30+ Essential Squarespace SEO Tips [Rank Page 1 2024]
There’s no sugar-coating it — search engine optimization (SEO) can be tricky; it’s a constantly shifting landscape that evolves with every algorithm update. However, you can implement a few Squarespace SEO tips to increase your chances of beating the competition and ranking #1 on search engine result pages (SERPs).
And yes, you can rank #1 on Google even if you host your website on Squarespace. By following our expert recommendations, you can join the elite 1.6% of Squarespace websites that boast over 100 monthly visits!
This comprehensive guide will show you how to improve your ranking with some proven strategies. We’ll divide the tips into five sections, including the following:
If these sound a bit strange or complex, you can rest easy knowing we’ve gone the extra mile to break them down in this post. By the time you’re done reading, you should have a good handle on all things Squarespace and SEO.
Note that if you download our SEO plugin for Squarespace, you’ll find exactly where the changes are that you need to make to improve your website’s SEO.
Before you get started, here’s a brief YouTube video outlining seven critical SEO tips for a more visualized presentation.
I. Keyword Optimization Tips
Keywords are those words or phrases your target customers type into search engines when looking for products or services related to your business or website. So, keyword optimization entails optimizing website content to improve its visibility and ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs) for these specific search queries (keywords). In other words, it’s about strategically using relevant keywords throughout your website to attract organic traffic from search engines.
This section provides tips on effectively using keywords in your SEO strategy to increase your website’s visibility and ranking on SERPs.
1. Pick a relevant keyword.
When improving your rankings on Squarespace, one of the essential SEO tips is to pick a relevant keyword, i.e., keywords closely related to your products or services. By using keywords, you can ensure that your website is easily found by users looking for information about your company, products, or services.
Choosing the right keyword can significantly impact your ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs). Your keyword should be relevant to your page’s topic and used throughout your content.
It’s also important to consider the competition you’ll be facing when selecting keywords. If you choose a keyword with too much competition, it could take a long time to see any improvement in your ranking. That’s why it’s essential to research before settling on a specific keyword.
For keyword research, you can take advantage of our Squarespace SEO plugin. Notably, you get valuable info on keywords like search volume.
2. Niche down to long-tail keywords.
If you’re a small business with limited resources, creating strategies that bring the highest ROI (return on investment) is essential, and a great way to achieve this is via long-tail keywords.
Long-tail keywords are specific phrases used in search queries and contain three to five words. They’re called “long-tail” because they represent a smaller, more targeted subset of search traffic compared to broad and more generic search terms — i.e., they have lesser competition. For example, “best web designers in Florida,” and not just “web designers” or “best web designers.”
As explained in our comprehensive Squarespace SEO checklist, focusing on long-tail keywords and niche topics allows you to provide specific information that appeals to your target audience.
This form of keywords has several benefits, including the following:
They’re less competitive.
They boast better conversion rates.
They help you rank for short-tail keywords as well.
With long-tail keywords, you can easily understand user search intent.
They allow for content personalization since you can niche down on content that appeals to a smaller size of your target audience.
They can help you rank on SERPs quickly, even as a new website.
When researching long-tail keywords, look for variations based on keyword phrasing (i.e., opting for longer keywords rather than just one word), region, or periods. For example, if you’re a florist in San Francisco, instead of targeting “florists,” try to focus on something more niche, like “best florists in San Francisco for Valentine’s Day.”
This type of keyword gives you an advantage over competitors because the audience is more likely to find your website through the search engine if they search specifically for your offer. They’re also less competitive, so you may likely not put in so much effort trying to outrank other web pages.
In addition, optimizing your Squarespace website with long-tail keywords will help you reach potential customers more effectively. For one, Google favors pages that provide value through specified content—i.e., relevant—rather than general information easily found throughout the web.
3. Use alternate keywords or synonyms.
Using variations of your primary keyword can help you improve your ranking on search engines.
Note: Primary keywords are those words or phrases that best describe your website’s content or purpose. They’re the main terms your target audience is searching for.
By including related terms in your content, you provide search engines with more ways to know that your page is relevant and helpful for the topic. For example, if your main keyword is “face moisturizer,” related terms might include “skin hydration,” “hydrating face cream,” and “face lotion.”
Here are a few tips when using alternate keywords:
Ensure the keyword is relevant to the content; otherwise, it won’t be helpful.
Don’t overuse synonyms; search engines can penalize you if they think you’re trying to stuff them into your content.
Whenever possible, use natural language; try to work synonyms into a sentence instead of just making them a list of words.
