to connect apps and automate workflows.
Here’s how to create a simple automation on Zapier without coding:
Low-code platforms allow users to add code to their projects. So, they’re great for creating complex websites fast. For example, a developer using Framer can set the basic structure of their pages with the platform’s visual editor, but import Node Packages to handle complex functionalities or add elements from their team’s design system.
The SEO Pros and Cons of Low-Code Platforms
In this section, we’ll take a look at the SEO pros and cons of building your website on a low-code platform.
When building a low-code website, you need to take the same precautions you’d take with any stack. There are very few SEO best practices that are specific to the low-code space. In short, it all depends on the tools you choose.
When it comes to pros, we highlight that the best low-code platforms provide SEO-oriented features. And these features are often enough to develop and run a high-ranking website.
When it comes to cons, it’s worth mentioning that low-code platforms give you limited access to your website’s backend. There are some technical choices that your platform will make on your behalf. For instance, you may not be able to set up a custom caching policy for your low-code website.
Let’s take a closer look!
The Best Low-Code Platforms Offer SEO Oriented Features
Low-code platforms have mixed reputations when it comes to their SEO capabilities. That’s why the best ones promote SEO readiness as a competitive advantage.
Webflow is one of those low-code platforms that has made SEO a key differentiator. As such, it has many SEO-related features built into its interface. As the owner of a Webflow website, you can cover some SEO basics straight from your website’s editor or settings page.
Webflow can seamlessly handle:
- Redirects
- Sitemaps
- Robots.txt files
- Meta descriptions
- Meta titles
- Canonical tags
Low-Code Platforms Provide Little Technical Autonomy
There’s a big SEO drawback that all low-code platforms share. Your ability to optimize your website’s code and resources to guarantee high speed will be limited.
For instance, until not so long ago, Webflow didn’t support next-gen image formats. So, you couldn’t seize the performance benefits of using light .webP images on your site.
How to Do SEO for Low-Code Sites
Planning to optimize a low-code website?
Here are a couple of tips to get you started:
- Perform in-depth keyword research
- Keep your website’s structure clean and have a clear purpose for each page
- Make sure your programmatic SEO follows good practices
- Minimize custom CSS & JS, since you won’t be able to finetune how it’s loaded and cached
- If possible, use next-gen image formats
- Research your low-code platform’s SEO optimization features
Looking for the right platform to build a low-code website? In the next section, we’ll take a look at 4 of the most popular low-code platforms and which one’s best for SEO.
The Best No-Code Platforms for SEO-Optimized Websites
Wix: An Unlikely Contender
Historically, Wix has always had a bad reputation when it comes to SEO. But recent updates have fixed several of the issues that were preventing Wix websites from climbing to the top of the SERPs.
Let’s take a look at Wix’s approach to on-page SEO features.
On the positive side, Wix users now can:
- Customize titles and meta descriptions of all their pages
- Structure headers from h1 to h6 on normal pages and h1 and h2 on blog posts
- Customize image alt attributes and create 301 redirects
- Set pages as “index” and “noindex” through meta robots tags
- Set up canonical tags
- Connect Wix websites to Google Analytics & Search Console
- Get detailed SEO suggestions
But there’s still room for improvement. Wix still struggles with:
- Cryptic file naming when editing (not good if you want to get on Google images)
- Slowness and poor performance
- Long, unoptimized slugs for blog posts and product pages
Additionally, Wix users:
- Can’t edit their website’s tablet version
- Are stuck with a rigid, automatically-generated sitemap
Here’s what a user had to say about Wix’s SEO issues on Tooltester Review:
Webflow: Always a Safe Choice
Along with all its other features, Webflow’s ability to check elements for you before publishing your sites makes it a reliable platform for creating SEO-friendly sites.
On the positive side, Webflow allows you to:
- Edit your pages’ slug, meta title, and meta description
- Set canonical links dynamically
- Automatically generate or upload a sitemap
- Edit your robots.txt file
- Fill your website with lightweight WebP and SVG images
- Set a canonical tag for your domain
- Manage redirects
- Add and edit schema markup dynamically
What it could do better:
- Webflow is not beginner-friendly. You must have some technical knowledge to master the platform.
Here’s what users had to say about Webflow on g2:
Framer: The Challenger
Framer appears to be a serious contender. But how effective is Framer for SEO? Admittedly, the information is a bit inconclusive.
On the positive side, Framer allows users to:
- Customize meta titles and descriptions
- Access automatically generated sitemaps
- Customize page URLs
- Get key insights from the platform’s built-in analytics tools
- Customize their pages’ schema markup
- Manage redirects
Additionally, Framer websites are rendered server-side, which makes them particularly fast.
What it could do better:
- Just like Webflow, Framer was intended as a time-saving tool for developers and designers. So beginners may struggle to get the most out of it.
Code’s Still There, Even If You Don’t See It
Low-code platforms turn web development into a fast and cost-efficient process. And, in some cases, they empower non-developers to build high-performing websites.
However, there’s still code powering your low-code website. You just don’t see it! The web builder’s visual interface serves as a mediator between you and the code.
And when it comes to your website’s technical SEO, code matters. A change in your website’s underlying code can cause unexpected SEO problems. But monitoring your code can be time-consuming and tedious. Especially if it’s walled by your website builder. Here’s where SEORadar can help.
SEORadar is an SEO emergency prevention kit that tracks your code for you. SEORadar will keep an eye on your code and notify you of any changes that may affect your rankings.
Interested in learning more? Request a demo or start a free trial today.
