What’s the Best Website Builder for Coaches? An SEO-Focused Comparison

Unless you’re one of those delightfully extroverted people who finds all their clients through networking and via your enormous friend network – you’ll need a strong online presence for your coaching business and figuring out the best website builder for coaches can feel like a daunting task.

A well designed and SEO-optimised website is crucial to attracting and connecting with potential clients. It will help you showcase your expertise, build credibility, and generate leads. But with so many website builders available, choosing the right one with all the key features you need for your coaching services can be overwhelming so let’s talk pros and cons of the major players and popular website builders (all of whom will provide website templates to help you get started faster).

A drag and drop website builder allows you to pretty design your website. I mean God knows, I avoid that myself and I have decades of programming experience… why re-invent the wheel right? There’s a huge difference between building from the ground up with a customised website – and customising the bits you need to brand it to you.

However, not all website builders are created equally – and some are more SEO-focused and SEO-friendly than others, so in this article I’m diving in to take a look at these personalised websites – which ones serve you best in terms of marketing themselves – and which ones need to get in the bin.

When selecting a website builder, it’s essential to consider factors like ease of use, design flexibility and its capabilities (e.g., does it have built in landing pages?) to scale alongside your business – but, most importantly – SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) because we want your website to rank well and attract organic traffic.

Wix: User-Friendly but SEO Limitations

Seems every time I take a look at YouTube I see an advert for Wix – I think I’ve even seen them on TV and I’m not a “Mike TV”. What really grinds my gears is that the ad is usually presented by someone with great technical knowledge and experience… it’s like offering a sippy cup to a booze hound… these people aren’t the type to spill their drink when falling down. 😉

Wix offers basic SEO tools like meta titles and descriptions but it can be challenging to customise your website’s structure and content in a way that optimises it for search engines.

• Pros:
  • Easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface – and if it’s heavily advertised it’s gotta be good right? Right? Surely? Anyone? 😉
  • Wide range of templates and design options (most of them crap and outdated!)

• Cons:
  • Limited SEO customisation options – and when I say limited – I mean severely limited. As in virtually non-existent.
  • Can be slow and less optimised for search engines – although tbf, the speed issues usually come down to the crappy hosting and poorly built site (e.g., absolutely huge image sizes which take forever to load).
  • Potential for duplicate content issues – firstly on a technical level, it’s easy to duplicate your pages and posts across your site – and secondly because most people choose from the same set of templates – everything can end up more than a little ‘samey‘.
  • Limited payment processor opportunities making for a poorer online coaching business ‘one stop shop’.

To summarise – don’t use Wix unless you’re looking for a brochure/pamphlet rather than a marketing engine!

Squarespace: Stylish and SEO-Friendly

When Squarespace first hit the online world I admit I was more than a little skeptical and believed it to be ‘style over substance’ and to be basically a prettier version of Wix. However these guys have really worked behind the scenes to give a technically-robust platform which is both visually-appealing, and easy to use and self-maintain.

Squarespace has strong SEO features including custom meta titles and descriptions, URL customisation and sitemaps (these are the ‘index’ map you send to the Search Engines so they can index your pages/blogs).

• Pros:
  • Beautiful and modern templates
  • Strong SEO features, including custom meta titles and descriptions
  • Good mobile optimization

• Cons:
  • Steeper learning curve compared to Wix – however, this is not a bad thing at all when you compare functionalities.
  • Can be more expensive than other options as it has a monthly charge associated with it – however you don’t need to worry about hosting as it’s included within the price which means you only need to keep an eye on your site – not server capabilities and tech manuals which should never be allowed to see the light of day.

WordPress: The Ultimate Customisation Option

I’m a WordPress fan because of its endless capabilities. If you can’t find a ‘widget’ to do what you need your website to do – then it probably doesn’t exist! It’s highly customisable and is structured to give the Search Engines exactly what they need and how they want to see it.

• Pros:
  • Highly customisable with plugins and themes – unfortunately this can lead to analysis paralysis when you’re trying to decide how you want your site to look… and it’s all too tempting to think your life/business would be so much better if you’d just chosen a ‘better theme’.
  • Excellent SEO capabilities with plugins like Yoast, AIOSEO* (my preferred) and SEOPress. All of these tools will help guide you through setting up your SEO structure for maximum impact – and link directly to your Google Console or Bing Webmaster control panels.
  • Strong community and support – it’s the biggest website building platform on the planet – so plenty of people to help you out when you get stuck.

• Cons:
  • Requires more technical knowledge to keep things in tip-top shape.
  • Can be time-consuming to set up and maintain – but your web person should be handling all that for you and hey hey – we’re in the game of automations and if you’re doing all the maintenance yourself – top tip; I use managewp.com to update all my sites.

GoHighLevel: All-in-One Marketing Platform

This is an interesting new kid on the block. They burst onto the scene a few years ago hailing themselves as the all-singin’, all dancin’ website builder + marketing tool suite extraordinaire to help you streamline all your marketing tools. IMO it appeared to want to appeal to the ‘bro marketers’ who dominated the online industry with their sleazy claims and big empty promises for a while.

It’s quite an expensive monthly platform to be running, however its capabilities are huge and by using it you can remove the costs of ‘all the other software’ you’re paying for.

To see how it all comes together and the kind of savings you could be making – check out The SimpleBizSuite* – if you use that link you can get a free demo by Steph Blake who has put together an incredible suite for anyone who’s not particularly techie.

• Pros:
  • Comprehensive platform for marketing, sales, and CRM and it seems about a gazillion other things including funnels and automations.
  • Strong SEO features and integration with Google Analytics which is a massive pro when it comes to getting your site found by potential clients.
  • Customisable website builder to make it easier for you to get it to look the way you want it to.

• Cons:
  • Steeper learning curve but hey, every single piece of software in your online business armoury needs to be learned…
  • Can be more expensive than other options.

Which is the Best Website Builder for You?

The best website builder to use is one will depend on your specific needs and goals, so here are a few things to think about before diving in or making plans to upgrade your platform:

• Consider your technical skills: If you’re not tech-savvy Wix or Squarespace might be easier to use. But please, not Wix! 😉
• Think about your budget: Squarespace and WordPress are generally more affordable than GoHighLevel.
• Prioritise your SEO needs: If SEO is a top priority, WordPress is the best option. GoHighLevel is also a good choice for advanced SEO and I’m confident this is something they will look to improve as the product evolves.

Ultimately, the best way to choose a website builder is to experiment with different options and see what works best for you. Consider your budget, technical skills, and long-term goals when making your decision – and, it should go without saying that excellent SEO has to be your long-term goal to ensure your marketing machine actually works as a marketing machine!

*Denotes Affiliate Link. If you make a purchase after clicking on my link, I may get a small commission. It doesn’t cost you anything and might make me smile with a lovely coffee. 🙂