Note: When using alternate keywords, or keywords in general, it’s important to understand that you’re not “forcing” them into unrelated content that you may have possibly written before stumbling on these keywords. Rather, the right way to use keywords for SEO is by tweaking your content to naturally include them in relevant web pages.
II. Overall Squarespace Website SEO Tips and Strategies
This section provides a comprehensive guide to SEO for your overall website, covering everything from on-page optimization to technical SEO. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced SEO professional, you’ll find valuable insights and practical tips to help you boost your website’s search engine rankings and online visibility.
4. Add a compelling site description.
Introducing a gripping site description is essential for ranking well with Squarespace. Your site description should be written in a short, sweet, and SEO-friendly way to ensure your keywords appear in search engine results.
To add one, navigate to “Marketing” >>> “SEO Appearance.”
Next, scroll down to the “SEO SITE DESCRIPTION” field and type in some catchy content.
Here are a few tips to ensure your site description is practical:
Keep it concise and between 150 and 160 characters to fit easily into search engine results.
Ensure it includes the keyword you’re targeting.
Include a call-to-action (CTA) phrase encouraging visitors to click through to your website.
Use unique language that clearly describes visitors’ expectations when they arrive on your page.
Include marketing language or words to persuade readers to click through the link. Examples include “book a demo,” “take advantage of this special offer,” etc.
These simple tips can help you craft a practical site description that stands out from the competition, boosting your website ranking in no time!
5. Use a custom, descriptive URL instead of the originally assigned URL from Squarespace.
One of the easiest ways to improve your Squarespace SEO is by using descriptive URLs for your pages and blog posts. Descriptive URLs will improve your rankings and make your website pages easier to remember and share.
Here are some tips for creating effective custom URLs:
Ensure the URL accurately reflects the page content.
Include the main keyword you want to rank for - for example, despite the title of this article being “30+ Essential Squarespace SEO Tips: How to Rank #1 in 2023”, we’ve kept the URL slug as just “Squarespace SEO tips”, as that’s what we want to rank for!
Keep URLs short and sweet; aim for between three (3) and six (6) words.
Don’t include extraneous characters (like a parenthesis, percentage, exclamation mark, etc) or punctuation marks (like commas, semicolons, colons, spaces, quotes etc.)
Avoid using long numerical strings in place of words.
Don’t use stop words like “and,” “the,” or “or.”
With some extra effort, you can create easily readable, shareable URLs that will help boost your rankings and visibility. Also, our Squarespace SEO plugin offers a URL checker for seamless URL optimization.
6. Change the default social sharing image to a custom one.
One of the most important tactics you should use for Squarespace SEO is updating the default social sharing image to one that’s more enticing or relevant to your content.
Why? You may ask.
It’s simple! — social sharing images are a vital component of any successful SEO strategy since they stop people in their tracks and encourage them to click on your articles and pages while surfing social media platforms. Plus, social media shares can influence search engine rankings since they offer benefits like increased brand recognition and reputation as well as widespread content distribution. For example, a viral post generating numerous social signals, such as likes, comments, shares, and backlinks, can positively influence search engine ranking.
To replace the social sharing image of any blog or web page, navigate to its “Settings” page. Next, select “Social Image” and use the “ADD IMAGE” button to upload a suitable image.
If you don’t change the default image, readers won’t know what your post is about and may not click through. In fact, they may not even bother to like or comment on your social media posts, creating a lack of social signals necessary for improved search engine ranking, as discussed earlier.
Therefore, before publishing a blog post or page, preview the post with a custom image on each social media platform, like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Also, ensure your custom image includes words or phrases from the title of your post or page; otherwise, you’re missing out on valuable SEO opportunities.
7. Change and optimize your 404 page to help convert visitors.
Also termed a “Page Not Found” page or “Error” page, a 404 page is what your website visitors see when they try to access a page on your website that’s not available or doesn’t exist.
While it’s easy to ignore, when used properly, these pages can help improve user experience and conversions. For example, it’s an excellent opportunity to offer visitors links to other pages on your website that they may find helpful.
If you have an online or physical store, for instance, you could do any of these:
Display some of your products under the error message as well as discount codes to encourage conversions.
Use CTA buttons and “Subscribe Now” options to funnel visitors into other pages that may serve their needs.
Add a list of helpful links to other pages.
Display user reviews on your products or services to further urge visitors to keep surfing your website.
You can change this page by navigating to “Design” >>> “404 Page.”
Next, you can select a custom page by using the drop-down button.
