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Hi, I work for a client who have a purpose-built CMS but they have done a pretty decent job of it. Things they looked out for and integrated plus some new stuff I suggested they add: Ability to quickly and easily remove pages and set 301's Page title and meta description fields Self canonical by defauly but ability to override Helpful 404 pages that don't leave people stuck Content block areas with dedicated H1+content & H2+content zones Custom footer areas Ability to add to the default Default GA code Those are just a few of the key points that allow them to put together nice sites that follow a logical theme throughout. As for the second part of your question "how easy is it to rank a site?" the CMS is actually only going to play a part in this becuase ranking a site isn't based on on how good the CMS is, although the points above help to create a pleasing customer experience. Ranking a site comes from much more than the CMS - the majority of your gains are going to come from your content, backlinks and how well your pages answer customer queries. Get these right, and you are starting on the right track. -Andy

Have you considered using Medium? I am looking at it for an old site that I want to keep going but can't be bothered with the hassle of WP upkeep. I know you can import page by page but not sure if you could wholesale import an old WP. In the same vein, Tumblr is also an option. For both you could set up or transfer your own domain and play with the styling so it is not obviously a Medium/Tumblr site. Whilst you would lose some flexibility of total control, you'll also kiss goodbye to regular updates and more