Is there a good website builder that can gain links?

[ScottR.]

I made the horrible mistake of using GoDaddy website builder and just found out that I have 3 homepages with a 302 temporary redirect on one of them.  GoDaddy says I have only one homepage and no redirects which is not true as far as both Google Webmaster and Mozpro are concerned.  I am not able to change anything structurally on the Godaddy site.  Is there an economical alternative to having a website built that I can work with myself (with little knowledge) and that I can do some link building that will be effective.

Thank you, I will refrain from commenting on GoDaddy

Scott

[ScottR.]

Thanks everybody,

I decided to go with WordPress.  Looks like I have a lot more learning to go again.

Scott

[randfish]

Hi Scott - it depends. You can use Google Search Console's preferred version (https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/44231?hl=en) to help them choose between www vs. non, but if there are other parameters or versions of the page, you really want a canonical tag or 301.

Given the limitations it sounds like GoDaddy is giving you around this stuff, I'd probably suggest moving to a different CMS/host. Better safe than sorry later.

[ScottR.]

Matt,

Thanks for the advise.  What scared me the most was the 302 temporary redirect which according to my reading will not allow link juice pass to my homepage.  It appears that that is gone now according to the Moz crawler.  But I don't see any redirects at all and the 3 homepages are still showing up.  At this point content will be my focus because I realize how important it is.  I just want to make sure everything is right as I start.

Thanks again everybody,

Scott

[ScottR.]

Thank you Wizard,

I have done a lot of SeoMoz reading and I consider my SEO knowledge as just enough to be dangerous.  I ran another crawl test and it appears that the 302 temporary redirect is now gone but there is no 301 permanent redirect and according to the On Page Grader there are no Canonical tags.  Also, Google is not showing duplicate titles or metatags anymore.  GoDaddy will not allow me to access or change any code.    Can I tell Google to disregard all other pages except for my main homepage to avoid duplicate pages or do I need to?  Sorry for being paranoid, I don't want to make a dumb mistake that I can't change years from now without starting over.

Scott

[randfish]

Hi Scott - some website builders that might be worth investigation (and will almost definitely be more SEO-friendly than the experience you've described) include:

• http://www.wix.com/
• http://squarespace.com/
• https://www.drupal.org/
• https://wordpress.org/
• https://pagely.com/

I'm partial to Wordpress (and there's lots of good hosting options) because of its flexibility, but there's plenty of benefits to other platforms as well.

[ScottR.]

Thank you for responding so quickly,

We are starting a business assisting expats in obtaining retirement visas in Ecuador, so it doesn't need to be a complex site.   Actually the simpler the better.  What I am concerned about is according to MozPro I have 3 separate homepages.  http://www.ecuadorvisapros.com redirected to http://www.ecuadorvisapros.com/ with a 302 temporary redirect and another homepage called http://www.ecuadorvisapros.com/home.html with no redirect, as far as I can tell.  Go daddy tells me that I only have one homepage http://www.ecuadorvisapros.com/home.html and there is no way to change anything.  Google Webmaster tells me I have duplicate content and duplicate title pages.  It seems like the 302 temporary redirect and the two identical pages will kill any change of links coming to my homepage helping my rankings.  I have no rankings for my homepage and several internal pages that have decent ranks.  I am concerned about putting money into a link outreach campaign.  Sorry for the long post.

Scott

[MattRoney]

Hi Scott,

Really, you can build links with any site, as long as you've got great content that people find useful. So you can really be set there no matter which builder you use. I'd recommend reading through the Beginner's Guide to Link Building if you haven't.

As for which builder to use, it really depends on the purpose of your site. What sort of site are you building? Blog? Ecommerce? Straight information?