8. Submit your sitemap to Google Search Console.
While Squarespace’s SEO features are intuitive and easy to use, you still need to take steps to get your site noticed by search engines like Google. And the first place to start? Creating a free Google Search Console (GSC) account and adding your Squarespace sitemap to your GSC account. Our post on Squarespace sitemaps covers how to go about this.
And if you want a more visualized description of how to set up Google Search Console for your Squarespace website, see our detailed video below.
Submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console is the best way to ensure that Google’s crawlers index your website properly and quickly. A sitemap gives Googlebot a roadmap of all the pages on your site, so it can discover content it may have missed otherwise.
Note: Googlebot is Google’s web crawler software that collates the information required to build a searchable index of the web.
Moreover, the GSC tool offers the following benefits:
Allows you to monitor your website’s performance in organic google search results.
Provides insights into how well your site performs
Offers data on what keywords your website ranks for.
Identifies what pages on your website get the most views.
Helps track any errors stopping crawlers from indexing your site correctly.
One of the benefits of Squarespace is that it automatically generates your sitemap - your “site structure” which you can submit to Google Search Console to tell Google you want to be indexed on its search engines. Type and submit “sitemap.xml” into the highlighted box below to do this.
You should also watch for any errors or warnings that Google might communicate about indexed pages on your website. Google Search Console is great for identifying issues such as broken links or missing images before they become a significant problem. Similarly, our Squarespace SEO plugin can help you check for broken links on your website.
9. Troubleshoot individual page SEO problems with Google Search Console’s URL Inspection tool.
If you’re having trouble getting individual pages to appear on the Google search engine, the GSC URL inspection tool can come in handy. Using this tool, you can get an overview of the page’s visibility and any technical issues you must address.
You can access the URL Inspection tool on Google Search Console, as shown below.
That’s not all, though. Here’s a rundown of what you can achieve using the GSC Inspection tool:
Check the live version of a page.
Look for errors preventing the page from being indexed.
Ensure Googlebot can access all page content.
Scan for crawl anomalies, like missing titles and descriptions.
Review issues and warnings for other optimization opportunities.
Submit new pages to Google’s index and recrawl them regularly.
Monitor how quickly your pages are being indexed.
See which pages are indexed by the preferred domain (www or non-www).
10. Create a “Google My Business” page (or Google Business Profile) for local SEO.
Another savvy tactic for your Squarespace SEO is ensuring you have a Google My Business (GMB) page. Have you, at some point, typed in a business name on Google, and an address pops up in search results? That’s because someone has taken advantage of the numerous benefits of creating a Google Business Profile (GBP).
A Google My Business page is simple to set up; all you need to do is give some basic info about your business, including:
The physical address
Hours of operation
A link to your website
Descriptions of products and services
Photos
After your page is set up, customers can leave reviews. Also, search engines will be able to index your site more efficiently; even better, you can start appearing in related content!
With a functional GMB page (and completing the Squarespace SEO criteria above), you’ll have moved up the rankings to outrank the competition before you know it. Check out our guide on how to check your website’s Google rank and track its performance on the search engine.
III. Squarespace SEO Tips for Blog Posts and Individual Pages
This section will explore some essential SEO tips for optimizing your blog posts and individual pages, including content optimization and link-building strategies. By implementing these tips, you’ll be well on your way to improving your search engine rankings and driving more traffic to your site.
11. Use a rigorous SEO strategy for your page titles.
Another tip that can make a big difference in your Squarespace SEO is to create page titles that are both optimized and grab the user’s attention.
The below guidelines will help you create a compelling page title:
Include a primary keyword in your page title.
Ensure it’s between 50 and 60 characters.
Use between 5 and 12 words for your page title.
Use brackets [ ], parentheses ( ), and prime numbers (3, 5, 7, etc.) to help convey immediacy and urgency.
Introduce power words like “Ultimate,” “Savings,” etc., to add extra emphasis and enthusiasm to your topic.
Include the date or year in your page titles when relevant.; this gives Google an indication of when you publish and can help you boost visibility on search engine result pages over time.
Note: Power words are persuasive, descriptive terms that trigger/initiate a psychological or emotional response.
Implementing the above tips, if your primary keyword is “how to bake a berry pie,” then the ideal page title would be something like “How to Bake a Perfectly Flaky Berry Pie (in 15 minutes!).”
12. Add meta descriptions to every page.
A meta description is an HTML tag summarizing the page content in a few sentences. Adding meta descriptions to every page, post, and product can help boost your Squarespace SEO game, and the ideal length is 150–160 characters.
For example, a meta description, coupled with an SEO title, helps your users quickly decide if the information they want is on your site. It also gives search engine crawlers helpful information about what’s on the page. This means Google will better understand what’s essential on your site and have an easier time figuring out which pages to prioritize in search results.
