CMS SEO Audits: Platform-Specific Issues for WordPress, Shopify, Wix etc | Sitebulb

How to Audit Websites Depending on The CMS

Wayne Barker
Updated March 13, 2026

If you’re reading this on Sitebulb’s blog, odds are you understand the value of a good SEO audit.

Not an export-some-spreadsheet and send it to the developers kind of an audit. Audits that apply critical thinking. That take each project and not only spot the mistakes, but look at the bigger picture. Audits that then go on to get those recommendations implemented. If you're not bought into all this yet, maybe have a look at this SEO audits 101 guide first.

Many guides cover why you need to pay attention to site structure, internal linking, copy, site speed, and all that jazz. But what if you had knowledge upfront about the kind of SEO issues and quirks you might find on the site, based on the Content Management System (CMS) or platform it’s built on - before you press the big ol’ Crawl button?

That would be handy, right?

Knowledge of the platform a site’s built on and the technology used can make a world of difference when auditing.

Table of contents:

Why is a website's CMS platform important for SEO?

As some smart SEO once said:

“All platforms and CMSs are not created equal in the eyes of an SEO.”

Or something like that.

Some CMSs are better suited to certain types of websites than others, and some platforms are far more customisable than others.

Most platforms will also come with their own issues and constraints. These are all things that SEOs need to be aware of and take into consideration when doing audits.

As SEOs we don't always get input at the early stages of a redesign/migration/platform change, which is a bit of a pain in the arse - and another post entirely. So when a CMS is already in place (which is usually the case), we need to understand what we’re working with.

What are the most popular CMS platforms?

The data here moves faster than most people expect, so it's worth checking in with W3Techs fairly regularly if you want current numbers.

As of March 2026, here's where things stand.

CMS % of all websites (W3Techs, March 2026)
WordPress 42.6%
Shopify 5.1%
Wix 4.2%
Squarespace 2.4%
Joomla 1.3%
Drupal 0.7%

How can you find out what CMS a website uses?

This is pretty simple, most crawlers and SEO tools (such as Sitebulb or Semrush) will tell you what CMS a site is using.

But often you’ll just want to do a quick check, so there are a couple of standalone tools that I like to use.

BuiltWith

It feels like Builtwith has been around forever, and for a long time it was my go-to tool.

To find out what CMS a site is using you need to head over to the homepage and input the domain.

Wappalyzer

Wappalyzer is an awesome tool - to be honest, I like it better.

Manual link structure analysis

Pretty much every CMS has a unique link structure that can help you identify what a site uses.

WordPress website_name/р=8435

Joomla website_name/content/view/1/896/

Admin login URLs

Most popular CMSs have a specific admin URL that helps you identify what a site is using.

WordPress /wp-admin/

Joomla /administrator/

What about the wider tech stack?

Beyond the CMS, it’s crucial that you know what other technologies are being used. The earlier you identify this, the more pain it can save you.

How to find out what technology a website is using?

How should a website’s technology influence your SEO audit?

Crawling JavaScript websites

If you’re working with a site that uses JavaScript frameworks, such as Angular, React and Meteor, standard HTML crawling isn’t going to cut it. To audit JavaScript websites like this, you’ll need to use a JavaScript crawler to process the code on the page and actually render the content.

Headless CMS and what it means for your audit

A headless CMS - think Contentful, Sanity, or Shopify's headless offering - separates the backend from the frontend. Developers build the frontend independently, usually with a JavaScript framework. From an auditing perspective, the key questions are around rendering and metadata control.

Know your platforms

I’m not saying that you should know all the quirks of each CMS straight off the bat - that would be ridiculous. Your knowledge is built over time.

Wrapping Up

Thanks for sticking around to the end faithful reader. Hopefully, I’ve successfully highlighted why having a deep understanding of the platforms and CMSs that sites are built on can inform your decisions before starting an audit. Happy crawling and helping to make the web a better place.