Wondering how to rank your Squarespace website in 2023 and reach more customers? A lot of details go into ranking a webpage, but SEO is straightforward when you understand the basics of search engine optimization. This Squarespace SEO guide covers the essential steps to get started with your optimization project.
On-Page vs Off-Page SEO
Search engine optimization encompasses two practices: on-page SEO and off-page SEO. On-page SEO involves optimizing your website itself, while off-page SEO involves increasing external signals to impact your site’s authority. Understanding the difference between these two practices is crucial for developing a successful SEO strategy for your Squarespace website.
Is Squarespace SEO Friendly?
Yes, Squarespace is a solid platform for SEO. While the marketing literature may exaggerate its capabilities with the statement “we build all known SEO best practices into every Squarespace site,” it still provides several inherent SEO benefits. Some of its benefits are:
- Sitemaps: Squarespace sites come with an automatic XML sitemap that stays current and includes all page URLs and image metadata for SEO-friendly indexing.
- SSL Certificates: Squarespace offers free SSL certificates to all customers, providing a secure connection on every page of your site and boosting your search engine ranking.
- Mobile-friendly: All Squarespace themes are responsive and automatically resize content and images to fit different devices and screen widths, which is critical for Google.
- Clean HTML and URLs: Squarespace sites have easily indexed HTML markup and URLs, making it easier for search engines to understand your website’s content.
Note: When migrating from WordPress to Squarespace, it’s important to understand that there isn’t a “Yoast for Squarespace” or an SEO plugin for Squarespace, as the platform includes all known SEO best practices built-in. However, you can learn more about Squarespace extensions and add-ons that can enhance your site’s functionality.
How to do SEO on Squarespace
Important Note on Squarespace Pricing Tier
- It is important to note that the ability to implement suggestions involving code injection on your Squarespace website is dependent on your pricing tier.
- This feature is only available on legacy plans and the current Business and Commerce plans. Before implementing any code injection suggestions, be sure to check if your pricing tier supports this functionality.
Step 1: Conducting Keyword Research
Keyword research is a critical step in optimizing your Squarespace website. The goal of this research is to identify relevant topics and user questions that you can target with your content. Modern SEO emphasizes topic optimization and searcher intent, rather than simple keywords.
To start your keyword research, create a list of keywords that you would like to target on each topic page. If the keywords are too similar, choose one word or phrase to represent them. Then, conduct a Google search for your topics and assess the competition. Consider factors such as the competition’s popularity, authority, backlinks, and social signals to determine the difficulty of ranking for each keyword.
Avoid Over-Optimization When incorporating keywords into your content, be cautious not to over-optimize. Over-optimization can have a negative impact on your SEO. A general rule of thumb is to use the keyword in the title tag, once in a header, and a few times in the main content. However, there is no exact keyword density to follow. Our recommendation is to write your content first, then review it for keywords and related terms.
Keyword Placement on Squarespace People often ask where to put keywords on Squarespace, but SEO is more complex than simply inserting keywords into specific locations on the site. What matters most is whether your content satisfies the user’s intent. While there are important places to use keywords on Squarespace, it is crucial to focus on providing high-quality, relevant content that answers the user’s questions and meets their needs.
Step 2: Offer High Quality Content
High Quality Content in SEO The search engine algorithms are constantly evolving, making it imperative to provide high-quality content that caters to the needs of your target audience. Quality content is one of the most crucial factors that influence search engine rankings. As such, you must strive to create unique and exceptional content that meets the expectations of your potential customers.
Content Strategy for a Successful SEO Campaign The foundation of every successful SEO campaign is a well-planned content strategy that focuses on delivering top-notch content. In a world where Google is becoming more proficient in delivering relevant search results, it is essential to stay ahead of the curve by creating content that addresses the searcher’s intent.
Best Practices for Content Creation When it comes to creating content, it is crucial to write in a natural style, avoiding overuse of a single word or phrase. Instead, incorporate a variety of phrases and concepts that are related to your main topic to make your content more informative and engaging. Additionally, focus on quality over quantity; it is better to have a few pages of high-quality content than many pages of poor-quality content.
Content as a Significant Ranking Factor The content on your website plays a significant role in determining your search engine rankings. Hence, it is essential to put in the effort to create high-quality content that provides search engines with enough information to understand the context of your pages. By focusing on your readers, you can ensure that your content aligns with your SEO goals, making it easier for search engines to rank your website.
Step 3: Optimize Title Tags
- Title tags are crucial for search engines
- The default setting for Squarespace title tags is the page title plus the site title, which can be customized if desired
- To update and optimize individual titles, hover over a page, click the settings icon, and then the SEO tab
- Be clear and concise with titles, using keywords effectively without being spammy
- Keep titles under 60 characters in length
- Ensure each page has a unique and descriptive title that accurately reflects its content
- Avoid titles that are simply lists of keywords or repeated variations
- If using Squarespace 7.1, remove boilerplate language such as “Blog 2” or “Contact 3”
- In August 2021, Google updated its handling of page titles, and sites that do not follow best practices are more likely to experience a title rewrite. However, this can be avoided by adhering to the recommended guidelines.
Step 4: Use Keywords in Headings and Meta Descriptions
Incorporating keywords in headings and meta descriptions can be beneficial for SEO
Headings
- It is a common practice to include the main keyword of the page in the <h1> tag
- Use subheadings, such as <h2> and <h3>, to organize other content in a clear and structured manner
- According to Google, multiple <h1> elements on different sections of the same page are acceptable, as long as they are implemented properly.
Meta Descriptions
- Add a concise and descriptive meta description for each page that includes relevant keywords
- Ensure that the meta description accurately reflects the content of the page
- Keep the meta description under 155 characters to avoid getting truncated in search results.
Step 5: Streamline URLs
Google suggests simplifying the URL structure of your website to improve its SEO performance
URL Shortening
- Shorten URLs by removing unnecessary words to make them more readable and easier to share on social media platforms with character limits such as Twitter
- Use hyphens (-) between words for improved readability
- For example, a blog post titled “Learn Dog Walking From A Pro” could have the following URL structure: www.example.com/blog/dog-walking-advice
Meaningful URLs
- Verify that the URLs on your website use real words and are easily understandable
- On Squarespace, be mindful of meaningless URL slugs that may occur when saving a blog, event, or product before adding a title
- Avoid generating random characters as the URL structure in such cases
Caution: URL Changes
- Be cautious when changing an existing URL as it may result in moving a web page
- Implement URL redirects to prevent broken links and maintain the integrity of your website.
Finally, it is important to note that SEO is a long-term process. As highlighted in the Google Webmaster video, it may take anywhere from 4 months to a year to see the results of your optimization efforts. Thus, it is advisable to start your optimization journey as soon as possible.