To add a meta description to a page on your Squarespace website, navigate to that particular web page’s “Settings” window. Then head to the “SEO” tab, and under “SEO DESCRIPTION,” type in a suitable meta description.
Ensure you include relevant keywords here so that users and search engines can easily understand what your content is about.
13. Break down your headings into subheadings and ensure proper use of the headings tag.
Headings and subheadings are essential elements of SEO, and when it comes to Squarespace websites, you can’t leave out this critical detail.
Using heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) tells search engine crawlers what the page is about and helps with ranking. The most important heading is your H1 tag — it should include your primary keyword and describe what your page is all about. You should also break down your headings into subheadings (H2, H3, and H4) for better readability and easier user scanning.
With Squarespace, you have an advantage because you can use the Heading Tags in your content block editor to ensure that each heading stands out properly with its unique styling.
For example, take a look at this article - we have spent a significant amount of time breaking it down into headings because this makes it easier for readers to digest and for search engines.
14. Reduce image sizes for improved page speed.
It’s no secret that site speed is a massive part of SEO, and loading times can make or break your Google search engine rankings. However, did you know that one way to reduce the load time of a website is to reduce the size of your images? Let’s explain how this works!
Note: Image optimization is just one of the several ways of increasing website load speed, as covered in our post on “why is Squarespace so slow?”.
Page speed is determined by how quickly your web pages load, and images usually take some of the most extended time to load. So, if you want to boost your site speed scores, reducing the size of your images should be one of the first things you do.
Fortunately, our SEO plugin for Squarespace makes it easy to optimize your images by pointing out those that need resizing.
Here are some other tips and tricks on how to optimize image sizes for Squarespace:
Ensure any post image size doesn’t exceed 250 KB and that banner images have a maximum size of 500 KB.
For overly large images, consider compressing them using tools like Image Compressor.
Use JPEG for most photos and PNG for graphics with few colors.
The below video explains practical ways on how you can optimize images for SEO on your Squarespace website:
15. Change and include keywords in image names and alt tags.
Experienced Squarespace users understand that images are a great way to bring life to websites and make them look more engaging. However, did you know that the names of your images can help with your SEO? This carries more weight when you consider that images comprise 19% of the results Google returns for search queries.
When you add an image to your blog post, give it a keyword-rich name before you upload it. For example, if the image is of cats and dogs playing together, the image name can be “cats-dogs-playing-together.jpg” instead of just “IMG_4568.jpg.”
However, ensure you don’t stuff too many keywords into an image name while at it. It should still make sense when read aloud.
Also, don’t forget to include alternative text when uploading images. Also termed alt text, this is the brief description of what’s in the photo used by search engines and screen readers for accessibility purposes. The alternative text should also include keywords relevant to your content (as long it accurately describes what’s in the picture).
To add these details to an uploaded image on your Squarespace website, click on the image while editing the page, then click the “Pencil” icon.
Now, fill in the image information in the new tab that pops up.
16. Embed videos for an improved page speed experience.
Videos can improve engagement, but speed is critical. Uploading a video directly to a Squarespace page often leads to a slow-loading page, and visitors are more likely to leave if a page isn’t loading quickly. For context, a one-second delay in mobile page load slashes conversion by 20%.
Embedding videos rather than uploading them directly to the page can help your page load faster and improve user experience.
Here are even more benefits of embedded videos:
When you embed from an outside source like YouTube or Vimeo, the content won’t occupy your server’s space. That means less strain on your site and improved performance for visitors.
Additionally, you don’t risk having unoptimized video files bogging down your Squarespace website. As a result, you have more bandwidth for other elements like images and text.
When you embed your videos via YouTube, you’re literally increasing your chances of ranking higher on Google. Think about it! Google owns YouTube, which boasts more than 2.6 billion monthly active users, so it’s only logical that Google will likely rank your page higher if you include YouTube videos in your post. That’s why we’re doing this as well — we wouldn’t want to miss out on the associated perks!
To embed a video to your Squarespace page, click the “+ ADD BLOCK” button while editing a page.
Now, select “Embed” and add your video URL.
17. Link to other content on your site (internal links).
One of the critical things you can do for your Squarespace SEO is to link to other related content on your site, especially if you’re creating content like blog posts, pages, or posts on social media. That way, visitors can find more information and explore your website more. If you run a business, be sure to link to your products or services commercial page.
Here are a few tips to help you with creating links:
Use relevant words to help the reader understand what they’ll find when clicking the link. For example, “here’s more information on our services” or “check out our portfolio.”
Link words (also known as anchor text) should be descriptive and not too long; this will keep the text natural and easy to read.
If possible, link within the first few sentences so visitors can find relevant information quickly and easily.
Try to include 2–3 internal links per post — this will help visitors explore your site further and increase engagement.
Link to the pages you want to rank higher on Google, using the keywords you want to rank for as anchor text.
18. Link to external website content.
Linking to external websites is an integral part of SEO for any website, including Squarespace websites.
Here are a few tips to keep in mind when linking to external websites:
a. Link to high-quality, relevant websites.
When you link to other websites, ensure they’re high-quality, reputable sites relevant to your content. This helps establish your site’s authority in search engine’s eyes.
b. Use descriptive anchor text.
As well as helping search engine crawlers understand how pages are related, descriptive text will also give users a better idea of what they’ll find when they click on a link. For example, if you’re linking to a page about healthy recipes, use anchor text like “Healthy Recipes” instead of “Click Here.”
c. Use nofollow links when appropriate.
Sometimes, you may want to link to an external website but not pass on any SEO value to that site. In these cases, you can use a nofollow link, which tells search engines not to “follow the link” or pass on any SEO value.
To do this, you’ll need to add a “Markdown” block to your page of interest.
Next, add your content and link into the markdown box.
For example, let’s assume you want to introduce a nofollow link in this line: “JPGs are also the recommended image file type by Squarespace.”
If your anchor text is “recommended image file type”, and the URL of the page you’re linking to is “https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022529371”, use the below markdown text as a template.
JPGs are also the <a href="https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022529371" rel="nofollow"
target="_blank">recommended image file type</a> by Squarespace.Copy and paste the above into the markdown box and save.
The final result is what’s shown below.
d. Monitor your outbound links.
Regularly check your site’s external links to ensure they’re still relevant and high-quality. Broken or irrelevant links can harm your SEO, so keeping your outbound links up to date is essential. Luckily, our Yoast for Squarespace can help you detect broken links on your website and opens them in a new tab for confirmation.
19. Regularly update your content.
Regular updates on fresh content are one of the most important things you can do for your website SEO. For one, periodic updates are vital to maintaining high rankings, as search engines prefer up-to-date content over stale or outdated information.
Keeping your content fresh and relevant means creating an audience that will return time and time. What’s more, integrating new keywords in content updates is a surefire way to draw in new visitors.
Here are a few critical tips for regularly updating your content:
Watch for any changes or developments in your industry.
Make sure to update any blog posts or pages that may be outdated; for example, you should update post titles that include a year when the new year comes.
Take advantage of Google’s Freshness Update system by publishing new content as often as possible; this helps keep search engine crawlers on their feet.
Monitor keyword trends so you can adjust your content accordingly.
If you habitually update and refresh your content, it won’t be long before you see improvements in your SEO rankings — and more visitors coming through the door!
20. Create custom URL slugs that include target keywords.
Early on, we discussed how utilizing a custom, descriptive URL in place of the originally assigned one from Squarespace helps boost your SEO game. And yes, your guess is just right — the same applies to URL slugs for individual pages.
When building your website on Squarespace, it’s essential to customize your URL slugs (the part of the URL that comes after the domain). This is an excellent opportunity to incorporate some target keywords.
For example, if you’re creating a blog page that offers tips on optimizing Squarespace for SEO, you could customize your URL slug as “squarespace-seo-tips.”
Using these keywords in the URL slug signals to the search engine that this web page is about SEO and Squarespace. This helps with ranking for related terms; plus, it gives people better context when they see your link in search results or on social media.
URL customization can be done quickly and easily in the “Settings” tab of any Squarespace web page or post. Simply fill in the “URL SLUG” field, and you’re good to go.
So, don’t let this simple step slip through the cracks! Suffice it to say it’s an essential part of optimizing your site for success.
21. If you change a URL, create a redirect.
You want to ensure you keep up with any URL changes on your Squarespace website. This is where redirects come in. If you update or change the URL of a page, you should create a redirect so visitors and search engine crawlers can find the correct page without the website being filled with broken links.
Note: Redirects are a means of sending search engines and users to a URL different from the original one entered or requested.
You have two choices regarding redirects on Squarespace: a 302 temporary redirect or a 301 permanent redirect.
A 302 redirect tells search engines that the page has been moved temporarily and that the original page’s rankings and the link will still be intact when the page is restored. A 301 permanent redirect, on the other hand, indicates that the page has been moved permanently and that any link juice will be passed on to the new URL.
Note: Link juice is an SEO term that describes the amount of value or authority that a link/URL transmits from the page featuring the link to the page the link leads to. It’s a metric that impacts how pages rank on SERPs — the higher the link juice a URL passes to a page, the higher its likelihood to rank high on SERPs.
No matter which type of redirect you choose, setting up your Squarespace site properly with these options is crucial to ensuring everything stays organized and that search engines index all your pages. To do so, check out this official Squarespace guide on creating redirects. To do this, you’ll need to navigate to “Settings” >>> “Advanced” >>> “URL Mappings.”
22. Review your content for grammar errors.
We’ve all been there: you’re typing away, adding the finishing touches to a website page, and you miss a simple grammar mistake. It happens.
The sad truth is that these grammar mistakes can hurt your SEO efforts by increasing the bounce rate — i.e., that fraction of website visitors that visit just one page of your website and leave without taking any other action. If readers find spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors on your pages, they’re more likely to think your website is not legitimate or professional.
So what can you do? Spend time reviewing each page of your website with an eye for errors. Don’t rely extensively on automated software to do this; remember that machines can’t always pick up on our nuances in the English language or any other language. If you must use any software, do so with care; for example, at SEOSpace, we use Grammarly to check for possible grammar and punctuation errors.
Furthermore, ensure you review any images or infographics with text in them since these can also contain errors that may pull down your SEO standing.
Here are some essential Squarespace SEO tips to help you become as thorough as possible when reviewing your content for mistakes:
Read each page out loud — this technique works exceptionally well for longer pieces of content.
Keep a lookout for common mistakes like missing words (e.g., “Listen my team…”) or incorrect punctuation (e.g., commas without spaces).
Have another person review the content — a fresh pair of eyes can catch things you initially missed.
23. Make sure people stay longer on your page.
The idea behind this isn’t far-fetched — the longer people stay on your Squarespace site and interact with your content, the better for SEO. For example, it boosts conversion rates, reduces bounce rates, and increases the likelihood that visitors will share your posts since they engage with your content more.
Here are a few things you can do to ensure this:
a. Create long content.
Long-form content written in a helpful and informative way will ensure that people stay longer on your page. It also helps to provide real value to readers and demonstrates to Google that your site is an information source.
This infographic that examines the top 10 results on Google reveals the #1 result as having 2,400+ words, the #2 result as having 2,300 words, and the #10 result as having 2,000+ words. Hence, ensure that most of your website content has between 2,000 and 2,500 words, and ensure you link to relevant pages within each post.
Note: Always prioritize quality over length. Google won’t rank your web page if you simply publish content filled with fluff or poor-quality and irrelevant content just for the sake of hitting a high word count.
b. Embed videos.
Videos are a great way to give people more time on your page. As we discussed earlier, embed videos from YouTube or Vimeo into your posts and add attractive descriptive visuals like infographics and other illustrations to break up the text. Doing this will help keep visitors on your site longer and show Google you provide relevant content.
IV. Tips on Recommended SEO Tools
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) research tools are essential for anyone looking to improve their website’s visibility and search engine rankings. These tools help website owners and digital marketers understand how their website performs in search engine results pages (SERPs) and identify opportunities for optimization.
With so many SEO research tools available, choosing the right ones for your needs can be overwhelming. This section will recommend some of the best SEO research tools, including keyword research tools, competitor analysis tools, and site audit tools, to help you make informed decisions and achieve your SEO goals.
24. Use SEOSpace’s Squarespace SEO plugin
SEO can sometimes appear complex, even for us. If SEO makes you want to pull your hair out, we have just the right solution. Our SEO plugin provides just the right set of tools to make SEO a breeze!
We understand that SEO can be significantly daunting due to the constantly changing information. In light of this, our plugin takes complicated SEO processes and breaks them down into simple tasks.
Here are some of the several features our plugin offers:
Easily analyzes meta descriptions for your pages and blog posts.
Pinpoints those images that need optimization for improved performance.
Assists in writing SEO-friendly copy by providing keyword suggestions and respective search volumes.
Scans your website regularly to ensure you’re not breaking important SEO rules.
Checks that you’re not using the same keyword on multiple pages (keyword cannibalization).
Checks for unoptimized URLs.
A thorough analysis of your website content.
Checks for SSL certificates.
Detects broken links.
Access to SEO insights and detailed analytics dashboard.
Visit our website to learn how this helpful plugin can take Squarespace to the next level and help you stay on top of your SEO game for maximum success.
Most of the tips are already in our plugin, so this will streamline your workflow significantly.
25. Set up Google Tag Manager.
SEO is a crucial aspect of website management, and Google Tag Manager is your secret weapon for SEO. With Google Tag Manager, you can quickly and easily add multiple tracking codes to your Squarespace site without writing any code.
Once you’ve added the tracking code to your website, you can monitor user interactions with your website and further optimize content for higher rankings.
Google Tag Manager takes the guesswork out of tracking user behavior and pageviews, allowing you to take advantage of insights that would otherwise be hard to come by — all while saving time during setup!
26. Add Google Analytics to Squarespace.
It’s no secret that everyone wants their website to appear at the top of search engine results pages, and this is where Google Analytics comes in.
Adding Google Analytics to your Squarespace website will help you get a better handle on SEO, providing valuable metrics, such as page visits, bounce rate, dwell time, site speed, etc. These metrics help you understand what content is getting seen and interacted with — and why.
Google Analytics is important for SEO as its metrics can help you channel your SEO efforts on the parts that need fixing. For example, if you detect high bounce rates, you can lean towards more engaging content that includes visuals (e.g., images, videos, infographics, etc.) and an appealing layout (e.g., bullet points, unique font styles, etc.).
Similarly, the site speed metric can inform you if you need to optimize your Squarespace website for faster load times. There are several ways to achieve this, including the following:
Eliminate custom fonts
Fix broken links
Embed videos
Optimize images
Take out unnecessary custom code.
Our post on “why is Squarespace so slow?” outlines several other options for optimizing page speed.
Google Analytics is free and easy to add to your Squarespace website. All you need to do is follow the steps described in the video below.
In summary, tracking your Squarespace website performance has never been easier, especially with the new Google Analytics 4 update.
V. Tips for Planning and Executing SEO Content
What is SEO content?
SEO content is simply digital content optimized to rank on search engines, such as Google.
Creating quality SEO-optimized content can help attract more organic traffic to a website and improve its overall online presence. However, planning and executing effective SEO content can be challenging, especially for beginners.
In this section, we’ll provide some valuable tips and strategies for planning and executing SEO content that can help boost your website’s visibility and drive more traffic to your pages.
27. Understand your marketing funnel and devise a strategy.
A marketing funnel outlines your potential customer’s journey, from becoming aware of your business to purchasing. You must understand this journey and develop a strategy around it that’s tailored to your Squarespace website’s SEO.
A marketing funnel involves the following steps:
Step1: The first step involves getting your target audience (potential customers) interested in your offering. You can optimize your website’s content with keyword-rich titles, descriptions, and meta tags and ensure it’s easy to navigate and mobile-friendly. Then ensure you’re active on social media platforms so potential customers can find a link to your website.
Step 2: The second step is enticing the audience by providing high-quality content such as blogs, videos, podcasts, or ebooks that provide value and show them what you have to offer. During this marketing funnel stage, use anchor text in blog posts or videos that link back to other pages on your website for further exploration.
Step 3: Finally, capture contact information from your prospects with an attractive landing page to encourage them to purchase.
By following these steps accordingly in a way that’s tailored to your niche, you ensure your target audience understands you and considers doing business with you, even before making a final decision.
28. Map your keywords to different stages of your marketing funnel.
Ready to get ahead of the curve with your Squarespace SEO?
One simple yet practical tip is to map your keywords to different stages of your marketing funnel. This ensures that you’re using the correct language at each engagement stage, boosting the chances of customers making their way through your website’s sales funnel.
To do this, consider what stage the customers are in their product- or service-hunting journey. Are they at the beginning and researching different options? Or are they further along in the funnel and ready to purchase?
Once you break down where each keyword falls in your marketing funnel, you can better optimize them for SEO on Squarespace.
Let’s use ourselves as an example: SEOSpace, which is an agency offering SEO tools and resources for Squarespace. In this case, the following are possible stages our target audience may be at any point in time in our marketing funnel as well as likely keyword mapping options/examples:
Awareness Stage: Here, we’ll focus on broad keywords like “SEO” and “SEO optimization.”
Consideration Stage: This is the point where we’ll use keywords about features and benefits that differentiate us from competitors.
Conversion Stage: At this stage, we’ll utilize precise phrases like “Squarespace SEO plugin” or “professional Squarespace optimization service.”
Relationship Stage: Here, we’ll gear content towards post-purchase topics, like sharing case studies and feedback from customer success stories.
By mapping out keywords according to stages within your marketing funnel, you can boost customer engagement and conversion rates by focusing on relevant search terms at each stage!
29. Target competitive keywords by using content clusters.
Content clusters are a great way to beat the competition when it comes to Squarespace SEO. Namely, they help target competitive keywords and drive more organic traffic to your website.
The idea behind this concept is simple: create groups of interlinked pages on related topics to boost your rankings for those target keywords.
Here’s how content clusters work:
Start by identifying the target keyword and a few related topics and keywords.
Create a “pillar page,” which will serve as an overview page, linking out to all the other related pages.
Create the other pages on the related topics, linking back to the pillar page as well as each other.
Use internal links throughout your website to link between different pages and posts.
Content clusters are a potent weapon in any SEO arsenal, and they can help you capture more organic traffic from competitive keywords. Plus, they provide readers with a better overall experience and can help keep them on your website longer!
30. Get backlinks.
Backlinks are links from one website to another. They’re a critical component of search engine optimization (SEO), as they indicate to search engines that other websites consider your content valuable and worth linking to.
How backlinks work (Backlinko)
How do you get backlinks, though? Here are a few tips:
Contact industry bloggers or influencers and ask them to link to your Squarespace site via guest posting. We’ll talk more about this in a bit!
Highlight any press coverage that mentions your site, then contact the outlets with a link to your site.
Use social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn to promote your content and encourage people to link to it.
Take part in industry forums like Reddit, Quora, and Stack Exchange; answer questions with valuable and unique content, and get people to link back.
Participate in industry events: Write up an event overview on your site with links back, then share it with attendees who’ll likely link back.
By getting quality backlinks from reputable sources, you can boost your Squarespace website’s SEO and help it gain visibility on search engines like Google. For example, check out a backlink we got from Launch The Damn Thing.
Note: It’s important to always offer value and quality content if you’re keen on getting backlinks. Suffice it to say; it’s unlikely anyone would want to link to a page that has no relevance or offers zero value.
Now, let’s explain one key means of securing backlinks: guest posting.
Guest posting on relevant websites as a means to secure backlinks.
One SEO tip that works great with the Squarespace platform is guest posting.
What’s guest posting, though?
It’s a strategy that entails publishing an article on another website with an already established audience that shares a similar topic as a means to promote your website — via a backlink!
Guest posting can help boost your SEO rankings in several ways. Here are just a few:
It expands your website’s reach and can drive more traffic as readers check out your post and then click through to read more on your website.
You get access to various link-building opportunities as other websites link back to yours within the post.
You can use relevant keywords more efficiently on other sites. This will help Google understand what you’re trying to rank for better and faster.
If you want to get started with guest posting, look for high-authority websites or influencers in your niche that accept guest posts for potential collaborations. Not only will this help with search engine optimization, but it also establishes relationships with other brands in the industry.
31. Submit your website to other search engines.
Are you looking for an easy way to get started with SEO for your Squarespace website?
Submitting your website to other search engines is a significant first step. Notably, this move helps increase visibility and can even help with local SEO.
You may not know this, but search engines like Bing and Yahoo differ from Google because they may display different results based on location and query relevance. Submitting your website to them ensures all search engine versions know about you and your business. This means all potential customers searching for your services can find you — so don’t neglect this vital step!
32. Use SEOSpace’s Squarespace SEO checklist to ensure you’re on track.
To ensure you’re getting the most out of your SEO efforts, take some time to study our comprehensive Squarespace SEO checklist. This loaded 12-step checklist will help you determine what steps you need to take and, more importantly, how to accomplish them.
33. Always prioritize high-quality content over appearing in search results.
Content is king if you want to rank higher in search engine results; hence, focusing on high-quality content should always take precedence. Search engines prioritize high-quality content, and even Google validates this claim. You’re less likely to rank higher in search engines if you simply churn out keyword-stuffed content that doesn't offer value, be it articles, blog posts, videos, etc.
Squarespace SEO Tips Conclusion
Optimizing your Squarespace website for SEO doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With the proper knowledge, strategy, and of course, our Squarespace SEO plugin, you can quickly achieve top rankings and more organic traffic from search engines.
Keep up with Google’s ever-changing algorithm using the 30+ Squarespace SEO tips outlined above. From properly using keywords to setting up a sitemap and using social media for link building, you’ll be well on your way to seeing the results of your hard work.
In all, don’t hesitate to test new SEO strategies and experiment with different approaches. With a little effort and perseverance, you can quickly put yourself ahead of the competition and start seeing more organic traffic. If you’re ready to get started, consider getting a free site audit from us today!
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As always, feel free to get in touch if you have any questions, or join our free SEO community where you can ask questions and engage with other readers of SEOSpace.
